Magistrate Chen's response plan is undoubtedly very wise.
If this matter takes a lot of time and the people who sing this nursery rhyme are arrested in the city, the final result will only make this matter bigger.
Once it gets too big, it can't be contained.
The reputation of the imperial court is the most important thing. Once the princes in the imperial court or the censors know about this matter, no matter how beautifully Governor Chen handles it, in the end this matter will become an indelible stain on his political career.
.
Therefore, this matter cannot be done on a large scale.
The first thing is to ban the people of Jiangdu from singing this song again, and the second thing is to eliminate the root cause of this nursery rhyme.
The root of this nursery rhyme is not the person who created the nursery rhyme, nor the people who sang it in the streets and alleys. The root is the rising food prices.
Therefore, Magistrate Chen reacted immediately and prepared to go to the neighboring state capital to bring in grain supplies. At the same time, he notified grain merchants to ask them to lower grain prices.
These two operations should have been carried out by the prefecture's yamen when grain prices had just risen. Instead of waiting until now, when grain prices have risen for ten days and a half, the prefecture's yamen should have done it belatedly.
Obviously, Chen Yu, the governor of Jiangdu, is not very concerned about the people's livelihood and economy of Jiangdu. He only cares about his own future and his official reputation.
Adjusting food supply to save the market is a very feasible method, but it is extremely difficult to expect people from the prefect's yamen or the county magistrate's yamen to find out the person behind this incident, or Shen Yi, who created the nursery rhyme.
Local yamen are not spy agencies, and there are very few formal "officials." A prefect yamen usually has only about ten formal staff, and the rest are "officials" who serve as temporary workers.
In addition, in this era, without that kind of surveillance method, it is difficult to trace back what happened three days ago, and it is impossible for the local government to interrogate people all over the city.
Even if the people were questioned, Xu Fu and others who sang the nursery rhyme three days ago were "committing crimes" in Jiangdu City. Even if some people knew that they had sung it, there were too many people in Jiangdu City who had sung this nursery rhyme.
It is extremely difficult to trace Xu Fu and other children, and then trace them to Shen Yi.
Therefore, it was basically impossible for Chen Yu to ask the county government to find out who made up the nursery rhyme. Even if it could be done, Shen Yi had a plan prepared in advance so that he would not be in a hurry.
As the head of Jiangdu Prefecture, Magistrate Chen has great power. After he gave the order, the people in the county government and prefectural government began to get busy. The government officials began to patrol the streets and alleys, prohibiting anyone from singing this nursery rhyme again, and slandering
imperial court.
However, food prices are still rising and have not completely come down. There are still a lot of "thorns" in private, and I just hum a few words when I have nothing to do.
After all, Jiangdu Prefecture is part of the Gyeonggi Province and is under the emperor's feet. The common people are also confident that the government does not dare to do anything to them.
As for Shen Yi, who had caused a lot of trouble, he stayed in the academy and did not go out these days. In order not to cause trouble to himself and Xu Fu and others, he did not find anyone to contact them.
, only Tian Boping was very loyal and still wrote down the situation in the city and sent it to Shen Yi every day.
On the afternoon of the fourth day when the nursery rhyme began to spread, Shen Yi was standing with his hands hanging down in Master Lu's small courtyard, listening to the teachings of this great Confucian from Jiangzuo.
After a period of hugging, his relationship with Lu Anshi has become quite close, mainly because Shen Yi now has a high "emotional intelligence" and has kept up with his vision and knowledge. When he is with Lu Anshi, he will not only ask Lu Anshi for advice, but sometimes You can also talk freely about world affairs with this great scholar from Jiangzuo, which is very popular with Lu Anshi.
At this time, Shen Yi wrote another policy on "disaster relief" and gave it to Lu Anshi for correction. Master Lu readily agreed, put down his work, and read Shen Yi's policy from beginning to end.
After roughly commenting on Shen Yi's strategy, Master Lu looked up at Shen Yi, who was holding the disciple ceremony, and asked: "Whenever there is a disaster, the first thing that rises is the price of food. If a disaster hits a certain place, local merchants and wealthy households hoard food. , causing food prices to skyrocket, what should we do?”
Shen Qilang looked calm: "Sir, if killing one person can save ten thousand people, and killing one household can save ten thousand households, then this person should be killed, and this household should also die."
Lu Anshi glanced at Shen Yi indifferently and asked, "The price of food in Jiangdu remains high now. What do you mean, you want to kill all those food merchants?"
Shen Yi coughed, shook his head and said: "That's not necessary. Just confiscate a few of their homes and exile them, and the others will be honest. There are rebellious farmers in the world, but there are no rebellious merchants. They are all pigs, sheep and livestock at the disposal of the court." That's all, whether to kill or not to kill is all at the discretion of the court."
"Animals..."
Lu Anshi let out a "ha" and said: "These animals you are talking about, especially those that are astonishingly fat, most of them did not grow by themselves, but were fed by someone. If you want to kill them, I am afraid that these fed animals people disagree."
Shen Yi blinked at Lu Anshi and said with a smile: "Sir, the people in the court are cruel. When the critical moment comes, not to mention the animals they raise, even if they cut off their arms to protect themselves, they will not blink an eye."
Lu Anshi folded up Shen Yi's strategy, then lowered his eyebrows and said: "If I remember correctly, Shen Yi, you are only fifteen or sixteen years old this year. You have never been out of Jiangdu. How do you know so much about the affairs of the court?"
"This truth can be seen from the book."
Shen Qilang took his time and said, "There are countless examples in history books that can support what the students said."
"You are quite the material to be an official."
Lu Anshi raised his head and looked at Shen Yishang's somewhat immature face.
On his childish face, there is a mature look that belies his age.
Mr. Lu said earnestly and thoughtfully: "If you, Shen Qi, become an official in the future, please don't do anything wrong."
"Don't worry, sir."
Shen Qilang bowed his head respectfully: "If a student is lucky enough to step into the officialdom, he will definitely be a good official who benefits the country."
Lu Anshi did not answer, but said calmly: "Did you write that nursery rhyme that everyone in Jiangdu City sung?"
Shen Yi frowned slightly, then looked at Lu Anshi and asked, "Sir, you don't even have to leave home, and you know about this?"
"Qingque told me."
Mr. Lu whispered: "She said that this nursery rhyme was widely spread in Jiangdu City and had such a great influence that the government began to ban people from singing it."
After saying this, Lu Anshi raised his head and stared at Shen Yi without saying a word.
Shen Qilang hesitated for a while, then bowed his head respectfully and said, "Sir, it was written by a student."
"You are so brave."
Mr. Lu lowered his eyebrows and said: "Jiangdu is full of tigers and wolves. This sentence is to compare Jiangdu Yamen and Jiangdu grain merchants to tigers and wolves. Mr. Chen values reputation most. If he knew it was you who wrote it, how could he let it go?" you?"
"It's hard for him to track down students."
Shen Yi looked at Lu Anshi and asked, "How do you know you are a student, sir?"
"Guess."
Master Lu said silently: "I heard from your teacher that you have been to the city frequently recently, and you have the motive to do this."
Having said this, Lu Anshi paused and continued: "I asked you just now, but you don't need to admit it."
"I believe you, sir."
Shen Yi smiled and continued: "Sir, there is no reason to harm me. Besides, even if the government discovers this matter, the students can explain it clearly."
Master Lu nodded and said silently: "You want to... borrow the help of the government to kill the Ma family?"
Shen Yi shook his head.
"Ma Jun's crime will not lead to death. The students' thinking is that confiscating his home and being exiled is enough."
Among the four people, Ma Jun did not take part in the beating of Chen Qing because of his obesity, nor did he hit Shen Yi.
From beginning to end, Ma Jun just kicked Chen Qing twice.
Having said this, Shen Yi paused and continued: "As Mr. said, most of the wealthy businessmen are supported by someone behind them. It is still unknown whether the Ma family can be brought down when this matter has reached this point. , if the government had not taken action against the Ma family..."
Shen Yi looked at Lu Anshi and said in a low voice: "The students need help from your husband."