Southern Ming Rebel Army

For the people of Songjiang, the emperor was still in the distant capital. They could only hear his name but never see him. However, the Yang family was right before their eyes.

Old Yang's carriage arrived at the Huangpu River. He pointed his whip at the river bank and asked the people, "See? This is a large area of houses and shops. Do you know who owns them?"

The atmosphere was so tense that even a fool would know that it had something to do with the Yang family. However, Meng Jun didn't want to support the old man Yang at the moment. However, Shen Congwen on the side smiled awkwardly and said, "This...can't all be from the Yang family?"

Old Yang hummed and said, "Mr. Yang built a large number of houses, shops, gambling houses, brothels, pharmacies, and theaters on both sides of the Huangpu River. It is a huge industry. Most of the wealthy families in Songjiang Prefecture moved their houses there. Mr. Yang's house is the largest and most luxurious, even more magnificent than the Songjiang Prefecture government office and the Imperial Maritime Customs Office."

At this time, Shen Congwen asked: "How did this Yang Lao San get started? Did he rely on the reputation of Mr. Yang?"

"Alas, young man, how can you be so ignorant! Can you just call him Yang Lao San casually? You have to address him respectfully, Master Yang."

Old Yang paused for a moment, then continued to talk to the others, "As for starting a family, that person has already revealed his name. Who dares to go against him? I don't know whether Lord Yang has helped. However, I heard that it seemed that someone wanted to go to the capital to sue him, but in the end there was no news, and the person didn't come back. It's really like no one can find him alive or dead!"

The more he listened, the darker Meng Jun's face became. He asked in a dull tone, "How could Master Yang accumulate such a large family business just by relying on the respect and filial piety of small merchants and peddlers?"

Old Yang pouted and said disdainfully: "This is nothing. The Yang family lends money at high interest rates, runs casinos, and runs pawnbrokers. These are good businesses that can make a lot of money. How can we imagine how they can make money like this?"

Meng Jun adjusted his mood, smiled slightly, and asked, "It has only been a few years since the founding of the country. How come Mr. Yang has become the richest family in Songjiang so quickly? Could it be that everyone is exaggerating based on rumors?"

Old Yang usually likes to brag to others. This time, he said all the facts that were set in stone. This person actually dared to question it. His eyes widened and he said to Meng Jun: "Young man, you don't believe me. You can ask around the streets. Master Yang makes a lot of money by collecting rent from those shops, not to mention the brothels, gambling houses, money houses, and pawnbrokers."

At this time, Old Yang lowered his voice again, turned his head, and said to the few people: "Besides, Mr. Yang has shares in many factories in Songjiang Prefecture. The warehouses at the port are making a lot of money every day, and they are also owned by the court. Mr. Yang can also get a share of the money!"

Hearing this, Meng Jun was so angry that he almost cursed out loud. At this time, Shen Congwen on the side suddenly asked: "Brokerage? Didn't our dynasty ban brokerage? Selling people is a serious crime!"

Old Yang heard this and spread his hands, saying, "Yes, that's why I said the court's policies are good, but when it comes to the lower classes, everything is wrong. How do you say it? What's the wrong scripture?"

Meng Jun sighed and said, "A monk with a crooked mouth recites the sutra crookedly."

"Oh, yes, yes, that's it."

After Meng Jun founded the country, the political factions were still quite complicated. Just take the factions of military generals and nobles as an example, there are a lot of them, such as the Jiangnan faction, that is, the Zhongzhengying faction, the Western Army faction, the faction of former Ming generals who surrendered, and some Mongolian and Jurchen generals who surrendered.

The factions of civil officials were even more complicated. There were local factions secretly divided according to provinces. There were veteran factions who followed Meng Jun in the uprising, former Ming dynasty surrendered officials, old officials of Longwu and Yongli, surrendered officials of the Qing court, and fellow officials and fellow townsmen who had passed the local imperial examinations.

In short, as the Qian Dynasty became increasingly stable, although Meng Jun issued clear orders to prohibit factions from forming alliances to attack dissidents, hidden factions still existed in secret, and as long as the dynasty was ruled by people, they would never disappear no matter how long.

After Shen Congwen finished asking questions, he stopped and did not ask any more questions. He left everything to the emperor to decide. If he continued asking questions, Shen Congwen would be worried that the emperor would think he was trying to start a factional struggle.

After listening to what the coachman said, Meng Jun felt a little emotional. If the Yang family had been a wealthy and prestigious family in the past, then with the capital accumulated by their ancestors, it would be normal for the Yang family to become rich if they found an opportunity.

But Meng Jun still had some understanding of what Yang En's family was like. When Yang En first joined the army, he was not penniless, but he was not rich either.

But after Meng Jun became emperor, the Yang family was able to accumulate such a huge fortune in just seven years. Meng Jun would certainly not believe that they did not use trickery or robbery on the way to becoming rich.

Seeing Meng Jun lost in thought, Lu Ping pointed to the large garden and said, "Father, where is Mr. Yang's house? How about taking us to visit it?"

Old Yang nodded and said, "Okay, you are my employer, I will go wherever you tell me to go. I have no objection."

After saying this, Old Yang drove the carriage, turned a corner, and headed towards the Yang family mansion.

On the way, although Old Yang didn't think anything would happen, he still warned Meng Jun and others, saying: "Although Old Yang has no worries about food and drink, compared with Mr. Yang, he can only be considered a poor family. We can just pass by Yang's house and take a look, but don't cause trouble!"

Lu Ping nodded repeatedly, indicating that absolutely not, they were just curious about what Mr. Yang's house looked like.

The carriage drove for a while and then entered a very busy street. On both sides were brothels, wine shops, and various shops, including clothing stores, teahouses, and grocery stores. It was like the commercial street of Songjiang Prefecture.

Not long after, Old Yang pointed to the back and whispered, "See? The building in front is the Yang Mansion."

Meng Jun and others all looked over and saw that the house looked very grand. The wall was about two meters high, and there was a small watchtower on each side, with servants guarding the towers.

The house was very large, and the carriage had been running for a while before Meng Jun saw the gate. The gate was tall and large, and there were actually two stone lions standing on the left and right. No matter who saw this house, they would say, "A wealthy family!"

At this time, Old Yang said in a somewhat sour tone: "The stone lions protect the house, only Master Yang has a strong fate, ordinary people really can't control the stone lions!"

(The number of fans has exceeded 1,000, and there is a group. Friends who are interested can join it O(n_n)O)