"Don't talk nonsense without solid evidence. It is a serious crime to slander an official of the imperial court."

Lu Qingliu originally planned to say that he had conclusive evidence. After all, he had confirmed that the goods were delivered to Zhang Jun's people, but Zhao Guanjia said again: "I suddenly remembered that you did not buy land here."

Lu Qingliu was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately and said quickly: "Your Majesty is wise!"

"But you are liaising with gold thieves, collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, and I will barbarize your clan. Isn't that excessive?"

"No...not too much..." Lu Qingliu felt like he was falling into an ice cellar again, but he still said, "But the common people can help your majesty find more exquisite works of the Jin Kingdom."

"So you want me to spare your life?"

"The common people are willing to go through fire and water for His Majesty." Lu Qingliu knew that Zhao Guan's family had relented, but this did not mean that he was completely safe.

"What if I give in to you and you turn around and run away?"

"The common people in Yingtian Mansion are considered wealthy people. Where can the common people go?"

"Compared to your life, those family assets are nothing. You can turn around and hide."

"Your Majesty! Cao Min has only one hobby in his life, which is making money. Cao Min makes money because he wants to live a luxurious life. Without money, Cao Min is just like those people outside who don't have enough to eat, so they might as well die! Cao Min knows

Life is hard. Cao Min grew up in poverty and his mother starved to death. Cao Min swears that he will never live that kind of life!"

"You can hide in the Kingdom of Jin. Aren't you helping the Kingdom of Jin?"

"By the time the grass people hid in the Kingdom of Jin, the grass people had no use value. The Jin people were tigers and wolves, how could they pity the grass people?"

After a moment of silence, Zhao Ning said, "You know everything."

"Whatever His Majesty asks the common people to do, the common people will do!"

There was another moment of silence. After a while, Zhao Ning said: "It's getting late. Mr. Lu, it's better to go back quickly. It's not safe after dark."

When Lu Qingliu heard this, he burst into tears of excitement. He had saved his life.

"Thank you so much, Your Majesty!"

He turned around and walked out quickly, but after taking a few steps, he came back.

"What?" Zhao Ning asked, "You don't want to live anymore?"

"No, no! The common people just have doubts. If those elites from the Jin Kingdom find the common people again and ask how the common people are doing in the south, how should the common people answer? Your Majesty, please tell me."

"Whatever the golden man asks you to do, just do it."

"this……"

"Otherwise, how can we catch more Jin people?"

"Yes! Your Majesty is wise! The common people must retreat!"

After Lu Qingliu left, Zhao Ning said to Jing Chao: "Send someone back to the capital and ask Gao Qiu to place someone next to Lu Qingliu and monitor him closely."

"yes!"

After resting for a while, Zhao Ning met Gao Shunlin, the Marquis of Du Yu.

He took Gao Shunlin's account book and asked: "What is the origin of Xie Wende who bought 20,000 acres in Changlin?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Xie family is a well-known wealthy family in Jiangling Prefecture. Xie Wende's father, Xie Zhongren, is a fellow magistrate of Jiangling Prefecture."

"Buying 20,000 acres in one go is a big deal in my opinion."

"To be honest with Your Majesty, those who can buy land are basically family members of officials, or have deep relationships with officials."

Gao Shunlin now looks like a fair and strict official.

"I understand. For the sake of your merit in reporting, you can be the military commander."

Gao Shunlin was stunned for a moment, then immediately knelt down: "Thank you, Your Majesty! I will not give up even if I die!"

There is no way, time is too short, and I can't find a more suitable person.

I'll send someone back to sort it out.

Zhao Ning did not stay in Changlin for long, and after letting Gao Shunlin temporarily take charge of the army, he quickly went south and entered Jiangling Mansion.

The bill in his hand was quite substantial.

The big landowner who bought land in Changlin involved more than a dozen people.

If this knife were to go down, a large piece of him would probably die.

On May 16, Zhao Ning arrived at the boundary of Jiangling Prefecture.

Looking around, there is endless fields.

The wheat is already golden, and farmers are harvesting it in the fields. In some places, the harvest has already been completed.

However, the rice fields are still green.

In other places, there are farmers working hard to open up wasteland.

This area is full of lakes, and as far as the eye can see, the ponds are connected one after another.

There are fishermen fishing in the lake and children swimming under the hot sun.

Before the Tang and Song Dynasties, this place was still Yunmeng Guze, which was a large connected lake.

It is said that Dongting is eight hundred miles away, and Dongting Lake was just a part of Yunmeng Ancient Ze before the Tang and Song Dynasties.

By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, almost half of Yunmeng Ancient Zee had disappeared. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, most of the Jianghan Plain was exposed, forming dotted small lakes.

This is also the reason why Hubei Province in later generations was called the Province of Thousand Lakes.

This is also the reason why during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, although the Chu State was large, it always thought about going north.

Zhao Ning couldn't help but sigh, this is indeed a good place to develop a granary.

If this area were fully developed, it could supply at least a quarter of the Song Dynasty's food.

No wonder there is a proverb in the Ming Dynasty: Huguang is well versed in the world.

Huguang here refers to Huguang Province. Huguang Province is not the two lakes and Guangdong. Huguang Province refers to Hubei and Hunan.

As for the proverb "Su Changshu is the best in the world", it comes from the Southern Song Dynasty, when Zhao Gou moved south and vigorously developed the Jiangnan area.

In Zhao Ning's grand strategy, the Jiangnan area will begin to promote economic crops to cooperate with the great maritime trade.

The great maritime trade of this era was monopolized by the Arabs, and the profits were very lucrative.

As for the western strategy, it is natural to develop Sichuan and Shu.

Having said that, Gangneungfu is densely populated and commercially developed, so it will definitely be the center of central China in the future.

What was the status of the Jinghu Road in the past in the Song Dynasty?

Records from Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan":

Jinghu South Road costs 650,000 shi and Jinghu North Road 350,000 shi.

Look at Jiangnan East Road, 991,100 stones, and Jiangnan West Road, 1,289,900 stones.

The two Zhejiang roads cost 1.5 million stones.

These are sent to Tokyo and are not counted as food retained locally.

In this comparison, Jinghu Road is really small, but by the Ming Dynasty, it indeed became the world's granary.

Only by transforming this area, Jiangnan East Road and Liangzhe Road can develop economic crops with peace of mind.

Moreover, because Jinghu North Road is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, grain can be transported down the Yangtze River and enters the canal in the Jiangning Prefecture (Jinling) area, so it is completely possible to use water transportation.

Zhao Ning walked forward in high spirits, attracting the attention of many people.

At this moment, the sound of gongs was suddenly heard from ahead.

As soon as the people heard the sound of the gongs, they immediately came out of the wheat fields and began to gather at the place where the gongs were being beaten.

"Folks, the Wangjia Village next door has come to grab the river water again. Last month, they robbed 1,000 acres of our land. The debt has not been settled yet, so they all took up arms!"

A little fat man shouted in a loud voice: "Let them know how powerful our Xiejia Village is!"

"Also, everyone should act ruthlessly as soon as possible. We have Officer Xie to vouch for us. The death of some people is nothing! But if they dare to touch our land and water, their lives will be taken!"
Chapter completed!