Chapter 14 The end of the year is sad

It's already New Year's Eve, but in Daliang City, everyone's mood is not only not happy at all, but also full of worry and uneasiness. This 39 years of Song Zhiping is really unusual.

There has been no good news about the war in the north since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. Bazhou was captured by the Hu people, and the news that Xuzhou is in danger has spread in Beijing. Perhaps as long as the Hu people add a lot of strength, once Xuzhou City is captured, the capital of the Song Dynasty will face the Hu people directly.

According to reason, this is enough to make it difficult for the people of the whole city to feel at ease, but now they don't pay much attention to it. Instead, they pay more attention to another thing, that is, the strange thing that the granary of the grain shops in the hands of those families was suddenly destroyed by fire in the night.

You know, just one day before the incident, there was reliable news from the court, saying that the court had made up its mind to let the major grain merchants reduce the price of grain to half a year ago. For this reason, the people are naturally extremely happy, so that they can finally spend the Spring Festival at ease.

But no one expected that just a day later, several large granaries in Beijing were all on fire, and hundreds of stones of grain were burned clean by this strange fire, leaving only flying ash on the ground. When the people learned about this and ran to the granaries to check, they only saw the spreading fire and a few granary stewants who put out the fire.

Millions of stones of grain were destroyed, which immediately caused the already high grain to rise again, and it was even more impossible for the people to buy food to spend the year, which made the people very sad and angry. At the same time, a surprising rumor began to be constantly spread.

Some people began to spread it a few days later, saying that this time several large granary fires were completely intentional, otherwise how could several granarys in different directions catch fire at the same time? Isn't it too coincidental? And the culprit who caused such a thing, it is not necessary to infer that it is the controllers of the granary, that is, the people of the world.

Because they didn't want to give their food to ordinary people for nothing, they came up with such a bitter plan. Now that grain seems to be completely destroyed by fire, it is impossible for others to buy it at a normal price. As a result, the price of grain in the market will rise again, which is exactly what these grain merchants want to see.

As for their loss, a dozens of times increase in grain has been enough to make up for it, and no one can guarantee that those that were burned are really food. Maybe they hid the grain long before they set it on fire. Everyone only saw the granary being burned, and no one can guarantee that there is really food in that warehouse. Ah.

Although there is not much evidence for this inference, the people who have long lost their trust in the family still accepted this statement smoothly. In their hearts, the family will certainly do such a thing.

Because of this understanding, the resistance of ordinary people in Beijing to those families in the dynasty has reached a peak. Although it seems that they dare not do anything at present, no one can guarantee that there will be no disturbance in this way, and the people who have been bullied and oppressed will not take risks and suddenly break out.

I felt this strange antagonism, which made the officials in Beijing even more nervous. The people patrolling the camp and the Gyeonggi Province have been tightening their strings these days, for fear that a sudden small thing will trigger a big conflict. In such a depressing environment, the Song Dynasty ushered in the New Year's Eve of the 39th year of peace.

The officials in the court did not rest separately because of the upcoming New Year's Eve, especially the six masters who now hold power in the court, and dare not slack off at all. In the early morning of the 30th, several bigwigs took their cars to the public hall in front of the palace for the last consultation.

When Ye Mingyang came out of the carriage, his face turned a little pale, but because he saw the resentment hidden in the eyes of the people who used to be tamed like sheep along the road, and some people even dared to hit his convoy. If Ye Mingyang hadn't issued a strict order to prevent the people below from causing trouble at will, I'm afraid that there would be several conflicts along the way.

Ye Mingyang has not encountered this situation since he entered the officialdom. Although his cultivation is deep, it is difficult to control his anger. But he also understands that this is not the time to be angry. He can only be depressed for a while, and wait until things turn around before looking for those black hands behind him to settle accounts.

Because of this, after entering the lobby of the court, Ye Mingyang, who has always been kind to people, did not say a few words to other colleagues. Of course, others are obviously not in the mood to say that these are useless, because others are not much better than him, and everyone is worried about the current situation.

When the last Chu Ling also came, Lv Zhonghe cleared his throat and said, "Then, let's start."

Since the family came to power, the important decisions in the dynasty have actually come from this court, and the previous dynasty will be more of a formality. At the end of each year, the owners of the seven families will discuss the major events of this year, so as to formulate policies that are more beneficial to themselves and the country for the new year.

But this year's meeting is obviously different, because there are still two big problems that have not been solved. If the final decision cannot be made today, it is hard to say whether the Song Dynasty will have next year.

After everyone nodded, Lv Zhonghe took out a military report: "Today is New Year's Eve, let's say something happy first. Xuzhou has sent good news. With the concerted efforts of the soldiers defending the city, the barbarians who have been in the Central Plains for many days have finally been repulsed. This is the good news and credit book they sent. With that, he passed the military newspaper and a book full of everyone's merits to Ye Mingyang below.

Ye Mingyang and several others just looked at it casually and put it aside. In fact, they all know exactly what's going on in Xuzhou City. Their people there came faster than the good news of the imperial court. Therefore, the idea of these generals taking this opportunity to ask for credit is obviously out of their eyes.

With a cold face, Cui Rixun snorted coldly: "What credit? It's just that the Hu people retreated from the army. If they didn't give the enemy a blow on this opportunity, they were already dereliction of duty. How can they make merit?"

"You can't say that." Wu Jingzi immediately shook his head and said, "They were able to defend Xuzhou after the loss of Bazhou, thus protecting my last line of defense in the Song Dynasty. This is still a great credit. What do you think?"

"Yes, although it is debatable to defeat the enemy, their credit is still great. Without their efforts on the front line, we would not have been able to sit here so safely." Chu Ling also nodded and said yes.

Among the others, except for Lv Zhonghe, who did not express any opinion, others even nodded, thinking that this credit should be recorded for the soldiers in Xuzhou City. In fact, this is not how kind the bosses are. They really don't dare to do anything again now, and they also want to extend their power to the army so that they can get greater guarantees.

After Xu Jinghong's disturbance, they have clearly felt that they have no power in the army, and naturally they can't let go of the opportunity to buy a good army * leader this time.

Lv Zhonghe could figure out their thoughts, but there was nothing he could do. He only said, "What you said is reasonable. Now is a very period, and there is indeed no other incident. Just reward the soldiers on the front line according to the rules of great victory, but now that the treasury can't get the money, just owe it first.

"Okay, then our military department will present a series of opinions on the award after the New Year." Xu Wanyou hurriedly agreed. At this time, he seemed to be several years older than before, and Fang's affairs still hit him a lot, especially this was related to the style of the Xu family, which was actually a little more pressure for him. However, for the sake of the family's status, he will not be absent from such a major meeting.

"Well, that's all for the good news. Next, let's talk about bad things." Ye Mingyang took a deep breath before continuing to say, "Now the situation in Beijing is obvious to all. Do you have anything to say about the fires that happened a few days ago?"

The hall was suddenly quiet, and everyone's faces were a little ugly, especially Cui Rixun and Wu Jingzi. Both of them are running a large grain business. The fire has caused great losses to them, and what makes them more uneasy is the attitude and performance of the people.

After a long silence, Cui Rixun said angrily, "To tell you the truth, this is really not done by our people. The imperial court has reached such a critical moment. No matter how greedy my Cui family is, they will never dare to do such a thing!"

"My Wu family is also ordinary. I have issued a strict order to return the price of 50 yuan to the price of 50 yuan. Unexpectedly, nearly 300,000 stones of grain were burned overnight. Wu Jingzi also frowned and said desperately.

Several colleagues still believe their explanation, because they know that at the level of these people, they don't care much about the amount of money.

"In this way, things are too strange. How can several large granaries catch fire?" Chu Ling also frowned and said, "These granaries are scattered everywhere. If no one does it deliberately in a planned way, it's really hard to convince."

"Of course, someone set fire, but the people of Gyeonggi Province can't find out what happened." Lv Zhonghe smiled bitterly: "Even if the arsoner really left any traces at the scene, he will not be found out after the fire."

"But if we can't find out the truth about this matter, we will have to be charged with fighting for profit with the people. You have also seen that the people in the city have been full of resentment against a family like you and me. If they hadn't been worried about the strict laws of the country, they would have already done it. Ye Mingyang sneered and said, "And once something really happens, it will be very unfavorable to the Song court and the important ministers in the dynasty like you and me. Therefore, whether it is public or private, we must give an explanation to the people as soon as possible.

"I'm afraid it's not enough to have an explanation..." Lv Zhonghe also said: "Now the price of grain in Beijing is really too high. If it goes on like this, after this year, the people will be in danger of not being able to afford food. At that time... Even if they are afraid of the national law, they are afraid of doing something. Therefore, it is imperative to quickly bring the grain price back again.

"How is it easy to talk about this?" Cui Rixun, the minister of the Ministry of Household, smiled bitterly: "If we had a certain amount of food in our hands before, we might have been able to do it easily, but now we have no food, and those with grain are only hundreds of thousands of stones. This grain is really a drop in the hundreds of thousands of people in Daliang City. Moreover, the Ministry of Household can't take out a taels of silver to buy grain now, so the court can't do it.

"Then punish those profiteers who keep rising food prices by law. I'd like to see if they really don't even want their own lives for money!" Cui Rixun said with hatred. His family suffered a disaster, but let others get benefits. Naturally, he will not have a good impression on such a thing.

"I'm afraid it won't work. They don't have much food, and they are not in a hurry to take action at all. If the court really gives such an order, they will only hide the food. In this way, the price of grain has come down, but there is no food to buy on the market. For the people, the result is the same. Lv Zhonghe reminded.

"This doesn't work, and that doesn't work. So what else can we do?" Cui Rixun said impatiently. At this time, it shows the common problem of his children. When they really encounter difficult problems, they have no idea.

"Now, the only way is to transfer food from others. The north and other places have just fought with the Hu people, and there are also great losses. Naturally, they can't count on it. They can only transfer grain to the Jiangnan generation. Lu Zhonghe expressed his opinion.

The other people looked a little embarrassed. In fact, this idea has always been usable and is also on the surface. But because of a certain scruples, they always refused to mention it. Now they are suddenly said by Lv Zhonghe, which is naturally uncomfortable. And the reason lies in the land south of the Yangtze River, which is the foundation of all six of them.

The former Wu took Jiangdong as the foundation and created a country for hundreds of years, which made the culture and education in the south of the Yangtze River flourish, and also greatly developed the power of some families. And the six families of Cui, Xu, Ye, Lv and Chu are the best among these Jiangnan families.

Because the land south of the Yangtze River is their foundation, since the family came to power, it has taken good care of the rich area, and its taxes are much less than that of barren places such as southwest and northwest. This makes Jiangnan richer and richer, and also enables the six families to support any of their actions in the dynasty through this huge behind forces.

And now, for their own security, they have to use the last capital of themselves and others, which no one wants to move, but now they have to move again.

"Guys, now that the national disaster is in the face of the national disaster, we have no better solution, and we must make some sacrifices. In the south of the Yangtze River, it has been taken care of enough in the past 100 years. Now it is just a little bit, which does not hinder the lives of the people there. And once there is civil strife in Daliang City, something really happened to us, and Jiangnan can't protect himself. So the light and important families among them should be able to distinguish them, right? Lv Zhonghe's words are long-hearted.

After a long silence, several people finally relaxed: "Lv Xiang's consideration is right. We can't ignore the current crisis because of our consistent habits. Just write to the Jiangnan states and ask them to raise food and silver. Since you are going to use the old capital, you will naturally have to take some money, otherwise the treasury will really bottom out.

"Okay, I'll write to you as soon as I get back. In addition, the meaning of the court was also clearly sent out to calm the hearts of the people. As long as you survive this paragraph, all problems will no longer exist. Lu Zhonghe finally had a little smile.

"You mean they are going to use Jiangnan's power?" The emperor squinted and asked Huang Yuedao in front of him.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is a point that the old slave can be sure of."

"It seems that the current situation has made them panic." The emperor smiled, but then frowned again: "But in this way, my strategy of taking this opportunity to attack them will be blocked."

"Your Majesty, we should still put the overall situation first..." Huang Yue boldly advised again.

But as he thought, the emperor was not moved by this at all: "The overall situation, this is just their overall situation. What does it have to do with me? I have understood that the world now is the world of the family. If you want to regain power from them, you must do extraordinary things! Now that you have done it for the first time, you might as well do it again!"

"Your Majesty means..."

"The south of the Yangtze River is thousands of miles away from the beam. The people they sent may always make mistakes, so let them be given..." The emperor said with a chill in his eyes.

"The old slave knows, and I'll arrange it."

Huang Yue promised to go out, but was stopped by the emperor: "Wow, I haven't finished my words yet. This is just the first move. Just in case, you let someone spread a message to the Green Forest Road along the road, that is to say that the family has a large amount of gold and silver to send to the capital. There must be people who are not afraid of death who will cause some trouble for them.

"This is external. In the beam, our people should also spread more information and must completely arouse the anger of the people before the arrival of food. The effect a few days ago was not good. This time, we can talk more about what the previous family has done to make the people feel their own insecurity, so that the conflict will be greater. Just do these two things."

"The old slave obeys the order!" Huang Yue looked at the emperor and was secretly worried. He didn't know what kind of chaos would happen in the Song Dynasty...