When the Jin army besieged the capital of Tokyo, Zhao Huan dared to kill four prime ministers in the court because there were staunch advocates of war in the court, and many people in the court actually wanted Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others to die.
That would not cause unrest among the people; on the contrary, it would gain a group of officials willing to support him.
Moreover, the higher the level, the lower the cost of replacing personnel.
The most difficult layer to replace is the middle layer. They connect the upper and lower levels and are responsible for the execution of specific tasks. You must find someone who can fully replace them before you can replace them, otherwise they can easily be cut in half.
You said that if Zhao Huan were to go on a killing spree in Shaanxi now, it would definitely cause unrest among the people.
Even if the people support it, there will inevitably be chaos because there is a power vacuum for a time.
Shaanxi Road was one of the important logistical bases for the western expedition. If things were to fall into chaos at this time, it would have a huge impact on Zhao Huan's western expedition.
Removing officials and executing people is acceptable, but with the new military commissioner in charge, it will take at least six months for the situation in Shaanxi to stabilize.
Normally, Zhao Huan would have already struck with his sword, but now he decided to put it aside for the time being.
The officials will remain inactive, but the businessmen involved must die.
At this moment, in a large mansion in Chang'an City.
Zhang Muyuan, a very famous merchant in Chang'an, was enjoying a time of singing and dancing.
Like Zhu Qing of Bianjing (Kaifeng), he was a merchant who rose to prominence during the first five years after the Jingkang Reforms, a period of great grain production in the Song Dynasty.
He accumulated a huge amount of initial capital and, in the eighth year of the Jingkang New Deal, opened an ironworks and a textile factory, and also invested a lot of people in mining.
Although the imperial court later banned private mining, he made a fortune in those years.
After the imperial court issued the railway policy from Chang'an to Xingqing Prefecture, he invested heavily in building a team among the people and obtained the tender through connections.
In this incident, his caravan suffered the most deaths.
Those who died were disposed of secretly, and because the gate was sealed tightly, he was safe and sound.
He had naturally heard that the emperor was investigating the matter.
However, he was not worried. Judging from the current situation, the emperor was going to launch a western expedition, and Chang'an was located in the center of the northwest grain region, making it one of the important grain supply points for the western expeditionary army.
Zhang Muyuan hired nearly five thousand people to transport grain for the imperial court.
It was the largest among civilian grain transport teams.
There's a reason why he dared to hire five thousand people at once.
He owns a considerable amount of land.
Since the imperial court relaxed its land policies, he bought a lot of land and started farming.
He has thus become one of the top five grain producers in Chang'an.
He had enough grain of his own, and through his connections with government officials, he managed to have most of his grain bought up by the imperial court.
Moreover, they bought more than the allotted amount.
This is a win no matter how you look at it.
He now has 5,000 people transporting military provisions for the court, and the officials' reliance on him goes far beyond just the issue of food transportation.
More often than not, it's the money in your pocket.
They would definitely do everything they could to speak well of themselves in front of the emperor.
That matter is pretty much over.
The emperor should have launched western expeditions, while he himself should have been transporting grain.
He neglected important matters for the sake of some common people; he was not a qualified emperor!
He may not be worried, but that doesn't mean others aren't.
Wang Yan, who ranked tenth in wealth in Chang'an City, arrived at Zhang Muyuan's house at this very moment, looking as anxious as an ant on a hot pan in front of Zhang Muyuan.
"Brother Zhang, how can you still eat? The Emperor himself has arrived! For the past two weeks, the Imperial City Guard and the Judicial Commissioner have been relentless in their investigation of us. What are we to do?!"
Zhang Muyuan said confidently, "Haha, Brother Wang, please calm down, please calm down."
"I can't settle down!"
"Come, come, have a cup of tea first." Zhang Muyuan poured Wang Yan a cup of tea, then smiled and asked, "Do you know what kind of tea this is?"
"I don't know!" Wang Yan clearly had no interest in discussing such trivial matters.
"This is Longjing tea."
"So what? Is your head more important than drinking tea?"
“Hey, this is no ordinary Longjing tea. It was given to me by a prime minister of the capital city of Tokyo. This Longjing tea was bestowed upon this prime minister by His Majesty the Emperor.”
"Oh, the Emperor drinks tea?" Wang Yan was also somewhat surprised, and his uneasy expression eased slightly.
"Do you know why this prime minister sent me Longjing tea? And it was even bestowed upon me by His Majesty."
Why?
Zhang Muyuan stood up, his tone assertive, exuding an air of dominance: "Because of money!"
Wang Yan was slightly taken aback, clearly not understanding what he meant.
"Because of money! Money can make the devil turn the millstone. In order to get acquainted with this prime minister, I spent 300,000 strings of cash!"
"What's power!" Zhang Muyuan's eyes gleamed with unwavering confidence. "When power meets money, it just smiles kindly!"
He turned around and took a big gulp of tea: "I've tasted the tea that the emperor drinks."
"Let me tell you, in the future, the world of the Great Song Dynasty will no longer be ruled by the scholar-officials, but by the wealthy!"
Wang Yan immediately stood up, drenched in sweat: "Don't say things like that!"
"I am stating the facts. Look at the Song Dynasty today. In just fourteen years, it is a completely different world from what it was fourteen years ago. And the pace of change is accelerating. The changes in the future will only become greater."
"The sage is dead!"
"Those commoners think they've gained wealth through their labor, but what's the difference between them and ants? Even if another ten thousand die building this railway, so what?"
Wang Yan was utterly stunned. He never expected Zhang Muyuan to say such a thing; it completely overturned his worldview.
"The common people will always be the common people. Want to turn their lives around? They'll have to be obedient and keep their meager monthly allowance. That's enough to eat and wear. That's already the greatest favor we can do for them."
"But His Majesty the Emperor has already issued a decree at the Chang'an County government office to thoroughly investigate this matter."
Zhang Muyuan burst into laughter, his smile filled with disdain: "Do you know what our Emperor is best at?"
"fight?"
"No, no, no, he's a master of acting!" Zhang Muyuan's tone was full of sarcasm. "He's the emperor, so naturally he wants to play the good guy to the people, but doesn't he have any self-awareness? Who transported the grain for him? Who transported the railway materials? Who built the highways? Who chopped down the timber? Who farmed the fields?"
"In politics, it's understandable to play the good guy, but if you take it seriously, you're just being a fool."
Zhang Muyuan smiled and said, "So, sit down and enjoy your drink."
Wang Yan looked like he had just realized something: "Now that you've said that, I understand a lot of things!"
"Come, come, try the Longjing tea that the emperor drank!"
Just as Zhang Muyuan was enjoying the fragrant Longjing tea, screams came from outside.
Before long, someone shouted, "The Imperial Guards are arresting people! Anyone who dares to stop them will be killed without mercy!"
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