At noon.
People in Xianyang City are returning home one after another.
There was silence in Feng's house. Fusu's movement was unexpected by Feng.
Many people in the Feng clan were panicked.
Feng Dong held a bamboo stick and stood under a peach tree. The branches on it had sprouted buds, but he had no intention of admiring it. He kept thinking about how to deal with it in his mind.
Under high pressure, the situation is unpredictable.
He thought Feng could bear it, but what about other merchants?
He really didn't have that confidence.
Just as Feng Dong was pacing back and forth in the courtyard, Feng Zhen ran over excitedly and said excitedly: "Father, there is a way. Just now Feng Wen sent a message that people in the city have begun to spread the news about the 'Huai County shipwreck'. Now This thing is slowly spreading around the city.”
"Don't Fusu want to target us?"
"When word spreads about the shipwreck, I don't believe Fusu can still sit still?"
"At that time, he can only solve the salt and iron issue first."
Hear the words.
Feng Dong frowned.
He subconsciously felt something was wrong, but he couldn't think of anything wrong.
He thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao is indeed a way."
"Fusu deliberately targeted us before, but now he has made this matter bigger and forced him to be distracted. It can indeed share some of his attention."
"It's just that I'm a little uneasy."
"This shipwreck is different from what we expected from beginning to end, and it completely disrupted our arrangements. If it happens again a few times, something might happen internally."
Feng Dong's eyes showed a hint of worry.
He had a vague feeling that things were starting to get out of control.
This is not a good sign.
If they are clean, no matter how they leave, they will not be affected.
But the key is they are not clean.
Once things deviate too much from what was expected, many variables will occur, which they cannot prevent. If these variables are discovered by the government and targeted, their plans over the past few months will not only fail, but also cause trouble to the government. Thunder revenge.
The merchants could not afford the government's revenge.
He even regretted it a little.
Feng Zhen disagreed and said: "Father, you are really worrying too much."
"Fusu was probably so angry that he took this step, but when the people's anger in Xianyang fully arouses, he should be able to wake up. How dare he let the people's resentment boil over? As long as Fusu will pay attention to it. If we shift our focus to quelling public anger, our plan this time will not be considered a failure."
"Everything will be right again."
Feng Dong nodded.
Immediately, he raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "When the news about 'Huai County Incident' came out, do you know where it came from?"
"I don't know." Feng Zhen shook his head simply and said in a condensing voice: "Now the government has sent people to watch outside the house, and the clan members don't dare to ask blatantly. But now, except for the government, the only people who know about this matter are We are here, the government is deliberately concealing it, and the only ones who can spread this information are us businessmen."
"I, Mrs. Feng, can have such determination only if you, my father, are in charge."
"Other families may not."
"It's normal to look for a way out when you're worried."
Feng Dong nodded slightly.
He didn't think any more about it.
Xicheng.
Liao Ke's fish has been bought back.
A silver carp.
After cleaning it, Ji Heng lit the fire on the stove again, put a clay pot on, poured some water on it, put the fish in, and then added a lot of mountain pepper.
Fusu looked at it curiously.
Ji Heng ignored Fusu and lit a fire in the kitchen to steam rice.
Fusu looked embarrassed.
He actually felt like it was time for him to leave.
But he felt that the matter was not over yet, and he heard Ji Heng said before that he was preparing fish for two people, so after moving a few steps, he came back unexpectedly. He did not go to the kitchen, but stayed in the courtyard to watch. Lighting the stove is a novel feeling.
A completely new experience.
In the Qin Dynasty, ordinary people only had two meals.
Morning and evening meals.
Starting from a well-off family with three meals a day.
Ji Heng was a little late in preparing lunch today.
The sun is lost (not in time).
The fish on the stove is filled with fragrance.
the other side.
Feng Dong sat in the courtyard, feeling increasingly restless.
He always felt that he was missing something, but he just couldn't remember it for a while.
at this time.
There were footsteps outside the house.
Feng Dong raised his eyes and looked towards the door. It was not Feng Wen who came this time, but a minister from outside the clan. The minister said out of breath: "Parents, something bad has happened. Our merchant ship is here." Huai County hit a rock and sank, all of it, including dozens of ships."
Hear the words.
Feng Zhen's face remained as usual, he waved his hand calmly and said coldly: "I understand, go ahead and don't make any announcement about this matter."
Li Chen hurriedly walked out.
Feng Zhen shook his head and said with dissatisfaction: "These ministers are really slow to pass on the information. It is more than three hours slower than the government. If I relied on them to convey the information, I am afraid that I, the Feng family, would have been eaten up and wiped clean by others." , It’s just a waste of my Feng’s food.”
aside.
Feng Dong, who was closing his eyes to rest, suddenly opened his eyes, stood up from the ground suddenly, and said in panic: "No, something happened."
"I knew there was something wrong."
Feng Zhen was shocked and looked over quickly, wondering: "Father, what's wrong with you?"
Feng Dong patted his legs and said anxiously: "Something happened."
"Something big happened!"
"Huh?" Feng Zhen looked puzzled.
Feng Dong took a deep breath, held the bamboo stick in his hand, kept tapping the ground, and said anxiously: "You haven't reacted yet?"
“There’s a big problem with information in the city.”
"The reason why the government knew about it was because they traveled all night and had an urgent order."
"That's why it spread to Xianyang so quickly."
"But no matter how amazing our merchants' methods are, under normal circumstances, we can only receive the news now. It takes more than three hours to come and go, but the news in the city came out an hour ago. Haven't you realized? The problem?"
"This news shouldn't have gotten out."
"At least it was impossible to spread it at that time."
"But now word is getting out."
"Who spread it?!"
"Either it was an official, or an official leaked it."
"No matter which one, it's not good news."
"It's obvious that the news has been leaked."
"How could the government not notice it?"
"Once the government starts investigating from the officials who have the knowledge, the matter will be easily opened up."
"We'll be in trouble then!"
Hear the words.
Feng Zhen's expression changed drastically.
He had a premonition that something was not going to be good.
He hurriedly said: "Father, what should we do now?"
Feng Dong took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He said solemnly: "It won't take long for the whole city to know this news. I just hope that the person who spread the news at that time can act more cleanly and not be discovered by others. Otherwise, this time It’s really hard to be at peace.”
"Now we can no longer stay out of it."
There was a hint of irritation in Feng Zhen's eyes, and he said in a solemn voice: "Father, do you want to deny it?"
"Don't admit it?" Feng Dong sneered and said with a sneer: "Why don't you admit it? You can deny it if you want to? If the merchants don't admit it, then the officials do. Do you think these officials will do it when they are found out? Won't you turn us in?"
"and"
Feng Dong's eyes were gloomy, his cheeks full of grooves were trembling, and then he gritted his teeth and said: "If I guessed correctly, this news was probably not spread by us, but by the government itself, in order to spread the news." The problem is thrown at us.”
"Wait until the government starts investigating."
"The officials we have taken care of may think that we betrayed them."
"Other businessmen will also think that someone else told them."
"This shit pot has been planted on our heads."
"Can't get rid of it!"
Feng Zhen's expression changed completely.
He asked uneasily: "What should I do?"
"How about sending someone to tell others about this now?"
"Confused." Feng Dong cursed angrily: "Now the government doesn't know that we have contact in private. If you send someone to inform, don't you just tell the government openly that we have a problem? And the government has already done this. Didn’t you hear what Feng Wen said before?"
"There are people from the government outside the house!"
"Then what should we do now?" Feng Zhen was completely panicked.
Feng Dong did not speak, but walked back and forth in the courtyard holding a bamboo stick, thinking about how to deal with it.
He said solemnly: "Now that things have happened, I can see that this eldest son has been doubting us from the beginning to the end, and has been deliberately targeting us. Everything he has done now is to force us to show our feet. Under his series of operations, we were indeed panicked and something went wrong."
"Everyone is suspicious of each other right now."
"They all think it was the other party who brought this matter to light."
"Once the seeds of doubt are planted, it is extremely difficult to completely remove them."
"In addition, the government intends to cut off our contact."
"Even if someone has guessed something, but there is no private communication, when more and more situations happen, the differences between each other will only get bigger and bigger. In the end, even if there is a chance to clarify the matter face to face, it will be difficult to explain it face to face. Earn mutual trust.”
"The government has such a vicious plan!"
"Now we are cornered by the government."
"Continue to do nothing. When the government investigates the officials, those officials will definitely find us. If we choose to do something, it means increasing the chance of something happening. When the government does discover the flaw, the same thing will be left to us. It’s a dead end.”
Hear the words.
Feng Dong's face was full of panic.
Feng Dong pondered for a while, then a stern look flashed in his eyes, and he said in a cold voice: "Since the eldest son will not leave a way to survive, then we will just overturn the table."
"If you make a big mess of the matter, it will force the government to come to an end."
"Fusu is thinking that there is still a certain amount of time before spring plowing, and it can be delayed for a while, and wants to convict merchants like us before then, and then attempts to loot the salt and iron that have been 'entered into the water', but since he wants to It’s the first day of junior high school, so don’t blame us for doing the fifteenth day.”
"You should immediately send people to notify stores everywhere to close the stores and no longer sell salt from now on."
"At the same time, we have released news to the outside world. We have just received news that a shipwreck has occurred in Huai County. There will be a large shortage of salt and iron in a few months. The specific operating conditions of the store will not be decided until the government informs us."
"Now that the matter is so clearly made public, Guanzhong is in urgent need of salt and iron, creating an atmosphere that prices will be increased in the future, forcing the head of Guizhou to put pressure on the government."
"I don't believe Fusu can remain indifferent!"
(End of chapter)
