Chapter 86
Shuo Wangfu,
in the hall,
"How is the preparation of the money?"
Prince Shuo was sitting on the main seat holding a cup of tea, asking questions while sipping tea, while a dozen shopkeepers in front of him knelt respectfully and waited on the ground.
These people are shopkeepers who manage various businesses for the palace. After all, there are still dozens of mouths in the palace that need to be supported. In addition, the lives of these royal relatives are already extravagant, and the little money from the court alone cannot afford to support them. of.
"Reporting to the lord, the seventeen brothels under my young name have already withdrawn all the money in their accounts this year, and there are about 13 taels of silver."
After the words fell, a shopkeeper with the most financial power took the lead to speak out. Naturally, it is impossible for the properties of the palace to be directly listed in the name of the prince, and they are all managed by confidants.
Of course, in Shangjing, the only one who can develop the skin business as his main business is the Prince Shuo in front of him. Everyone knows that the brothel is a gold-consuming cave, but he also needs some basic face, and he doesn't want to be contaminated whether it is in the open or in the dark. these businesses.
"Reporting to the lord, the money for all the accounts of the thirteen restaurants under my name has also been transferred to the house."
"Report to the prince..."
More than a dozen shopkeepers reported in detail, and the housekeeper of the palace took the account books handed over by each family and checked them with their abacus.
"Is everything clear?"
Prince Shuo asked in a deep voice after listening.
"Returning to the lord, the cash money collected by each family and the remaining silver in the mansion are counted together. The silver we can use now is a total of 32 taels."
The housekeeper stood up and reported that although the prince is extremely noble, he has no real power in the capital, so naturally he can't compare with those bold ministers.
"If we follow the practice of losing the imperial court's wars in recent years, the short-term food price in the capital city will probably increase by about [-]% to [-]%..."
"If we operate properly, all of them can be sold when the price of grain is the highest. At most, we can earn 16 taels of silver."
The housekeeper on the side compared the amount of grain price changes in the capital over the years with the accounts of the collected money, and calculated the calculations.
"16 taels of silver?"
After taking a sip of tea, Prince Shuo continued: "It's still a little short. This prince is still thinking about renovating and expanding the current palace."
"After all, this king has to take advantage of his young age and take in a few concubines to spread the branches and leaves for our old Zhu's family. But the palace is too small, and it is a bit crowded now."
Prince Shuo then shook his head and said: "Speaking of which, the imperial court is too stingy, and the money allocated every year is too little, otherwise, this prince would not have to rack his brains to get money."
According to the rules of the Dali Dynasty, no kings with the same surname were granted. Although the kings were entrusted to various places and had titles, they did not have fiefdoms and subjects except for the vassal mansions. They were all awarded "Zonglu" by the court.
Except for a very small number of princes who are responsible for border defense and hold real power, the rest of the kings can only control a small number of guards, and they can't get their hands on things in the fief.
Because in the eyes of the founding emperor of Dali, although it is possible to entrust the descendants of the royal family to control various places and prevent foreign officials from being domineering, but only a few capable heirs are enough to defend the frontiers outside and support internal capital, so that the Zhu family's dynasty impregnable.
As for those ineffective descendants, it would be interesting enough to just find a piece of land and seal it to them, so most of the princes in Jiufan had a hard time. With the continuation of the dynasty, the good land was allotted, and the rest of them were useless. No one wants to go there.
That's why Prince Shuo and the rest of the princes and county kings stayed in the capital with shameless faces. With a shy face, they also seized a lot of business by virtue of their names as royal relatives.
"Reporting to my lord, there is nothing I can do. After all, the capital is densely populated, and there are also a lot of food reserves in various places. There are more than 120 grain shops in Bafang City, [-], Shangjing City alone."
"The amount of money we invest in it really won't make a big splash, and it won't have much impact on the rise in food prices."
The butler also said helplessly.
"This king also knows about this. As early as the day His Majesty raised the money, I talked with all the brothers after I retired. I want them to contribute some money and raise more money so as to raise the price of food. However, they said I don't want to earn this money for anything..."
"Today, the king also sent invitations early, but seeing that it's already noon, none of them came, either because they were sick, or because they were busy giving birth..."
"The more you talk about this king, the angrier you get..."
"On weekdays, the search is tight. A few days ago, the donated silver was no more than a few thousand taels more than this king. But, such a good thing to get rich, this king is thinking about being a family and an elder brother. I want to It would be good for them to lead them to get rich, each of them shrunk their heads like quails..."
"My lord, there are people outside the mansion asking to see you."
"It is said that there is a business to discuss with the prince."
Just when Prince Shuo was in a state of desperation and was about to curse, a porter trotted over to report.
"Talking about business?"
"Humph?"
"What kind of cats and dogs are worthy of negotiating business with this king?"
"No, no!"
Prince Shuo waved his hands impatiently.
"My lord, listen to what they say,"
"It seems to be someone from the four major business gangs."
Seeing this, the concierge explained.
"puff……"
"Four major business gangs?
hear the sound,
Prince Shuo spit out a mouthful of tea.That day in the court hall, it was true that they ate the food and grass for the Northern Expedition, and their financial strength was far beyond what their cash of several 10 taels of silver could compare with.
"Damn it, the God of Wealth is here!"
"Hurry up!"
"Order to go down and have a banquet in the hall immediately,"
"This king must treat them well!"
After saying that, Prince Shuo put down his teacup, and greeted him in person, completely disregarding his own identity, and disappeared in the eyes of everyone in the blink of an eye. He didn't know why that chubby figure could be so agile.
in the hall,
The people who talked about the four major business gangs were also sincere and fearful. They just ate melons in the Luo Mansion, and rushed to visit the other princes, but they were also rejected. welcome out.
"in this case,"
"You guys want to cooperate with me?"
"Short the grain market in Shangjing together?"
After listening to the words of the few people, Prince Shuo pondered while stroking the beard on his chin, his eyeballs were also rolling, and he didn't respond directly.
"It is indeed as the prince said."
"The method I thought of before was a small fight, but it's a good thing, even if something goes wrong and someone finds it out, His Majesty will scold me for a few words..."
"If you really cooperate with you, risking the displeasure of the world, I am afraid that you will have to bear the great relationship. If your majesty finds out, I may not be able to explain it to the king..."
Prince Shuo was also secretly startled when he looked at the unattractive speakers, and he naturally understood the hidden risks. At this moment, there were no philistines before, and his eyes were full of solemnity.
"If the prince agrees,"
"I'm willing to give up [-]% of the profit!"
The leading merchant spoke directly, obviously the main family had discussed it before coming, and he was ready to bleed heavily.
"Thirty percent?"
"The prince doesn't need to pay the capital, he can also send someone to check the accounts. After the matter is completed, it should be [-]% of the prince's silver, not a penny less."
The leading merchant continued.
"If things come to fruition, within a few days, we will be able to raise the price of grain in the capital by more than several times!"
"At that time, the money handed over to the prince will be in the millions!"
The merchant continued.
"Millions?"
Hearing the sound, Prince Shuo said hesitantly, his face was also extremely tangled, and his heart was full of battles between heaven and man.
"call……"
"It's still free."
"This amount of money is really too hot..."
After hesitating again and again, Prince Shuo shook his head.
"My lord, if [-]% is not enough..."
"What about fifty percent?"
The shopkeeper in the lead and the other three looked at each other, then gritted their teeth and said.
"I'll wait for the capital contribution, and the prince will come forward."
"I'll wait for fifty-five cents of the money earned from the common people."
"If your lord thinks it's still not stable enough, then for every penny that the food price rises, we will advance the money we will earn to you..."
"I don't know what the prince wants?"
"Fifty percent?"
"Prepaid?"
Prince Shuo was also stunned when he heard the sound, he had to know that if this could be done, he would be able to sleep on the golden mountain for the rest of his life, as for repairing the palace?
And repair a hammer,
Directly build a new seat to live in,
The old palace is being dismantled for fun,
"Can……"
"This king can only deal with His Majesty's side,"
"The rest of the joints..."
At this point, Prince Shuo was obviously moved.
"My lord, please don't worry. I will take out the rest of the money for various joints and hand it over to my lord. If I think about it, I will put my head on it in the name of my lord. If they have no worries, they will accept it."
The shopkeeper in the lead simply took out a large stack of banknotes and handed them over on the spot: "This amount of money will be used as tea money for the prince's errands, and the rest of the money..."
"This……"
"What's so funny about that?"
Prince Shuo stared straight at the thick stack of tens of thousands of taels of banknotes on the table, and carefully looked at them. They were all banknotes from Huitong Commercial Bank, and they were all demand banknotes that could be exchanged on the same day. In other words, as long as you think about it, you can sleep on the big bed made of money that day without waiting for the future.
"My lord, people die for money, and birds die for food!"
"Presumably this amount of money, that little risk is not worth worrying about!"
The merchant continued,
"It's also true..."
Prince Shuo put the wad of banknotes into the box without any trace, feeling the weight in it, and said cruelly:
"If His Majesty blames it, it's a big deal for me to kneel in the ancestral hall for a day."
"Speaking of the sky, it's just that the knees suffer more. Kneeling for a few more days just kowtows to the ancestors a few more times, and bless the king to earn more money, so that he can take in a few more concubines, and give our Zhu family more money." A few men..."
When Prince Shuo remembered the matter of selling private salt in the past, he immediately had no worries.
"Come here, pour the wine!"
"Let's talk in detail!"
After the thought is clear,
Prince Shuo also removed the tea from the table, and ordered some jars of fine wine to be brought over.
"When the time comes to meet His Majesty with a green bag on his head, even if he doesn't give face to this king, the second uncle, but for the sake of his ancestors, he won't make things difficult for me..."
As expected, drunken and brave,
Prince Shuo is a bold and unscrupulous person.Under the influence of alcohol, he boasted even more, patted his chest and said without shame.
……
Luofu,
Wushi,
"Your Majesty, I have met Master Luo!"
Bai Xiaosheng looked at Luo Porridge still in the warehouse and bowed.
"Check it out?"
"My lord, after they left the mansion, they visited many princes in the city one after another, but they didn't go in. Finally, when they arrived at Prince Shuo's mansion, the prince greeted him personally, and even held a banquet in the mansion. Until now, they It's not out yet."
"Prince Shuo?"
"Is that the stingy prince who donated 8000 taels of silver?"
"Straight mother-in-law,"
"It's really about money or life!"
Luo Porridge casually picked up an ingot of gold in the warehouse and laughed while playing with it. To him, the so-called gold, silver and jewelry were just tools to accomplish things, but to them they valued them more than their lives.
"Master Luo, why don't you send someone to make a point in advance before he gets involved?"
"After all, he is also a person with the surname Zhu, and the blood of the royal family is flowing in his body. If he is involved, I am afraid that His Majesty will not be able to explain it."
Bai Xiaosheng hesitated.
"A person with the surname Zhu?"
"Speaking of which, I have never tasted the Zhu family's blood, and I don't know how it tastes like..."
Luo Porridge patted the Xiuchun knife on his waist and said indifferently.
"Can……"
Bai Xiaosheng took out the content of the conversations of several people in the palace and handed it over, he hesitated to speak.
"No need to say more."
"You have to send someone to watch carefully."
"I have my own measure."
"Knocking out a green bag, can it be perfunctory?"
"I'm afraid I want to,"
Luo Congee paused and continued,
"Knock out a grave bag on the ground!"
……
After three days,
in the hall,
The matter of the Northern Expedition of grain and grass was completely resolved. After the escort started, all ministries continued to discuss the issue of recruiting civilians along the way. Although there were occasional small disputes, it was generally considered harmonious.
As for the increase in Beijing's grain in the past few days, it was naturally noticed by someone, but although it was faster, it was not outrageous. Therefore, no one raised it in public in the court, and Zhu Ming had been in office for a few days. Peaceful Emperor.
"Aiqing, the four major business gangs are here to help..."
After the courtiers dispersed,
Zhu Ming patted Luo Porridge's shoulder very affectionately and said, his words were light and soothing, after all, there was no urgent need.
"Working for His Majesty, how can you say that you have worked so hard?"
Luo Congee bowed and replied.
"There is nothing I can do about it, after all, the money is hard to come by..."
"It's funny to say, I made a lot of jokes when I personally raised money in the past few days. Those officials didn't want to hand out the money, that's all. Those elders of mine also searched hard..."
"Calculated, 8000 taels of silver is not enough for him to charter a few flower boats on weekdays..."
Zhu Ming shook his head and said.
"Your Majesty, do you have resentment in your heart?"
Seeing this, Luo Congee asked aloud.
He also wanted to weigh the weight of Prince Nashuo in his heart.
"resentment?"
"Where is there no resentment?"
"Speaking of which, the imperial court provides money to support them, and occasionally when they fail to receive them, I have to subsidize them with money from the internal treasury, but how can they make me feel at ease by doing this?"
"There is no way..."
"Although there is resentment, I can't hate it."
Zhu Ming stood up and changed the subject: "I'm going to say something from the bottom of my heart..."
"..."
Luo Congee was taken aback but still listened patiently.
"When I was young, I didn't have any playmates except Aiqing and you, and even those uncles were very indifferent. One is that they rarely see each other in the fief, and the other is, I don't even think I can sit in that position..."
"But only my second uncle, who has been living in the capital, often enters the palace, and I have met many times. At that time, my life in the palace was difficult, and only his unscrupulous temperament has the courage Help me say a few good words in front of my father..."
Zhu Ming recalled that although it was many years ago, it is not hard to hear the meaning of intimacy.
"I am not blind and deaf, and I know that he has done a lot of side businesses in the city, but Yu Guochao has little influence, so I just turn a blind eye and close one eye..."
"I see……"
Luo Congee nodded silently upon hearing the sound.
There was no wavering in my heart,
The two talked for a long time,
It was already late when Luo Porridge left the palace.
……
Yin Shi,
Luofu,
"Take the grain price of today's Gyeonggi to this official."
Luo Porridge had just returned home before he had time to eat, so he sent someone to find Bai Xiaosheng, who also took out a few pieces of paper to count food prices from his sleeve.
"Qingqi Gudou to 57 Wen, Dou Mi to [-] Wen... In just three days, the food price has increased by more than [-]%?"
After reading the paper, Luo Congee's heart sank a lot.
"Oil prices in the city have risen by [-]%?"
"Vegetables and fruits have increased by [-]%?"
"Mutton, pork... The price of meat will double directly?"
When Luo Porridge finished reading these pages,
The heart has sunk to the bottom.
"Reporting to Mr. Luo, this is because the grain store in the city has not run out of food, and the supply is still intermittent. I am afraid that the price of food will double directly in a day or two, and cabbage can be sold for the price of meat."
"When the city is completely out of food, I'm afraid it's possible to increase it by ten times..."
Bai Xiaosheng reported back.
"Tsk tsk..."
Luo Congee smacked his tongue secretly when he heard the sound, recalling the three years of his previous life in a strange way in his mind.
"Have you collected the list of those involved?"
Luo Congee continued to ask,
"Reporting to my lord, we have already collected everything. Except for Prince Nashuo, there are a total of more than [-] high-ranking officials involved in this matter, including two people from the household department, and several people from Shangjing government office. They are all officials in the yamen gates in various parts of the capital."
Bai Xiaosheng continued: "Should we close the net now?"
"Let's wait."
"According to the law of Dali, the price of food was raised during the war, and the officials involved in it are enough to lose their heads ten times..."
"But it's not too late to cut off the prince's head..."
Luo Porridge recalled Zhu Ming's words and suppressed the urge to kill with a knife in his heart: "Since we are going to die, we must let them die neatly, and no one should be missed."
……
After seven days,
Luo Porridge still got up early, and he didn't eat breakfast in the mansion recently, but took advantage of the gap in the court to check in person in the workshop, and found a shop for food by the way.
"Let's eat here today."
Luo Porridge looked at the bun shop not far away and stopped. If I remember correctly, when the food price rose seven days ago, the business of this shop was still very good, and there were a few servants to help. It can be seen that its taste.
Now it is indeed deserted, the shop where there were several big drawers of steamed stuffed buns, but now there are only a few baskets of steamed buns, and the little servants who help are gone.
"My lord, what do you eat?"
A long distance away, the shopkeeper of the small shop greeted him attentively. In the past, the shop was full of ordinary people. Where did such a big man come here? Although he couldn't recognize the boa robe, he knew that this person was either rich or noble. .
I don't know where I found a brand new white cloth and wiped the table vigorously, and asked with a smile on my face while wiping vigorously.
"Two cages of fresh meat packets, two bowls of soy milk."
Luo Porridge ordered a portion for Bai Xiaosheng beside him.
"Got it!"
The latter went to prepare the steamed buns when he heard the sound.
"My lord, eat and drink well,"
The shopkeeper personally took the tray down to the esophagus.
"good."
When Luo Congee lifted the white cloth on top, a burst of aroma suddenly hit. After the moisture dissipated, the dumplings with twelve pleats piled up in the green bamboo cage looked very gratifying.
It seems that the shopkeeper has put in a lot of effort recently, and even the food is much more refined, but the business is still sluggish, and there are only people at his table in the shop.
"My lord rewards you."
Seeing this, Bai Xiaosheng casually took out a piece of two taels of silver from his sleeve and threw it over.
"Little one, thank you, my lord!"
After the shopkeeper took the money, he smiled happily, and went straight to the door of the store and put up a sign saying that it is closed today, regardless of whether anyone came.
The little people in the market also have their own way of making a living. Now that the nobles are here, naturally no one will disturb the purity of the nobles.
"Straight motherfucker,"
After hanging the sign,
The shopkeeper took out a bench and sat down happily at the door, took out the abacus and counted the money received in the past few days, and his face collapsed again after thinking about it, business is not easy these days.
After living for so many years, the truth was saved by him. The Northern Expedition failed, and the price of food in the city fluctuated as expected, but for some reason it rose so fast, and it had already doubled several times in just ten days.
"His grandma's, let people live."
The shopkeeper spat lightly when he thought of this, and continued to make calculations. If the price of food does not come down, not to mention selling steamed buns for business, even the rice and noodles for his own family will not be able to afford it. Get out of the city and those refugees are grabbing tree roots and turf.
"Have all the grain stores in the city closed?"
Luo Congee looked at the row of stores with closed doors opposite the store and asked aloud, "I can't get enough to eat, and naturally I can't continue to make other livelihoods. If you look carefully, the pedestrians on the street are also walking in a hurry, with disheveled faces. .
"Return to your lord."
"Most of the more than 28 grain shops in the [-] workshops in Shangjing City have closed their doors, and the grain released by the government has been bought by them at high prices five days ago, just like what the four major business gangs said. There are only a dozen or so grain shops with strong backgrounds still selling, but the price..."
"As for the counties outside the capital city, they were all closed the day before yesterday, and they couldn't buy food even if they had money."
"Even those farm households, the surplus food in the family, after all, did not resist the temptation of high prices, and sold them all..."
Bai Xiaosheng wanted to speak but stopped talking.
"Have you reached such a field?"
"My lord, please wait."
"Someone will report today's grain prices later."
"Ah."
Luo Congee took a bite of the juicy steamed stuffed bun and felt that it was tasteless, so he simply waited quietly.
"My lord, please take a look."
Soon,
Then two people sent up today's grain price.
"Qingqi Gudou to 62 Wen, Dou Mi to 210 Liu Wen...the total increase of more than seven times in ten days..."
"Ah……"
"After all, I still underestimated them..."
Luo Congee took a deep breath.
"The lower official estimated that after today at most, those grain shops in the city will also be closed..."
Bai Xiaosheng also let out a long sigh.
"It seems that I can't delay anymore..."
"If you drag it on, you will starve to death..."
"It looks like the fire is coming..."
"Send this price list to the palace."
"Let His Majesty prepare before you do anything."
Luo Congee swallowed the buns in the cage with soy milk.
"This officer is also full,"
"It's time to kill..."
……
"His Majesty,"
"This is the note that Lord Luo handed over. He said it was an emergency, so the old slave made his own decision and sent it in..."
Cao Zhengchun looked at Zhu Ming who was still eating breakfast and bowed.
"Well, let me take a look first."
Hearing the sound, Zhu Ming put down the chopsticks in his hand and said, but just after taking a look, his whole body froze completely, and even the dazzling array of incomparably exquisite breakfasts in front of him lost their taste.
"This……"
"Are all the above statements true?"
Zhu Ming handed the price list to Cao Zhengchun,
asked dully.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, as far as this old slave knows, it should not be fake."
"Then why have I never heard of it?"
Zhu Ming lost his mind to eat when he heard the sound. Although he didn't know how to do it, he also knew what it meant when the price of food rose to this level.
"Such a blatant drive-up of food prices has reached such a point in just ten days, and during this period, no one has played it to me?"
"Is there no one to check?"
Zhu Ming suddenly overturned the table and asked sharply.
"Your Majesty, it's not because there is no one, but because I dare not..."
Seeing this, Cao Zhengchun hurriedly knelt down in the tunnel.
"Absurd, absurd!"
"Why don't you dare at the foot of the world in the land of Gyeonggi?"
"Who exactly did this?"
"He, Jin Yiwei, knows it. Could it be that all the fans in your East Factory are working hard?"
Zhu Ming stared at Cao Zhengchun with fiery eyes.
"Report, Your Majesty, this old servant dare not say..."
Cao Zhengchun gritted his teeth.
"Bastard slave!"
"I order you to tell me!"
Zhu Ming said angrily: "No matter who did this, I will cut off his head!"
"His Majesty……"
"The person behind the scenes is Prince Shuo."
Seeing this situation, Cao Zhengchun was helpless, and a few traces of struggle flashed in his eyes before he spoke.
"..."
Zhu Ming's chest heaved unceasingly upon hearing the sound.
"Crackling..."
"This old and disrespectful bastard!"
After Cao Zhengchun finished speaking,
The head was buried dead on the ground.
There was only a crackling sound,
and Zhu Ming's furious cursing voice,
"call……"
"Do you have evidence?"
I don't know how long I vented,
Zhu Ming calmed down and looked at Cao Zhengchun.
"This old slave has never, nor dared to collect evidence..."
"call……"
"That's all."
"You immediately send someone to his house to inform him."
Zhu Ming said coldly.
"The old slave takes orders..."
"Remember, be quick, be sure to catch up before the morning court!"
Zhu Ming calmed down, and recalled what Luo Porridge asked him a few days ago. He still didn't understand. He had already set his sights on this man, but he had no choice but to let him out of prison with his own words. After that, let him use his own method to deal with those who are not conducive to the country, and it is absolutely impossible to change the order overnight.
"Also, there is one more point!"
"Send more fans,"
"Return all the money in his family back."
"Don't leave even a tael of silver in the house."
Zhu Ming spoke again.
"hope so,"
"I don't want to kill you, you should be more sensible..."
……
"Your Majesty, arrangements have been made..."
Soon,
Cao Zhengchun returned to Zhu Ming's side to report.
"Ah."
"Let's go, you can go to court with me, I have to go there earlier to think about how to clean up this mess."
Zhu Ming got up and said.
"Your Majesty, this old servant has one more matter."
While talking, Cao Zhengchun took out a few land deeds from his pocket and handed them over.
"What do you mean by that?"
Zhu Ming stared blankly at the things Cao Zhengchun handed over.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, these are old slaves who bought properties in the city earlier. I originally thought that when I got older and could no longer serve Your Majesty, I would leave the palace to find someone to eat and enjoy my life, but Thinking about the current situation in the capital, I stopped thinking about it, and it would be good to make up for it after the sale."
"This old slave also knows what it feels like to have an empty stomach. It doesn't matter if one or two people don't have enough to eat, but if millions of people in the capital city don't have enough to eat, the world will be in chaos..."
"This old slave has no ability to make the world stable, but he just doesn't want to see His Majesty worry."
After all,
Cao Zhengchun took out several banknotes of different denominations from his bosom and handed them over, "Your Majesty, don't worry, the money you allocated to Dongchang is from Dongchang's yamen. Old slave, I have never been greedy for money." Two denarii."
"Some of them were accumulated by the old slave in the early years, and the remaining large amount of banknotes, it is also because the old slave was recently promoted to the governor of the East Factory, that he received a lot of filial money from the following. It’s useless, and I don’t know much, but it’s great to make Shangjing more stable.”
Cao Zhengchun said sincerely.
"Well, I will accept it!"
Zhu Ming held those banknotes tightly and said.
"In the final analysis, my servants are the most loyal..."
Zhu Ming patted Cao Zhengchun's shoulder in relief and said, but when he turned around and thought of those bastard things that Prince Shuo did, the anger in his chest was even more difficult to suppress.
"After the court, I will definitely ask myself to understand!"
"Why is he so presumptuous!"
Zhu Ming said with a gloomy expression.
……
"Why, just because my surname is Zhu!"
Prince Shuo said loudly.
"What's wrong with you, you dog slave?"
"Go up to court, what kind of money do you move?"
Prince Shuo kicked the leader and asked.
"Damn it, are you trying to rebel?"
"Don't even look at what place this is?"
"Your Majesty, this is His Majesty's intention..."
The head of the Dongchang stall said helplessly that it would be fine if he was another minister. No matter how high his official position is, he would not be afraid, but this person would not dare to really do anything in front of him. After all, his surname is Zhu, and Dongchang is essentially Zhu. servant of the house.
"My lord, you act like this,"
"I'm afraid it's not easy to explain to His Majesty."
The head of the East Factory said earnestly.
"afraid?"
"What are you afraid of?"
"Is there anyone who dares to impeach the king?"
"Can Your Majesty still behead his second uncle?"
Prince Shuo scratched his neck and yelled, if it was earlier, there might have been a possibility of stopping, but now the treasury is already full of gold prepaid by the other party.
Once these things are handed over, not only will they not accuse themselves, but they will not mention the responsibility, and the busy work these days is also a waste of water, how can they be willing to part with it.
"Come on!"
"Show me the king!"
"It won't work without my king's order!"
Seeing that those fans were unwilling to leave, Prince Shuo simply called the guards of the palace to guard in front of the warehouse.Earlier, he was still a little sane, but now it is Jinshan who has lost his mind.
"My lord, don't be so stubborn..."
"Hmph, stop talking nonsense!"
"Remember, anyone who trespasses in the warehouse will be killed!"
"I want to see who has the courage to testify against me."
After saying that, Prince Shuo walked out the door.
"By the way, call the son and the heirs of this king together. Speaking of which, since the eldest brother of the king, the first emperor, His Majesty has not seen you cousins for a long time, and today I just happened to be with the king. See Your Majesty."
In the end,
Prince Shuo felt that it was not safe enough. What if someone impeached him by someone who was not open-eyed? He actually called the whole family over. Since he wanted to play the emotional card, he had to play it thoroughly. His Majesty would never be able to be Did he kill all his family and relatives in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty?
……
Suzaku Street,
Prince Shuo led a large family towards the gate of the palace. Although the imperial guards guarding the city were extremely curious, they did not dare to stop them.
The civil and military officials were quite surprised to see that there was a big family on the court, but according to the etiquette, they were also qualified to go to the court, and they didn't ask much. Among them, the officials who vaguely guessed what was going on, even It's just bowing your head and not saying a word.
"If you have something to play, you will retreat if there is nothing!"
"The minister has the original play."
The eunuch's voice just fell,
Luo Congee walked out of the ranks,
"What happened?"
Zhu Ming looked at Luo Porridge walking out of the queue,
There was also a thud in my heart.
"As far as I know about the soaring price of grain in Shangjing, the price of grain in Shangjing is now... the person behind the scenes, I have also found out, please Your Majesty to take a look."
After Luo Porridge said,
He handed over a booklet full of people's names.
"call……"
As Zhu Ming expected, the first name on it was Prince Shuo, but what he didn't expect was that there were dozens of officials behind him, from the household department to the yamen of Gyeonggi, there were people involved in the incident.
"Your Majesty, according to the law of my great departure, there is a clear basis for conviction of those who drive up prices and hoard food and grass during wartime,"
"Whoever makes a profit of more than 500 taels of silver will be punished with a staff of [-]!"
"Whoever makes more than 3000 taels of silver will be imprisoned for seven years!"
"Whoever makes a profit of more than 5000 taels of silver will be killed!"
"Whoever makes a profit of more than 1 taels of silver will be cut off!"
"Those who have made more than 10 taels of silver..."
"I don't know, Prince Shuo, together with your lords and the four major business gangs, how much profit will they make by shorting the grain prices of the entire Gyeonggi?"
"How many heads are enough to chop off?"
Luo Congee shouted sharply and his tone was extremely cold.
The temperature in the entire hall seemed to have become much colder following Luo Porridge's voice. Hearing the sound, several ministers in the court unconsciously swayed, and what's more, they collapsed on the ground. Shen, but I didn't come across this scene.
"You yellow-mouthed kid,"
"How dare you criticize me so much?"
Prince Shuo was startled and angry when he heard the sound,
But still bite the bullet.
"Oh?"
"Criticism?"
"Then please ask Prince Shuo to listen to you."
After all,
Luo Congee took out another piece of paper from his pocket and said.
"At noon ten days ago, people from the four major business gangs entered your residence, Prince Shuo, and did not leave until the end of the fifth hour. During this period, they received 58 taels of cash..."
"Nine days ago, at Zishi, the four major merchant gangs sent people 64 taels of silver into the mansion, and eight days ago, at Choushi, the four major merchant gangs sent people 79 taels of silver into the mansion..."
read here,
Prince Shuo's face was pale.
"As of today,"
"A total of 630 taels of cash has been collected."
Luo Congee continued to read at a leisurely pace.
"I don't know, Prince Shuo,"
"Do you want to listen more carefully?"
Luo Congee jokingly said: "Prince Shuo, don't forget our Jin Yiwei's ability to eat."
"Prince Shuo, do you have anything else to say?"
Luo Conge pressed forward step by step.
"His Majesty,"
"His Majesty,"
"Your Majesty, I was confused for a moment!"
Prince Shuo knew that the evidence was overwhelming and there was no room for refutation, and he also knew that the man in front of him had no room for detours, so he knelt down on the ground and crawled to the steps under the dragon chair.
If it is true according to the law,
Even if I have a hundred heads, it is not enough to chop off.
He also knows very well,
There is only one person who can save himself right now,
"Where's the silver?"
Zhu Ming was also extremely horrified when he heard the sound. He didn't expect that in just ten days or so, he had earned more than half of the accumulation of hundreds of years of aristocratic families.
"It's all in the warehouse of the palace..."
"You really don't know how to write dead characters!"
Zhu Ming got up and walked in front of Prince Shuo and yelled loudly. He has been on the throne for a long time, and he has cultivated that momentum. At this moment, he erupted like a scourge, which should not be underestimated.
The few cousins beside him suffered from this unreasonable disaster, and their faces turned pale and fell to their knees.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty, calm down..."
At this moment, Prince Shuo also woke up like a dream, and knelt down in front of Zhu Ming, crying with tears and snot running down his nose.
"Damn you!"
Looking at Prince Shuo who was crying bitterly while hugging his thigh, Zhu Ming squeezed out these words from between his teeth.
"Your Majesty, you hit me, you scolded me..."
Hearing the sound, Prince Shuo was as if struck by lightning, and in a panic, he grabbed Zhu Ming's hand and greeted his own face, but the latter was not moved at all.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty,"
"Isn't it just a few million taels of silver..."
"Why don't I just kneel in the ancestral hall..."
Prince Shuo said in a panic.
"Kneeling?"
"Kneeling?"
"Ah……"
"Do you know how much I have suffered for the mere millions of taels of silver in your mouth..."
"Can you get over it just by kneeling lightly?"
Zhu Ming laughed at himself.
"Should I put all the money into the treasury, and then go back to the fief immediately?"
"You have to die!"
Zhu Ming put aside Prince Shuo's hand and said in a cold voice.
The latter was stunned when he heard the sound, and even his descendants collapsed powerlessly on the ground as if their spine had been removed.
"Your Majesty, according to the law of great departure..."
Luo Porridge still insisted.
"More than 600 million taels of silver, Prince Shuo is a barbarian..."
Luo Congee paused for a moment, and naturally he didn't say anything, but changed the subject and said, "It's not too much to think about killing Prince Shuo today and the people who entered the court with him."
"Aiqing, why do you..."
"Isn't his head, together with the heads of dozens of officials, enough?"
Zhu Ming turned around and looked at the young man Lang Dao with burning eyes.
"not enough!"
Luo Congee said decisively.
"When the minister is released from prison, you have something to say first."
Luo Congee said loudly.
"I……"
"I……"
Zhu Ming looked at the hostile young man in the python robe, and then at the family and relatives who collapsed on the ground, feeling extremely depressed.
"His Majesty……"
"There are such moths in the country... the country will not be the country, could it be that the lives of his family are more important than this country?"
Luo porridge said quietly.
"Jiangshan Sheji..."
"The moth of the country..."
"That's all, that's all, you can deal with it..."
Zhu Ming was silent for a long time upon hearing the sound,
In the end, he waved his sleeves, turned around and walked back to the dragon chair.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
"Chen, damn it, but..."
Prince Shuo knew that there was no hope of death, so he kowtowed continuously. His originally fair forehead was already bruised and swollen. Looking at the innocent children beside him from the corner of his eye, he wished he could slap himself a few times.
"Sir, take the lead!"
"Get the prisoner out first."
"Take Prince Shuo and his family together."
Luo Congee ignored it and ordered in a low voice.
"Let's execute the execution outside the Meridian Gate, and let the remaining adults see the blood, so as not to forget how to write the word "death", and think about the end before doing anything."
Luo Porridge said to the leading guard.
"Boom..."
The first to be beheaded were the criminal officials in the court.
The sound of the head falling to the ground heard Prince Shuo's heart pounding, and the crying of the children beside him broke the last line of defense in his heart.
"The rest of these people."
"The officer will do it himself."
Luo Conge pushed away the executioner who was about to execute.
"Boom..."
"Father, I don't want to die..."
"Boom..."
The sound of crying and crying in my ears,
Has turned into a hysterical wail,
When you reach the last person,
Luo Congee was covered in blood,
"Prince Shuo,"
"I pity you for knocking your head so much today."
Luo Porridge looked at Prince Shuo, who was covered with blue hair, and leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Let's leave corresponding graves for you and your descendants according to the number of green hair swollen on your forehead."
"Boom..."
heads fly,
bleeding profusely,
I don't know if it's because fat people have higher blood pressure, the blood spurted from Prince Shuo's neck is actually higher than that of Xie Shilang the other day,
"Well, the blood of the Zhu family..."
"It seems to be no different from ordinary people..."
Luo Porridge looked at the fallen corpse,
He licked the blood stains on Xiuchun Knife and muttered to himself.
(End of this chapter)
Shuo Wangfu,
in the hall,
"How is the preparation of the money?"
Prince Shuo was sitting on the main seat holding a cup of tea, asking questions while sipping tea, while a dozen shopkeepers in front of him knelt respectfully and waited on the ground.
These people are shopkeepers who manage various businesses for the palace. After all, there are still dozens of mouths in the palace that need to be supported. In addition, the lives of these royal relatives are already extravagant, and the little money from the court alone cannot afford to support them. of.
"Reporting to the lord, the seventeen brothels under my young name have already withdrawn all the money in their accounts this year, and there are about 13 taels of silver."
After the words fell, a shopkeeper with the most financial power took the lead to speak out. Naturally, it is impossible for the properties of the palace to be directly listed in the name of the prince, and they are all managed by confidants.
Of course, in Shangjing, the only one who can develop the skin business as his main business is the Prince Shuo in front of him. Everyone knows that the brothel is a gold-consuming cave, but he also needs some basic face, and he doesn't want to be contaminated whether it is in the open or in the dark. these businesses.
"Reporting to the lord, the money for all the accounts of the thirteen restaurants under my name has also been transferred to the house."
"Report to the prince..."
More than a dozen shopkeepers reported in detail, and the housekeeper of the palace took the account books handed over by each family and checked them with their abacus.
"Is everything clear?"
Prince Shuo asked in a deep voice after listening.
"Returning to the lord, the cash money collected by each family and the remaining silver in the mansion are counted together. The silver we can use now is a total of 32 taels."
The housekeeper stood up and reported that although the prince is extremely noble, he has no real power in the capital, so naturally he can't compare with those bold ministers.
"If we follow the practice of losing the imperial court's wars in recent years, the short-term food price in the capital city will probably increase by about [-]% to [-]%..."
"If we operate properly, all of them can be sold when the price of grain is the highest. At most, we can earn 16 taels of silver."
The housekeeper on the side compared the amount of grain price changes in the capital over the years with the accounts of the collected money, and calculated the calculations.
"16 taels of silver?"
After taking a sip of tea, Prince Shuo continued: "It's still a little short. This prince is still thinking about renovating and expanding the current palace."
"After all, this king has to take advantage of his young age and take in a few concubines to spread the branches and leaves for our old Zhu's family. But the palace is too small, and it is a bit crowded now."
Prince Shuo then shook his head and said: "Speaking of which, the imperial court is too stingy, and the money allocated every year is too little, otherwise, this prince would not have to rack his brains to get money."
According to the rules of the Dali Dynasty, no kings with the same surname were granted. Although the kings were entrusted to various places and had titles, they did not have fiefdoms and subjects except for the vassal mansions. They were all awarded "Zonglu" by the court.
Except for a very small number of princes who are responsible for border defense and hold real power, the rest of the kings can only control a small number of guards, and they can't get their hands on things in the fief.
Because in the eyes of the founding emperor of Dali, although it is possible to entrust the descendants of the royal family to control various places and prevent foreign officials from being domineering, but only a few capable heirs are enough to defend the frontiers outside and support internal capital, so that the Zhu family's dynasty impregnable.
As for those ineffective descendants, it would be interesting enough to just find a piece of land and seal it to them, so most of the princes in Jiufan had a hard time. With the continuation of the dynasty, the good land was allotted, and the rest of them were useless. No one wants to go there.
That's why Prince Shuo and the rest of the princes and county kings stayed in the capital with shameless faces. With a shy face, they also seized a lot of business by virtue of their names as royal relatives.
"Reporting to my lord, there is nothing I can do. After all, the capital is densely populated, and there are also a lot of food reserves in various places. There are more than 120 grain shops in Bafang City, [-], Shangjing City alone."
"The amount of money we invest in it really won't make a big splash, and it won't have much impact on the rise in food prices."
The butler also said helplessly.
"This king also knows about this. As early as the day His Majesty raised the money, I talked with all the brothers after I retired. I want them to contribute some money and raise more money so as to raise the price of food. However, they said I don't want to earn this money for anything..."
"Today, the king also sent invitations early, but seeing that it's already noon, none of them came, either because they were sick, or because they were busy giving birth..."
"The more you talk about this king, the angrier you get..."
"On weekdays, the search is tight. A few days ago, the donated silver was no more than a few thousand taels more than this king. But, such a good thing to get rich, this king is thinking about being a family and an elder brother. I want to It would be good for them to lead them to get rich, each of them shrunk their heads like quails..."
"My lord, there are people outside the mansion asking to see you."
"It is said that there is a business to discuss with the prince."
Just when Prince Shuo was in a state of desperation and was about to curse, a porter trotted over to report.
"Talking about business?"
"Humph?"
"What kind of cats and dogs are worthy of negotiating business with this king?"
"No, no!"
Prince Shuo waved his hands impatiently.
"My lord, listen to what they say,"
"It seems to be someone from the four major business gangs."
Seeing this, the concierge explained.
"puff……"
"Four major business gangs?
hear the sound,
Prince Shuo spit out a mouthful of tea.That day in the court hall, it was true that they ate the food and grass for the Northern Expedition, and their financial strength was far beyond what their cash of several 10 taels of silver could compare with.
"Damn it, the God of Wealth is here!"
"Hurry up!"
"Order to go down and have a banquet in the hall immediately,"
"This king must treat them well!"
After saying that, Prince Shuo put down his teacup, and greeted him in person, completely disregarding his own identity, and disappeared in the eyes of everyone in the blink of an eye. He didn't know why that chubby figure could be so agile.
in the hall,
The people who talked about the four major business gangs were also sincere and fearful. They just ate melons in the Luo Mansion, and rushed to visit the other princes, but they were also rejected. welcome out.
"in this case,"
"You guys want to cooperate with me?"
"Short the grain market in Shangjing together?"
After listening to the words of the few people, Prince Shuo pondered while stroking the beard on his chin, his eyeballs were also rolling, and he didn't respond directly.
"It is indeed as the prince said."
"The method I thought of before was a small fight, but it's a good thing, even if something goes wrong and someone finds it out, His Majesty will scold me for a few words..."
"If you really cooperate with you, risking the displeasure of the world, I am afraid that you will have to bear the great relationship. If your majesty finds out, I may not be able to explain it to the king..."
Prince Shuo was also secretly startled when he looked at the unattractive speakers, and he naturally understood the hidden risks. At this moment, there were no philistines before, and his eyes were full of solemnity.
"If the prince agrees,"
"I'm willing to give up [-]% of the profit!"
The leading merchant spoke directly, obviously the main family had discussed it before coming, and he was ready to bleed heavily.
"Thirty percent?"
"The prince doesn't need to pay the capital, he can also send someone to check the accounts. After the matter is completed, it should be [-]% of the prince's silver, not a penny less."
The leading merchant continued.
"If things come to fruition, within a few days, we will be able to raise the price of grain in the capital by more than several times!"
"At that time, the money handed over to the prince will be in the millions!"
The merchant continued.
"Millions?"
Hearing the sound, Prince Shuo said hesitantly, his face was also extremely tangled, and his heart was full of battles between heaven and man.
"call……"
"It's still free."
"This amount of money is really too hot..."
After hesitating again and again, Prince Shuo shook his head.
"My lord, if [-]% is not enough..."
"What about fifty percent?"
The shopkeeper in the lead and the other three looked at each other, then gritted their teeth and said.
"I'll wait for the capital contribution, and the prince will come forward."
"I'll wait for fifty-five cents of the money earned from the common people."
"If your lord thinks it's still not stable enough, then for every penny that the food price rises, we will advance the money we will earn to you..."
"I don't know what the prince wants?"
"Fifty percent?"
"Prepaid?"
Prince Shuo was also stunned when he heard the sound, he had to know that if this could be done, he would be able to sleep on the golden mountain for the rest of his life, as for repairing the palace?
And repair a hammer,
Directly build a new seat to live in,
The old palace is being dismantled for fun,
"Can……"
"This king can only deal with His Majesty's side,"
"The rest of the joints..."
At this point, Prince Shuo was obviously moved.
"My lord, please don't worry. I will take out the rest of the money for various joints and hand it over to my lord. If I think about it, I will put my head on it in the name of my lord. If they have no worries, they will accept it."
The shopkeeper in the lead simply took out a large stack of banknotes and handed them over on the spot: "This amount of money will be used as tea money for the prince's errands, and the rest of the money..."
"This……"
"What's so funny about that?"
Prince Shuo stared straight at the thick stack of tens of thousands of taels of banknotes on the table, and carefully looked at them. They were all banknotes from Huitong Commercial Bank, and they were all demand banknotes that could be exchanged on the same day. In other words, as long as you think about it, you can sleep on the big bed made of money that day without waiting for the future.
"My lord, people die for money, and birds die for food!"
"Presumably this amount of money, that little risk is not worth worrying about!"
The merchant continued,
"It's also true..."
Prince Shuo put the wad of banknotes into the box without any trace, feeling the weight in it, and said cruelly:
"If His Majesty blames it, it's a big deal for me to kneel in the ancestral hall for a day."
"Speaking of the sky, it's just that the knees suffer more. Kneeling for a few more days just kowtows to the ancestors a few more times, and bless the king to earn more money, so that he can take in a few more concubines, and give our Zhu family more money." A few men..."
When Prince Shuo remembered the matter of selling private salt in the past, he immediately had no worries.
"Come here, pour the wine!"
"Let's talk in detail!"
After the thought is clear,
Prince Shuo also removed the tea from the table, and ordered some jars of fine wine to be brought over.
"When the time comes to meet His Majesty with a green bag on his head, even if he doesn't give face to this king, the second uncle, but for the sake of his ancestors, he won't make things difficult for me..."
As expected, drunken and brave,
Prince Shuo is a bold and unscrupulous person.Under the influence of alcohol, he boasted even more, patted his chest and said without shame.
……
Luofu,
Wushi,
"Your Majesty, I have met Master Luo!"
Bai Xiaosheng looked at Luo Porridge still in the warehouse and bowed.
"Check it out?"
"My lord, after they left the mansion, they visited many princes in the city one after another, but they didn't go in. Finally, when they arrived at Prince Shuo's mansion, the prince greeted him personally, and even held a banquet in the mansion. Until now, they It's not out yet."
"Prince Shuo?"
"Is that the stingy prince who donated 8000 taels of silver?"
"Straight mother-in-law,"
"It's really about money or life!"
Luo Porridge casually picked up an ingot of gold in the warehouse and laughed while playing with it. To him, the so-called gold, silver and jewelry were just tools to accomplish things, but to them they valued them more than their lives.
"Master Luo, why don't you send someone to make a point in advance before he gets involved?"
"After all, he is also a person with the surname Zhu, and the blood of the royal family is flowing in his body. If he is involved, I am afraid that His Majesty will not be able to explain it."
Bai Xiaosheng hesitated.
"A person with the surname Zhu?"
"Speaking of which, I have never tasted the Zhu family's blood, and I don't know how it tastes like..."
Luo Porridge patted the Xiuchun knife on his waist and said indifferently.
"Can……"
Bai Xiaosheng took out the content of the conversations of several people in the palace and handed it over, he hesitated to speak.
"No need to say more."
"You have to send someone to watch carefully."
"I have my own measure."
"Knocking out a green bag, can it be perfunctory?"
"I'm afraid I want to,"
Luo Congee paused and continued,
"Knock out a grave bag on the ground!"
……
After three days,
in the hall,
The matter of the Northern Expedition of grain and grass was completely resolved. After the escort started, all ministries continued to discuss the issue of recruiting civilians along the way. Although there were occasional small disputes, it was generally considered harmonious.
As for the increase in Beijing's grain in the past few days, it was naturally noticed by someone, but although it was faster, it was not outrageous. Therefore, no one raised it in public in the court, and Zhu Ming had been in office for a few days. Peaceful Emperor.
"Aiqing, the four major business gangs are here to help..."
After the courtiers dispersed,
Zhu Ming patted Luo Porridge's shoulder very affectionately and said, his words were light and soothing, after all, there was no urgent need.
"Working for His Majesty, how can you say that you have worked so hard?"
Luo Congee bowed and replied.
"There is nothing I can do about it, after all, the money is hard to come by..."
"It's funny to say, I made a lot of jokes when I personally raised money in the past few days. Those officials didn't want to hand out the money, that's all. Those elders of mine also searched hard..."
"Calculated, 8000 taels of silver is not enough for him to charter a few flower boats on weekdays..."
Zhu Ming shook his head and said.
"Your Majesty, do you have resentment in your heart?"
Seeing this, Luo Congee asked aloud.
He also wanted to weigh the weight of Prince Nashuo in his heart.
"resentment?"
"Where is there no resentment?"
"Speaking of which, the imperial court provides money to support them, and occasionally when they fail to receive them, I have to subsidize them with money from the internal treasury, but how can they make me feel at ease by doing this?"
"There is no way..."
"Although there is resentment, I can't hate it."
Zhu Ming stood up and changed the subject: "I'm going to say something from the bottom of my heart..."
"..."
Luo Congee was taken aback but still listened patiently.
"When I was young, I didn't have any playmates except Aiqing and you, and even those uncles were very indifferent. One is that they rarely see each other in the fief, and the other is, I don't even think I can sit in that position..."
"But only my second uncle, who has been living in the capital, often enters the palace, and I have met many times. At that time, my life in the palace was difficult, and only his unscrupulous temperament has the courage Help me say a few good words in front of my father..."
Zhu Ming recalled that although it was many years ago, it is not hard to hear the meaning of intimacy.
"I am not blind and deaf, and I know that he has done a lot of side businesses in the city, but Yu Guochao has little influence, so I just turn a blind eye and close one eye..."
"I see……"
Luo Congee nodded silently upon hearing the sound.
There was no wavering in my heart,
The two talked for a long time,
It was already late when Luo Porridge left the palace.
……
Yin Shi,
Luofu,
"Take the grain price of today's Gyeonggi to this official."
Luo Porridge had just returned home before he had time to eat, so he sent someone to find Bai Xiaosheng, who also took out a few pieces of paper to count food prices from his sleeve.
"Qingqi Gudou to 57 Wen, Dou Mi to [-] Wen... In just three days, the food price has increased by more than [-]%?"
After reading the paper, Luo Congee's heart sank a lot.
"Oil prices in the city have risen by [-]%?"
"Vegetables and fruits have increased by [-]%?"
"Mutton, pork... The price of meat will double directly?"
When Luo Porridge finished reading these pages,
The heart has sunk to the bottom.
"Reporting to Mr. Luo, this is because the grain store in the city has not run out of food, and the supply is still intermittent. I am afraid that the price of food will double directly in a day or two, and cabbage can be sold for the price of meat."
"When the city is completely out of food, I'm afraid it's possible to increase it by ten times..."
Bai Xiaosheng reported back.
"Tsk tsk..."
Luo Congee smacked his tongue secretly when he heard the sound, recalling the three years of his previous life in a strange way in his mind.
"Have you collected the list of those involved?"
Luo Congee continued to ask,
"Reporting to my lord, we have already collected everything. Except for Prince Nashuo, there are a total of more than [-] high-ranking officials involved in this matter, including two people from the household department, and several people from Shangjing government office. They are all officials in the yamen gates in various parts of the capital."
Bai Xiaosheng continued: "Should we close the net now?"
"Let's wait."
"According to the law of Dali, the price of food was raised during the war, and the officials involved in it are enough to lose their heads ten times..."
"But it's not too late to cut off the prince's head..."
Luo Porridge recalled Zhu Ming's words and suppressed the urge to kill with a knife in his heart: "Since we are going to die, we must let them die neatly, and no one should be missed."
……
After seven days,
Luo Porridge still got up early, and he didn't eat breakfast in the mansion recently, but took advantage of the gap in the court to check in person in the workshop, and found a shop for food by the way.
"Let's eat here today."
Luo Porridge looked at the bun shop not far away and stopped. If I remember correctly, when the food price rose seven days ago, the business of this shop was still very good, and there were a few servants to help. It can be seen that its taste.
Now it is indeed deserted, the shop where there were several big drawers of steamed stuffed buns, but now there are only a few baskets of steamed buns, and the little servants who help are gone.
"My lord, what do you eat?"
A long distance away, the shopkeeper of the small shop greeted him attentively. In the past, the shop was full of ordinary people. Where did such a big man come here? Although he couldn't recognize the boa robe, he knew that this person was either rich or noble. .
I don't know where I found a brand new white cloth and wiped the table vigorously, and asked with a smile on my face while wiping vigorously.
"Two cages of fresh meat packets, two bowls of soy milk."
Luo Porridge ordered a portion for Bai Xiaosheng beside him.
"Got it!"
The latter went to prepare the steamed buns when he heard the sound.
"My lord, eat and drink well,"
The shopkeeper personally took the tray down to the esophagus.
"good."
When Luo Congee lifted the white cloth on top, a burst of aroma suddenly hit. After the moisture dissipated, the dumplings with twelve pleats piled up in the green bamboo cage looked very gratifying.
It seems that the shopkeeper has put in a lot of effort recently, and even the food is much more refined, but the business is still sluggish, and there are only people at his table in the shop.
"My lord rewards you."
Seeing this, Bai Xiaosheng casually took out a piece of two taels of silver from his sleeve and threw it over.
"Little one, thank you, my lord!"
After the shopkeeper took the money, he smiled happily, and went straight to the door of the store and put up a sign saying that it is closed today, regardless of whether anyone came.
The little people in the market also have their own way of making a living. Now that the nobles are here, naturally no one will disturb the purity of the nobles.
"Straight motherfucker,"
After hanging the sign,
The shopkeeper took out a bench and sat down happily at the door, took out the abacus and counted the money received in the past few days, and his face collapsed again after thinking about it, business is not easy these days.
After living for so many years, the truth was saved by him. The Northern Expedition failed, and the price of food in the city fluctuated as expected, but for some reason it rose so fast, and it had already doubled several times in just ten days.
"His grandma's, let people live."
The shopkeeper spat lightly when he thought of this, and continued to make calculations. If the price of food does not come down, not to mention selling steamed buns for business, even the rice and noodles for his own family will not be able to afford it. Get out of the city and those refugees are grabbing tree roots and turf.
"Have all the grain stores in the city closed?"
Luo Congee looked at the row of stores with closed doors opposite the store and asked aloud, "I can't get enough to eat, and naturally I can't continue to make other livelihoods. If you look carefully, the pedestrians on the street are also walking in a hurry, with disheveled faces. .
"Return to your lord."
"Most of the more than 28 grain shops in the [-] workshops in Shangjing City have closed their doors, and the grain released by the government has been bought by them at high prices five days ago, just like what the four major business gangs said. There are only a dozen or so grain shops with strong backgrounds still selling, but the price..."
"As for the counties outside the capital city, they were all closed the day before yesterday, and they couldn't buy food even if they had money."
"Even those farm households, the surplus food in the family, after all, did not resist the temptation of high prices, and sold them all..."
Bai Xiaosheng wanted to speak but stopped talking.
"Have you reached such a field?"
"My lord, please wait."
"Someone will report today's grain prices later."
"Ah."
Luo Congee took a bite of the juicy steamed stuffed bun and felt that it was tasteless, so he simply waited quietly.
"My lord, please take a look."
Soon,
Then two people sent up today's grain price.
"Qingqi Gudou to 62 Wen, Dou Mi to 210 Liu Wen...the total increase of more than seven times in ten days..."
"Ah……"
"After all, I still underestimated them..."
Luo Congee took a deep breath.
"The lower official estimated that after today at most, those grain shops in the city will also be closed..."
Bai Xiaosheng also let out a long sigh.
"It seems that I can't delay anymore..."
"If you drag it on, you will starve to death..."
"It looks like the fire is coming..."
"Send this price list to the palace."
"Let His Majesty prepare before you do anything."
Luo Congee swallowed the buns in the cage with soy milk.
"This officer is also full,"
"It's time to kill..."
……
"His Majesty,"
"This is the note that Lord Luo handed over. He said it was an emergency, so the old slave made his own decision and sent it in..."
Cao Zhengchun looked at Zhu Ming who was still eating breakfast and bowed.
"Well, let me take a look first."
Hearing the sound, Zhu Ming put down the chopsticks in his hand and said, but just after taking a look, his whole body froze completely, and even the dazzling array of incomparably exquisite breakfasts in front of him lost their taste.
"This……"
"Are all the above statements true?"
Zhu Ming handed the price list to Cao Zhengchun,
asked dully.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, as far as this old slave knows, it should not be fake."
"Then why have I never heard of it?"
Zhu Ming lost his mind to eat when he heard the sound. Although he didn't know how to do it, he also knew what it meant when the price of food rose to this level.
"Such a blatant drive-up of food prices has reached such a point in just ten days, and during this period, no one has played it to me?"
"Is there no one to check?"
Zhu Ming suddenly overturned the table and asked sharply.
"Your Majesty, it's not because there is no one, but because I dare not..."
Seeing this, Cao Zhengchun hurriedly knelt down in the tunnel.
"Absurd, absurd!"
"Why don't you dare at the foot of the world in the land of Gyeonggi?"
"Who exactly did this?"
"He, Jin Yiwei, knows it. Could it be that all the fans in your East Factory are working hard?"
Zhu Ming stared at Cao Zhengchun with fiery eyes.
"Report, Your Majesty, this old servant dare not say..."
Cao Zhengchun gritted his teeth.
"Bastard slave!"
"I order you to tell me!"
Zhu Ming said angrily: "No matter who did this, I will cut off his head!"
"His Majesty……"
"The person behind the scenes is Prince Shuo."
Seeing this situation, Cao Zhengchun was helpless, and a few traces of struggle flashed in his eyes before he spoke.
"..."
Zhu Ming's chest heaved unceasingly upon hearing the sound.
"Crackling..."
"This old and disrespectful bastard!"
After Cao Zhengchun finished speaking,
The head was buried dead on the ground.
There was only a crackling sound,
and Zhu Ming's furious cursing voice,
"call……"
"Do you have evidence?"
I don't know how long I vented,
Zhu Ming calmed down and looked at Cao Zhengchun.
"This old slave has never, nor dared to collect evidence..."
"call……"
"That's all."
"You immediately send someone to his house to inform him."
Zhu Ming said coldly.
"The old slave takes orders..."
"Remember, be quick, be sure to catch up before the morning court!"
Zhu Ming calmed down, and recalled what Luo Porridge asked him a few days ago. He still didn't understand. He had already set his sights on this man, but he had no choice but to let him out of prison with his own words. After that, let him use his own method to deal with those who are not conducive to the country, and it is absolutely impossible to change the order overnight.
"Also, there is one more point!"
"Send more fans,"
"Return all the money in his family back."
"Don't leave even a tael of silver in the house."
Zhu Ming spoke again.
"hope so,"
"I don't want to kill you, you should be more sensible..."
……
"Your Majesty, arrangements have been made..."
Soon,
Cao Zhengchun returned to Zhu Ming's side to report.
"Ah."
"Let's go, you can go to court with me, I have to go there earlier to think about how to clean up this mess."
Zhu Ming got up and said.
"Your Majesty, this old servant has one more matter."
While talking, Cao Zhengchun took out a few land deeds from his pocket and handed them over.
"What do you mean by that?"
Zhu Ming stared blankly at the things Cao Zhengchun handed over.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, these are old slaves who bought properties in the city earlier. I originally thought that when I got older and could no longer serve Your Majesty, I would leave the palace to find someone to eat and enjoy my life, but Thinking about the current situation in the capital, I stopped thinking about it, and it would be good to make up for it after the sale."
"This old slave also knows what it feels like to have an empty stomach. It doesn't matter if one or two people don't have enough to eat, but if millions of people in the capital city don't have enough to eat, the world will be in chaos..."
"This old slave has no ability to make the world stable, but he just doesn't want to see His Majesty worry."
After all,
Cao Zhengchun took out several banknotes of different denominations from his bosom and handed them over, "Your Majesty, don't worry, the money you allocated to Dongchang is from Dongchang's yamen. Old slave, I have never been greedy for money." Two denarii."
"Some of them were accumulated by the old slave in the early years, and the remaining large amount of banknotes, it is also because the old slave was recently promoted to the governor of the East Factory, that he received a lot of filial money from the following. It’s useless, and I don’t know much, but it’s great to make Shangjing more stable.”
Cao Zhengchun said sincerely.
"Well, I will accept it!"
Zhu Ming held those banknotes tightly and said.
"In the final analysis, my servants are the most loyal..."
Zhu Ming patted Cao Zhengchun's shoulder in relief and said, but when he turned around and thought of those bastard things that Prince Shuo did, the anger in his chest was even more difficult to suppress.
"After the court, I will definitely ask myself to understand!"
"Why is he so presumptuous!"
Zhu Ming said with a gloomy expression.
……
"Why, just because my surname is Zhu!"
Prince Shuo said loudly.
"What's wrong with you, you dog slave?"
"Go up to court, what kind of money do you move?"
Prince Shuo kicked the leader and asked.
"Damn it, are you trying to rebel?"
"Don't even look at what place this is?"
"Your Majesty, this is His Majesty's intention..."
The head of the Dongchang stall said helplessly that it would be fine if he was another minister. No matter how high his official position is, he would not be afraid, but this person would not dare to really do anything in front of him. After all, his surname is Zhu, and Dongchang is essentially Zhu. servant of the house.
"My lord, you act like this,"
"I'm afraid it's not easy to explain to His Majesty."
The head of the East Factory said earnestly.
"afraid?"
"What are you afraid of?"
"Is there anyone who dares to impeach the king?"
"Can Your Majesty still behead his second uncle?"
Prince Shuo scratched his neck and yelled, if it was earlier, there might have been a possibility of stopping, but now the treasury is already full of gold prepaid by the other party.
Once these things are handed over, not only will they not accuse themselves, but they will not mention the responsibility, and the busy work these days is also a waste of water, how can they be willing to part with it.
"Come on!"
"Show me the king!"
"It won't work without my king's order!"
Seeing that those fans were unwilling to leave, Prince Shuo simply called the guards of the palace to guard in front of the warehouse.Earlier, he was still a little sane, but now it is Jinshan who has lost his mind.
"My lord, don't be so stubborn..."
"Hmph, stop talking nonsense!"
"Remember, anyone who trespasses in the warehouse will be killed!"
"I want to see who has the courage to testify against me."
After saying that, Prince Shuo walked out the door.
"By the way, call the son and the heirs of this king together. Speaking of which, since the eldest brother of the king, the first emperor, His Majesty has not seen you cousins for a long time, and today I just happened to be with the king. See Your Majesty."
In the end,
Prince Shuo felt that it was not safe enough. What if someone impeached him by someone who was not open-eyed? He actually called the whole family over. Since he wanted to play the emotional card, he had to play it thoroughly. His Majesty would never be able to be Did he kill all his family and relatives in front of the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty?
……
Suzaku Street,
Prince Shuo led a large family towards the gate of the palace. Although the imperial guards guarding the city were extremely curious, they did not dare to stop them.
The civil and military officials were quite surprised to see that there was a big family on the court, but according to the etiquette, they were also qualified to go to the court, and they didn't ask much. Among them, the officials who vaguely guessed what was going on, even It's just bowing your head and not saying a word.
"If you have something to play, you will retreat if there is nothing!"
"The minister has the original play."
The eunuch's voice just fell,
Luo Congee walked out of the ranks,
"What happened?"
Zhu Ming looked at Luo Porridge walking out of the queue,
There was also a thud in my heart.
"As far as I know about the soaring price of grain in Shangjing, the price of grain in Shangjing is now... the person behind the scenes, I have also found out, please Your Majesty to take a look."
After Luo Porridge said,
He handed over a booklet full of people's names.
"call……"
As Zhu Ming expected, the first name on it was Prince Shuo, but what he didn't expect was that there were dozens of officials behind him, from the household department to the yamen of Gyeonggi, there were people involved in the incident.
"Your Majesty, according to the law of my great departure, there is a clear basis for conviction of those who drive up prices and hoard food and grass during wartime,"
"Whoever makes a profit of more than 500 taels of silver will be punished with a staff of [-]!"
"Whoever makes more than 3000 taels of silver will be imprisoned for seven years!"
"Whoever makes a profit of more than 5000 taels of silver will be killed!"
"Whoever makes a profit of more than 1 taels of silver will be cut off!"
"Those who have made more than 10 taels of silver..."
"I don't know, Prince Shuo, together with your lords and the four major business gangs, how much profit will they make by shorting the grain prices of the entire Gyeonggi?"
"How many heads are enough to chop off?"
Luo Congee shouted sharply and his tone was extremely cold.
The temperature in the entire hall seemed to have become much colder following Luo Porridge's voice. Hearing the sound, several ministers in the court unconsciously swayed, and what's more, they collapsed on the ground. Shen, but I didn't come across this scene.
"You yellow-mouthed kid,"
"How dare you criticize me so much?"
Prince Shuo was startled and angry when he heard the sound,
But still bite the bullet.
"Oh?"
"Criticism?"
"Then please ask Prince Shuo to listen to you."
After all,
Luo Congee took out another piece of paper from his pocket and said.
"At noon ten days ago, people from the four major business gangs entered your residence, Prince Shuo, and did not leave until the end of the fifth hour. During this period, they received 58 taels of cash..."
"Nine days ago, at Zishi, the four major merchant gangs sent people 64 taels of silver into the mansion, and eight days ago, at Choushi, the four major merchant gangs sent people 79 taels of silver into the mansion..."
read here,
Prince Shuo's face was pale.
"As of today,"
"A total of 630 taels of cash has been collected."
Luo Congee continued to read at a leisurely pace.
"I don't know, Prince Shuo,"
"Do you want to listen more carefully?"
Luo Congee jokingly said: "Prince Shuo, don't forget our Jin Yiwei's ability to eat."
"Prince Shuo, do you have anything else to say?"
Luo Conge pressed forward step by step.
"His Majesty,"
"His Majesty,"
"Your Majesty, I was confused for a moment!"
Prince Shuo knew that the evidence was overwhelming and there was no room for refutation, and he also knew that the man in front of him had no room for detours, so he knelt down on the ground and crawled to the steps under the dragon chair.
If it is true according to the law,
Even if I have a hundred heads, it is not enough to chop off.
He also knows very well,
There is only one person who can save himself right now,
"Where's the silver?"
Zhu Ming was also extremely horrified when he heard the sound. He didn't expect that in just ten days or so, he had earned more than half of the accumulation of hundreds of years of aristocratic families.
"It's all in the warehouse of the palace..."
"You really don't know how to write dead characters!"
Zhu Ming got up and walked in front of Prince Shuo and yelled loudly. He has been on the throne for a long time, and he has cultivated that momentum. At this moment, he erupted like a scourge, which should not be underestimated.
The few cousins beside him suffered from this unreasonable disaster, and their faces turned pale and fell to their knees.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty, calm down..."
At this moment, Prince Shuo also woke up like a dream, and knelt down in front of Zhu Ming, crying with tears and snot running down his nose.
"Damn you!"
Looking at Prince Shuo who was crying bitterly while hugging his thigh, Zhu Ming squeezed out these words from between his teeth.
"Your Majesty, you hit me, you scolded me..."
Hearing the sound, Prince Shuo was as if struck by lightning, and in a panic, he grabbed Zhu Ming's hand and greeted his own face, but the latter was not moved at all.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty,"
"Isn't it just a few million taels of silver..."
"Why don't I just kneel in the ancestral hall..."
Prince Shuo said in a panic.
"Kneeling?"
"Kneeling?"
"Ah……"
"Do you know how much I have suffered for the mere millions of taels of silver in your mouth..."
"Can you get over it just by kneeling lightly?"
Zhu Ming laughed at himself.
"Should I put all the money into the treasury, and then go back to the fief immediately?"
"You have to die!"
Zhu Ming put aside Prince Shuo's hand and said in a cold voice.
The latter was stunned when he heard the sound, and even his descendants collapsed powerlessly on the ground as if their spine had been removed.
"Your Majesty, according to the law of great departure..."
Luo Porridge still insisted.
"More than 600 million taels of silver, Prince Shuo is a barbarian..."
Luo Congee paused for a moment, and naturally he didn't say anything, but changed the subject and said, "It's not too much to think about killing Prince Shuo today and the people who entered the court with him."
"Aiqing, why do you..."
"Isn't his head, together with the heads of dozens of officials, enough?"
Zhu Ming turned around and looked at the young man Lang Dao with burning eyes.
"not enough!"
Luo Congee said decisively.
"When the minister is released from prison, you have something to say first."
Luo Congee said loudly.
"I……"
"I……"
Zhu Ming looked at the hostile young man in the python robe, and then at the family and relatives who collapsed on the ground, feeling extremely depressed.
"His Majesty……"
"There are such moths in the country... the country will not be the country, could it be that the lives of his family are more important than this country?"
Luo porridge said quietly.
"Jiangshan Sheji..."
"The moth of the country..."
"That's all, that's all, you can deal with it..."
Zhu Ming was silent for a long time upon hearing the sound,
In the end, he waved his sleeves, turned around and walked back to the dragon chair.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
"Chen, damn it, but..."
Prince Shuo knew that there was no hope of death, so he kowtowed continuously. His originally fair forehead was already bruised and swollen. Looking at the innocent children beside him from the corner of his eye, he wished he could slap himself a few times.
"Sir, take the lead!"
"Get the prisoner out first."
"Take Prince Shuo and his family together."
Luo Congee ignored it and ordered in a low voice.
"Let's execute the execution outside the Meridian Gate, and let the remaining adults see the blood, so as not to forget how to write the word "death", and think about the end before doing anything."
Luo Porridge said to the leading guard.
"Boom..."
The first to be beheaded were the criminal officials in the court.
The sound of the head falling to the ground heard Prince Shuo's heart pounding, and the crying of the children beside him broke the last line of defense in his heart.
"The rest of these people."
"The officer will do it himself."
Luo Conge pushed away the executioner who was about to execute.
"Boom..."
"Father, I don't want to die..."
"Boom..."
The sound of crying and crying in my ears,
Has turned into a hysterical wail,
When you reach the last person,
Luo Congee was covered in blood,
"Prince Shuo,"
"I pity you for knocking your head so much today."
Luo Porridge looked at Prince Shuo, who was covered with blue hair, and leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Let's leave corresponding graves for you and your descendants according to the number of green hair swollen on your forehead."
"Boom..."
heads fly,
bleeding profusely,
I don't know if it's because fat people have higher blood pressure, the blood spurted from Prince Shuo's neck is actually higher than that of Xie Shilang the other day,
"Well, the blood of the Zhu family..."
"It seems to be no different from ordinary people..."
Luo Porridge looked at the fallen corpse,
He licked the blood stains on Xiuchun Knife and muttered to himself.
(End of this chapter)
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