In the past, if the disaster area was not large and there were more determined relief officials, then the government could use some more drastic means and measures. Generally speaking, they would go directly to the big families to persuade and threaten them. If anyone didn't listen, they would kill them, and the price of grain would be controlled. And officials who had such means and decisions and were not afraid of retaliation were often regarded as ruthless and good officials.
At the beginning of this disaster relief, Qin Siyuan had made such a decision to save more people. But at that time, he also understood that the scale of the grain price increase this time was actually a drop in the bucket and couldn't do much. And if the means were used, it was more likely that he, the Prime Minister, would be punished before the disaster relief was completed. Because of this consideration, after weighing for a long time, he decided to use Ning Yi's opinion.
But this didn't mean that the Right Minister's Residence couldn't move a single person.
This time, the big families that participated in the grain storage, such as the Qi family, the Zuo family, and the Cai family, were basically able to compete with Qin Siyuan in public. In public, Qin Siyuan couldn't directly fall out with these people, because no one dared to offend so many people at the same time. But things like disaster relief and making money were under the table. Even if they couldn't touch these big families, there were always some small families that the Prime Minister's Residence had the right to cut.
Before the snow fell, Ning Yi and the others had been restraining themselves from using this power. Other than a few people who wanted to incite the people to riot or directly attack the officials, the rest of the people only went around and persuaded them to watch the matter quietly. Secretly, they foreshadowed a lot, "We are very determined this time. You will know when you see."
When the snow fell, everything began to move. The officials had already collected some information about the small and medium-sized landlords that stored grain. As soon as the order was given, they immediately broke in and tried and convicted. For the serious cases, the Prime Minister's Residence had already obtained the approval of the Emperor. They didn't wait for the autumn to come and directly sentenced them to death. This one was killed to show other small families that stored grain.
In the capital, Qin Siyuan's means won Zhou Zhe's understanding. As people were arrested, imprisoned, and beheaded, a batch of food that had been waiting for a long time rushed into the market. The distribution of porridge for disaster relief reached its most generous level when it snowed. And so, the big clans' counterattack began.
The ambitious big families quickly ate up the grain that was put into the market. Those who had connections stopped the grain from being put into the market through the bureaucracy or through various channels. In response to the government's distribution of porridge, they began to try to create chaos, and even some granaries were secretly set on fire. The conflict between the grain hoarders and the foreign merchants became more and more intense. The security of the disaster area declined rapidly.
Due to the heavy snow and the deterioration of public security, some of the foreign traders chose to leave. Some of the hot-blooded people who had been stirred up didn't stay here anymore after realizing the cold reality. Only a small number of young people stayed, and they became even more united. The passage of grain had become difficult, which meant that the total amount of grain in the disaster area was basically only this much. However, the first round of drastic measures caused some small households to have a psychological breakdown. They began to sell their food, and the trend continued to increase.
These were all conventional confrontations that happened in the disaster area. The real danger and deciding the overall situation were actually in the court.
The verbal attacks on the two Prime Ministers had become more and more intense at this time. Almost every day, there were many memorials submitted. They were not against Li Gang and Qin Siyuan, but against the officials under them, especially the officials in charge of disaster relief, who received the most blame. The emperor, Zhou Zhe, was annoyed, but he still supported the Prime Ministers in disaster relief. As the emperor, he could generally see the current situation clearly. Only some of the memorials with conclusive evidence would be strictly investigated and dismissed by him.
On the side of Li Gang and Qin Siyuan, they also criticized some of the officials under them. The minor officials who obstructed the disaster relief were criticized the most. Almost every day, some of them were punished, which could be regarded as a return. On the Emperor's side, while maintaining his tendentious cooperation, he also complained to Li Gang and the others. "Don't make too much of a fuss. Otherwise, one day, you'll get yourself into trouble. Recently, I've been troubled by all sorts of things, not just in court."
However, in December, the biggest loss of the Prime Minister's Mansion was Lin Qiting, the transportation commissioner of Jinghu South Road, who was a capable general under Qin Siyuan. He managed Jinghu South Road, maintained the trade route, and invested in disaster relief. The only problem was that the largest family in Jinghu South Road was surnamed Han, which was the maiden home of the Empress Dowager.
When managing Jinghu South Road, Lin Qiting had tried his best to avoid direct conflict with the Han family, but all kinds of frictions were still inevitable. In November, some members of the Han family went to the capital to complain to the Empress Dowager. They framed Lin Qiting for various crimes of arrogance, corruption, and malfeasance in Jinghu South Road. They prepared witnesses and evidence, and kept running. Some officials' complaints became more and more intense. Finally, the Empress Dowager was persuaded, feeling that her family had been greatly bullied. Zhou Zhe also began to examine these things. In the end, he flew into a rage and was ready to punish Lin Qiting.
After such a decision was made in the court, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Lin Zhongtai, who had a good relationship with Lin Qiting, wept and asked Zhou Zhe to take back the order. In the end, he said, "If Lin Qiting were to resign at this time, countless people in Jinghu South Road would have no way to survive …"
He was an official under Li Gang and Qin Siyuan, but he was confused at this time. This made Zhou Zhe furious. He slammed the table and scolded, "Bastard! Do you think there are no good officials in this world except Lin Qiting? Do you think you are the only upright officials? Except for you, there are no good people under me who want to save the people!? I want to dismiss Lin Qiting! You! Go home and reflect on your mistakes! "
Qin Siyuan lost two high-ranking officials at once, and there was nothing he could do. Although it was snowing heavily at this time, it was not so exaggerated to say that the mountains and roads were completely blocked. The decree of the court was quickly sent to Jingnan. Lin Qiting was asked to go to the capital to be investigated. He was burning with anxiety and cursed loudly. On the way to the capital, he was infected with a bad disease. In the end, only bad news came.
Lin Qiting was only forty-nine years old. As a high-ranking official, he was in the prime of his life. Although his dismissal at this time was a huge blow to him, and it was such a cold winter, there were many doubtful points to say that he really died of the disease. However, it was difficult to find out whether this was true or if the Han family of Jingnan was secretly doing it.
At this time, in the midst of disaster relief, some of the smaller groups had problems. The Prime Minister's residence had pieced together and could still organize backup personnel. But if someone as important as Lin Qiting were to die, it would directly lead to twice the effort and half the result. Similar situations happened every day.
The white-haired Qin Siyuan used his powerful spiritual energy to deal with all kinds of situations. He would often discuss with Ning Yi and the others to make decisions. Ning Yi had his own methods in the business world and the hearts of people, but he was not very familiar with the operation of the Wu Dynasty's officialdom. The strategies he proposed were often criticized by Qin Siyuan as too powerful. In this crisscrossing confrontation, the price of grain finally fell firmly, but no one knew what the final result would be, and how many people would die to save. Because in the disaster area at this time, there were already large numbers of people dying every day, either starving to death or freezing to death. It was better in places where the government and wealthy families provided disaster relief. However, there were always people who lived in remote mountainous areas. After the price of food was gone, they would either be alone, or their entire families would die in remote mountain villages, without a trace.
Far away on the East River, Shishi had been here for a month. In the beginning, she ran around everywhere, participating in disaster relief, giving out porridge, distributing grain, and selling grain. She had also felt the passion and generosity in her heart. But now, enormous fatigue and psychological pressure had descended. Sometimes, she still wore a cloak and a headscarf and went out of the city to give out porridge, but most of the time, she would look at the disaster victims from afar and quietly cry.
There had been tears in the beginning, but not long after, they stopped. But these days, they began to come out again. In the first few days, she cried for the victims of the disaster. But recently, part of her crying was for others and for herself.
Over the years, it was not that she had not seen tragedies, nor had she not seen death. However, when she really wanted to do something, and many people around her also wanted to do something with the same passion, the sense of frustration that came in the end was incomparably strong. The words that Ning Yi had said to her in the capital gradually became real after coming here.
"We don't want the rich families to lose money."
"We just want them to earn a little less."
"If they are a little less greedy, a lot of people can survive …"
But … every day, a lot of people were dying …
The price of grain had indeed begun to fall. Sometimes, she really wanted to go back to the capital immediately to find Ning Yi and ask, "Have we succeeded? How many people have died? Less than fifty thousand? " But she knew that no matter whether it was true or not, it was difficult for her to calm down. The government's storage of grain was constantly decreasing, and the porridge began to become thinner and thinner. Perhaps some places would be more troublesome than here.
Sometimes, she thought that so many people had died, but the rich families only made a little less money. So many people had died, but each of their families was still making money. So many people worked so hard. Who could they beat …
In the capital, Ning Yi did not know whether he could achieve the expected goal. In fact, after the snow began to fall, the efficiency of the information from all places had begun to slow down. Everything was entrusted to the original plan and the arranged officials. As for the capital, they could only try their best to maintain the overall situation.
With Lin Qiting's death, the overall situation was not maintained perfectly.
It was almost the end of December, and there were only ten days left before New Year's Eve. Every family in the capital was decorated with lanterns and streamers, including the Ning family and the Prime Minister's residence. Even though the men of each family were working hard to maintain the disaster relief, every family still had to celebrate the New Year. At this time, Ji Kun had returned to the Prime Minister's residence, Yao Zunian had returned to his own home, and Monk Jueming was still running around. Ning Yi came to the Prime Minister's residence every day to calculate the figures with everyone and deal with many other things that needed to be dealt with. That night, after dinner, they did not go home. They were still discussing some matters related to the disaster relief, the fact that there was still a batch of grain in Huainan that could be used, and the legitimacy of the procedures with the advisors.
It was not late at night, and the candles were still lit in the study. Qin Siyuan had his hands behind his back as he talked with Ning Yi, Ji Kun, Wenren Bu 'er, and the others about the allusions in the political arena and the names that could be used. His hair and beard were all white, but his eyes were clear, and he was in good spirits. He was also humorous when he talked. During this time, Elder Qin's wife came to see him once and brought a set of refreshments for everyone. After she went out, Qin Siyuan continued to tell the story. A subordinate trotted in with a piece of information in his hand. "Your Excellency."
Qin Siyuan took it and read it.
The information was only half the size of a piece of paper. Qin Siyuan read it once and read it again with a frown. He stood there and looked to the side of the study. He blinked his eyes, and there was some confusion in his eyes. After a while, he stretched out the piece of paper. When Ji Kun and the others were about to reach out to take it, Qin Siyuan maintained the posture of stretching out his hand and sat down on the chair behind him. He grabbed the back of the chair with one hand, and his veins bulged. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only said two words. "Zhang Jue …"
Wenren Bu 'er rushed out of the room. "Someone! Call Doctor Xu! Quick! "
Ji Kun rushed over and held Qin Siyuan's pulse with one hand, and tried to pinch Qin Siyuan's philtrum with the other hand. Ning Yi went over and said, "Relax, Prime Minister Qin, relax. We are here … Relax, no matter what it is, it will be done. Take a deep breath. Come, follow me. Breathe in …"
As he spoke, he took the piece of paper from Qin Siyuan's hand and read it. He held the paper in his hand, but he suddenly clenched it. His lips moved, but he didn't say anything. He just clenched his teeth and said, "Breathe in …"
Doctor Xu from the Prime Minister's Mansion almost flew over. He glanced at Qin Siyuan and said, "All of you go out." He took out a silver needle and inserted it. Ji Kun took two steps back. Ning Yi pulled him out of the room and gave him the piece of paper. Ji Kun looked at it, and Wenren Bu 'er also came over.
No one spoke because it would disturb the people in the room.
From October to November, Zhang Jue fought three battles with Wanyan Zhamu outside Yanmen Pass. He lost the first two battles, but turned defeat into victory in the third battle, defeating Wanyan Zhamu's army. After that, the Jin sent Aguda's second son, Wanyan Zongwang, to lead the army and defeated Zhang Jue outside Nanjing. Wanyan Zongwang was now one of the strongest generals in the Jin army. Zhang Jue knew that he was no match for him, so he led the army south to Yan Jing. At this time, Guo Yaoshi of the Ever-Victorious Army and Wang Anzhong were guarding Yan Jing. Wanyan Zongwang led the army south. It was not easy to attack the city in winter, so Guo Yaoshi strongly advocated defending the city. He didn't know that Wang Anzhong had already received a secret order from the capital.
Wang Anzhong hid Zhang Jue and when Wanyan Zongwang asked for him, he only said that there was no such person. Wanyan Zongwang was even more anxious, saying that if the Wu dynasty didn't hand over Zhang Jue, he would start a war with the Wu dynasty. Wang Anzhong then found a substitute who looked like Zhang Jue, killed him, and sent his head. However, some of the Jin knew Zhang Jue and could tell that it wasn't his head. Under repeated pressure, Wang Anzhong finally brought Zhang Jue out. He listed Zhang Jue's crimes and accused him of inciting the conflict between the Wu dynasty and the Jin. Zhang Jue cursed the Wu dynasty for being intolerant. Wang Anzhong then killed Zhang Jue and sent his head to Wanyan Zongwang.
The Golden Men had finally retreated.
The lanterns to welcome the end of the year were hung high. Bianliang was still bustling with activity, but the winter wind was howling and getting colder. The people in the courtyard walked to one side and didn't say anything. Not long after, Ning Yi went out of the courtyard and threw a punch at a big tree. With a bang, the tree shook and the bark split open.
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