Water Margin people

Chapter 1421 Killing the chicken to scare the monkey

"Then what are you going to do?"

Lu Zhishen looked at Sun Lei and asked.

"Don't you want to plead for them?"

Sun Lei looked at Lu Zhishen. This could be classified as treason, a crime punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the clan. Although monks have no family, as the saying goes, the monk can run away but the temple cannot.

"I'm not begging for mercy, but I think it's a bit too much to say that these monks are selling out their country. Their purpose is just to spread Buddhism. There must be selfish motives, but it's not a crime punishable by death!"

Lu Zhishen said.

"I'm not planning to kill them, but Daming Temple has been secretly colluding with Japan for many years, so I must kill a chicken to scare the monkeys and set an example!"

"How about this? Let's punish them as laborers and build river embankments. This can be considered as atonement."

Sun Lei said that there were floods in the south of the Yangtze River and the river embankments needed to be repaired. There was a shortage of manpower at that time, so it was time for these monks to do some hard work.

"Your Majesty, this is a good idea. Monks cannot just take advantage of the people, they also need to work!"

Chai Jin said quickly.

Soon, government officials seized a large number of overseas books, letters, gold, silver, jewelry, and land deeds from the Daming Temple.

"Look, what do a group of monks need so much money for? They say Buddhism is a pure land, but if it is stained with these money-smelling things, what pure land is there?"

Sun Lei pointed at those things and said that this time he came to Jiangnan, in addition to solving the problems of currency and merchants, he also had to solve the problem of Jiangnan temples.

Buddhism was widely spread in the Jiangnan area, but the land policy promoted by Qi State was blocked in the temples. The monks were unwilling to give up the occupied land, and even brainwashed the believers to distribute the land to them, but in fact it still belonged to Buddhism.

"You can handle the rest on your own. You must spread the word widely and tell those impious monks that this is the result of going against the imperial court!"

Sun Lei said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, what about Daming Temple?"

The Yangzhou prefect saluted Sun Lei and asked.

"Clear up the Daming Temple, and wait until we find other great monks, and then reopen the temple!"

Sun Lei said that Daming Temple has existed for hundreds of years and has many believers in Yangzhou, so it cannot be demolished directly. The best way is to control it in one's own hands and use it for one's own benefit.

The events of Daming Temple soon spread throughout Jiangnan. The monks colluded with Japanese pirates and secretly spread Central Plains technology to Japan. They were caught red-handed by the government, who copied letters from the temple and arrested the unregistered Japanese monks.

For a while, teahouses and pubs were the place where people discussed this matter.

"It's a good job!"

Sun Lei was drinking tea while listening to the heated discussion of several people at the next table. If the news spread, it would serve as a warning to all forces in Jiangnan. Jiangnan is close to the sea and has prosperous trade, and there are many people doing shady business with other ethnic groups.

"Brother, the boat is ready!"

Chai Jin walked over and said.

"Well, let's go, the matter in Yangzhou has been resolved!"

Sun Lei nodded and stood up. He had already stayed in Yangzhou for several days and it was time to continue heading south.

The group boarded the ship at the dock, and on the other side of the dock in the cargo area, Sun Lei saw ships constantly unloading cargo, all of which were carrying salt.

A few days ago, people would stock up some salt, worried that the price of salt would go up again, but when they found that the dock was continuously unloading salt bags, people felt relieved.

On the contrary, the salt merchants were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. They collected hundreds of thousands of kilograms of salt in a few days, hoping to inflict a great loss on the government, but they did not expect that the government's salt was endless.

"Are you still collecting salt? The warehouse is almost full! It's only been three days!"

The salt merchants looked at the hornet and asked, they had not opened for business to sell salt these days, so the warehouse was already piled with salt, and now they had been buying a lot of salt from the government, so the warehouse was full in an instant.

"Start shipping them out! Ship them all out!"

Wasp also realized the problem. It was not a solution to keep hoarding the goods. They had to get rid of the goods before they could continue. "It's not possible during the day. The official ships are all unloading. We have to wait until night!"

The merchant in charge of shipping said that the reason they closed their shop was that they had no salt and could not transport it openly at this time.

Sun Lei's boat slowly left the dock and headed towards the Yangtze River.

"Has everything been arranged for the salt?"

Sun Lei looked at Ruan Xiaoqi and asked.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. The salt-carrying ships have already set out. There will be no shortage of salt in Jiangnan this year!"

Ruan Xiaoqi smiled and said that transportation might be a little troublesome in other places, but there was no place that ships could not reach in the vast waters of Jiangnan, so it was not too easy to transport salt by ship.

"If they behave themselves, they can still have a sip of soup, but if they are greedy, they will die miserably!"

Sun Lei said in a cold voice that this time he was not going to lower the salt price in Yangzhou, he wanted to lower the salt price in the entire Jiangnan area and make those salt merchants die without a burial place.

After entering the Yangtze River, the water surface suddenly becomes clear.

All the women on the boat looked at the Yangtze River curiously; they had never seen such a wide river.

"Doctor An, how about you stay in Jiankang Prefecture this time and I'll pick you up when I return?"

Sun Lei looked at An Daoquan and asked. An Daoquan was from Jiankang Prefecture and had never returned since he followed him to Liangshan.

"Brother, my family is now in Liangshan, and Jiankang Prefecture is a thing of the past."

An Daoquan shook his head and said that he only had some relatives in Jiankang Prefecture who he rarely visited, and even fewer friends. Now he was an official in Qi State and had also settled down in Liangshan City. He would just go back to Jiankang Prefecture to visit.

"Then let Zhang Shun accompany you back, and he can go back to take a look as well!"

Sun Lei nodded and said that the next battle of his trip to the south of the Yangtze River would be Suzhou, and he would not go to Jiankang Prefecture.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

An Daoquan saluted to Sun Lei.

Soon Zhang Shun and An Daoquan's wife and children boarded a small boat, left the fleet, and went upstream towards Jiankang Prefecture.

Suzhou was already quite prosperous during the Song Dynasty. Sun Lei ordered the large ship to sail directly into Taihu Lake and dock at Yuliu Village. Although Fei Bao and others left, this place was not abandoned.

Returning to a familiar place, Di Cheng and Bu Qing were extremely excited and directed the soldiers to decorate the palace.

"Don't worry, we'll be leaving for Hangzhou in a few days!"

Sun Lei looked at Di Cheng and said.

"It is an honor for us brothers that your Majesty comes to Yuliu Manor. We must decorate it well, or at least clean it up!"

Bu Qing smiled and said that in fact they had arranged for people to come and clean and arrange the things a few days ago, but they always felt it was not enough.

"Just clean up a bit. You are locals, so you are responsible for showing us around Suzhou City!"

Sun Lei said with a smile, he did not try to stop anything, he just accepted the brother's kindness.

"Your Majesty, it is our honor!"

Di Cheng was overjoyed and kept saying it. After performing the ceremony, he went out to make arrangements.

"Your Majesty, there are many rivers in Suzhou, and the most prosperous streets are on both sides of the rivers. The best way to have fun is to take a boat and sail through the city!"

Bu Qing explained with a smile.

"Haha, then let me see the beautiful scenery of Suzhou City!"

Sun Lei nodded and smiled.