The door opened slowly.
Ji Heng was sitting in the house, boiling water in a clay pot.
Fusu entered the room, bowed and said, "Fusu has met Mr.
"I know that my husband wants me to think more carefully and not rely too much on others, but this time the situation is critical and I have to ask my husband to take action."
Finished.
Fusu put the wine bottle in his hand on the table.
Ji Heng glanced lightly, put the wine bottle behind him, and said slowly: "Everything is easier with wine."
"Say it."
"What do you want to ask me this time?"
Fusu bowed and told what happened in Huai County with a solemn expression.
Ji Heng listened quietly.
Add a little firewood to the stove from time to time.
Finished.
Fusu said: "Right now, tens of thousands of tons of salt and iron are sinking into the water, and spring plowing will begin soon. In the past few months, most local officials in Guizhou have cut back on food and clothing just for this spring plowing. Such a difficult thing has happened now. If it is not handled well, it may cause public outcry."
"Please sir, take action."
Ji Heng's expression remained as usual.
He used a piece of coarse cloth soaked in water to lift up the pottery pot that was already filled with boiling water, and poured the boiling water in the pottery pot into two exquisite pottery bowls. Some tea leaves were placed under the pottery bowls.
Ji Heng smiled and said, "Try it."
"This is the tea I accidentally discovered some time ago."
"Xinyang Maojian."
"Normally speaking, this kind of tea can be used as three-way water, but I am only a rough person, and I am really not used to that kind of detailed work. I can only chew peonies and taste them all."
Said.
Ji Heng pushed the pottery bowl over.
The aroma of tea is fragrant.
Fusu looked at the clear tea and could only smile bitterly. The situation was so critical, how could he still be in the mood to drink such tea.
But now I can only reach out and take it.
Fusu put the tea bowl aside and said solemnly: "Mr. Ji, it's not that I'm anxious, but the situation is urgent. Please take action as soon as possible."
Ji Heng smiled faintly and asked, "Are you in a hurry?"
Fusu nodded and said: "It's a matter of stability, how can Fusu not be anxious?"
Ji Heng blew on the tea bowl, and saw ripples appearing in the tea bowl. Some of the tea leaves at the bottom of the bowl floated to the top and wandered on the tea bowl.
Ji Heng said: "Can we solve the problem urgently?"
Fusu shook his head.
"Since we can't solve it, let's drink tea first." Ji Heng said.
Fusu smiled bitterly and had no choice but to do as he was told.
But the tea was too hot, so Fusu had to quickly put the tea bowl back on the table.
Ji Heng shook his head and said: "If you are distracted, you will lose your sense of proportion. If you lose your sense of proportion, you will panic. The more you panic, the more likely it is to get into trouble. As the eldest son of the Qin Dynasty, you should be able to remain unchanged despite the collapse of Mount Tai."
"You're upset."
Fusu stood up, bowed and said: "Mr. Rang, you are joking. Fusu is indeed impatient. Guanzhong stability is more important to Fusu than anything else. Now the salt and iron matter is related to the livelihood of tens of millions of people. Fusu is worried about it." How dare we handle this matter under the orders of the First Emperor without trembling with fear."
"This tea."
Fusu looked at the tea bowl where he had spilled most of it, and smiled bitterly: "Fusu really can't drink it, sir, please forgive me."
Ji Heng took a sip and said calmly: "You can actually try it."
Hear the words.
Fusu looked at Ji Heng deeply, but he didn't know what Ji Heng wanted to do. He thought that he had explained the crisis clearly enough. With Ji Heng's intelligence, it was impossible not to imagine the impact of this matter, but why was Ji Heng still like this? Calm and composed, as if you don't care about this matter at all?
Fusu looked at the tea bowl.
He hesitated for a moment, sat down again, took the hot tea bowl in his hand, blew gently a few times, took a sip of the tea in the bowl, and after drinking it, he couldn't help but frown.
"How does it taste?" Ji Heng asked.
Fusu said: "It's a little bitter."
"Then you don't know how to drink tea. It tastes slightly sweet to me." Ji Heng smiled contentedly.
Fusu looked at the teacup in his hand, hesitated for a moment, then picked it up and tasted it, but the taste had not changed and was still slightly bitter.
Fusu said, "Mr. Ji, this tea may not suit my taste."
"It does feel bitter at first taste, but it will gradually become sweet later." Ji Heng took another sip, put down the tea bowl with great enjoyment, and said calmly: "Are you calm now?"
Fusu smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Ji Heng sighed softly, shook his head and said, "You just said that the ship full of salt and iron sank, and tens of thousands of pounds of salt and iron sank into the water. So based on what you know so far, how do you view this matter?"
Fusu sat upright and solemnly.
He knew that Ji Heng finally got down to business and said quickly: "This fact should be treated as two things, one is the shipwreck, and the other is the salt and iron."
"Salt and iron are related to people's livelihood."
"The shipwreck is related to a criminal case."
"Then which one do you think is more important?" Ji Heng said.
Fusu thought for a moment and said seriously: "It is about people's livelihood. The ship has sunk. Even if some problems are found, the salt and iron that sank in the water cannot be recovered. Therefore, the more important thing is to stabilize the people."
“People’s livelihood is paramount!”
"The merchants thought so too," Ji Heng said.
Fusu was stunned.
He didn't understand what Ji Heng meant.
Ji Heng didn't say much more about this, but just said: "I heard you said earlier that this matter has been given to you with full authority. Then you may have made some arrangements before you came to me. Please tell me."
Fusu nodded slightly and said, "It's exactly what Mr. said."
"When I arrived, I ordered the Tingwei Mansion to investigate the sinking of the ship. I also ordered the Young Mansion to immediately go to various places in Kanto to collect salt and iron to solve the shortage of salt and iron as soon as possible. In addition, I also sent people to block the news and try their best to Suppress this matter so as not to provoke changes in Guanzhong."
"Sir, do you think there is anything wrong?"
Fusu looked at Ji Heng.
"You shouldn't ask me, you should ask the merchants." Ji Heng calmly drank tea.
"Ask the merchant?" Fusu frowned.
"If you were a merchant, do you think you would be able to get the eldest son's arrangement?" Ji Heng said.
Fusu frowned, thought for a moment, and said solemnly: "You should be able to imagine that these things have always been handled this way. It is impossible for merchants to think of it."
"Then let me ask you again, do you think this was intentional or unintentional?" Ji Heng said.
Fusu's heart trembled, and he said in a deep voice: "I think there may be something fishy about this matter."
"Is that intentional?"
Fusu hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded affirmatively.
Ji Heng sneered and said disdainfully: "Since the merchants are intentional, how many of your methods do you think will be effective? If they dare to do this, how can they not have any countermeasures?"
Fusu's expression changed.
He was surprised and said: "But it seems that the court can only do this at the moment."
"The merchants thought so too."
Fusu frowned even more tightly.
He looked at Ji Heng deeply and said helplessly: "Fusu is stupid. Please speak frankly. Is there any other way for the court to deal with this?"
Ji Heng blew the tea and said calmly: "Is there any other way to talk about it? But don't fall into other people's ideas. This is very important."
"There is calculation in mind but no intention."
"Everything you think and think is in other people's calculations. If you want to solve problems freely, how can you get what you want so easily?"
"Are you still in a hurry now?"
Hear the words.
Fusu smiled bitterly and shook his head.
After Ji Heng said this, he came back to his senses.
I was too panicked in front of me.
I also lost my sense of proportion.
Ji Heng slowly sat up straight and said seriously: "As you said, merchants come prepared. This shipwreck was probably planned for a long time in order to achieve their own ulterior motives."
"But what is the merchant's intention? Can you guess it now?"
Fusu shook his head.
How could he know what the merchant was thinking?
However, the merchant's intentions are so big, so his plans this time may not be too small.
Ji Heng said: "Since you don't know what the merchant is thinking specifically, then don't worry about it. Just pretend that you don't know. The merchant plots against them, and you do what you want."
"That's the simple way I'm going to give you."
"You hit yours, I'll hit mine!"
"Don't be led by the other party. Implement your own plan according to your own logic and methods. In a word: take the initiative and don't be easily disrupted by the other party."
"Don't try to pick a fight."
"Once you get caught up in the other person's thoughts, it will be difficult to break free. If you are completely trapped in it, you will only succeed in the other party's conspiracy."
"So don't rush."
“Don’t make decisions easily when your mind is unclear.”
Hear the words.
Fusu's cheeks were slightly hot, and he was a little embarrassed.
Over the past six months, Ji Heng has been teaching himself to have the ability to think independently. He thought he had achieved it, but when he encountered a difficult situation this time, he suddenly realized that he had been deceiving himself before.
I can't even calm down when things happen.
What about independent thinking?
Fusu cupped his hands and said, "Fusu remembers it."
Ji Heng nodded slightly and continued: "Now let's re-examine this matter. Normally, when most people encounter something like this that affects tens of millions of people, they will subconsciously maintain stability and put people's livelihood first."
"This is human nature."
"But this idea is too common, and it is easy for others to think of it. If the merchants really did it intentionally, they must have a comprehensive plan. It is not easy for the court to solve it properly."
"It might even be counterproductive."
“So sometimes it’s time to think backwards.”
"The key is to be surprised."
"You said earlier that this matter can be divided into two things."
"I think it's three."
"One is the livelihood problems caused by salt and iron entering the water."
"One is the problem of the wreck itself."
"But one thing that many people overlook is the salt and iron itself."
"What is salt and iron?"
"money!"
"Now that the ship has sunk, the imperial court's commercial taxes have also disappeared. With such a large sum of money missing, shouldn't someone be responsible for this?"
After Ji Heng said this, Fusu was stunned.
It was a new angle that he had never imagined.
I couldn't even imagine it.
Since ancient times, when encountering this kind of thing, the first thing to do is to help the people, and then investigate the case. No one has ever thought about pursuing the problem of missing money.
Fusu thought about it secretly and felt that it did make sense.
He sat upright, his eyes brightening.
Ji Heng took a sip of warm tea, moistened his throat, and said coldly: "Most people in the world today think that the imperial court is responsible for bringing peace to the people and investigating cases, but will these problems be solved in a short time?"
"cannot."
"So do the opposite."
“Since we can’t solve the problem, let’s solve the person who caused the problem first!”
“And people are the problem!”
(End of chapter)
