This matter was hidden from Wei Zheng for the simple reason that they were worried that he would do something bad. After several confrontations with Li Mu, the Shandong nobles discovered that Wei Zheng was no longer as brave as he used to be. Not only did he fail to take advantage, but he was always against him.
Li Mu compromised. He even gave Li Mu a bribe of 100,000 yuan for road construction!
Although Zheng Guanyin provided all the money, they did not take a penny. However, Wei Zheng did this, which also made the Shandong nobles dissatisfied. They thought that Wei Zheng had lost his spirit, so they planned to support Wang Jingze. Unexpectedly, Wang Jingze did not know what was going on.
They had no choice but to join forces with Zhuge Liang to handle the matter privately without telling Wei Zheng.
They thought that after the increase in food prices, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would react immediately. But what they did not expect was that at this time, Li Shimin suddenly dismissed Li Mu from the post of Minister-in-Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Although everyone knew
, this is just a way for Li Shimin to beat Li Mu, and he will definitely be reinstated after the New Year. But now, Li Mu is indeed no longer the Minister-in-Chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and their plan has begun to be implemented, and the price of food has risen, just like being thrown out.
It's like water, it can't be taken back.
Now we are riding a tiger, and we have to do it even if we don't want to do it, otherwise internal strife will start before we can confront Li Mu. But if they are allowed to increase prices until after the year, it is not realistic. A price increase means a reduction in sales.
Many grain stores will even abandon them and choose other suppliers. The regular customers they have established over the years are likely to lose because of this. Business is all about trust, there are no natural or man-made disasters, and arbitrary price increases are inherently disappointing.
Disgraceful. It can be sustained in the short term, but over time, they themselves will suffer the most.
After all, food is worthless if it is not sold. The extra food cannot be eaten by oneself, and can only be left to rot and mold.
The news from the court could not be concealed. Yesterday, Tang Jian wrote to the emperor about rising food prices. The Shandong nobles felt that things were about to get worse. As expected, early this morning, Li Shimin went to Li Mu's house. Although he didn't know
What did they talk about? But what can the two people discuss? Can it be done by the Shandong nobles?
After hearing the news, the Shandong nobles were like ants on a hot pot, unable to come up with an idea. In fact, it was not that they had no ideas, but that at this time, everyone had their own thoughts and could not come up with a unified idea.
.This is the consequences of being leaderless, so we had no choice but to come to Wei Zheng.
Wei Zheng had not seen these people for a while. When he saw so many people here today, he knew something was wrong. He had also heard about what happened in the court. He learned about Tang Jian's letter, but he did not go to Shandong.
He thought about the nobles. In his heart, the Shandong nobles were not so stupid.
But that's the way it is, the more you don't want something to happen, the more likely it will happen. After listening to these people finish talking about what they did, Wei Zheng suddenly realized that he was too lazy to speak.
After being silent for a while, Wei Zheng finally said, "Whose smart person's idea was this? Can you let me see it?"
The Shandong nobles were not fools. When they heard this tone, they knew that Wei Zheng was only two inches away from getting angry. They looked at each other and the person in charge of the Fan Yang Lu family said: "Wei Gong, this is what everyone discussed, isn't it?
Whose idea was it? I didn’t do this deliberately to hide it from you. Isn’t it because you have been angered by Li Mu’s guy many times, and I want to take revenge on you, so I vented my anger..."
"Stop picking up nice things!" Wei Zheng scolded: "I don't need you to vent your anger on me? A bunch of idiots, I really don't know how to write the word "death"! Food prices are related to people's livelihood and the country. It has been the foundation of the country throughout the ages, and all dynasties have attached great importance to it. Even if
Even if you are a foolish emperor, you will not lose your mind over this kind of thing. What’s more, your majesty is one of the rare wise saints. Could he not realize the importance of food prices? When it comes time to anger your majesty, the emperor will be angry.
, bloody river, how many of you have enough heads to cut off?"
"It's not that serious, right? The grain belongs to us. We want to sell it at a high price, but why don't we allow it? I'll seal up the grain storage box. It's my own business if I don't sell it. What does it have to do with others? When you become the emperor, you can rob the people.
Food?" the person in charge of the Zheng family in Xingyang said. Zheng Guanyin was born in the Zheng family in Xingyang. Therefore, when Li Jiancheng was the prince, the Zheng family in Xingyang was the head of the Shandong gentry. Li Jiancheng died in the hands of Li Shimin, and the Zheng family in Xingyang
He began to feel lonely, and therefore hated Li Shimin deeply. People of the Zheng family in Xingyang often made disrespectful remarks, but they just didn't dare to say them in public.
Wei Zheng stared at this person and said, "If you think so, why do you come to me?"
The man couldn't answer, and Wei Zheng ignored him, snorted and said: "The whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's ministers. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, the current ruler of the world is your majesty.
This world belongs to him, and the lives of you, me, and all the people are determined by his words. Therefore, it doesn't matter whether he can do it or not, it's just whether he wants to do it or not."
"If your Majesty is really determined to move the nobles, it may not be possible to remove them all, but it is not difficult for one family to have two families. Maybe you will think that since we are all in the same boat, Your Majesty has to weigh it. Ha! I won't say anything.
It’s so clear. When it comes to fighting with swords and axes, how many people can say that they are like-minded?”
"His Majesty went to Li Mu, and he has already conveyed a message, which is to warn you to take care of yourself. He asked Li Mu to solve the problem. You can just go to Li Mu and find a way to come down. If you are shameless, there will be no next step.
It’s so simple.”
After listening to Wei Zheng's analysis, everyone looked frightened. When the Tang Dynasty pacified Shandong, they had all seen Li Shimin's ruthlessness. When they encountered Li Jiancheng's troops, most of them surrendered, but Li Shimin was young and energetic at the time, and was very ruthless.
You can't fight. So when you encounter Li Shimin's soldiers and horses, you can't surrender. You can only surrender after a battle. If you lose, you can't surrender.
Li Shimin had many fierce generals under his command, and when the war reached the later stage, the war was often over before the drums were beaten. Naturally, the most casualties were the Shandong disciples. I don't know how many people died tragically at the hands of the generals of Tiance Mansion.
This is also the reason why when Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng fought, the Shandong nobles mostly sided with Li Jiancheng. They felt that Li Jiancheng was a benevolent ruler, but Li Shimin was too tyrannical.
Recalling the unbearable scene, everyone was afraid. If Li Shimin was really annoyed and sent out soldiers and generals... they couldn't imagine the consequences. In the end, these so-called wealthy people are just ordinary people. Although they control money and food
, but without a wise hero, it is impossible to become a climate. At the critical moment, you will not be able to hold on.
"But..." Among those present, there was an elder. When Li Yuan was emperor, he served as a minister in the Ministry of Rites. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he took the initiative to resign. Among the Shandong gentry, he was not considered a core figure, but because of his relationship with various
He had a lot of acquaintances with each other and was quite popular. Wei Zheng had received help from him in his early years, when he was seventeen or eighteen years old, so he was somewhat unpopular with Wei Zheng.
Seeing him speaking, Wei Zheng also put away his anger and said, "If you have any ideas, just speak up."
"The old man is already in his twilight years. Logically speaking, he should not get involved in these things. But in this matter, in order to increase the price of food, a lot of food from other places has been purchased in the early stage. A lot of money has been spent, even now
If we want to stop, do we have to pay for the lost money ourselves?"
Wei Zheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this, and thought to himself that this is indeed an old fool. You are the ones who started the matter. If you don't bear the losses, who will bear them? But after all, they are the people who have helped him, and Wei Zheng doesn't like to use harsh words.
The back molar said: "What do you think?"
"What do you think, old man... If Hou Zhulu is willing to pay this money, then forget about it. If he is not willing to pay, it will have to be imposed on the people who buy the grain. As long as we stop now and don't continue to raise the price of grain.
Your Majesty doesn't necessarily want to embarrass us. It will take at least a month to transport food from other places, so we may not have the capital to compete with Zhuluhou."
As soon as this statement came out, it immediately resonated with people who did not want to lose money, and they all said yes.
Wei Zheng laughed angrily and said, "I really don't understand whether you overestimate yourself or underestimate Li Mu. Who do you think he is, and he will let you take advantage of him?"
Without waiting for anyone to refute, Wei Zheng said: "If you come to ask me what I mean, I mean to admit compensation and reconcile with Li Mu as soon as possible. If you have anything to say to him directly, Li Mu is not a person who does not distinguish between public and private. If it is reasonable, he
I won’t act out of anger. But if you insist on going your own way, then let you go. If you cause trouble when the time comes, don’t blame me for not predicting what I said!"
After saying that, Wei Zheng stood up and started to leave. Everyone was busy trying to stop him, but in the midst of the confusion, the mute concierge of Wei Zheng's family hurriedly broke in, gesticulating and jabbering, looking very anxious.
After getting along for many years, Wei Zheng naturally understood what the mute concierge meant, and frowned: "What did you say? Li Mu came to visit me?"
The mute concierge nodded quickly. Wei Zheng looked at everyone in the room and said, "You guys wait here, I'll go see him."
Someone rolled their eyes and said: "Mr. Wei, it's better to meet by chance than to invite you. Now that Li Mu is here, why don't we listen to what you guys talked about. Next door is the woodshed. We are all waiting in the woodshed. You are here.
Wouldn’t it be best to talk?”
Wei Zheng knew what this person meant, and he knew that if he didn't let them hear him, they would definitely become suspicious, so he said, "Okay, then you go to the woodshed and wait, and I'll invite him over."
Everyone filed out and hid in the woodshed next door. Wei Zheng motioned to the mute concierge to invite Li Mu in. After a while, Li Mu's hearty laughter came over.
"Mr. Wei, have a wonderful New Year! I'm here to pay you New Year's greetings. It's just a small gift, it's not respectful!"
Li Mu entered the house carrying a bag and placed it in front of Wei Zheng. Wei Zheng lowered his head and looked at it, which was a bag of good corn.