Chapter 308 Killing the chicken to scare the monkey
More than twenty water and fire sticks fell together, and the grain merchants cried for their fathers and mothers. At this moment, they finally understood how much of a bastard this powerful kid from Chang'an City was.
This dude is very capable, and he really means beating him.
The notoriety in Chang'an City in the past was definitely gained by strength, without any discount.
The Korean lady stood in the hall and her face turned pale.
She originally thought that Li Qinzai was just scaring grain merchants and forcing them to lower grain prices, but she didn't expect that Li Qinzai actually dared to attack grain merchants.
Has he...ever thought about the consequences?
All the grain merchants in Bingzhou are here. If you beat them with military sticks today, how can you expect them to sell a grain of grain in the future?
Grain merchants across the city are on strike, and the treasury cannot transfer grain. Seeing that a disaster is approaching, what will the millions of people in the four counties under Bingzhou's jurisdiction eat this year?
With such serious consequences, even if the emperor favored Li Qinzai, he might not be able to protect him.
In a year of great disaster, food is life-saving and involves the lives of millions of people. How dare he treat grain merchants like this?
In the front yard of the governor's office, blows from the military sticks fell hard on the grain merchants, and many grain merchants were so painful that they passed out.
Li Qinzai stood expressionless on the front porch of the hall, coldly watching the grain merchants being beaten with his hands behind his hands, his eyes firm and indifferent.
The Korean lady walked up to him quietly and whispered: "Li Governor really wants to completely offend the grain merchants?"
Li Qinzai sneered: "In the year of great disaster, when food prices are driven up, it would not be a pity to kill them all. I only give them a few blows with military sticks, which is already very merciful."
The Korean lady looked at him deeply: "Have you ever thought about the consequences?"
"What are the consequences? The whole city's grain merchants go on strike?" Li Qinzai smiled: "The people's hearts are as strong as iron, and the official laws are as strong as furnaces. Since I have become the governor of Bingzhou, I can train grain merchants..."
After a pause in his tone, Li Qinzai glanced at her thoughtfully and added: "... and the people hidden behind the grain merchants. A gentleman loves money and gets it in a wise way. Some wealth cannot be enriched."
The Korean lady paused and forced a smile.
In the front yard, twenty soldiers had been beaten with batons. Most of the grain merchants were unconscious, and the remaining ones who were not unconscious were lying on the ground, moaning without a sound.
Li Qinzai walked to the center of the courtyard and said slowly: "I invited you to the banquet today. It was originally out of goodwill. But if you feed my goodwill to the dogs, I have no choice but to offend you."
"Today, I did not kill anyone, and I left a good chance to be a good person. I will lower the price of food immediately after you go back. Tomorrow, the official missions of the governor's office will patrol the streets. Anyone who dares to close the market on purpose will be killed! Anyone who dares not to lower the price will be killed! Who dares to violate the rules and deceive?
Governor, kill!"
"Tell the people behind you what to say and take advantage of the calamity to make money for the country. This road will not work!"
"I am the governor of Bingzhou, and I decide the rules of Bingzhou, including the price of grain."
The powerful words made the grain merchants tremble. They finally discovered that this young playboy was not as simple as the rumors.
Arrogant and domineering is still arrogant and domineering, but in addition to being arrogant and domineering, he is also a decisive and decisive court official, and he is domineering enough.
He asked Buqu to put the grain merchants on the carriage outside the door, and throw them all out, whether they were unconscious or not. The front hall of the Governor's Mansion suddenly became quiet, with only Mrs. Korea and Li Qinzai sitting across from each other.
"I didn't enjoy the wine just now, so I neglected my wife." Li Qinzai toasted to her with a smile.
After being stimulated by the scene just now, the Korean lady no longer dared to flirt with Han, and had a drink with Li Qinzai in a very dignified manner.
Putting down her wine glass, Mrs. Korea suddenly smiled: "Does Governor Li really want to know if I am among the people behind the grain merchants?"
Li Qinzai also smiled: "There must be a madam among those people. I just want to know how deeply involved the madam is in this case. If it is so deep that I can't extricate myself, it will be difficult for me to lower the official..."
The Korean lady rolled her eyes: "Why are you in trouble?"
Li Qinzai said calmly: "If my wife is too deeply involved in the case, the lower official will be in a dilemma as to whether to kill her or keep her."
The Korean lady's eyelids twitched: "You dare to kill me?"
Li Qinzai smiled: "Dare you."
"Are you trying to kill me, or are you from Chang'an City..." Mrs. Han couldn't continue, her beautiful face had faded.
"It has nothing to do with the city of Chang'an. I deal with things rather than people. My wife's fate only depends on whether you die. You are His Majesty's royal wife. You should know that water can also carry a boat, and water can also capsize it. In the year of great disaster, the grain will be raised.
The price is high and the people are exploited, but millions of lives are at stake."
"If I find out that my wife is too involved in the case, I will be sorry. I want to give an explanation to the people. It will be a good thing for the Tang Dynasty that you cysticercids that sucked the people's blood and sweat are dead."
Listening to Li Qinzai's cold words, Mrs. Korea's body couldn't help but tremble.
She was really scared because she was sure that Li Qinzai really dared to kill her.
Her flirtatious relationship with the emperor could no longer be used as a bargaining chip for her. Li Qinzai made it very clear that he only looked at the facts to judge the crime.
…………
Mrs. Korea left in despair.
Li Qinzai sent her out of the governor's house very gracefully. Watching her car disappear in the middle of the street, Li Qinzai showed a satisfied smile on his face.
Today's Hongmen Banquet, grain merchants are one of the purposes, but not the only purpose.
What he has to do is to kill the chicken and show it to the monkey. The monkey's name is Mrs. Korea.
He knew that Mrs. Korea was involved in the case, and he needed to open a gap in Mrs. Korea's body and bring down those people who were hiding in the dark in Bingzhou City.
Establishing power, embracing softness, and destroying her bargaining chip, after a lot of manipulation, the Korean lady was obviously intimidated by him.
The next day, officials from the governor's office took to the streets.
According to Li Qinzai's instructions, the officials inspected dozens of grain shops in the city and reported back that all grain shops in the city were open and were selling grain honestly at last year's grain prices.
It was good news, but Li Qinzai was not too happy.
He knew very well that the nature of capital is bloodthirsty. It was basically impossible to expect grain merchants to be honest after just making a fool of themselves. They must have some tricks waiting for him.
"Ah Si, send people to garrison outside the city. Send people in the four directions out of the city to keep an eye on the convoys of the grain merchants." Li Qinzai ordered.
Liu Asi was stunned for a moment and said: "What Fifth Young Master means is..."
"Yes, they will move the grain." Li Qinzai laughed: "I forced them to lower the price and they didn't dare to close the door. But they still want to make huge profits, so they can only quietly transport the grain out of the city and sell it at a higher price elsewhere.
."
"If there is no food in Bingzhou City, I, the governor, will be embarrassed. The people are ignorant and will only blame me, the governor, for not managing the city well. The grain merchants will kill two birds with one stone, so why not?"
Liu Asi was immediately furious and gritted his teeth and said: "The villain will lead people to guard the main road outside the city. If anyone dares to secretly move the food, the villain will twist off his head."
Li Qinzai shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, I mean, let them go."
Liu Asi was stunned again: "Let them go? Let the food go too?"
"Yes, the grain will also be released. Your task is to keep an eye on the convoys transporting grain and make a rough estimate of how much grain they have transported."
"What do you mean, Fifth Young Master?"
Li Qinzai blinked: "Yesterday, I watched the stars at night, and after some calculations, I discovered that the people in Bingzhou can actually be full by drinking the northwest wind. The city no longer needs food. It doesn't matter if the food is moved. The northwest wind is free."
Liu Asi looked at him speechlessly: "Fifth Young Master, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Why use this excuse to fool the villain? The villain is not that stupid..."