Chapter 695 Debut - Under Control
The discovery of his birth meant that they suspected he was not Lord Gu's biological son.
After learning of Lu Changqing's intentions, the guards immediately responded and withdrew.
Once Lu Changqing was alone in the room, he secretly wondered if he should go see someone.
Today, his plan has failed, and he has not achieved his goal of weakening the Ji family army.
If my master finds out, I'll definitely get a beating.
But before that, he needs to have a proper discussion about how to proceed.
While Lu Changqing was deep in thought, several men in the Gu family's study were also gathered together to discuss the matter.
"If it weren't for the fact that the Fourth Prince is the Emperor's son, I would suspect that he is trying to take the opportunity to weaken the military strength of the Great Zhou."
Gu Jin spoke somewhat awkwardly, thinking of what the Fourth Prince had said: if the grain hadn't been harvested by August, wouldn't the soldiers all go hungry?
"In my opinion, the Fourth Prince only dared to say those things because he is the Emperor's son. Otherwise, if it were any other minister who said those things, wouldn't the Emperor, with his suspicious nature, suspect that they were plotting a rebellion?"
Although Gu Yingjie was not qualified to attend court, Gu Jing had already told him about what had happened in court when he returned, which is why he made this statement.
When Yun Yichen and Gu Renjie heard the conversation between the father and son, they exchanged a glance and both understood each other's thoughts.
"In any case, the military supplies have been secured!"
Gu Renjie had just finished sighing when Gu Jin slapped him on the head.
Gu Renjie winced in pain and said in a muffled voice, "Why did Father hit his son?"
"I'm going to beat you up. You even made a pledge? Were you playing house as a child back then?"
God knows how scared Gu Jin was. The thought that Gu Renjie would lose his head if this matter wasn't handled properly terrified him.
Putting aside this son, he has raised him for over twenty years and genuinely considers him his own son.
Take, for example, the promise my husband and I made to the Princess and Princess Baiyun. If anything were to happen to Gu Renjie, how could we face the two princesses after our deaths?
“Father-in-law, you have misunderstood Renjie. This matter was actually something we had discussed long ago.”
Yun Yichen wanted to explain for Gu Renjie, but as soon as he finished speaking, Gu Jin slapped him on the head as well.
Yun Yichen winced in pain and quickly hid his head, just like Gu Renjie had done.
“Father, this is the Grand Secretary, how can you just hit him like that?”
As soon as Gu Yingjie opened his mouth, he was slapped by Gu Jin as well.
"What's wrong with the Grand Secretary? He married my daughter and became my son-in-law, so he's like half a son to me. What's wrong with me hitting my son? Can't he hit me too?"
Gu Jin was kept in the dark by her children, and feeling resentful, she simply beat all of her sons.
"Yes, yes, it's only right for a father to beat his son!"
Yun Yichen quickly echoed, following Gu Jin's words, which calmed Gu Jin down a bit.
"Tell me, what exactly is your plan!"
Gu Jin sat down on the stool and waited quietly for their explanation.
Seeing this, Gu Yingjie quickly found a stool and sat down.
Of the three people who were beaten today, he felt the most wronged. He had no idea what the two had done behind his father's back, nor did he know their plans, yet he still had to be beaten along with them.
Now that things had come to this, Gu Renjie dared not hide anything any longer and told Gu Shuyan about hoarding grain.
"Shu'er, how dare she..."
Gu Jin was shocked upon hearing this, never expecting that her daughter could do such a thing.
If this were to become known, wouldn't the entire Yun family and Gu family be branded as traitors and colluders?
"I'm not trying to criticize you, but you just let her do what she wants."
Gu Jin looked at Yun Yichen and couldn't help but mutter a few words.
Upon hearing this, Yun Yichen laughed instead, "Father-in-law, have you forgotten that I am not a true citizen of the Great Zhou?"
Sure enough, Gu Jin immediately shut up after Yun Yichen finished speaking.
Because Yun Yichen was the Grand Secretary of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he had forgotten the other party's most fundamental identity.
Looking back at Gu Renjie, who was also not a pure-blooded Great Zhou person, he realized that perhaps he really was getting old.
"Fine, fine, let you do whatever you want. But the fewer people who know about this, the better. I will also secretly have my people help you. Remember, you must not let anyone find any evidence against you, especially not His Majesty."
The emperor intended to cultivate Gu Renjie, but if he knew that this was a long-planned scheme, he might change his mind.
"Father, rest assured, this matter was handled under the guise of transporting grain during the disaster in Suzhou. The grain was first transported to Suzhou and then distributed to various places under the guise of medicinal herbs. The people handling this matter are all Yichen's people, so there won't be any problems."
When Gu Renjie realized that all of this was Gu Shuyan's idea, he felt even more grateful to his younger sister.
Ever since Gu Shuyan learned of her identity, she has been secretly plotting for herself. Even Yun Yichen's long journey to Suzhou was to prepare for him to gain the emperor's approval.
She did all this for him, yet he still didn't want to be the emperor.
With a slight sigh, Gu Renjie secretly rallied his spirits.
That afternoon, Gu Renjie returned to the yamen and began to take action.
Although they now have grain in hand, stabilizing grain prices will certainly take time, so Gu Renjie issued an order in the name of the emperor that very day.
The document included statistics on the number of grain merchants, instructions to various government departments to provide subsidies, and mandatory price reductions.
When Lu Yuanbin and Lu Changqing received this decree, they couldn't help but think that Gu Renjie had gone mad.
It should be understood that besides the shortage of grain, the price gouging was deliberately done by grain merchants to forcibly suppress prices and ensure they would comply.
If a conflict between officials and businessmen is accidentally brought to a head and escalates, the situation will only get worse.
As a result, Gu Renjie was impeached at the morning court session the following day.
A barrage of accusations came crashing down, and even the emperor felt that Gu Renjie's actions were inappropriate.
Just as the emperor was about to rescind yesterday's appointment and reconsider the matter, Yun Yichen once again chimed in.
This time, Yun Yichen did not say that he would directly assist Gu Renjie. Instead, he made it clear that all subsidies would not be taken by the imperial court, but would be borne entirely by the Marquis's Mansion and the Yun Mansion.
Everyone was shocked to hear this.
Everyone in the capital knows that Yun Yichen is rich, and the Marquis of Yi'an's mansion is also rich, but the subsidies from all over the country are no small amount.
To put it bluntly, even if the two families combined were as wealthy as a country, they probably wouldn't have that much money.
"The Grand Secretary is always thoughtful and never does anything without certainty. Why is he acting so impulsively this time?"
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