Zhu Biao's words ignited the hatred in the hearts of these soldiers.
They felt that the Crown Prince was right. It was fine if outsiders persecuted us Han Chinese, but you traitors were clearly Han Chinese, or even a local party, but you helped outsiders bully your own people. You were simply forgetting your roots and calling a traitor your father.
Zhu Biao raised his hand and waved it down.”
"Well said, Crown Prince!" Da Hu wiped his eyes.”
"Yeah, traitors are much more hateful than those Yuan soldiers!" Erhu nodded.”
"Stop sighing, you two. Why aren't you following the crown prince?" Changqing said indifferently.”
Zhoujia Alley, the most prosperous street in the east of Bianliang City, was called Zhoujia Alley because it was the old residence of the richest man in Bianliang, the Zhou family.
The Zhou family's old residence occupied almost half of the alley, and their business spread all over Bianliang City. Almost half of the shops on the street were related to their family, so Zhou Quantai, the head of the Zhou family, was privately nicknamed Zhou Bancheng by the common people.
Although the sky was dark, the Zhou family's old residence was brightly lit.
In the main hall of the Zhou family, the head of the family, Zhou Quantai, was reclining on an armchair with his feet on a spring chair. Two servant girls were carefully massaging his legs, and there were servant girls beside him who were cooking wine for him.
The Head Butler of the Zhou family was half-bowing and waiting on him at the side.
"Old Liu, how high is the price of grain on the street now?”Zhou Quantai narrowed his eyes and asked.
The Head Butler Old Liu bowed and replied," Master, ever since we and the Zhao Family closed the grain store, the supply of grain on the streets of Bianliang City has been in short supply. In addition, I asked those gangsters to spread the news of the lack of grain in private, so the people of Bianliang City are going crazy. The price of grain has been rising steadily. The price of rice has already reached 20 copper coins, and the price of wheat has reached 17 copper coins. It's double the price before the official issued the official document!”
Zhou Quantai hummed in agreement." The freedom of buying and selling. The rarer an item is, the more valuable it is. This is the law of nature. Otherwise, how can merchants make money? In any case, we sell rice voluntarily. The seller and buyer are willing to fight and the other is willing to accept. If you can afford it, then you can eat your fill. If you can't afford it, then you can starve to death. It's fair and reasonable. In the end, the government insists on interfering. Then don't blame me for intensifying it and completely disrupting the market!”
Butler Liu was a little worried and asked hesitantly,"Old Master, the official document was issued by the current Crown Prince after all. Wouldn't our actions make the Crown Prince unhappy?”
"Hey! Crown Prince? It was just a doll! Thirteen years old knew nothing! Besides, we didn't go against his official document. He stipulated that rice was eight wen and wheat was seven wen. Ever since our Zhou family saw the official document, we haven't sold rice for ten wen! If the government wants to fix the price, then so be it. But the freedom to buy and sell, I won't sell it, alright?”
Zhou Quantai's half-closed eyes suddenly opened and he sneered,""Besides, the Ming army has just entered the city, and it's time to calm the people. My Zhou family has lived in Bianliang for generations. We're a big family in Bianliang and are the center of attention. As long as we don't break the law openly, will Zhu Biao dare to kill the innocent?”
As he spoke, he got up from the armchair and kicked away the servant girl who was massaging his leg. He said proudly,"If it were the Mengyuan people, I would be more afraid. Because those barbarians are not smart and do things without thinking about the consequences, I will lie at their feet like a dog, obey them, and feed them with money. This way, I can protect my family and rely on their power. Anyway, I have a way to get the money I gave out from the people!”
"As for the Han Imperial Court, hehe, they value justice, they value winning the hearts of the people, and they value the evidence to the law. As the old saying goes, a gentleman can be deceived with the right method. Remember, if the imperial court wants to govern a place, it can't do without local aristocrats like us!”Zhou Quantai picked up the wine cup in front of the girl and drank. His eyes shot out a sinister light as he asked softly,"Old Liu, did the yamen do anything today?”
"Old Master, the yamen is very calm. I reckon that the Crown Prince is also at his wit's end!”Old Liu, the butler, secretly admired his old master. Old Master thought about ten steps after taking one step. It seemed like he was taking risks, but in fact, he had already thought about all aspects. So what if he was the crown prince? Wouldn't he still have to swallow his anger?
Zhou Quantai thought for a moment and smiled." How about this? Tomorrow, you give some money to those gangsters and let them secretly encourage the commoners who can't afford food to go to the government office and cause trouble in the Crown Prince's palace!" It would be best to carry a few more corpses over and say that it was because the Crown Prince had issued official documents that caused the price of grain to be chaotic. Those corpses could not buy food and starved to death! Remember, wear mourning clothes!"
"This lowly one obeys!"
"This old man estimates that with this ruckus, the yamen will invite this old man over for a discussion in less than two days. At that time, the price of grain will naturally be calculated according to what I say. As for the Crown Prince, he might be angry with his childish nature, but it doesn't matter. This old man will just send him two boxes of silver to appease him. If it really didn't work, he could just apologize and give him a way out!”
As he was speaking, a servant suddenly stumbled in from outside. The servant's face was pale as he hurriedly reported,"Old Master, something bad has happened. Many soldiers have surrounded our front door!”
"Hmm? Tell me slowly what happened? Whose orders? Who is leading the army?" Zhou Quantai's face sank, but he did not panic. Back then, when the Yuan Dynasty soldiers entered the city, wasn't the Zhou family also fine?
The servant gulped and his body trembled."It's…it's the Crown Prince. He says he has something to ask you and wants you to go out and answer him!”
Zhou Quantai chuckled." Looks like I overestimated this Crown Prince. He's even more impatient than I expected!" Do you think you can control me with just a few soldiers? What a joke, was this old man scared? In that case, I'll go out and pay my respects!”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。