Chapter 99 National Scholar
In the following days, Zheng Yi sent people to observe Fayuan, the abbot of Tianlong Temple, and keep track of his whereabouts at all times.

After moving into Yanta Temple, Fayuan continued to explain Buddhism all day long.

In less than three days, more than a hundred monks from Yanta Temple became his loyal followers and accepted him as his disciples.

Afterwards, he organized a water and land conference in Yanta Temple to spread Buddhism, which lasted for seven days.

During these seven days, almost the entire capital city was shaken.

Countless common people, businessmen, citizens, and even officials all ran to listen to the Dharma.

It even forced Yanta Temple to demolish its walls to allow believers to gather.

This trend even affected the suburbs of the capital, and countless devout men and women came from the suburbs just to see Master Fayuan.

Even in the court, many officials began to speak for Fayuan and tried their best to get His Majesty to see Fayuan.

As a result, Zheng Yi became more and more wary of Master Fayuan.

The information brought back by Zhao Suling undoubtedly proved this point.

When he met Fayuan with the Blood Moon Gu, he deliberately released the Blood Moon Gu, and Fayuan's behavior was also abnormal.

He actually called out the name of "Spirit Bug" and wanted to exchange it for something else, but was sternly rejected by Zhao Suling.

From this we can see that the source of this law must be a cultivator!

However, at the moment, this source of law does not pose any danger to him, so he can only let it run free for the time being.

His mind had long been attracted by another thing.

The refugees in Yongzhou have rebelled again!

This time the momentum was even greater, and even affected the surrounding areas such as Liangzhou and Shuzhou.

And the location of the outbreak is also intriguing, at the Yongzhou Grand Canal!
Not only did the refugees riot, but even the local county soldiers joined in the rebellion.

The former general of Yongzhou, Li Zhishan, who was ineffective in suppressing the refugees, led his troops in rebellion. He killed the imperial guards and Jinyiwei stationed on both sides of the Grand Canal, seized a large amount of food and equipment, and launched a massive rebellion.

This time, the rioters were strengthened by the addition of government soldiers. In an instant, they gathered hundreds of thousands of people and attacked the city.

By the time Zheng Yi received the information, Chang'an Prefecture had already been taken!

Among them, Jinyiwei Tongzhi Lu Lian died in battle!

The family of Yong Wang Zheng Zonghong who was stationed in Yongzhou was killed, and Yong Wang Zheng Zonghong himself was put into a big pot and cooked by countless rioters!

Zheng Yi immediately issued an order, reprimanding Miao Xiu and others for their ineffective suppression, and at the same time ordered them to continue leading the army to suppress the rioters in Yongzhou.

At the same time, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was dispatched to Yong to investigate the causes of the refugees' rebellion.

The Yongzhou Grand Canal was Zheng Yi's first project of using work-for-relief.

They invested nearly 20 million taels of silver, provided a large amount of food and supplies, and treated the refugees very well. Why did they suddenly surrender and rebel?
The sixth year of the Zhengei era, June 10th.

Wang Anshi, who was seriously injured and tried to escape by jumping into the river, was rescued by the Embroidered Uniform Guards and secretly sent to the capital Baiyujing as quickly as possible, where he was personally received by His Majesty.

"Wang Anshi."

"Your Highness, Your Highness is here, cough cough cough..."

Although Wang Anshi had changed into clean clothes at this moment, his face was still pale and his body was thin, and it was obvious that he had not recovered from his serious injuries.

"You are the military commander of Yongzhou. Tell me what happened to the refugees in Yongzhou?"

Wang Anshi's face was filled with sorrow. He finally knelt down helplessly, knocked his head to the ground, and said sadly: "Your Majesty, I beg you to... execute the noble families of Bingzhou and Yongzhou!"

"Nine out of ten people go to the same place, and it's not unfair!"

"Oh?"

Zheng Yi frowned and asked, "What happened?"

"His Majesty!"

Wang Anshi took a deep breath and said, "We are ordered by the emperor to go to Yongping and Bingzhou to build the Grand Canal. In the early stage, we need to conduct a field survey to determine the location of the Grand Canal."

"At this time, local officials and people from aristocratic families came forward to obstruct it in every possible way. After Lord Lu issued an imperial decree to execute three officials, the matter was temporarily suppressed."

"When the refugees arrived and construction officially began, the officials and clerks who managed the construction site of the Grand Canal began to secretly obstruct and withhold the refugees' daily supplies."

“They also secretly instigated the refugees to go on strike and cause chaos in the city, causing the project to be stalled for several days.”

"The reason is that we need to dig up their land to build the Grand Canal, so they are obstructing us in every way!"

"Ok?"

Zheng Yi frowned and said, "Didn't I say that all the land occupied by the Grand Canal should be purchased with gold and silver, or exchanged for land of the same area? Why are they still making things difficult for them?"

"His Majesty!"

Wang Anshi said: "It will take at least eight to ten years to build the Grand Canal, but the gold and silver we allocated to buy the land was embezzled by local officials, and less than one-tenth of the silver reached the landowners."

"If this continues, the resentment of the refugees will grow even more violent. Lord Lu had no choice but to use the imperial sword again to execute the 17 officials who had been found to have embezzled money. Who knew that they would rebel on the spot!"

"They had already colluded with the local county soldiers and took advantage of our situation to directly besiege us. At the same time, they continued to seduce the refugees, causing them to surrender and then rebel again."

"Lord Lu died in battle, and I was attacked by the mob and jumped into the Canglong River to save my life."

Zheng Yi asked, "Where is Tian Wenjing? Isn't he the commander-in-chief of the Yongzhou Grand Canal and the imperial commissioner? Where is he?"

"he?!"

At this point, Wang Anshi's eyes were filled with hatred, and he gritted his teeth and said, "This time the Yongzhou Grand Canal rebellion happened, the culprit is this man!"

"what?"

Zheng Yi was surprised and said, "He is the imperial envoy appointed by me, how could he..."

"Your Majesty, you have been deceived by Tian Wenjing!"

Wang Anshi cried, "As soon as Tian Wenjing arrived in Yongzhou, he was entertained by local officials and noble families every day, and he spent almost every day at banquets and in brothels."

"Moreover, Lord Lu also discovered seven properties of Tian Wenjing in Chang'an Prefecture, Yanchang County, Datong County, Jinyang County and other places. Each property contains a large amount of gold and silver, and there are young and beautiful women living in it!"

"This person has already regarded the entire Yongzhou Grand Canal as his own private property..."

"Be bold!"

With a "bang", Zheng Yi slapped the table in front of him and smashed it to pieces. Wang Anshi looked at Zheng Yi in shock.

I didn't expect that Your Majesty has such advanced martial arts skills?
"Mr. Chen!"

"The old slave is here!"

An old man in black appeared silently in front of Wang Anshi, which scared Wang Anshi.

"Tell Chen Zhong and Chen Yi who are still in Yongzhou to check everything Wang Anshi just said, especially the several properties under Tian Wenjing's name!"

"Once the truth is revealed, Tian Wenjing must be arrested immediately. We must find him alive or dead!"

"promise!"

After Chen Liancang left, Wang Anshi said again: "Your Majesty, the civil unrest in Yongzhou this time was caused entirely by the oppression of the local noble families."

"The refugees are ignorant and deceived by the noble families. Your Majesty, please bear with us."

"Aristocratic family..."

Zheng Yi murmured, "Isn't it a good thing for both Yongzhou and Bingzhou to build the Yongzhou Grand Canal?"

"Once the Grand Canal is opened, the water from the Canglong River can be used to irrigate thousands of miles of fertile fields, turning Yong and Bing into granaries. Why do they want to stop it?" Wang Anshi shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, you are looking at the future of Dayu and the hundreds of millions of poor people in Dayu."

"But the aristocratic landlords in Yong and Bing only see their own immediate interests."

"During the construction of the Grand Canal, a lot of land was occupied, but many of the land was not within the scope of the Grand Canal. The court will not compensate for those lands."

"There are also factors such as the allocation of food and salary, land tax, the Canglong River flood, and the stability of refugees, all of which are things that undermine their interests."

“There are also illegal immigration and smuggling channels.”

Wang Anshi continued, "Yong and Bing are located on the border, and part of them are connected to Wu State, Xueyun State, and several small countries in the Western Regions."

"These noble families often smuggled salt, iron, tea, silk, etc. through the trade routes they developed, making a lot of money."

"If the imperial court successfully develops the Yongzhou Grand Canal, it will certainly attract the attention of the imperial court, and they will build a tax office here, manage the border, and even station troops there."

"By then, their trade routes will be cut off and all their privacy will be exposed to the eyes of the imperial court."

"That's why they united to secretly corrupt the Grand Canal officials and even secretly funded the rebellion, just to protect their own interests."

"In order to defeat the armies of Master Miao Xiu and Master Shi Heilang, they even provided weapons and armor to the rebels!"

"Ok?"

Zheng Yi's voice suddenly rose: "Weapons and armor? Where did they get them?"

Wang Anshi said angrily, "Your Majesty! You have never doubted before why the Wu army was able to easily cross the Canglong River and the border checkpoints to enter the heart of Dayu to plunder?"

"And how did they sell the gold, silver, money, cattle, horses, and livestock they looted?"

"In addition to the fact that some of them were secretly released by the generals guarding the pass, they are also closely related to the Bingzhou family, especially the Bingshang!"

"And negotiate?"

"Yes!"

Wang Anshi said: "Bingshang is a trade organization spontaneously formed by Bingzhou noble families and merchants. They have been traveling among Dayu, Wu, Xueyun, and Wei for many years."

"Dayu's tea, refined salt, and even ironware, armor and other items are all objects of their trade."

"Even our border defense maps, the number of officers and soldiers at each pass, drill conditions, etc., they can trade them!"

"The Wu Kingdom has been invading for many years and has been able to tie down hundreds of thousands of Dayu troops. Behind them are the shadows of these traitorous businessmen!"

"Is this true?"

Zheng Yi said in a deep voice that he originally thought that these aristocratic families were just large families that had multiplied for hundreds of years, passed down poetry, books, etiquette and Yi, and maintained their family property with real estate and business organizations.

Now it seems that this is not the case at all.

They have long put the interests of their family above the interests of the country.

For the sake of family interests, one can even sell out the country.

These noble families really deserve to be damned!

And negotiate!

Zheng Yi closed his eyes, and kept thinking about the real reason why the six northern states had been in turmoil for so many years.

Behind the scenes, there are indeed the shadows of these noble families!
Zheng Yi asked: "Do you have any real evidence for what you said?"

Wang Anshi smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty, when the noble families occupied various places, they had already established an inseparable relationship with the officials and garrisons of various places."

"Even the court is full of their personnel."

"Many loyal deeds have been submitted to your majesty, but the memorials were intercepted halfway before they could reach your majesty."

"If you don't believe it, you can send the Royal Guards to investigate."

"In the six states of the North, at least 50% of the land is occupied by local landlords and aristocratic families, and the country is simply unable to collect taxes."

"And their caravan has been sucking blood from Dayu..."

Listening to Wang Anshi's story, Zheng Yi also shook his head.

The dynasty had lasted for more than three hundred years, and due to serious land annexation, it had already gone on a different path.

He already knew these things in his heart.

But I didn't expect it to be so heavy!

"My dear, please get up!"

Zheng Yi walked forward and slowly helped him up: "My dear, what is the purpose of what you said?"

"Minister, for the sake of the people of the world!"

"The people of the world..."

Zheng Yi murmured, and a smile finally appeared in his eyes.

"Dayu has been nurturing scholars for more than 360 years, and finally there is someone who is willing to die for his integrity!"

"Wang Anshi, are you willing to be the one who supports the imperial court and mends the sky with one hand?"

Wang Anshi took a step back, straightened his clothes, knelt down and bowed, "Your Majesty, I am willing!"

"it is good!"

Zheng Yi clapped his hands and said, "I will trust you just once and give you my utmost trust. As long as you don't let me down, I will never let you down!"

"I am extremely terrified!"

"You are still young. You need to gain a few more years of experience before you can unleash your full revenge."

Zheng Yi said: "You can choose any place you want to go within the six departments."

"Tobe."

Wang Anshi said succinctly: "The people of the world are all here for profit. I am willing to work in the Ministry of Revenue and secretly investigate the land of the whole country!"

"As long as the land is stabilized, the tax revenue can be stabilized, and Dayu can be settled!"

"it is good!"

Zheng Yi said: "Then you will first join the Ministry of Revenue and become its chief official."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Wang Anshi left slowly. Zheng Yi looked at his back and said in a deep voice, "Thank you."

"The servant is here."

"Protect Wang Anshi in secret."

"promise."

"One more thing."

"Your Majesty, please clarify."

"Pass my secret order to General Xu Mujun, and have General Xu search Heishan Pass to see if there is any evidence that Bingshang is colluding with the Wu Kingdom."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)