After retiring from the court, it only took an hour for Lu Huiqing's speech in the court and the results of getting the permission of the Son of Heaven to reach the grain guild.

Hearing the news, the face of Jin Ping, the head of the big bank, all changed, and several other heads of the bank almost fell into a panic.

Since the imperial court transferred the power to sell grain to itself, and gave the difference of ten wen per bucket as a subsidy, they no longer have the right to sell grain at a high price. If you still want to stick to the price of one hundred and thirty-five wen per bucket, it is called toasting and not eating and drinking, and the Son of Heaven and the court will never tolerate it.

But the key issue is not here, but the true intentions of Wang Anshi hidden behind it.

Jin Ping's hands and feet were cold, he never thought that Wang Anshi would be so ruthless, in the past hundred years, when did he swing the knife on the heads of the clansmen? Even if Wang Anshi forcibly implemented the clan law in the past, he only cut off his relatives and relatives, and did not say that he wanted to cut off people's heads, so his own family would have nothing to fear. However, Wang Anshi instructed Lu Huiqing to make this proposal at the court meeting, which was clearly to take the lives of their group of grain merchants.

Dizzy in his head, Jin Ping's eyes darkened for a while. Endless remorse welled up in my heart. Originally, it looked like there were ten days left until the end of the year, and success was just around the corner, but I just thought that it would be delayed for two more days, and it would not be a big deal, and it was Wang Anshi who couldn't afford it. But he didn't expect that he would lose his life after such a delay.

What Jin Ping can deduce, most of the capitals can deduce, one by one, they are like mourning and losing their souls. But there are still people who don't understand Wang Anshi's sinister intentions: "Just sell the rice and wheat given by Wang Xianggong and close the door, what are you afraid of?" ”

"How can it be that simple?!" Jin Pingpo's mouthful of blood was really spit out, his lips and teeth were bright red, and his face was hideous. The trembling fingers still pointed at the idiot, "You said that it was sold out, and it was sold out, who would believe the people crowded in front of the door when the time came?" If something happens, do you think Wang Anshi dares to plant all the charges on us?! When the time comes, who will be able to keep their heads?! ”

At this time, everyone understood Wang Anshi's ruthlessness - how could the reluctant minister who changed the law follow the old rules?

"That'...... So what to do? ”

"Let go of all the warehouses...... Jin Ping's heart was burning and panting, and he said reluctantly, "Sell as much as you want, your net worth and life matter!" ”

From the day the edict was announced, there was a long queue in front of every grain store in Tokyo. The grain brought by the government was swept away, and the people who had just bought the rice sent it home, and then they were at the bottom of the queue. Many people lined up again and again, and the current drought people saw it, even if there were only two people in the family, they were eager to stock up on seven or eight stones enough to eat a year's food. This demand cannot be supplied even if the grain sold for the government and the inventory in the store are combined.

Soon, the queue in front of the large and small grain stores stopped moving, and the first two days were arrogant, but the grain store shopkeepers and guys who glanced at people with the corners of their eyes did not dare to hang out the sold-out water signs, and came out one after another, accompanied by a smile to advise the guests who were queuing: "Everyone, the rice and noodles in the small shop have been sold out now, please stay for a while, or come back after a while." ”

But some people didn't buy it, especially when they were almost in the queue, and the people who were told that they had sold out were even more angry: "In the past two months, you have made enough money." Now in order to let you talk about your conscience, Wang Xianggong has posted how much money to buy the road, what do you want?! If you hoard grain and don't sell it, do you really want us to scrape all the money on us?! ”

Wang Anshi and the clan are mortal enemies, who in Tokyo doesn't know? When it comes to political secrets, the people of the capital are clearer than officials from other places. In the case that the price of grain in Tokyo could not be lowered, Wang Anshi handed over the grain to the Tokyo grain store for resale, and people said that this was the prime minister's admission of defeat to the grain merchants in order not to use the regular liquidation. As a result, food prices have fallen, but rice and flour are still hard to buy. The original resentment against Wang Anshi was all transferred to the grain merchants.

"It's just that it's too late for a while," said the shopkeeper of the rice shop as best he could, "and please stay a little longer, the cart carrying the grain will arrive in a moment." ”

"Who wouldn't do it if you procrastinate? Who will believe you?! When you transport the grain for a dozen stones at a time, and a dozen stones at a time, we will have to wait until the Shangyuan Festival next year to buy rice for the New Year! ”

No grain store has a full inventory to meet the needs of the people, and the patience of the people has been exhausted in the past two months of soaring prices. In order to transport enough grain to the city, the grain merchants have mobilized all the transportation capacity at hand, but for all the people queuing in front of the grain store, it is a drop in the bucket.

In this way, the same quarrel appeared in front of every grain store, and in a few grain stores, people even broke into the store and smashed it.

Regardless of whether the grain in the grain store is really sold out or the fake grain is sold out, as long as the people are dissatisfied, even if it is just a noise in front of the grain store and falls into the hands of people with intentions, it is enough to crucify the grain merchants. And the dissatisfaction of the people is unavoidable.

First, the disaster caused food prices to rise, but when the grain arrived in the south, the food prices still could not fall. First give an expectation, and then a basin of cold water, once or twice, this resentment is getting heavier and heavier. Due to the strategies of Wang Yan and Han Gang, the people's grievances have been successfully transferred to the grain merchants, and it is not as taboo as it is against the imperial court. How could it have been avoided for the people to vent their discontent?

"Relying on nepotism, they take money arbitrarily, so that the people's grievances are boiling, like soup in the middle of the ding, which is difficult to suppress." In front of the Son of Heaven, Wang Anshi said sharply: "The capital is unstable, and the world is unstable. Jin Ping and his party worked in the official grain merchants for their own benefit, causing civil unrest in Beijing. When the person who is chasing the words since his birth, punish his sin heavily, and set an example! ”

What else can the grain merchants justify?

It is true that the people are uneasy due to the high price of goods, and it is also true that they sell grain at high prices, and they cannot wash away their crimes. When they did not lower the price of grain as soon as they arrived in Beijing, their fate was already decided.

As soon as this case came out, the grain merchants bore the sin of high prices for two consecutive months. The resentment that Wang Anshi was carrying has dissipated a lot.

Faced with the stumbling block in front of the road by the Tokyo grain merchants, Wang Anshi only had two ways to go. One is to flood it with as much grain as the sea, and the other is very simple, dig up the stumbling blocks.

Wang Anshi can't turn into food. It is impossible to directly open a regular position and sell grain - Han Gang also knew that in the war without gunpowder that happened in later generations, the victorious side relied on extremely abundant resources to do so.

Of course, there is only the second way. This plan was decided as early as when preparations were made to use sleds to transport grain from the south to Beijing. Starting with Wang Yan, Han Gang revised and improved it - Wang Yan, and even all the officials in the court and China today, have a big shortcoming, or historical limitation, that is, they dare not mobilize the masses, while Han Gang has no trouble in this regard at all.

On the other hand, due to age and personality factors, neither Han Gang nor Wang Yan have many taboos about the rules of officialdom. They all like to beat the enemy to death with a stick, rather than you going back and forth.

Under the original circumstances, it was not feasible to deal with grain merchants directly. Seeing that the people are in the predicament of soaring prices, the prime minister does not open a regular position to close the grain price to suppress the grain price, but forces the grain merchants to sell at a low price, which is unreasonable!

If you are not right, how can you convince the public? How can this be justified? ——In the past 100 years, the imperial court first released grain on a large scale, and then strictly ordered the grain merchants to reduce the price, how can there be a hard precedent - the grain merchants will not be convinced in the background, and there will inevitably be a commotion. Moreover, even if the grain merchants cannot hard-top, such a crude approach can be softly delayed.

But when the grain from the south entered Beijing, it was different. Previously, all the people used the people's livelihood and people's hearts as an excuse to attack Wang Anshi, and the resentment of the people was borne by the prime minister who refused to open a warehouse and release grain. But after the grain arrived in Beijing, the grain merchants did not immediately lower the price, and those who deviated from the people's will have already become them. Therefore, what Wang Anshi has to do is to completely throw the resentment on his body to the grain merchant and remove himself.

Let the grievances return, and this time it is the name of righteousness!

easily persuaded the Son of Heaven - Zhao Ji was actually tired of the relatives who were constantly digging up the foundation of the Great Song Dynasty, and with an excuse to prevaricate his grandmother and mother, of course he would only nod his head - the imperial court's handling of the grain merchants was extremely fast.

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the Son of Heaven issued an edict to investigate the illegal behavior of the Tokyo grain store in hoarding and harming the people.

On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, a total of 37 grain merchants from the head of the Tokyo Grain Bank, Jin Ping, to the head of the big bank, searched their homes at the same time, and confiscated countless grains that had not been put into the official treasury, and it was rumored that it was even close to one million stones.

On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kaifeng Mansion, the Trial and Criminal Court, and the Yushitai gave up their vacations under the strict order of the Son of Heaven and started three sessions of trial.

On the twenty-sixth day of the lunar month, grain was sold in Zhucang in Beijing, and more than one million stone was put on the market at a price of 78 wen and one bucket, and the number of grain purchases was no longer restricted.

At the same moment, Han Gang stepped into the front court of the county government: "The guild with the greatest power in Kaifeng is over. ”

Last night, the news came from the city of Tokyo, after the heads of the grain bank were detained, their county lord's wife wanted to cry in the palace, but was rejected by Emperor Cao and Empress Dowager Gao.

"I don't know how it will be judged, but it can't be light!" You Alcohol had no good impression of the merchants, and applauded the imprisonment and punishment of the grain merchants who hoarded the strange grain.

"There will probably be a verdict next year, but the leading ones should be hanged, and the others will be exiled, whether the crime or the whole family depends on the mood of the Son of Heaven."

Han Gang said, his footsteps were abrupt, and Zhu Li knelt in front of the screen door.