Prime Minister of Great Qin

Chapter 141: Hitting the Grass to Startle the Snake! (seeking subscription)

"Solve the merchants?" Fu Su frowned, and said in doubt: "Even if the court can solve the merchants, if this matter is known to the outside world, it may not be able to solve the actual situation."

Ji Heng smiled and said, "You are wrong."

"The problem is people."

"If the problem of people is not solved, this shipwreck will continue to happen. Will the court be able to deal with it again and again?"

"How can the court bear it if it goes on like this again and again?"

"Talent is the main issue."

"If the human problem is solved, all problems can be handled easily."

"If people can't solve it, things will be difficult."

"However, how to deal with 'people' also takes a lot of thought."

"First of all, we need to figure out what the merchants are trying to do."

"Businessmen seek profit."

"Therefore, merchants' plans are basically based on profit."

"Salt and iron are beneficial in themselves."

"Selling salt and iron is profitable."

"Letting the government back down is also beneficial."

"Businessmen dare to trample on any law in the world for [-]% profit; if they have [-]% profit, they dare to commit any crime, even risking hanging their heads."

"Under the management of the government, merchants have very little room for profit."

"Basically, they are blood-and-sweat merchants."

"So it is normal for merchants to have resentment."

"The current tens of thousands of salt and iron are enough to make them take risks."

"What the imperial court has to do is to hang their heads!"

"It's just that before that, the imperial court needs to scare the snake away."

"Shock the snake?" Fusu frowned, his eyes full of curiosity.

Ji Heng smiled, and said in a cold voice: "Right now, merchants are in the dark, and the government is in the open. All the actions of the government will fall into the hands of merchants. If you continue to follow the steps, the merchants have been planning for several months. I am afraid that everything has been arranged. Little can be achieved.”

"So the imperial court can't do things according to the ideas of merchants."

"Do the opposite."

"Anyone who knows about the sinking of the ship thinks that the imperial court's priority is to stabilize people's livelihood."

"The merchants also have the same idea."

"So the first thing the imperial court does is not to calm the people, but to investigate the case, and it is not to pay equal attention to the two, or to deviate, but to completely ignore the people's livelihood."

"Qin government is tyrannical."

"This time, let the world see the tyranny!"

"Just tell the world so plainly that Daqin really doesn't care about the lives of the people."

"The ship full of goods sank, and the court's money was gone."

"This is the big deal!"

heard.

Fusu's face changed slightly.

He was also shocked by Ji Heng's words.

Regardless of people's livelihood?

There are tens of millions of people in Guanzhong.

If something goes wrong, it will be a big problem.

Fu Su quickly shook his head and said, "Mr. Ji, I dare not agree with this."

"The people must be saved."

"Guanzhong is the foundation of Great Qin. The court is so indifferent to the people. Doesn't this chill the hearts of Qin people?"

"This is absolutely impossible."

Ji Heng smiled and explained: "The rescue must be saved, but don't rush to act. The so-called cold-bloodedness is just an attitude shown to the outside."

"This is for merchants to see."

"In the expectation of merchants, the government will definitely comfort the people."

"The imperial court despises the life and death of the bottom and does not follow common sense. This also makes the merchant's plan come to nothing."

"Seeing that the court is uneasy about the people and only concentrates on investigating salt and iron, if you are a merchant, what would you think?"

Fusu thought for a while, but said unsurely: "I will panic."

Ji Heng nodded and said, "If the shipwreck was intentional, merchants would be terrified after seeing the government's actions. Merchants are greedy for profit, but they are also afraid of death."

"The more the imperial court ignores people's livelihood and attaches more importance to this shipwreck, the more they will panic."

"Under panic, mistakes are inevitable."

"What the court is waiting for this time is that they make mistakes."

heard.

Fusu was thoughtful.

Immediately, he seemed to think of something, and said in a condensed voice: "But if the merchants really did it on purpose, they will definitely make careful arrangements. The court may find it difficult to find out the problem in a short time. If there is a lack of salt and iron in Guanzhong, it will not be resolved. The imperial court may be unable to resist."

Ji Heng nodded.

He refilled himself with tea, took a sip leisurely, and said with a smile: "Of course the imperial court can't be more patient with the merchants, so they want to startle the snake and force the merchants out."

"Mister, please advise." Fusu bowed.

Ji Heng closed his eyes slightly, and said in a deep voice, "Don't block the matter of salt and iron sinking in water, let it spread."

Fusu was startled.

Ji Heng said: "Is it a little unbelievable?"

"You can know about Huai County, most of which are urgent letters sent by the postman. The postman travels two hundred miles a day and one night. Normally, it will take at least a day or two for the news to reach Xianyang."

"Whether it is blocked or not, it will take one to two days."

"But do you think it will take a day or two?"

Fusu frowned.

He pondered for a while, then slowly said: "If this matter was really intentional, someone outside would have known about it long ago, so it will take less than a day or two."

Done.

Fusu understood immediately.

If this news came out of Xianyang today, it is basically certain that the merchants knew about it.

Seeing Fusu's appearance, Ji Heng nodded and continued: "This matter must also be blatantly dispatched officials to investigate, and the momentum must be large, so that everyone knows it. grab it."

"Don't arrest the real person in charge, arrest each family with certain real power."

"Remember to send cruel officials to catch them."

"Famous."

heard.

Fusu's mouth twitched slightly.

Cruel officials?

How can there be any cruel officials in Daqin?
However, he also roughly understood that most of the principals of the major salt merchants and iron merchants had colluded with each other long ago, and it was not easy to get out of the way, but other people with certain real power in the clan may not necessarily.

Once the imperial court puts their posture aside and threatens them a little bit, they may really be able to ask something.

Even if the tone is strict, it will be frightening enough.

After all, he is a cruel official!
And this is also scaring the major merchants.

What is tested is humanity.

Ji Heng breathed, and said lightly: "All the actions of the imperial court are just to carry out one thing, that is, to ignore the people's livelihood, and only pay attention to the investigation of the shipwreck case. In order to reduce the pressure, at the same time let the people put pressure on the court."

"As long as businessmen turn to people's livelihood."

"It means going from the dark to the bright, that is, the merchants can't hold their breath first."

"Once the merchants don't hold their breath, the purpose will be revealed."

"And that's what the court wants."

Fusu nodded.

He already understood Ji Heng's thoughts.

The imperial court could not follow the ideas of the merchants, it had to jump out of it, and the merchants’ ideas were probably to use public opinion to force the imperial court to give up some interests, so the imperial court directly ignored the public opinion and only stared at the merchants. Do not make mistakes, or can only actively guide public opinion to reduce the pressure on yourself.

All in all.

It is not on Anmin and investigation as the world thinks.

And on the businessman.

Therefore, regardless of whether the merchants were intentional or not, the merchants could not get out of it. Even if it was accidental, without the merchants' interference, it would be much easier for the court to deal with it.

If it is really planned by merchants.

The more the court targeted merchants, the more panicked they became.

And even if some of the merchants can hold their breath.

But can everyone hold their breath?
The person in charge can calm down, what about the rest of their clan?

Once someone doesn't hold their breath.

That means that there is a flaw in the merchant's plan.

And the imperial court has been staring at them, even if some of them realize it, they don't dare to connect with each other in private. How many people can support this kind of situation that can only be supported by their own willpower?
Fusu bowed and said, "Fusu has been taught."

"Treat the people first."

Ji Heng said indifferently: "The main reason for this is the time difference. Merchants who dare to do this probably have colluded with many officials. Therefore, when the court found out about this, they probably also heard about it. So if you continue to follow the steps like this, you will only fall into the hands of merchants." Therefore, it is necessary to force merchants from the dark to the bright."

"In broad daylight, there is no darkness left."

Fu Su said: "What you said is very true."

"I'm going to send a message."

Ji Heng nodded.

Fu Su paused for a moment, thought for a while, and said with a slightly different expression: "Wei Sheng, you should now inform the officials of the Shaofu and Tingwei's mansions that there is no need to worry about the lack of salt and iron. This is caused by merchants. What we have to do is to investigate the case thoroughly and give the world an explanation."

Fu Su then continued: "At the same time, you go and inform Young Master Du He's mansion to stop all actions immediately, and only send relevant personnel to Huai County to thoroughly investigate the situation of salt and iron."

"Notify Meng Yi Tingwei to investigate the shipwreck case strictly, and explain my opinion to Meng Yi. I personally suggest finding a few officials with vicious faces and good reputations to deal with them. Wait for a while and send a few officials to the major The merchant’s house will go there, and the right-hand men of the major salt and iron merchants will be captured by the government.”

"In addition, let Meng Yi Tingwei send some small officials to keep an eye on the houses of major merchants at all times."

"Stare openly and squarely."

"As for the shortage of salt and iron, let the people solve it themselves."

"The imperial court has no time to take care of it."

Done.

Fusu returned indoors.

As the door closed again, Fu Su gave a wry smile and said, "Mr. Ji, if my words spread, I don't know how many people will be shocked."

Ji Heng said calmly, "Do you still care about fame?"

"Since ancient times, when evaluating a politician, how many people will look at their own personal virtues? What they look at most is the gains and losses of the great government. As long as the final result is successful, what's the point of losing some fame?"

"Fame is a burden to a politician."

"How can a person who cares about his fame and reputation be able to make a fortune?"

heard.

Fusu was thoughtful.

Ji Heng continued: "In fact, you think too highly of the merchants. Most of the merchants are a group of vicious insiders. When they hear that the government ignores people's livelihood and only investigates the shipwreck, their actions will be stronger than you imagined. Most of the merchants are short-sighted."

"Now you can calm down and sip tea."

"It won't be long before you can hear from merchants."

Done.

Ji Heng made another cup of tea for Fusu.

Fusu looked at the clear tea in the tea bowl, couldn't help but smile, picked up the tea bowl calmly, took a sip, and after drinking, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"This tea is sweet!"

(End of this chapter)