Zhao Junchen's back-up plan was that he did not immediately give the antidote to Song Qili, apparently because he was worried that Song Qili would break the contract and refuse to admit his debt.
The credibility of the "Zhou Party" has always been pretty good, but in the face of huge interests, the word "credibility" has become insignificant.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen only promised that he would help Zhou Shangjing detoxify, but did not promise to reveal more information to the "Zhou Party", whether it was the specific identity of the poisoner or the specific methods used by the poisoner.
Song Qili would definitely agree to this deal anyway, so Zhao Junchen was naturally unwilling to pay more chips.
If the "Zhou Party" wants to know more information, they need to exchange more benefits.
Song Qili's backup plan was that he only promised not to interfere in the situation in Xingzhou from now on, but the various layouts that the "Zhou Party" had left in Xingzhou would not be removed.
In fact, after the situation has developed to this point, it can be said that the arrow is on the string and it is too late to withdraw.
All in all, the "Zhou Party" just decided not to add fuel to the flames and stop giving full support to the Jin gentry. However, whether Zhao Junchen can successfully resolve the situation in Xingzhou still depends on Zhao Junchen's own methods.
At the same time, Song Qili would never help Zhao Junchen settle the situation in Xingzhou, otherwise the "Zhou Party" would become traitors to the Jin gentry class, and the losses might be even greater.
Zhao Junchen and Song Qili are both smart people. They both saw the backhand left by the other, and they both knew the other's psychological bottom line, so they did not take the opportunity to make more demands, so they tacitly understood
, and quickly reached a tacit understanding.
Under the current situation, although the two parties had reached a deal, it was not the time for further negotiations. In addition, Song Qili was eager to inform his brother Song Qiwen of the relevant news, so he quickly got up to say goodbye and left in a hurry.
*
Looking at Song Qili's leaving figure, Zhao Junchen nodded with satisfaction and murmured to himself: "This Song Qili has ideas, knowledge, determination, and responsibility. He is indeed a talent! And such a talent, in'
There are many among the Zhou Party. Zhou Shangjing is obviously a good teacher and has taught many good students. He can be said to have a profound foundation...
As Zhou Shangjing is approaching the end of his life, I must also prepare in advance. After Zhou Shangjing dies of old age and illness, there may be an opportunity to gradually merge with the forces of the 'Zhou Party'...or in other words, merge with the forces of the 'Zhou Party'
As one body! Otherwise, it would be a pity that many of the talents of the 'Zhou Party' cannot be used by me..."
As he muttered to himself, Zhao Junchen's expression did not show much hope and greed, but instead he was full of worries.
The "Zhou Party" is essentially the spokesperson for the power of the officials and gentry. Therefore, the talents of the "Zhou Party" are not only due to Zhou Shangjing's discerning eye for people and good teaching, but also because the vast majority of talents in this era were originally from
The gentry class has abundant educational resources.
Under this nature, the "Zhou Party" also has very obvious class limitations, that is, it is traditional and conservative, always trying to maintain the status quo, clinging to vested interests, and unwilling to take risks and try new things, so they will use the Xingzhou layout
, in an attempt to overthrow Zhao Junchen’s new agricultural reform policy.
Therefore, although Zhao Junchen is also greedy for the talents and influence of the "Zhou Party" and intends to wait for Zhou Shangjing's death to gradually annex the "Zhou Party", Zhao Junchen does not think that he can control the behemoth of the "Zhou Party" as easily as Zhou Shangjing.
Maybe, after Zhao Junchen gradually annexes the "Zhou Party", he will encounter more internal constraints.
In comparison, the "Zhao Party" is a combination of interests of corrupt officials and businessmen. Although it is also closely related to the gentry class, it is more radical and bold in considering interests, and under the continuous guidance of Zhao Junchen
Next, he is willing to take risks and try new business methods, and he is also willing to give up some old interests for more benefits. He is not as conservative as the "Zhou Party", so Zhao Junchen only needs to continue to make the cake bigger and find new benefits for his cronies.
The growth point is, on the contrary, very easy to control.
Both greedy and fearful, under such complicated thoughts, Zhao Junchen slowly shook his head and laughed at himself: "Thinking too far, let's find a way to control the situation in Xingzhou first!"
After saying that, Zhao Junchen turned his head and glanced out the window, only to find that the sky was getting dark, so he stood up, stretched, and quickly left Qingshan Pavilion with Xu Qingyan.
When leaving Qingshan Pavilion, he saw Xu Qingyan quietly following behind him without saying a word. This kind of calm performance was certainly a kind of growth, but Zhao Junchen felt a little uncomfortable with it.
So, Zhao Junchen took the initiative to stir up the topic and said with a smile as he walked: "It's really tiring after a whole day of scheming and intrigue... But it can be considered a fruitful outcome. Not only did he successfully convince Zhang Su, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, to change,
We also force the 'Zhou Party' forces to stop interfering in our stance, so we no longer have any worries and can focus on dealing with the official and gentry forces in Xingzhou!"
Xu Qingyan nodded slightly and reminded in a hoarse voice: "Don't underestimate the enemy, Jin Shen is not easy to deal with either."
"Of course I will not underestimate the enemy, but after the Xingzhou officials and gentry lost their foreign aid, we are indeed much more relaxed!"
While talking and laughing like this, Zhao Junchen and Xu Qingyan boarded the carriage and quickly disappeared into the night.
*
Zhao Junchen believed that he did not underestimate the enemy, but he still seriously underestimated the arrogance and unscrupulousness of the Xingzhou Jin gentry!
In fact, Zhao Junchen did not know the next plan of the Xingzhou Jin gentry from beginning to end.
Liu Zimin is really incompetent. He has been working in Xingzhou for half a year, but he has never tried to bribe relevant personnel to become his informants. Therefore, Zhao Junchen has almost no intelligence capabilities in Xingzhou.
If he hadn't gotten a lot of information from Wu Sangui by chance, Zhao Junchen would have been blind in Xingzhou.
Although Song Qili reached a deal with Zhao Junchen, he still deliberately concealed the news that the Xingzhou Jin gentry wanted to significantly increase the price of grain, obviously because he wanted to see Zhao Junchen making a fool of himself.
The reason why Zhao Junchen could easily eavesdrop on the conversation between Song Qili and Song Song was because Song Qili was only accompanied by a long-term attendant, and there were many loopholes in his vigilance.
But when Xingzhou officials and gentry gathered in Qingshan Pavilion yesterday evening to discuss countermeasures, they all brought a large number of entourages and surrounded Qingshan Pavilion. It can be said that they were heavily guarded, so naturally Zhao Junchen could not be found.
There was no opportunity for eavesdropping, so not much useful information was collected.
Wait until the next morning, when Liu Zimin hurriedly visited Zhao Junchen and reported the latest grain prices in Xingzhou to Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen was naturally caught off guard and shocked. He even suspected that there was something wrong with his ears.
"Say it again! How much have food prices increased?"
Hearing Zhao Junchen's stern question, Liu Zimin replied with a grimace: "It has increased nearly three times! Just overnight, the price of food in Xingzhou City has increased by nearly three times! The price of one stone of rice yesterday
It’s still about one tael and five taels of silver, but this morning it has become as high as 5 taels of silver, and this increase has quickly spread to all counties and townships in Xingzhou!”
[Currently used, it is the most complete and best-used app for listening to books. It integrates 4 major speech synthesis engines and over 100 sounds. It is also a source-changing artifact and app that supports offline reading]
"Five taels of silver? Five taels of silver!? Are the Xingzhou Jin gentry crazy? Xingzhou is located near the capital. One tael and five cents for one stone of rice is already too high. Considering that a civil unrest in Xingzhou has just ended,
It’s still acceptable…but five taels of silver? Five taels of silver?!”
Zhao Junchen could no longer suppress the anger in his heart and smashed the tea cup in his hand. His originally handsome and elegant features became distorted and hideous!
Not only was he angry at the attack that the Xingzhou Jin gentry had prepared for him, but he was also furious at the Xingzhou Jin gentry's boldness and madness!
Throughout the past dynasties, grain prices in the Ming Dynasty have always been very reasonable and stable.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the price of rice was extremely low. Each stone of rice cost only two cents and five cents. One tael of silver could buy four stones of rice.
Such extremely low food prices have been maintained for a long time. Only during the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Di led his army to conquer Mongolia, there was a slight increase. However, after the conquest ended, the price quickly returned to normal prices. Even in border areas, the price of one stone of rice was at most
Half a tael of silver.
It lasted until the Hongzhi period. Due to the mediocre abilities of Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang of the Ming Dynasty and his lack of achievements in both civil and martial arts, the price of rice per stone gradually increased to between half a tael of silver and one tael of silver.
It is worth mentioning that although after Zhu Youtang ascended the throne, his civil and military skills were not outstanding, and the price of food among the people also hit new highs, but because he was "generous and kind", "opened up the road of speech" and "can correct his mistakes when he knows them"
", so those literati who hold the pen speak highly of him, saying that he created the "Hongzhi ZTE", but this "ZTE" is obviously just the ZTE of the officials and gentry, and has nothing to do with ordinary people.
After Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, came to the throne, this absurd emperor who was regarded by the literati as "repressing civil servants", "emphasizing eunuchs", and "luxuriating in sexual pleasures" not only won a great victory in Yingzhou with his own military expedition, but also successfully pacified the
During the Rebellion of King Ning, the price of food among the people also continued to decrease. The price of one stone of rice generally remained at around four qian silver. The highest price in the border areas was eight qian silver. In the grain-producing areas south of the Yangtze River, the price was even lower than 3 qian silver.
It's a pity that he offended the civil officials, so he became a lewd emperor in history books.
After Emperor Jiajing succeeded to the throne and until the middle period of Emperor Chongzhen, the price of rice per stone in the Ming Dynasty generally remained at around six to seven yuan.
In the original historical time and space, such grain prices lasted until the end of Emperor Chongzhen's reign before finally collapsing completely. Food prices in some areas rapidly increased dozens of times, which led to Li Zicheng's rebellion.
(Note: The above statistics are all from "Records of the Ming Dynasty")
As for the food price level in the Ming Dynasty, even among all dynasties, only the Kaiyuan period in the early Tang Dynasty could temporarily surpass it.
However, the price of rice during the Tang Dynasty was far less stable than that of the Ming Dynasty. After the end of the Kaiyuan era, the price of rice per stone quickly rose to more than one tael of silver. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the price of rice per stone was generally as high as three taels of silver.
The above is far better than that in the late Chongzhen period.
At the same time, during the Han Dynasty, the price of rice per stone fluctuated between three qian and one to two and five qian. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the price of rice per stone fluctuated between six and one to 28 qian. During the Southern Song Dynasty,
The price of rice per stone fluctuated between one or two eight qian and three liang or six qian. In the early Qing Dynasty, the price per stone fluctuated between one tael and two taels of silver. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the price per stone was even more common.
Up to more than four taels of silver!
In comparison, the price of rice during the Ming Dynasty was extremely low and fluctuated so little that it was definitely an anomaly.
Moreover, such grain prices are the price after a large amount of silver was imported from abroad during the Ming Dynasty and the silver continued to depreciate!
It can be said that the emperor and senior officials of the Ming Dynasty definitely spent a lot of effort in stabilizing civilian food prices.
In this historical time and space, because the Ming Dynasty did not fall to Chongzhen, the domestic population continued to increase, and overseas silver continued to flow in. Coupled with the delay in the Little Ice Age, food prices inevitably gradually increased.
The price of one stone of rice has now generally reached more than one tael of silver.
In the summer and autumn of last year, due to the outbreak of the Shaanxi-Gansu War and the policy of exchanging salary and rice for silver, the price of rice once reached its highest level, reaching two taels of silver per stone.
The high fluctuation of the price of two taels of silver per stone is already the limit that Zhao Junchen can accept!
According to Zhao Junchen's estimation, once the private rice price remains above two taels of silver per stone for a long time, the people will completely lose their way of living and will inevitably rebel.
The latest food prices in Xingzhou City have suddenly jumped to as high as five taels of silver for one stone of rice!
How heart-rending is this?!
Even if it is just a short-term fluctuation, it is enough to force the people to rebel!
So it's no wonder Zhao Junchen was so angry!
*
Seeing Zhao Junchen's ferocious face, Liu Zimin was frightened and did not dare to respond at all.
However, the two core staff members, Li Chuanwen and Niu Fude, were well aware of Zhao Junchen's character. They understood that although Zhao Junchen was very angry at this time, he was still willing to listen to advice and would never offend others at will, so they gave advice one after another.
"I hope Zhao Gechen will calm down and don't let your anger break your body. The top priority right now is to calm down and find countermeasures."
"The high price of one stone and five taels of silver will definitely cause unrest in the people's hearts. The resentment of the people will also rise rapidly, and it will easily lead to civil unrest again. I hope the cabinet ministers can respond early!"
After hearing the admonitions of Li Chuanwen and Niu Fude, Zhao Junchen's anger was still unabated, but he finally regained his composure and said with an angry smile: "These evil gentry have obviously forgotten that this pavilion is...
With what kind of ability can they remain standing in the temple! Okay! Since they want to go head-to-head with me, I will play this game with them! I only hope they can afford it in the end!"
After saying that, Zhao Junchen looked at Liu Zimin again and asked: "What is the current situation in Xingzhou City? What is the state of the people?"
Liu Zimin quickly replied: "The people are in complete chaos. It can be said that people are in panic. There are still many people gathered near major grain stores to continue to protest. Zhang Su, the commander-in-chief of Ji Town, saw that the matter was about to get serious, so he immediately dispatched
The Ji Town garrison patrolled everywhere, ready to suppress the riots at any time, and even sealed the city gate..."
After Zhao Junchen heard this, he kept sneering and quickly issued a series of instructions without consulting his staff in detail.
"Xu Qingyan, I give you a warrant. You immediately leave the capital city of Xingzhou and go to the villages and villages in the east of Xingzhou. Contact the people of Xingzhou who were repatriated from Shanhaiguan and encourage them to take action as soon as possible! Also, after some urging,
Send a team of carriages to get them to Xingzhou Fucheng as soon as possible!"
"Liu Zimin, please return to the Xingzhou government office immediately and keep an eye on the latest news. If the situation changes again, report it to me immediately!"
"Where is Jiang Quan? You select a hundred smart-tempered Forbidden Army soldiers, all of them put on folk clothes, go to the major grain stores in Xingzhou City, mix in with the people gathered to protest, and further aggravate the people's anger. If you encounter
When the government cracks down, you must take the lead and lead the people to fight with all their strength! But never reveal your identity!"
"Mr. Niu, please take my name card and summon Zhang Su, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, Lu Wensheng, the magistrate of Xingzhou, and the heads of the three major Jin gentry families in Xingzhou to come here to meet me! They may avoid seeing you.
But I believe you will have a solution!"
"Mr. Li, I will leave it to you to write an announcement for this pavilion..."
In this way, Zhao Junchen quickly launched his own counterattack!
When an ordinary man is angry, blood will be scattered five steps; when an emperor is angry, millions of corpses will be laid on the ground.
And when a powerful official like Zhao Junchen gets angry, it means that some people will soon be unlucky and will definitely pay a heavy price!
A storm is coming.
…
PS: I will update in advance today and continue to save manuscripts.
╮(￣﹏￣)╭ Let me explain in detail. Three days before the Spring Festival, Chong Zi needs to accompany his family to go out and play. He may not have time to type, so he saves the manuscript to ensure that he keeps updating, not to accumulate energy to update.
...but I will try my best after the fifth day of the new year.