Wang E is already at an age where he knows his destiny. Although he is extremely well-maintained, it is still unbearable to bend down for a long time.

But with Han Gongduan suddenly attacking, the situation instantly became very dangerous.

The reason is that Han Gongduan lacked strong enough support before. Qinzhou officials like Song Ximeng and Lu Qi have long been entangled in various relationships, and the most important thing is that they are all civil servants and cannot command Cheng Jingwei and Yongping.

guard.

After so many years, Qinzhou's local Liangweixiang Army has long been fed by rich families with money. They do not need to risk breaking the law and go against the imperial envoy. They only need to strictly abide by military rules at critical moments.

However, with the arrival of Pei Yue, Han Gongduan's confidence immediately became stronger, especially since Pei Yue killed Chen Xinjia with a knife yesterday. The Chengjing Guards stationed in the city were leaderless, and the Beiwei camp brought by Pei Yue could be killed and captured.

Wang E endured the pain and continued to bow, because Han Gongduan's attack was not over yet.

"Whether there is any hidden grain in Qinzhou, you know this better than me. Your methods are not unscrupulous. You have racked your brains to separate your family from those grain merchants, so that you can stand on the dry bank and be alone. In addition,

On the one hand, you

They took out those nearly moldy grains and opened porridge shops to stop the mouths of the world. But have you ever thought that this world belongs to His Majesty? If you are allowed to usurp the land, what will happen to Your Majesty?

What’s the use of being more stable?”

Han Gongduan looked at the groveling middle-aged man with cold eyes, and said in a cold voice: "Wang E, your Wang family is prosperous, including thousands of people from far and near branches, but I don't know how long you can hold back Zhongshan Hou's Beiwei camp.

?”

Wang Qi and other young officials felt that the atmosphere was gradually becoming suffocating. Over there, the heads of the aristocratic families such as Sun Mingchun and Yu Guangcun were not much better. They thought that Pei Yue, a murderer, would be difficult to deal with, but they did not expect that Han Gongduan, who seemed pedantic before, turned out to be even more brutal.

Wang E's face turned pale, his thoughts were racing, and his eyes looking at the ground were extremely complex.

After the founding of the Liang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu learned from the lessons of the collapse of the former Wei Dynasty. He was not strict with farmers' land taxes, but increased the proportion of commercial taxes year by year, which made the situation in the states quite stable. I remember what Pei Yue heard when he first came to Luliu Village.

He couldn't help but be very surprised that the rent was 20%. Although he didn't know much about this in his previous life, 20% was still a very low amount as can be imagined.

Precisely because the taxes were acceptable, the people of Daliang were not willing to give up their own fields.

The same is true here in Qinzhou. The aristocratic families want to recreate the scenery of the former Wei Dynasty. In the past hundred years, they have secretly tried every means to appropriate the fields of ordinary people, turn those people into their own slaves, and control their destiny, life and death. It cannot be said that they are ineffective.

It's just that this progress is obviously too slow.

This year, there has been a disaster in Qinzhou that has not been seen in hundreds of years. The summer grain harvest in the entire territory is almost impossible. This is a godsend opportunity for the wealthy families. They are not short of food, but if they want to sell it at the same price as in previous years, no one will do anything.

They were unwilling to do this. The most important thing was that the heads of the seven families headed by Wang E all realized that this was an excellent opportunity to embezzle a large amount of land.

Then there were incidents such as Qinzhou having no food to sell, and hungry people attacking the imperial envoy's camp.

Now Han Gongduan was on the verge of killing him, and Wang E knew that success or failure depended on this move.

If they cannot withstand the pressure of the Dongfu to participate in politics, the plans of the various families will fail, and they will give others a handle, which is equivalent to admitting that the previous things were their own doings. If they do not agree, how can these two people in front of them be able to

Found the evidence? Wang E has already taken care of everything. Even the servant who gave Chen Xinjia gifts a few days ago has been locked up. He doesn't think that two strong dragons can turn Qinzhou upside down.

Even if they could do this, the people of Qinzhou would have already started to make trouble.

Thinking of this, Wang E said with even more respect: "Your Majesty, the imperial envoy, please calm down. The common people are not uneducated barbarians. How can they not know that the king's law is supreme and no one can offend the power of God? My lord, the common people are willing to contribute a share for disaster relief."

If you don't have enough power, tomorrow I'll ask the children at home to send half of the stored grain, totaling three thousand dan, to the court free of charge to express my feelings."

"The common people are willing to donate two thousand stones."

"The common people are willing to donate 1,500 stones."

Sun Mingchun and others followed one after another. Although they felt a little sad in their hearts, they also knew that stepping into the Jade Pavilion today and leaving unscathed would be a fool's errand. If they only paid for this small amount of food, it would be insignificant compared to the harvest in the future.

Han Gongduan looked at these people with indifferent eyes and sneered a few times.

Just as he was about to speak, Pei Yue said warmly: "Master Han, please sit down."

Han Gongduan turned to look at him in confusion.

Pei Yue said: "I have calculated that these people donated a total of 11,000 shi of food, which can probably feed the people of Zhangde Mansion for two days. Although it is only a drop in the bucket, it can be regarded as sincerity after all. Master Han, please don't be angry, listen.

How about I say a few words?"

Han Gongduan sat down slowly and said without a smile: "Marquis Pei, please speak."

Pei Yue turned to Wang E and said: "Mr. Wang, please sit down first. I see how old you are. If you fall here, you will definitely attract criticism."

Wang E thanked him profusely, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his face, then sat down with his butt half up, and the people at the other two tables also took their seats under the signal from Pei Yue's eyes.

Pei Yue held the wine cup and drank half the cup, and said calmly: "Of course there is truth to what Mr. Han said. Mr. Wang, please don't deny it in a hurry. I only want to ask you one thing. Your families have been thriving in Qinzhou for hundreds of years.

And it’s getting more and more prosperous, what’s the reason?”

Wang E was at a loss for words, and after a long while he said with difficulty: "Pei Hou's many praises, in fact, those are just false names."

Pei Yue smiled and said slowly: "Whether it's a false reputation or a solid foundation, the Seven Families in Chengjing are considered powerful even if they don't block out the sun. You can't deny this. I also have several families in Kyoto.

I am quite familiar with the ways of business, and I know that buying low and selling high is the only way for a merchant to make a fortune, is that correct?"

Wang E became more and more confused. Pei Yue did not take advantage of the opportunity created by Han Gongduan to add fuel to the fire. Suddenly the conversation changed to talking about merchant skills. What mystery was hidden in this?

Seeing that he didn't respond, Pei Yue didn't take it seriously and continued: "Many people think that if you want to make money, you have to seize the opportunity between buying and selling, and if you want to make more money, you have to pay more capital. Just take

Regarding the drought in Qinzhou this time, I don’t believe that those grain merchants really

If there is no food, they must have purchased an astonishing amount of food, and are just waiting for the rice price to reach the highest point before selling it bit by bit. However, if the price of rice does not rise, these people will not only fail to make money, but will be

Hoarding mountains of food is dragging us to death."

Pei Yue looked at the seven masters headed by Wang E with a smile, and asked unhurriedly: "Are you right?"
Chapter completed!