In the middle of October, Bianliang City.
The north wind had begun to blow, and the temperature had plummeted in the past few days. The people in the city wore thicker clothes, but in such a big city with millions of people, even if the weather had dropped slightly, there would still be many pedestrians on the streets. While they were shopping, the merchants were still hawking their wares, trying to get as much business as possible before winter arrived. The children ran outside their houses, looking forward to the first snowfall of winter.
The left side of the Imperial City was the area where the high-ranking officials and wealthy families gathered. On this side, there were slightly fewer pedestrians. On the relatively remote Wenyuan Street, a peddler pulling a cart of sweets called out a few words outside the residence of the Imperial Censor Zhang. He knew that this Imperial Censor Zhang's grandson was only three years old and the Matriarch of the family doted on him very much. Once his peddling aroused the interest of the children or the elderly, he would always be successful.
The pedestrians on the street were mostly servants and maids of some high-ranking families. The carriage quietly passed by. Not long after, a few people also came over from the other side of the road. The woman in the lead was tall and beautiful. Although it was winter and she was dressed rather modestly, it could not hide her beautiful figure. The woman beside her seemed to be her younger sister, chattering to her. When it came to something interesting, her feet would lightly hop a few times. Behind her were four maids, two of whom were not as pretty, but had sharp eyes and were also tall. One of the maids was holding a basket in her arms.
The group of six stopped at the back door of the Right Minister's residence. After knocking on the door, someone came over to welcome them in.
At this time, it was naturally Yun Zhu and Jin'er who lived nearby. Since Ning Yi had been in the Prime Minister's residence for disaster relief, it was not convenient for him to leave at noon, so they often came over. Sometimes they brought lunch, and sometimes they brought some sugar water. It was still afternoon. After entering the Prime Minister's residence, the two female bodyguards dressed as maids were left outside. Yun Zhu and Jin'er walked in with ease. When they were about to reach the courtyard of the office, they met Qin Siyuan who was walking over. The old man was dressed in casual clothes and seemed to be thinking about something. When he saw the two, he smiled. "You're here."
"Grandpa Qin."
"Grandpa Qin."
They bowed. Qin Siyuan smiled. "What did you bring? Is there anything for this old man? "
Jin'er smiled. "White fungus and lotus seed soup, and it's still hot. There's a lot."
"Oh, then give me a bowl later. Let's go, I'm also looking for Liheng."
The few of them walked towards the courtyard where Ning Yi and the others were. Speaking of which, the disaster relief also included a large amount of intelligence, data, and analysis. In addition to Ning Yi, there were also a few helpers in the yard. However, the atmosphere was not as lively as some financial markets in the future. Everyone was making their own conclusions and only occasionally discussed with Ning Yi. After Qin Siyuan came over, Ning Yi also temporarily stopped his work and sat with the old man in the courtyard for a while. Yun Zhu and Jin'er served the white fungus and lotus seed soup to the working aides one by one. When they gave it to Qin Siyuan and Ning Yi, they sat there and seemed to be chatting casually, but the topic was not casual.
"… There's a fight in Pingzhou."
"Has the army been dispatched?"
"A few days ago, and the leader is Wanyan Zhimu."
"Aguda's younger brother, but he's not very capable … What about the attitude of the imperial court?"
"They were happy at first, but now the matter is in front of them, and the emperor is a little uncertain. Tong Guan … is afraid. "
"Ask General Guo to cooperate with them. They have to fight at least once …"
"That's what I mean too. There are few Jurchen, so it's not easy to go south. But north of Yanmen Pass, they must fight. Unfortunately … the imperial court only wants to talk … "
"What about now …"
"Wanyan Zhimu doesn't have as many people as Zhang Jue, so we can only hope that Zhang Jue can win the war."
"I think … the imperial court can not send troops, but we can ask General Guo to help. Prime Minister, why not let General Guo write to the imperial court to ask for war? "
"I think so too. I've already written to the north … How about the grain price?"
"It's fluctuating around 30 taels on both sides."
"The weather has dropped, but not risen?"
"The operation is still effective, but for now, it can only be maintained. The biggest hurdle is after the first snow falls. At that time, it will be clear whether the imperial court can restore the people's confidence."
It was said to be a food war and economic war, but the real war was to restore the people's confidence in the government's disaster relief. The aristocrats said that the grain price would definitely rise, and there was not much grain to begin with. The people believed them and bought grain at a high price. The government said that they would provide disaster relief and crack down on illegal grain dealers, and there would be a continuous flow of grain. The final result of disaster relief depended on the people's trust in both sides. Of course, it also depended on the extent of their hunger.
This was the basic principle, but when it came to the details, it was a thousand times more complicated. The process of the north and the south suppressing the grain price had been going on for a month, but the fluctuation of the grain price between the two sides was still around 30 taels, which was enough to surprise Qin Siyuan. But as Ning Yi said, the real result would be decided after the first snow fell. At that time, either the imperial court's disaster relief measures would collapse, or the aristocrats' psychological limits would collapse. Before that, both sides were constantly using various means to improve their bargaining chips.
In the south, just within half a month, even a grain ship was sunk, and the culprit had not been found. Not long ago, a county magistrate sent by Qin Siyuan in Huainan was upright and honest, and his means of disaster relief were fierce, which caused a backlash. A large grain merchant wanted to take advantage of this famine to expand his strength, and blindly bought a lot of grain. He thought that he would not lose anything, so he absorbed the grain at a high price. Who knew that the following grain price fluctuation was beyond his expectation, and there was a faint trend of decline.
This was also caused by Ning Yi's fierce means of suppression in the first stage. Although the total amount of grain that could be mobilized was not as expected, Ning Yi's investment in the first stage was still very bold. He was too experienced. In this kind of shopping mall gambling, whether fat or not, one had to first slap his face swollen. On the other hand, the enemies this time also had a ladder-like hierarchy. First, the appetite of some of the large households would be inflated, and their psychological burden would be increased, so that they would collapse in advance, and the grain would flow out as soon as possible, and then threaten the higher-level people. This was also Ning Yi's plan.
At this level, the small and medium-sized aristocrats in the countryside were no match for Ning Yi. Ning Yi controlled the grain entry, and after the county magistrate received the order from the Prime Minister's Residence, he also began to use administrative means to cooperate with public opinion, and began to suppress the price. At the same time, he also threatened the large households to spit out the grain. He did a good job, and just like that, the mentality of the large household collapsed. One day, he shouted, "If you don't let me live, I'll let you die." He hired someone to kill the county magistrate who was busy with disaster relief.
The county magistrate was originally born in a poor family, and he was an honest and upright official. When he was killed, he was distributing his rations to the starving people outside, and his family could only eat porridge every day.
After the murder, the large household secretly sent someone to spread the news that the county magistrate was killed by Wang Qing's subordinates, but the constables quickly found the murderer. At this time, the people in charge of disaster relief in the south were the forces of Princess Cheng's residence. Zhou Pei happened to be nearby, and she even personally told the county magistrate about the disaster relief plan. When she learned of the whole situation, she was so sad that she almost went crazy. She immediately sent someone to arrest the entire family of the large household, sifted out the people who were involved in the grain storage, and threw them into prison. Then, she and the furious Princess Cheng, Zhou Xuan, wrote a letter home to Zhou Zhe.
After this incident, the Prime Minister's Residence immediately issued an order to have the Office of Secret Investigations take charge of the county yamen's affairs. After the trial, they paraded through the streets, and after that, they used forceful methods to investigate a few families. The rest of the people were jittery, and under such high pressure, no longer dared to stock up. This caused a gap in the local grain prices.
In this case, after the large household was thrown into prison, it was said that on the first day, Zhou Pei rushed into the prison and snatched away all the food for the family. She even drank a bowl of porridge in the prison, saying, "How can such good porridge be given to animals to drink?", "They must starve to death!", and "If anyone dares to give them porridge again, I'll beat him to death." With the intervention of the imperial family, no one would dare to say anything even if the family was beaten to death on the spot. However, it was said that on the night that Zhou Pei ate the porridge, she vomited in her room and almost fell sick the next day.
Later, when the trial was announced, the family had been starved for four days. It was not until Kang Xian issued an order that Zhou Pei was allowed to stay away from this matter, and at the same time, they were given a bowl of porridge every day to barely keep their lives. But it was not hard to imagine that they would not have a good death after this.
When Qin Siyuan talked about this, his tone was a little gloomy, and Ning Yi's expression was also cold.
"I've already asked the Office of Secret Investigations to help make arrangements for County Magistrate Geng's family … It's better for Zhou Pei to let him go back. Wang Qing is causing trouble there. Although Xin Xingzong and the others have set off to suppress him, it is still not peaceful there. Also … even if the grain price of a county drops a little, it won't be of much help to the overall situation. We can't use the lives of good people to make up for it. We have to prevent this kind of thing from happening in other places … "
Although Ning Yi's tone was cold, he still felt sympathetic when he thought about these things. However, Qin Siyuan shook his head. "This is war, it's inevitable. Hard knives don't cut flesh, soft knives hurt more. Recently, there has been a lot of pressure from below, but if we really want to do things well, we have to bring out the attitude of a war. Otherwise, once we think of self-preservation and compromise once, it's inevitable that we will continue to compromise. I will spread the news of Geng Qianzhi's matter to the world, telling them about the evil of these hoarders. We must … take them down! "
Ning Yi thought about it and nodded. "I was a little indecisive …"
Qin Siyuan laughed. "A gentleman is like a beast. When he sees it alive, he can't bear to see it die. When he hears it, he can't bear to eat it. That's why a gentleman stays away from the kitchen. Liheng is cruel to himself and others, but he always has compassion for the people around him. This is the way of a gentleman. "
Ning Yi thought for a moment and sighed. "Good people deserve good karma. We often say that a person does good deeds and accumulates virtue, but when he dies for others, he doesn't get any good karma. In the end, it often gives people a feeling that good deeds must be repaid with evil deeds. If there is no evil karma, the person who does good deeds often appears to have an impure heart. This kind of publicity is not good. "
"There's no such thing as Liheng said." Qin Siyuan was slightly surprised. "I've seen some stories and strange novels in the world nowadays that say that a person is filial or chaste, but in the end, it often ends with good deeds. If it's a man, he often passes the exam and becomes a first-rank official. If it's a woman, she often meets her Mr. Right. There aren't many people who say that good people deserve evil deeds. "
"Uh …" Ning Yi was stunned, then couldn't help but laugh. "Haha, I was thinking too much. Don't blame me, Prime Minister Qin."
Qin Siyuan also laughed, then became serious. "I'm talking about soft knives. Liheng has to be on guard."
Ning Yi nodded. "I know. Right now, on both the north and south, all the officials sent out are mostly under pressure. They are either tempted with money or coerced with power. They want them to more or less turn a blind eye. In this regard, the Office of Secret Investigations has already increased the intensity of the investigation. Other officials are fine, but the few routes on the north-south trade route cannot be careless."
"Some people have already extended their connections to the capital and robbed my connections." Qin Siyuan's face was gloomy. "Sooner or later, they will also find Liheng. Liheng has to make some preparations."
Hearing this, Ning Yi smiled. "About this, I'm already mentally prepared. Prime Minister Qin, don't worry."
Qin Siyuan sighed. "I'm not worried about you. As I said just now, Liheng is ruthless to himself and others. I only sigh at the world … "He paused and then laughed." Oh, by the way, De Xin and Zhou Hai seem to be doing well in the north. "
Ning Yi nodded. "Brother Cheng is very powerful. With him and De Xin working together, those people can't do anything."
"Well, Zhou Hai is too ruthless, similar to me in my early years. But when he does things, he does take care of everything. I … am not worried …"
The old man said so. In fact, he had high hopes for Cheng Zhouhai, his brilliant disciple …
*****
The reason why Qin Siyuan and Ning Yi mentioned Cheng Zhouhai was that Cheng Zhouhai was originally in charge of the military provisions in the north. After the disaster relief began, he temporarily took over the affairs of the Office of Secret Investigations in the north. After that, he connected with Li Pin and cooperated with each other.
Then, a few days ago, on the East River Road, the first big family's fierce counterattack came from the Guo family in Xiaoyi County.
Since Li Pin went to the Guo family to threaten them to release food, Guo Mingyi went to discuss with Zuo Jilan. Zuo Jilan went to the Qi family's Qi Fanghou. After the two sides discussed, the two aides, Wang Zhizhen and Xu Mai, gave Guo Mingyi his first plan.
After that, the second day Guo Mingyi returned home, he went outside under the protection of his servants and spoke to the starving people with tears in his eyes. Because the government believed that the Guo family had been giving out porridge, they must have food at home. Therefore, they threatened the Guo family to release more food. He had no choice but to make some concessions. At the same time, he announced that today would be the Guo family's last meal of porridge.
He wanted to … incite the people to revolt and point it at the government!
No matter how high Li Pin's official position was, no matter what kind of backer he had, if the first thing he did after taking office was to incite civil unrest, coupled with the influence of the Zuo family and the Qi family in the capital … he would no longer be an official.
Today, perhaps because it was the last day of porridge distribution, the Guo family's porridge was especially thick. It gave the starving people the strength to digest the news. The starving people listened to Guo Mingyi's words and were stunned.
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