"There is no greater danger to the world than not knowing what is happening. Those who do not know what is happening are just waiting for chaos." [Collected Works of Su Shi·Strategy 1]
Since Pingzhun Ling Jia Xu and Junshu Ling Mi Zhu and others conspired to stabilize prices, and together with Zhijinwu Sima Fang, Chengmen Xiaowei Fu Wan and others arrested unscrupulous wealthy businessmen in Jingzhao and other places, the price of food in Sanfu has fallen sharply.
, Li Shu applauded. However, the consequences of this incident were that merchants in various cities did not dare to sell at high prices, and were unwilling to lose money at a discount, so they closed their doors one by one during this high-pressure period and refused to come out to sell grain.
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Therefore, after the private grain sales that could have shared the pressure for the imperial court disappeared, almost all the victims in Guanzhong had to rely on the government and Taicang for relief. The imperial court's food pressure increased sharply. For the sake of the overall situation, some people asked the emperor to forgive them.
Imprisoned merchants and asking them to use money and food to atone for their crimes can achieve the effect of punishment on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can also increase the intensity of rescue efforts.
The emperor wanted to use this incident to kill a group of leading merchants in the market, and then introduce a new system in which the court would set the upper and lower price limits for daily necessities such as grain, salt, and iron. This system must be implemented by law, and all transport supervisors will be responsible for the details.
When implemented, the Taicang Supervisor provided reserve guarantees. The state set market prices and regulated market order. This was achieved once during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu through equalized output, but was later abolished on the grounds that "the state does not compete with the people for profit."
Now that the emperor plans to use the macro-control methods of later generations to manage the market order, he will inevitably encounter huge obstacles. Compared with the merchants' strike, the ministers begging the emperor to pray for rain is the highlight.
"No one taught me, it was just what I was thinking." Song Du saw the emperor's serious expression and unconsciously avoided the emperor's eyes.
"Really?" The emperor obviously didn't believe it. He suddenly remembered a novel copper lamp he saw while wandering just now, and asked, "Who sent that copper lamp?"
This kind of thing obviously couldn't be concealed, and Song Du didn't think there was anything wrong. He said frankly: "Aweng sent it."
"That's it." The emperor couldn't help but frown. He felt more and more that Song Hong was stupid and ignorant. He always liked to do things that thought he was famous but acted as a pawn for others. In the past, he was just a middle-aged doctor and could not influence him.
The imperial bureau, for the sake of Song Capital, turned a blind eye to him, and now he dared to reach into the palace to take advantage of Song Capital. The emperor could allow eunuchs to participate in government affairs within a certain limit, but he would never allow concubines to interfere in government affairs. He could not
The capital of Song Dynasty made a bad start here: "Song Gong is getting old. Let him be the doctor of Zhongsan. It was for the sake of honor and support, but now it really goes against the original intention. As a daughter, you should also persuade him more in daily life and let him have less time."
Following the trend on things that are unclear.”
Song Du was stunned, and his mind couldn't turn around for a moment: "But praying for rain is a good thing, why doesn't Your Majesty allow it?"
"Did I say it's not allowed?" The emperor's words became more and more severe, and the smile on his face faded away at some point: "In the past, the process of praying for rain was first done by the local government to pray for the mountains and rivers and the country. If it failed, the imperial court would then assign a special person to pray for rain.
Praying for rain, if it doesn’t work, then it’s up to the ministers and officials, and finally to me. But now that the prayers for rain have not been completed, they want to directly persuade me to preside over the prayers for rain. You just don’t understand what is hidden here. If your father is
I don’t understand, I think he is really confused!”
Praying for rain is always a matter of chance. What's more, there is still a drought and the probability of rain is very slim. Wouldn't it be fun for the emperor to ask for rain? The emperor can figure it out. As long as he agrees to pray for rain, the people will surely
As we all know, everyone has been looking forward to it, but in the end they are all in vain. Where does this leave the emperor’s prestige?
In this era, some elite scholars may not believe in the Liu family's divine right to govern the people, but the ignorant Li Shu at the bottom still believe in the Liu family's destiny for four hundred years. Unless in another twenty years, the younger generation will have no knowledge.
Only after people who have surpassed the majesty of the Han Dynasty grow up, Liu's divinity will begin to be shattered.
The emperor foresaw that there would be all kinds of unimaginable consequences after praying for rain, so he wanted to delay it as long as possible. According to the geographical knowledge he learned in later generations, the rain belt would gradually move to the Yellow River Basin after the plum rain season in the south in June and July.
At that time, it was already August at the latest. We were experiencing a drought at this time, and the climate was changing abnormally. Rainfall could only occur in August at the earliest, so the emperor was sure that the probability of rain in July was very small, and he could only delay it until
In August, the chance of rain increases.
In August, the emperor came out to pray for rain again, and then in a few days, when the southeast monsoon brought water vapor to pass through, and the rain fell from the sky, he could turn defeat into victory immediately.
This is a battle of patience. The emperor has been silently enduring the pressure brought by his predecessor for many days. He can neither show indifference to praying for rain nor agree to pray for rain in person. Finally, he has some free time.
He wanted to go to Songdu Palace, which was the best place to relieve his boredom and the most unscrupulous place, to relieve his emotions. Who knew that he wouldn't be able to hide from the troubles of the previous dynasty here.
"Your Majesty..." Song Du had never seen the emperor angry before. At this time, his face turned pale and he was so frightened that he froze.
"Mu Shun!" The emperor's thoughts suddenly changed, and he just used this incident to give those people some color, otherwise he would really regard his temporary forbearance as weakness. When those people saw that even the emperor's father-in-law Song Hong was punished,
For a while, he would restrain himself a little, allowing the emperor to relieve some pressure. Thinking of this, the emperor stood up suddenly, completely ignoring Song Du's reaction, and greeted outside.
Mu Shun, who was outside the door, had long noticed the unusual movement in the palace and was ready to respond at any moment. At this moment, he trotted in and knelt down: "My slave is here."
"When I went to the Shangshutai to pass on the edict, Song Hong, the official of Zhongsan, was good at using power and plotting to exploit the camp. He showed all kinds of bad behavior and could not be forgiven! He was dismissed immediately and ordered to stay at home in his hometown to think about his faults behind closed doors and was not allowed to go out." The emperor still remembered that Song Hong had himself.
The past incident that he couldn't live in the Qili mansion given to him and had to go to Beique Jiadi where dignitaries and dignitaries lived together happened at this time, so he was simply asked to go back to Qili where his relatives lived.
Mu Shun was stunned for a moment. He had only heard a vague outline outside. He didn't expect the situation to be so serious. After all, Song Hong was the father of the emperor's favorite Song Guiren. The emperor actually didn't even give Song Guiren face.
It can be seen that something big happened this time. Mu Shun did not dare to neglect. At this time, without looking at Song Duxun's expression of tears, he bowed his head and agreed, stood up and bowed back.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Seeing Mu Shun about to withdraw, Song Du knelt on the ground in a panic and said in a piteous voice: "It's all my fault, please don't punish Aweng!"
"He deserves to be taught a lesson, otherwise he will get worse in the future!" Seeing Song Du begging in front of him, the emperor was still cruel and refused to let go: "I am doing this for your own good!"