In years of famine, large households gave out porridge. In Xiaoyi County, the Guo family was the leader in kindness, but the Guo family was not the only one who actually gave out porridge. There were also several other families in Xiaoyi County who occasionally gave out kindness.
They came out to give out porridge and rice, which also included relief from the government. After this disaster, although there was not much surplus food in various places, the government always wanted to ensure that some people could survive, which was also in the interests of the wealthy gentry.
However, this kind of relief cannot be too large or too filling. Some people have to give up their dignity and struggle to beg and grab in order to survive. In this way, those who still have land do not want to suffer too much, so they have to sell their properties, and the wealthy gentry also
As a result, land annexation and capital accumulation were completed.
In a sense, things like interests and living without respect for dignity are more common among people after the rampage of modern capital. In ancient times, especially in rural areas with low productivity, people were still quite courageous.
Yes, of course, this type of integrity is relatively simple to express. As long as there is food at home, you will not ask too many people for help. Those with a little wealth will be more face-conscious than ordinary people.
For this reason, when a famine comes, most people first use their own food, and then borrow it from relatives and friends. When everyone has nothing, they have to sell their land. If they go further, they will give up their dignity and beg for alms.
On weekdays, when the Guo family is serving porridge in the small square in front of their home, because this area occupies a large area and there are many people, the government occasionally places the porridge stall here. There are also two horse-drawn carriages, which sometimes transport the porridge.
Porridge, rice, and coarse-grain steamed buns were distributed here. It is said that this was a kind person from other places who saw that many people were hungry and cold. So he felt compassion and came to help.
The Guo family welcomes these things. After all, it is in the square of his family. From now on, when others talk about it, they will only talk about the kindness of the Guo family. Today, if he wants to incite the crowd, Guo Mingyi has also been bribed.
Some government officials nearby who were preventing riots had checked that the government did not pay too much attention to this area, so they started to announce. Who knows when they finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted: "He is lying!"
As soon as the man spoke, his voice was loud and echoed throughout the audience. Guo Mingyi knew something was wrong and immediately shouted: "Who are you? You are that dog official's lackey -"
He yelled at the top of his lungs. Immediately, someone responded: "Catch him out!" But the man's subsequent words also came out: "Fellow villagers, he is lying to you. The Guo family deliberately raised the price of grain because they were stocking grain at home.
The price has been investigated! Today he wants to incite you to attack the government. This is a serious crime of rebellion! Kill the nine tribes! The officers and soldiers are already on the way, and there is still only a stick of incense left! Whoever believes in his words will only be guilty of the same crime as the Guo family!"
The man lifted off a piece of tattered clothing and saw that he was tall and had a bald head, but he was not a monk. Someone recognized him. He was the man following the two carriages who often came to give soup.
Although his body shape may look a little scary, he is kind and kind when he is giving out food and porridge. Many times he treats injuries and illnesses for some people in the crowd, and he has become familiar with everyone. At this time, he opened his mouth and said, "
"Rebellion", "Execute the Nine Tribes", and "Officers and soldiers will be here soon", although I don't know if they are true, they really gave Guo Mingyi a wake-up call and poured a basin of cold water on everyone's heads.
Guo Mingyi originally wanted to use his voice to suppress him, but at this time he was still shouting: "These are the dog officials. Everyone, why do they want to accuse them? These dog officials are greedy. Seeing that Guo has food in his house,
Just come to blackmail..."
Some people in the crowd also shouted: "Master Guo is a kind man."
Guo Mingyi has been doing good deeds for many years, and he has a solid foundation after all. Then someone echoed: "My life was saved by Mr. Guo."
"Yes, the government must have made a mistake..."
"Mr. Guo is not a bad person..."
At this time, everyone looked at each other and said something to each other, but because of the few words of the bald man, no one dared to act rashly. Only the person in the crowd who was Guo Mingyi tried to incite everyone to help: "Catch this dog official."
...Take him out..." Some people shouted and squeezed through the crowd, waving sticks and ropes to take him, but the big man grabbed a rope and waved it, and heard a loud shout: "Who dares to mess up?
Come!" The rope broke in the air, and the servant who wanted to take the person was thrown to the ground for more than ten feet.
"Everyone, don't be incited by this old man. The rise in food prices in Xiaoyi County is controlled by these people. It's not that there is no food now, it's just because they are holding it tightly and refuse to let it go! Now Mr. Li is new from Hedong.
He will be there soon. He will give everyone justice, and the thousands of stones of disaster relief food prepared by the court are now outside the city. If the Guo family does not give out porridge, the government will not ignore you - "
The biggest problem in inciting hungry people to revolt is to be quick. As long as some people lose their minds and take drastic actions, the rest will be trapped and unable to turn back. However, the response of this bald man was waiting for him at the first opportunity.
At this point, no one knew how credible his words were, but these few simple words had successfully frightened everyone. Guo Mingyi's eyes immediately went dark, knowing that the other party could suppress the commotion with such quick means.
, must have been prepared a few days ago. I really didn't expect that just when I wanted to do something, I was immediately greeted by such a thunderous blow.
He fell down directly in front of the crowd. When he was carried home, he immediately called his most valued son and asked him to rush to the Zuo family to report the news and seek shelter at the same time.
"Master Li has been prepared for a long time. If this plan fails, our family will be in doom. Go to the Zuo family and tell the third young master that I, Guo Mingyi, will never let go and let him find a way to save our Guo family... Let's go quickly.
!Time is running out……"
The son was about to leave. The old man suddenly opened his eyes again and grabbed his hand: "Wait, wait, don't go to Zuo's house. You have a servant report the news. You can find a place to hide."
, if, if my Guo family cannot survive this time, I will at least leave you a single seedling..."
The old man was awake and knew that things would not work out, and the Guo family's situation had reached a dead end. He had never thought about it in this way before he acted, and he realized this the moment he was interrupted by the bald head. That Mr. Li was fierce, and he
This time it was delivered to the door. Sure enough, not long after his son left, the first group of people who came over first surrounded the front and back doors of the Guo family. Half an hour later, an army stationed outside the city arrived.
Li Pin led his troops from the gate and marched straight in, arriving at Guo Mingyi's bed.
"Mr. Guo, you are not smart."
Guo Mingyi had already cried so much that he burst into tears: "Master Li, I have admitted my defeat. I am also obsessed with it for a while."
"So...put out food?"
"Master Li, you are compassionate. The Guo family is about to die after raising grain. It is not a pity for the little old man to die. Please give the Guo family a way to live." He cried and lowered his voice. "Master Li. Master Li,
There are 50,000 taels of silver and jewelry, which are the house silver of my Guo family. You can’t copy them. I would like to dedicate them to Mr. Li. Please, Mr. Li..."
He was still talking. Li Pin was still bowing and listening, but then he straightened up with an expressionless face and waved back.
"seal up."
****************
Li Pin's actions against the Guo family were nothing short of resolute. He immediately imprisoned him, sealed his doors, ransacked his homes, and appeased the victims. It was part of a conspiracy, but it was Cheng Zhouhai who was behind the scenes.
Not only that, five days after Guo Mingyi's family was imprisoned, Cheng Zhouhai successfully pried off the other party's loose defenses. This is also the reason why Guo Mingyi's toughness was worn away by five days of prison life. In fact, on the day Guo Mingyi arranged for his son to leave, the other party
His whereabouts had already been traced by people from the Secret Investigation Department. At that time, he persuaded Guo Mingyi, but Li Pin just pretended not to know about it. It was only five days later that he informed the other party of the news. Soon after, the two parties completed the transaction.
Guo Mingyi retained the 50,000 yuan of his family's house money, and then moved his family to the south of the Yangtze River and never returned to Hedong. The Guo family released all their food and belongings to help with disaster relief.
Although Guo Mingyi also knew in his heart that once his family defected, Zuo Jilan would be furious. On the other hand, if he did not defect, at most he would be killed and his family would be exiled. But everyone can make the trade-off. The problem is, after all, it is not anyone.
They are all tough guys who are not afraid of death. Once there is a chance of survival, he finally chooses to compromise.
The loosening of Guo Mingyi's line caused a certain gap in grain prices in the Fenzhou area. First of all, it increased the grain resources that the government could use by about 8,000 dan. The hidden impact did not end there, with the collapse of large households.
This convinced a small number of small traders to believe that the price of grain was going to fall, and they began to sell grain to make a fortune. After that, the anger of the Zuo family and the Qi family became as expected.
Zuo Jilan and Qi Fanghou visited various parties and made frequent moves. The pressure in the officialdom increased sharply. Many people came to Li Pin and were affectionate on the surface, but secretly they persuaded him: "Stay a line in life so that we can meet each other in the future." And in Zuo, Qi
The two nodded. Under the operation of Wang Zhizhen and Xu Mai, the two families spent a lot of money. For a time, the food near Fenzhou was swept away like a whale sucking water. At this time, this matter is not only related to the price of food, but also
The face of two families was saved. Zuo Jilan said in front of others: "I must pursue this matter to the end!"
Well-informed businessmen felt this atmosphere. As the weather dropped, food prices rose again, and then fell due to the government's suppression. In this tug-of-war-like fluctuation, both sides reached a deadlock, and Ning in the capital
Yi was waiting for an opportunity after the snow fell, but for Wang Zhizhen and Xu Mai, as local snakes, they were unable to keep food prices rising after the weather dropped. This was a big slap in the face. It was getting bigger and bigger.
With the strength of their intelligence, they finally learned the name of the trader in Beijing.
"The person in charge of food prices in the Prime Minister's Mansion is named Ning Yi. Take a look."
Zuo Jilan handed the information to the two of them. Xu Maiyi frowned: "Ning Liheng?"
Wang Zhizhen also glanced at him: "Which one has good lyrics?"
"I don't care how good his lyrics are, and I don't care how powerful he is against a bunch of Liangshan bandits!" Zuo Jilan said with a livid face, "I must not lose this face!"
Qi Fang said honestly: "I don't want to lose face either."
Ever since they realized that this situation was not simple, Zuo and Qi's actions were still quite remarkable. They were vigorous and resolute, without the sloppiness of ordinary young men from wealthy families. At this time, after saying a few words, Wang Zhizhen and Xu Mai looked at each other.
A glance: "Third Young Master, Young Master Qi, the key to food prices lies in the first snow. If you don't want to lose, you have to hurry up. Whoever does more before it snows will win."
"Of course I understand." Zuo Jilan nodded, "No one can be without weaknesses. He goes to the shopping mall, and I go to the heart. Mr. Qi, my cousin is in the capital. I will go to the capital to talk to Ning Yi in person. You are here to stay.
,how?"
Qi Fanghou nodded: "My family also has some connections in the capital. When I finish editing a few letters, the Third Young Master will bring them to me. This matter should be done sooner rather than later. I will wait for the good news from the Third Young Master."
"Hmph." Zuo Jilan smiled coldly, "When I catch Ning Yi, I'll kill him!"
In the cold tone, the next action was finalized. The next day, Zuo Jilan left home and rushed to the capital. At the same time, countless tentacles from all over the north and south were also heading towards the capital with the same idea.
The capital is spreading upward. When they are at a deadlock in the shopping mall, they still have countless powerful methods that can be used in other places. In the past, they have defeated their enemies countless times like this, and this time, it is similar.
...(To be continued...)
Chapter completed!