Two months ago, in August, or perhaps a little earlier, was the starting point of everything.
Everything in the imperial court was led by the two Prime Ministers. They used a great deal of power to gather the strength of many people in both the north and south to transport large amounts of grain into the disaster area where the price of grain had skyrocketed.
In this process, Takeshi played a great role, with the participation of a few other factions. They were responsible for contacting the north and south, arranging the itinerary for everyone, and ensuring safety. With the cooperation of the government, everything was running smoothly. During that time, it was when Ning Yi was starting to get busy. She was concerned about Tong Shu 'er's murder case and ran back and forth. Later, she found out about the grain price and gradually became suspicious.
In the following time, Takeshi slowed down the pace of expansion, and because of her disgust, she wanted to cut off all contact with Ning Yi. In this process, group after group of people were rushing to Hedong, Hebei, Huainan, Jinghu, and other places. In the beginning, they simply went with the intention of doing business, but in this process, there was a group of people who played a great role, like the Shopkeeper Yao that these young people with the surname Yu spoke of. In the process of traveling from the south to the north, he explained some simple principles to them and guided them to give out porridge and grain. At the same time, he used words to set them against the big families who stored grain. Step by step, he achieved the effect of inciting them to go against each other.
At first, Shishi only thought that Shopkeeper Yao was the only one like this. It was this kind of experienced guide that made the most of the effect. But as she listened, Shishi realized that there might be more than one or two such people.
This time, among the roads that were affected by the disaster, there were a total of seven major trade routes supported by the imperial court. After entering the disaster area, these seven routes were spread out, and on each route, there were a certain number of hot-blooded people like the Yu Clan. They originally went for business, and called their children and nephews to see the world. Then, they gradually saw the tragic situation of the victims, and saw the heartless rich people. After their hearts were united, they began to prepare for the second and third wave of disaster relief. At the same time, they called other people in their families to participate.
"… The further we go, the harder it is to buy and transport grain. But this time, we have already planned to go back and forth a few more times. In the end, the Yu Clan will need at least two to three thousand dans to be accounted for!"
"… Two to three thousand dans are so proud. Do you know that the Hou Clan that we met last time transported one thousand five hundred dans in one go?"
"Two to three thousand dans are so proud. Do you know that the Hou Clan that we met last time transported one thousand five hundred dans in one go?" Furthermore, the Hou Family is also our in-laws. Didn't Master Hou say that he intended to betroth their Seventh Young Lady to Lil 'Sixth Young Lady? Because Little Six cried when he was giving out porridge. Master Hou said he had a kind heart … Tsk, I should have cried too. "
"Uh … Fifth brother, don't speak carelessly. They were just casually said, they didn't know.
"How can you say that casually? He thinks highly of you … But speaking of crying, I've seen disaster victims in the past. I've really cried about Geng Qingtian's incident …"
Time passed, and the people in the warm room continued to discuss. Shishi was in this line of work. What she was good at usually was drawing clues from the words of the people and piecing together that enormous outline. The more she pieced it together, the more difficult it was to stop her heart from surging.
At this time, in the Wu Dynasty, famine would occur every once in a while. Even if it was concentrated in a small area, it could not be called a tragedy rarely seen in the world. At least, Shishi herself had seen famine and relief. The landlords and grain merchants that traveled north and south might have provided food in times of famine in the past, but this situation was different from previous years.
The deliberate guidance of the Takeshi people stimulated the kindness in their hearts. At the same time, the communication between different grain transporters also gave them the impression that they were not alone and helpless. They recognized and encouraged each other, which made their hearts even hotter. From the process of these young people occasionally saying things like "hearing about the south" and "hearing about the price of grain in Hebei Road", Shishi could keenly sense that at least one hub that contacted various places was constantly spreading this information to them. As for the matter of County Magistrate Geng, it was said that in just a few days, the news had spread throughout the disaster area. It was impossible to do this without the orderly and conscious control of a backing force.
During the famine years, a clean and honest county magistrate would rather let his family eat bran and porridge than do his best to let the starving people survive. But when he asked a large family to sell grain, he was assassinated by a large family. It could be seen how vicious these people were.
After these people entered the disaster area and attracted attention, conflicts broke out in several places, but they were all suppressed. Shopkeeper Yao's persuasion was obviously very effective. After that, he told them about some people in other places who were injured by people sent by large families. Some people retreated because of this, but some people became more stubborn. Listening to the words of these young people with the surname Yu, they had vaguely felt that in this matter, being injured by a large family was actually a more glorious thing.
In the north and south, groups of people were stirred up like this. Their blood was stimulated by what they saw and heard in the disaster area. It was hard for Shishi not to think of Ning Yi's action of recruiting those storytellers in Takeshi. That night, after the Yu family left, until the dead of night, her mind kept ringing. For a moment, she thought of these people's hot blood, thinking of how they fought with the large families all over the country, and then thinking of Zuo Jilan, Young Master Sun of Jinghu, and the rich family in Huainan. She tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
In the end, the feeling of fear was even greater.
These years, she had lived in the capital. Because she was a woman, she might not have seen as much as others, but she understood the horror of power. Of course, the behavior of these young people was admirable. Between the north and the south, there might be many who could cooperate with each other, but in the court, in the arena of power, these loose people could not be the background.
Perhaps they were families with good status in the local area, with fields and land, and many of them could be called noble families. But after listening for a while, Shishi knew that these people could not enter the real circle of power. They had no people in the capital, and in other places, they did not have relatives who were officials. Even if some of them had one or two officials in their family, they were mostly small officials. As for the Zuo family, the Sun family, and the rich merchants of Huainan, those who were in contact with them were often officials of a region. If necessary, they could also speak to people like Cai Jing, Wang Ke, Li Bangyan, and Tong Guan. Some of them even had a close relationship with the royal family.
This time, although they were hot-blooded, their words seemed to reveal the heroic spirit of believing that evil would not prevail over good. But in reality, if it wasn't for the Prime Minister's Residence's power in the disaster relief this time, they would have been beaten to death by entering the market and suppressing the grain prices. In the process of selling grain, they competed with the local tyrants for profits. This was the biggest protection for them. Shishi also understood that to achieve this effect, the Prime Minister's Residence, Ning Yi, and the others needed to put in a lot of effort.
But now, while they were selling grain all over the country, the local rich families had found the core of the problem and had begun to move towards the capital. If there were three people who had found her, then there might be thirty or even three hundred people who were trying to make a move on her.
With such worries in her heart, she was a little anxious the next day. In the past, she had heard of the deeds of all kinds of heroes, and she most admired those great heroes who were righteous in the face of millions of people. But when this kind of thing happened to the people beside her, she could understand the pros and cons, and she became afraid.
In the past two years, the Left and Right Ministers had been in power for a very long time. Minister Li's personality was upright and firm, and Minister Qin's methods were swift and fierce. The two of them, one in charge and the other in support, pushed forward the northern expedition. But when it came to the highest levels, Shishi always maintained an impression that the most powerful people in the capital were the Grand Tutor Cai, Wang Shaoshi, and the other old officials. Their henchmen were all over the world, and they were currently enduring for the sake of the overall situation. But if a conflict really erupted, the two Ministers might not be able to handle their swift and fierce methods. Because they had to handle matters, the Grand Tutor Cai and the others only offended the people and not the corrupt officials. But the two Ministers had offended many powerful officials. This time, it was likely that there would be even more.
No matter how powerful their methods were, she was still worried about whether they could resist, even though she was an outsider.
That morning, she was thinking about this matter and prepared to go find Ning Yi in the afternoon. Perhaps she was worried too much, but she had to help him inform. After all, the Zuo family and the Sun family were not to be trifled with. However, after noon, before she could go out, she heard someone come to report that Young Master Zuo Jilan had arrived and asked her to go out. Shishi wanted to delay the time, so she hurriedly asked a maid to invite Young Master Zuo in for a while, saying that she had something to do and had to wait. But not long after, a maid came in and said that Young Master Zuo was waiting outside the door of the Fan Building and would not come in.
This showed the strength and dominance of a man, but Shishi was too lazy to care at this time. She hurriedly went to find Mama Lee and told her about Zuo Jilan. She asked her to help find Ning Yi and let her know first, and then she would leave later. Li Yun looked at her strangely, and finally went out in person to inform Zuo Jilan.
Shishi went to a room on the second floor of the Fan Building, quietly opened the window and looked down. On the street outside, Zuo Jilan and Wang Zhizhen were talking about something. After a while, an official stopped to talk to them. It was Minister Li from the Ministry of Works, who actually knew Zuo Jilan. Both of them laughed and chatted for a while. During the conversation, Zuo Jilan occasionally looked back and frowned at the Fan Building.
Shishi knew that her delay would definitely offend the other party, but it was just a small matter. She was thinking about what the other party probably wanted to say to Ning Yi, and how she could help to ease the atmosphere, so that both sides would not really fall out. She stood in Ning Yi's position and thought about how to solve this matter. She couldn't ignore the disaster area, but if she wanted to, she couldn't afford to offend so many people.
Her mind was in a mess when she suddenly heard a commotion from below. She heard Zuo Jilan say, "What are you doing …" Then there was a scream, and chaos sounded …
*****
Zuo Jilan didn't think too much about the trip to the capital. For him, everything could be done step by step: visiting his uncle Zuo Houwen, visiting officials who were on good terms with his family, and helping Qi Fanghou to deliver letters to some officials in the capital. Once these things were done, the pressure on the Prime Minister's residence would be formed, and the pressure on Ning Liheng would be even greater. He had to pay a visit to them. He had already thought it through. As the heir of the Zuo family, he would use reason to move the other party, but at the end of his words, he would clearly tell the other party, "This time, I won't be able to get out of this embarrassing situation. I will definitely kill you."
It didn't matter if he said it clearly.
Although he was arrogant, he wasn't an irrational person. On the contrary, he knew that this trip to the capital needed to be swift and decisive, so he didn't waste any time. After entering the capital, he quickly visited everyone and passed on his intentions. When he saw Li Shishi's poetry gathering, he actually went to see his other uncles. His uncle Zuo Houwen knew that he was a little interested in Li Shishi, so he arranged this "middleman" idea. After Li Shishi left, he also smiled and revealed to him the meaning of "I created an opportunity for you."
Zuo Jilan only smiled proudly. He didn't have any intention of pursuing a beauty, but Li Shishi was quite beautiful and had a good temperament. If he could win her heart on the way to the capital, it would be good too.
In the capital, there were probably many people who coaxed this top courtesan, but he didn't do that. When he arrived at the Fan Building, the servant girl asked him to sit and wait, so he waited by the roadside. It was also a message to the other party: Hurry up and come out. Some women might be angry because of this, but he had the right to do so. Even if many women were angry at first, they were still obediently tamed by him in the end. Women, mainly, were cheap.
But this time, the other party might really have something to do. She made him wait for a long time. Maybe she wanted to play hard to get and deliberately play hard to get. Not long after, he met with Minister Li, who he had visited the day before yesterday. After chatting for a while, he became a little impatient. This woman, didn't she know that he was here to do something? Who would play these tricks with her …
Because of this, he was a little angry. When a pedestrian suddenly bumped into him, he pushed him away. "What are you doing …"
*****
Compared to Zuo Jilan's calm and matter-of-fact attitude, Wang Zhizhen knew more about the complicated feeling in the field of power. He liked this feeling.
This time in the capital, the Zuo family brought pressure to the Prime Minister's Residence and Ning Yi. And all the other places in the world, a trace of pressure was gathering here. In the end, they all had to compromise. This was the essence of power.
This was the way of stateliness, the essence of power and influence. True power was not something that could be represented by the title of prime minister or emperor. True power lay in moving with the flow. No matter how powerful one was, he would still have to compromise. And he, a scholar who had profound knowledge but failed many times, finally pushed a part of this general trend, drowning those high and mighty fellows.
Prime Minister Li, Prime Minister Qin, Li Pin, Ning Yi, and some of their peers, might be very stubborn, but they understood what the trend was. He was also very regretful that people died in the Desolate Years, but how could people's desires be suppressed? If one day he ascended to a high position, he would have a more powerful and reasonable way to change all of this, and not be as stupid as them. Before this, he was very happy to see these stupid people collapse and compromise.
So he was also looking forward to today's meeting. What kind of attitude would the other party show? Disgust or politeness? Modesty or irritation? However, any intelligent person would definitely understand what it meant by the trend of events and being powerless to reverse the situation. He had also prepared a speech to teach the other party this point.
The pressure from Hedong Road, the pressure from the Zuo family, the pressure from the Qi family, and countless people from all over the world were coming …
He did not expect the next scene.
"What are you doing …"
Zuo Jilan pushed the beggar who bumped into him, and the beggar fell to the side of the road with a thud. Then, dark red blood flowed from his head.
Zuo Jilan and Wang Zhizhen were stunned, then they understood. "Motherf * cker, you are trying to blackmail me! Why don't you look where you are … Beat him to death. No, capture him and send him to Kaifeng Prefecture for punishment! "
Zuo Jilan roared, and the guards immediately came over to capture the beggar who was bleeding on the ground. At the same time, the constables of Kaifeng Prefecture had already formed a team and came over. "What are you doing …"
"Hey, constable, come over here, this guy is blatantly blackmailing in broad daylight, we must capture him and punish him …"
"Clear sky, who are you people? How dare you act so violently …"
"Constable, I am Li Jing, a member of the Ministry of Works …"
"Capture him!"
"Yes …"
"What are you doing …"
"Get the doctor, someone is going to die here …"
"Deliberately injuring someone …"
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing, do you want to die …"
Amidst the chaos, the constables started to put the shackles on Zuo Jilan. Shishi, who was upstairs, widened her eyes. She could see that it was obviously a blackmail, but Minister Li couldn't stop Zuo Jilan from being captured. Someone started to say that it was an outsider committing a crime. Zuo Jilan was obviously confused, then he struggled and shouted, "Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am … "
"My father is Zuo Duanyou! My father is Zuo Duanyou! You are dead, do you know that? My father is Zuo Duanyou … "
Amidst the shouting, a young man in the crowd cupped his hands towards Minister Li. Minister Li walked over and both of them chatted for a while. Minister Li looked over and didn't know what to say. Shishi recognized him as Minister Qin's disciple, Wenren Bu 'er. After talking to Li Jing, he walked over to Wang Zhizhen, who was stunned.
Seeing Li Jing talking to him, Wang Zhizhen understood that there was an inside story. This incident was like a head-on blow. He wanted to stop the constables from capturing Zuo Jilan, but the constables pushed him away. Zuo Jilan asked him to find someone to kill these people. The young man who finished talking to Li Jing walked over.
"Brother Wang Zhizhen, I have heard a lot about you." The young man cupped his hands.
"You … Who are you? Do you know …"
"I'm here to deliver an item." Wenren Bu 'er took out a letter from his sleeve. The letter was sealed with wax, with the words "Brother Zuo Duanyou" written on the front, and "Brother, Qin."
"This is just for show. Young Master Zuo has good food and a good place to stay here. Don't worry, Brother Wang. This letter was written by Master Qin to Duke Zuo. Please take it back to Hedong and hand it over. You will know how to bring Young Master Zuo back … Time is running out, and the capital is deep. Brother Wang, don't wander around and go back as soon as possible. "
Wang Zhizhen was really stunned. He had been in the capital for a few days. Even if he returned without any results, it was not that he didn't consider it, but everything was too sudden. Most importantly, he was Zuo Jilan's advisor. Zuo Jilan's food supply was handled by him. When they came to the capital to pressure, Qin Siyuan directly captured Zuo Jilan and wrote a letter to Zuo Duanyou, who was said to have broken off relations with him. When he personally handed the letter to Zuo Duanyou, what should he say? What would Zuo Duanyou think of him?
The bailiffs grabbed Zuo Jilan and dragged him away noisily. Holding the letter, Wang Zhizhen stood by the side of the road in a daze, not knowing what to do.
All of a sudden, a figure ran past his side …
*****
Shishi was watching from upstairs. When she saw Wenren Bu 'er, she naturally knew what was going on.
Mama Lee had just left, so it was definitely not a response after the news was sent out. In other words, they were already prepared for Zuo Jilan. Shishi heaved a sigh of relief at such a swift and decisive method. However, she didn't really feel relaxed. The fight between the two sides had already begun. Even if they captured Zuo Jilan, the other side still had a few noble families in the disaster area. How many people could they handle with such a forceful method?
She ran out of the building and caught up with Wenren Bu 'er who was walking at the back.
"Young Master Wenren, Young Master Wenren."
The way Shishi called her was soft and pleasant. Wenren Bu 'er turned around and smiled, cupping her hands, "Oh, Miss Shishi, what's the matter?" Then she said, "Are you going to plead for the young master who hurt people in broad daylight?"
Shishi smiled and shook her head, "He wanted to find Liheng. I was holding him back in the building and asked my mother to inform him. I didn't expect you to attack him. Young Master Wenren, your side … is in trouble? "
Wenren Bu 'er smiled and thought for a while, "It's not easy. Miss Li also knows about it? "
"I'm afraid Liheng also has a lot of troubles on his side."
"Indeed. Recently, some people with connections came to his house. Recently, some cotton merchants, silk merchants, and some of Takeshi's business partners came to his house and asked him to stop. Otherwise, they would threaten not to cooperate with him and not to supply him with goods. His wife cares about old times and is waiting for him to make a statement. She hasn't done anything to these people yet. Today, we came to capture Zuo Jilan and he went back to deal with it … "
The two of them walked forward while talking.
"No wonder he's been busy recently. But I have something to do. Can I meet him at the Prime Minister's Mansion tomorrow? "
"Actually, he's not very busy. Miss Shishi, he must have time …"
*****
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
