Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1386 Cao Gang
The people sent by Zhao Yingong inquired about the news for a few days in several states and counties where the commotion broke out, and the information they got back made Zhao Yingong feel uneasy
Although the level of intelligence personnel at the Hangzhou station is limited, they can only obtain enough detailed information, but from the information he obtained from his research, it is clear that the rice disturbance was premeditated and organized.Moreover, the opponent is experienced and skilled in movements, obviously a veteran.And judging from the many postings they collected, it was obvious that the Mi commotion was aimed at themselves.

In a famine year, children know what will happen if they are labeled as "hoarding money and making huge profits".

Not to mention how terrible and destructive the poor and hungry people will be once they erupt, even those gentry who are full of tigers and wolfs can make a big fuss about it to make themselves look good.

Not only that, but the forces behind it can organize such a large-scale commotion, and it is by no means an ordinary person

Zhao Yingong locked himself in the inner study, drank pot after pot of strong tea, and smoked cigars one after another.He originally thought that the most dangerous people were those local gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, but he didn't expect that some people would come here without humming.

The most frightening thing was that he didn't even know the background of the other party.Who are they?What the hell is he trying to do with such a big deal against himself?
The various news channels at the Hangzhou station could not collect any particularly useful news, and the enemy was still hiding in the fog.

He considered again and again, while sending a report to the Foreign Intelligence Bureau to report the current situation, and at the same time ordered to strengthen the security in Phoenix Mountain Villa and Wanbi Bookstore.

"The most important thing is to find out who is behind the scenes." Zhao Yingong thought to himself, if he can't be found out, he is in the dark and I am in the light, which is tantamount to one-way transparency and very passive.

At this time, Zhao Yingong realized that although the intelligence network deployed by himself and the Foreign Intelligence Bureau had a considerable breadth, the information that could be collected was basically public information.Indeed, right now there is probably no one in Jiangnan who is better informed than him. Not only can he get news from every major city in Jiangnan within three days, but he can also get news of the day from Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Denglai and other places. However, the collection of secret information is still limited.

The awareness of secrecy in ancient society was very weak. Not to mention the ordinary wealthy families, even the news in the official yamen was easy to inquire as long as the money was in place.For some so-called major military affairs, gossip in the capital has been flying all over the sky before the official announcement.

However, the intelligence gathering network he painstakingly built knew nothing about the man behind the Mi riot.This made him realize that the opponent was by no means an ordinary enemy, but must be an organization with considerable experience in secret activities.He remembered that when he was receiving training at the Foreign Intelligence Agency, he had heard from the big book sense that the secret religion was very prosperous in the Ming Dynasty, with not only a large number of members, but also a strict organization.

"Could it be a cult member?" Zhao Yingong muttered to himself.However, the collected postings do not have any doctrinal color of folk sects.

If this happened in Lingao or a similar location, the violent institutions of the Senate would still be very efficient.But right now he is in the Daming area, and the violent organization is not in his hands.

The first thing to do now is to find out who the opponent is.Only when you know who your opponent is, can you consider the next step.

There is no doubt that the opponent is pointing the finger at himself, and by constantly inciting the emotions of the people, he is preparing to further arouse a bigger civil uprising.

Once a large-scale civil uprising breaks out, not only will the foundation he laid in Jiangnan be severely damaged, but he will also be ruined. It is almost impossible to continue to carry out activities in Jiangnan.

Countermeasures must be taken as soon as possible.Thinking of this, he ordered someone to call Zhao Tong to discuss countermeasures.

Although Zhao Tong is a naturalized citizen who came in through the Qiwei Escort Bureau, he is actually a man of the rivers and lakes - he is a bodyguard master who came from a secret bodyguard, which is equivalent to a "self-employed person" in the bodyguard industry, who specializes in escorting priceless escorts. baby.Anyone who walks the dark dart is a loner, and his whereabouts are uncertain.Not only are they skilled in martial arts, but they are also bold, careful and familiar with the ways of the world.

"This matter, I think there are people who know the way." Zhao Tong said after reading the materials.

"How can I see it?" Zhao Yingong was secretly surprised. Although Zhao Tong handled most of the collection of these materials, many of them came from other channels, and someone else compiled and summarized them.He only took a cursory glance and came to a conclusion similar to his own.

"This kind of method, their secret sect is best at it." Zhao Tong said concisely, "Also, master, don't forget, this is Hangzhou."

"What happened to Hangzhou?"

"Master, have you forgotten those temples by the Gongchen Bridge?"

"Oh!" Zhao Yingong suddenly realized.How could I forget this! "Luo Jiao."

The Gongchen Bridge outside Xinguan, Fubei, Hangzhou is the starting point of the Grand Canal, and it has always been the mooring place for grain ships for water transportation.It is said that during the Ming Dynasty, there were three people from Miyun named Qian, Weng, and Songjiang Pan who lived in Hangzhou to promote Luojiao. The name of the nunnery.

Because the place is close to the place where the grain ships are moored, the sailors of the tank ships often live in it, and they convert to religion for a long time, so the nunnery is the sailors' own business.As more sailors moved in, the temples of the Luo religion gradually increased. According to the memorial to Yongzheng from Li Wei, the governor of Zhejiang in the Qing Dynasty, most of the sailors transported by the Zhejiang Province believed in the Luo religion.Although it had begun to decline at that time, there were still more than 72 temples, and it was said that there were as many as [-] temples when it was most prosperous.The sailors save money every year to provide support, and when Dongyue returns to the sky, they will rest here, not counting the rent.There are legal costs along the way.In Huai'an, Tianjin, Tongzhou, and Jingshi, there are special personnel responsible for taking care of them, so a gang of water transport sailors was soon formed.

I, Shen Tingyang, and Fushe care about "abolishing the water and transforming the sea". This time, China Merchants has also undertaken the transportation of Guanning's grain and pay to the north. Thinking about it this way, it's no wonder that the people in the Cao Gang regard themselves as a thorn in their side.Zhao Tong's speculation is very reasonable.

It is easy to have potential suspicious elements, at least know how to deal with them.

"That's good." He said involuntarily.

Zhao Tong looked at Mr. Zhao in surprise, if Luo Jiao really caught his eye and said "this is good", this chief has lost his mind, is that so?Although Zhao Tong knew the skills of the Senate, this was Hangzhou under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, not Australian gunboats patrolling the Pearl River, and could reach Guangzhou at White Swan Lake at any time.

Since Duan Jinan, the Second Emperor of the Luo Sect, led his disciples to climb Tiantai Mountain in the fourth year of Shenzong Wanli, preached the teachings, gathered [-] people, and was finally suppressed by the local officials. The various branches of the Luo Sect have kept a low profile, unlike the White Lotus Sect, which has set off many revolts It is a trend in the imperial court, but it is also a folk sect that cannot be ignored in the Jianghu.In particular, the branch believed by the water transport sailors, although its religious color is the weakest, has great influence on both sides of the canal.

"Can you find out the details?"

"I'll do it now." Zhao Tong agreed.He is very familiar with people in the Jianghu, and he can inquire about a lot of news by turning around.

After Zhao Tong withdrew, Zhao Yingong thought about it, and decided to inform Shen Tingyang and Fushe of this matter: someone is secretly operating to the detriment of China Merchants.

If the Cao Gang was really behind this incident, he didn't intend to fight alone—they would have to be dragged into the water no matter what.No matter how powerful the Cao Gang is, it is still a "vigorous social organization", and it will never openly "struggle for power".The safety of Hangzhou Station can also be preserved temporarily.Then slowly mobilize the strength to deal with them.

Taking a step back, if things get so out of control that the Cao Gang rises up, it would be a pity that Hangzhou Station will be completely abolished. This is a great opportunity for the Senate to directly intervene in Jiangnan and then control the north-south routes.

However, a few days later, the news that Zhao Tong brought surprised him again: there was no news that Cao Gang was going to deal with Zhao Yingong at all!
The Cao Gang is just a gang of sailors. Although the organization is huge, the interior is not very strict.There is no such role as the chief gang leader, and there are no incense halls everywhere like folk sects.Even its own religious color is not strong.Cao gangs are roughly distributed along the canal, and one place is a gang.Although the high seniority in the gang earned the respect of the disciples' status, it was only a status.There is no dominance relationship between the gangs, just cooperation.

The Cao Gang, which is too far away from Hangzhou, even if it knew that China Merchants’ transportation of food and pay would pose a great threat to the future of the Cao Gang, it would be difficult to directly intervene.So it must be Nanzhi and the various gangs in Zhejiang who will come forward.

If the Cao Gang really wanted to deal with Zhao Yingong, with such a loose organizational structure, at least the middle-level personnel of the Hangzhou Cao Gang should have gotten the news.

However, Zhao Tong ran for a few days, but found nothing. The Cao Gang was busy repairing the boats - in a few months, Qiu Liang would be on the scene.The prefectural and county yamen opened warehouses to collect grain, and the grain households paid, and the tank boats drove to the wharf for acceptance and shipment, which was called "receipt and redemption".This is the most important thing for the Cao Gang in a year. Not only can it not miss the "official business", but also "look beige" and "clear the customs" when accepting the redemption are great opportunities to blackmail the state and county. If the middle backbone can grow, even the whole gang will have a huge income.

In this state, it is hard to imagine that the Cao Gang, which is busy generating income, would think of dealing with Zhao Yingong, and even the fact that the food and wages were shipped northward did not have a great response in the Cao Gang: first, this is not a routine, and second, it is only 200 shi of brown rice. Compared with the annual grain of more than [-] million shi, it is just a drop in the bucket.

Zhao Tong was also confused - he was very confident in his deduction at first, but he didn't expect that it was not the case.

(End of this chapter)