Jin Mantang is definitely a legend in the south now.

This former salt merchant, the fat sheep in the eyes of some forces, resolutely went north to find Li Ze, who was still unknown at that time, and tied himself and Li Ze together. The large amount of capital investment has rapidly improved the strength of Li Ze in the north in a short period of time, and a marriage contract has even connected them together.

Now, the Shenglong Money House under Jin Mantang is actually the body that extends to the outside of the imperial court, and sells its salt transportation system to the court at a price, and then invests a large amount of funds into shipping. More than a dozen long-distance fleets make Jin Mantang's economic strength stronger than before.

More importantly, whether it is Shenglong Money House or Jinshi Shipping, they are closely linked to the northern court. If the country is prosperous, Jinmantang will naturally rest assured.

Although this person is not above the temple now, there is no doubt that he has considerable influence on the policies of the Northern court.

"We are still very different from Jin Mantang." Ding Ci sighed.

They are naturally different. Ding and Bai are rooted in the large landlord class, while Jin Mantang is the merchant class. The large landlords use a large amount of land resources in their hands to imprison farmers on these lands, control the land and control the people, and then form their own mixed forces.

However, Li Ze's fundamental strategy is to try his best to break the landlord's monopoly on land. Under his rule, owning 5,000 acres of land under his name is the limit. The progressive tax system implemented also makes owning more land a nightmare and cannot pay taxes.

This conflicts with the fundamental interests of the Ding and Bai tribes.

"Father, father-in-law, first of all, we are going to talk about the survival of the family and the continuation of the family." Ding Jian said: "When talking about these, you must look deep and far. You cannot be single and short-sighted. Only when the teacher survives can you talk about the glory and honor of the family."

"Okay, let's talk about survival first. Now, how should we face Dai Chao's attack? If we follow Li Ze as you said," Bai Minzhong asked back.

"Father-in-law, there is nothing in this world that can be easily obtained. I said before that we must rely on ourselves first." Ding Jian said with a passionate tone: "The land of fish and rice in Jingnan is crowded, and we are short of food and grass, and we are not short of weapons. Why can't we stand up to protect ourselves?"

Looking at the expressions of the people in the room, Ding Jian said sternly: "What we lack is the spirit and the courage to fight. As long as we dare to think and do it, what's the difficulty of Jingnan gathering 100,000 soldiers? Will we retreat and surrender?"

"Dalang, that's not what we think. In fact, Jingnan has already started mobilizing!" Ding Xiang said with a wry smile.

Ding Jian suddenly laughed: "I know what everyone is thinking. In fact, what everyone wants the most is to maintain the status quo and let the pseudo-liang continue to be a long-term stalemate between the north. In this way, our family can still be the local emperor in Jingnan, right?"

Bai Minzhong coughed a few times and looked at Ding Ci awkwardly.

"Father-in-law, father, this is not feasible." Ding Jian said: "Not to mention that the pseudo-liang has been fought now, even if the court far away in the north has never turned a blind eye to the south? Yangzhou and Yueyang, our tentacles have stretched out. The next step is to connect these dots one by one. The spark can start a prairie fire. Next step, we will connect these dots into pieces. The general trend of the world will be together after a long separation. I think everyone knows that now is the time for a long separation to be together. If the court does not move its troops, it will inevitably sweep the world with a thunder and even force. Now we don't do anything. At that time, people don't need us to do anything."

"Dalang, you are also a high-ranking official in the north. Just tell me how we can still live a very comfortable life under the rule of Li Ze?" Ding Feng suddenly said: "The Xue family, the Sima family in Hedong, and the families you killed by you in Hezhong have been very alert."

Ding Jian laughed: "The real reason why the Hedong families have reached this point is that they still have the same idea as you now, and want to become China. How is this possible? As for Hezhong, colluding with the fake Liang will naturally die. Father-in-law, father, and Ding Bai families want to occupy a place in the future court, and now is the best opportunity. Raise the Tang banner, firmly occupy Jingnan, and fight against the fake Liang. In this way, when the imperial army comes, this contribution will be enough to make the Ding Bai and the two families stand firmly."

"If there is really one day, how can we deal with Li Ze's land policy?" Ding Ci asked.

Ding Jian smiled slightly: "Father, Cao Xin of Yizhou, Yuan Zhou of Zhenzhou, and Wang Sili, do you all know? They used to be a hero and a big landlord, and their families had thousands of hectares of fertile land. Now, as far as I know, each of their land is only more than a thousand acres. The production of the land on the land is mainly to support the ancestral temples and ancestral temples. But their family property is still rising rapidly. In the north, relying on land to collect rent to make a fortune is already regarded as an act of ignorance."

"They are doing business?"

"It's almost the same!" Ding Jian said: "After the three of them paid the land owned by their families to the court, they used the large amount of money they earned to set up a trading company. They only did one thing, namely, basic projects such as houses, roads, and water conservancy construction. They had people, had funds, and had many craftsmen under their command. One-third of the construction of the Wuyi city was completed by their trading company. Every year, they could earn millions of chunks of income from these projects. Now, their trading company has expanded to all parts of the north, and even remote places such as Yinzhou and Lingzhou, their semicolons can be seen."

"The former gentry of the Hou clan of Dezhou, joined forces with the six major members of Dezhou to invest a large amount of money in shipyards, sea transportation and inland river operations. Now, dozens of ships can be launched every year, and the ships are all over the country. They even work with the state-owned Haixing Shipyard to study large warships and sea ship research, and have become important allies of Haixing Shipyard, making millions of profits every year."

"The Gao family in Hezhong has a political status and strength that was not inferior to our Jingnan at the beginning. Gao Lei, the governor of Hezhong, gave up all his interests in Hezhong, gave up the land to the court, and then invested in Dezhou with a huge amount of money and built a large number of workshops in Dezhou. Many of the workshops under his command are important industrial chains of the imperial court's armour workshops."

"The Yelu tribe in Boxing was just a poor Khitan tribe. Now, it started with the breeding industry in Boxing. Its livestock products and wool products business have been around the country, and even in inland river operation and sea camp. Not long ago, it entered public transportation in the north, step by step from a small place to the political center of Wuyi. Its head is now the guest of honor for Li Xiang. The barbarian tribes, including the Khitan, who were attached to the court, took them as examples and naturally gathered around them, father-in-law and father, which were their political capital. With them, the court could implement the naturalization strategy of the barbarian tribe more smoothly. Do you know how many of the most powerful cavalry troops in the Tang Dynasty and the Rangers were from these barbarian tribes? More than half of them."

When everyone in the room heard this, they were quite moved. If they were to say something else, they might not believe these words, but this person was Ding's eldest son and Bai's son-in-law, so the credibility was naturally completely different.

"Li Xiang did close one door with his own hands, but at the same time, he opened another door." Ding Jian continued: "It is indeed different to walk to the peak of life, but it can also reach the highest point of our life. It is obvious that the latter one is more beneficial to the country."

"So Dalang, what do you think we can do?" Bai Minzhong asked thoughtfully.

"Father-in-law, our Jingnan is a hometown of fish and rice. There are Yangtze River and countless waterways. There are not many industries that we can get involved in." Ding Jian said with a smile: "The court has already opened the grain market. As far as I know, we will release silk cotton, salt industry, etc. in the future. The more we go, the more markets we will release. Not to mention other things, the Yangtze River waterway alone is enough for us, Ding Bai, to eat it. As long as we start early, we have the first-mover advantage."

After looking at Ding Ci, Bai Minzhong continued, "Then let's go back to the initial question, how to overcome the crisis in front of us. Once we follow what you said, we will inevitably have to fight with Dai Chao."

"The soldiers come and the generals come and the water comes and the soil is flooded!" Ding Jian said proudly: "As long as we unite, there will be no obstacles that cannot be overcome. Moreover, there are many contradictions within the pseudo-beam. The dispute between the boss and the third brother has become increasingly fierce. Can Dai Chao do his best to fight us? It is impossible. As long as we survive the first round, our lives will get better and better in the future, which is also the reason why I come back."

"In other words, there must be a war!"

"Father-in-law, you were also a brave general on the battlefield back then. Do you have no courage now?" Ding Jian smiled and said, "I, Jingnan Warrior, are you really vulnerable?"

Bai Minzhong was silent for a moment and nodded: "Since you are back, you should serve as the chief minister of the Jiezhen Prefecture first. We need to unify the whole Jingnan first, so that everyone can understand the situation next, prepare for the war wholeheartedly to welcome the upcoming attack of Dai Chao."
Chapter completed!