"Haha! You still know the words "people's fat and people's anointing". Please tell me, if you don't do this, how will the food gap be filled?
Zhu Cijiong asked with a sneer.
Chi Zaozao said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, I will do everything possible to raise food, even if I lose everything, I still have to buy it!"
"purchase?
With so much food, you, a fifth-grade prefect, should not have so much money, or are you richer than the imperial court?"
Zhu Cijiong's words were cold and indifferent. After Chi Zaozao heard this, he was so frightened that he trembled. He had dug a big hole for himself without realizing it!
"This... I will try my best to do it. There are many aristocratic families in Chizhou Mansion. I can borrow it from them. In short, the court will not suffer any losses!"
Chi Zaozao said hurriedly.
At this time, Zhu Cijiong no longer wanted to listen to his nonsense. He clapped his hands and the Jin Yiwei escorted all the people guarding the granary up.
"Tell me, where did all the food in this granary go?"
Zhu Cijiong asked.
Those people looked at Chi Zaozao and said hurriedly: "His Royal Highness the Third Emperor, this... we don't know either."
"Haha! You are the people who are looking after the food, but the food is gone. You still don't know why the food is not available. You are really talking nonsense!"
"Come here! Drag them down, punish thirty of them first, then pull their wives and children over and behead them in public!"
Zhu Cijiong said with a sneer.
ah!
When they heard that they were about to be beheaded, those people hurriedly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Your Highness, Third Prince, please spare us! We are also forced to have no choice!"
"Master Chi wants all those grains. He insists on taking them away, but we dare not stop him!"
"Yes! Master Chi brought these grains out and sold them. Your Highness, the Third Prince, please keep an eye on them!"
This group of people immediately surrendered Chi Zaozao. At this time, Chi Zaozao's face was uglier than pig liver. He really wanted to strangle these people to death!
Zhu Cijiong just glanced at Chi Zaozao, then looked at those people and asked: "Oh! Since you know that he sold it to others, who did he sell it to?"
"This...His Royal Highness, the third prince, has sold the grain merchants in the city, including the Zhang family, the Li family, and the Wang family. These three families have made a lot of money selling grain in the past few years!"
"Your Highness, Third Prince, we are all innocent. Please forgive us. No matter what you ask, we will tell you!"
Those people rushed to speak, fearing that they would give the chance of survival to others.
Zhu Cijiong said with a smile: "Don't worry, as long as you tell the truth, everyone can live. Come on! Go and bring the Zhang family, the Li family, and the Wang family!"
"yes!"
The Jin Yiwei took the order and went to arrest the people.
Not long after, three people were brought over, and behind them were hundreds of servants.
Zhang Jiajia advocated Shifeng kneeling on the ground, his face still full of dissatisfaction. He said solemnly: "His Royal Highness, the Third Prince, I don't know why you came to us today."
Zhu Cijiong looked at Zhang Shifeng and said coldly: "Haha! You are just a noble family in this city, but you are so arrogant. I didn't even speak, so you dare to speak first?"
After Zhu Cijiong said this, Zhang Shifeng was still dissatisfied and said: "Your Highness, the Third Prince, as the saying goes, you are not afraid of a shadow when you are upright. I have never done anything corrupt or perverted the law, and I have never evaded taxes. I don't know why you brought me here!"
Wang Shiming, the head of the Wang family, also said: "Your Highness, Third Prince, we have also heard about this granary. Since it is empty, we should approach the prefect, not us!"
Li Dekai, the head of the Li family, also said: "Your Highness, the third prince, all grievances have their own owners, and all debts have their owners. Since the granary is empty, we can just cut down the magistrate's pond early. What does it mean to bring us here?"
"Haha! You three are so confident! I brought you here, so of course I want you to return the food in this granary!"
Zhu Cijiong said with a sneer.
"Joke! Your Highness, Third Prince, you are going too far. We did not steal the food here!"
The head of the Li family said.
"Your Highness, Third Prince, we are serious businessmen. You are the prince, and we do respect you. However, you are so arrogant and unreasonable, and we cannot tolerate you!"
Wang Shiming said coldly.
"Your Highness, Third Prince, there are so many people gathered here today. You have to obey the crowd in your words and deeds. If you make the people dissatisfied, it will not end well!"
Zhang Shifeng said in a deep voice.
The people in Chizhou Prefecture all need to eat the food of these three families. If these people don't speak for them today, they will definitely increase the price of food.
At this time, the people were also talking a lot, feeling that what Zhu Cijiong did was indeed inappropriate.
"They are right. The granary here is empty. They did not steal it. However, His Highness the Third Prince wants them to pay compensation. This is too inappropriate!"
"Yes! If His Highness the Third Prince did this, wouldn't it make people panic? In the future, the imperial court would want to snatch everyone's food and could snatch it away at any time."
"Alas! Who is the prince? He behaves in a domineering manner!"
The people said one after another.
Zhu Cijiong said loudly at this time: "Common people, do you think that they did not steal this food?
Therefore, it’s not their responsibility to repay?”
"Actually, you are wrong. They did not steal this food, but it was stolen because of them!"
"If they hadn't been eyeing this batch of grain, Chichi wouldn't have stolen the grain earlier, and the granary wouldn't be empty!"
"Let me ask you, is the food you buy now more expensive than before?
What is the reason for all this?
It’s because the imperial court has no food in its hands!”
"If the imperial court had grain in its hands, it would not dare to raise the price of grain. Now tell me, are these three people guilty?"
this……
After Zhu Cijiong said this, all the people present were stunned. According to what he said, these three people really committed heinous crimes!
"Yes! Why didn't I think of this?
The price of food recently has increased a lot compared to before, and I can hardly afford it!"
"Alas! I asked why the price of food is getting higher and higher. It turns out that the food has been tricked!"
"The imperial court's granary is empty. If there is a disaster here, there will be no food for us to eat. Then we will have no choice but to starve to death!"
"Bah! No one from the Zhang family, Li family, or Wang family is good!"
The people came to their senses and began to curse them.
Zhang Shifeng, Wang Shiming, and Li Dekai were all confused at this time. After listening to the third prince's words, these common people began to curse them, but now there was no one to help them speak.