With the countermeasures in place, several people became more relaxed and all smiled.
"On a beautiful day, why worry about these flies and dogs? There is wine today and you will be drunk today. Let's drink this bottle to the full!"
Xie Tang looked like he was strategizing, as if everything was under control, and he casually invited everyone to have a drink.
As soon as he put down the wine bottle, Lu Wencai's eyes widened as he faced the east. He pointed at the water and said in astonishment, "Cangshi, it seems that the Comforter has arrived..."
Canglang Pavilion is built near the water. The water outside the garden is vast and the Panmen can be accessed directly by boat. At this time, when everyone heard Lu Wencai's words, they all subconsciously looked in the direction he pointed.
Only four or five official ships were seen arriving one after another, with flags and banners fluttering, and ceremonial guards strictly guarded. Placards with official positions written on each side were neatly erected on the bows of the ships.
"Chongguo Gong", "Grand Scholar of Guanwen Palace", "Emissary of the West Road of Liangzhe Province", "Judge on Pingjiang Prefecture Affairs", "General Commander of Taihu Comprehensive Management Department"...
What's even more frightening is that the boat is also filled with fully armed soldiers, who are quite tense and murderous.
Xie Tang couldn't help but tremble in his heart, and a cold air rushed up from the soles of his feet.
Lu Wencai was even more frightened, "He...they...no, they don't mean to use force directly..."
Everyone else was filled with fear. Xu Xueqian was trembling with fear, "Is it King Yan? Is he coming? Is he going to overturn the table?"
The reason why people like Xie Tang dared to fight against the King of Yan was based on following the rules, but they ignored that the King of Yan held the military power and had the right to not follow the rules. Although using force to break the rules would bring negative consequences to the King of Yan. , but that will happen in the future, and they may not have the eyes to see it.
However, Xu Xueqian guessed wrong. King Yan did not come, but Wu Qian, the pacifier of western Zhejiang, came.
The soldiers poured into the garden and occupied all the doors in a moment. After putting everyone under control, Wu Qian came to Xie Tang with several subordinate officers.
"Xie Cangshi, long time no see."
Wu Qian looked normal and even greeted him kindly.
Xie Tang had a confused look on his face, forcing himself to calm down and asked, "Mr. Wu, what do you want to do when you lead troops into my private residence!?"
"Private residence?" Wu Qian showed a playful smile, "Isn't there a sign of Changping Division of Western Zhejiang Province hanging at the entrance of this garden? As a minister of the imperial court, I can't even enter a government office!?"
"This..." Xie Tang was choked, and then he recovered, "Wu Gong is an important minister, and he can enter the imperial city at will, but it makes no sense for you to bring troops and horses in!"
"Oh, then you can't blame me. It's an unusual season. To prevent young people from causing trouble, you have to be careful." Wu Qian replied lightly, with some insinuations.
Xie Tang couldn't refute and was very angry, but he also saw the signs that Wu Qian was useless. He breathed a sigh of relief and didn't want to bother more.
"Let's put this matter aside for the time being. May I ask what business Mr. Wu has come to Changping Company for?"
"Ahem..." Wu Qian cleared his throat and said seriously, "His Royal Highness King Yan asked me to ask Ambassador Xie Cang for a few questions. Please answer them carefully."
Xie Tang became calmer and calmer, "Since it is His Highness the King of Yan who is asking this question, then naturally I will tell you everything I know. May I ask, Duke Wu."
"His Highness orally, Xie Tang, as the Secretary for Promotion of Changping, why did you turn a blind eye to the skyrocketing food prices and let it go without doing anything? Is this dereliction of duty or ill-intentioned!?"
Xie Tang was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect the question to be so direct. However, he did not panic and said calmly, "This official is neither derelict in his duties nor has any evil intentions. The reason why he cannot stabilize the price of food is actually because of his inability to control the warehouse." The food stored is simply not enough to affect food prices.”
Wu Qian remained unmoved, as if he was just passing on a message, "According to the Changping Division's previous report, the grain storage of 800,000 dan can guarantee stable grain prices for at least two months. However, in just three or four days, the grain prices have soared." It has doubled three or four times, how do you explain it?!"
"Please allow me to explain. I expected that food prices would be unstable in the disaster area, so I came from Lin'an to deal with it. It was only after I arrived in Pingjiang that I discovered that there were no abnormalities in the Changping warehouse's books, but in the warehouse In fact, there was no food. After an emergency review, it was discovered that it was suspected to have been embezzled by the former prefect Liu Xiuren, and the minister who managed Pingjiang Changpingcang
All the officials committed suicide out of fear of guilt. After the clues were interrupted, it was temporarily difficult to find out the whereabouts of the grain. Moreover, all the remaining money used to purchase grain in Changping's treasury was lost. The official could only buy 100,000 shi of grain on credit from the Jin gentry in the city. Now most of them have been put on the market, but still to no avail..."
Xie Tang paused and continued, "There is such a big problem in the Changping Division. As the chief official, the official has indeed committed the crime of neglect of supervision and dereliction of duty. The official has already reported his own impeachment to the court and is stepping up efforts to trace the whereabouts of the food. The official guarantees that no matter whether the lost food or money is recovered or not, I will shoulder the responsibility, and even if I lose everything, I will definitely make up for the lost money and food!"
Haha, as expected, not only did he blame the dead person, he was also ruthless and silenced all the relevant people!
As for making up for losses afterwards, this is true. Only in this way can the crime of dereliction of duty be minimized. But will the food at that time be the same as now? ?
The disappearance of food in Changping was originally directed and staged by Xie Tang, in order to exacerbate the food shortage during this season.
In short, the meaning of Xie Tang's words is that I recognize that something has happened, and I will work hard to remedy it, and I will definitely take responsibility to the end.
Although he couldn't find much fault with his grand words, Wu Qian's face dropped, "Then why is there a high tax on grain entering the city at the city gate!?"
Xie Tang pretended to be surprised, "Is there such a thing? It seems that the people below were anxious when they saw the warehouse was empty and wanted to make up for it as soon as possible, so they took it upon themselves to take action. I will definitely investigate it strictly!"
The implication is that this is an internal matter within our Changping Division, and outsiders have no right to interfere.
Wu Qian seemed to be a little annoyed and angry. He looked around at the officials and gentry present, and finally gave Xie Tang a hard look. "Xie Cangshi, Your Highness has another sentence for me to tell you. There is no limit to the sea of suffering, but when you turn around, everything is for yourself and your family." Think about the future of the Xie family!"
Xie Tang clasped his hands and said with a faint smile, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I know what I am doing."
If he wanted to fight against the crown prince of a country, he was naturally well prepared. As long as he fought within the rules of the Song Dynasty, Xie Tang was not afraid at all.
"Hmph! I hope you can take care of yourself!" Wu Qian flicked his sleeves and turned around with a dark face, "Let's go!"
After a flurry of footsteps, a group of people exited the garden and boarded the boat to leave.
As quickly as it comes, it goes as quickly as it comes.
Many people looked around blankly, almost thinking that nothing had happened. Xie Tang and the other three immediately went to the secret room to discuss.
"Cangshi, what does this Wu Qian mean? Are you just here to show off your authority?" Xu Xueqian wondered.
Lu Wencai was still frightened, "This posture is really scary. Who knows if the thunder is louder than the raindrops? Does King Yan just want to warn us?"
"Maybe." Xie Tang touched his chin and lost in thought.
"Then...if we continue with the original plan, will King Yan really want to overturn the table?" Lu Wencai asked worriedly.
Xie Tang shook his head, "Probably not. What happened just now is just a bluff. It just shows that King Yan has no confidence in his heart. It is not so much a warning as a disguised request for peace."
"Is that so? Then should we have an honest talk with King Yan first? After all, peace makes money. If he is willing to take back the economic affairs, we don't need to offend him. On the contrary, we can fully support him."
The Lu family is a family of military generals, and is generally quite afraid of imperial power.
Xu Xueqian immediately objected, "How can you turn back when you open your bow!? Who knows if King Yan just made a false shot and waited for us to fall into the trap? Cangshi, we must not fall into the trap of King Yan's daughter. Once We can help him get through the current difficulty of lack of food, and we won’t be so easily constrained when he comes to the world again in the future.”
Xie Tang stretched out his hand and waved it to stop the two from fighting, "Mr. Xu is right. In fact, King Yan's best solution is to confiscate all the food without hesitation. But obviously he is not a fool, and finally He has some scruples, and it is indeed possible that he is playing a delaying tactic with us. After all, going through the world for several months at night will not have a big impact on him."
"Right now, we have an absolute advantage and cannot give up halfway. Unless he publicly swears that he will never cross the border, we will continue to follow the original plan."
"However, what happened just now was brought up to me.
Wake up, King Yan is a young man after all. If he is cornered, there is no guarantee that he will not use force to cause chaos. We have to be on guard! "
Seeing that Xie Tang had rejected his proposal, Lu Wencai did not dare to continue the argument, lest there would be an internal split first, "Cangshi, King Yan has troops in his hands, how can we defend against it?"
"So what if he has soldiers? I don't believe that he really dares to go on a killing spree. Not to mention that he is not an official yet. Even if he does become the emperor, he can't do whatever he wants. He has to ask all the scholar-bureaucrats in the world whether they agree. !」
Xu Xueqian puffed out his withered chest, looking like a great Confucian, and he was upright.
"King Yan, he behaves very differently from ordinary people and is always difficult to predict..." Xie Tang frowned, thought deeply for a while, and said slowly, "In any case, we are prepared for anything. The food we transported before is still too little. From tonight Starting from the beginning, only five days' needs were left in the city, and the rest was shipped away. The same was true for the grain purchased later to prevent him from jumping over the wall in a hurry. As long as he couldn't get the grain, he couldn't change the situation. In this way, even if he could get it from other places, Once we get the food, we will have a way to make Pingjiang permanently short of food!"
Lu Wencai nodded, "What Cangshi said makes sense. Lu will go and communicate with the gentry to arrange the matter."
Xu Xueqian also said, "I will also make arrangements for Jiaxing Mansion!"
"Hey, King Yan wants to play some scheming game, so Xie will play with him..." Xie Tang was confident.
He always considered himself resourceful and did not believe that he could not defeat a young boy like King Yan. Even if King Yan had veterans like Wu Qian to help him, he did not feel that there was anything to be afraid of.
