In Shu, Yan Shang first put pressure on the major families.
In his capacity as an inspector sent by the central government, he forced these wealthy families, who had no shortage of food and money, to hand over grain and fodder to provide unconditionally for disaster relief to the government.
Under normal circumstances, when the government warehouses were insufficient, they would ask these noble families to contribute money and manpower. However, Yan Shang went too far this time. He actually asked them to hand over more than 80% of their grain. If such grain was handed over, the noble families would be affected in their daily lives.
The aristocratic families then sent people to act as lobbyists, explaining their own difficulties. They said it was not that they were unwilling to share the country's worries, but that the amount of grain the government wanted was too large and the aristocratic families simply could not pay it.
However, Yan Shang was firm in his attitude and did not allow them to have any say.
For three consecutive days, different noble families sent people to look for Yan Shang. Finally, they even asked a local respected old patriarch and two Sima from the local official temple to beg Yan Shang not to go so far.
At night, several people were talking in Yan Shang's study until they were dry-mouthed. Seeing that the young official sent down from the imperial court was just drinking tea and approving official business, and not paying any attention to them at all, they were secretly angry in their hearts, wondering who said that this official looked young, easy to fool and easy to talk to?
The old patriarch whom they invited started coughing. The old man coughed so loudly that Yunshu, the servant who was grinding ink beside Yan Shang, looked over.
Yunshu came over and asked the old man to sit down, and served him tea and water to relieve his cough. Yunshu's master, Yanshang, finally raised his head from the pile of official business and looked at him with concern: "If the old man is not feeling well, you might as well go back and rest early. It's just a small matter, don't worry about it."
The old patriarch suddenly became angry and knocked his cane loudly: "It's just a small matter? Not worth worrying about?!"
Yan Shang said softly: "What else?"
Seeing that the other party was gentle and handsome, and looked like a scholar, the old patriarch could not help but say earnestly: "Yan Lang, we know that you came here for disaster relief. Otherwise, a Beijing official with a bright future like you would never come to such a poor place like ours. Yan Lang has been an official in Chang'an since he was a child, and he is used to the wealth of the Chang'an families. Naturally, he does not know the difficulties we have faced."
There is no confirmation yet.
Seeing that he did not interrupt, the other party thought there was still hope, and spoke more emotionally: "It is embarrassing to say that we call ourselves a noble family, but outside of Yizhou, which noble family in the world recognizes us? They all say that we are from a wealthy family and have no family background. We also send our children to study, learn scriptures, and become officials... just to truly join the noble family.
"So Yan Lang may have come here for the first time and thought that we are rich, but that is not the case. We have lived in Yizhou honestly for a hundred years and have never oppressed the people or bullied the villagers. Maybe some ignorant people said something about us in front of Yan Lang, but that is all wrong. We and the people..."
Yan Shang interrupted: "I am here to provide disaster relief, not to mediate the conflict between you and the people. I think you don't need to tell me this, old man?"
The old patriarch was stunned for a moment, and seeing Yan Shang's friendly attitude, he said back: "Yes, yes. Disaster relief is important, disaster relief is important. What I want to say is... Yan Lang, you are a good official who cares about the people. But you have to give us a way to survive. If we go bankrupt, can we support Yizhou? Yizhou is very rich... But Yizhou is so vast, and a remote county like ours is really not as good as a county capital.
"If Yan Lang insists on forcibly collecting grain, he will force us to death! I will not leave tonight and will crash into death in front of Lang Jun's door to show my determination!"
As he said this, the old man stood up and was about to hit the pillar. The young men in the room hurried to stop him, saying repeatedly, "You must not mean that." Yan Shang was also frightened by the old patriarch, and stood up from behind the desk and came over to check.
The old patriarch burst into tears, holding Yan Shang's hand and begging.
Yan Shang sighed and asked, "Can you really not afford this amount of food?"
Everyone: "We really can't afford it! If we could afford it, we would have to grit our teeth. How dare we come to you again and again to ask for leniency?"
Yan Shang said in a low voice: "But I heard that this disaster did not affect you. You all have countless acres of fertile land, how could you not be affected..."
Everyone was excited: "Who said that?! Of course it affected us! The disaster happened so suddenly that our surplus food was gone long ago! If it weren't for face, we would have sent people to the government to get relief food!"
Yan Shang didn't care: "If you really were short of food, you would have gone to the government to get it long ago. Now I can still cut some food from you, which means you are not short of food... I am very curious, why are you not short of food?"
Everyone was about to explain, but the old patriarch waved his hand to shut them up. He looked at Yan Shang deeply, and Yan Shang smiled at him gently. At this time, the old patriarch seemed to be thinking about something, and he probably realized what this young man really wanted.
The old patriarch considered his words carefully: "The reason why we can still hold on until now is because we bought grain from local wealthy merchants. Although we spent three times more than the market price, we finally bought the grain..."
Yan Shang's voice faded: "You all have no food, how can the rich merchants have food? Even if the merchants would stock up some goods, the disaster has been going on for several months now, and the stored food should have been used up long ago. How can there be any more? The food you brought?"
The old patriarch said cautiously: "Some of them have stored food long ago, and the merchants travel all over the country, so they are more foresighted than us..."
Yan Shang smiled and said, "The disaster happened at the same time, but the businessman reacted faster than everyone else? If he really has such great ability, why would he do business? I can directly recommend him to the Ministry of Revenue."
The old patriarch sighed.
Having said this, he had roughly understood what the court official meant.
The old clan leader said helplessly: "How do you want us to cooperate with you, young master? If we cooperate, can we collect less grain?"
Yan Shang: "I just need you to personally identify which merchants are still daring to drive up grain prices. I will naturally visit them in person and ask how these businessmen have such foresight."
-----
With the help of the aristocratic families, we can eliminate the merchants who have made a fortune here.
The merchants also knew that their actions could not be conspicuous, so they did it very secretly. If Yan Shang had not forced those noble families into a desperate situation, those noble families would definitely not have revealed these merchants. When Yan Shang got the list, he saw that the largest merchant among these merchants was actually the richest man in Yizhou.
The richest man also made money from national disaster!
What else is there to say? Naturally, we have to go to the door with evidence to question them.
The richest man's surname was Chen, and he was known as Mr. Chen. He had earned a good reputation. He was not panicked by Yan Shang's night visit to his mansion, and he was well prepared.
Mr. Chen invited Yan Shang to take the seat and asked his steward to show Yan Shang the account book: "Look, my dear, I have been doing business honestly from the beginning to the end. I bought the grain, not robbed it. The sale was satisfactory to both parties. Even if the price is a little higher, it is natural to be a little higher given the current situation in Yizhou. If it was cheaper, my mansion would have been emptied by the people long ago.
"I am willing to sell, and someone is willing to buy. What's wrong with that?"
Yan Shang glanced at the account book he handed over and said, "You started hoarding grain a month before the disaster started? What kind of grain did you hoard at that time?"
Mr. Chen's expression remained unchanged: "It's just a businessman's sense. Sir, you have never been in business, so you naturally don't understand."
Yan Shang did not comment. In fact, he probably knew something about the trade route.
One reason is that he is now in the Ministry of Revenue and will more or less see some of the businessmen's methods; another reason is that it is because of his third brother who has refused to study peacefully since childhood.
His third brother liked to tinker with these things since he was young, to make a little money. It can even be said that Father Yan was not good at business, and the Yan family looked good in Lingnan, all because of Sanlang Yan's tinkering. If it weren't for the fact that doing business was a dead end and would affect the livelihood of the scholars in the family, his third brother would have given up literature and gone into business long ago.
When Yan Shang looked through the account books, he could think of how his third brother always kept nagging him about how to make money. Yan Shang said, "You can't store so much grain in a month. Even if you open trade routes to other states and counties to transport grain, a month is not enough. And the price you bought is much lower than the market price. If you can do this in a month, I will believe that you are good at business and deserve the title of the richest man in Yizhou. But the amount is too large, you can't do it alone."
Yan Shang lowered his eyes, calculating in his mind.
Mr. Chen was not convinced: "My dear, you can't say that I can't do it just because you can't do it yourself."
Yan Shang: "That is to say, you buy as much food as you spend. Are the amounts correct?"
Mr. Chen said proudly, "Yes! The account books all match up, not a penny is wrong! Even if you check, I am innocent!"
Yan Shang raised his eyelids: "The only possibility that you could do this is that someone secretly informed you a month before the disaster began...Except for Shu County, all counties in Yizhou are blocked from transportation. Even if you can find buyers, it is impossible to transport the grain in intact. Don't you need to reward the local tyrants on the way? Don't you encounter any bandits on the way? Don't the guys who transported the grain have not eaten a single bite of food and have been hungry for thirty days, and they transported the grain for you intactly?"
Mr. Chen was stunned and wanted to argue for a moment, but sweat broke out on his forehead and he realized that he had made a mistake - he had made the accounts too perfect!
Yan Shang threw the account book to the ground, stood up and said angrily: "The only possibility is that you bought the grain from the government before the disaster started! You used the government warehouse! The grain in the warehouse was sold out a long time ago, and the amount can't be matched, so now it is mixed with water... It's just a trick to make things easier for each other!
"You, you are so bold! You knew about the disaster a month ago...but, you didn't report it to the court, but did business in private?! Where do you think the law is? Do you still have the central government in your eyes? One month before the disaster started! You didn't make preparations to stop the disaster, but thought about how to make money from the national disaster? The population of Yizhou is like a child's play in your eyes? They deserved to die."
Faced with such a serious crime, Mr. Chen immediately broke out in cold sweat and his fat body trembled.
He fell to his knees and cried miserably, "My dear, my dear! I don't know about that, it has nothing to do with me... I'm just a businessman, if someone wants to sell, I buy. If someone wants to buy, I sell! I just make a profit from the difference!
"I, I also donated money! The food that the government is providing for disaster relief was also donated by me! I took the lead and led other merchants to donate."
Yan Shang closed his eyes, trying to bear it.
Tell yourself that this is just a businessman, and he hasn't found any bigger ones yet...
He said, "Hand over all your remaining food!"
Mr. Chen raised his head hesitantly, not expecting Yan Shang to be so gentle: "My dear... you want to buy food from us?"
Yan Shang looked towards him.
Mr. Chen realized immediately that the other party was not trying to buy grain, but to requisition it for free. He broke out in a cold sweat, wondering how he could dare to do such a big thing.
He trembled, "My dear, you are cutting off our chance of survival! If we hand it over, we don't know how many of us will be ruined because we can't keep up with the money... My dear, you can't ask us to die! We are just doing business, you can't force us to death! Why can't you think from our perspective?"
Thinking of this, he actually cried while speaking: "We are always looked down upon by the world, and they say that we only care about money. Now we finally make a little money, but you want to take it all away... We work hard to make money! We are not the ones who exploit the people! We have never done anything evil! It's just business! Business is not a sin! We have not harmed the interests of others, we just make our own profits, is this not okay? Why doesn't you think about us?"
Yan Shang lowered his head and looked at the fat man who was hugging his thigh and crying with snot and tears all over his face. He rarely felt disgust in his heart and said coldly: "You have harmed the interests of the people! Yes, you have been doing business with the aristocratic families from the beginning to the end. However, you have raised the price of grain, so won't other prices fluctuate accordingly? However, you bought the grain from the government at the beginning... The current relief grain is not enough, doesn't it have anything to do with your original business? Even if you sell the grain to the people now... How many people can afford it!
"You have messed up the entire market, and now you tell me that you are just doing business and making money by taking advantage of the price difference. Are you innocent? Yes, from your point of view, you are innocent. But I cannot stand in your position!"
Mr. Chen cried loudly: "Yan Lang! Do you only care about the public and not the private? Do you want to kill our small family for the sake of the public? Aren't we ordinary people? Don't you have any feelings at all? Should merchants die?"
Yan Shang pulled his sleeve out of the other person's hand. He calmed down for a moment, but quickly stopped himself from being influenced by Mr. Chen.
In the eyes of the merchants, they did nothing wrong. They would even help with disaster relief, provide food and money... I'm afraid that Mr. Chen's behavior would be praised by the people as a good man. But people like Yan Shang who forced Mr. Chen to give away his wealth would be called "dog officials."
The people are ignorant.
However, as he said, Yan Shang cannot stand on the side of a businessman.
Amid the other party's howling, Yan Shang finally said: "I can give you a way out."
Kneeling on the ground, Mr. Chen immediately looked up with tears on his face.
Yan Shang said: "I want to hear your testimony. One month before the disaster, which officials in Yizhou knew that the disaster was about to begin? After the disaster began, were you still doing business with the officials? Which officials contacted you..."
Mr. Chen sat there in a daze, without saying a word. Suddenly he stood up and tried to hit a pillar next to him.
Yan Shang was quick, and when the other rushed out, he was already alert. Chen Gong was not killed, but was dragged by Yan Shang's palm. Yan Shang groaned in pain, but held the other's shoulder, his eyes like ice and snow and cold swords.
Yan Shang said in a deep voice: "I know you are afraid, but you dare not say it. However, either I wipe out all the merchants in Yizhou at once, or you listen to me and watch the officials step down one by one..."
Mr. Chen was horrified: "Many people will die!"
Yan Shang: "Don't worry, I won't do anything extreme. I can't move the entire Yizhou, I just need to move some of the most typical officials..."
-----
Yan Shang used threats and inducements to Chen Gong, and finally made the richest man in Yizhou choose to cooperate with him.
With the help of Mr. Chen, Yan Shang almost felt dizzy and his vision went dark after seeing which officials knew about this matter.
Because almost, almost all officials in Yizhou, from top to bottom, knew about it!
They know everything! No one reported it to the Central Command!
Yan Shang gritted his teeth and pondered for two days before he had to admit that he could not move the entire Yizhou. He could not move or fill such a large gap in officials. The only plan now was to start with some officials who made minor mistakes, let them fight secretly, demote some officials who committed serious crimes, and promote some lower-level officials who still had consciences to take over...
Late one night in early August, Yan Shang went to visit a Sima.
-----
When the Yizhou incident happened, the latest hot topic in Chang'an was that the emperor had completely divided the Chang'an army into the South and North. The South was still led by the previous generals, but the prince had assigned some of the troops to the South; while the North was taken back by the emperor and an eunuch was assigned to the North, standing above all the generals.
The eunuchs had no roots and could only rely on the emperor. The emperor used the eunuchs to interfere in the army, so that the originally clearly divided army was no longer under the one-man rule of the King of Qin. Moreover, this eunuch was personally supported by the emperor, and the King of Qin did not dare to resist.
The poor families were temporarily unable to suppress the noble families, so the emperor had an ingenious idea and actually brought in the eunuchs. However, at this time, the eunuchs were equivalent to the emperor's power and were the emperor's spies in the court. Although these scholars were dissatisfied with working with the eunuchs, they had no other options except to protest in writing.
Among the eunuchs, the most popular one now is Liu Wenji. As the military inspector, he controls the Northern Yamen and has military power in his hands. How many people dare not give him face?
"The wind direction in Chang'an has changed..." This is what court officials often lament recently.
However, the emperor was just trying out his power. For a person like the emperor, letting Liu Wenji take charge of the military power was already the extreme. It was impossible for the eunuchs to intervene in all affairs. Therefore, in addition to sighing, the most discussed topic among the court officials was "Who is this Liu Wenji? How could he control the Northern Yamen? The King of Qin must be worried."
The King of Qin was anxious.
However, the Prince of Qin had just been released from solitary confinement. No matter how anxious he was, he was cautious and did not, as everyone wished, provoke Liu Wenji and openly challenge his father.
The court officials were somewhat disappointed when they saw that the King of Qin did not suppress Liu Wenji.
It is natural for scholars to look down on eunuchs.
But there are exceptions in the world.
For example, Zhao Gong, the chief priest of Zhao.
When Lord Zhao saw that Liu Wenji was now in charge of the military power and that his power was about to be raised by the emperor himself, he became interested. Lord Zhao was determined to climb up the ladder, but after so many years, he was still serving as a priest, an idle official with no real work.
Now that the eunuchs' power is rising, it is actually an opportunity for Lord Zhao.
Because all the scholars in the world look down on the eunuchs, no one would rely on them! But if Mr. Zhao became the first person to rely on him... in the future, when Liu Wenji really becomes a powerful family, the Zhao family will be rich!
The two things that he was more worried about were, first, whether Liu Wenji would be so powerful, and whether the emperor would use Liu Wenji to balance the power of the King of Qin. Would he remove the eunuch before Liu Wenji became powerful? Second, if a noble family like the Zhao family was the first to rely on the eunuch, they would be rejected and looked down upon by all the noble families. In the future, the Zhao family might become the target of attack among the noble families.
Mr. Zhao was worried for three days, but he still made up his mind - what if he was looked down upon by the noble families? The most important thing for the Zhao family now is to become a first-class noble family! When the Zhao family has prestige, won't those noble families still want to rely on it?
But how can I surrender to Liu Wenzhi now?
Liu Wenji, of course, knew that those scholars looked down on him, but he didn't know that there was another Zhao Gong who was scratching his head and stretching his neck to find an opportunity to attach himself to him. Liu Wenji now wanted to hold on to the Northern Yamen tightly and help the emperor completely take back the troops of the Northern Yamen.
The emperor wanted to weaken the power behind the King of Qin, so Liu Wenji naturally had to be the knife in the emperor's hand. It was not easy for him to get such an opportunity, so how could he back down just because of his bad reputation?
However, Liu Wenji did not expect that when he met with all the soldiers in Chang'an for the first time on behalf of the Northern Yamen, he would see a person he did not want to see in the crowd.
The other party also looked at him blankly, obviously not expecting him to reach his current position.
This person is the current Right Guard General, Luo Xiu. He is the envoy who came to Chang'an in the name of Wuman but was actually Nanman, Luo Xiu.
Luo Xiu made a private deal with Liu Wenji and got the information about Wei. He thought he could give it to the King of Nanman, but Meng Zaishi left Luo Xiu in Chang'an. Fortunately, Luo Xiu met a Wuman named Han Shuxing and asked him to pass on the information to Nanman for him.
Luo Xiu himself was in Chang'an, and he was mutually exclusive with the officialdom of Chang'an. No official took him seriously, and he, the Right Guard General, was just an excuse for the Wei Dynasty to force him to stay in Chang'an... Luo Xiu never thought that there would be a day when he would see Liu Wenji again.
Seeing that the little eunuch from that day actually holds the military power now... Luo Xiu's heart moved, wondering if the two sides could continue to cooperate and overthrow the Wei Dynasty?
But when Liu Wenzhi looked at Luo Xiu, what he thought in his heart was: We cannot let this person live.
If this person is alive, his secret dealings with the Nanman will be discovered. Only when Luo Xiu dies can he be safe.
Luo Xiu, among the soldiers, showed a friendly smile to the white-faced, beardless eunuch. Liu Wenji stared at him for a while, then smiled and made a friendly gesture - bring the man over and kill him.
The trouble was that the other party was an official, and also a hostage left by Wuman. It would be a bit troublesome to kill him, so he had to think of a safe way.
-----
In the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince received news from the disaster relief in Yizhou.
The message was not sent by Yan Shang, but a request from officials in Yizhou through the Ministry of Revenue - Yan Shang had gone too far.
The prince gritted his teeth and said, "I just asked him to provide disaster relief! Isn't it enough for him to do so? Is he going to move the entire Yizhou officialdom now?"
The Minister of Revenue who came to deliver the news was worried: "I'm afraid we sent the wrong person to provide disaster relief this time. Yan Erlang is careful and courageous, but he is too careful... I'm afraid that if he continues to investigate like this, he will uncover a shocking case, and none of us will be able to escape responsibility."
The prince was silent for a long time.
The prince said slowly: "I am not afraid of the changes in Yizhou's officialdom... I am afraid that this change will affect the Ministry of Revenue. How can the Ministry of Revenue be allowed to be so reckless as Erlang?"
The Minister of Revenue said: "Fortunately, September is coming soon. Once the dry season is over, Yan Erlang will have no reason to stay in Yizhou..."
The prince said quietly: "If he moves Yizhou like that, I'm afraid he won't be able to leave Yizhou."
The two were silent.
However, the prince said softly, "No, I cannot rely on external forces, I cannot rely on the possibility that Yan Suchen will stop... I have never dared to underestimate Yan Suchen's ability. If Yizhou had not swallowed up Yan Erlang, and Yan Erlang turned around to deal with the Ministry of Revenue, it would be troublesome... The most urgent task is to end the disaster relief, send new officials, and recall Yan Suchen!"
-----
It rained heavily in Chang'an that day.
The summer is hot and humid, and even the next rain does not relieve the heat much.
Mu Wanyao was resting in her princess residence. After eating two slices of iced green melon, she was informed that the Crown Prince and the Minister of Revenue had come to visit her.
Mu Wanyao was stunned, because usually she went to the East Palace to pay respects to the prince, and this was the first time that the prince actually came to pay her respects.
The prince came in the rain, and his shoulders were soaked by the rain after he entered the house. The Minister of Revenue was beside him, paying his respects to the princess. The prince did not have time to tidy up his clothes before handing the memorial from Yizhou to Mu Wanyao.
The prince stared at Mu Wanyao and said, "We must recall Yan Shang! The officials in Yizhou are very angry now. If Yan Er stays in Yizhou any longer, his life may be in danger."
When Mu Wanyao saw the memorial, she turned pale, and saw the officials' dissatisfaction with Yan Shang. She was also worried about Yan Shang's safety... It was just disaster relief, how could he make such a big fuss? I heard that many places in Yizhou were not open to education, so Yan Shang would be in danger there, right?
Mu Wanyao was in agony and couldn't help asking the prince, "What does big brother mean?"
Prince: "I want Yan Shang to come back. But I'm afraid that the Secretariat will not issue this order, because Teacher Yan Shang is in the Secretariat, which will hold up this link. Liu Xianggong is devoted to the world and has many students. He will not care about Su Chen's safety. However, we care... I'm afraid that if I ask Yan Shang to come back, he will not come back.
"Then I have no choice but to borrow your power.
"Just say you are seriously ill and your life is in danger, and ask Yan Shang to return to Chang'an and stop interfering in Yizhou's affairs!
"We are doing this for Yan Shang's own good! Little sister, you now know what the officialdom is like. No one is truly clean... Yan Shang can't investigate any further!"
-----
The wind and rain are swaggering.
In Yizhou Shu County, many officials gathered together, led by the governor of Yizhou, and they discussed:
"Yan Shang cannot stay. If he stays any longer, we in Yizhou will have to make a major change.
"Hire a ranger bandit and kill him."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
