Most of the ministers in the imperial court also fell silent. Among them, they were either marquises or farmers, but none of them treated their tenants like Mo Lie and his son.
Logically speaking, Mo Lie and his son could completely ignore their tenants and live a good life with their own salary. If they were a little evil, they could even desperately squeeze their tenants. How could they be reduced to the point of selling fish?
"Mo Lie is really a righteous man!" Even a proud person like Wei Zheng could not help but nod and praise.
"So it is reasonable that Meton brought the Mo Family Village to Chang 'an to sell fish."
"Exactly."
…
The ministers in the imperial court were talking about it. The entire Mo Family Village was about to be starved, and it was unreasonable to not let them sell fish to survive.
"I am ashamed to face Minister Mo!" Li Shimin said with shame. "Come, reward the Mo Family Village with ten taels of gold and a thousand dan of grain immediately."
Censor Wang felt suffocated, Your Majesty! Didn't you hear what I said just now? He is still waging war in Chang 'an City. This is a sin that will cause heavy rain.
Qin Qiong shook his head and smiled, "Your Majesty, there is no need for that, because from now on, the Mo Family Village will not be poor anymore."
Li Shimin was confused, just now he was talking about how poor the Mo Family Village was, but now he even delayed the reward! He thought and said, "Is it the secret skill of living fish?"
"Yes, it is the secret skill of living fish!" Qin Qiong nodded and said, "The Mo Family Village was inspired by the catfish effect in Mo Zi's secret book, and discovered the secret skill of living fish that can make fish live for a long time after leaving the pond. Now they are rich, and the five thousand people of the Mo Family Village can eat and wear. However, at this time, the secret skill of living fish was coveted by some people. First, the guards at the city gate forcibly searched the fish transport vehicles, and then the fish gang kidnapped the villagers and tortured them, trying to rob the secret skill of living fish. Therefore, the Mo Family Village had to resort to violence in Chang 'an City to save the villagers.
A cold light flashed in Qin Qiong's eyes, and he stared at Censor Wang. Obviously, he was really angry! He did not expect that a small censor dared to rob the County Earl of the Empire.
The ministers in the imperial court also realized that no wonder Censor Wang was so active. It turned out that he wanted the secret skill of living fish of the Mo Family Village. Not only did he fail to snatch it, he even lodged a complaint against the Emperor.
There were quite a number of officials present. Normally, what they valued the most was not their official positions, but their noble titles. That was a guarantee that they could pass down to the next generation and ensure their family's prosperity. However, Imperial Censor Wang's actions had affected everyone's interests.
"The Minister of Foreign Affairs has reported that the Fish Gang in the Fish Market of Chang 'an City ran amok in the village. They bullied the fishermen and intended to rob the secret skill of the Mo Family's live fish. They conspired to kidnap the villagers of the Mo Family's village. Last night, the villagers of the Mo Family helped Wannian County Government to capture more than 50 people of the Fish Gang and rescued Yu Er, a villager of the Mo Family's village." The Chang 'an County Magistrate immediately added. Since Duke Yi had shown his token last night and argued with the Mo Family Village today, it was obvious that he had a deep relationship with the Mo Family Village. If they didn't take sides now, when would they?
"How dare these filthy people be so bold! Your Majesty, I implore you to punish these villains severely," Wei Zheng said righteously. He was not speaking for the sake of the Mo's Village. Instead, he simply hated evil.
"Approved!"
Li Shimin's voice was calm and unperturbed.
"Oh! Didn't Censor Wang's family open a Wang Family Fish Shop? The Fish Sect wants the secret skill of living fish, and you came to complain to the Imperial Censor today. Don't tell me that you want the secret skill of living fish! " A sudden voice sounded. No one knew when, but Cheng Yaojin's big black face appeared in front of Censor Wang.
"This old man!" The ministers felt disgusted. Everyone present knew that the Wang Family Fish Shop was the property of the Taiyuan Wang Family. However, they were all Confucian scholars. There was no need for them to stand up for Brother Mo Jiazi.
Cheng Yaojin acted as if he did not see Censor Wang's eyes that were about to spit fire. He continued to spit and said, "But your dead fish is indeed not delicious. In my opinion, fresh fish is the best. In the past, I often went to the river to catch fish. After catching fish, I would directly kill them and eat them. That is the freshest. Recently, the secret skill of living fish of the Mo Family is much more convenient. The Old Man does not have to go out of the city anymore! "
The more Cheng Yaojin spoke, the more the ministers looked at Censor Wang. Censor Wang was so anxious that he was about to cry.
"Minister, you are wrongly accusing me!" Censor Wang was so angry that he was trembling. He did not think that a fallen noble family would let Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin speak for them.
"Minister, there is another reason why you said to report to the Mo Family Village. There is a rumor that the secret skill of living fish of the Mo Family Village is an improved catfish effect. They use carp instead of catfish." Censor Wang did not dare to directly attack Meton, so he changed the topic to the Mo Family Village.
"Carp!" The ministers could not help but look at Li Shimin who was sitting at the top.
Everyone knew what carp was. It was just a homonym of the Chinese character Li.
"What a joke. The secret skill of living fish of the Mo Family is such a secret. How do you know about it?" Qin Qiong sneered.
"Minister, you also heard about it!" Censor Wang braced himself and said. After all, his job as a censor was to hear about reports. No one could do anything to him.
"Oh, Old Man, you also heard that the Wang Family Fish Shop often kills carp." Qin Qiong countered.
One must know that carp's reproductive ability was very strong. Almost every pond would not be cut off. Who would not accidentally kill carp when fishing all year round?
"You!" Censor Wang did not expect that the flames of war would burn him.
"Although carp is a national fish, it is widely spread in the north and south of the river. Every time there is a fishing season, although the fishermen do not kill carp, there will always be a dead carp in the pond. Some carp will even fill the entire pond." Minister Su Ling Nong's words almost made Censor Wang cry. Are you trying to defend me? Or are you trying to kill me?
"Really?" Li Shimin was moved.
"Your Majesty, it is indeed so. Ever since your Majesty banned the killing of carp, the number of carp increased day by day. This caused the habitat of other fish to decrease. The fishing industry's output decreased year after year, and the price of fish increased day by day." If Meton was here, he would definitely be greatly convinced. He did not expect that there would be someone in the Tang Dynasty who had such foresight. Obviously, the mass reproduction of carp destroyed the fish's ecological circle, causing a large number of carp to overflow. As a result, there was a biological crisis of too many carp in a country in the future.
The minister continued, "The mass reproduction of carp brought inconvenience to the fishermen when they were fishing. In serious cases, some carp even occupied the entire pond, causing the fishermen to suffer heavy losses. They were afraid of the empire's laws, so they could only abandon the fish ponds. What's more, some fishermen killed carp in the process of fishing, but some county magistrates used this as a reason to put them in prison. Their families were ruined. "
The minister's words made the whole imperial court silent. Everyone, including Li Shimin, did not expect that there would be such a big side effect of protecting carp.
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.
