Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 284: Sadness!!!

Lin Shijia nodded and said, "But there is still a workers' meeting."

Wang Xuanfan sneered, "What can a bunch of kitchen servants do? Whatever they want to do, they need our approval. If we don't agree, those things can't be done. Besides, what do those kitchen servants know? They only know that they have lost their livelihood and their family can't have enough food. As for other things."

“They just don’t know.”

Wang Xuanfan didn't take the kitchen owner seriously at all.

He need not take it seriously.

Kitchen keeper, if the imperial court had not sent someone down, they would probably never meet a kitchen keeper in their entire life. Even now, they have not seen many kitchen keepers. They are officials, and kitchen keepers are common people. There is a world of difference between the two.

Even if Xia Zhibai would speak for the kitchen owner, they already knew what Xia Zhibai wanted.

It is nothing more than moving these stove households to the north.

If it were in the past, they might have stopped it. After all, population is a very important political achievement for a local area. But now that things have come to this point, it is obviously more reasonable to calm the situation down as soon as possible. Although there will be fewer political achievements, at least the people have been sent away.

Whether merged or not, the salt factories are still in the south.

They still have the power to decide.

Now I just choose to stay out of the spotlight temporarily.

When the storm passes, everything will return to normal.

Although there will be an additional salt association, both the salt officials and salt merchants in the southern region are their own people. Who really dares to make trouble out of this?

What’s more, there are no more of them in the court?
Zhou Ziliang said: "Don't be careless. Xia Zhibai has a lot of tricks and is always making small moves. If he hadn't been calculating one after another, how could he succeed so easily this time?"

"Although the stove owner can't cause much trouble, it's still better to be cautious."

"But after more than half a year of trouble, those cooks obviously don't trust the government anymore. Let Xia Zhibai figure out how to get them to come. We won't accompany you on this."

The other officials looked at each other and laughed.

Zhou Ziliang's smile faded, and he said in a serious tone: "I still have another worry now."

"Jiang Li came here to investigate Lin Xian, so what about Duke Xin?"

"What is he doing again?"

It was quiet all around.

The other officials looked at each other in confusion.

Wang Xuanfan said in a deep voice: "I have inquired about this privately. After Duke Xin came to Zhejiang, he hardly stopped and kept traveling around. However, the people he interacted with were all nobles of the court, and most of them were his former subordinates and people who had been through thick and thin with him."

"It seems like he just came down south to reminisce about the past."

Zhou Ziliang snorted coldly and sneered, "When can we not reminisce about the past?"

"Do you have to follow Jinyiwei and talk to Xia Zhibai?"

“I just don’t feel right.”

"It's just that I can't tell for the moment."

"Just like Jiang Li, he has been keeping a low profile until we found some clues. We found out that Lin Xian was responsible. Moreover, Lin Xian is not dead yet. He has a lot of opinions about the salt factory restructuring. It seems like an accident, but it also feels like it was a coincidence."

"And Duke Xin is even more disturbing."

"Our Zhejiang was conquered by people sent by Duke Xin."

"What old things does he have here? There are only some 'remnants' that have not been cleaned up. But who are these 'remnants'? I am afraid no one knows except Duke Xin. And there is no guarantee that these 'remnants' will fall on us at any time."

Hear the words.

The faces of the others all changed.

Lin Shijia said: "This shouldn't be the case, right?"

"In the past few years, I have been loyal to the imperial court and have not done much to disobey the imperial court's orders. Even if the stove owner had an accident this time, it is not our fault. Who would have thought that the steam engine that Xia Zhibai made would have such a high efficiency in salt production and directly detonated the southern salt market."

"It's understandable that we can't cope with it."

Zhou Ziliang shook his head.

"do not know."

"How can I see clearly what's going on in the court?"

"Anyway, I feel uneasy and always feel that something is going to happen."

"How about we send someone to ask?" Wang Xuanfan asked tentatively.

Zhou Ziliang suddenly resisted Wang Xuanfan, glared at him fiercely, and scolded him: "Don't have any evil thoughts here, are you afraid that this fire won't burn you? The Jinyiwei is in Zhejiang, and you still contact those nobles, how many heads do you have?"

Wang Xuanfan smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to speak again.

He just said it casually.

I wouldn't be stupid enough to contact you.

But he also felt the thorniness of the problem. The court was taking a three-pronged approach. On one side was Xia Zhibai, and on the other side were all kinds of disgusting people, using all kinds of tricks and playing all kinds of small tricks, which made them uneasy and worried all day long, fearing that they would say the wrong thing.

The Jinyiwei even had sharp swords in their hands.

The key point is that no one knows how many people the Jinyiwei has planted in Zhejiang, who they are, and how much information they have now. All of this is a mystery, which makes them dare not act rashly, for fear of attracting Jiang Li's attention and bringing disaster upon themselves.

This is even more true for Duke Xin.

He is an important official in the court and a close minister to Your Majesty.

They have considerable influence in the court and the south, and have good relations with many nobles. They cannot guess whether someone will secretly tip off Tang He about the local situation. Now they are facing great pressure.

No one dares to provoke either side.

No one on that side dared to be negligent or slack.

The whole string was tense, making them suffer.

Because of this.

They decided to give up the salt policy game.

Because they can't spare that much energy and attention. They can only make choices.

Lin Shijia said in a deep voice: "The most terrible thing now is that we still don't know what His Majesty is thinking. His Majesty sent so many people down here. What exactly does he want to do? Is a mere salt administration really worth all the trouble? Or does His Majesty have other intentions? Is the salt administration just a cover?"

"It's just that after such a long time, there has been no news from the court."

"Worry man!"

Lin Shijia let out a long sigh.

Whether it is Xia Zhibai, Duke Xin or Jiang Li, they all obey the orders of Your Majesty.

But they really couldn't guess what His Majesty was thinking.

Seeing that the atmosphere was somewhat depressing, Zhou Ziliang smiled and said, "There is no need to be so dejected. Perhaps the court is not targeting us."

"Salt administration is the business of the Salt Transport Bureau, the Jinyiwei is investigating the guard commander, and the Duke of Xin is looking for the meritorious family. They have nothing to do with us. We just need to protect ourselves, do our own duties, and try our best to cooperate. I think nothing will go wrong."

"I don't believe the imperial court will really clean up the entire Zhejiang province."

"But some things should be stopped."

Zhou Ziliang reminded him.

The other officials looked at each other and nodded quickly.

They also know that the current situation is not optimistic and it is not advisable to create any more trouble.

At the end of the West Lake embankment, there is a pavilion.

Not far in front of the pavilion was a meadow. At this moment, several figures were shuttling back and forth in the depths of the meadow. Two of them were holding simple wooden harpoons, each with a fish on it, one big and one small.

The big one looks to be about two or three pounds, while the small one is only about five ounces.

When the two returned to their hiding place, a middle-aged woman came up, wiped her water-stained hands, and said in a low voice: "Boss, there is not much rice and salt left. Even if we cook porridge and wild vegetables, we won't be able to eat for more than three days."

Deng Muzi nodded woodenly.

His skin had been exposed to the sun for a long time and had become dark and shiny.

He handed over the forked fish in his hand and said, "Don't worry about it for now, just deal with this fish."

"I'll figure out a way to deal with the food issue."

"Master, I heard that the court has sent an imperial envoy to deal with the kitchen owner's problem. How about we go out?" The woman took the harpoon skillfully and spoke in a low voice with her head lowered.

Deng Muzi's face turned cold and he scolded, "Don't listen to those nonsense outside."

"The court is searching for us everywhere. If we go out, how can we survive?"

"Didn't you see the deaths of Brother Du and Brother Wang?"

"You'll die if you get out!"

"How could these crooked officials care about our lives? They just want to trick us out so that they can catch us all in one fell swoop. Imperial envoys, we are just the same kind of people. Do you really think I don't know? All crows are black, and so are imperial envoys."

"My heart is broken."

"But hiding all the time is not a solution. Winter is coming soon. Once the weather gets cold, we can withstand it, but how can the three kids and the others? Besides, we are running out of food." The woman continued, her eyes red.

"Okay." Deng Muzi frowned and said impatiently, "Go cook your meal. It's the master's business, don't meddle in it as a woman."

"I have my own arrangements."

"You won't be hungry or cold."

Deng Muzi waved his hand and walked directly to the edge of the water meadow.

The woman opened her mouth, sighed, and took the fish to the deep part of the water grass.

"Fuck, what a damn world this is." Deng Muzi cursed angrily, venting his dissatisfaction.

How could he not know the current predicament?
But he didn't dare to gamble.

If you make a wrong bet, your wife, children and the elderly will all die.

Moreover, he was sure that he was nothing more than an imperial envoy. So what if he was an imperial envoy? He was still an official. Officials in the world were all the same. There was no difference. It was just that one played the good cop and the other played the bad cop. They were just playing fools.

He's seen this kind of thing a lot.

If you really believe what the government says, you will suffer a great loss.

Moreover, he has now become the ringleader of the trouble, how could the government really let him go?

He didn't believe that the government was so generous.

It's a dead end for him now.

Deng Muzi felt annoyed.

He actually didn't intend to make such a big fuss, he just wanted to smash the machines in the salt factory. But he didn't know how, as the fuss went on, it turned out like this, and the original leaders were killed by the government.

He suddenly became the leader.

Now we are in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.

Stuck here.

Deng Muzi broke off a reed, put it in his mouth and bit it hard. The reeds in October were very dry, with almost no green left, and not much moisture left. But Deng Muzi seemed not to notice and continued to bite it, as if making a final struggle in his heart.

He has a solution.

It's death.

Let him die and let the others live.

But he couldn't make up his mind. If he was gone, how would his wife, children and the elderly survive?

He couldn't think of a way to survive.

Deng Muzi stood by the water, his eyes becoming more and more confused.

(End of this chapter)