Several merchants have Suzhou accents, and their voices are subdued, even if they scold people, they are strange and good-sounding: "Chen Wangmo is a red guy, a little bit unsophisticated, don't stop fooling around!" The housewife waited for me to go back for the New Year, look at this morning light, how crooked I will go back! ”

Qin Lin didn't understand what he heard, and he probably knew that this person scolded Chen Wangmo, the chief military officer of Caoyun, for causing the Cao Gang to stop the operation, so that he couldn't go back to reunite with his wife.

Zhang Zixuan grinned, and seeing that Qin Lin didn't understand much, he sat closer and explained to him.

It turned out that these Suzhou businessmen, you and I, were complaining that Chen Wangmo had stopped the Cao Gang, and the canal from Qingjiangpu to Hangzhou was almost paralyzed.

They bought a ship of Yunjin from Nanjing and wanted to transport it back to Suzhou, along the Yangtze River to Zhenjiang Mansion should have turned into the Jiangnan Canal, but unexpectedly the Cao Gang stopped, the Zhenjiang section of the Jiangnan Canal was paralyzed, and several Suzhou people were anxious to go home for the New Year, so they continued to go down the Yangtze River, wanting to take the Xicheng Canal (branch small canal) from Jiangyin to Wuxi and then turn into the Grand Canal, so as to avoid the paralyzed Zhenjiang section.

Unexpectedly, even the Xicheng Canal was blocked, so they were trapped in Jiangyin, sitting in the restaurant in a hurry, gritting their teeth and scolding Chen Wangmo for being a bastard.

Qin Lin's heart chuckled, and he immediately stepped forward to salute: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have just bought some seafood from Baishuiyang, and I am about to transport them to Jingshi for sale, but I just heard from you that the canal is blocked, I don't know what's going on?" Yangzhou to Qingjiangpu is still not passable? ”

"It's so crooked!" The Suzhou guest said only to find that Qin Lin stared at him and didn't understand, so he changed to official words again: "It's strange that you can go well this time!" Chen Wangmo, a faint official, couldn't recover Caoyin by himself, so he forced the Cao Gang to make up for it, and arrested the Cao Gang's chief A, deputy A, Huitou, and dock boss......

Qin Lin pretended to be puzzled: "The general merchant of the Cao Gang was arrested, but the slender man, boatman, and wharf force under were not arrested, why did the canal stop operating?" ”

Suzhou Ke pouted: "Little brother, now it is said that 500,000 Cao silver will be shared equally by the Cao Gang, and each person has to pay five taels of silver. Now those who work hard are panicked, how can anyone load goods, pull fiber, and catch the ship for you! ”

"It's not the Cao Gang who are here to make amends, right?" A merchant with a Huzhou accent at the table next to him heard this side and retorted: "I just came from Changshu two days ago, and they all said that they would make up for the deficit with this year's autumn grain for the second time, so many mud legs were panicked, and the squire was also discussing the need to resist taxes and donations." ”

"Hmph, where did you say that? The silver was not stolen at all! Another fat man looked sneakily left and right, lowered his voice, and said:

"I heard that because of Zhang Xiangye's new policy, it is called a whip law that shortens the treasury money and grain, and the imperial historian is on the book, and he was reprimanded by Jinshang and Empress Dowager Li. So Xiang Ye asked the government to deliberately hide the silver and shout to catch the thief, so that he could collect more money and grain for the first time, and save his face in front of the court - do you know no, the robbery happened in Sanwan, Yangzhou, and the canal silt was full of tin, that is, the government first exchanged tin for silver, so as to hide people's eyes! ”

When Qin Lin heard this, his heart sank violently, and he almost thought of the conspiracy of the White Lotus Sect.

Zhang Zixuan's delicate body trembled, she grabbed Qin Lin's arm tightly, her lips kept trembling, her beautiful goose egg face completely lost its blood, and with the turmeric water applied before, it became sallow and pale.

Qin Lin almost half-hugged and half-hugged her back to her position, and the few businessmen were arguing with themselves, spreading all kinds of gossip.

Zhang Zixuan suddenly grabbed a large glass of Heidu wine on the table, drank it all, and then let out a sigh of relief, forced herself to regain her composure, dropped the small ingots to the bartender, and pulled Qin Lin downstairs.

"Since the Red Turban Army at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the past of Daming Longxing, Brother Qin must still remember?" Zhang Zixuan asked as she hurried away.

Qin Lin frowned: "Mo Dao Shiren has one eye, provoking the Yellow River to rebel in the world!" ”

In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, Han Shantong, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, burned incense and cast mantras to spread the White Lotus Sect, intending to mobilize the peasants to overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.

In April of the first year of Yuan Zhizheng, the imperial court forcibly conscripted the people to repair the Yellow River breach, and when the migrant workers dug the river, they dug out the one-eyed stone man buried at the bottom of the river by Han Shantong and Liu Futong in advance.

At that time, the rumor that circulated among the people, "Mo Dao Shiren has one eye, instigating the Yellow River to rebel in the world", was fulfilled. Han Shantong and Liu Futong gathered all the river workers and people, killed the white horse, the black bull and the alliance uprising, and wrapped the red cloth on the head called the Red Turban Army, so the world responded in groups, and Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Taizu Gao, also threw himself under the command of Guo Zixing, the general of the Red Turban Army.

Thinking that Meng Yuan is a generation of Tianjiao, the iron cavalry is known as invincible in Europe and Asia, destroying countless countries, and ruling the Central Plains is also extremely cruel and ferocious, why is it that Han and Liu are uncontrollable when they start an incident?

In addition to the brutal rule of the Yuan Dynasty, the anger of the heavens and the resentment of the people, etc., the backbone of the uprising chosen by Han Shantong and Liu Futong is very important.

Now the White Lotus Sect is repeating its old skills, targeting the 100,000 gang members of the Cao Gang, they are also strong men, and they also have the corresponding organization and discipline because of the complex Cao Yun work...... Caogong rebelled, the canal was suspended, the price of grain in Beijing was bound to soar, the people of the entire north were panicked, and even the soldiers of the nine sides would be shaken, and the blockage of the canal brought great trouble to the imperial court to dispatch troops, and it was difficult for the elite border army and the new army under Qi Jiguang to go south quickly...... For the White Lotus Sect, this is even better than the situation of Han and Liu at the end of the Yuan Dynasty!

Qin Lin also understood the previous circumstances:

While inciting the Cao Gang, the White Lotus Sect also spread rumors in places far away from the Cao Yun line that they would levy the second round of autumn grain and silver, which induced dissatisfaction among the gentry and peasants against the imperial court and created a favorable situation for the uprising.

On the other hand, the reason why the White Lotus Sect was relieved to hand over the silver to the Wufeng Maritime Merchants was that they were confident that they would soon take the land of Jiangnan into their pockets, and as long as Jin Yingji wanted to continue doing business, she would have to obediently send the silver back to Sanqikai!

Qin Lin pulled Zhang Zixuan and ran away: Damn, the White Lotus Sect is too cunning, I hope it's not too late to see through the conspiracy now! ——

Yixing County, the capital of Changzhou, is famous for its purple clay pots, but Yixing people don't rely on a few purple clay pots to eat - Yixing is a large grain-producing county in the south of the Yangtze River and a land of fish and rice on the edge of Taihu Lake.

It is still some distance from the Jiangnan Canal, compared to Wuxi Jiangyin and other places along the river and along the canal, Yixing, a rich county, is relatively closed, people shake the fan by the Taihu Lake in summer to blow the cool breeze, and cook tea in the red clay stove in winter, accustomed to this leisurely and self-satisfied life.

But now, people's leisure has been shattered by bad news.

In the small village at the foot of Jingnan Mountain, there were peasant women holding children standing outside the ancestral hall, and a group of men were crowded inside, talking to the patriarch sitting in the middle:

"Uncle Tai, do you have to ask for money and food again? After paying the rent and paying the national tax on the imperial grain, each of our families will eat the rest until next year's harvest of new grain, and at most we can buy some salt and tear a few feet of cloth; But if the money and grain are levied again, every household will not be able to survive the spring! ”

"Your old man is talking!"

The villagers inside and outside the ancestral hall either had a sad face or were filled with righteous indignation, and they were aggrieved and angry: the government itself lost the money and grain that had been paid, so why should it be requisitioned again? Do you want people to live!

On the edge of Taihu Lake, it is a different scene.

The water of the lake is rippling, the boats are gently rocking, the water chestnut lotus root, fish, shrimp, turtles and turtles in the lake feed hundreds of fishermen, at this time dozens of fishing boats are moored at a distance of twenty or thirty feet from the shore, the old and weak women and children are sitting in the cabins, and the dark-skinned fishermen are standing on the bow of each family talking.

A stout fisherman clapped the canopy and exclaimed, "I can't live!" What kind of whip method is Zhang Lao'er doing, but the price of fish is low this year, how many fish did grandpa sell to get together the folded silver of the nagging, and he has to levy it a second time,, cut off the meat of grandpa and sell it! ”

"Isn't this the government forcing the people to rebel?" Someone whispered.

"It's the opposite!" The stout fisherman raised the harpoon in his hand and shouted: "Now that the catastrophe is coming, the heavens and the earth are dark, the moon is dark, the Buddha mother has come to the world, and the Ming Dynasty is about to die, where are we afraid of him?" ”

In the jurisdiction of Jintan County, Zhenjiang, a remote village suddenly became lively.

I don't know when it began, the White Lotus Sect spread rapidly here, giving water, treating people's diseases, chanting scriptures to drive away evil spirits, and gradually more and more villagers secretly converted to the childless mother, and now the whole village has become a devout believer.

And today, many people with new faces appear in the village, and the villagers entertain guests like brothers, because these are brothers of the same religion, friends from the vacuum hometown, and after death, people will also return to the vacuum hometown like brothers, come and go, dust to dust, earth to earth, only the light will appear in the world.

The White Lotus cultists wore a variety of clothes, from the cotton robes of merchants to the short jackets of farmers, from silk shoes to straw sandals, but they all wore white lotus flowers tied with paper on their chests.

The crowd gathered in the open space at the entrance of the village, stretched their necks to look at the stage, everyone's faces turned sickly red, excited, excited and excited in anticipation of something.

Four young disciples armed with swords, purifying bottles, dusting pestles, and demon slaying pestles walked onto the stage with a tall man with a square face and a wide mouth.

"The light is generally pure, and the joy is extinguished without moving the curse; He has no trouble with joy, but there is no use in suffering. Always be happy and bright, if you say that you are sick, it is useless. If there are those who can live in other countries, they will be worry-free. ”

The man recited the verse, dipped his fingers in the water in the bottle and sprinkled it down, and the believers who were stained with the nectar of the divine water were as if they were drunk.

Suddenly, the man took out a copper lotus flower from his arms and shouted: "No old mother, vacuum hometown, the red sun is dead, and the white sun is alive!" Everyone starts with me, blessed by the lifeless old mother, with great merit in front of you, and returns to the true position after death! ”

Echoing like thunder below, the farmer no longer holds a hoe in his hand, but a variety of weapons.

(To be continued)