Xiangzhou, the estuary of the two largest rivers in Jiangnan, is naturally the most important city in Jiangnan. It has developed water transportation and prosperous commerce. Especially after Jiangnan silk became the largest export goods to the Ming people, it became increasingly prosperous.

This is not only a node where silk comes out, but also the largest transit station for external grain imports to Jiangnan. In the past, countless grain ships would dock here, unload bags of grain and store them in giant warehouses on the dock, and then transport them to various parts of Jiangnan by land or water.

In previous years, it was the busiest time of Lianghekou Town. As the end of the year approached, the demand for grain has increased greatly and the prices were also the best. Countless merchants of grain ships gathered here and distributed the mountains of grain to all parts of the south of the Yangtze River. But this year, Lianghekou is deserted.

Because there is no food.

Jiangnan was originally a land of fish and rice, but since many years ago, a group of Ming merchants led by Geng Jingming began to buy silk from Jiangnan to sell it to various parts of the Ming Dynasty, starting a crazy journey of Jiangnan silk. As the Ming Dynasty opened its overseas routes, the price of silk rose completely. The crazy rising silk price caused most parts of Jiangnan to destroy cultivated land, plant mulberry trees, almost every family raised silkworms, and every household reeled silk and weaving cloth. This brought huge wealth to the people of Jiangnan and created almost one-third of the national taxes for Chu.

At that time, the Chu-Qi War had not yet begun. Min Ruoying needed a lot of military expenditure. The white silver from Jiangnan spent the eyes of the Chu court, and they were all excited about the wealth created by Jiangnan, but no one saw the huge trap hidden under this huge wealth.

Now, this huge trap finally revealed his originally hideous face.

Once Ming Chu turned against him, the Ming Kingdom cut off the sales of grain to Jiangnan, and this original land of fish and rice immediately fell into a huge food shortage crisis.

Grain prices have risen several times in a day, and now they are more than ten times the price of grain in the spring season, and they are not available at all.

Now, the Chu ruler and ministers who suddenly realized it, but it was too late. Even if they were destroyed and farmed from now on, it would take one to two years to barely recover a little vitality if they wanted to restore food production. However, people should not have no food for a day, and Jiangnan could not wait for so long.

The food crisis in Jiangnan, like an avalanche effect, expanded to the entire Chu State. The riots that had already been quelled were once again surging, and this time, the most violent one was Jiangnan.

If Zhou Jiyun had not been between Qi and Chu, the Chu people could have obtained food from Qi people to alleviate the crisis. But now Kunling County has become the biggest obstacle between them. Cao Hui also convinced Min Ruoying to form an alliance with Qi. Bian Wushuang also saw this. As long as Zhou Jiyun could be defeated and Kunling County could be taken down, Qi's food could enter the six eastern counties and then go to Jiangnan.

If Bian Wushuang had a large amount of food in his hands, he could use this food to easily control the south of the Yangtze River. He achieved his dream of separatist rule between the six eastern counties and the southeast.

"Brother Jiang, you are much thinner." In an ordinary courtyard at the mouth of Lianghekou, Yang Zhi looked at Jiang Shangyan's thin face and said, "I haven't seen each other for three years? You have changed a lot compared to when you were in Ming Dynasty."

Touching his face, Jiang Shangyan smiled bitterly and said, "Can we remain unchanged?"

Yes, can it remain unchanged? In recent years, Jiang Shangyan has experienced too many things. When General Cheng Wuben returned to Chu from Ming Dynasty, he brought Jiang Tao back, but left him in Ming Dynasty. A few years later, Chu State was defeated and Jiang Tao was killed in battle. Jiang Shangyan begged Qin Feng to let him return to Jinghu to assist Cheng Wuben in Jinghu to resist the Qi people. The front was stabilized and Chu State was saved, but General Cheng Wuben was gone.

This made Yan Jiang feel sad and was also one of the most important factors that led to his complete reversal towards the Ming Dynasty.

"Everything will be fine soon, it won't take long!" Yang Zhi patted his shoulder and comforted him.

"I hope it's faster." Jiang Shangyan said: "Jiangnan, people are starving to death every day, and people die in riots every day, and they are all innocent."

Yang Zhi nodded, "It's the last moment, and at most two months left, Jiangnan's pain can end."

"Are you two months?" Jiang Shangyan widened her eyes.

"Absolutely." Yang Zhi nodded: "Bian Wushuang is ready to attack Kunling County. Suqian has been transferred, and you have also been taken away by him. Now, for the army in the Jinghu War Zone, except for the personal army under the command of the county magistrate Zeng, he can basically do it like an arm-enforcement. Of course, he will give Zhou Jiyun a fatal blow, completely occupy Kunling County, and open up contact with Qi, so as to obtain a large amount of food from Qi to control the Jiangnan region and achieve his goal of separatism."

"This time Zhou Jiyun is indeed difficult to deal with."

"It's not that difficult!" Yang Zhi smiled, "Guan Ning will withstand the Qi army in Luzhou for him in Xiaoshi City. All he has to face is Cangzhou and Bian Wushuang's troops. Jie Bao in Cangzhou is a waste, and it is not worth worrying. So in fact, Zhou Jiyun really has to deal with only Bian Wushuang's troops. Last time, Zhou Jiyun suffered a great loss from Bian Wushuang, and this time he was trying hard to find it. Bian Wushuang's kick must be kicked on the iron plate."

"Even the power." Jiang Shangyan said.

"Of course, but Bian Wushuang faces much more problems." Yang Zhi smiled: "Zhou Jiyun is not afraid of the delay of the war, but Bian Wushuang is afraid that his logistics supply will become a big problem. The food and fodder of tens of thousands of troops and the supplement of military weapons will become his biggest shortcomings. Do you know? He is ready to kill the county magistrate Zeng Lin."

Jiang Shangyan was shocked, but looked at Yang Zhi's smiling face and relaxed, "You have been so shocked. Since you know everything, I guess the county magistrate Zeng Lin has made complete arrangements."

"It's almost the same!" Yang Zhi smiled. "Bian Wushuang thought that the easy battle in Kunling County would be difficult to resolve. Here we are just to destroy the minions he set up in Jiangnan. In order to remove your stumbling block, Bian Wushuang was really a mistake to call you out to suppress the bandits."

"When talking about this, I am also very surprised. It is a bit strange to the imperial court to mobilize me to suppress the bandits!" Jiang Shangyan looked at Yang Zhi in confusion: "I said that I was mobilizing me to suppress the bandits, but I did not define a general range for me and did not designate a region to supplement military funds. Is this arbitrary leniency to me?"

Yang Zhi laughed: "Original imperial edict is not like this, but we have spent some effort. When this imperial edict leaves the palace, it changes slightly. In this way, you can walk around in a straightforward manner and enter Jiangnan to suppress bandits, which has become one of your responsibilities."

"Has the Ming Dynasty even penetrated the Secretariat of the Central Secretariat drafted the imperial edict?" Jiang Shangyan sighed.

"It's not considered infiltration, but the current trend is that anyone with a discerning eye knows that Da Chu is about to be out of reach. If someone has a little hint, they naturally know what to do. The risk is not great. They just have a few words to make some changes to the imperial edict. Does Min Ruoying still have time to deal with these things now?" Yang Zhi laughed.

"What do we do?" Jiang Shangyan frowned and said, "The rivers in the south of the Yangtze River are crisscrossing. To be honest, it is not suitable for large-scale combat between our cavalry. Bian Wenzhong has troops stationed in several counties in the south of the Yangtze River, and the bandits he secretly supported are not easy to fight."

Yang Zhi laughed: "Brother Jiang, don't forget that we manage Jiangnan much earlier than Bian Wenzhong. Of course, we can't do it as openly as he does, but our strength is not weak. Besides, we open up the waterway from Jinghu to Jiangnan, which Ning Zhiwen handled. So, on the waterway, our strength is very strong."

Jiang Shangyan nodded. "The first one to kill that first?"

"Of course, it is the bandits on Wohu Mountain closest to the mouth of the Lianghekou." Yang Zhi smiled and said, "This bandits have the largest number, about two thousand people. In fact, it should be said that they have basically separated from the framework of bandits and are considered a disciplined army. The commander is the Bian family's son, named Bian Wenming. They echo the Bian Wenzhong's garrison at Lianghekou. These two forces are the reliance of Bian Wenzhong's control of Lianghekou."

Jiang Shangyan thought about the geographical location of Wohu Mountain in his mind, "If you want to fight Wohu Mountain, how can my cavalry cross the river?"

"This has been arranged for a long time." Yang Zhi said: "In the past two days, Bian Wenzhong will send a batch of grain to Wohu Mountain. The bandits on Wohu Mountain must go down the mountain to transport these grains and grass. This is the best time for you to do it. I will take people to pick you up on the other side of the river.

"I want your help if I just some bandits?"

"It's not just annihilation, we want to have annihilate it, and no one can let go. Our target is not just them, but also a unit of Bian Wenzhong in Xiangzhou." Yang Zhi sneered. "After the war, you controlled Lianghekou and pinched the throat of the entire Jiangnan. I slowly cleaned up the other bandits and the remaining Bian family members in it, and integrated the power of Jiangnan. When Bian Wushuang kicked the iron plate in Kunling County, we could completely open up the lifeline of Quanzhou, Jinghu, and Jiangnan. Whether it was the army or the food of the Ming Dynasty, we could come here continuously."

"I'm a little worried that after Bian Wushuang suffered a loss in Kunling County, he would jump over the wall and come back directly to occupy Jinghu with force and then advance to Jiangnan?"
Chapter completed!