roccoschili Chapter 127 Floods, Food Prices
Chapter 127 Floods, Food Prices
"Finally, Father can order a 'harvest blessing banquet' to be held in the palace, or in one of the most prosperous areas of the capital, inviting dignitaries, wealthy merchants, and representatives of the people. Show them the disaster relief funds the court has already raised to reassure the people. Then, publicly expose the evidence of the major families manipulating grain prices and hoarding grain."
As Xiao Yuzhi finished speaking, the emperor and Gu Li fell into deep thought at the same time. The entire Shangshufang was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"Oh? What's next?" the emperor continued to ask.
"The next step is even easier."
Xiao Yuzhi took a deep breath and continued, "Faced with public accusations and condemnation, these aristocratic families will surely be eager to find a way out. Father only needs to tell them that if they are willing to sell their stored grain at a fair price and donate a portion for disaster relief, the court will forgive their past illegal activities.
On the contrary, if they disagree, they will not only face disgrace, but also possible disaster.
If you agree, you will have to swallow this loss."
boom!
As Xiao Yuzhi finished speaking, the emperor and Gu Li seemed to have seen in their minds the scene of the aristocratic families gritting their teeth, but having to swallow their anger.
Just thinking about it makes me feel relieved!
The imperial power has been suppressed by the aristocratic families for too long, so long that people like Guo Xiang have become so arrogant that they are ready to challenge the imperial power.
If Xiao Yuzhi's plan is implemented, it would be a good opportunity to inflict heavy damage on the aristocratic families and solve the flood problem in the south of the Yangtze River, killing two birds with one stone.
"But this will inevitably require a large number of manpower to infiltrate the aristocratic families and search for evidence of their corruption and abuse of power. Gu Li, I'll leave this matter to you."
Gu Li nodded, looked at Xiao Yuzhi with deep eyes, and exclaimed:
"I've long heard that the Sixth Prince is incredibly talented and brilliant. He stole the show at the banquet hosted by the Chu envoys. At first, I thought everyone was exaggerating. Now, it seems I was being delusional. The Sixth Prince truly deserves the title of a child prodigy. Gu Li admires him."
As Gu Li spoke, he clasped his fists and bowed towards Xiao Yuzhi.
Xiao Yuzhi was flattered and quickly turned sideways to avoid Gu Li's gift. At the same time, he returned the gift:
"Master Gu, you are too kind. To be honest, this was all taught by Aunt Qiu Ning. I am just offering my services to her."
Xiao Yuzhi's face was filled with shame.
The emperor beside him also had an expression of sudden enlightenment after hearing this, and shook his head and laughed:
"I was just saying, why does this smell so familiar? It turns out to be Qiu Ning. Ha, even I have to sigh, this method is really wonderful!"
The emperor stroked his chin, looking relaxed.
Gu Li, as if she had heard something incredible, confirmed, "Qiu Ning?"
The emperor beside him smiled and explained, "Speaking of Qiu Ning, Gu Li, you may not know her yet. This woman is truly an extraordinary person."
Then, the emperor briefly and clearly told Gu Li about Qiu Ning's behavior at the Chu State delegation's welcoming banquet, and said:
"You don't know, but Qiu Ning, although she's a slave in the cold palace, I've already agreed to let her be Xiaoliu's female tutor. She's also been appointed a female consort in the palace. Furthermore, she's been instrumental in offering advice on how to address the floods in the south of the Yangtze River. Gu Li, tell me, what should I reward her with next?"
Although Qiu Ning was the manipulator behind the Sixth Prince and cultivated him, for the sake of the royal family's reputation, she could never publicly say that the Sixth Prince was so powerful because of her.
Therefore, her identity determined that she could only quietly become the person behind the Sixth Prince and could not stand in the sun.
Unless she can restore her previous status as the daughter of the prime minister.
But this would mean that the emperor would have to overturn the previous verdict and rehabilitate Qiu Xiang's family.
Thinking of this, even the emperor couldn't help but sigh: "Although Qiu Chengde is too clever for his own good, I have to admit that he did give birth to a good daughter."
After digesting this fact, Gu Li on the side couldn't help but add, "Your Majesty, has it never occurred to you that Prime Minister Qiu's family might have been wrongly accused?"
The emperor narrowed his eyes dangerously, "What do you mean by that?"
Qiu Xianggui was the prime minister, but he was convicted of participating in the rebellion against the king by the joint trial of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple.
If this is also a wrongful case, then doesn't it mean that even the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are...
When he thought of this, the emperor's face couldn't help but look a little ugly.
Having said this, Gu Li no longer cared about anything else and immediately expressed his suspicions and the clues and evidence he had found during this period of time.
Upon hearing this, the Sixth Prince, standing by, also volunteered, "Father, I cannot believe that Aunt Qiu Ning is such a good person, and her father is such a narrow-minded and ambitious minister. I beg you, Father, to thoroughly investigate the case of Prime Minister Qiu's family and give him justice."
The emperor's eyes flickered constantly. According to Gu Li, there were indeed many doubts in this case.
At that time, Qiu Chengde also spoke righteously in the court, saying that he was wronged, but under the criticism of Guo Xiang and his party, he was eventually defeated. In anger, he was stripped of his official position on the spot and exiled.
But disaster relief is the most important thing right now, and the aristocratic families headed by Guo Xiang and others are still useful, so it is obviously not possible to alert the enemy at this time.
The emperor then said to the Sixth Prince, "I will keep this matter in mind. Once the Jiangnan incident is resolved, if this is true, I can take this opportunity to strike at the aristocratic families."
The emperor stood by the window, looking up at the imperial city in the distance, his heart full of ambition, determined to bring order to the court.
In addition, in order to prevent Guo Xiang and others from taking desperate measures, the emperor also ordered Gu Li to secretly mobilize 30,000 black-armored soldiers to form a protective force and station them around the imperial city.
This commotion naturally alarmed Prime Minister Guo, King Yong and others.
Privately, all officials were speculating about what the emperor was planning to do.
Soon, a rumor spread in the capital. There was a flood in the south of the Yangtze River this year, and the State of Chu was eyeing it covetously, wanting to take advantage of the civil unrest in Daxia to launch an attack and get a piece of the pie. The price of grain next year would only be higher and more outrageous.
Of course, to form such a rumor, the cooperation of the State of Chu is indispensable, and Chu Shaochen naturally played a big role in this.
But at that time, he was a hostage in the imperial palace, so he had no choice but to cooperate with Daxia. He could only write a letter to the King of Chu, telling him that he needed to feign mobilization of troops and make plans to attack Daxia.
The reason for sending troops was to demand that Daxia return their crown prince.
Therefore, when this rumor spread, in order to protect Chu Shaochen's safety, the emperor specially ordered people to protect Chu Shaochen for twelve hours.
As Qiu Ning had analyzed, the common people in the market and some wealthy businessmen quickly joined the ranks of those rushing to buy food.
The price of grain rose to an incredible level in a short period of time, from 50 wen per dou to 110 wen.
However, the officials from the aristocratic families headed by Guo Xiang and others knew clearly that the war against Chu could not be fought at all. They speculated that someone spread such rumors probably because he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune and profit from the national disaster.
At this time, several staff members of Prime Minister Guo's party gathered in the study of the Prime Minister's residence to discuss countermeasures.