Chapter 382: All at once? Solving the problem

“Why would a wealthy grain merchant do that?”

Before Wei Chengyi could speak, Shen Xiangwan frowned and asked, as far as she knew, the wealthy grain merchants had no intention of selling grain in Chenzhou from the beginning. Even if they vigorously promoted potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, it did not affect their interests. On the contrary, because they controlled much more land than ordinary people, the government did not stop them from growing potatoes and other crops. When the harvest time came, they would get more grain and transport it outside to make more money. What reason was there to harm them like this?
"You should be familiar with the term collusion between officials and businessmen, right?"

Turning his gaze to her, Xie Yanzhi sighed again: "In the past, all the wealthy grain merchants in Chenzhou basically had more or less connections with the government. Sometimes they united and were even more powerful than the government. But we uprooted the people in the government office and the county offices without saying a word, which was equivalent to touching their foundation. After that, those people tried to get in touch with us in order to continue to bully the local area, and we refused them all without exception. They are used to being powerful in Chenzhou, so how could they let us be so disrespectful? Therefore, they teamed up to harm us."

The emperor is far away in Chenzhou, the officialdom is dark, and the people should not be underestimated. Those wealthy grain merchants are forcing them in this way. No matter whether they grit their teeth and accept the refugees or close the city gates, no matter the life or death of the refugees, they may have to ask them for help in the end. At that time, they will take the initiative, and the government office and county offices will be extremely passive, and may even become their slaves.

"These shameless bastards!"

Hearing this, Shen Xiangwan couldn't help but burst out cursing. She never dreamed that the reason why the grain merchants and wealthy families harmed them would be like this. They were simply playing with the government like dogs. If they really admitted defeat, their arrogance would become even more arrogant in the future, and it would not be impossible for them to climb over their heads and shit on them.

Wei Chengyi reached out and patted her hand, and after a little comfort, he asked, "Can you confirm which grain merchants and wealthy families are involved?"

Since they want to play, he will play with them. He just hopes they don't give in too soon.

"Jun Ling has already asked someone to investigate. Currently, we only know that the four major grain merchants in Chenzhou are all involved. There are also many wealthy families. Those who can be named are basically involved. The others are yet to be confirmed."

Not to mention Wei Chengyi, Xie Yanzhi was not the kind of person who could be easily manipulated. If the wealthy grain merchants wanted to use this opportunity to manipulate them, he could only say that they were overthinking it. Once the list of all the participants was confirmed, their good days would be over.

"Well, let's start with the four major grain merchants."

Nodding, Wei Chengyi pondered for a moment: "Do we still have the evidence we had when we brought down those officials? Can we find evidence of bribery or crimes by the four major grain merchants and wealthy households?"

Before this, they only wanted to take control of the Chenzhou government as soon as possible and had no intention of touching those people. Since they were ungrateful, he didn't need to be polite to them anymore.

"Yes, and quite a few."

They seemed to have the same idea. Xie Yanzhi smiled slowly, "Are you sure you want to start with the four major grain merchants? Or should we also take down those wealthy families with criminal records?"

The reason why they did not take action before was that, firstly, they had not yet determined the list of all the wealthy families who had participated in harming them, and secondly, Wei Chengyi had not returned. The four major grain merchants and wealthy families were stationed in Chenzhou all year round, and their relationship network was intricate and complex. If they moved, they would have to uproot all the people and would not give them any chance to breathe. Wei Chengyi's approval was required for this matter.

"Take them all together, and keep them for the New Year?"

An angry Shen Xiangwan interrupted again. Now that they have controlled all the military and political power in Chenzhou, there is no reason to be afraid of a few wealthy grain merchants. Moreover, she was not angry for a moment. Chenzhou will definitely become their base camp in the future. Those people dared to harm them in this way in order to control them. Who knows what they will do in the future. All pests must be eradicated as soon as possible.

"Listen to him."

Wei Chengyi nodded at her and curled the corners of his lips slightly. His wife had already spoken, so they just had to do as she said.

"Yeah." Xie Yanzhi also found it a little funny. After finishing the task, he said in a deep voice: "If we want to catch all the wealthy families with criminal records at once, the people from the government office alone will definitely not be enough. We have to ask Qingying to send people to assist us. And we can't give them a chance to escape. We must act at the same time and arrest them all in one go."

In this case, they would need more people, and they would have to involve military forces. This was one of the reasons why they had to get Wei Chengyi's approval before they could take action.

"Well, I'll contact Qingying later. You just need to organize the evidence and give us a list."

Wei Chengyi could think of the same things that he could think of. Since he had decided to deal with those people, he would not procrastinate and would not allow any accidents to happen.

"no problem."

The evidence had not been sealed yet, so it was easy to find it. Xie Yanzhi thought for a moment before continuing, "I'll probably be able to give it to you tomorrow. Do you want to stay in the government office or go back to the village?"

"I'll go back today and come to the government office tomorrow."

Wei Chengyi made the decision without even thinking about it. In a blink of an eye, they had been away from home for more than ten days. He had to go back and take a look first.

"Okay, then it's decided."

The fate of the grain merchants and wealthy families was almost decided, but they still needed a proper solution to the refugee issue, otherwise, they would be dragged down sooner or later.

There were so many refugees pouring into Chenzhou in the past few days that it was difficult for them to come up with an effective solution except to resettle them at the current pace. Wei Chengyi and his wife talked with Xie Yanzhi for a long time and briefly learned about what had happened during the time they were away. They said goodbye and left at almost noon.

"Angel, wash your hands and eat."

At Wei's house in Yong'an Village, Zhao Yuping was holding little Tuanzi and calling out to the cubs playing in the yard. After the school was closed, he basically stayed at home and didn't run around like before.

"it is good."

The little cub responded obediently, picked up his toys and put them back in the bamboo basket in the corner of the main room. Then he let Wu Lixiu wash his hands. It must be said that he had developed very good habits and hardly caused any worries to his elders.

“Ding ding…”

"what sound?"

The horn sounded suddenly, and Yun Mengyi and others couldn't help but feel confused. Before they could go out to check, Wei Chengyi and his wife, who had been away for more than ten days, walked in from outside side by side.

【End of this chapter】

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