Upon thinking of a grain crisis, Zhu Mo immediately went to several grain markets in Hangzhou himself. He personally inquired about prices at more than a dozen grain stores and received a shocking piece of information:
Grain prices had risen by about thirty percent since the beginning of the year!
It must be known that, for a commodity like grain exchange, such a significant price increase was truly a terrifying matter.
He naturally recalled Oda Nobunaga's promise, but he wasn't very reassured by these Japanese. Thus, he called Ouyang Bijing, Liu Cungi, and others from the Tunken Guard. After a brief assessment, they felt things were only about seventy to eighty percent secure.
This was because the three major battles in Taizhou, Huating, and Zhoushan had indeed had a significant impact. Many areas were left fallow, and a considerable number of people had become wanderers, some going to Jiangyou, others to Huizhou. Now, they were only gradually returning home. It was already August, and it was impossible to plant crops now.
Regarding the grain issue, the system had previously issued a warning: as industrialization deepened and more people moved away from agriculture, once the critical threshold of 21% was reached, there would be a seventy to eighty percent chance of a grain crisis. Now, it seemed, there was an additional layer to the problem:
If the canal grain supply also failed, or if the Yan family managed to control it, the grain crisis would not be limited to the four provinces of Jiangnan, but would expand to the six northern provinces and the nine garrisons. Especially the Beijing garrisons, which housed too many heavily armed troops and were standing armies that did not engage in land reclamation...
Zhu Mo urged the two to hurry, then called Wang Ruxian and instructed him to immediately take a sum of silver to sea and buy more grain from Joseon and Japan.
After arranging everything, he still felt a touch of unease. Three days had already passed in the blink of an eye.
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...
At noon,
Wu Ming quietly arrived at the Poet's Shrine, his expression extremely grave.
Zhu Mo called him to the back hall and asked, "Did Lu Hao find anything?"
Wu Ming glanced around, then gritted his teeth and said:
"Young Master Zhu, we did find something, but it's truly infuriating! That leader named Wang, whose name is Wang Chun, is not from the canal either, but from Huizhou. He was originally one of those who went to sea with Xu Hai and Wang Zhi..."
He then leaned closer to Zhu Mo and whispered:
"Young Master Zhu, Lu Hao's men found that this Wang Chun had only recently returned from overseas, claiming to be from Ryukyu... Most of his subordinates are indeed fallen characters from the canal, but they are all thugs kept by several major grain exchangers in Qiantang. Young Master Zhu, isn't it strange? How did these two groups get together?"
Wu Ming was naturally very surprised, but Zhu Mo smiled faintly—
That's right!
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If they weren't from overseas, it would be truly strange.
He just hadn't expected that
the person who tried to assassinate him was Suo Za!
And he even hired a few samurai ronin to do the deed...
"Old Wu, do you know who instructed him?"
Wu Ming nodded and said in a hoarse voice, "The Franks?"
Yes,
Zhu Mo nodded and said word by word:
"Old Wu, Wang Chun has three or four men under him who might be Japanese pirates... They were the ones who tried to kill me that day. We must capture these Japanese pirates and make them talk to expose Suo Za. I want to settle this score with that Frank."
Wu Ming also snorted and said, "Young Master Zhu, rest assured, if this bastard dares to attack us, we will absolutely not let him off!"
QQ five six three seven four three six seven five
...
The imperceptible undercurrents within the calm,
The inconspicuous reversals after victory,
These two things are the most terrifying things in the world. Zhu Mo had suffered great losses in the past few times, all during these moments of utmost negligence. The most tragic time was when he returned victorious from Datong and was suddenly stabbed by Gao Gong, something no one could have predicted.
This time, he was actually assassinated, and the perpetrator was connected to the canal grain exchangers... Could something unexpected, a black swan, or a gray rhino emerge from this?
Thinking of this,
He felt as if he were walking on thin ice. He spent a long time by the lake, examining all the possible points of failure—
The most likely place for something to go wrong was undoubtedly Jingdezhen. The potters and residents there had already accumulated considerable resentment, but even if this conflict erupted, its impact would not be significant. Then there was the Tunken Guard. Those Khitans and brave volunteers were not so easy to manage, and they would always cause some trouble.
Finally, there was the canal grain. Since the Yan family controlled this lifeline, they were in an invincible position. This time, Suo Za sent Japanese pirates to assassinate him and mixed them in with the canal grain exchangers. Does this mean? There would also be problems with the canal grain?
At this thought,
He remembered something that the great gods on Zhihu had talked about—
Grain shortages had triggered mutinies in the Beijing garrisons multiple times. That would be too terrifying, and it was possible to overturn everything in an instant! In fact, even if the matter did not occur in the north, what if a famine also occurred in Jiangnan? Then the reforms would actually have failed... The most pressing matter was to first stabilize the major issue of canal grain supply.
He immediately set aside the matter of Suo Za and called Xu Wei. Together, they went to the governor's yamen to discuss the strategy previously written by Xu Wei.
...
Arriving at the main hall of the governor's yamen again, Zhu Mo couldn't help but sigh. It was here that he had killed He Maocai and thus stabilized his footing. The reforms in Jiangnan had not progressed much even to this day. One foot was still stepping into an abyss...
At this moment, Zhang Han greeted them and said with a smile:
"Scholar Zhu, are you really coming to see me only when there's something important?"
Zhu Mo felt that Zhang Han was at least half his ally, so he joked:
"Wen Chang and I cannot come to a conclusion. This canal grain, it still depends on you?"
Zhang Han was prepared. He invited them to sit down, then took out an old map and had it spread on the desk. He said solemnly, "Scholar Zhu, this is something I kept when I was working in the Ministry of Revenue on canal transport... it must have been ten years ago. What you and Wen Chang said makes a lot of sense. There was a problem in the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, when the Beijing garrisons suddenly ran out of grain, and Anda was at the city gates. That was a truly desperate situation..."
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Mmm,
There was indeed such a thing...
Zhu Mo sighed inwardly, but said, "With grain in hand, there is no panic... Brother Ziwen, please continue—"
Zhang Han pondered for a moment and then said:
"Wen Chang's strategy is very good. It points out the reasons for the current corruption in canal grain. Uh, ultimately, it is due to the decline of the canal transport garrisons...
Zi Xuan, the canal transport is actually managed by two people. One is the Grand Governor of Canal Transport. For twenty years, two consecutive Grand Governors of Canal Transport, He Qian and Hu Zhi, uh, were all people of Yan Song... The other is the Commander of Canal Transport, who has always been a descendant of the nobility. After Liu Xi was dismissed more than ten years ago, Gu Huan served for a while. Later, when the Emperor sent Gu Huan north to rectify the Beijing garrisons and he could not oversee affairs in Huai'an, Yan Song recommended Guo Cong. This Guo Cong is indeed a descendant of the Marquis of Wuding, but he had already been dismissed. For some unknown reason, he became the Commander of Canal Transport again?
Wen Chang's strategy states that the crux of canal transport lies in the canal garrisons. Only when the canal garrisons are straightened out can canal transport be straightened out. This is very reasonable. Furthermore, Wen Chang also said that since the canal garrisons are dilapidated and cannot be rectified in a short period, during this time, we will have to rely on the Grand Governor. But the current Grand Governor of Canal Transport is Hu Zhi..."
Mentioning Hu Zhi, he stopped speaking. Because this person was also a confidant of Yan Song, his status was no less than that of Yan Maoqing. Since Guo Cong and Hu Zhi were now in charge of canal transport, the problem became complicated—
The Commander of Canal Transport has always been a descendant of the nobility. Why is this Guo Cong, who is also from the nobility, colluding with the Yan family? Wouldn't there be some trickery involved?
If he couldn't figure it out clearly, rashly presenting a memorial would easily offend the nobility. For an ordinary civil official, this would be a very terrifying thing. Because Yan Song and Yan Shifan could easily impeach and condemn someone by threatening the nobility.
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Zhu Mo was stunned for a moment, and he also sighed deeply—
Why couldn't the imperial farms be reformed? Was it not for this reason? Zhang Juzheng did not want to offend the nobility and royalty, and Zhang Han naturally did not want to either. This was very serious, as it meant that no one would do the work... The matters of the royal family and the nobility had to be resolved sooner or later, otherwise, there would be endless troubles...
Since the imperial farms could not be moved, he would see if he could open a crack in the issue of canal grain this time and test the reaction of the nobility and royalty.