Seeing Feng Dong lowering his head, the others looked angry.
Feng Dong lowered his head and ignored the glances around him.
He knows it very well.
They can't struggle.
Without salt ponds and iron mines, salt merchants and iron merchants like them have no right to bargain and can only be manipulated by the government.
At present, the government is indeed short of salt and iron, but this 'Mr. Zhong' has never mentioned that the salt and iron are hidden secretly from the beginning to the end. He has always treated them with the attitude of "salt and iron sinking into water", but with this person's resourcefulness, how can he Wouldn’t you guess that the salt and iron might be hidden privately?
The reason why I didn't mention it was either because I didn't bother to mention it, or because I had other plans.
In his opinion, it's probably the latter.
Feng Dong has realized that they are the meat on Mr. Zhong's chopping board and can only be slaughtered by him. Don't even think about resisting. The more fierce the resistance, the more severe the suppression will be suffered in the end. If Mr. Zhong said it directly. In response, there will be no follow-up 'security check' once it is issued.
He is tired.
I don’t want to hold my nose and let others humiliate me anymore.
And he had a hunch that not everyone present would leave alive.
Eventually someone has to be left behind.
aside.
Feng Zhen looked slightly anxious.
Feng Dong glanced at Feng Zhen and shook his head numbly.
Feng Zhen was stunned.
Sighing, there was no follow-up.
After a commotion, other merchants also lowered their heads.
Ji Heng chuckled and said calmly: "Parents, do you have any objection to what I said?"
Feng Dong cupped his hands and said, "I would like to obey what Mr.
Ji Heng nodded slightly, his face straightened, and he solemnly said: "Since you are willing to execute it, some things should be made clear."
"Say it."
"Who is responsible for ship dispatching this time?"
One word fell.
The expression of the merchant below changed suddenly.
Everyone looked at each other with panic in their eyes, but no one dared to speak.
Ji Heng sneered: "What? You don't want to say?"
"Or are you all involved?"
"But according to the information I've heard during this period, not many people handled the transportation of salt and iron this time, and only a few of your tribes knew about it."
"Is there anything unspeakable hidden in it?"
Ji Heng glanced down with cold eyes. Wherever he looked, all the merchants lowered their heads. No one dared to raise their head and look at him.
The atmosphere in the venue was extremely depressing.
a long time.
No one in the hall spoke.
Ji Heng said: "Is this matter so shady?"
Cheng Zheng gritted his teeth and cupped his hands and said: "Mr. Zhong is joking. We work upright and stand upright. There is nothing shady about it. All the parents present are here, but the things we deal with every day in business are complicated, and The matter of salt and iron was decided very early on, so I really didn’t think about it at the moment.”
"Please forgive me, Mr. Zhong."
"So who is it specifically?" Ji Heng was unmoved and continued to ask: "You can tell me all the clan members who have impressions. The government has plenty of time now and can invite them one by one."
"This" Cheng Zheng was speechless for a moment.
He turned his head and looked at the others anxiously, wanting others to help him speak, but how could anyone dare to touch his brow? They all lowered their heads and had no intention of speaking.
There was a hint of anger in Cheng Zheng's eyes.
finally.
He could only grit his teeth and said: "I am old and my memory is not very good. I really can't remember it at the moment. Please give Mr. Zhong more time."
Ji Heng smiled, waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. As you age, your memory will indeed decline, and you may not be able to remember the people in your clan very well. However, during this period, the government conducted an investigation into the Cheng family. In addition, There are very few people handling the salt and iron matter, so the government still drew up a list."
"Parents Cheng can watch it slowly."
Said.
Ji Heng raised his hand.
Immediately, a clerk sent him a bamboo slip.
Cheng Zheng subconsciously stretched out his hand, and when his fingertips touched the bamboo slip, he quickly retracted it with a look of surprise on his face. He raised his head and looked at Ji Heng, his expression gradually becoming restless.
Ji Heng moved the mask upwards so that it fit closer to his face, and continued: "Other parents don't need to worry. The government also knows about the situation in your clan. If you can't remember it, the government can also provide it." Roster accordingly.”
"But who else among you can't remember?"
The merchants were silent.
Feng Dong hesitated for a while and then said: "I wonder what Mr. Zhong is asking for?"
Ji Heng said: "Of course we are arresting people."
"There is such a big situation in the world, but they, as insiders, did not take precautions against it, and hundreds of people lost their lives. This kind of guilt cannot be evaded by simply not knowing."
"The situation is beyond tolerance."
"The law cannot tolerate it!"
Feng Dong took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said: "But the operation of Salt and Iron has been confirmed early, or the person responsible for the matter really didn't know much about it. Is it too arbitrary to directly convict him?"
Ji Heng said indifferently: "Since you are responsible for this matter, you should take responsibility."
"If something happens and everyone says they don't know about it, and then completely shirks the responsibility, then won't the shipwreck never end? Then who will be responsible for the dead people?"
"There is no resurrection after death."
"But accidents will inevitably happen in the world. It would be too harsh to insist on letting people take responsibility." Feng Dong said.
Ji Heng said: "So this time we are just arresting people."
"Rather than condemnation."
"But if it is found to be man-made, perhaps due to negligence, or a man-made disaster, then don't blame Qin Faqing for being ruthless."
Hear the words.
Feng Dong was nervous.
He looked up at Feng Zhen, whose eyes were full of struggle.
He knew what his father meant.
This was letting him make a choice, but Feng Wen and Feng Wu were his sons, and even tiger poison would not eat its children. If he let his son take the blame, he really couldn't bear it.
Moreover, Feng's talent is already withered.
If something happens to Feng Wen and Feng Wu, the Feng family will really be out of business.
At this time.
Other merchants gradually said their names.
"Shu Zhuoheng."
"Cao Bingrui."
"Cheng Ling."
"."
Every time a merchant named a name, Fusu would ask the clerk to write it down.
After struggling for a long time, Feng Zhen finally did not follow Feng Dong's suggestion, but said his name.
Ji Heng's face remained as usual, he looked at Fusu and said slowly: "Eldest Young Master, now that the people in charge of ship dispatching from each family are aware of it, please send someone to invite them to Tingwei's Mansion."
"Some things need to be clarified after all."
“What is white cannot be blackened, and what is black cannot be whitened.”
Fusu nodded slightly and shouted outside: "Come here, take all the people on the bamboo slips to Tingwei's Mansion for official interrogation."
As the clerk walked quickly, the hall gradually became quiet.
The atmosphere in the venue was very tense.
Fusu and others looked relatively relaxed.
The merchant is very depressed.
Ji Heng didn't care about the atmosphere in the field. He turned to look at Du He, cupped his hands and said, "Master Du, I need to ask you to take action now."
Du He cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Zhong, please speak."
"Who is responsible for salt and iron matters under the Shaofu?" Ji Heng asked.
Duhe's eyelids twitched.
He took a deep look at Ji Heng and saw that Ji Heng was very serious. He thought for a moment and said two names.
Immediately, he explained: "Mr. Zhong may not know that the Salt and Iron Officials set up by the government are not responsible for the transportation of salt and iron, nor do they supervise the transportation of merchants."
Ji Heng sneered and said: "The official of salt and iron is responsible for the salt and iron in the world."
"A word of irresponsibility cannot stand."
"They may not bear the main responsibility, but they will have to bear some secondary responsibilities."
"I said."
"The law can lag."
"But officials can't lag behind."
"As an official who manages Salt and Iron, he has no vigilance, no sense of crisis, and knows nothing about the subsequent events of Salt and Iron. Isn't this considered a dereliction of duty?"
Du He frowned, looking a little unhappy.
He thought Ji Heng had gone too far.
Ji Heng looked at Fusu and said, "Arrest the relevant salt officers and iron officers as well."
He looked at it very calmly.
This time for Yanguan and Tieguan was indeed an unforeseen disaster.
But at this time, it was not up to them to decide whether to be unjust or not. After all, their official positions were stained with salt and iron, and they were destined to be unable to survive this turbulent public opinion.
In order to establish the integrity of the court in the hearts of the people.
They can only be 'guilty'.
Their sin does not come from themselves, but from this public outrage.
It is said that the hurricane started at the end of Qingping. Such a violent situation must be dealt with extremely seriously, so that it can stop the world from talking about it and not leave any tongue to the world.
There were two types of dismissals of officials in Da Qin.
One is called 'free'.
It is just an ordinary dismissal and can be continued in the future.
The other is called 'waste'.
Officials who have been deposed can never hold office again.
In order to avoid extraneous matters, he personally advocated that the salt official and iron official in charge should avoid the limelight and avoid being coerced by the turbulent public opinion and leaving people with a reason to talk about it.
But it's not the right time to say it.
Zhang Cang frowned.
He also felt that Ji Heng's move was a bit excessive.
Just out of judgment of Ji Heng's behavior style, he did not think that Ji Heng's move was deliberately targeted, so after thinking for a while, he chose to suppress his doubts.
Fusu hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.
Ji Heng withdrew his gaze.
He looked at the lost merchants below and said calmly: "The government invites you here this time, mainly to ask you to provide the roster of ship dispatchers. Now that we have obtained it, you can go back."
"Return" Cheng Zheng's pupils shrank slightly, his expression full of astonishment.
He thought it wouldn't end so quickly this time.
Is this the end?
Cheng Zheng asked in disbelief: "Is Mr. Zhong serious about what he said?"
"Of course it is true." Ji Heng said.
Hear the words.
Cheng Zheng looked overjoyed.
He cupped his hands in all directions and quickly left the lobby without making any pause.
Walk out of the lobby.
Cheng Zheng breathed the air greedily.
My whole body felt relieved, as if a big stone had been lifted off.
See this.
The other merchants also looked happy.
He quickly got up from the ground, bowed around him, and left with his front and back legs.
soon.
All the merchants in the lobby left.
Fusu Ningsheng said: "Mr. Zhong, didn't you say before that this time was to solve the shortage of salt and iron in Guanzhong? Why are you letting these merchants back now?"
Others also looked confused.
Ji Heng smiled and said, "Don't worry, let the merchant rest for a while."
"There is no way to suppress things like this all the time. There should be a distinction between talking about things and interrogating things. Just wait until they are almost awake and then invite them over."
"Be patient!"
(End of chapter)
