From the time he realized the seriousness of the soaring grain price problem to the time he finally made up his mind to adopt Ning Yi's proposal, as the leader, Qin Siyuan's psychological preparation was no less than the people he knew. Once he had decided to do something, everything had reached a point where there was no turning back. In August, when the first group of officials expressed their doubts about Qin Siyuan's decision, the Prime Minister's residence immediately made a clear response.
Because the officials who were arranged to work on the trade routes were more or less related to the Prime Minister's Residence, the first thing Qin Siyuan sent out was a relatively simple letter, which stated the number of people affected by the disaster, the expectation of the grain price, and the expectations of the people affected by the disaster. If the order was not carried out within three days, a notice of dismissal would be immediately sent out from the Ministry of Appointments, and the replacement official would bring it directly to the place where the person would be removed from office and investigated on the spot.
This was nothing new. Almost every time a high-ranking official of the court handled a matter, there was a procedure to establish his authority. Even if the method was a little more domineering and some small officials from other places were removed, it would not cause a commotion in the court. However, a murderous atmosphere was already brewing. A small number of people who noticed the inside story were waiting for someone to come out and impeach Qin Siyuan and the others for going out of line. However, the fuse of the subsequent chaos was caused by a document at the end of August.
It was a memorial submitted by a sixth-level official named Xue Deyi in the Ministry of Revenue: On the Benefit of Commerce and the State.
The Wu dynasty had been established for more than two hundred years, and commerce had developed rapidly. In recent decades, some big businessmen had begun to intervene in political affairs after becoming rich. As the saying goes, when one has enough food and clothing, one knows honor and disgrace. Since they could reach out to this side, they naturally wanted a step forward. During this period, the proper way was to increase the foundation of one's family and cultivate scholars. On the other hand, in recent years, some people had gradually advocated the importance of commerce in the court. Some people had submitted a few moderately sized memorials, some of which were rejected on the spot, and later caused a small storm or two.
In the end, the attitude of the court seemed to be clear: of course, commerce was important, but businessmen needed status. Don't even think about it!
Of course, changing the status of a social class was always a long process. Anyone with a discerning eye could also see that this originally unbreakable situation had actually loosened over the years.
But it was not the right time to really put things on the table for discussion.
This time, Xue Deyi, the head of the Ministry of Revenue, was old and about to retire. Compared to Li Pin who had jumped to the fifth-rank in her early thirties, this old man had been trembling in fear in the officialdom for his entire life, and now he was only a sixth-rank official. It was unknown whether he had been instructed by others to submit this memorial, or whether he felt that he could not do anything in the officialdom anymore. Of the reason, he submitted this memorial was unknown. Perhaps he felt that he could not do anything in the officialdom anymore, and wanted to leave something.
After the memorial was submitted, it was not immediately rejected because of its treason. The two Prime Ministers handed the memorial to the Emperor, and then used their influence to suppress it, leaving it for the officials to 'look through and discuss it at will'.
Xuan, Xuan of the Xuan of Wang would of, "Xuan", was was, was, was, was, was, Xuan, was, had of, was, of, of of the Emperor of the emperor of the emperor. Xue Deyi was originally trembling with fear, but he was already old and could not endure this kind of scolding. He stiffened his neck and argued. Then, someone said, "Some of the words in here are also reasonable."
Although the people of the Wu dynasty were not necessarily sensitive to economic theories due to the limitations of the era, Xue Deyi had spent his entire life in the Ministry of Revenue. This thesis was the culmination of his life's work. The examples were detailed and logical, and any random paragraph was enough to cause discussion. For a moment, the court was filled with endless arguments about "disgraceful" and "partly reasonable".
The next day, the imperial censor impeached Xue Deyi, saying that he colluded with the merchants, wanted to overturn the words of the Sage, led people to pursue profit, shook the foundation of the country, and committed treason. On the spot, someone came forward to impeach these censors, saying that they were often alarmist. They appeared to be upright and selfless, but in reality, they were obstructing the way of speech. Then, someone handed in a few other impeachment memorials, using solid evidence to impeach a few of the censors for being incorruptible, for taking bribes in private, and for being controlled by others.
The situation began to become chaotic. The court was like a field of fire that had been ignited. In the following days, it was either the mutual abuse of words, or some officials who were found to have committed crimes, such as taking bribes, bending the law, or accepting bribes. Then, there was the matter of a portion of merchants taking advantage of the flood of disaster to stockpile grain, the matter of the Prime Minister's manor using public property for private purposes, the matter of Wu Min's family's immense wealth, and the matter of Grand Preceptor Cai forming a clique for private purposes. All sorts of things were brought to the table, and it looked like the curtains of another party struggle was about to begin.
In this chaotic officialdom, for a moment, everyone felt insecure. The Prime Minister's manor was also doing its utmost to protect itself, but from a certain perspective, the merchants had wanted the right to speak for a long time. Now that such an opportunity had suddenly appeared — in fact, it was unknown whether or not they would be the ones leading the charge — the Prime Minister's manor and some of the officials with merchant influence behind them grew closer. Although the court was in utter chaos, and the imperial censor was straightforward and outspoken, the entire situation maintained a delicate balance amidst the chaos.
In this kind of situation, there was only one person who truly maintained the attitude of sitting calmly on the fishing platform, watching everything with a joyful mood. It was Zhou Zhe, who should have been in a vexed mood.
Although everyone had begun to impeach each other, there were always some corrupt officials who were on the periphery who were dragged out. He couldn't help but throw the memorial to the ground and curse, "Kill him! This bunch of people are trying to touch my roots! " But regarding the entire situation, he was unexpectedly happy. There was one time when he was reading a memorial to the emperor, he was so overjoyed that he even said to the eunuch beside him on a whim, "Du Chengxi, look, look, hahahaha... these old things, they're already so old, but they're doing these things in front of me, haha, it's really... so tiring to act!"
For a moment, Du Chengxi couldn't tell if the emperor was truly happy or faking it, "Your Majesty, are you talking about the recent matters in the court?"
"Of course, recently the court has been very lively. I haven't seen such a lively matter in a long time, haha, interesting..."
"This servant has heard that recently the court has been very noisy. Your Majesty... is it that... faction war..."
Du Chengxi spoke with some hesitation. Only then did Zhou Zhe's smile fade slightly, "Faction war." He thought about the two words, then laughed out, "What faction war, what faction war. Du Chengxi, you're still too inexperienced. Can't you see that recently, the Censorate has been extremely busy, impeaching whoever they see. If it was really a faction war, it wouldn't be like this. We have long said that this Old Qin is the one that we like the most. "
"Your Majesty is talking about... Deputy Prime Minister Qin?"
"Yes, Qin Hui Zhi. Back then, he was kidnapped by the Liao people and escaped back alone. We have long known that he is not afraid of anyone." He laughed and shook his head, pleased with himself, "You speak of faction war. Let me tell you, only a fatuous ruler is afraid of faction war. We are not afraid. As long as the people are loyal, faction war can be abolished and a new one established. However, we are still doing great things now. To fend off foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the internal situation. There are some people that we still need to protect. The Censorate's straightforwardness has saved us a lot of trouble. "
Understanding that Zhou Zhe was talking to himself, Du Chengxi didn't continue. After a while, he heard Zhou Zhe laugh again, pleased with himself.
"Tsk, we have to give him more rewards... but not now..."
*****
In September, the storm caused by the business affairs in the court had already involved dozens of officials and imprisoned. This was Qin Siyuan's domain. Ning Yi didn't participate in it. However, if one looked at the past, this seemingly shocking officialdom chaos was only the fuse for further conflicts of interest. And if one looked at the bigger picture, whether it was the faction war or the famine within the borders of the Wu dynasty, none of it was a major event that attracted attention. Within the scope of the so-called world, a few things happened in September.
In the north, Zhang Jue led fifty thousand troops to surrender to the Wu dynasty. He stationed the troops near the outskirts of Run Province, and at the same time threatened the nearby Qian, Lai, Run, and Wei provinces. Although Zhang Jue had surrendered to the Jin when they came south, his Ping Province army was strong and strong, and its strength hadn't been damaged. With this, within the sixteen provinces of Yan Yun, the power of the Wu and Jin Kingdoms had been completely reversed. It was said that Medicine Master Guo was clapping and laughing in the army camp, saying that he had finally found a brother he could rely on. And within the sixteen provinces, some officials from other places also showed signs of wanting to surrender.
Compared to the disaster relief that the Right Minister's residence was currently preparing, in the eyes of most people, recruiting Zhang Jue to surrender was the more eye-catching thing that the Office of Secret Investigations had accomplished. Emperor Jing Han and Zhou Zhe had originally been rather displeased with the Jin's refusal to return the sixteen provinces. This time, they had finally given them a show of strength. However, during this period of time, the court was in a fierce struggle, and Zhang Jue's reward had not yet been decided. This was also why the court was holding its breath and waiting for the Jin's reaction.
The Jin were furious! They sent people to negotiate with the Wu dynasty in a serious manner. In fact, this made people quite happy. In the past, when the Wu dynasty sent people to discuss the sixteen provinces with the Jin, the Jin were simply too lazy to pay attention to them. Now, they were finally paying attention to them.
Thus, Wang Anzhong and the others on the Wu dynasty's side took the opportunity to discuss the sixteen provinces with the Jin.
At this time, on the prairie in the northwest, something was happening outside of everyone's sight...
*****
If a few Khitan "heroes" were to be chosen in the last years of Liao, Xiao Gan would be one of them, and Yelu Dashi would definitely be among them.
Two years ago, when the Jin invaded Zhongjing, Emperor Tianzuo didn't dare to resist and was the first to escape. In order to calm the people, Yelu Dashi and the others supported Yelu Chun as the Tianxi Emperor and resisted the Female Zhenren.
At this time, Yelu Dashi was the biggest force in Liao that led the military alliance against the Jin. Unfortunately, Liao's warm face was stuck to the Wu dynasty's cold buttocks. After that, the Wu dynasty attacked Yanjing twice. When Tong Guan led an army of 200,000 to attack for the first time, he led the army and defeated the enemy at Baigou River. The second time, Guo Yaoshi led the army to attack Yanjing, and the resistance in the city was also organized by him and Concubine Xiao. Later, Xiao Gan led the army and defeated the second attack of the Wu dynasty.
Unfortunately, this kind of resistance didn't last long. After that, Tong Guan and the others paid the Female Zhenren to send troops to attack Yanjing, and he was captured by the Female Zhenren. But after being captured, he took the opportunity to escape and joined Emperor Tianzuo with Concubine Xiao. Unfortunately, Emperor Tianzuo couldn't forgive him for supporting a new emperor and no longer trusted him. Thus, on the eve of the decisive battle between Emperor Tianzuo and the Jin, he killed the army supervisor and led more than 200 elite guards and cavalry to the northwest.
In another period of history, this journey of Yelu Dashi was known as the Great Western Expedition. He led more than 200 people to Central Asia, and in the decades that followed, he conquered the east and west and established the Western Liao Empire. Its territory extended to Gaochang in the east and the Caspian Sea in the west, becoming the overlord of Central Asia. More than 10 years later, he once led an army on an expedition to the east in an attempt to restore his country. The Jin people strengthened their defenses and cleared the wilderness, and finally defeated him. After that, the Jin people tried to go on an expedition, but they were also defeated by Yelu Dashi in the desert of Central Asia. This war became the final confrontation between the Jin and Liao.
At this time, he led his most elite subordinates into the Mongolian grasslands. This was the original northern border of Liao, and it had a vast territory. Because the Liao people didn't like the people of the grasslands, after the Jin people defeated the Liao people, there were frequent rebellions in these places. But compared to the Female Zhenren, the situation here was just a drizzle.
Yelu Dashi was originally quite prestigious in Liao, and after leaving Emperor Tianzuo, his team had brought a lot of food and supplies. For him, once he made up his mind, the road before him would be boundless. However, he still felt a little lost and lonely in his heart. After traveling for a while, the Mongolian cavalry appeared in front of them. When they saw them, they stopped and formed a … seemingly defensive formation.
Eagles flew in the sky.
"Who are those people?" Yelu Dashi frowned and asked his deputy.
"They don't seem to have good intentions. After the internal chaos, the barbarians on the grasslands also took the opportunity to run wild. I heard that some of the tribes are not small."
The Liao people had always looked down on the Mongolians. Although they were good at horsemanship and archery, they had always been poor in resources, and their personalities … were even more barbaric than the Female Zhenren in some aspects. At this time, he had more than 200 elite cavalrymen who had followed him for a long time, and the other side didn't seem to have more than him. He frowned and looked at the tall black cavalry in the distance.
"When a tiger falls to the plains, he gets bullied by dogs …" he said, "Get into formation and tell them to get out of the way!"
The cavalrymen formed a formation and moved in that direction. The great Liao Empire was bullied by the Female Zhenren and the people of the Wu dynasty, and now these things came to watch them. Everyone was holding back their anger.
Clouds floated over the high grasslands, and not long after, iron hooves thundered over the blood-stained grasslands. The last hero of Liao had burned out his afterglow in the battle. A thread of history quietly broke.
Amidst the rolling tide, the name of a terrifying Temujin, Borjigi Jin, gradually became clearer …
*****
History was turbulent, and those who were in it could only see and grasp what was happening around them. In the middle of September, in the courtyard of the Right Minister's residence, the sunlight was gradually losing its power as the leaves piled up. Ning Yi walked into a room and rubbed his palms in front of the desk.
"Now, it's time for me to perform …"
On this day, the first batch of food began to be sent to the disaster areas. For a long time, he would be in charge of this place. After all, he was the only one who knew the rules of the price. And in another courtyard, the old man named Qin Siyuan was dealing with the turbulent discussions in the court and officialdom. He was paving the way for all of this on the political level.
And it could be imagined that the moment the interests were put on the table, the prelude was over, and the real danger and malice would come to this side.
All the landlords, gentry, and merchants whose interests were harmed would become enemies at this moment.
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