Chapter 967 The Three Martyrs of the Spring and Autumn Period
"Two gentlemen, what are you..."
Seeing the two men hurriedly out with disgraced faces, the waiting coachman looked over in confusion, and his probing eyes made their faces heat up.
The two people, whose faces turned red, looked at each other and sighed.
Yu Lu was more calm than Fang Xi and said, "Let's go to the next rice store."
"Hey!" The coachman didn't care so much and responded directly, as if he didn't see the embarrassment of the two of them. It was rented for a day and the price was one tael, so he naturally followed the guest officer's wishes.
Moreover, it means walking around on the street without hurting the strength of the cow.
After entering the car, Yu Lu coughed dryly, looked at Fang Xi who was silent and said, "Grain is not the same as money. It is used for disaster relief, stabilizing the price of rice, salary, and war!"
"Even if it's difficult, we still have to do it. There are still seven rice shops left. Let's go visit them and even record the food prices."
"I know." Fang Xi cheered up. The two of them didn't trust unfamiliar outsiders, so they simply didn't take anyone with them on this trip and only pretended to be scholars to inquire.
After visiting several rice shops, large and small, and no fish slipped through the net, the two of them returned to the inn.
It was already getting dusk at this time, and although the rows of shops were still open, there were fewer pedestrians and the pace was even more hurried.
Even though he was incognito, Yu Lu was finally a little sober. He didn't dare to stay in a small inn. The inn he stayed in was a large inn. It was also very luxurious. It was a two-story street-facing building. The first floor was the lobby, and the second floor was expensive.
Room.
This building also has a large courtyard, with rows of houses built close together. They are all small rooms. Each room can accommodate more than a dozen people. Some of them have sesame oil lamps lit.
The so-called Datongpu also built stables.
Yu Lu and Fang Xi shared a room. As soon as they returned to the inn, the two of them went upstairs. Since they didn't want outsiders to know what they had done, they didn't start summarizing the day until they returned to the room and closed the door tightly.
After closing the door, the room was very dark, so I lit two candles.
Not to mention, even though I ran into trouble at a few rice stores and was ridiculed, at other stores, I still got some information.
Yu Lu has a better memory and is responsible for counting the numbers in his head one by one.
Fang Xi had a piece of paper spread out in front of him, holding a pen in hand, and wrote down all the numbers reported by Yu Lu.
"The price of grain in this county can basically be verified." Yu Lu opened a piece of paper, pointed to a column and said: "The price of new wheat is four cents and seven cents of silver per stone, while last year it was four cents and four cents. This is the adjustment
The reason for sending food for disaster relief.”
"I remember that when I first ascended the throne, the price of new wheat was three cents and seven cents per stone, which increased by one cent." Fang Xi said thoughtfully.
"That's not how it works. The cheaper the food, the better. Don't forget, at least 90% of the entire county is farmers. If food prices are too low, it will hurt farmers."
"When Mr. Zhang Dai, the deputy imperial envoy, was in power, he was indiscriminate and only adhered to the principle of suppressing the strong. He forced the price of wheat to drop to three cents and three cents. This was too cheap. As a result, not only the landowners and businessmen in the county were resentful, but also the farmers.
He also cursed him to die."
"The price of food is too low. After a year of hard work, there is not much left."
"Hundreds of thousands of people welcomed the upright officials, but they were in dire straits."
Yu Lu thought thoughtfully and sighed: "We should be scholars and promote people, and we can protect the weak and eradicate the strong. Such a concept in government is probably of no benefit to the country and the people!"
Seeing Fang Xi's surprise, he raised his body, frowned, and said after a long time: "This is the teaching of Grand Sun. I didn't pay attention to it before, but now that I think about it, it is very meaningful."
"The way of a university is to be close to the people and to be supremely good. But how can we achieve the supreme good?"
Fang Xi stopped writing, and the two of them were silent. In fact, they had read a lot, but they really didn't know much about economics.
"The price of food is almost there, let's see what clues there are." Yu Lu stopped sighing and moved over to look at what Fang Xi had recorded.
Seeing this, both of them couldn't help but sigh.
"I can't find it out!"
After a moment of silence, Yu Lu said: "It's only a few days. It's understandable that we can't find out. Don't be discouraged. We can continue to explore tomorrow."
Fang Xi nodded: "It's just what I want, so let's do it."
The walls of this inn are made of real materials, and the sound insulation effect is quite good. At least for the two people who have checked the sound insulation effect, they can't hear the low voices next door at all.
Little did they know that this was just their feeling, and in the next room, someone put his ear against the wall and heard what was said clearly through the copper pipe.
Not only did they listen, but some people also spied on the two men's movements through the small holes hidden behind the calligraphy and painting.
Combined with the content of the speech, it is not difficult to summarize what the two gained today.
The young man who withdrew his gaze and listened attentively sealed the mouth of the tube with wax, turned his face and bowed slightly, and said to the person sitting behind the table: "Sir, these two are more incompetent than we thought. They have been investigating for many days.
Everyone is just scratching the surface outside. If this continues, in what year and month can we get to the point?"
The adult in the middle also trembled slightly. If the two of them were too capable, they would be in trouble, but if they were so incompetent, they would be in trouble as well!
These two people must be pushed out, "to be upright, to punish corruption, to clean up the officials, to sacrifice for the country, to stir up civil unrest, and to punish the prince."
I don’t want to make no progress all the time, and I can’t push it forward. This is really terrible!
"This is actually normal." There were two other people sitting at the table. They were obviously of high status. After hearing this, the left side seemed to smile and said, "Not only are they young, they are also scholars."
"It can be said that if you don't hear what's going on outside the window and only read the books of sages, you may not even know the official procedures, let alone the detailed accounts of food in and out. No matter how you check, you will have no direction."
"That's why the imperial court has to give Jinshi a rule of observing government for two or three years before they can be hired."
Another person laughed after hearing this and said: "You are right, but it is not a problem for Yu Lu and Fang Xi to be like this. The stage has been set up. We want the two of them to leave their names in history and die in the line of duty, but the two of them are afraid of death.
It’s difficult to be incompetent but utterly incompetent.”
All three of them spoke, but the only man sitting down frowned and said nothing.
After confirming that there was no movement next door, the leading man pondered for a moment and said to the person standing: "You go ahead with this matter."
This order was issued confidently and with a straight back. Although his appearance was mediocre and his clothes were ordinary, he had an extraordinary aura. It was obvious that he was a man who was used to giving orders.
The person who was clicked immediately said respectfully: "Yes, sir, don't worry, I will be a righteous man and lead the way for them."
"We must make sure that the two of them can get on the stage, act in the script, and lie in the coffin."
"My identity is also simple. With the cooperation of the government, no one can expose me if I act as a poor scholar. I'm sure they will lead me as a comrade."
However, when this person stepped back, he twitched the corner of his mouth, still looking a little speechless.
The person standing on the other side breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had nothing to do. Thinking of the tough guy in the imperial mission this time, he reminded with a little worry: "Sir, there is also Zhang Dai, this is not an easy person to get along with."
, is a tough guy..."
But the gentleman didn't take it seriously, and said calmly: "I have already prescribed the right medicine for you. Just give up on the fake upright officials. The real upright officials in the world are the most useful. Oh, you can make them charge for me without spending a tael of silver."
I will die!"
"To die for the country, Zhang Dai must be happy to obey his orders. In addition to the fate of Yu Lu and Fang Xi, he can be called the three righteous men of the Spring and Autumn Period. I will never forget it and ask for a good posthumous title for them."