Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"The silver traded in these four commercial towns amounted to two or three million strings of cash,"

"The grain supply must be at least five or six hundred thousand bushels,"

"And the medicinal herbs, pig iron, and other items are countless!"

"The exact number of people on Liangshan Mountain is currently unknown,"

"But with just these things, they could be besieged for ten or eight years,"

"I'm afraid even Liangshan can hold out!"

"What did you say? How could Liangshan be so wealthy?"

Huyan Zhuo's face was full of surprise.

"Two to three million strings of cash, and five to six hundred thousand bushels of grain,"

"This is equivalent to the tax revenue of a wealthy prefecture for one or two years!"

"Where did Liangshan get so much wealth?"

"General, you are unaware of this,"

The featherless arrow said helplessly.

"I wonder where Liangshan got their secret recipe for the craft,"

"It can turn coarse salt into fine, white salt,"

"It can also produce white sugar that is as white as frost!"

"These two items are naturally unaffordable for ordinary families,"

"But the wealthy and powerful love it very much."

"Since the establishment of the four commercial towns surrounding that lake,"

“The caravans that came from the south and north to trade refined salt and sugar with Liangshan were numerous and endless.”

"That's why Liangshan has become so wealthy today."

"So that's how it is,"

Huyan Zhuo gritted his teeth in anger.

"These despicable merchants will make money from anything!"

"When I was in the Western Army, I often caught merchants who were secretly trading with the Western Xia Kingdom!"

"General, merchants are obsessed with making money,"

The Featherless Arrow laughed.

"The Liangshan people could easily make ten times, or even twenty or thirty times, the profit from reselling refined salt and sugar,"

"Not to mention ordinary merchants, even wealthy families in the prefectures and counties are often involved, and some even..."

Chapter 730 The Source of Chaos

Speaking of the featherless arrow,

He didn't continue speaking.

His expression suggested he wanted to say something but hesitated.

There's clearly more to the story than meets the eye.

"Even what?"

Huyan Zhuo asked another question...

A thought suddenly struck me.

Thinking back to his time in the Western Army,

Those generals of the imperial court,

They also frequently instructed their servants to pose as merchants and trade with the Western Xia.

And these prefectures of Shandong,

If the profits from refined salt and white sugar are truly that high,

Isn't that also...?

"Could it be that Texas state officials in this area are also involved?"

Hu Yanzhuo asked in a low voice.

"The general guessed correctly,"

The Featherless Arrow sighed softly.

"As far as I know, these are the families of government officials in the various prefectures of Shandong,"

"Those who were less timid would send their servants to pose as merchants and trade their own money with Liangshan,"

"And the bolder ones directly embezzled money and grain from the state government to trade with Liangshan!"

"What did you say? Misappropriation?"

Huyan Zhuo was stunned.

"How dare these officials be so audacious?"

Aren't they afraid that the imperial court will send officials to investigate?

"General, don't forget, both refined salt and white sugar are extremely profitable businesses,"

The Featherless Arrow sighed.

“Those officials have long since made a fortune by misappropriating money and grain from the government granaries.”

"Even if the imperial court sends people to investigate, they only need to use a small portion of it to make up for the deficit in the official granaries,"

"Take some more money to bribe officials at all levels,"

"Naturally, big problems can be turned into small ones, and small problems can be resolved altogether!"

"How could the officials in these Shandong prefectures be so corrupt?"

Huyan Zhuo's face was filled with disbelief.

"General, now that we have conquered the world, isn't this the case everywhere?"

The featherless arrow's face was full of mockery.

"As the saying goes, what the superiors do, the inferiors follow; the adults in Tokyo are eagerly awaiting gifts from the local authorities every day,"

"Local officials, in order to get promoted, will naturally try their best to exploit the local area."

"And how could Shandong be an exception!"

These words,

Huyan Zhuo was silent for a long time after hearing this.

He served as a general in the army for many years.

Naturally, they had long understood the current state of the court.

It was already completely rotten.

"No wonder this time there was clearly an imperial decree."

Huyan Zhuo said angrily,

“Those local officials also dare to send old, weak, sick and disabled people to fill the quota.”

"General, you've wronged them."

The Featherless Arrow laughed.

"Although it's easy to make money at Liangshan,"

"But how could local officials dare to disregard the imperial decree?"

"Moreover, this campaign to wipe out Liangshan was led by Cai Xiang and his men."

"What about this?"

Huyan Zhuo frowned and asked.

"General, Shandong is not like Kaifeng,"

Zhang Qing said helplessly.

"Last year, because the imperial court forcefully implemented the Green Sprouts Act,"

"It has already caused widespread public outrage and resentment in the local area, and the people are in an uproar."

"Now that Liangshan has taken the lead, bandits have sprung up everywhere."

"With elite troops and strong generals in charge of the prefecture, it is still possible to suppress bandits,"

"And some of those weak prefectures are even surrounded by bandits,"

"No local officials dared to leave the city even once on ordinary days,"

"I was afraid of encountering those bandits and being robbed by them."

"I never imagined the situation in the various prefectures of Shandong would be so dire,"

Huyan Zhuo sighed deeply.

“When I was in the capital, Cai Xiang and the others never mentioned these things to me.”

"All Cai and his ilk care about is the money they collect each year; they have no time to worry about anything else,"

Zhang Qing mocked,

"They are the culprits behind the current chaos in the world!"

"Alright! Don't say those things again!"

Huyan Zhuo glared at the Featherless Arrow with a warning look.

"I have no problem hearing about what happened today,"

"But what if other people hear this?"

Do you also want to end up like Lin Chong?

This campaign to suppress Liangshan,

Although Huyan Zhuo was the main general,

But his soldiers,

However, they were all selected from the Imperial Guards of Tokyo.

Many of the lower-ranking officers were also originally from the Imperial Guard.

some of,

That must have included confidants of Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and others.

This Qing dynasty slandered Cai Jing and Tong Guan.

Huyan Zhuo can be let go of the matter.

But once this news reaches Tokyo,

Zhang Qing will definitely get a severe beating!

By then,

I'm afraid even Huyan Zhuo will be implicated.

"Yes!"

The featherless arrow quickly agreed.

He was just acting impulsively.

That's when he blurted it out.