Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 266: I am only the emperor's disciple, how dare I claim to be an upright official!
"His Majesty!"

"Not all southerners are disloyal or unrighteous. I have also advised my relatives and friends to buy ships, grain and cloth."

"Once the imperial court's accumulated goods have been sold through the supply and marketing channels, it will be almost time for a large number of goods to arrive in Beijing!"

"At that time, the taxes at each bank will increase greatly!"

"At the same time, the grain transport will no longer be controlled by Nanzhi!"

Zhu Houcong felt much better after hearing this and nodded:
"very good!"

"I see the weather is good today. The heavy snow has just stopped and the sky is clear. You should accompany me, wear plain clothes and take an ordinary carriage to go out and see if the supply and marketing shop has solved the problem of prices in the capital, and take a look at the people's sentiments."

Zhu Houcong continued speaking.

Fei Hong and Wang Qiong nodded in agreement.

When Zhu Houcong, Fei Hong and Wang Qiong came out of the West Chang'an Gate.

Zhu Houcong saw the entire huge West Chang'an Street, with red lanterns hung in every house, pavilions and towers hidden behind high blue brick walls, and the sound of stringed instruments and orchestras could be heard from outside from time to time.

at the same time.

The Jinyiwei in plain clothes also scattered in all directions like a swarm of bees leaving their nest.

Those on horseback left West Chang'an Street first, looked around attentively for a while at the intersection, and then went somewhere else.

Some secret guards had already gone to many teahouses and restaurants at the intersection of West Chang'an Street and Xuanwumen Inner Street in advance, and looked around from the windows. Some even used monoculars to read the information composed of different colored flags by the secret guards on the opposite side, and said to the officers in their own rooms:

"The other side said they found nothing unusual!"

"Let them explore again!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Houcong continued to look outside through the car curtain.

West Chang'an Street is inhabited by high-ranking officials, so it is relatively quiet. No ordinary people can be seen, and apart from the melodious sounds of stringed instruments and orchestras, no shouting can be heard.

The homes of these high-ranking officials were all blocked by high walls. Apart from the spectacular stone lions in front of the gate and the imposing red doors on the high steps, one could not see how magnificent the interiors were.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong could only get a rough idea from the outside, and pointed to a place with densely packed tall buildings on the right side and asked:

"This is Xiaoshiyongfang, right?"

"Back to Your Majesty, yes."

Wang Qiong replied with a smile at this time.

Zhu Houcong asked: "Which dignitaries live in Yongfang these days?"

"Your Majesty, there was Li Wenda (Li Xian), the chief minister during the Ying Temple, and Li Wenzheng (Li Dongyang), the chief minister during the Wu Temple."

Fei Hong took the initiative to reply at this time.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong said: "No wonder we can see so many tall buildings even through the high walls."

Wang Qiong took the opportunity to step forward and said to Zhu Houcong:

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, Lord Li Wenda passed on his legacy to Lord Li Wenzheng, and Lord Li Wenzheng passed on his legacy to Grand Tutor Yang. Now it has come to Yuanfu. They are all leaders of the Qing Dynasty, and they all come from the same family, and the earliest can be traced back to the time when the Three Yangs assisted the country!"

Wang Qiong's words made Fei Hong frown even more tightly, and he hurriedly said to Zhu Houcong:

"His Majesty!"

"I have not inherited any legacy from Grand Tutor Yang, nor am I a leader of the Qingliu School. I was promoted to the position of Prime Minister because of your Majesty's promotion! If you ask me who my disciple is, I can only say that I am your Majesty's disciple of the Son of Heaven!"

"I know that what Lord Wang said today was indeed provocative!"

Zhu Houcong nodded and said something about Wang Qiong.

Wang Qiong quickly pleaded guilty.

Zhu Houcong pardoned him.

After a while, the group arrived at the intersection of West Chang'an Avenue leading to Xuanwumennei Street.

As soon as he reached the street corner, Zhu Houcong heard faint shouting and began to see people running on the street inside Xuanwumen.

Click!

Zhu Houcong even heard the sound of beheading.

Following the sound, Zhu Houcong discovered that a group of soldiers were forcing several young men with their hands tied behind their backs to kneel on the ground under an archway.

In addition, there were several green snakes that had been killed on the ground.

Xiong Jia was standing here, shouting to the crowd:

"Whoever instructs the scoundrels to stop the people from trading in the official shop again will end up like this! And don't tell me who is behind you. If you have the guts, ask him to come out and identify you, and give me a chance to report them!"

The crowd of onlookers was silent.

"Okay!"

Zhu Houcong couldn't help but sigh, and then asked:
"Where is the nearest supply and marketing store?"

"Your Majesty, one hundred steps south is the shop on Xuanwumen Inner Street."

Fei Hong replied with a smile.

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this and said: "No wonder they are all heading south."

Soon, Zhu Houcong also arrived here by carriage, and asked someone to park the carriage at the parking space designated by the City Supervision Bureau, while he and a group of officials watched the situation of the supply and marketing shop in the carriage.

At this time, this supply and marketing store located on Xuanwumen Inner Street was already crowded with people, and there was a long queue outside the store.

Because it was close to the New Year, many people needed to buy grain, cloth, charcoal and other commercial goods. In addition, the prices in the supply and marketing shops were indeed relatively cheap, and the goods they sold were all top-quality goods for official and even palace use, so many people came to buy, from high-ranking officials to ordinary people.

Of course, whenever there is such a good thing that ordinary people can take advantage of, in addition to queues, there will also be purchase restrictions.

Zhu Houcong saw that the supply and marketing store had also put up a purchase restriction sign.

The more restrictions were imposed on purchases, the more enthusiastic people in the capital became about buying. Therefore, more and more people came to buy, for they were afraid that they would come too late and would not be able to buy these goods that came from the national treasury and the inner treasury as in-kind taxes.

"Are you all fucking deaf? I told you to line up, line up, why are you in such a hurry?"

Although the soldiers who were temporarily transferred from the emperor's personal army to serve as salesmen behaved very domineeringly and did not hesitate to curse and push, many soldiers and civilians still rushed in regardless, wanting to buy the goods as soon as possible.

Zhu Houcong just smiled faintly when he saw this, but when he saw that the people who bought the goods returned home happily, and most of them returned with their carts fully loaded, he was even more delighted.

Because this means that both the inner treasury and the national treasury will earn a lot of silver dollars.

After all, the market prices of all kinds of goods are high nowadays, especially luxury goods, and there are no goods coming from the south, so only the court can make this money.

Zhu Houcong also saw with his own eyes that large blue mules constantly pulled goods from Taicang, Tianfu and other warehouses into these supply and marketing shops, and then turned into carts of silver dollars and were transported back to the warehouses.

Zhu Houcong therefore wanted to thank the powerful and wealthy for going on strike.

"Go check out the porridge factory!"

After seeing the situation at the supply and marketing store, Zhu Houcong asked to see the porridge factory and took a horse-drawn carriage to the outside of the city.

Because the porridge factory was located outside the city, Zhu Houcong also came outside the city.

Since the capital is the best place in the world, many bankrupt people across the country choose the capital as the destination for their escape, especially those who live near the capital.

As a result, there were many more hungry people in the capital at the end of each year.

Because there is often a lack of work at the end of the year, many new people are likely to become hungry.

Every year, the imperial court would set up a porridge factory in the capital to provide relief for the hungry.
This year is no exception.

Moreover, there was indeed a famine in Liaodong in the third year of Jiajing, so there were many more hungry people than in previous years, so naturally more porridge factories had to be set up.

The porridge factory is naturally not profitable. It uses old grains and sand in stock to cook porridge, so the cost is not high. The money earned from the destocking of the national treasury and the internal treasury is enough to offset this part of the cost.

Therefore, Xi Shu, the Minister of Revenue who was personally in charge of the matter, intended to be more generous to the hungry people, so he directly requested that a porridge factory be set up every fifty steps outside the capital, and a porridge factory be set up every ten miles on the road from the capital to Jizhou and Tongzhou.

Therefore, when Zhu Houcong was leaving the city, he saw dense smoke rising from the white snow, as if the entire land of the capital was breathing, constantly emitting warm air.

"When the spring comes and the Earl of Changhua and the Earl of Yutian build a large number of houses on the wasteland in the west of Pumai, they will be able to use these hungry people."

"But we still need to help Zhenyuan Hou open a mine in Korea as soon as possible, so as to reduce the number of hungry people running to the interior."

Zhu Houcong had already discovered that many of these starving people were Mongolians and Jurchens, so he told the cabinet ministers Fei Hong and Wang Qiong so.

The two nodded in agreement.

Afterwards, Zhu Houcong ordered his men to return to the palace, and Fei Hong, Wang Qiong and others also returned home.

As soon as Fei Hong returned home, he learned that Wu Yipeng and Tong Rui had sent letters asking for a meeting.

Fei Hong met the two men.

"Prince, since the imperial court has set up official stores like the Supply and Marketing Store, why do they want them to continue the strike?"

"I really don't understand, please enlighten me, Prime Minister!"

Wu Yipeng asked first.

Tong Rui followed up and said, "Yes, isn't this a big loss for the gentry in the world?"

Wu Yipeng continued to ask: "So, what exactly is Yuan Fu thinking? Can you tell me clearly?"

"As someone who never forgets the kindness of the temple, how could I have any bad intentions?"

"I asked you to continue the strike because I know that the court will be at its wit's end after the establishment of the official shops! By then, Your Majesty will have made enough money by opening the official shops, and the gentry will have forced the court to sell all the accumulated goods through the strike, and Zhang Fujing will have built the warships. Then it will be time to abolish the new tax policy and punish the traitors."

Fei Hong stroked his long beard and said with a smile that seemed very wise.

"So, we want them to continue the strike?"

Wu Yipeng asked Fei Hong hurriedly.

"Of course!"

Fei Hong answered without hesitation, and asked with a smile: "How can you survive without burning your boats?"

"After the New Year, when most of the physical goods in the court's inventory have been sold out and most of the treasury is filled with silver dollars, the outcome will be clear. After all, the court can't let its officials and soldiers live on silver dollars!"

Wu Yipeng nodded after hearing this: "Then let's listen to Yuan Fu and wait and see after the New Year!"

"Okay, the New Year is just a few days away anyway."

Tong Rui nodded.

In a blink of an eye, it was the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the fourth year of Jiajing.

Wu Yipeng received a letter from Wang Ao that day.

As soon as he finished reading the letter, he began to breathe rapidly and said breathlessly: "Fei Qianshan, you old thief Fei, you are so shameless!"

(End of this chapter)