As the Jinyiwei began to raid shops in the city, everyone was shocked, especially Xungui and those merchants from Jiangnan.
They thought that His Majesty would talk to them first, and then they would borrow Poxia's donkeys and lower the price.
Especially the merchants in Jiangnan and the civil servants had other purposes.
But what they never expected was that His Majesty didn't bother to talk at all and just started ruthlessly.
Although the shops raided were all run by Shanxi merchants, they still frightened everyone.
Both the nobles and the merchants in Jiangnan have lowered their prices, almost by about 30%.
But what they didn't expect would be even more shocking was what happened next.
A food market somewhere in the outer city.
More than 800 men were kneeling on the ground with their hands tied.
There is a sign stuck behind everyone's back. The big word "Cut" with a red cross on it is so shocking.
Everyone knows what to do in this scene.
Therefore, the entire market entrance was already crowded with people on the three floors outside and on the third floor, pointing and talking.
The restaurants and tea shops along the street were also full of people. Most of the people who came to the second floor were businessmen or civil servants dressed in casual clothes.
"Butcher, my Ming Dynasty will never have peace if we have this butcher!"
“If we don’t get rid of such a crazy lackey butcher, I don’t know how many more people will die in vain at the hands of factory guards.”
All the scholars were filled with righteous indignation and gnashed their teeth.
Although they knew that Li Ruolian must have been ordered by His Majesty, everyone still chose to ignore it and directly pointed the finger at him.
"Your Majesty is here!"
But with a loud singing, almost everyone was stunned.
They didn't react for a long time. It wasn't until the dragon chariot approached that they all knelt on the ground and saluted.
Li Ruolian on the stage was also shocked.
How could His Majesty come in person?
No matter what the reason is for killing so many people at once, you will definitely be criticized by the world's literati.
He must take the blame for this.
He was also prepared to take the blame, but now that His Majesty is here, even if he wanted to take the blame, he couldn't!
But he had no choice but to get up quickly and go to greet him.
"His Majesty…"
Just when Li Ruolian was about to speak, Zhu Cihong waved his hand and strode towards the stage.
"Your Majesty, please spare my life! I know I was wrong."
"Your Majesty, please give me another chance. I will never dare to do it again."
"Your Majesty, the common people are willing to kill the enemy to serve the country, please show mercy to your Majesty..."
Sure enough, seeing the emperor coming in person, more than 800 people seemed to have seen a life-saving straw, their eyes were filled with hope again, and they all kowtowed and begged desperately.
Coupled with the numerous family members nearby, the entire market entrance was filled with cries for mercy.
That crying sound really makes those who hear it cry and those who hear it feel sad.
Almost anyone with a little knowledge feels that His Majesty will definitely pardon these people and win people's hearts if he comes in person.
After understanding this, the noble civil servants couldn't help but secretly praise His Majesty for his good tactics. This was clearly a good show with Li Ruolian.
Almost everyone believed it to be true.
But what happened next made everyone's jaws drop in shock again, calling God's power unpredictable.
"Any meritorious deeds must be rewarded, and any delinquency must be punished. You ignored my prohibition and knowingly committed the crime. How can I forgive you?"
"If I open the net today, then from now on everyone will have the attitude of not being held accountable by the law and act arbitrarily. Where is the majesty of the court and where is the law?
The consequence will be that everyone’s property and life will not be protected!
But you can rest assured that the rewards I promised you before will not be invalidated because of this. Those who have made meritorious service by killing the enemy will still be rewarded to your families after defeating the traitor army."
"His Majesty…"
After Zhu Cihong finished speaking, the more than 100 soldiers in the Beijing camp cried loudly, with only endless regret in their hearts.
Except for the family members of those who were about to be executed, almost all the people, officers and soldiers present felt that His Majesty was clear about rewards and punishments, and was a rare wise king.
It is these people who do not know how to cherish it and have betrayed His Majesty's trust.
Now that I am in this situation, I have brought it upon myself. I cannot blame anyone else, let alone Your Majesty.
As the eight hundred heads fell to the ground, everyone dispersed silently. No one sympathized with these murdered people. This was the emperor's influence.
Zhu Cixiang also drove back to the palace. The reason why he came in person was because he wanted everyone to see it with their own eyes.
Regardless of whether the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was a benevolent emperor or a tyrant, at least rewards and punishments were clear and justified, and he was not an unreasonable butcher.
If he doesn't show up and pretends to be superior, in the future someone may take the opportunity to smear him and confuse right and wrong, and it will be difficult to defend him.
………
No matter what, after killing so many people at once, the atmosphere in the city was still quite depressing.
But this atmosphere only lasted for one morning. As more than 20 sealed grain stores reopened, almost all the soldiers and civilians at the bottom went crazy.
"Da, Ming, Huang, Dian, capital city semicolon A is one..."
"Hiss! Is this a shop opened by the royal family?"
"That must be the case, otherwise how could it be sold so cheaply?"
"Yes, except Your Majesty, who will care about the life and death of ordinary people like me?"
"It's better now. I don't have to eat chaff and starve anymore."
As the literate person read out loud the four large golden characters above the store and the row of small characters below, everyone onlookers were shocked.
Immediately, they knelt on the ground and kowtowed excitedly, especially the ordinary people in the outer city who cried with joy.
Because compared to the prices at other grain stores, the prices at this Daminghuang store are really cheap.
Rice costs one penny a dou, coarse flour costs one penny a dou, fine flour only costs two cents a dou, and coarse salt only costs twenty cents a pound. This is no longer a conscientious price.
Throughout the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties, the capital had never sold such cheap rice, flour and coarse salt.
As more and more people came after hearing the news, more than 20 shops were surrounded by water.
Fortunately, Jin Yiwei did not leave his post without permission this time and came to maintain order early. Under the Jin Yiwei's stick, a long queue formed outside the store.
"Listen up, everyone. Each person is limited to one liter to three kilograms of rice and noodles each time. One cup of coarse salt is limited to one tael. The utensils have been verified repeatedly. In the royal shop, there is no bully, and there is no shortage of kilograms or less.
If there is any fraud, you can go to the palace and complain!"
The shopkeepers of more than twenty grain stores were all old palace ladies in their thirties. After everyone lined up, they came outside and announced loudly.
Then the business started.
There are two maids in each shop.
One person is responsible for collecting money and making change, and the other is responsible for keeping accounts, and then giving a small wooden sign to the guest.
Guests use small wooden signs to go to the waiters to receive food and salt, which are directly packed in containers without weighing them, so the efficiency is very high.
In just half an hour, each shop received hundreds of people. Although the maids were all pretty, no one dared to tease them.
With more than twenty royal shops on track, there are no more troublemakers in the outer city, and everything is as stable as Mount Tai.
Those nobles and Jiangnan merchants had no choice but to temporarily close the grain stores and send people to the imperial store to buy salt and grain every day.
After resting for three days, the invading army outside the city launched another attack. This time, they only chose to attack the front wall of the southern outer city.
(PS: Popularity PK is on today. I hope everyone will click on the last chapter every day. Don’t buy books. Everyone knows the starting point. Now advancement depends entirely on follow-up reading. If you have a recommendation vote, you can vote for it. If not, don’t.
Reluctantly, thank you all for your support and take a bow!)