Value for money.
Jie Jin held the tea bowl and blew hot air.
Yang Shiqi looked through the memorial and frowned from time to time.
Xia Yuanji sighed, stood up and took two steps: "I tell you two, you know the consequences of doing this, why don't you stop the emperor?"
Jie Jinzi took a sip of tea and closed his eyes comfortably: "Xia Shangshu, we are very clear about the consequences of doing this, but doesn't the emperor know it well?"
Xia Yuanji's heart moved. Looking at the calm Xie Jin and Yang Shiqi, he finally understood.
Everyone knows the result, but the emperor needs this result!
Xia Yuanji looked around and saw no one else. When Xie Jin and Yang Shiqi approached, he asked in a low voice: "Even now, you still refuse to tell what happened?"
Jie Jin shut up and said nothing.
Yang Shiqi looked at Xia Yuanji, took out a memorial, and pointed to one of the sentences: "Xia Shangshu, look at the memorial of the iron-faced Zhou Zhixin. It says here: There are occasional businessmen in Fujian colluding with officials, fishing in troubled waters, and poisoning the people. The four words "fishing in troubled waters" are used well..."
Xia Yuanji looked deeply at Yang Shiqi, and his tone changed slightly: "Fishing in troubled waters - I see! I just don't know what kind of fish this fish is."
Yang Shiqi didn't speak, just rolled his eyelids upward.
Xia Yuanji was horrified, said nothing, bowed and left the room on duty.
Jie Jin watched Xia Yuanji leave and said worriedly to Yang Shiqi: "You can be sure that the energy of the people in the dark is not trivial. The Fengtian Palace burned down, and the emperor was very calm. Now the Jinchuanmen granary has burned down, and millions of stones of food are gone. The Emperor is still calm, have you ever thought about where the next fire will burn?"
Yang Shiqi put the memorial aside and rubbed it
He rubbed his sore wrist: "It only takes three things. The third fire is probably the last fire. Besides, only fools will do things like this again and again."
Jie Jin laughed out loud: "You say they are idiots?"
"If not?"
Yang Shiqi looked at Xie Jin seriously.
Jie Jin suppressed his smile and nodded heavily: "Yes, they are idiots! It was originally a conspiracy, but how many of the courtiers can't see the problem now? Even people from the Ministry of Industry felt that something was unusual. Huang Fu now goes to the shipyard every two days, and even set up an inspection team in the shipyard, taking turns patrolling every twelve hours."
Yang Shiqi shook his head calmly: "Any wise official will feel that the problem is unusual. Not to mention the sudden war, even the strange and uneasy atmosphere in Jinling City is enough to make people wary. The conspiracy is almost a conspiracy. , and it’s no wonder that the emperor wants to take advantage of his influence. Some of the news makes people more and more uneasy."
"Which news are you talking about?"
Xie Jin stared.
Yang Shiqi smiled: "You must have heard it, right? Because the imperial court wanted to control the amount of land, many big families and gentry gathered in Jinling, seemingly with a plan. At present, in addition to Sanshan Gate, Jiangdong Gate, Jubao Gate, Tongji Gate, etc., But there are hundreds of large households scattered throughout the country, mainly in Zhejiang and Jiangxi, and there are reports that some businessmen are also involved."
Xie Jin thought it was some kind of news, but didn't take it seriously: "Ying Tianfu has already informed about this matter, and the emperor handed the matter over to the Security Bureau for investigation. However, you don't think they are the culprits of the trouble, do you?"
Yang Shiqi shook his head: "The culprit is impossible, but the accomplice
Indispensable. It's time for these two fires to burn out the truth. "
Xie Jin pondered for a long time and then said: "Will a fire outside Jinchuan Gate delay the Emperor's northern inspection tour?"
Yang Shiqi stared at Xie Jin. The two looked at each other, seemingly seeing through what was in their minds, and then immersed themselves in processing the memorial without saying anything else.
Obviously, the Northern Patrol was Zhu Yunwen's move, and the fire in the Jinchuanmen granary was the other party's move. It really complies with the saying: if the city gate is on fire, the fish in the pond will be affected.
In Jinling City, news is flying all over the sky.
A: Millions of stones of grain were burned outside Jinchuan Gate, causing heavy losses.
B: Eighty percent of the food outside Jinchuan Gate was burned, and there is not much food left.
C: All the food outside Jinchuan Gate was burned, not a grain of food was left, and Ku Chenglu and Jiuzhang all jumped into the sea of fire.
Ding: Jinling is out of food. Go buy food quickly.
The news spread wider and wider, becoming more and more bizarre.
Just when people were panicking, officials from the Ministry of Revenue stood up and shouted: Jinling has sufficient food reserves, don't panic, there is no need to rush to buy food.
Then someone inquired about the news:
Jinling's food reserves are only enough for ten days. If a large amount of food does not flow into Jinling after ten days, people will starve to death.
I don’t know how the news spread. The day after the granary outside Jinchuan Gate caught fire, there was news that someone died of starvation on the street because they couldn’t buy food. Some people saw the government collecting the bodies.
Yingtian Mansion did collect the corpses, but the people who died did not die of starvation, but because they were too weak after coming out of the Qinhuai Red Mansion. They staggered and fell into the river and drowned.
But many people ignore the truth and go crazy to grab food.
The price of food in the grain store skyrocketed. Originally, it was two stones and three buckets of rice, but in the blink of an eye,
At that time, the usual money could only buy one stone and eight buckets of rice, and soon afterwards it became one stone. By evening, many grain shops and grain stores were closed.
People who couldn't buy food were furious and complained.
The crisis of a big city lies in food. If the food supply is not available, no matter how big the city is, it will become weak in an instant.
News of the famine began to spread.
Heads hidden in the darkness popped up one after another and started spreading rumors.
On the Qinhuai River outside Jiangdong Gate, a ship was moored on the shore. Liu Changge was lying on the stern of the ship, covering his mouth and nose with a curtain hat, and looking at the night sky with both eyes.
The ship shook violently, and then there were the sounds of footsteps.
Pang Huan wore a curtain hat and looked at the calm Liu Changge: "I just received news that Li Jinglong is contacting Li Wenzhong's old troops. Some retired old sergeants, especially those kicked out by the New Army's policy, are already ready to make a move. , but the number is not large, according to the current situation, there are only more than fifty."
"Li Jinglong, he won't stop until he kills himself, right?"
Liu Changge picked up the curtain hat and used it as a fan to fan the wind.
Pang Huan was also a little unbelievable: "It stands to reason that Cao Guogong's palace is gone and he has become a beggar. There is no reason to plot rebellion anymore. What he is doing now is incomprehensible."
Liu Changge sat up cross-legged and said calmly: "What can't be understood? Li Jinglong has fallen into the abyss. Someone is willing to give him a hand. No matter what the purpose of this person is, he will give it a try. It is nothing more than death, but he is now What's the difference between this situation and death? Dozens of people are really incompetent, and the most difficult thing is the Prince's Palace."
Pang Huan nodded heavily: "On behalf of the king,
There is also new information within the government. "
"explain."
Liu Changge's eyes were sharp.
Pang Huan said in a deep voice and took out a folded blueprint from his arms: "The King is taking action quickly and is constantly mobilizing troops to enter Jinling through coal ships. The number of people is quite large. As far as the intelligence is concerned, there are as many as three thousand. Whether there are more hidden remains is still under investigation, but this is the stronghold that has been identified.”
Liu Changge opened it and looked at it, and nodded slightly: "The move of King Dai this time is really big, but Pang Huan, do you think King Dai is really ancient and modern?"
Pang Huan stared and frowned: "From the current point of view, the king of Jinling is behind the storm. But judging from the struggle of more than ten years, the king of Dai has no ability to arrange various chess games, let alone the ability to control such a huge force. If If he really had this ability, he would not wait until today. Therefore, the acting king is probably just a substitute, a puppet on the surface."
Liu Changge looked solemn: "What you said is correct. The king has a defective temperament and insufficient abilities. He is arrogant, bullies others, and lacks government. If such a person were ancient and modern, he would have been exposed long ago and would not have fought with the Security Bureau. So far. We hide in the dark just to find the people in the dark!"
Pang Huan hesitated and said, "Actually, we still have some chess pieces in our hands, but it's just a bit risky."
Liu Changge looked at Pang Huan.
Pang Huan whispered: "Bai Lianmo'er, Bai Yiyi."
Liu Changge frowned.
Mo'er was the biggest betrayer of the White Lotus Sect. Her betrayal led to the loss of a large number of Yin soldiers and forces in ancient and modern times. Bai Yiyi's betrayal also severely damaged the ancient and modern forces, especially since Bai Yiyi had the command of the ancient and modern forces.
The secret of the cards has seriously damaged the ancient and modern power hidden in the dark.
From this point of view, if Mo'er and Bai Yiyi are used as bait, it is likely to stimulate the subordinates of Gu and Jin to take action. The Security Bureau can use this to catch the opponent and break the situation.
Liu Changge thought about it carefully and finally shook his head: "Even if we agree, the emperor may not agree. Since the emperor promised to let Mo'er and Bai Yiyi go, he will naturally not let them be in danger, not to mention Mo'er is not in Jinling... "
Pang Huan said solemnly: "Those who achieve great things don't stick to trivial matters. It's a life-and-death struggle right now. It's the most intense time of the secret war, so we can't care too much. The emperor doesn't agree just because he doesn't want to sacrifice him as a pawn. But we can convince him. Bai Yiyi, let her take the initiative to ask for orders, as long as she asks for orders, I believe the emperor will not refuse."
Liu Changge was silent and finally nodded: "Leave this matter to Cong Pei'er, but you need to tell Bai Yiyi that this matter is dangerous. If she doesn't want to do it, no one can force her."
Pang Huan nodded.
In muddy water, you always need to throw some stones in to test the depth.
Liu Changge drafted a document and handed it secretly to the scouts hiding outside the city. The scouts directly informed Zhu Yunwen.
Secret intelligence lines and covert intelligence agents are constantly operating outside the city.
The food crisis in Jinling has become more and more serious. One hundred thousand shi of grain shipped to Jinling from other places was sold out before even being wasted. Many large households in the city have been hoarding grain, and some grain stores have stopped selling openly and have turned to selling secretly. It is not easy to avoid the court when selling publicly, but it can be traded secretly, and no one cares how much the price goes up.
Ying Tianfu Yin Xiangyao was anxious
With three blisters on his mouth, he went to the Ministry of Household Affairs to see Xia Yuanji and begged him to release some more food for the people, but Xia Yuanji was unmoved and just said calmly: "The people are not short of food, so why should we release more food?"
