"Two gentlemen, what are you..."
Seeing the two men hurriedly out with disgraced faces, the waiting coachman looked over in confusion, and his probing eyes made the two men's faces heat up.
The two people, whose faces turned red, looked at each other and sighed.
Yu Lu was more calm than Fang Xi and said, "Let's go to the next rice store."
"Hey!" The coachman didn't care so much and responded directly, as if he didn't see the embarrassment of the two of them. It was rented for one day and the price was one tael, so he naturally followed the guest officer's wishes.
Moreover, it means walking around on the street without hurting the strength of the cow.
After entering the car, Yu Lu coughed dryly, looked at Fang Xi who was silent and said, "Grain is not the same as money. It is used for disaster relief, stabilizing rice prices, salary, and fighting!"
"Even if it's difficult, we still have to do it. There are still seven rice shops left. Let's go visit them and even record the food prices."
"I know." Fang Xi cheered up. The two of them didn't trust unfamiliar outsiders, so they simply didn't take anyone with them on this trip and only pretended to be scholars to inquire.
After visiting several rice shops, large and small, and no fish slipped through the net, the two returned to the inn.
It was already getting dark, and although the shops were still open, there were fewer pedestrians and the pace was even more hurried.
Even though he was incognito, Yu Lu was finally sober. He didn't dare to stay in a small inn. The inn he stayed in was a large inn. It was also very luxurious. It was a two-story street-facing building. The first floor was the lobby and the second floor was expensive. Room.
This building also has a large courtyard, with rows of houses built close together. They are all small rooms, each of which can accommodate more than a dozen people. Some of them have sesame oil lamps lit. The so-called Datongpu also built stables.
Yu Lu and Fang Xi shared a room. As soon as they returned to the inn, the two of them went upstairs. Since they didn't want outsiders to know what they had done, they didn't start summarizing the day until they returned to the room and closed the door tightly.
After closing the door, the room was very dark, so I lit two candles.
Not to mention, although I encountered difficulties in several rice stores and was ridiculed, in other stores, I still asked for some information.
Yu Lu has a better memory and is responsible for counting the numbers in his head one by one.
Fang Xi had a piece of paper spread out in front of him, holding a pen in hand, and wrote down all the numbers reported by Yu Lu.
"The price of grain in this county can basically be verified." Yu Lu opened a piece of paper, pointed to a column and said: "The price of new wheat is four cents and seven cents of silver per stone, while last year it was four cents and four cents. This is the schedule. The reason why food goes to disaster relief.”
"I remember that when I first ascended the throne, the price of new wheat was three cents and seven cents per stone, which increased by one cent." Fang Xi said thoughtfully.
Rice Ball Exploration
"That's not how it works. The cheaper the food, the better. Don't forget, at least 90% of the entire county are farmers. If food prices are too low, farmers will be hurt."
"When Mr. Zhang Dai, the deputy imperial envoy, was in power, he was indiscriminate and only adhered to the principle of suppressing the strong. He forced the price of wheat to drop to three cents and three cents. This was too cheap. As a result, not only the landowners and businessmen in the county were resentful, but also the farmers. He also cursed him to die."
"The price of food is too low. After a year of hard work, there is not much left."
"Hundreds of thousands of people welcomed the upright officials, but they were miserable."
Yu Lu thought thoughtfully and sighed: "We should be scholars and promote people, and we can protect the weak and eradicate the strong. Such a concept in government is probably of no benefit to the country and the people!"
Seeing Fang Xi's surprise, he raised his body, frowned, and said after a long time: "This is the teaching of the great grandson. I didn't pay attention to it before, but now that I think about it, it is very meaningful."
"The way of a university is to be close to the people and to be supremely good. But how can we achieve the best?"
Fang Xi stopped writing, and the two of them were silent. In fact, they had read a lot, but they really didn't understand much about economics.
"The price of food is almost there, let's see what clues there are." Yu Lu stopped sighing and moved over to look at what Fang Xi had recorded.
Seeing this, both of them couldn't help but sigh.
"I can't find out!"
After a moment of silence, Yu Lu said: "It's only a few days. It's understandable that we can't find out. Don't be discouraged. We can continue to explore tomorrow."
Fang Xi nodded: "It's just what I want, so let's do it."
The walls of this inn are made of real materials, and the sound insulation effect is quite good. At least for the two people who have checked the sound insulation effect, they can't hear the low voices next door at all.
Little did they know that this was just their feeling, and in the next room, someone put his ear against the wall and heard the words clearly through the copper pipe.
Not only did they listen, there were also people who spied on the two men's movements through the small holes hidden behind the calligraphy and painting.
Combined with the content of the speech, it is not difficult to summarize what the two gained today.
The young man who withdrew his gaze and listened attentively sealed the mouth of the tube with wax, turned his face and bowed slightly, and said to the person sitting behind the table: "Sir, these two are more incompetent than we thought. They have been investigating for many days. Everyone is just scratching the surface outside, if this continues, in what year and month can we get to the point?"
The adult in the middle also trembled slightly. If the two of them were too capable, they would be in trouble, but if they were so incompetent, they would be in trouble as well!
These two people are to be pushed out, they must "have integrity, punish corruption, clean up the officials, sacrifice for the country, stir up popular uprising, and punish the prince."
I don’t want to make no progress all the time, and I can’t push it forward. This is really terrible!
"This is actually normal." There were two other people sitting at the table. They were obviously of high status. After hearing this, the left side seemed to smile and said, "Not only are they young, they are also scholars."
"It can be said that if you don't hear what's going on outside the window and only read the books of sages, you may not even know the official procedures, let alone the detailed accounts of food in and out. No matter how you check, you will have no direction."
"That's why the imperial court has to give Jinshi the rule of observing politics for two or three years before they can be hired."
Another person laughed after hearing this and said: "You are right, but it is not a problem for Yu Lu and Fang Xi to be like this. The stage has been set up. We want the two of them to leave their names in history and die in the line of duty, but the two of them are afraid of death. It’s difficult to be completely incompetent.”
All three of them spoke, but the only man sitting down frowned and said nothing.
After confirming that there was no movement next door, the leading man pondered for a moment and said to the person standing: "You go ahead with this matter."
He gave the order confidently and with a straight back. Although his appearance was mediocre and his clothes were ordinary, he had an extraordinary aura. He was obviously a man who was used to giving orders.
The person who was clicked immediately said respectfully: "Yes, sir, don't worry, I will be a righteous man and guide them."
"We must make sure that the two of them can get on the stage, act in the script, and lie in the coffin."
"My identity is also simple. With the cooperation of the government, no one can expose me if I act as a poor scholar. I'm sure they will lead me as a comrade."
However, when this person retreated, he twitched the corner of his mouth, still looking a little speechless.
The person standing on the other side breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had nothing to do. Thinking of the tough guy in the imperial mission this time, he reminded with a little worry: "Sir, there is also that Zhang Dai. This is not an easy person to deal with." , is a tough guy..."
But the gentleman didn't take it seriously and said calmly: "I have already prescribed the right medicine for you. Just give up on the fake upright officials. The real upright officials in the world are the easiest to use. Oh, you can make them charge for me obediently without spending a tael of silver." I will die!"
"Zhang Dai must be happy to die for his country. In addition to the fate of Yu Lu and Fang Xi, he can be called the three righteous men of the Spring and Autumn Period. I will never forget it and ask for a good posthumous title for them."
