Since it is impossible to talk about macroeconomics with Ye Zongliu and I know the final answer to his and Bian He's path, it means that this topic cannot be discussed further.
So Shen Yichen had to change the subject and asked Ye Zongliu about the local gangs that wanted to attack him.
"Chief Ye, may I ask what is going on with the Jingkou gang?"
Shen Yichen still didn't understand why a passing scholar like him would offend a local gang. And from their words, it seemed that they were not here for money, but specifically for him.
"Does Chief Shen still remember Zhao Tongpan and the son of Prefect Su from last night?"
Is it really them?
It’s not that Shen Yichen didn’t have doubts, but he felt that it didn’t make sense logically.
It was just a little street conflict, but they wanted to hunt down me, the son of Duke Chengguo and the top three winners in the Yingtian Prefecture contest. Could the other party be so rampant?
He was only a sixth-rank Tongpan, and even with the Zhenjiang prefect, he was only a fifth-rank civil servant. Where did he get the confidence to think he could cover the sky with one hand?
If there were really officials who were this stupid, they would have been eliminated from the officialdom long ago and would not have been able to hold their current positions.
"In the territory of Zhenjiang Prefecture, has a judge already gone so far as to disregard the law?"
Facing Shen Yichen's question, Ye Zongliu smiled and shook his head, then continued: "Mr. Shen probably thinks that Judge Zhao is targeting you because of the dispute last night?"
"Is not it?"
I have never met Zhao Tongpan and others before. Apart from dealing with them last night, I have had no contact with them. How could there be any grudges between us?
"Of course not. They are so panicked because you, Mr. Shen, said you wanted to report to the Censorate."
"Chief Ye means that there are bigger problems behind them?"
Shen Yichen understood Ye Zongliu's words very keenly. Even if the small street conflict was reported to the Censorate, it would not have any impact on Zhao Tongpan.
There is even a high probability that the Censorate will not care about such trivial matters between young masters.
Since the other party is so afraid of the Censorate's investigation, there must be another hidden story behind it.
"Yes, the problem lies with the refugees on the streets of Zhenjiang Prefecture."
"President Zhao and others embezzled disaster relief supplies."
"As expected of Mr. Shen, you are really quick-witted."
After a brief contact, Ye Zongliu realized that Shen Yichen was not the kind of pedantic scholar who studied hard.
However, it was beyond his expectation that the other party could react to the problem so quickly. It was indeed not easy.
"Very good. I wonder if Chief Ye has any evidence of Zhao Tongpan's corruption."
Shen Yichen said this expressionlessly, and his temperament instantly became cold, completely different from the gentle impression he had given before.
What Shen Yichen said before about reporting the Censorate was just a name to scare Zhao Tongpan. If he really told Sun Tixue about such a trivial matter and asked him to stand up for him, what difference would it make from the young masters who bully others by taking advantage of their power?
I'm afraid that the final result will be counterproductive and will ruin the impression I leave in Sun Tixue's mind.
Now we have clues of embezzlement of disaster relief silver and grain. As long as it is true, it will be enough to bring down Zhao Tongpan and others.
Shen Yichen didn't know that the other party just wanted to scare him, and thought he was going to take his life.
But none of this mattered. Shen Yichen had his own code of conduct, which was not to take the initiative to harm others. Since the other party had provoked the incident, he would not show any mercy.
Even if we take a step back and say that there was no Jingkou Gang, as long as Shen Yichen can get evidence that Zhao Tongpan and others embezzled silver and grain, he will still choose to report it to Sun Tixue.
This is not to vent one's personal vengeance, but for the sake of the thousands of refugees struggling to survive in Zhenjiang Prefecture, and to ensure that taking the world as one's responsibility does not become a joke!
Ye Zongliu had also been on the edge of a knife all the way. He could clearly feel the change in Shen Yichen's aura, and there was an irrepressible "murderous intent" in him.
No wonder he could have such a pleasant conversation with a "traitor" like himself. The chief of the Yingtian case might also have a ruthless nature.
"We don't have any evidence yet, but if Chief Shen wants it, we have a way to get the account books of the grain and silver in the Zhenjiang treasury."
"If Chief Case Officer Shen had acted quickly enough and investigated before the Zhenjiang officials set fire to the granary, he would have seen the empty granary. That's how the relief money was embezzled."
Ye Zongliu had already learned about Shen Yichen's identity and background from Bian He.
He had no doubt that with Shen Yichen's connections, he could get to the bottom of the Zhenjiang Prefecture's embezzlement of disaster relief silver and grain.
As someone who also came from a poor family, Ye Zonglu could empathize with the suffering of the refugees, most of whom were from his hometown in Zhejiang.
If Shen Yichen can really save these thousands of refugees from danger, Ye Zongliu has made up his mind that even if it costs his life, he will help him find evidence of corruption!
"Well, I will write a letter to Lord Sun, the Censor of Yingtian, and I hope that Chief Ye will deliver the account books and other evidence as well."
"Shen Yichen is here to represent the suffering refugees of Zhenjiang Prefecture and thank Chief Ye for his righteous act!"
After saying that, Shen Yichen bowed to Ye Zongliu.
I just wrote a letter, but for the other party to get these evidences, the difficulty and cost behind it would be incomparable.
"No, I should thank Mr. Shen for his selflessness on behalf of the people of Zhejiang."
Ye Zongliu saluted Shen Yichen solemnly with his fists clasped. He had seen countless bureaucrats treating the common people as straw dogs, and Shen Yichen was the first high-ranking official's son who cared about the suffering of the refugees.
"I didn't do anything to deserve it."
Shen Yichen waved his hands, feeling that he had not done much.
"If all the scholars in the world were like Mr. Shen, then there would be no need to do anything more."
A bitter smile appeared on Ye Zongliu's lips. To be honest, he was not a complete illiterate miner.
On the contrary, Ye Zongliu attended a private school and learned elementary education when he was young, and only started practicing martial arts when he grew up. He can be said to be a man of both civil and military talents.
Later, he inherited his uncle's profession and became a miner. He also vowed to "cut down the injustice in the world with a knife and shoot down the unfair people in the world with a gun."
It was precisely because of this passion that Ye Zongliu joined the government office as a jailer. He thought that his next job was to eliminate violence and protect the good, but he never expected that he would become an accomplice of the government and oppress the good.
In addition, he happened to encounter fellow miners being oppressed, so Ye Zongliu simply left and led hundreds of refugees to Fujian to open a private mine. Then he gradually developed more and more people under his command, and the conflict with the government became more and more serious, to the point where he had to rebel today.
In response to Ye Zongliu's words, Shen Yichen could only silently shake his head and smile bitterly. This was the way the world was, and this was all he could do.
Shen Yichen opened the bundle and took out the pen and ink, then began writing a letter to Sun Tixue on the small square table on the boat.
The content of the letter described in detail the situation of the refugees in Zhenjiang Prefecture, as well as the suspicion that Zhao Tongpan and others had embezzled the disaster relief money. If the content of this letter is not to be a groundless speculation, then it depends on how much gold content Ye Zongliu has found in the evidence.
"Captain Ye, here is the letter. I hope you can deliver it to Lord Sun at the Yingtian Prefecture Education Office."
"I will definitely fulfill my mission."
Ye Zongliu took the letter from Shen Yichen and put it carefully in his arms.
"The matter has been settled, so I will not bother Mr. Shen any more. If you need anything in the future, I will not refuse."
After saying that, Ye Zongliu was ready to call all the miners to leave. He knew very well that Shen Yichen was a scholar-official, and he was a "rebel", and they were not on the same path after all.
Watching Ye Zongliu and others preparing to leave, Shen Yichen's memory of the historical outcome of the miners' uprising in the ninth year of Zhengtong kept flashing in his mind.
The final fate of this man in front of us was that in the 13th year of Zhengtong, he was suppressed by the army led by Zhang Kai, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and was killed by a stray arrow in Huangbaipu, Qianshan, Jiangxi!
"Chief Ye, please stay for now."
Shen Yichen knew very well that the conflict between Ye Zongliu and others and the Ming government was irreconcilable based on macroeconomics, unless they stopped working in the mining industry.
So from the very beginning, Shen Yichen avoided talking about the silver mine. After all, he did not have the ability to resolve this conflict, and there was no point in saying more.
But the other party saved their lives, and these miners were not traitors in the traditional sense. They were simply forced to rebel by the officials and had no choice but to rebel. What was wrong with fighting in order to survive?
Shen Yichen couldn't just turn a blind eye with a clear conscience. Even if there was only the slightest chance of changing the outcome of history, he planned to give it a try.
"Captain Shen, what else?"
Ye Zongliu stopped and turned back to ask.
"Chief Ye, if I am not mistaken, you all came to Yingtian Prefecture to purchase iron tools and forge weapons and armor in preparation for the uprising."
When Shen Yichen said this, the expressions on the faces of Ye Zongliu and other miners changed.
Although they had many conflicts with the government and small-scale riots occurred one after another, they never formally raised the flag of rebellion.
Don't underestimate this nominal difference. As long as the flag is not raised, it means there is room for easing, and the government has the motivation to appease. Once the uprising flag is officially raised, it means that both sides will enter a situation of fighting to the death, and the Ming Dynasty will never surrender to the rebels!
Therefore, this kind of thing must be kept strictly confidential, and the purchase of ironware is also carried out in secret. How did Shen Yichen know about it? Could it be that the steps of his plan have been known by the top leaders of Yingtian?
Since Shen Yichen has said it so accurately, and now both parties are in a sense in the same boat.
So Ye Zongliu did not hide anything and nodded and admitted: "Yes, we are preparing to raise the flag of rebellion, but I don't know how Chief Shen knew about it?"
"Don't worry about how I found out. I just want to tell Chief Ye that the uprising will fail. It's best not to get to this point."
Ye Zongliu just smiled at Shen Yichen's persuasion, shook his head and replied: "The government has issued a clear order to punish those who mine illegally with the death penalty, and their families will be exiled to the frontier. If there are those who refuse to obey, the army will be dispatched to hunt them down. We have no choice."
Bian He knew the outcome of choosing to revolt, and Ye Zongliu actually knew it in his heart too.
But what’s the point of knowing this? Sooner or later, we will die, and there is no other way to go.
"What if I could show you a way to survive?"
Hearing Shen Yichen's words, Ye Zongliu's eyes lit up. If he wasn't desperate, who would be willing to enter a situation where they were sure to die?
Even if he is not afraid of death, and these miner brothers who follow him are not afraid of death, how will their parents, wives, children and daughters live in the future?
At this time, Ye Zongliu knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said to Shen Yichen: "If Mr. Shen can show us a way out, I will never forget this great kindness until I die!"