I play the role of Jiajing in Zongwu: What crime have I committed?

This iron-fisted governor, who had been in office for only six months, had already secretly collected a great deal of evidence of collusion between the Jiangzuo Alliance and local gentry and merchants.

They seized farmland, drove farmers to their deaths, monopolized the canal transport, extorted merchants, forced women into prostitution, and established private courts, among other things.

These are all good deeds done by people from the Jiangzuo Alliance.

At this point, Cai Quan had lost the naivety she had six months ago.

After truly experiencing life in Jiangzuo, he discovered that the growth of any power is inevitably accompanied by countless acts of bloodshed and depravity.

The Jiangzuo Alliance's ability to become incredibly wealthy and dominate a region must have been built on the exploitation of countless people.

This has been the case throughout history and in every dynasty.

The fact that the Jiangzuo Alliance has grown to its current size is unavoidable, given its involvement in some shady gray industries and its exchanges of interests with local powers.

As a result, overnight, the Jiangzuo Alliance's branches in various prefectures were suddenly attacked.

The officers and soldiers poured in like a tide.

Ostensibly, it was an investigation into the traitors of Langya Pavilion, but in reality, it was a purge targeting the Jiangzuo Alliance.

The Jiangzuo Alliance was completely exposed.

One-third of the branch headquarters were uprooted.

Cai Quan's move was intended to use this opportunity to crush the Jiangzuo Alliance.

This cleanup lasted for a full half month.

The Jiangzuo Alliance's open industries have shrunk by more than half, and its covert power has been severely damaged.

But the matter ended abruptly and in a very unsatisfactory manner.

Because the current crown prince, Xiao Jinghuan, secretly made the arrangements.

Even if Cai Quan wanted to continue.

It is also impossible to avoid those below them outwardly complying but inwardly resisting.

Chapter 183 Yuezhou Drought

Even after Xiaomeng and the four grandmasters all returned to the capital, that damned Lin Chen remained tight-lipped and did not reveal the true Dragon Seeking Technique.

During that time, he did produce two fake versions of the Mystery of the Dragon.

To be on the safe side, Zhu Houcong had someone practice with him, but to his surprise, all of them died with blood flowing from all seven orifices.

Enraged, Zhu Houcong cut off Lin Chen's ears and nose, but Lin Chen remained unmoved.

It is clear that he has already resolved to die.

He was at his wit's end.

Zhu Houcong leaned back on the soft couch, holding the memorials handed over by the cabinet in his hand, but his gaze drifted into the distance.

The writing on the document gradually blurred in his eyes, and his thoughts drifted to the matter of the Four Great Divine Skills.

The gap is too big.

Zhu Houcong still felt lingering fear when he recalled the scene of besieging Lin Chen that day.

If it weren't for first using 50,000 troops to exhaust his strength, and then allowing the White Tiger to launch a surprise attack, we probably wouldn't have been able to capture this Master of Langya Pavilion at all.

Even with his severely injured body, Lin Chen was still able to persevere for so long.

The gap between an ordinary Grandmaster and a top-tier Grandmaster is practically insurmountable.

Zhu Houcong's expression shifted between light and dark.

He was determined to obtain the Four Great Divine Skills.

Although the system was amazing, it ultimately couldn't make him invincible overnight.

The merit of destroying a country only earned him a super Heavenly General Pill; who knows when an even more powerful reward will arrive.

Of the four great martial arts techniques, the Dragon Seeking Technique is almost within reach, but Lin Chen is too stubborn and refuses to budge.

The Daoist school of "Free and Easy Wandering" was further divided into three parts, with the Heavenly School, the Human School, and the Yin-Yang School each holding one, making it extremely difficult to collect them all.

As for the Qing Kingdom, the protagonist Fan Xian will later cultivate the "Overbearing True Qi," but that kid is only a little over a year old now, and who knows when he will grow up.

As for taking it from Emperor Qing, that's just wishful thinking.

"It seems we still have to start with Li Xiangyi," Zhu Houcong muttered to himself.

In the Lotus Tower storyline, Li Xiangyi is the brilliant leader of the Si Gu Sect in the Great Xi Kingdom, and also the holder of the Yangzhou Slow.

Unfortunately, during his battle with Di Feisheng, the leader of the Golden Kite Alliance of the Demonic Cult, he was poisoned and defeated.

He now goes by the alias Li Lianhua and roams the underworld.

At this point, he had lost only a tenth of his former power, making him much easier to deal with than the likes of Emperor Qing and Lin Chen.

Moreover, in the Lotus Tower storyline, Li Xiangyi's obsession is about the truth behind the death of his senior brother, Shan Gudao.

I know about this from watching TV dramas, so it can be used as a breakthrough point.

According to the information gathered by the Suspended Mirror Bureau from all over the country, next year will mark the tenth anniversary of Li Xiangyi's disappearance.

In other words, the storyline of Lotus Tower is about to begin.

Zhu Houcong remembered that there were quite a few good things in the Lotus Tower play, not only the Yangzhou slow song, but also the Yehuo Mother's Temple's key to the ...

If we obtain this item and secretly manipulate the Great River Rebellion, we might even have a chance to take over the Great River Kingdom in one fell swoop.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houcong became even more excited.

There are many beautiful women in the Kingdom of Tahiti, unlike in Nirvana in Fire, where most of them are middle-aged women with an old-fashioned look.

His dream was once to "have thousands of mansions to shelter all the beautiful women in the world and make them all happy".

Now that he's the emperor, how could he possibly let go of these beauties if he had the chance!

but!

Before that, we need to eliminate the threat posed by Mei Changsu.

As Zhu Houcong was deep in thought, the memorial in his hand suddenly caught his attention.

He looked closely and his brows immediately furrowed.

A severe drought struck five prefectures, including Yuezhou, and the fields were already cracked as spring planting was about to begin.

The Ministry of Revenue's report indicated that the allocated funds had already been prepared.

The next step is to begin disaster relief efforts at the state and local levels.

In the past, whenever there was a disaster relief matter, the person in charge appointed by Emperor Liang was either Xiao Jinghuan or the former crown prince Xiao Jingxuan.

After they won the job, they treated it like a piece of fat meat, cutting it into pieces to divide among themselves.

If they followed the usual practice of local officials, it would be considered good if three-tenths of this disaster relief money ended up in the hands of the victims.

Before long, the land will be littered with corpses of the starving, the starving people will scatter, and there may even be riots.

These five prefectures used to belong to Southern Chu, but now they are part of the territory of Great Liang, and the people there are naturally also people of Great Liang.

We must not allow the people of the former Southern Chu to become disloyal and alienated.

Upon thinking of this, the image of Xiao Jingyan immediately came to Zhu Houcong's mind.

Perhaps only if he goes to oversee the situation can the money and grain allocated by the Ministry of Revenue be successfully delivered to the people.

But that’s it!

This incident could be used to stir up a conflict between the Crown Prince and Prince Jing, and see if there's a chance to drag Mei Changsu into it.

Lin Chen and Sima Shang have caused themselves so much trouble.

If we don't cause Mei Changsu some trouble, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause later.

"Drought!" Zhu Houcong muttered to himself.

The next second, he slammed the memorial shut with both hands, stood up abruptly, and a hint of conspiracy flashed in his eyes.

We've come at the perfect time!

"The Minister of Revenue, Lou Zhijing, is hereby summoned for an audience."

Not long after, Lou Zhijing hurriedly entered the palace and then hurriedly left.

Finally, he appeared at Prince Jing's residence.

Lou Zhijing laid out the files on the table one by one regarding the past disaster relief efforts of the deposed Crown Prince Xiao Jingxuan and Crown Prince Xiao Jinghuan, and said in a deep voice.

"Your Highness, please look. Five years ago, the deposed Crown Prince Xiao Jingxuan oversaw disaster relief efforts in Hedong. Three years ago, Crown Prince Xiao Jinghuan was in charge of dealing with the floods in Jiangnan. In both cases, the fields were littered with corpses of the starving, and riots broke out everywhere. And..."

Xiao Jingyan's brows furrowed more and more as he looked at the document, and his fists clenched involuntarily.

"Is it really that serious?"

"Your Highness is wise."

Lou Zhijing bowed and said, "This drought has struck the five prefectures. If the Crown Prince were to take charge again, it would likely lead to another tragedy!"

Xiao Jingyan put down the dossier and asked in a deep voice, "Lord Lou, what do you want me to do?"

Lou Zhijing took two steps back and bowed deeply.

“Your Highness Prince Jing, I hope that you will fight for the responsibility of leading this disaster relief effort no matter what.”

“If this task falls into the hands of the Crown Prince again, and the situation gets out of control, he can use the label of a rioter from Southern Chu to deceive His Majesty.”

He looked directly into Xiao Jingyan's eyes as he spoke, his voice trembling.

"When that time comes, will Your Highness be able to take up arms and ride into battle to suppress those people who have been driven to desperation?"

Seeing that Prince Jing was still hesitating, Lou Zhijing suddenly lifted his robe and knelt down.

"This is not a power struggle or a quest for profit; it is the foundation of the nation and the responsibility of the court. For now, we can only rely on Your Highness."

Xiao Jingyan quickly got up to help him.

"Please rise, Lord Lou. I admire your kindness."

He took a deep breath, and his gaze immediately hardened.

"Very well, I will fight with all my might when I meet the Emperor tomorrow."

Lou Zhijing breathed a sigh of relief after receiving Xiao Jingyan's affirmative reply.

He had finally completed the task assigned by the emperor, how could he not breathe a sigh of relief!

The next day, in the Wanshou Palace.

The Crown Prince, Prince Jing, and Lou Zhijing arrived together.

Zhu Houcong slowly put down the memorial in his hand, his gaze swept over the three people, and finally landed on Lou Zhijing.

"I have already read the memorial from the Ministry of Revenue."

"Although this year's disaster is not as severe as in previous years, it has affected five states, so disaster relief arrangements still need to be made immediately."

Upon hearing this, Crown Prince Xiao Jinghuan immediately stepped forward.

"Please do not worry, Father. I have extensive experience in disaster relief and there are no major difficulties this time. I will handle it properly. Please rest assured, Father."

Chapter 184: Dispute in the Court

Zhu Houcong nodded slightly, a hint of approval in his eyes.

"Yes, this is certainly not the first time you've shared my burdens."

"I know that you have a solid team under you and that you are always reliable in your work. You won't be caught off guard at the last minute."

Xiao Jinghuan's face lit up with joy, and he was about to reply when he saw Zhu Houcong turn his gaze to Prince Jing, Xiao Jingyan, who was standing to the side.

He sent Lou Zhijing to find Prince Jing in order to thoroughly provoke a conflict between the two, so he naturally had to give him a chance to speak.

"Jingyan, what are your thoughts?"