On the way back to the government office, seeing that Li Ling had always seemed to be worried, Li Moyun couldn't help asking: "Young master, but the Xie family rejected our request and took the opportunity to suppress others?" Because of his identity, he did not see Xie Wenruo at the same time, so naturally he didn't know what the two of them were talking about.

Li Ling was still very relieved about him, and with something in his heart that he needed to share, he told Yue'er and the others that had fallen into the Xie family. After hearing him say that, Li Moyun suddenly became anxious: "So despicable! Young Master, if you don't let me take action to find them, or simply tie up the people from the Xie family and force them to put them back!"

"No." Without much consideration, Li Ling quickly denied his proposal, "Doing this will only arouse conflicts between the two sides, which will be harmful to the current situation. Moreover, you may not be sure to do these two things. Don't forget that they can rob Yue'er and Qingxiao from the Dajiang Gang who defeated the Cao Gang. The accumulation of hundreds of years of famous families is not a joke."

Li Moyun, who was a little dissatisfied with this, could not hold on when he heard this. He was not so arrogant that he thought that the world was invincible. Not to mention him, even his master Shao Qiuxi had many considerable opponents in the world. Also, he remembered the Cao Gang master he met in Taipingdu a few years ago. If he was not even against the Dajiang Gang's sneak attack, what could he do?

Seeing that Li Moyun was silent in a little depressed manner, Li Ling comforted him: "You don't have to blame yourself. Things can always be solved. If this road cannot be done, then change the direction and then go."

Li Moyun responded softly, but was still a little ashamed and worried: "But young master, Yue'er and the others fell into the hands of those guys, aren't they very dangerous?"

"That's not. I think with the reputation of the Xie family and the intelligence of Xie Wenruo would not have really treated Yue'er and Qingxiao harshly. Moreover, if you think about it carefully, letting them be taken care of by the Xie family may not be a bad thing for me, and this will save me any worries." Li Ling cheered up and smiled, "A look at it this way also proves that they really have no intention of being enemies with me. As long as the problem in front of me is solved, the taxation matter can be solved."

Although he said that, Li Ling knew in his heart that a problem was a dead end, at least it could not be solved at the moment. Since the Xie family had such an attitude, the Lu family would not have to go because their attitude was the same.

So in the afternoon, Li Ling returned to the government office and did not give any instructions. He turned around and closed the door in the public room, thinking hard about a plan to break the situation.

In the current game, it is actually not a matter of money and food, but a matter of face and reputation.

Yes, the Xie family would rather turn against Li Ling than hand over a lot of grain and silver to the government, not because they were stingy with the little money and grain. With their savings over the years, millions of taels of silver and hundreds of thousands of dou of grain can still be taken out, and it will not hurt the fundamentals.

However, this does not mean that doing so will have no impact on them. The biggest impact is that their reputation in Jiangnan will plummet, and they may even become a betrayer in the eyes of many wealthy families.

Because the situation in Jiangnan this year is very bad, and the court insists on collecting more than 70% of the taxes, the money and grain can only be settled on the rich families. Such a huge amount of money and grain can still be borne by the huge number of people. It will be borne by the rich families like Lu Xie, and it will not hurt the muscles and bones. But what about other families? They may be greatly damaged by their vitality and their families will be lost from then on. This is a request they will never agree to.

Although government officials in various parts of Jiangnan can use extraordinary means to force them, as long as these wealthy families join forces and put pressure on their respective backgrounds, the situation can be reversed. If not, they can delay for a while.

In this case, what they most taboo is that one of them compromises with the court. That is, if a loophole appears in the Thousand Mile Dike, all their efforts will be wasted. Such a family will inevitably become public enemies in the eyes of the Jiangnan rich clans. Even the nine surnames and famous families like Lu Xie dare not stand against all the wealthy clans.

So after all, this is no longer a matter between Li Ling and Lu Xie families, nor is it a matter between Yangzhou, but a matter between the entire Jiangnan. It is a matter between him and his whole body. Such a knot is not something that he, a small prefect, can do. It is better to ask the governor's yamen, and Wen Ming, the governor of Jiangnan, will put pressure on each family.

But as soon as this thought came, Li Ling pressed it down because it was impossible. Not to mention that Wen Ming had a rift with him, even if there wasn't, there was only the saying that subordinates would share the worries of their superiors. How could there be a reason why the superiors would solve the problems of their subordinates?

Li Ling didn't want to offend Lu Xie's two families completely, so Wen Ming dared to push the entire Jiangnan tribe to the opposite side in one go? Then can his future government orders still reach all directions? I'm afraid that even the position of governor will not be stable.

After thinking about it for more than two hours, it was clear that Li Ling, who was sitting in the room thinking about countermeasures, still had no idea. Then, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw Wan Shenji standing in front of the door.

This made Li Ling stunned and was happy again: "You are back, I'm afraid that something will happen to you." Because Yang Qingxiao and the others were in front of him, he was indeed worried that this person would be taken advantage of and something happened.

Wan Shenji bowed with shame: "Sir, I am so embarrassed that I can't get rid of my humble position, so I've been delayed until today to report." He was ordered by Li Ling to come to Yangzhou to inquire about the information of various counties in the morning, but it was delayed. Now that Li Ling has rebuilt the city, he has arrived.

Li Ling had no intention of blaming him, so he hurriedly asked him to go into the house and sit down and talk, and then said anxiously: "What do you think, what is the situation in the counties below Yangzhou?"

"The situation in all counties is very bad. Among them, the damage to Yizhen and Gaoyou counties is not large, but more than half of the people in Taizhou and Taixing counties are either dead or fleeing in chaos. Even if the situation stabilizes now, only half of them have returned, and most of their homes and homes have been destroyed, making it difficult to make a living..."

Wan Shenji did spend a lot of effort and time investigating the situation of each county. Not only did he find out these superficial situations, but even deeper levels, such as the people now rely on selling their children and daughters, selling their ancestral property and land to the rich households, and even selling themselves to their families as slaves to survive. As well as the matters that the county governments in various places no longer have the power to govern the people, they all told them one by one. In a sense, the situation of each county below has some similarities with Yangzhou, but at the same time it is also worse. Because the rich families are more unscrupulous, the strength of the yamen is not as strong as the government government, and there is no strong official like Li Ling to turn the tide. In the most serious Taixing County, there is no one in the county government, and the whole county is controlled by several rich households, so they naturally took the opportunity to gain a lot of benefits.

After listening to this story, Li Ling felt that his heart was tighter again, and he knew that the burden on his shoulders was much heavier. As a prefect of the local prefect, the first thing that could be managed by the Fucheng was the beginning, and he had to take into account other counties in his jurisdiction. The problem was that there were only so many people under his command, and the money and food were only enough for hundreds of thousands of people in the Fucheng City. It was really impossible to solve the food and drink problem of the remaining hundreds of thousands of people.

"Sir..." Seeing Li Ling in deep thought, Wan Shenji couldn't help but scream again, and then said with some concern: "As far as I know, the situation in Taizhou and Taixing counties is now very bad. There are people who cannot survive in secret, and civil rebellion may break out again within ten months. So, the government office can no longer sit idly by. We must send people to suppress those who take advantage of the situation as soon as possible, at least let the people fill their stomachs and have hope."

Li Ling's expression became more serious. Things were more serious than what he was worried about, but he subconsciously asked: "Is Luo Tian Sect behind these things? "

"It shouldn't be. I have paid special attention to it. The people who are leading the two sides have never had any contact, and they were not even related before. They should be forced by the situation and have to take risks."

Li Ling nodded a little relievedly: "I understand, I will deal with this matter as soon as possible. By the way, you have worked hard during this period. Since you have arrived at the government office, you will have a rest for two days. We will be busy next time."

"Yes, I understand." After saying the matter, Wan Shenji also put down his worries and smiled and clasped his fists, "A great man will manage this place in an orderly manner in one month. I believe that no matter how big the problem is, it will not be difficult for you."

Faced with the praise from his subordinates, Li Ling could only smile bitterly: "I hope so."

It was not until Wan Shenji left that Li Ling sighed. As a result, he had more problems and urgently needed to solve all kinds of problems as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

At this moment, the door was knocked again. This time it was Chu Lian. His face was quite serious. When he saw Li Ling, he said anxiously: "Sir, the governor's yamen has sent another order to urge him."

"About tax?" Li Ling's eyes suddenly jumped, and his voice became hoarse.

"That's right." Chu Lian said, sending an official document to Li Ling.

After opening it and reading it quickly, Li Ling's eyebrows were furrowed. In fact, he had already understood the contents of the top of his head. He had read a lot of these days. The key is that the last time mentioned - before mid-November, two million taels of silver and 350,000 dou of grain must be delivered to Jinling - that is to say, the time left for him is less than one month!
Chapter completed!