The king behind the empress

Chapter 105 What do the people owe you?

Although the price of 50 taels was within Qian Min's acceptable range, seeing Mo Zizai's impatient appearance, Qian Min felt that he had lost money.

But he opened his mouth and hesitated for a long time, but in the end he didn't dare to say anything lower.

As far as Mo Zizai was concerned, it wouldn't be a problem to ask Qian Min to pay another 50 taels if he was tougher, but in that case he would have to argue with Qian Min for a long time, and he was too lazy to bother.

Anyway, in his eyes, none of these corrupt officials in the capital can escape, and the money will definitely belong to him in the end, it doesn't matter if it is taken early or late.

Instead of haggling for half a day to get an extra 50 taels, why not just stop making a decision and appreciate Qian Min's expression of doubting life, for example, the expression of Qian Min now is very interesting.

Regret, heartache, hesitation, hesitating to speak, several expressions alternated back and forth, it was comparable to the stunt of changing faces.

"Ugh……"

Qian Min sighed for a long time. After all, he has been an official for so many years, and his mentality has adjusted quite quickly. Although he still feels a little distressed, his face has returned to calm, "50 is 50. Let Qian Gui personally deliver the money to the prince and send it to the mansion."

"Okay, then I won't pursue this matter." Mo Zizai, who had just enjoyed a show of changing his face, was in a good mood, and said very generously: "After all, this king is not an unreasonable person. See In terms of compensation, the tea is almost almost."

Hearing Mo Zizai's words, Qian Min's blood pressure almost rose again after he calmed down. You are reasonable, if it weren't for the 50 taels, you would have cleaned it up?
Returning the tea leaves is almost impossible, you drank two big pots of such poor tea leaves, if you replaced them with better ones, you would have to drink all the water in my house.

Qian Min, who had countless resentments in his heart, didn't want to let Mo Zizao stay any longer, so he asked straight to the point: "I don't know what the prince is doing in the government?"

"Official business is out of the question."

Hearing Qian Min ask her why she came here, Mo Zizai also put away the playful expression on his face, and looked a little more serious, "I just heard that the imperial court can't buy food even if they have money, right?"

Although it was expected that Mo Zizai would come to him because of this matter, Qian Min couldn't help but thump in his heart when he heard Mo Zizai say that his purpose of coming was indeed this.

However, his city is very deep, and although he was a little nervous, his face remained calm. Instead, he showed a look of concern for the country and the people, and said with a sigh: "In general, it is true."

"Because of the disaster, all states and counties have said that there is no food surplus, and the officials have personally checked the matter. Most of the Changping warehouses in the states and counties are almost empty. Basically, they are not lying. It is indeed because of the severe disaster that there is no food left. Not their excuses."

"So, there is nothing I can do about it."

"The Changping positions are all empty?"

Mo Zizai sneered. The Changping Warehouse was a warehouse established by Dazhou in various states and counties in order to stabilize grain prices. If the price rises, the grain in the Changping warehouse will be sold at a low price to stabilize the grain price.

It can be regarded as a kind of protection for grain prices in the feudal era, which not only avoids the harm of farmers due to the low price of grain, but also avoids the harm of the people due to the high price of grain.

But now that the disaster year has just begun, many states and counties have not been affected at all, and even some places have a rare bumper harvest year, but Qian Min actually told him that the Changping warehouse was empty.

"Master Qian, the disaster-stricken places, the three counties of Yong, what is the relationship between other prefectures and counties at all? Why are the Changping warehouses in other prefectures and counties sold out?"

"Master Mingjian, these three counties are not the only ones affected by the disaster. Other states and counties are also affected to varying degrees, but the severity is not as serious as these three counties."

Qian Min had already expected that Mo Zizai would come, so he had already prepared a draft in his heart, so he said calmly: "Plus the common people are ignorant, and most of them have a mentality of fear of disaster. There will be a large amount of food stored, so it is not surprising to buy short the normal warehouse."

"The people are ignorant? I don't think it's because the people are ignorant, but because of the collusion between officials and businessmen?"

Mo Zizai scoffed at Qian Min's statement. The amount of grain stored in the Changping warehouse was huge, and the money involved was tens of thousands of taels, so it was extremely easy to cause corruption.

The low-level methods are like exchanging old rice for new rice, it is not uncommon to exchange a small bucket for a big bucket, and what is even more direct is to exchange chaff for grain, like a big rat, stealing the sky bit by bit. Close the position.

And the advanced level is not such a small fight, they are bold, they will directly contact the big businessmen with capital, directly buy all the grain in the Changping warehouse at a low price, and then sell it at a high price, and the profits they get , Officials and businessmen share.

Therefore, in Mo Zizai's view, the so-called being snapped up by the people is just an excuse. The grain in the Changping warehouse was either corrupted by officials, or sold directly by profiteers at high prices. The low price that can really fall into the hands of the people Grain, I am afraid there is not a single grain.

"The common people can't buy a grain of cheap food, and in the end they have to blame you people. What do the common people owe you?"

Faced with Mo Zizai's ridicule, Qian Min was unmoved at all, and said with a smile: "My lord, whether officials are corrupt or not has always been supervised by the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Household Affairs has no control over this matter. "

"Hmph, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is like a bird of a feather."

Mo Zizai, who had just confiscated the top leader of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and imprisoned him, naturally did not expect the Metropolitan Procuratorate to supervise all the officials. He snorted coldly, and was too lazy to entangle with Qian Min in this regard, so he asked directly: "So, Qian Min?" My lord, you, Minister of the Ministry of Households, really can't raise food, can you?"

Hearing Mo Zizai's tone, Qian Min's heart tightened. He knew the critical moment was coming, so he replied cautiously: "Go back to the prince, there is really nothing I can do."

"Are you sure you can't do anything?"

Mo Zizai gave Qian Min a sideways look, and said threateningly: "As the Minister of the Household Department, if you are not useful when you are needed, then you should not be the Minister of the Household Department at all."

Hearing Mo Zizai's words, Qian Min sighed deeply in his heart. Sure enough, Mo Zizai's behavior was similar to what he expected, and he directly threatened.

But what's the use of anticipation? The best strategy often uses the simplest actions to overwhelm others with power. It is both simple and rude. If you can't reverse the general trend, it is impossible to crack this kind of conspiracy.

Either be obedient or be crushed to death.

Although Mo Zizai said it politely, Qian Min could also see that he regarded the wealth of all the corrupt officials' families in the capital as his own property.

Now they just need them to do things, so they didn't directly confiscate all their property. If he lost his status as Minister of the Household Department, he might be ransacked by Dongchang people and imprisoned as soon as he walked out of the gate of the palace.

Therefore, he could not lose the position of Minister of the Household Department under any circumstances.

　Thank you for your rewards and monthly tickets. Recently, there is something at home and there is no time code, so I will not thank you one by one. I would like to say sorry to everyone here and thank you for your support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)