The latest "Beijing News" published Ning Yuke's "speech" yesterday in a full page, verbatim.
Since there is no subjective evaluation attached, it is difficult to determine whether this move is considered "collaboration with the enemy".
In addition, Taichang Temple, which is responsible for managing the "newspaper industry", is now completely controlled by the Tongzhou Association, so Daning officials did not impose any punishment on the Beijing News.
But in fact, neither Ning Yongnian nor the people of Daning care much about such "little things" now.
In the former's view, if an army of 300,000 people were to crush them, Ning Yuke would have no chance of winning, and by then "the people's will" would naturally return to their side.
For the latter, they may be more concerned about how much food prices have risen today than what Ning Yuke said.
After all, when life becomes a problem, who will have the time to care about "national affairs"?
...
Before dawn, long queues formed at the entrances of several grain stores in the capital.
Food prices are rising day by day, and even in the capital, which is under the emperor's feet, it has now reached "sky-high prices."
But even though the price is sky-high, this food is not something you can just buy.
"Everyone! I'm sorry!"
"Our shop is out of food!"
"Let's all go back! Come back early tomorrow!"
"..."
Less than half an hour after the market opened, various grain stores had hung up wooden signs saying "No grain today" and were preparing to close down.
Naturally, those people who have not bought food will not agree.
"No food?! It's been like this for several days in a row! What kind of food store do you open?!"
"There must still be food! These profiteers must have seen the sharp rise in food prices and deliberately refused to sell it to us!"
"Open the door! Open the door quickly! Otherwise I will break down the door!"
"Oh, it's time to leave. I know the shopkeeper of Da'an Grain Store. He is indeed a good man. He will never have grain that he doesn't sell."
"If he says there is no food, then there really is no food."
"Here... let's go! Let's go to the food store on West Street."
"..."
After shouting outside the door for a long time, those who failed to buy food finally left helplessly.
And even those who bought a small amount of food didn't look very happy at this time.
The grain I just bought was not only expensive, but also lasted only a few days.
A few days later, I would have to queue up again to grab food, but who could guarantee that I would be able to grab it then?
If you can't get it, you can only eat bran rice.
After the bran rice is finished, you can only drink white porridge.
If this continues, white porridge will turn into gruel, gruel will turn into rice soup, rice soup will turn into bark, and one day it will reach the point of exhaustion.
What next?
Starved to death?
Obviously, there have been no major natural disasters in Daning in recent years, and food prices have been very stable.
But why did the food on the market suddenly disappear overnight?
Is it because of the war?
But even if there is a war, food prices should not rise so fiercely...
Ordinary people don't understand, let alone know that the situation in other states is actually worse than the capital.
But Ning Yongnian, who was in the palace, knew this very well.
He knows very well that the price of grain in Daning is soaring now because there are countless profiteers hoarding grain.
He knew even more clearly that the one that stocked the most was a suddenly popping up business called "Yingshengsheng".
Food is the most important thing for the people, so food prices must come down no matter what.
Therefore, Ning Yongnian decided a few days ago to quickly solve this problem through violent means.
but......
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, yesterday there were 13 fires in the abundant granaries in various states, and not a single grain of grain was left in the granaries..."
"Your Majesty! They have made it clear that they are not seeking wealth, but are trying to bring cholera to our country!"
"Your Majesty, I think someone must have informed Ying Shengsheng about this matter in advance. Otherwise, why would they burn all the food before the officials arrived?!"
"Your Majesty, the grain market in Daning cannot continue to be chaotic! Open a granary to help the market!"
"..."
In the morning, all the officials expressed their opinions in fear or anger.
Ning Yongnian, on the other hand, was sitting on the dragon chair with a cold expression, his eyes staying on one person for a long time.
There is no doubt that it is Wei Xianzhi who looks calm.
"Wei Qing, what do you think I should do?"
"..."
The moment Ning Yongnian spoke, the entire hall immediately fell silent.
More than a hundred court officials stared at Wei Xianzhi standing in the first row, with different emotions in their eyes.
However, the latter turned a blind eye to this and just calmly bowed his hand to Ning Yongnian.
"Your Majesty, the Xuanjing Division does not care about money and food."
"You should ask Master Miao about this."
The "Mr. Miao" in Wei Xianzhi's mouth was called Miao Xuezheng, who took over the position of Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue after Xu Shixing's death. He was a native of Ning Yongnian.
The Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge of money, grain, salt and other matters, and is indeed the "first responsible department" for this chaos in the grain market.
However, both the content and the tone of Wei Xianzhi's words were undoubtedly very disrespectful to Ning Yongnian.
"Wei Qing, I naturally know that the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of money and food..."
Instead of looking at Miao Xuezheng, Ning Yongnian narrowed his eyes slightly and still stared at Wei Xianzhi.
"However, Ying Shengsheng's collusion with the Luan King is the responsibility of the Xuanjing Division."
"It has been several days since I asked you to handle this matter. I wonder how your investigation went?"
"Back to the Emperor..."
Wei Changtian bowed his head and gave a concise five-word answer.
"The official is still investigating."
"Still checking..."
"Good one is still checking!"
"Ha ha ha ha!!!"
Laughter full of anger resounded throughout the hall, and all the court officials were afraid to speak out.
Anyone can see that Ning Yongnian and the Wei family are now only one step away from completely breaking up, so no one dares to say another word at this time.
"Wei Qing..."
After a few breaths, the angry laughter finally stopped, and the killing intent in Ning Yongnian's eyes was almost unconcealed.
He slowly stood up from the dragon chair, walked down the steps step by step, and then stood in front of Wei Xianzhi.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "In the ten days, I hope that the Xuanjing Division can bring to justice all those who disrupted the grain market within the ten days."
"Can you do it?"
"Return to the Emperor."
Wei Xianzhi's expression did not change, he raised his eyes and looked at Ning Yongnian: "This case is very complicated and involves many things. I'm afraid ten days is a bit short..."
"Is it?"
Ning Yongnian asked again and again: "How many days do you want?"
"this......"
Wei Xianzhi smiled: "Your Majesty, how about a hundred days?"
"..."
One hundred days to solve the case.
Let alone whether the Xuanjing Division can solve the case in a hundred days, even if it is really possible, by then Daning will already be starving and dying, and the people will be in dire straits.
Therefore, the deadline given by Wei Xianzhi is clearly a provocation.
All the court officials present understood this, so they were all wide-eyed and breathing rapidly, wondering why he dared to talk to Ning Yongnian like this.
Yes, the Wei family is indeed powerful now.
But this is not Shuzhou, but the capital city where 50,000 imperial guards have been stationed for a long time!
How many people do you have in total at the helm of your Hanging Mirror Department? How can you withstand these 50,000 Imperial Guards?
To take a step back, you, Wei Xianzhi, are in the palace at this moment!
If Ning Yongnian is really so angry that he wants to kill you, how can you survive?
More than a hundred court officials were puzzled. They didn't understand how Wei Xianzhi had the confidence to dare to challenge Ning Yongnian so openly.
They even thought that the commander of the Xuanjing Division would not be able to walk out of the hall alive.
However......
Staring at the smiling Wei Xianzhi, Ning Yongnian clenched the palms hidden in his sleeves into fists, and then slowly relaxed them after a few breaths.
He turned his head without saying a word, no longer looking at Wei Xianzhi, but slowly said to Miao Xuezheng:
"Lord Miao, open the warehouse to store grain."
"Yes Yes......"
Miao Xuezheng didn't dare to say anything now, so he quickly lowered his head and answered.
Ning Yongnian didn't say another word, shook his sleeves, left the court officials and walked to the back hall.
With Li Huaizhong's "retreat from the court", today's morning court ended hastily.
The court officials walked out of the hall one after another, deliberately keeping a distance from Wei Xianzhi as if they were hiding from the god of plague.
But the latter didn't care about it. Instead, the smile on his face seemed to be even bigger.