In the Imperial Palace.
Du Qi was playing chess with Shangguan Yi.
There was nothing going on in the government, especially since Lan Changhe was in charge of Jingzhou's government, and Xue Rengui and Xiao Yuanqi were in charge of the army, so everything was normal. The two of them played Go, going back and forth quite quickly. However, Du Qi's skill in Go was still a bit higher. This was because Du Qi had some of his memories from the future, and he had many moves regarding Go.
But even so, Shangguan Yi's chess skill was improving rapidly. Although it was still slightly inferior to Du Qi's, it was not far behind. While the two were playing chess, a soldier came in and reported, "Your Majesty, General Xiao wants to see you."
"Please!"
Du Qi ordered.
After the soldier left, Du Qi picked up a white chess piece and put it on the chessboard, and said again, "Shangguan Yi, why do you think Xiao Yuanqi wants to see you this time?"
Shangguan Yi said, "Your Majesty, I don't know."
Du Qi said, "Make a guess."
Shangguan Yee thought for a while, then placed a piece and said, "According to this official's guess, perhaps General Xiao Yuan Qi entered the palace because we temporarily stopped in Chang 'an and did not continue to send troops. He was a little anxious. So, General Xiao Yuanqi came to the palace to volunteer to leave Chang 'an and go to Bashu, so that he can seize Bashu as soon as possible and destroy Li Chengqian. "
Du Qi smiled and didn't comment.
Not long after, Xiao Yuanqi came in and saluted, "Xiao Yuanqi greets Your Majesty."
Du Qi nodded and said, "What's the matter?"
Xiao Yuanqi said, "Your Majesty, now that Chang 'an has been taken, Jingzhou is just around the corner. There's no need for me in Jingzhou. My plan is to leave Chang 'an first and go to the center of Shu, so that we can conquer Bashu and destroy Li Chengqian as soon as possible. It's difficult to enter the center of Shu, so I hope to leave as soon as possible. "
Du Qi said in a deep voice, "Has the army been adjusted?"
Xiao Yuanqi said, "It's done."
Du Qi asked again, "Have the food and equipment been prepared?"
Xiao Yuanqi said, "Everything is ready."
Du Qi said, "If that's the case, then go. Zhen hopes that you can pacify Bashu as soon as possible and capture Li Chengqian. No matter if he's dead or alive, as long as you can take down Li Chengqian, We will remember your great merit. "
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Yuan Qi said excitedly, "Your Majesty, I will not let you down."
"This subject will take his leave!"
Xiao Yuan Qi cupped his fists again and left.
After Xiao Yuan Qi left, another soldier came in and reported, "Your Majesty, there are many people outside the palace. The leader is called Mo Feng. He said he was a merchant who helped Your Majesty to enter the city. Now he wants to see Your Majesty."
Du Qi said, "Pass!"
The soldier turned around and went down to pass on the order.
Du Qi smiled and said, "Shangguan Yi, these people have finally jumped out. Now that Lan Changhe has reached this step, the next step will be the most wonderful performance. The illegal merchants in Chang 'an will have a chance to capture them. "
Shangguan Yi said, "Your Majesty is wise to choose Lan Changhe to take charge of Jingzhou. Speaking of which, this subject also admires Lan Changhe. He dares to borrow Your Majesty's power. Normal people wouldn't dare to do so. "
Du Qi said, "As long as he can complete his task, govern the place well, let the people live a good life, and let the people no longer suffer the threat of hunger, what's wrong with being used by him?"
Shangguan Yi said, "Your Majesty is wise."
The two talked. Not long after, Mo Feng and the rest of the merchants all came into the hall.
"Your Majesty, please help us!"
Before Mo Feng reached the center of the hall, he let out a mournful cry and knelt on the ground like a collapsing pillar. He then crawled forward with a pitiful look on his face. At the same time, the rest of the merchants also knelt and asked Du Qi for help. The shouts rose and fell one after another, causing the hall to be as noisy as a wet market.
Mo Feng was at the front. He crawled to a place not far from Du Qi and stopped. He raised his head and looked at Du Qi with teary eyes. His red and swollen face was especially eye-catching. He said again, "Your Majesty, this subject is suing Jingzhou Provincial Governor Lan Changhe. He abused his power and wantonly beat the people. Your Majesty, please help us!"
The rest of the people echoed.
Everyone had expressions of grievance on their faces. Their appearances were very miserable.
When Du Qi saw this scene, especially when he saw Mo Feng's expression, he laughed in his heart. Lan Changhe was really capable. He actually beat Mo Feng up until his face was swollen. Du Qi's expression was rather serious. He said slowly, "Mo Feng, what grievances do you have? Tell me honestly. As long as Lan Changhe is in the wrong, I will give you justice. "
Mo Feng said excitedly, "Your Majesty is wise!"
Du Qi reminded him again, "If you start rumors and slander the court officials, even the gods can't save you."
Mo Feng's expression froze.
Du Qi didn't care about Mo Feng's expression and said, "Speak."
Mo Feng said again, "Your Majesty, the matter is like this. Lan Changhe is governing Jingzhou. Because of the spring plowing, he issued a notice to us grain merchants in Chang 'an not to raise the price of grain. However, Lan Changhe didn't specify the price. He only said ambiguously that we can't raise the price. "
"We who run grain stores are all proper merchants. We abide by the law."
"Compared to before, the price of our grain seeds is indeed slightly higher. However, Lan Changhe didn't care about anything else. He directly took down our shopkeeper and sealed up our stores. This subject went to the Provincial Governor's office to ask Lan Changhe for an explanation, but I was beaten up so badly that my cheeks are red and swollen. "
"Your Majesty, you must help this subject!"
"Although this subject and the others aren't famous people, we are still honest people. At the very least, we are honest people who do business with a down-to-earth attitude. The court officials can't bully honest people like this! "
Mo Feng cried out loudly, "If Your Majesty can't give us justice today, this commoner would rather bang his head against the wall and die in this hall. I implore Your Majesty to seek justice for us innocent people. "
His words avoided the important points and dwelled on the trivial. Moreover, he pushed all the blame onto Lan Changhe.
Du Qi sneered inwardly.
If he hadn't known beforehand, he would've been deceived by Mo Feng. Because Du Qi knew the situation, Du Qi directly said, "Mo Feng, you said that the price of grain seeds has increased slightly. This was a slight increase. How much had it risen compared to before? This Emperor is very curious. "
Mo Feng's heart skipped a beat. However, at this point, he couldn't lie half-heartedly, so he could only tell the truth, "The price of grain seeds today has doubled compared to yesterday."
Du Qi said, "This price is too high. Ordinary people simply can't afford such an increase."
Mo Feng had already prepared a draft in his mind. He immediately explained, "Your Majesty, there's a reason why our price has increased so much. It's not that we want to raise the price like this, but that we have no choice. "
"We have very little grain to begin with, and we don't have many seeds. In order to allow the people to complete their sowing, we've increased the purchase of seeds. Therefore, these seeds are all purchased from outside. Just the purchase price alone, as well as the transportation costs, and the storage costs, have consumed a great deal of money. "
Mo Feng said, "The price we're selling at now is actually quite considerate of the people. We've already fully considered their situation. We only make ten percent of the profit from selling seeds now. This profit is actually quite low. "
Du Qi looked around at the other merchants and asked, "Are all of you like this?"
One by one, they hurriedly nodded.
They all agreed with Mo Feng's words, saying that they'd spent a lot of money to buy seeds, which was why the price had reached today. They couldn't possibly be making a loss and not care about their own lives.
Du Qi smiled after hearing this and said, "Since that's the case, I'll uphold justice for all of you. Men, summon Jingzhou Provincial Governor Lan Changhe to immediately enter the palace for an audience. "
"Yes!"
The soldiers received the order and immediately went to make arrangements.
Mo Feng and the others had bright smiles on their faces. They were all meritorious people to Du Qi. Moreover, they had come to sue Lan Changhe this time in order to seize the opportunity and make the first move. Therefore, they were not afraid at all now. As long as they testified, Lan Changhe's crime could be confirmed.
As long as Lan Changhe's crime was confirmed, he would definitely be removed from his position.
This was their chance.
Du Qi ignored Mo Feng and the others and continued to play chess with Shangguan Yi. Not long after, Lan Changhe entered the palace. He bowed to Du Qi and said, "This subject, Lan Changhe, greets Your Majesty the Emperor."
Du Qi nodded and said, "You're here. There's a matter that involves you now. Cooperate well."
Lan Changhe said, "This subject will naturally cooperate."
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