Although it was not easy to convince Yangzhou officials to stand on their side and make enemies of the Xu family, Yang Zhen understood that it was even more difficult to put all this into action. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Although Yan Huan's testimony and the drawings of the sea ship can deal a big blow to the Xu family, this is obviously far from enough, and they must be pressured from other aspects to hit the prestige of the Xu family with as much substantive evidence as possible, to weaken their influence, and to let more people stand on their side, so that they can fight and defeat them in Jiangnan, the home field of the Xu family.

Although the emperor's will to Yang Zhen was only for him to find out the truth, Yang Zhen already had his own plan after thinking about it - to completely destroy the Xu family! Although it was several times more difficult to do this than what was said in the will, Yang Zhen did not hesitate at all.

Fortunately, at this moment, Yangzhou, where he is located, is not the most powerful Nanjing and Songjiang Mansion of the Xu family, and those local officials have been moved by him, so it is not easy to do something. And the only thing that needs to be careful is that his purpose is known to the people of the Xu family before he has sufficient evidence, and he naturally has some proper preparations for this.

If you want to find out what the Xu family committed in Yangzhou, you naturally have to find the bitter master or an insider. At this point, they can do it under the pretext of tracking down the follow-up matters of the Cao Gang case, but they are not afraid of being seen as clues. Even if someone really has any suspicions about this, there is no evidence, do the people of his Xu family dare to go to the prefect's yamen to question and investigate in detail?

However, these are only circumstantial evidence after all, and what can really be regarded as a killer by Yang Zhen is the Xu family's violation of the sea ban. He believed that with the Xu family's family business and their courage, the cooperation with the Cao Gang must not be the first smuggling, and if they dig deeper, they can always find some stronger evidence.

Therefore, in addition to asking the officials of Yangzhou to search for usable bitter witness certificates in the city in the name of investigating the Cao Gang case, he also sent many brothers to the coastal area to search for clues about the Xu family's smuggling out to sea. However, these two aspects are delicate work, and they are not so easy to do.

As for Yang Zhen himself, he sat in the government office, while suppressing the Yangzhou officials so that they would not suddenly defect, and on the other hand, he was also waiting for the echo of the instructions he gave to the Zhenfu Division before. And according to these clues, the next step is arranged.

Time also passed little by little in this seemingly boring and tedious search for clues and waiting for echoes, and July came to an end, and it was the August season when the cinnamon was fragrant. At this time, Zeng Zhitan, who had been ordered by Yang Zhen to rush from Hangzhou to Songjiang to visit the news of the Xu family, finally rushed back to report.

Although Yang Zhen had set a time limit for him before, this time he didn't mean to investigate it when he didn't come until this time, just said a word of hard work, and asked him to tell him in detail about the situation he had discovered.

Zeng Zhitan hurried to Yang Zhen to report: "My lord, this Xu family is indeed arrogant to the extreme in Songjiang and Huating. They almost monopolized the most profitable business over there, such as silk and tea. And if ordinary people want to get involved, they have to cooperate with them and become members of the Xu family. There were a few big businessmen in the silk business who were very dissatisfied with this and wanted to fight against the Xu family, but a few days later, at night, the warehouse where they stored their goods was burned down. Several of them found the yamen to complain, but in the end they were convicted of false accusations and finally exiled for thousands of miles! It is precisely because of this incident that many businessmen know the miserable end of a hard encounter with the Xu family, so they can only give in in the end. ”

"What substantive evidence is there to prove that the Xu family did what you said?" Yang Zhen asked quietly. To be honest, he has heard a lot about this kind of thing, and many local wealthy families have done it a lot, so naturally it is impossible to be angry, he only cares about whether it can be evidence against the Xu family.

"This ...... But no. These are all obtained from private investigations, but the evidence must have been destroyed by the Xu family a long time ago. Zeng Zhitan shook his head with a wry smile, but then said: "But there are other things that can be found to be substantiated." ”

"Oh? But what is it? Yang Zhen suddenly became interested and hurriedly asked.

"About their crime of grabbing fertile land." Zeng Zhitan replied: "In the past few decades, the Xu family has changed from a small landlord with only a few hundred acres of land and two houses to a huge family that covers an area of tens of thousands and houses today.

In this regard, the lowly officials have also led people to carefully verify that most of them forcibly buy the land they like from others at very low prices, and some of them exchange relatively barren land for fertile land. Of course, it is inevitable that the land will be obtained through more drastic means, but these are no longer documented. However, the first two kinds of evidence, because they need to be registered in the yamen, have become conclusive evidence. ”

"Huh?" Yang Zhen was stunned for a moment, and then he understood. Although the government statistical record work of the Ming Dynasty cannot be compared with that of later generations, it also has a similar function. In particular, those people who attach great importance to land and real estate will register and record in the government, and if there is a sale or transfer, they will also register in the government again with the testimony of an intermediary. In this way, you can avoid disputes that may arise in the future, and it is also the right way to protect your private property.

However, this is only for the normal sale and transfer of land and real estate, and the behavior of forcing the purchase and sale of land and houses at a price far lower than the normal price of the Xu family will become fatal evidence. Who would casually sell something worth a hundred taels to someone for a dozen or twenty taels of silver? As long as this point is grasped, it is enough to convince people of how despicable the Xu family's methods in it are.

Yang Zhen nodded with satisfaction: "This is indeed a big deal." And presumably they must have done a lot of such things, and the accumulation of a small amount will be more beneficial to the establishment of the Xu family's crimes. ”

Seeing Yang Zhen's approval, Zeng Zhitan showed a happy smile on his face, but then frowned: "But these things are stored in the yamen, and it's not so simple for us to check it." ”

"Don't worry too much about this, no one dares not to show what we Jinyiwei wants to check. And even in this Yangzhou Mansion, I am afraid that a similar situation is indispensable. Speaking of this, Yang Zhen's eyes suddenly narrowed, he thought of those officials, no one actually mentioned this to him, let alone showed himself these evidence. Obviously, these guys still have some reservations, and they still have to be beaten a little more to make them obedient.

After turning this thought, Yang Zhen returned his attention to Zeng Zhitan: "Zeng Qianhu, in addition to these two points, do you have any other gains this time?" ”

Zeng Zhitan hesitated for a moment before saying: "There is another matter, I feel that it may also be related to the Xu family, but I dare not guarantee the truth." ”

"You say."

"Yes. In fact, just two days ago, after arriving in Huating, there was a tragedy in the county, and a family of five died in their own yards, and they obviously committed suicide. However, according to the rumors of the people nearby, they were forced to death by Xu Ligong, the steward of the Xu family. It was Xu Ligong who fell in love with the daughter of this family and wanted to take her as a concubine, but the family knew that this Xu steward was good at fishing, and the woman who followed him eventually disappeared, so he refused to push his daughter into the fire pit at all, which annoyed him. At that time, Xu Ligong once put down his words in front of everyone after being drunk, unless the family died, he must get his daughter. Unexpectedly, not long after this, something happened to the family. So the people are spreading it in private, everything is caused by Xu Ligong's persecution......" Zeng Zhitan repeated what he knew.

Yang Zhen was silent after hearing this, and only said after a while: "Is this one steward actually like this?" It seems that the Xu family is indeed a local emperor-like existence. Before, he only felt that the Zhang family in Jiangling was acting hatefully, and he would do everything to seize his own land. But now it seems that compared with the Xu family, the Zhang family is already kind.

"Yes, I went to Songjiang at this humble point, especially after entering Huating County, I have a deep understanding. For the people there, the Xu family is their heaven, and the government is nothing at all. ”

"Are the people afraid of it? This Xu family can indeed be regarded as covering the sky with one hand in Huating. But did they ever think that the time had not yet come for the people to dare to resist, and once the time came, coupled with someone raising their arms, their demise would only be in an instant. Those who have won the hearts of the people since ancient times have prospered, and those who have lost the hearts of the people have perished, and they should not be too far from extinction. Yang Zhen said with some emotion.

"Your Excellency is very true! This time, you will definitely be able to uproot this cancer in Huating County! Zeng Zhi hurriedly agreed.

"Don't put a top hat on me, just help me do a good job, and the credit will be yours." Yang Zhen smiled and patted the other party's shoulder and said, "You have worked hard this time, so go down and rest." ”

After he left, Yang Zhen slowly exhaled. Now that he has a lot of evidence, he also has a clue to deal with the Xu family, and he just needs to wait for the news in the capital and the clues about the sea ban that can really put the Xu family to death, and he can really take action.

Although only the evidence of the crime he has can be described as the evil deeds of the Xu family in a sentence, Yang Zhen knows that the only thing that can make the imperial court make up its mind to deal with the Xu family, especially the former first assistant Xu Jie, is such a major event as the sea ban!