Zhou Chao took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. It seems that someone is indeed hoarding grain and raising prices. I have failed in my duty, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
"You've failed in your duties! You must be punished! But is punishment enough? I'm giving you three days, only three days. Suppress the grain price for me. Don't always wait for me to speak on this matter of killing. If I do speak, none of you will survive!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! Thank you for your mercy! I will do it immediately!"
"You yourself have been fined six months' salary, and you, Xu Churen, have already been fined before. I will add another six months to your fine. Do you have any objections?"
Xu Churen quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I dare not. I thank you for sparing my life."
When Xu Churen and Zhou Chao left the emperor's study, their backs were soaked with cold sweat.
Neither of the two prime ministers had eaten lunch.
Right now, these merchants are definitely giving various reasons why they were forced to raise prices. Zhou Chao and Xu Churen only have three days, so they can't possibly send someone to investigate the grain merchants' stockpiling situation. The other party will certainly not tell them the real location of the stockpiles.
Now it seems, as the emperor said, that the only option left is to take a hard line.
In short, even if we don't kill you, the emperor will take action. And if the emperor does, the two prime ministers will die with you.
So, you should all just go die.
In a side room of the government office, the six wealthiest merchants of Tokyo City arrived.
One of the wealthy merchants was named Gao Chengyi, who not only received grain from various landowners, but also had connections to restaurants, brothels, and tea, among other things.
In the upper-class business circles of Tokyo, almost everyone knows Gao Chengyi. Those who do business are also somewhat involved with the underworld, and they often bribe many government officials.
They dare to openly raise prices now, since those officials are well-fed by them anyway.
Besides, grain merchants throughout Tokyo are raising prices right now.
There is a saying that goes, "The law does not punish the masses."
Even if the current prime minister came to talk to them now, they would dare to say that they really have no grain reserves left, and if they don't raise prices, the grain will be quickly looted, and then no one will have anything to eat.
Look at that, what a high-sounding reason!
We are also thinking about the bigger picture.
However, this time Xu Churen and Zhou Chao did not give them a chance. As soon as they were invited to sit down in the Hall of State Affairs, before they could even warm their seats, Xu Churen turned hostile.
They originally thought that being invited to the Political Affairs Hall meant they would have a big business opportunity, but Xu Churen's demeanor seemed a bit off.
Xu Churen pointed at Gao Chengyi and said to Yao Xiping, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Zhang Shaoze, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, "This is Gao Chengyi!"
Yao Xiping cut to the chase: "It is you who deliberately hoarded grain and inflated prices. This is a heinous crime that harms the country and its people, and your entire family will be implicated!"
Gao Chengyi was slightly taken aback and was about to retort when Zhang Shaoze, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, said, "Men, seize this man and take him to the Five Dynasties Gate to be beheaded and displayed to the public!"
Gao Chengyi was completely bewildered, as were the other wealthy merchants. This was supposed to be the Hall of State Affairs, the office of the prime minister, but it felt like a government office.
Seeing Xu Churen and Zhou Chao sitting there solemnly, Gao Chengyi immediately made a last-ditch effort: "You have no evidence to accuse me of deliberately hoarding grain and driving up prices, and you even want to kill me! I refuse to accept this! I'm going to appeal to the Emperor!"
Heh, you're going to file a complaint with the emperor?
It's already being quite lenient to only involve your three clans now. If you were to appeal to the emperor, he would say he would exterminate your ten clans.
Don't think that an emperor wouldn't do it; he's got a screw loose and he's actually capable of it.
"evidence?"
Yao Xiping picked up the indictment from the table and sneered, "This is the evidence!"
Before Gao Chengyi could speak, two burly men from the Ministry of Justice entered. They closed the door, and without waiting for Gao Chengyi to shout, they tied him up with rope, gagged him, and beat him severely.
The wealthy businessmen on the sidelines were terrified. This... this was the Hall of State Affairs, but it felt like the Ministry of Justice's prison!
After being severely beaten to the point of near death, Gao Chengyi signed the indictment and was then dragged out.
Xu Churen glanced at the others and said in a deep voice, "Gao Chengyi is hoarding grain prices, harming the country and its people, and deserves to die!"
When he uttered the word "should be killed," the other five wealthy businessmen all gasped in shock.
Zhou Chao added from the side: "Confiscate their property and exile their entire family to the Northwest!"
The five wealthy businessmen turned pale and trembled all over, because they had also participated in price gouging.
Xu Churen said, "I believe that none of you participated. It is best that you did not participate. Do not follow the path of Gao Chengyi, otherwise the imperial law will not show any mercy!"
The Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice immediately opened a case. Since it was a civil case, all that was needed was for the Court of Judicial Review to open the case, the Ministry of Justice to conduct the trial, and the State Affairs Hall to make the final approval.
Strangely, the incident was published in the Tokyo Express the next day. At noon the following day, Gao Chengyi was dragged to the Wuchao Gate and slashed. The wealthy merchants even sent people to watch and confirm that Gao Chengyi was really dead. His entire family was exiled to the Northwest. Only then did they realize the seriousness of the situation.
In the evening, someone went to buy rice and found that the price of rice in Tokyo had suddenly dropped slightly lower than before, to 3.55 million coins per shi.
This involves using coercive measures to suppress prices. But simply suppressing prices isn't enough. A large amount of grain is being purchased by restaurants, resulting in serious waste. In the end, there still won't be enough grain, so we need to manage it.
If this is ignored, Tokyo will run out of food, and it may become impossible to suppress the problem any longer.
Everyone has to die!
So Zhou immediately sent people to find all the owners of the major restaurants and check with them one by one the amount of rice, wheat, fish, meat and other food that each restaurant was purchasing every day.
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