Chapter 644: The prince was displeased and made an unannounced visit with his retinue.
Huai'an Prefecture, Qingjiangpu
In Huai'an Fucheng, there are shops with "Jiajia Rice Shop" posters and plaques hanging on them. There are crowds of people in front of the doors and bustling. People in Huai'an Fucheng who are buying grain in Huai'an Fucheng line up in three lines or hold umbrellas.
Or they are wearing coir raincoats, and most of them are carrying rice and grain bags.
At this moment, a wooden sign stuck on the rice bucket on the table in front of the shop and on the white rice grain was taken away by a waiter and replaced with a new wooden sign.
"Oh, why has it increased by another two hundred cents?" At this time, a young man wearing a rough shirt with his upper arms exposed came up and complained.
The waiter smiled and said, "You didn't know this, right now the price is the same in Huai'an Prefecture, so hurry up and get in line."
There was a long line of men, women, and children behind them, talking and complaining.
In the back hall of the rice shop, the shopkeeper Li, who was sitting on a black wooden table with the light on, looking at the account books and calculating, suddenly stood up, with a smile on his face full of wrinkles, and looked towards the dressed man
A middle-aged man from Yuanwaifu and a young man came to greet him.
"Master." Shopkeeper Li called.
"How many have you sold in the past few days?" Jia You, surrounded by his son Jia Yu and the steward surnamed Zhou in the mansion, came forward with his hands behind his back and asked with a look of elegance on his short-bearded face.
Shopkeeper Li smiled and said: "Yesterday, we collected a total of three thousand taels of silver. Today, after the amount of rice, we have received two hundred cents. There is still a queue outside. There should be more today."
Jia You nodded and said, "It's a few thousand taels of silver a day. Fortunately, we have less grain and rice this time, otherwise we could open more rice shops."
Shopkeeper Li smiled and said, "That's not true, sir. Several counties in Huai'an Prefecture are now short of rice. I heard that the Zhen family earns tens of thousands of taels of silver per day, and that doesn't even include selling it to other rice shops."
Jia Yu said softly: "Dad, I heard that the Pan family owes the Nanjing Household Department's granary on credit. It would be great if we could also owe some on credit."
Jia You said: "We don't have much friendship with the Pan family in Nanjing. We can only make a fortune from these rice."
"Isn't my cousin an official in Huai'an Prefecture? Ask him to write a letter to the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs, and maybe it will be done." Jia Yu said with a playful smile.
Just as Jia You was about to speak, he suddenly heard shouts and arguments coming from outside. Jia You frowned and asked, "What's going on? What's the noise outside?" At this time, a waiter came in and said:
"Sir, someone is making trouble."
A trace of anger appeared on Jia Yu's face, and she said: "It's really embarrassing. Whose business is this? He doesn't know? Tai Sui is making trouble! Dad, you wait here, I'll go and take a look."
Jia You warned: "Send the person away quickly."
Not far from Jia's rice shop, Jia Heng was wearing a colorful brocade robe and looking into the distance. Xia Houying on the side also changed from her flying fish clothes to a green shirt, with her plain hair pulled up into a man's bun and a wooden hairpin.
After passing through, he held up an umbrella with one hand and held it for Jia Heng to block the thousands of raindrops falling from the sky.
Jia Heng's face was as dark as water, and he looked at the rice shop not far away, his eyes uncertain.
Before going to Xuzhou, he planned to deal with the partial expenses of the twelfth room of the Jia family in Jinling. After that, he would arrest the Pan family and the minister of household affairs, etc., and just go to Xuzhou to pick up food and hide for a while.
, to save a bunch of people from coming to him to plead for mercy.
Xia Houying glanced at the young man secretly, and for a moment she was a little unsure about his ideas.
At this moment, Liu Jixian was waving his muscular arms and arguing with the rice seller.
"I said you are deliberately looking for trouble, right? The price of rice is all over the city now. Go and take a look. Where can you find a bucket worth fifty cents?" The waiter looked at Liu Jixian, who was in casual clothes. He saw that he was tall and tall, with a sparkle in his eyes.
, there was also a bit of fear in my heart subconsciously.
Liu Jixian said angrily: "You female businessmen have increased your prices tenfold in the past few days, and now you are raising your prices again?"
The waiter became completely annoyed and said, "You stupid guy, who are you calling a female businesswoman?"
At this moment, a sneering voice came from inside, saying: "Who is making trouble outside? Are you tired of living? You don't even care what kind of place this is?"
Jia Heng looked indifferent and said coldly:
"The rightful owner has arrived."
"Yes." Xia Houying responded softly. She lifted the thumb of the bare hand that held up the umbrella and moved it toward the tiger's mouth. There was no trace of cinnabar or impatiens juice on her neatly manicured nails.
At this time, Jia Yu, accompanied by several young servants, came to the door, looked at Liu Jixian, pointed to the cloth banner on the side, and said, "Don't even look at the words on it!"
Liu Jixian turned to look at the writing on the side, looked at it for a long time, said "oh" several times, and asked: "I can't read, what is written on it?"
The people who were watching couldn't help bursting into laughter when they saw this bewildered scene.
Jia Yu's face was green and red, and he said: "This is the Jia family's rice shop. Do you know Uncle Yongning? He is the current governor of the river in Huai'an Prefecture. He led tens of thousands of troops to put down the rebellion in less than ten months. It shocked the Central Plains and is now the capital.
Who in the entire Han Dynasty knows who is the envoy of the camp, the minister of war, and the minister of military aircraft?"
Liu Jixian said "Oh", then looked at Jia Yu with a blank look on his face, and asked, "What does Uncle Yong Ning have to do with you?"
Seeing this scene, Xia Houying twitched the corner of her mouth and glanced at the young man's face, but saw that his face was calm. Looking from the side, it seemed that because of these days of running around, the lines on his face were becoming more straight and deep, and
Xiao Xuan's magnanimity has not diminished at all.
It is really hard to imagine that this man just ordered Liu Jixian to do this scene.
Jia Yu said angrily: "Blinding your dog eyes, I am Yong Ningbo's clan brother!"
At this moment, most of the people's faces showed fear, but they were just pointing.
"I tell you, if you want to cause trouble, you'd better think carefully and wait for Uncle Yong Ning to come over and use the Jin Yiwei to capture you!" Jia Yu said angrily.
Liu Jixian frowned and said, "You should sell it at the original price and not increase the price at will."
When Jia Yu heard this, he was very angry and said angrily: "I have been talking for a long time, but you didn't understand, did you? Come here and drive these people away!"
At this time, several servants made a promise, raised the door bolts and benches from behind, and hit Liu Jixian.
Jia Heng shouted: "Stop!"
At this time, under a black umbrella held up by Xia Houying, a young man wearing a loose blue shirt and an upright figure came from a distance.
Jia Yu saw that although the visitor had a young face and a handsome appearance, he walked with extraordinary bearing and looked around sternly. He couldn't help but feel a little timid and asked: "Who are you?"
Jia Heng stared at the young man opposite and asked, "Who gave you the courage to drive up food prices and hoard goods here?"
At this time, Liu Jixian came forward, cupped his hands towards Jia Heng, then stood beside Jia Heng and looked at Jia Yu coldly.
"Okay, you guys are in the same group!" Seeing this, Jia Yu felt as if she was being teased. Anger rolled on her young face and she shouted, "Get these troublemakers out of here."
At this moment, the movement of Jiajia's rice shop suddenly attracted the attention of other shop customers and passers-by. For a time, all the three floors and the outer three floors were looking at the rice shop, and all their eyes were directed at the young man.
Jia Heng's eyes were cold and he ignored these people.
Before Jia Heng could take action, Liu Jixian had already snatched the stick from the servant, and protected him in front of Jia Heng. As the stick danced in the wind and rain, several of the servants who came over had already been beaten.
He fell to the ground on the spot and kept moaning.
At this moment, Jia Yu stood on the spot, stunned and frightened. She called out to a waiter: "Okay, these vicious people can't buy and sell by force, and they dare to beat people? Come on, go to the Hedao Yamen and report it to the official."
These thugs!"
A waiter hurriedly ran towards the Hedao Yamen.
Jia You, who heard the sound from the shop, also led a few stewards out of the shop. At first glance, he looked at the young man in green shirt opposite, frowned, and asked: "Friend, who are you?"
Jia Heng looked at Jia You with sword-like eyes and shouted: "Who are you?" He was really not familiar with the twelve rooms of the Jia family in Jinling, and of course, the same was true of him.
Being stared at by those falcon-like eyes, Jia You felt a little scared and said, "We are the Jia family of Jinling."
"Jia of Jinling
Family? Is this where the Jia family teaches you to drive up prices, disrupt people's livelihood, and make ill-gotten gains?" Jia Heng interrupted Jia You with a cold voice and said in a deep voice: "You are still targeting Uncle Yong Ning.
Acting under a banner?"
Jia You felt a shiver in his heart and felt that the visitor was not easy to deal with. He argued with reason: "Now the rice shops all over the city have this price. Besides, buying and selling grain is a matter of your own free will. We don't force others to increase the price to buy rice."
grain!"
He said, "Your Excellency, you can go and look around the city. Not only our family, but the price is the same everywhere. We can't make any profit from the food we worked so hard to transport from Jinling, right?"
"I may not be able to take care of other people's affairs, but I will take care of the Jia family's affairs." Jia Heng said in a deep voice with a frosty face.
"You!" When Jia You heard this, his pupils shrank, his heart trembled, and he secretly thought, does this person have a grudge against their Jia family?
At this moment, the sound of horse hooves trampling on the bluestone road in the distance was heard one after another, from far to near.
Everyone followed the sound and saw dozens of Jinyi Tiqi coming in a mighty manner, holding reins in hand and stopping their horses as they approached. The Jinyi palace guards wearing bamboo hats all stood up and dismounted, led by a hundred Jinyi households.
The people who had gathered around him dispersed in a way with fearful expressions on their faces.
Because Governor Jiaheng Hedao went to Qingjiangpu and brought with him five hundred Jinyi Mansion guards, Huai'an City was no stranger to these Jinyi guards wearing flying fish suits and embroidered spring knives.
The hand of the man in brocade clothes rolled up his white sleeves, pressed the handle of the embroidered spring knife, and led his two retinues, striding over.
Jia Yu walked over with a cheerful expression, pointed at Jia Heng and his group, and said, "That's them. We are the tribe of Jinling Yongning Bo. These people came to make trouble."
I obviously thought it was the guy who went there earlier, someone who came from the Hedao Yamen.
Hundreds of households in Jinyi came to Jia Heng, clasped their fists and said, "Yu Xuan, a hundred households in Fusi, Beizhen, who is humble, has met the governor."
Jia You, Jia Yu: "???" Commander in Golden Clothes?
No, who in Huai'an Prefecture doesn't know that the Commander-in-Chief in Jinyi is Yong Ningbo! Jia Heng shouted: "Take down the father and son and tie them to that tree. Jia will practice the family rules today!"
"Yes." The leading Jinyi Baihu responded with their hands, and then all the Jinyi palace guards responded in unison.
This scene made the people watching the excitement cheer in unison, and their hearts were shaken. Jia Yu was so frightened that her limbs became weak, and she shouted loudly: "Cousin, we are of the same race."
However, two broad-shouldered and round-waisted guards in brocade robes wearing flying fish uniforms stepped forward, held Jia Yu's shoulders, and lifted her up against a tree nearby.
Jia You's face turned pale, and he looked at the young man in green shirt with fear, and said: "Uncle Heng, I can't wait to transport the rice to Huai'an Prefecture for sale. What crime have I committed?"
Jia Heng's face was cold and he said: "You are hoarding goods and using the banner of your own authority to bully others. How dare you say that you are not guilty?"
Before the two of them could separate, they said, "Liu Jixian, each of you will be whipped twenty times! As a warning!"
Liu Jixian made a promise, then picked up a whip from one of the captains in imperial robes, tied several people to the tree, and began to whip the whip.
Along with the screams and groans of pain, the people of Huai'an Prefecture who were watching the excitement all cheered loudly.
The officials of the Huai'an government office in the distance were also alerted, and dozens of people came. Seeing the Feiyu suit under the raincoat, they watched from a distance, and no one dared to come forward.
"Folks in Huai'an Fucheng, starting from today, Jia's rice grains will be sold at 20% off before the price increase, and will be purchased at a fixed quota per person and family until sold out." Jia Heng looked at the crowd of Vietnamese in the distance.
More and more people gathered together and shouted loudly: "Don't worry, fellow villagers, the government is investigating those unscrupulous female businessmen who are driving up food prices, and we will definitely let everyone eat affordable food!"
It's not that I didn't think of distributing it for free, but it would only lead to countless people being greedy for petty gains, and it would not have the effect of suppressing rice prices.
The people present cheered loudly and immediately rang out in the streets, "Yongning Bo Gaoyi!"
Xia Houying was holding an umbrella at the moment, staring intently at the young man in green shirt who was surrounded by the guards of Jinyi Mansion and not sheltered from the wind and rain. Under his handsome sword-shaped eyebrows, his clear eyes were
The jade-like clear eyes flashed, with a hidden brilliance surging.
Jia Heng looked at Jia You and Jia Yu's father and son, whose backs were dripping with blood, and said coldly: "If you use my official banner to cause trouble in the future, I will not be lenient!"
Jia You and Jia Yu's father and son were moaning in pain at this moment, almost crying for father and mother, and they only responded. Their hearts were filled with fear and panic to the extreme.
Jia Heng also ignored Jia You and his son. Under the eyes of the people of Huai'an Prefecture, he returned to Hedao Yamen, leaving behind the guards of Jinyi Prefecture.
Jia Heng turned to look at Liu Jixian, who was standing aside, and whispered: "You have always been careful. This time, you personally took someone to Yangzhou and brought the relevant criminals to Huai'an Mansion for strict interrogation. There is no room for mistakes!"
He was ready to go to Shu Yan to consult with Nanjing Household Secretary Pan Ruxi, who was unable to restrain his family from reselling official grain. During the national crisis, he was ignorant of the general situation and lost all integrity in the cabinet. He asked for questioning and was dismissed from his post for questioning.
To impeach a Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, it is necessary to arrest Pan Xiangdong, who was involved in reselling official grain, Ji Yousong, the brother-in-law of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Qian Shuwen, and others, and obtain their confessions and other relevant evidence. How much involvement does Pan Ruxi, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, have in the case?
In other words, his iron fist this time mainly hit Pan Ruxi, the Minister of Hubu in Nanjing, and Qian Shuwen, the Minister of Hubu.
In ancient times when the concept of market supervision did not exist, there was still room for justification for hoarding goods, but borrowing government food on credit and reselling it to victims of the disaster at a higher price was already a violation of national law.
Liu Jixian said: "Don't worry, sir."
After Liu Jixian left, Jia Heng looked at Xia Houying and said, "Follow me to Yangzhou to receive the batch of official rations."
In his writing to the Water Transport Yamen and the Governor's Yamen of Liangjiang, he said that he would go to Xuzhou to collect official grain, provide relief to the victims in Huaixu, Huaiyang and other places, stabilize food prices, and ask the Water Transport Governor's Department to prepare a batch of boats, carriages and horses.
Otherwise, 200% of them are gibberish, and they are absent from their posts without authorization on the matter of flood prevention and preparation, and so on.
Xia Houying looked at the young man with shining eyes and asked, "Sir, are you leaving now?"
"Well, we'll set off in a moment. By now, the water transportation yamen's vehicles and ships should be ready," Jia Heng said.
On the other side, as time passed, the news that Jia Heng personally dealt with the Jia family members also spread to the post house.
"Zhitai, Uncle Yongning has just dealt with the Jia family members in Huai'an." Xu Shikui, the chief envoy of Jiangzuo, said with a complicated expression on his face in surprise.
The two Jiangnan feudal officials were well aware of the fact that the descendants of the twelfth room of the Jia family in Jinling followed the Zhen family and resold grain in Huai'an Mansion.
However, both of them failed to respond and had other plans.
Shen Fang's face was as gloomy as water, and he sneered: "Originally, I wanted to ask the censor to impeach him afterwards, but I didn't expect him to be so aware of the opportunity and punish him on the street. What a good way! I'm afraid it won't be long before the entire Jianghuai and other places will be punished. He said that Yong Ning Bo killed his relatives in a righteous way and was selfless!"
Jia Heng took over the post of governor of Nanhe and worked hard to turn the tide and reduce the harm of floods.
From the center of the Han Dynasty to Liangjiang, the Shilin officialdom, whether they want to admit it or not, must regard Jia Heng as a capable minister and official. However, ordinary people in Huaiyang, Huaixu and other places may not feel as deeply as the people in Henan who directly received the favor. .
But after the previous incident, the people all knew that Uncle Yongning was selfless and upright.
His reputation spread instantly, and his reputation was praised and admired by some young scholars even among the scholars.
This is precisely Jia Heng's rarest reputation in Jiangnan, and it can also dilute the image of a cruel official and a martial artist in the eyes of Jiangnan scholars.
Combined with this famous anecdote: "In the summer of the 15th year of Chongping, Bodu of Yongning was stationed in Hetai and stationed in Huai'an to fight against floods and prepare for floods. He was shocked to hear that the tribesmen relied on merchants' goods to make money, hoard goods and disturb people's livelihood. The public was displeased. Bring your retinue and covertly to visit secretly, and whip him."
The image of a somewhat cute official who is angry and even upright when he hears his family members doing unjust things instantly comes to life on the page and makes people admire him.
It is worth mentioning that Xu Kai, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, had made Jia Heng famous in his correspondence with many friends in Jiangnan, praising Jia Heng, the Bo of Yongning, as a great leader of the country, open-minded and talented.
Xu Shikui looked solemn and said in a low voice: "Taiwan, seeing how Uncle Yong Ning doesn't recognize his relatives, it seems that he is going to take action."
Shen Fang's eyes were indifferent and he said sarcastically: "I'm still worried that he won't show his true character, let's see who else he can touch! Can he still be like Nanhe Yamen, and defeat the official circles of Liangjiang and Jiangxi in one fell swoop?"
In the Nanhe Governor's Yamen, after Gao Bin committed suicide, he was almost taken over by Jia Heng, from the management of the river to the inspection.
Following Yiying's confession from the river official, Jia Heng had already sent people to arrest those who should be arrested, ransack their homes if they should, and allow those at lower levels to go to the embankment to fight the flood and merit meritorious service based on the severity of the crime.
Xu Shikui forced a smile on his face and said in a low voice: "Sir, Uncle Yongning is the emperor's favorite minister. He may not be able to handle a group, but he can handle one or two people and supply rice and grain. Can Suzhou and Zhenjiang step up their deployment? "
I am afraid that the gods will fight and the kid will suffer. If we really investigate these days and find that the Jiangzuo clan has deliberately delayed, wouldn't he become a punching bag?
Shen Fang pondered for a moment and said, "It's almost done now, there's no need to delay it any longer."
Anyway, the situation that should be created has been created. What remains is to see whether Yong Ningbo dares to touch the officials and disciples of Nanjing.
In fact, the fact that the descendants of Nanjing officials are now flocking to Huaiyang and other places like vultures is due to Shen Fang's inaction. Otherwise, with his deep cultivation in Jinling, it would be impossible to restrict them.