I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 356 Death with a Rod
The farmers and tenants present fell silent for a moment.

The new owners claim they'll stand up for them? Is that true? Or are they just saying nice things to make them believe them?

The farmers and tenants all looked at the old man who had spoken first.

The old man's hand, which was holding a cane, trembled. "Is what the young lady said true?"

“Of course!” Qiu Yu raised her chin. “My young lady is none other than Princess Zhaoshan, whose words are law. How could she possibly deceive you?”

Upon hearing the words "Princess Zhaoshan," Yang Quan felt a wave of dizziness.

Oh no, it really is that person!
Princess Zhaoshan?! The old man's eyes widened suddenly, and for the first time he looked up at Tang Zhao, "Who is General Song, the pillar of the nation, to you?"

Qiu Yu looked displeased; how dare this old man speak to a young woman like that?

Tang Zhao smiled slightly, "It is indeed my maternal grandfather."

The old man's cloudy eyes instantly filled with tears. He threw away his cane, knelt on the ground, and shouted with his head held high, "God! You have finally opened your eyes!"

He prostrated himself before Tang Zhao, saying, "Your Highness, please have mercy and save us poor people!"

Tang Zhao pursed her lips and said, "Tell me your grievances, and if they are true, I will do my best to help you!"

"Fellow villagers, did you hear that? Her Highness the Princess is going to uphold justice for us!" The old man trembled with joy and excitement.

A woman behind him finally couldn't hold back any longer. She pushed aside the people in front of her and rushed to kneel down three steps away from Tang Zhao. "Your Highness, I beg you to do justice for my poor husband and children!"

Tang Zhao: "Tell me slowly."

"My family used to be tea farmers in the neighborhood. We had twenty acres of tea land. Although we weren't rich, we were able to make a living. But twelve years ago, the Yang family bought Wuqishan Mountain. In order to expand their farm, they sent people to forcibly buy our family's tea land!"

“Our family depends on this tea plantation for a living, how could we sell it? The Yang family came to our door several times, but seeing that the young woman and her husband were determined not to sell, they plotted to frame my son for killing a Yang family servant. Without saying a word, the government imprisoned the young woman’s son.”

"To save her son, the young woman's husband went to the yamen to plead his case, but the prefect had him flogged thirty times for shouting in court, leaving him covered in blood! He died less than three days after returning home! The Yang family's servants came to the door and said that if they didn't sell the tea land, the next one to die would be the young woman's son!"

"In order to save her son, the young woman sold her tea plantation to the Yang family. Twenty acres of tea plantation, and the Yang family only gave her twenty taels of silver!"

Tang Zhao's eyes were already filled with anger. Although land prices in Minzhou were low, the price of one mu of land would not be less than three taels. This Yang family really had no shame.

"The young woman originally thought that if the land was sold cheaply, so be it, as long as her son could get out of prison, the family could stay far away. But the young woman waited and waited, and in the end, she only received the news that her son had died tragically in prison!"

The woman wept bitterly, her heart breaking. Spring Breeze turned her head away, unable to bear it, while Autumn Rain's eyes were already red.

"Upon hearing the news, the young woman immediately fainted. When she woke up, she and her daughter and young son had entered the farm and become tenants!"

"The young woman, concerned for her two children, dared not offend the Yang family again. She just wanted to raise her children peacefully. Who knew," the woman raised her head and looked fiercely at Yang Quan, "that this beast would take a fancy to the young woman's daughter and force her to take her as a concubine. The young woman's daughter resisted to the death, but this beast and his farm thugs forcibly kidnapped her!"

Tang Zhao looked at Yang Quan, who was so frightened that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Wu Yi sneered and stepped forward, breaking his right leg with a single kick.

"Ah!" Yang Quan's heart-wrenching scream echoed throughout the manor.

"The young woman waited outside the manor gate all night, only to find her daughter's cold body," the woman cried out.

Tang Zhao: "How did her daughter die?" "It has nothing to do with me. She killed herself by running into a wall!"

Tang Zhao narrowed her eyes, her gaze unfriendly. "I think you don't even want your tongue anymore."

Yang Quan's face turned pale. "It was me. I tried to force myself on that girl, but she refused to comply even at the cost of her life. I wasn't watching her closely enough, and she ran into the wall and died."

The woman recalled her daughter's sunken forehead and blood-soaked face. Her chest heaved violently. She stood up and pounced on Yang, fighting desperately.

Yang Quan wanted to fight back, but after glancing at Wu Yi'er, who was watching him intently, he ultimately dared not.

When the woman was exhausted from fighting, Chunfeng stepped forward, pulled her away, and comforted her in a low voice.

Seeing that Yang Quan, who was once arrogant and domineering, allowed the women to beat him without retaliating, the tenant farmers were greatly encouraged. They began to recount their experiences of being oppressed and exploited by Yang Quan's family and clan over the years. Many of them could not suppress their sorrow and burst into tears.

Tang Zhao: "Yang Quan, is there anything else you want to say?"

Yang Quan moved his lips, his head pounding heavily on the ground. "Your Highness, spare my life! I was only acting on orders from the Yang family!"

"You mean, the Yang family allowed you to forcibly marry respectable women as concubines? The Yang family allowed you to embezzle farmers' wages and grain? The Yang family allowed you to arbitrarily beat and kill tenants?"

Tang Zhao raised her voice, "How about this, you come with me to the Yang family. If you testify against the Yang family, I will forgive you and grant you acquittal, how about that?"

Yang Quan kowtowed repeatedly, begging, "Your Highness, spare my life! Your Highness, spare my life!"

He was a servant born into the Yang family, and the life and death of his entire family were in the hands of the Yang family. It was a capital offense for a servant to accuse his master. Even if the princess spared his life, the Yang family would not let his entire family go!

Tang Zhao: "Guards, beat Yang Quan and his wife to death with sticks!"

"Yes!" Wu Yi'er and Wu Bing'san found a thick wooden stick in the courtyard, and Chao Hui and Chao Yi pressed down on Yang Quan and his wife. Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of farmers and tenants, Yang Quan and his wife were beaten to death.

Yang was so frightened that he wet his pants.

"As for you," Tang Zhao looked at Yang Da and the others, "although you have done many bad things, you have no lives on your hands, so I will not kill you."

Yang Da clenched his fists nervously.

"Send them and the thugs from the village to the prefectural government office and order Prefect Ma to punish them according to the laws of Dayu!"

Yang Da and the others were dragged away by the personal guards of the Protector General's Mansion.

The woman couldn't stop her tears. "Your Highness, what about the Yang family?"

“The Yang family is powerful and cannot be easily dealt with,” Tang Zhao reassured her. “But I assure you, I will not leave Jiangnan until the Yang family is eliminated!”

"This humble woman thanks Your Highness for your great kindness!" the woman said, about to kneel down.

Tang Zhao personally helped the woman up, saying, "For the sake of the court, I cannot immediately avenge your family. I hope you can understand."

“I understand,” the woman forced a smile. “We’ve waited twelve years, what’s a few more years?”

She didn't understand the big picture or politics, but she knew that Her Highness the Princess had the heart to stand up for them!
In the woman's simple mind, she naturally believed that a princess could easily deal with the Yang family.