Huai'an Prefecture, Qingjiangpu
In Huai'an Fucheng, shops with "Jiajia Rice Store" posters and plaques are hung. There are people in front of the door and bustling. People in Huai'an Fucheng who buy food in Huai'an Fucheng line up in three lines, or hold umbrellas, Or they are wearing coir raincoats, and most of them are carrying rice and grain bags.
At this moment, a wooden sign stuck on the white rice bucket on the table in front of the shop was taken away by a waiter and replaced with a new wooden sign.
"Oh, why has it increased by another two hundred cents?" At this time, a young man wearing a rough shirt with his upper arms exposed came up and complained.
The guy smiled and said, "You didn't know this, right now the price is the same in Huai'an Prefecture, so hurry up and get in line."
The long queue of men, women, and children behind him was talking and complaining.
In the back hall of the rice shop, shopkeeper Li shopkeeper, who was sitting on a black wooden table with the light on, looking at the account books and calculating, suddenly stood up, with a smile on his face full of wrinkles, and looked towards the dressed man A middle-aged man from Yuanwaifu and a young man greeted him.
"Master." Shopkeeper Li called.
"How many have you sold in the past few days?" Jia You, surrounded by his son Jia Yu and the steward surnamed Zhou in the mansion, came closer with his hands behind his back, and asked with a look of elegance on his short-bearded face.
Shopkeeper Li smiled and said: "Yesterday, we collected a total of three thousand taels of silver. Today, we have received two hundred cents plus the amount of rice. There is still a queue outside. There should be more today."
Jia You nodded and said, "It's a few thousand taels of silver a day. Fortunately, we have less grain and rice this time, otherwise we could open more rice shops."
Shopkeeper Li smiled and said, "That's not true, sir. Several counties in Huai'an Prefecture are now short of rice. I heard that the Zhen family earns tens of thousands of taels of silver per day, and that doesn't even include selling it to other rice shops."
Jia Yu said softly: "Dad, I heard that the Pan family owes the granary of the Nanjing Ministry of Finance on credit. It would be great if we could also owe some on credit."
Jia You said: "We don't have much friendship with the Pan family in Nanjing. We can only make a fortune from these rice."
"Isn't my cousin an official in Huai'an Prefecture? Ask him to write a letter to the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs, and maybe it will be done." Jia Yu said with a playful smile.
Jia You was about to speak when he suddenly heard shouts and arguments coming from outside. Jia You frowned and asked, "What's going on? What's the noise outside?" At this time, a waiter came in and said, "Sir, someone is making trouble."
A trace of anger appeared on Jia Yu's face, and she said: "It's really shameful. Whose business is this? Doesn't he know? Tai Sui is making trouble! Dad, you wait here, I'll go and take a look."
Jia You warned, "Send the person away quickly."
Not far from Jia's rice shop, Jia Heng was wearing a colorful brocade robe and looking into the distance. Xia Houying on the side also changed out of her flying fish clothes and wore a green shirt. She wore her plain hair in a man's bun and tied it with a wooden hairpin. After passing through, he held up an umbrella with one hand and held it for Jia Heng to block the thousands of raindrops falling from the sky.
Jia Heng's face was as clear as water, and he looked at the rice store not far away with uncertain eyes.
Before going to Xuzhou, he planned to deal with the partial expenses of the 12th room of the Jia family in Jinling. After that, he would arrest the Pan family and the Minister of Household Affairs, etc., and just go to Xuzhou to pick up food and hide for a while. , to save a bunch of people from coming to him to plead for mercy.
Xia Houying glanced at the young man secretly, feeling a little unsure about his ideas.
At this moment, Liu Jixian was waving his muscular arms and arguing with the rice seller.
"I said you are deliberately looking for trouble, right? The price of rice is all over the city now. Go and take a look. Where can you find a bucket worth fifty cents?" The waiter looked at Liu Jixian, who was dressed in casual clothes. , there was also a bit of fear in my heart subconsciously.
Liu Jixian said angrily: "You female businessmen have increased your prices tenfold in the past few days, and now you are raising your prices again?"
The waiter became completely annoyed and said, "You stupid guy, who are you calling a female businesswoman?"
At this moment, a sneering voice came from inside, saying: "Who is making trouble outside? Are you tired of living? You don't even care where this place is?"
Jia Heng looked indifferent and said coldly:
"The rightful owner has arrived."
"Yes." Xia Houying responded softly. The thumb of the hand that held up the umbrella moved towards the tiger's mouth. There was no cinnabar or impatiens juice on the neatly manicured nails.
At this time, Jia Yu, accompanied by several young servants, came to the door, looked at Liu Jixian, pointed to the cloth banner on the side, and said, "Don't even look at the words on it!"
Liu Jixian turned to look at the writing on the side, looked at it for a long time, said "oh" several times, and asked, "I can't read, what is written on it?"
The people who were watching couldn't help but burst into laughter when they saw this bewildered scene.
Jia Yu's face was green and red, and he said: "This is the Jia family's rice shop. Do you know Uncle Yongning? He is now the governor of the river in Huai'an Prefecture. He led tens of thousands of troops to put down the rebellion in less than ten months. He was powerful in the Central Plains and is now in the capital. Who in the entire Han Dynasty knows who is the envoy of the camp, the minister of war, and the minister of military aircraft?"
Liu Jixian said "Oh", then looked at Jia Yu with a blank look on his face, and asked, "What does Uncle Yong Ning have to do with you?"
Seeing this scene, Xia Houying twitched the corner of her mouth and glanced at the young man's face, but saw that his face was calm. Looking from the side, it seemed that because of these days of running around, the lines on his face were becoming more straight and deep, and Xiao Xuan's magnanimity has not diminished at all.
It's hard to imagine that this scene was ordered by Liu Jixian just now.
Jia Yu said angrily: "I am blind to you, I am Yong Ningbo's clan brother!"
At this moment, most of the people's faces showed fear, but they were just pointing.
"I tell you, if you want to cause trouble, you'd better think carefully and wait for Uncle Yong Ning to come over and use the Jin Yiwei to capture you!" Jia Yu said angrily.
Liu Jixian frowned and said, "You should sell it at the original price and not increase the price at will."
When Jia Yu heard this, he was very angry and said angrily: "I've been talking for a long time, but you didn't understand, did you? Come here and drive these people away!"
At this time, several servants made a promise, raised the door bolts and benches from behind, and hit Liu Jixian.
Jia Heng shouted: "Stop!"
At this time, under a black umbrella held up by Xia Houying, a young man wearing a loose blue shirt and an upright figure came from a distance.
Jia Yu saw that although the visitor had a young face and a handsome appearance, he walked with extraordinary bearing and looked around with a stern look. He couldn't help but feel a little timid and asked, "Who are you?"
Jia Heng looked at the young man opposite and asked, "Who gave you the courage to drive up food prices and hoard goods here?"
At this time, Liu Jixian came forward, cupped his hands towards Jia Heng, then stood beside Jia Heng and looked at Jia Yu coldly.
"Okay, you guys are in the same group!" Seeing this, Jia Yu felt as if she was being teased. Anger boiled on her young face and she shouted, "Kick out these troublemakers."
At this moment, the movement of Jiajia's rice shop suddenly attracted the attention of other shop customers and passers-by. For a while, everyone on the third floor and the outer three floors looked at the rice shop, and all their eyes were directed at the young man.
Jia Heng's eyes were cold and he ignored these people.
Before Jia Heng could make a move, Liu Jixian had already taken the stick from the servant, and protected him in front of Jia Heng. As the stick danced in the wind and rain, several of the servants who came over had already been beaten. He fell to the ground on the spot, moaning and groaning.
At this moment, Jia Yu stood on the spot, stunned and frightened, and called to a waiter: "Okay, these vicious people can't buy and sell by force, and they dare to beat people? Come on, go to the Hedao Yamen and report it to the official." These thugs!"
A waiter hurriedly ran towards the Hedao Yamen.
Jia You, who heard the sound from the shop, also led a few stewards out of the shop. At first glance, he looked at the young man in green shirt opposite, frowned, and asked: "Friend, who are you?"
Jia Heng looked at Jia You with sword-like eyes, and shouted: "Who are you?" He was really unfamiliar with the twelve rooms of Jia's family in Jinling, and of course, the same was true of him.
Being stared at by those falcon-like eyes, Jia You felt a little scared and said, "We are the Jia family of Jinling..."
"Jia of Jinling
Home? Is this what the Jia family taught you to do here, drive up prices, disrupt people's livelihood, and make ill-gotten gains? Jia Heng interrupted Jia You's words with a cold voice, and said in a deep voice: "Are you still acting under the banner of Uncle Yong Ning?"
Jia You felt a shiver in his heart and felt that the visitor was not easy to deal with. He argued with reason: "Now the rice shops all over the city have this price. Besides, buying and selling grain is a matter of your own free will. We don't force others to increase the price to buy rice." grain!"
He said, "Your Excellency, you can go and look around the city. Not only our family, but the price is the same everywhere. We can't make any profit from the food we worked so hard to transport from Jinling, right?"
"I may not be able to take care of other people's affairs, but I will take care of the Jia family's affairs." Jia Heng said in a deep voice with a frosty face.
"You!" When Jia You heard this, his pupils shrank, his heart trembled, and he secretly thought, does this person have a grudge against their Jia family?
At this moment, the sound of horse hooves trampling on the bluestone road in the distance was heard one after another, from far to near.
Everyone followed the sound and saw dozens of Jinyi Tiqi coming in a mighty force, holding reins in hand and stopping the horses. The Jinyi palace guards wearing bamboo hats all turned over and dismounted. At the head was a Jinyi Baihu.
The people who had gathered around him dispersed with fearful expressions on their faces.
Because Governor Jiaheng Hedao went to Qingjiangpu and brought five hundred Jinyi Mansion guards with him, Huai'an City was no stranger to these Jinyi guards wearing flying fish suits and embroidered spring knives.
The hand of the man in brocade clothes rolled up his white sleeves, pressed the handle of the embroidered spring knife, and led his two followers, striding over.
Jia Yu walked over with a cheerful expression, pointed at Jia Heng and his group, and said, "That's them. We are the tribe of Jinling Yongning Bo. These people came to make trouble."
He clearly thought it was the guy who had gone before, someone who came from the Hedao Yamen.
A hundred households in Jinyi came to Jia Heng, clasped their fists and said, "Yu Xuan, a hundred households in Fusi, Beizhen, who is humble, has met the governor."
Jia You and Jia Yu: "???" Commander in chief?
No, who in Huai'an City doesn't know that the Commander-in-Chief in Jinyi is Uncle Yongning! Jia Heng shouted: "Take down the father and son and tie them to that tree. Jia wants to learn the family rules today!"
"Yes." The leading Jinyi Baihu responded with their hands, and then all the Jinyi palace guards responded in unison.
This scene made the surrounding people watching the excitement cheer in unison, and their hearts trembled. Jia Yu was so frightened that her limbs became weak and she shouted loudly: "Cousin, we are of the same race..."
However, two broad-shouldered and round-waisted guards in brocade robes in flying fish uniforms stepped forward, held Jia Yu's shoulders, and lifted her up against a nearby tree.
Jia You's face turned pale, and he looked at the young man in green shirt with fear, and said, "Uncle Heng, I can't wait to transport the rice to Huai'an Prefecture for sale. What crime have I committed?"
Jia Heng's face was cold and he said: "You are hoarding goods and using the official banner to bully others. How dare you claim that you are not guilty?"
Before the two of them could separate, they said, "Liu Jixian, each of you will be whipped twenty times! As a warning!"
Liu Jixian made a promise, then picked up a whip from a captain in Jinyi, tied several people to the tree, and started to whip the whip.
Accompanied by screams and groans of pain, the people of Huai'an Prefecture who were originally watching the excitement cheered loudly.
The officials of the Huai'an government office in the distance were also alerted. Dozens of people came. Seeing the flying fish suit under the raincoat, they looked at it from a distance, and no one dared to come forward.
"Folks in Huai'an Fucheng, from today onwards, Jia's rice grains will be sold at a 20% discount before the price increase, and they will be purchased at a fixed quota per person and family until they are sold out." Jia Heng looked at the crowd of Vietnamese in the distance. More and more people gathered together and shouted loudly: "Don't worry, fellow villagers, the government is investigating those unscrupulous female businessmen who are driving up food prices, and we will definitely let everyone eat affordable food!"
It's not that I didn't think of distributing it for free, but it would only lead to countless people being greedy for petty gains, and it would not have the effect of suppressing rice prices.
The people present cheered loudly and immediately rang out in the streets, "Yongning Bo Gaoyi!"
Xia Houying was holding an umbrella at the moment, staring intently at the young man in green shirt who was surrounded by the guards of the Jinyi Mansion and not sheltered from the wind and rain.
The jade-like clear eyes flashed, with a hidden brilliance surging.
Jia Heng looked at Jia You and Jia Yu's father and son, whose backs were dripping with blood, and said coldly: "If you use my official banner to cause trouble in the future, I will not be lenient!"
Jia You and Jia Yu's father and son were moaning in pain at this moment, almost crying for father and mother, and they only responded. Their hearts were filled with fear and panic to the extreme.
Jia Heng also ignored Jia You and his son, and returned to Hedao Yamen under the eyes of the people of Huai'an Prefecture, leaving behind the guards of Jinyi Prefecture.
Jia Heng turned to look at Liu Jixian who was standing aside, and whispered: "You have always been careful. This time, you personally took someone to Yangzhou and brought the relevant criminals to Huai'an Mansion for strict interrogation. There is no room for mistakes!"
He was ready to go to Nanjing to consult with Pan Ruxi, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. It was difficult to restrain his family from reselling official grain. During the national crisis, he did not know the general situation and lost all the integrity of the cabinet. He asked for questioning and was dismissed from his post for questioning.
To impeach a Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, it is necessary to arrest Pan Xiangdong, Ji Yousong, the brother-in-law of Qian Shuwen, the minister of household affairs, and others, and obtain their confessions and other relevant evidence.
In other words, his iron fist this time mainly hit the heads of Pan Ruxi, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, and Qian Shuwen, the Minister of Household Affairs.
In ancient times when the concept of market supervision did not exist, there was still some excuse for hoarding goods. However, borrowing government food on credit and reselling it to victims of the disaster at a higher price was already a violation of national law.
Liu Jixian said: "Don't worry, sir."
After Liu Jixian left, Jia Heng looked at Xia Houying and said, "Follow me to Yangzhou to receive the batch of official rations."
In his writing to the Water Transport Yamen and the Governor's Yamen of Liangjiang, he said that he would go to Xuzhou to collect official grain, provide relief to the victims in Huaixu, Huaiyang and other places, stabilize food prices, and ask the Water Transport Governor's Department to prepare a batch of boats, carriages and horses.
Otherwise, 200% of them will be giggling, and he will leave his post without authorization on the matter of flood prevention and preparation, and so on.
Xia Houying looked at the young man with shining eyes and asked, "Sir, are you leaving now?"
"Well, we'll set off in a moment. By now, the water transportation yamen's vehicles and ships should be ready," Jia Heng said.
On the other side, as time passed, the news that Jia Heng personally dealt with the Jia family members also spread to the post house.
"Zaitai, Uncle Yongning...just dealt with the Jia family in Huai'an." Xu Shikui, the chief envoy of Jiangzuo, said in surprise with a complex expression.
The two Jiangnan feudal officials knew very well that the descendants of the twelfth room of the Jia family in Jinling followed the Zhen family and resold grain in Huai'an Mansion.
However, both of them failed to respond and had other plans.
Shen Fang's face was as gloomy as water, and he sneered: "Originally, I wanted to ask the censor to impeach him afterwards, but I didn't expect him to be so aware of the opportunity and punish him in the street. What a good way! I'm afraid it won't be long before the entire Jianghuai and other places will be punished. He said that Uncle Yongning killed his relatives out of righteousness and was selfless!"
Jia Heng took over the post of governor of Nanhe and worked hard to turn the tide and reduce the harm of floods.
From the hub to Liangjiang, the Shilin officialdom, whether they want to admit it or not, must regard Jia Heng as a capable minister and official. However, ordinary people in Huaiyang, Huaixu and other places may not be as deeply touched as the people in Henan who directly received the favor. .
But after the previous incident, the people all knew that Uncle Yongning was selfless and upright.
His reputation spread instantly, and his reputation was praised and admired by some young scholars even among the scholars.
This is precisely Jia Heng's rarest reputation in Jiangnan, and it can also dilute the image of a cruel official and martial artist in the eyes of Jiangnan scholars.
Combined with this famous anecdote: "In the summer of the 15th year of Chongping, Yongning Bodu was stationed in Hetai and stationed in Huai'an to fight against floods and prepare for floods. He was shocked to hear that the tribesmen relied on merchants' goods to prosper, hoarded goods and disturbed people's livelihood. The public was displeased. Bring your retinue and secretly visit them in disguise, whip them..."
The image of a somewhat cute official who was angry and even upright when he heard that his family members were doing unjust things instantly appeared on the page and made people admire him.
It is worth mentioning that Xu Kai, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, has already made Jia Heng famous in his correspondence with many friends in Jiangnan, praising Jia Heng, the Bo of Yongning, as a great leader of the country, open-minded and talented.
Xu Shikui looked solemn and said in a low voice: "Taishi, seeing how Uncle Yong Ning doesn't recognize his relatives, it seems that he is going to take action."
Shen Fang's eyes were indifferent and he said sarcastically: "I'm still worried that he won't show his true character, let's see who else he can touch! Can he be like Nanhe Yamen, and defeat the official circles of Liangjiang and Quanzhou in one fell swoop?"
In the Nanhe Governor's Yamen, after Gao Bin committed suicide, he was almost taken over by Jia Heng, ranging from river management to inspection.
Following Yiying's confession from the river official, Jia Heng had already sent people to arrest those who should be arrested, ransack their homes if they should, and allow those at a lower level to go up the embankment to fight the flood and merit meritorious services based on the severity of the crime.
Xu Shikui squeezed out a smile on his face and said in a low voice: "Sir, Uncle Yongning is the emperor's favorite minister. He may not be able to handle a group, but he can handle one or two people and supply rice and grain. Can Suzhou and Zhenjiang step up their deployment? "
I am afraid that the gods will fight and the kid will suffer. If we really investigate these days and find that the Jiangzuo clan has deliberately delayed, wouldn't he become a punching bag?
Shen Fang pondered for a moment and said, "It's almost done now, there's no need to delay it any longer."
Anyway, the situation that should be created has been created, and the rest depends on whether Yong Ningbo dares to touch the officials and sons of Nanjing.
In fact, the fact that the descendants of Nanjing officials are now flocking to Huaiyang and other places like vultures is due to Shen Fang's inaction. Otherwise, with his deep cultivation in Jinling, it would be impossible to restrict them.
