In mid-October, Bianliang City.
The rustling north wind has been blowing, and the sudden drop in temperature is what happened in the past few days. People in the city have thickened their clothes, but in such a big city where millions of people gather, even if the weather drops a little, pedestrians on the streets will not be rare. While shopping, the merchants are still shouting and selling, taking advantage of the fact that they want to get more business before winter completely falls, and the children are running outside the house, looking forward to the first winter snow.
On the left side of the imperial city is the area where high-ranking officials and large families gather. On this side, there are slightly fewer pedestrians on the road. On the relatively remote Wenyuan Street, a hawker with a sugar cake cart called out a few words outside the mansion of the Censor Zhang. He knew that the grandson of the Censor Zhang, Fang Zhi, was three years old, and the old lady in the family was right. It is extremely doting, and once this hawking arouses the minds of children or old people, it will always gain something.
Most of the pedestrians passing by the street were servants and maids of some high-profile families, and the carriages passed quietly. Not long after, there were also a few people on the other side of the road. The woman at the head was tall and beautiful. Although it was winter, her clothes were quite subtle, but she couldn't hide her beautiful figure. The woman next to her was like her sister, chatting with her, and when it was interesting, she jumped a few times. There are four maids in the back, two of them are of poor appearance, but they have sharp eyes and tall stature. A maid held a basket in her arms.
A group of six people stopped at the back door of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. After knocking on the door, someone came over to welcome them in.
At this time, it was naturally Yunzhu and Jin'er who lived nearby. Since Ning Yi was in the prime minister's mansion for disaster relief during this period, it was often difficult to leave at noon, so they often came over and sometimes brought lunch. Sometimes some sugar water. It was still in the afternoon, and after entering the prime minister's mansion, two female bodyguards dressed as maids were left on the periphery. Yunzhu and Jin'er walked inside, approaching the office yard. Instead, he had a face-to-face with Qin Siyuan, who was walking towards him. The old man was dressed in casual clothes and seemed to be thinking about something. When he saw the two of them, he still smiled: "Come on."
"Grandpa Qin."
"Grandpa Qin."
They saluted, Qin Siyuan smiled and said, "What did you bring? Do you have the share of an old man like me?"
Jin'er smiled: "The Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup is still hot. There are many."
"Oh, then give me a bowl later, let's go, I'm looking for Liheng too."
Several people walked to the yard where Ning Yi and others were. Although speaking, the disaster relief work also included a lot of inductive analysis of intelligence data, except for Ning Yi in the yard. There were also several people who helped, but the atmosphere was not as lively as some of the financial markets in later generations. Everyone made a conclusion, and only occasionally summed up with Ning Yi. After Qin Siyuan came over, Ning Yi also temporarily let go of his work and sat with the old man in the courtyard for a while. Yunzhu and Jin'er packed the Tremella lotus seed soup one by one and sent them to the staff at work, and to Qin Siyuan and Ning Yishi. The two of them are sitting here chatting seemingly casually, but the topic is not casual.
"... There's a fight in Pingzhou."
"Armed?"
"The troops were launched a few days ago, and the leader of the army is Wanyanja's mother."
"Aguda's younger brother, but this person is average... What about the attitude of the court?"
"I was happy at first, but now that the matter is in front of me, the saint is a little undecided. Tong Guan's side... is afraid."
"Call General Guo to cooperate, you have to fight once..."
"That's what I mean too. There are few Jurchens, so it's not easy to go south. But north of Yanmen Pass, it must be fought. It's a pity... I just want to talk about..."
"How about now..."
"Wanyan's mother's people are not as many as Zhang Jue's, so she can only hope that Zhang Jue will win the battle."
"I think... the imperial court may not send troops, but it can ask General Guo to help. Mr. Xiang, may I ask General Guo to submit a letter to the imperial court to invite war?"
"That's what I thought too. I've already been studying and going north... How about the price of food?"
"Both sides are floating around thirty-two."
"The weather is down, but not up?"
"The operation is still effective, but for now, it can only be maintained. The biggest hurdle is after the first snow falls. At that time, whether the court can restore the confidence of the people will be able to see clearly."
It is said that it is a food war and an economic war, but what is really fought is the confidence of the people in the government's disaster relief. The big family and gentry said that the price of food will definitely rise, and there was not much food. The people believed it and went to buy food at a high price. The government said that we will provide disaster relief, we will crack down on illegal grain sellers, and we have a steady stream of food coming in. The final result of the disaster relief depends on the people's trust in both sides, and of course, it also depends on their hunger.
The basic principle is this, when it comes to details, it is thousands of times more complicated. The process of suppressing food prices in the north and south has been going on for a month. The fluctuation of food prices in the two places is still around 30 taels, which is enough to surprise Qin Siyuan. But as Ning Yi said, the real decision of the outcome will be after the first snow falls. At that time, either the disaster relief methods of the imperial court will collapse, or the psychological limit of the big family will collapse. Use various means to improve your chips.
In the south, in the past two weeks, even a grain ship was scuttled, and the murderer has not yet been found. Not long ago, a county magistrate of Qin Siyuan's faction in Huainan caused a backlash due to his honest character and fierce disaster relief measures. A large grain farmer wanted to take advantage of this famine year to expand his strength, and blindly ate a lot of delivered grain. He thought that he would make a steady profit without losing money, and absorb high prices. Who knew that the subsequent fluctuations in food prices were beyond his expectations, and there was a faint trend of decline.
This is also due to Ning Yi's intense suppression measures in the first stage. Although it seems that the total amount of food that can be mobilized is not as good as expected, Ning Yi's investment in the first stage is still very courageous. He is too experienced. This kind of stud-like gambling in the mall, no matter whether he is fat or not, he must first slap his face. On the other hand, the enemy this time also has a ladder-like level. First of all, it will boost the appetite of some big households, increase their psychological burden, make them collapse in advance, and flow out the food as soon as possible to intimidate the higher-level people. It was also Ning Yi's plan.
On this level, the small and medium-sized gentry in the countryside were Ning Yi's opponents. Ning Yi controlled the entry of grain, and the county magistrate, after receiving the order from the Prime Minister's office, also enthusiastically used administrative means to cooperate with public opinion and began to suppress prices. At the same time, it is also threatening these big households, and they must spit out the food. He did so well that the big family's psychology collapsed like this. One day, he shouted: "If you don't let me live, I will let you die."
The county magistrate was originally from a poor family, and was an honest and upright official. When he was killed, he was distributing his rations to the hungry people outside, and his family members even had to drink porridge every day.
After the murder, the big family secretly asked someone to release the news that the county magistrate was killed by Wang Qing's subordinates who were in chaos nearby. But the arrest quickly found the murderer. At this time, it was the power of Chengguo Princess Mansion who was in charge of the disaster relief in the south. Zhou Pei happened to be nearby, and even told the county magistrate about the disaster relief strategy. The whole family of the big household was arrested, and the people who were involved in the grain collection and the immediate family members of the big household were screened out. thrown into jail. Then she and the angry princess Zhou Xuan wrote a letter to Zhou Zhe together.
After this incident, the Prime Minister's mansion immediately issued an order to accept the affairs of the county government with people from the Secret Investigation Department. The rest of the people were stunned, and they dared not stock up under such high pressure, but it caused a hole in the local food price.
In this case, it is said that after the big household was thrown into the prison, Zhou Pei rushed into the prison on the first day and stole all the meals for the big household's family. He also drank a bowl of porridge in the prison on the spot, saying, "How can such a good porridge be given to animals?" ". People from the royal family intervened, and even if the family were killed on the spot, no one would dare to speak. I just heard that Zhou Pei vomited in the room that night when he ate porridge. I almost got sick the next day.
Later, the trial announced that the family had been starved for four days. It was not until Kang Xian issued an order that Zhou Pei should stay away from this matter, and at the same time, they were given a meal of porridge a day, barely hanging their lives. But it is conceivable that they will rarely die after that.
Qin Siyuan said this with a low tone, and Ning Yi's expression also seemed indifferent.
"The family of the magistrate Geng has asked the Secret Investigation Division to help make arrangements... Zhou Pei still asked him to go back, where Wang Qing was in chaos. Although Xin Xingzong and the others have already set off to suppress them, it is not peaceful after all. And... A county's Even if the price of food drops a little, it will not benefit the overall situation. You can't take the lives of good people to pay for it, and you have to prevent this kind of thing from happening in other places..."
Although Ning Yi's tone was indifferent, but thinking about these things, he finally felt compassion. Qin Siyuan shook his head: "This is a war, it is inevitable. Hard knives don't cut flesh, soft knives hurt more. Recently, the pressure from below is not small, but if you really want to do things well, you have to show a fighting attitude. Otherwise, once you think about self-protection and compromise once, you will inevitably continue to compromise. Regarding Geng Qianzhi's matter, I will spread the word to the world in a newspaper, telling them that these food hoarders are evil, and I must... kill them!"
Ning Yi thought about it and nodded: "It's just that I'm a little indecisive..."
Qin Siyuan laughed: "A gentleman is like a beast. When he sees his life, he can't bear to see his death; when he hears his voice, he can't bear to eat its flesh. Therefore, a gentleman is far from a kitchen. Liheng acts cruelly to himself and others. Only To always have compassion for the people around you is exactly the way of a gentleman."
Ning Yi thought for a moment, then sighed: "A good person should be rewarded. We often say that someone who does good deeds and accumulates virtue will die for others and will not be rewarded. In the end, it often gives people the feeling that good deeds are guaranteed. Those who want evil retribution, if they don't get evil retribution, they often appear to be impure in doing good deeds. This kind of propaganda is not good."
"There is no such thing as Liheng said." Qin Siyuan was slightly surprised, "I have seen some stories and strange things in the world today, saying that this person is either filial or chaste, and often ends with good things. The number one scholar, the official worships the first rank, and if it is a woman, you can often meet Ruyi Langjun eventually. There are not many people who say that good people get bad rewards."
"Uh..." Ning Yi was stunned for a while, and then he couldn't help laughing, "Haha, I was wrong, don't blame Qin Xiang."
Qin Siyuan also smiled, and then he became solemn: "The soft knife I said, Liheng must guard against it."
Ning Yi nodded: "I know that now, the officials sent from the north and south are mostly under pressure, or lured by money, or forced by power, just to make them turn a blind eye. , In this regard, the Secret Investigation Division has been asked to increase the intensity of the investigation, and the other officials are nothing more than a few lines on the north-south commercial road, which cannot be sloppy."
"Someone has already extended their relationship to Beijing and left my relationship." Qin Siyuan's face was gloomy, "Sooner or later, they will find Liheng's side, and Liheng must make some preparations."
Hearing him talking about this, Ning Yi showed a smile on the corner of his mouth: "This, I'm mentally prepared, Qin Xiang can rest assured."
Qin Siyuan sighed: "I'm not worried about you. As I said just now, Liheng is cruel to himself and others. I just sigh about this world..." After a pause, he laughed, "Oh, yes, Dexin and Zhouhai are in the north and seem to be doing well."
Ning Yi nodded: "Brother Cheng is very powerful. With him and Dexin teaming up, those people can't make any waves."
"Well, Zhou Hai's tactics are too ruthless, which is somewhat similar to my early years, but when it comes to doing things, it's really comprehensive. I'm... not too worried... "
As the old man said so, he actually had a lot of hope for Cheng Zhouhai, a disciple with great tactics...
****************
The reason why Qin Siyuan and Ning Yi talked about Chengzhouhai was because Chengzhouhai was originally in charge of military rations in the north. After the disaster relief began, he temporarily took over the affairs of the Secret Investigation Division in the north. After that, he connected with Li Pin. lines, which cooperate with each other.
Then a few days ago, on Hedong Road, the first violent rebound of the big households came from the Guo family in Xiaoyi County.
Since Li Pin went to the Guo family to coerce to release food, Guo Mingyi went to Zuo Jilan to discuss, Zuo Jilan went to Qi Fanghou from the Qi family, and after the two parties added up, the two aides, Wang Zhizhen and Xu Mai, gave Guo Mingyi the first plan. .
After that, on the second day when Guo Mingyi returned home, he went outside under the escort of the family members and said to the hungry people tearfully: Because the government believed that the Guo family had been making porridge and must have food in the family, they threatened the Guo family. To release more food, he had to make some last resort concessions. At the same time, it was announced that this day would be the last meal of the Guo family's porridge.
He wants to... incite civil unrest, and directly point at the government!
No matter how big Li Pin's official is, no matter what kind of backstage he has behind him, if his first measure after he came to power causes civil unrest, and with the influence of the Zuo family and Qi family in the capital, his official... is Can't do it anyway.
On this day, perhaps because it was the last day of serving porridge, the Guo family cooked the porridge very thick, which also gave the people who were hungry continuously the strength to digest the news. The crowd of hungry people were stunned when they heard Guo Mingyi's words.
The riots are about to get up. Someone shouted from one side of the crowd: "He lied!"
S: Looking back on some books in ancient times, being a good man and a filial son, you can become a champion, and you can be appreciated by the emperor. Now, the propaganda is often that good deeds will die. This person who does good deeds is so desolate. And due to the generally poor ability of social people to discriminate in logic, it finally turned into an atmosphere: if this person did not die or lived a miserable life, then the good things he did would not be counted, or this person started out for the purpose of interests of good deeds. Motivation theory makes all of us generally polite but unreasonable, and makes a society that generally needs goodwill but cannot get goodwill. Just like Chen Guangbiao, if he did a good thing and wanted to show it off, why not? Why can't you be praised for doing good deeds? Society needs kindness, and people who do good do need some motivation to keep doing good. Among them, praise is really the humblest reward. Well, this is a little emotion in boredom.