Zhang Cang and the others left Yong Palace.
Meng Yi looked at the two people beside him and suddenly said: "You two, what do you think of the eldest son's plan?"
Du He held his hand and said with a smile, "I think it's a good idea."
"Every aspect has been considered."
"Enforcement only requires each government agency to perform its duties."
"If this move succeeds, it will be of great benefit to Guanzhong and the imperial court."
"I think - good!"
"Good." Zhang Cang pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement. He said: "The eldest son's idea is actually a bit risky. You can only succeed and cannot fail. The price of failure is something that neither the eldest son nor the court can afford. Among the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, only the eldest son dared to advance like this."
"It's not necessarily true that it's infallible."
"Once this matter becomes known to the outside world and publicizes it, the court's prestige will be greatly damaged."
"The people's moral support has been lost, and the officials have become disengaged."
"But" Zhang Cang looked at the two of them and said with a slightly strange expression: "If the eldest son's thoughts were not told to us in detail, would one of us be aware of it? We live in the temple and know a lot about the affairs in Guanzhong. If that’s the case, let alone others?”
"In the whole world, apart from a few people like me, how many people can know it, and how many people can understand it?"
"As long as everyone performs his or her duties and does his or her part well, there is little chance that something will go wrong. By the time someone outside realizes that this shipwreck is almost over, even if they have guessed what the court is doing, So what happens to what you do? How many people will listen to you and how many people will believe you if you tell me?"
"But if someone among the few of us secretly leaks it."
"That's another matter."
Du He laughed and said nonchalantly: "Yu Shi Zhang's words are serious. As officials of the Qin Dynasty, how can we do such a despicable thing?"
"But the eldest son's changes in the past six months are indeed gratifying."
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes today, I probably wouldn't have believed it. This is the same person as the eldest son from the past."
"In the past, the eldest son had different political opinions from His Majesty and was alienated from the ministers' political views, but this made many ministers feel uneasy. After all, the eldest son held such differences, and the impact was not just on a temporary matter? The eldest son has made great progress now, and is actually the leader of the Qin Dynasty. Fortunately, the world is lucky."
Just saying.
Duhe's voice stopped suddenly.
He turned his face away, cupped his hands towards the two of them and said, "Don't take the unintentional remarks just now to your heart. The government still has matters to deal with, so we left first."
Finished.
Du He then left directly.
Meng Yi and Zhang Cang watched Du He go away.
Meng Yi looked at Zhang Cang and asked: "Zhang Yushi, you have a close relationship with the eldest son. Is it really the eldest son who came up with this plan?"
"Is it important?" Zhang Cang glanced at Meng Yi meaningfully and said slowly: "As long as the effect can be achieved, that is enough. Moreover, Meng Tingwei, although you are upright, relatively speaking, you are lacking. Some experience and some far-sightedness may be detrimental to you in the future."
"and"
"Do you really think this is a secret leaked by officials and merchants?"
Zhang Cang simply nodded and walked away.
Meng Yi frowned.
He looked deeply at the direction Zhang Cang was leaving, with a solemn look in his eyes, and whispered: "What does Zhang Cang mean?"
"If it's not an official or a businessman, who else could it be? It can't be"
Meng Yi seemed to have thought of something, and his pupils narrowed.
He looked back at Yong Palace and left quickly.
Censor's Mansion.
Zhang Cang sat down on the table.
He was silent for a moment and whispered: "The plan the eldest son mentioned should come from Ji Heng, but is it true that Ji Heng's calculations are so deep? Not only scheming against the government and merchants, but also considering Shejian who is thousands of miles away? This is too astonishing.”
"Those who are good at governing a country are good at planning for power."
"The winner is the one who is good at planning."
"What is Ji Heng planning? Why do I feel that he actually has other intentions? But the shipwreck incident, even if Shejian returns to the court, is only a matter of concern to the court, unless this matter is really troublesome. Big, but why did he plan so carefully? And did he really not expect this shipwreck? "
"Or maybe I've expected it."
"Is everything going according to plan right now?"
"But if that's the case, this person's plan is too terrifying."
"Simply inhuman!"
"It's just what does he want to achieve?"
Zhang Cang frowned, but still couldn't figure it out.
In fact, he had already noticed it.
Ji Heng's work style is not affected by the outside world at all. He seems to be aloof from the incident. As a bystander, he handles things extremely calmly and cold-bloodedly. However, his terrifying insight, keen judgment, and super foresight are really shocking. Creepy.
He is already considered knowledgeable.
But after getting a rough understanding of it through Fusu's words, my scalp suddenly felt numb.
Zhang Cang shook his head.
He really couldn't imagine what Ji Heng wanted to do.
Just stop thinking about it.
Just thinking about what he was ordered to do, Zhang Cang's white face suddenly showed a few more wrinkles.
He didn't know what Ji Heng wanted to do. The only thing he knew was that he was in trouble this time. Zhang Cang's fat and white body couldn't help but tremble at the thought of being the supervisor.
Zhang Cang was about to cry but said without tears: "I'm just a ploy."
"Why are you doing the job of supervising the censor?"
"If you don't look down, you won't see me when you look up."
"I"
"I, Zhang Cang, have such a miserable life!"
As he spoke, Zhang Cang took out a clay pot from under the lacquered table. With a long sigh, he opened the lid with his hands, dipped a little honey in it and put it in his mouth.
This honey is still sweet.
Sunset.
The restlessness in the city gradually turned quiet as the night fell.
But greater restlessness is still building.
Feng's family home.
It was late at night.
The house of Feng family was brightly lit with candles.
Feng Dong's spirit was already a little low, and he looked quite tired.
Feng Zhen also looked haggard.
From midday to now, they have been secretly inquiring about news from the government. However, as various news came to their ears, the expressions of the father and son became more solemn.
Feng Dong knocked on the bamboo stick, making a banging sound in the room.
Feng Dong cheered up and said in a hoarse voice: "You have also heard the situation on the government side now. The government has indeed begun to take action. A large number of officials were called to the Yushi Mansion for interrogation, but they have not been released until now. I’m afraid I won’t be able to put it back in a short time.”
"This time the government has made a big move."
"All officials involved are under review."
"Officials in all major government agencies are in danger."
"The officials we bribed before have basically been caught. Although other families don't know the situation, they are probably similar. The connection between us and the officials is broken, and this also means that our risk of accidents has increased."
"I was thinking before that before the government reacted, I would go to the government with others and discuss countermeasures. At the same time, I would tell the relevant officials about the situation and ask them not to waver."
"Right now, the government is aware of it."
"They took action before us."
"The government is really good at calculating and is always one step ahead of us."
Feng Dong sighed.
He had expected what the government would do, but he could do nothing about it.
Now the situation is heading in an uncontrollable direction step by step. Once an official cannot hold on anymore and tells what he knows, the government will follow suit and none of the merchants will be able to escape. At that time, all the major salt merchants in Guanzhong will , iron merchants, are also destined to be destroyed.
"Father, what should we do now?" Feng Zhen looked anxious.
Feng Dong had a dull look on his face and said coldly: "Have you spread the news about the closure of stores everywhere?"
Feng Zhendao: "Everyone has been notified."
"In just the next day or two, stores will be closed one after another everywhere."
"Other families followed suit."
"It's just that I may not have enough time, and it won't have much impact on the court in the short term. After all, it's still some time before spring plowing. By the time the situation becomes really serious, I'm afraid the officials being interrogated will have already confessed us. .”
"Father, what should we do next?"
Feng Dong did not speak.
His fingers kept tapping on the table.
His brows furrowed.
a long time.
Feng Dongcai said slowly: "Now the government has cut off our contact with these officials, just to intimidate us. Our words cannot be transmitted. In terms of time, it is not very beneficial to us, but we can't act rashly now, otherwise it will be too dangerous." Too obvious."
"Now we can only wait."
"Wait until the situation becomes more severe."
"Wait until the place starts to feel resentment towards us, and then we can ask questions."
"and"
“Officials don’t know much specific information.”
"They only knew that the ship sank and it was related to us, but they didn't know the specific whereabouts of the salt and iron. Therefore, we still have a certain advantage, but this advantage cannot last long. When someone over there in Huai County is pried open, we will The situation is completely dangerous.”
"We can afford to wait, but what about other families?" Feng Zhen asked.
Feng Dong was silent.
This is where the problem lies.
They were cut off from each other.
Now as the relevant officials are being interrogated, I am afraid that many families have begun to panic, but they can still barely keep calm. When the court releases some rumors later, I am afraid that their originally strong relationship will gradually begin to collapse from within. .
This is what worries him the most.
The major merchant families are related to each other by profit.
Both are very realistic.
As the pressure on them increases, some people won't be able to hold on if they can't protect everything, and the court's methods are unpredictable and not at all what they expected. The longer they delay, the more passive they will be. I'm sure I can still stay calm.
Feng Dong sighed: "This is the power of the government."
"Hold on to your humanity."
"And he struck extremely quickly and sharply, and he directly found the weakest point."
"We have no way to resist at the moment."
"even"
"We don't know what the government will do next."
There was dead silence in the lobby.
Feng Dong and Feng Zhen were both silent.
How could they not see the deterioration of the situation before them?
But their contact with the officials has been cut off, and even if they negotiate with other merchants, it will be of no avail.
Because now the breakthrough lies with the officials.
at this time.
There was a flurry of footsteps outside the house.
Feng Dong was stunned and shouted dissatisfied outside the house: "Why are you so panicked?"
"On the order of the eldest son, Feng Wen, the son of Mr. Feng, is invited to go to the government to conduct an investigation." A cold voice came from outside the house.
(End of chapter)
