Chapter 269: Killing the Chicken to Frighten the Monkey
Wang looked at Xia Daohua's confused face and couldn't help but laugh:
"Oh, it's my fault, why am I telling you this?
Actually, I just want to give you a reminder.
I know you are soft-hearted, but when the time comes, we still have to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. We must not harm the people of this city because of a moment of soft-heartedness.
Don't blame me for being cruel and ruthless."
Xia Daohua suddenly realized what Wang meant.
Could it be that in Wang's heart, I am still a kind-hearted person?
It seems that Wang's patience with those fanning the flames has reached its limit, and she is planning to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
I just wonder which foolish chickens will be killed in the end?
Xia Daohua soon found out the answer.
The entire family of the owner of Zhangji Grain Store was imprisoned and their property was searched. Several senior managers were also detained. All of Zhangji’s assets were confiscated, and all the grain in Zhangji’s grain warehouse was confiscated.
Songji Grain Store and Wuji Grain Store had close ties with Zhangji, so they were also imprisoned for a period of time. They were released only after paying a fine of 5,000 taels of silver and 10,000 shi of grain.
Liuji Grain Store was fined 3,000 taels of silver, the grain shop was ordered to close and reorganize, and the grain was confiscated.
Zhouji Grain Store was fined 1,500 taels of silver and required to pay 5,000 shi of grain as atonement.
Chenji Grain Store was fined 500 taels of silver and required to hand over 3,000 shi of grain to atone for its crime.
Zhouji and Chenji were the two grain merchants that suffered the least losses among those that were rectified this time.
Especially Chen Ji,
Originally, its scale was second only to Zhangji and Songji, and slightly stronger than Wuji. The four companies basically monopolized the grain business in Jixiang County.
Zhouji is a rising star, and its strength is far behind the other four. In the past, it could only do small businesses that they looked down upon.
At this time, Zhangji, Songji and Wuji had all suffered heavy losses, and Chenji began to tremble.
However, with the lesson of the Zhang family in mind, the head of Chenji was very cautious. He was not in a hurry to expand. Instead, he carefully observed the situation and did not dare to attract the attention of County Magistrate Yang and Wang again.
All the land in Zhangjiadun was taken over by County Magistrate Yang in a swift and decisive manner as official land, and then distributed to refugees for cultivation.
County Magistrate Yang posted notices at the city gate, Caishikou, and several busy places to publicize the new policy:
There is no tax on cultivating government land, as long as a certain proportion of grain is paid as rent.
Migrants who have worked as farmers for three years and have no bad records can settle down locally.
For refugees who settled in the local area, a portion of the official land could be allocated to them as permanent land.
A month later, the relief grain from the imperial court arrived, and the grain transferred from Wang's family also arrived. The refugees were properly settled, and the various infrastructure projects presided over by County Magistrate Yang gradually entered a phase of contraction.
The city walls, reservoirs, canals, and trenches have all been built to almost perfection.
Except for road construction and a few workshops that still need manpower, most of the refugees have been settled as new farmers in Jixiang County.
Afterwards, when having tea with Wang, Xia Daohua found out that Zhang Ji and Liu Ji had sought support from the steward under King Huai'an and no longer took County Magistrate Yang and Wang seriously.
Not only did he obstruct the efforts of County Magistrate Yang and Wang to mobilize grain to appease the refugees and refused to cooperate in selling grain, he also secretly bribed some local tyrants to mix in with the refugees. When Xia Daohua was taken away and Wang was short of grain, he incited the refugees to cause trouble.
This practice deeply offended Wang.
Wang had originally promised Magistrate Yang that she would put back the means of family infighting that had been used in the past and not use them lightly.
But since these ignorant grain merchants dared to stop County Magistrate Yang from governing and even dared to use such despicable means, Wang had no taboos.
Once Wang made a move, how could a small emerging business like Zhang's be her rival?
Although Wang did not elaborate on what means she used, Xia Daohua could still guess the idea just by thinking about it.
When Zhang's entire family was imprisoned, they must have been completely confused.
Not to mention that Zhang Ji had done a lot of illegal things before. Even if they were innocent and clean, since Wang had planned to deal with them, how could they leave any loopholes?
However, the steward of King Huai'an who had accepted the money from the Zhang family would not offend the county magistrate Yang and his wife, the Wang family, who came from aristocratic families, for the sake of a small merchant in a small place like Jixiang County.
You know, aristocratic families are very difficult to deal with.
Furthermore, these aristocratic families that control certain regions are equal in status to those of princes and nobles.
Things like intermarriage are inevitable.
Who would offend their powerful and influential relatives for a small ant that can't see the situation clearly?
Behind County Magistrate Yang and his wife stand the Yang family and the Wang family. As the King of Huai'an, he will not offend these two easily.
And how could a steward of the King of Huai'an, even if he was a little frivolous and arrogant, bring himself to suffer such misfortune for a small merchant who tried to curry favor with him?
In addition, Magistrate Yang and Wang acted efficiently and clearly listed the evidence one by one, with both human and material evidence, making the entire case foolproof.
Even if the case is brought before the emperor, the couple will be in the right!
How could the manager possibly support Zhang Ji?
Not long after Xia Daohua and Wang had tea, they saw the scene of the county government selling off Zhang's female relatives.
Among them was Liu, who was sharp-tongued, eloquent, and quite disrespectful to Wang in her words.
However, Liu no longer had the former brilliance and cleverness, and she looked extremely haggard. It was probably because it was difficult for her to wash and groom herself in prison, and her clothes were already very dirty and torn.
Xia Daohua turned away, unwilling to look any further.
Liu herself and her underage children may not have directly participated in those crimes. But since they enjoyed the benefits of the family, when the family committed crimes and got into trouble, it was impossible for them to remain unscathed.
Although the Zhang family was the "chicken" chosen by Wang to be killed as an example to others, they were not innocent.
Hoarding and profiteering is itself a criminal offense.
What's more, the Zhang family has a history of occupying people's land, setting traps and framing farmers, and forcing them to lose their families.
There is even the evil act of forcing women of good character into prostitution.
All Wang did was to suddenly throw out the evidence he had collected privately, and sent all the related people to jail in a swift and decisive manner, leaving no time or opportunity for the Zhang family to bribe their way out of the crime.
In fact, they were not wronged.
Wang's move shocked the officials and merchants of Jixiang County.
Many people who were originally planning to trip up County Magistrate Yang also stopped their actions. After all, this incident showed that even if County Magistrate Yang was a good guy, Wang Shi was not an easy person to deal with.
What's more, County Magistrate Yang did not seem to hesitate at all when he lent the money to Wang for his errands.
After all, these two are a family.
No matter how different they look on the outside, they are equally ruthless and difficult to mess with at heart.
Good night, sweet dreams, see you tomorrow. ^_^
(End of this chapter)
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