Hearing Chen Yu's words, Mr. Lu moved his eyebrows but said nothing.
And Shen Yi, who was standing behind Master Lu, couldn't help but look up at Magistrate Chen.
According to the information that Shen Yi has come into contact with now, the seemingly upright Magistrate Chen must have profited from the process of buying grain for the court. If not, Ma Yuanwai and other grain merchants would not dare to be so upright. to fight with him in the ring.
If not, when grain prices rose and the matter became serious, Magistrate Chen's first reaction would not have been to keep the matter under wraps in Jiangdu. Instead, he would have simply reported it to the court and asked the court to raid the homes of these grain merchants.
It has only been half a month since the price of food rose. In such a short period of time, the accounts of the imperial court and the accounts recorded by the grain merchants can be checked. No matter how powerful the prefect Chen is, no matter how important the prime minister Yang is in the capital, It is impossible to completely reverse right and wrong and wipe away Chen Yu's greed for money.
According to Shen Yi's original conjecture, Magistrate Chen may have the upper hand in this matter, but it is unlikely that he will escape unscathed. He will most likely receive some criticism. If he is unlucky, he may even be removed from his position as Jiangdu Magistrate and marginalized. .
But now, looking at Magistrate Chen's confident expression, he seems to have a winning chance.
Just when Shen Yi was confused, Zhang Lu, the supervisory censor, took a few steps forward and stood in the middle of the side hall. After coughing, he said: "Everyone."
He looked around, and then said in a deep voice: "Now several big grain merchants in Jiangdu, as well as Chen Fuzun and officials from the prefect's Yamen are all here. Let's take a seat."
After saying this, Zhang Yushi looked at Master Lu and several local "celebrities" from Jiangdu next to Master Lu, and continued: "Mr. Lu and the gentlemen from Jiangdu, please take a seat."
After Zhang Yushi finished speaking, everyone present looked at each other, and then each found his own seat and sat down.
Today's "party" was attended by all the upper class people in Jiangdu, even the decision-makers. In this kind of occasion, there was naturally no seat for Shen Yi, and Shen Qilang didn't expect to have a seat, so he stood there honestly Master Lu was behind him, looking left and right from time to time.
After everyone present had almost sat down, Shen Yi, who was standing behind Lu Anshi, was accidentally bumped by someone. He staggered and couldn't stand still. He took several steps forward to stabilize his body, and almost Fell to the ground.
After finally standing firm, Shen Qilang apologized to the people around him who he touched, ran back behind Lu Anshi in a small step, lowered his head in embarrassment and whispered: "Sir, I'm embarrassing you."
At this moment, Lu Anshi had already sat down. He didn't even raise his eyelids and said calmly: "On purpose?"
Shen Qilang blinked his eyes, his face full of innocence: "Sir, the student was hit just now."
Master Lu smiled faintly and said no more.
Although he is obsessed with learning, he can still see Shen Yi's little thoughts. The people in this side hall of the Yamen are all the top people in Jiangdu, but Shen Yi is so inconspicuous among these people that no one will notice at all. he.
He deliberately fell down and returned to Lu Anshi, letting almost everyone see him and letting everyone know that he was Master Lu's "horse boy".
This little gesture is smart and not annoying.
In fact, Shen Yi deliberately made it obvious just to let Lu Anshi find out.
Just when Shen Yi was chatting with Master Lu, everyone had already sat down. Zhang Lu, the supervisory censor, stood on the main seat of the side hall, glanced at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "I and Yue Pingshi are here on the order of the king. , to investigate the soaring food prices in Jiangdu, after two days of investigation, the matter has been almost completely investigated, and now I invite you all to come here just to ask you one last question."
Dali Temple Judge Yue Zheng also stood up and said slowly: "Every word you said today will be recorded by us and sent to the court. I hope you will answer truthfully and do not deceive the court or your majesty."
After Yue Pingshi said these words, he looked at Lu Anshi and said, "I invite Mr. Lu to come here just to be a witness. In the future, I will present the official transcript to the court. If there is any deviation from what was recorded today, Lu Anshi Master, you can write to Yushitai and Dali Temple to report us."
Lu Anshi stood up silently, looked at the two imperial envoys, lowered his eyebrows and said, "I hope the two imperial envoys can understand everything clearly."
"good."
Zhang Yushi took out a document from his sleeve, held it in front of him and slowly unfolded it, and said: "Everyone, here is a document issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs two months ago. It probably means that the imperial court is short of food during the war and ordered households to Some of the chief ministers of the ministry went to various places to purchase grain and rice and transferred them to Beijing."
"This document stipulates the price standards for purchasing grain and rice, and all purchases will be based on market prices."
"At that time, it was Director Zhao Yu who came to Jiangdu to buy grain with the documents from the Ministry of Household Affairs. When I came to Jiangdu from the capital, I met Director Zhao on the road and asked Director Zhao about the price of grain and rice purchased by the Ministry of Household Affairs in Jiangdu. "
Zhang Yushi paused and continued: "It's two cents per catty."
As soon as he said these words, the grain merchant Ma Yuanwai and others on the other side all looked happy.
As for Magistrate Chen Yuchen, he remained calm and expressionless.
Having said this, Supervisor Zhang Lu looked at Mr. Ma, the grain merchant sitting aside, and asked: "Except the horsemen, fellow grain merchants, half a month ago, the Ministry of Household Affairs asked Director Zhao to come to Jiangdu to supervise grain. Have you met Zhao?" Is there anyone in charge?"
The horseman stood up and shook his head resolutely. He lowered his head and said: "Back to the censor, from the beginning to the end, it was the Jiangdu prefecture's yamen that was buying grain from us. We didn't even meet the person from the Ministry of Revenue. arrive."
Zhang Yushi nodded and said: "Chief Zhao of the Household Department only came to Jiangdu to supervise grain, and did not come directly to Jiangdu to buy grain. Buying grain is a matter for the Jiangdu Prefecture's Yamen. It is not surprising that the Jiangdu Prefecture's Yamen buys grain from you. "
Having said this, Zhang Yushi asked again: "What was the price of rice in Jiangdu half a month ago?"
The horseman looked happy: "Back to Master Yushi, half a month ago, when the price of grain in Jiangdu was normal, ordinary rice cost three cents per catty, and polished rice cost two cents per catty. Some grain stores sold polished rice for five cents. catty."
Zhang Yushi nodded: "In other words, the price of two cents per catty given by the Ministry of Revenue to buy grain is very reasonable."
“The price of two cents per pound is naturally reasonable!”
The horseman was trembling with excitement. He looked at Yushi Zhang, his eyes shining: "Master Yushi, the price given to us by Jiangdu Prefecture's Yamen is not two cents per catty at all, but one cent per catty!"
"On this point, all our major grain stores have accounts to check. For some grain stores, the prefect's yamen will give them less than a penny per catty. For the Chen rice from Wei's grain store in Dongcheng, the prefect's yamen will only give them ten pounds of Chen rice.
Eight cents!"
When Ma Yuanwai said this, his voice trembled, and he couldn't help but bow to Zhang Yushi: "Master Yushi, the prefect Chen is exploiting me and other common people, please make the decision, Master Yushi!"
Zhang Yushi glanced at Ma Yuanwai with a smile, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Mr. Ma, if the prefect's Yamen really embezzled the court's money, we will definitely report it to the court and let the court convict him."
Hearing this, many people present looked a little surprised.
Even Mr. Lu, who was calm and calm, frowned slightly, turned his head slightly and whispered: "It's weird, these two imperial envoys have friendship with Chen Yu. They should be sent by Yang Xiang. Why are they turning against each other now?"
The taste?"
Lu Anshi whispered: "Could it be that... Ma Jin and the others used money?"
Shen Yi stood behind Lu Anshi. After hearing Master Lu's words, he turned around and looked at Chen Fuzun, who was still there with his eyes closed to rest. He frowned in confusion at first, and then suddenly figured out something...
He lowered his head slightly, approached Lu Anshi, and then whispered: "Sir, if nothing else happens, these grain merchants have already fallen into the trap."
