Water Margin people

"Let me check. I must find out who is chewing his tongue. I will cut out his tongue!"

Zhao Huan said angrily.

"Everyone is talking!"

Zhao Huan became even more angry when he saw all the officials acting like they had nothing to do with them. Their feelings were rumors and scolding the emperor had nothing to do with them.

"Your Majesty, I have sent people to investigate. The rumors first spread from Jinghu. It seems that the scholars there have opinions on the recent appointment of officials."

Wu Min could only bite the bullet and speak.

"These people are so bold. They dare to criticize me. Go and arrest them!"

Zhao Huan yelled.

"Your Majesty, Jinghu cannot be touched! These Jinghu Jinshi are related to the local forces in Jinghu. Now the Central Plains relies on Jinghu for food supply. If we arrest Jinshi from Jinghu at this time, I am afraid there will be trouble!"

Li Gang said, arresting a Jinshi native of Jinghu is likely to anger the entire Jinghu. Nowadays, there is a rumor in Tokyo that "if you want to be an official, murder and arson will be punished." The people of Jinghu are fierce, and this riot may lead to another rebellion against the king. .

Li Gang's words made Zhao Huan calm down. Jinghu was very important to him now and he really couldn't offend him, but he was unwilling to do so. If this continued, he would become a sinner for the ages. He had just ascended the throne and he couldn't bear the infamy.

"Your Majesty, why don't you appease those latecomers who have been waiting for too long?"

Xu Churen suggested, in fact, the problem is very simple. I believe there are two ways to become an official. Civilian officials rely on imperial examination selection, while military attachés rely on fighting in battles.

But now civil and military officials can grant gifts at will based on the emperor's preference. The number of officials with such gifts almost doubles that of the imperial examination officials.

"Dazai's words are mature and prudent, but they are a good idea!"

A group of imperial examination officials immediately came out to echo. At this time, the imperial examination officials were united. They had to defend their imperial examination background. They were the upright and upright officials.

Wu Min glanced at Xu Churen, and he also saw Xu Churen's purpose, but he did not speak, because he did not come from the imperial examination. He came from Piyong's private examination, which can be regarded as a kind of gifted officer.

"Compile some lists and submit them!"

Zhao Huan could only compromise when no one spoke up. The rumors could not be suppressed, and he could not take action against those who spread the rumors, so he could only offer some benefits.

Li Gang wanted to speak out to object, but many people looked at him with unkind eyes. When Li Gang saw it, they turned out to be the main militant faction.

Li Gang hesitated. He knew that the emperor's compromise was just to quench his thirst by drinking poison. The problem was not solved, but just covered up.

But now Li Gang didn't dare to speak out to object. Most of the warring faction were officials who came from the imperial examination. At this moment, these people were fighting for the interests of the scholars in the world. If he spoke at this time, he would offend all the scholars. In order to see, he could only endure it. live.

"Your Majesty, I have one more thing to report!"

Seeing that the argument was over, Qin Hui came out of work and said that he was now a member of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wailang, and was only an official of the sixth rank. He did not catch up with this wave of official promotions, but was demoted to a idle position. If he didn't work hard, he would be afraid. It’s impossible to get ahead.

"Say!"

Zhao Huan waved his hands impatiently.

"Your Majesty, the price of food in Tokyo has skyrocketed. One stone of food has risen to 2,000 yuan. The money allocated by Your Majesty to the Ministry of Revenue is not enough to buy enough food."

Qin Hui said.

"What? Two thousand coins!"

Zhao Huan couldn't sit still. In previous years, during famines, the price of food had increased, but the highest price was only 1,500 cash. Now it had reached 2,000 cash. How could he afford it?

"Yes, two thousand yuan. I have already asked about it. The merchants said that the purchase price is too high and the freight is also expensive. They have nothing to do. It may even increase after a while."

Qin Hui said.

"The profiteer! The profiteer!"

Zhao Huan was angry again. Isn't this taking advantage of the situation? Now that the court is short of food and urgently needs to buy it, those merchants dare to sit down and raise prices.

"Arrest them all and search their homes!"

Zhao Huan was furious, and in his anger he thought of ransacking his house again, because he had money by ransacking his house, and now he could also get food by ransacking his house.

The word "property confiscation" made the court very quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Zhao Huan realized what he had just done and fell silent. Confiscation of homes should not be done frequently, otherwise it would cause unrest in Tokyo.

"Your Majesty, I have a plan!"

When Qin Hui saw that no one was speaking, the emperor fell silent and continued to speak. "Um?"

Zhao Huan became interested.

"There is a place where food costs six hundred coins per stone! It's only a few hundred miles away!"

Qin Hui said.

Quiet, there was another deathly silence, six hundred coins per stone was the price of food in a good year, and the distance of several hundred miles made everyone immediately understand where the place was.

"You mean Liangshan bandits!"

Zhao Huan gritted his teeth and told him this place. He was angry again. The destined emperor actually wanted to buy food from the rebels? This is not to be scolded through the ages.

"Your Majesty, you can't just look at one side of everything. In fact, there is a good side to our Song Dynasty buying food from thieves. Using the thieves' food to feed our soldiers, waiting for the soldiers to be well-fed, and defeating the thieves is also a good talk!"

Qin Hui smiled and expressed his unique insights.

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the court immediately looked at him with admiration. Looking at it this way, things were really different. This was completely the wise court playing tricks on the stupid bandits.

"Great idea! Great idea!"

Zhao Huan smiled happily after hearing this.

"Are you still a member of the Ministry of Household Affairs? I will promote you to the position of a doctor in the Ministry of Household Affairs! You will be responsible for food procurement. If you do well, I will give you a generous reward!"

Zhao Huan looked at Qin Hui and said.

"The minister obeys the order."

Qin Hui saluted immediately.

The meeting ended and everyone left.

Qin Hui went directly to the outer city. Li Gang did not allow the caravan to enter the inner city. They were all enclosed in one place, which saved him trouble.

Qin Hui directly ordered people to gather all the people in the caravan.

"Which of you has been to Shandong and Huainan for business?"

Qin Hui looked at everyone and asked loudly.

No one answered, everyone is not a fool. Shandong and Huainan are the territories of Qi State. If you admit that you are being labeled as a rebel, won't you be dead?

"I now need a few people who have been to Shandong and Huainan to do business. There will be heavy rewards!"

Qin Hui took out a piece of silver and shouted.

Still no one answered. The people here are all members of the caravan. They have traveled far and wide and seen a lot. A piece of silver is nothing in their eyes.

Qin Hui didn't expect this reaction, and he didn't know what to do.

"I am a doctor from the Ministry of Finance. If you are willing to cooperate, I can open the door for you!"

Qin Hui directly took out his trump card. These were caravans, so they had to deal with the government.

As soon as these words came out, someone immediately spoke. Although the Song Dynasty and Qi were hostile, the foundation of the Song Dynasty was commerce. The exchange of caravans was unavoidable, and the court did not strictly investigate it.

Qin Hui asked several people carefully, but in the end they were all dissatisfied.

"Sir, I have been to Jingxi East Road and helped my master run a business for several years!"

Cao Zheng looked at it for a long time before he stepped forward and spoke.

"Oh? Have you been to Jingxi West Road? Do you know some local merchants and landlords?"

Qin Hui immediately looked at Cao Zheng with his eyes lit up.

"I know you, but I haven't been there in the past few years. I don't know if it's still there."

Cao Zheng said carefully.

"Okay, it's you!"

Qin Hui said directly. (End of chapter)