Chapter 253: Changping Warehouse Rat
After receiving the article and seeing the Third Young Master's signature, the shopkeepers were surprised and said that the government would not have to pay for it at all, as it would definitely sell for a high price as long as the Third Young Master's name was mentioned.
Damn it, they are trying to sell his name. Zhao Yulin waved his hand and told them to hurry up.
Xu Zhiyuan shouted: Be careful, we've made a mistake.
Xiao Yan took out another copy and handed it to Xu Zhiyuan, instructing Shunfeng to immediately send copies to all places and request newspapers to publish it.
Xu Zhiyuan took the manuscript and left.
Zhao Yulin had just gone to bed to rest for a while when the guard came in to call him, saying that General Cao wanted to go to the government office to discuss matters. After breakfast, the two of them rushed to the government office, and Ding Gong had already arrived.
Last night, Mr. Ding received the news that Zhao Yulin asked to convene the three shifts of the government office for a meeting, but he did not take it seriously. After dawn, he received the news from Shunfeng. When he saw the article signed by the Third Young Master in the new newspaper, he immediately understood Zhao Yulin's dilemma and immediately asked the guests and staff to get busy.
There were too many people attending the meeting, and they all gathered and stood in the dam in front. The aides set up a stage in front of the screen wall of the government office, found a copper trumpet and handed it to Mr. Ding. The old man asked him to speak, and Lao Cao also said that he was most familiar with .
Zhao Yulin picked up the microphone and started speaking.
He revealed the conspiracy of the Lin'an court to cut off the salt route on the Yangtze River and make the people of Sichuan and Shu unable to eat salt or afford salt. He told everyone not to panic, we have plenty of salt.
Zhao Yulin required that everyone working in the government office should take the lead in observing the rules, not follow the trend to grab salt, and teach their relatives and friends how to store salt properly.
He guaranteed that every household would have salt to eat. Within a month, the Shenwei Army would provide the people with cheaper salt, and would also practice using salt in Chengdu to increase fertilizer efficiency and improve grain production.
Then, Lao Cao continued to shout, "Believe what the Third Young Master said is true, we have plenty of salt. The Shenwei Army can ensure that everyone has salt."
Lao Cao finished his lecture in a few words and returned the microphone to Ding Gong. The old man said cheerfully, "Have you forgotten? We still have Changping warehouse."
I have approved it and ordered the Changping Envoy to immediately count and verify the salt in the Changping warehouse and make plans to ship it to various prefectures and counties.
Before he finished speaking, Zhao Yulin saw Chang Ping, who was standing nearby, sway and almost fall, but fortunately he was supported by the Censor.
Mr. Ding dismissed the official and asked him what was wrong with concern.
The man immediately said that he probably had a cold, and it was nothing, so he said goodbye and went to do his work.
Mr. Ding smiled and asked him to go inside and sit down.
The three of them came to the small flower hall and sat down to have tea.
Zhao Yulin said that there were still many counties and cities that had not established cooperatives, so the only way to do this was to escort the salt to the counties and cities and have the officials responsible for distributing it. If they could survive this period of time, Jiangdong would take the initiative to beg for mercy and send the salt over at a lower price.
Mr. Ding felt very uneasy. He said he was familiar with the situation of Changping Warehouse. How much salt could be stored in such a small warehouse?
It's OK to deal with Chengdu in ten days, but to guarantee Sichuan and Shaanxi? That's definitely self-deception.
The old man asked him worriedly: Is there really salt?
Is it really on the way?
Lao Cao said that there is no joking in the army, so how dare we deceive the common people?
Zhao Yulin told him that Changping Warehouse would support him for ten days, so he would have no worries. If it wasn't for the need to quickly quell the salt shortage, the first batch of salt would have arrived in Lizhou. It was he who changed his mind and ordered the salt to be shipped to Xiangyang first.
Since they were the first to receive the news of the salt shortage in Jiangdong, we will send it there first to reassure the people.
Lao Cao explained to Mr. Ding that Brother Yulin had long anticipated that Jiangdong would do this, and when General Miao came back from the army, he asked our civilian labor team to return with a full load of salt.
Therefore, our salt was already on the way before Jiangdong threatened to cut off the supply of salt.
Mr. Ding was amazed when he heard this and lamented that Zhao Yulin was so foresighted.
Seeing Zhao Yulin yawning continuously, he realized that he had not rested last night, so he quickly told him to go back and rest, and he would do the rest of the work.
Zhao Yulin happened to have some free time, so he took Xiao Yan back to Lao Cao's house.
At this time, newspapers with articles signed by the Third Young Master could be seen in every street and alley in Chengdu, and people were discussing the topic in teahouses, taverns, and on the streets.
Someone slapped the newspaper and said, "See, see! I told you that salt was a trivial matter and that the Third Young Master would definitely have a way. You didn't believe me and went out to buy them in big bags. If the salt turns into water, you will have to spend money to buy it again."
Some people were puzzled and said that everyone was spreading it. What if the Third Young Master was just lying to reassure us?
A man on the side started to curse in a muffled voice: "Mag, if you don't even believe what the Third Young Master says, who else can you believe? Get out of the way, anyway, I'll only buy half a pound of salt at most."
Zhao Yulin was still sleeping soundly, having no idea that there were so many of his fans on the streets.
However, Shi's son, who was far away in Lin'an, was busier than him.
Salt merchants must sell salt to get money. Shi's son knew this and asked the salt merchants to sell all the salt to his court, and he would pay the salt merchants a fee.
The salt merchants were unwilling to wait until the ink had dried up, as they knew that it was just another piece of newly printed paper hastily produced by the Lin'an court. This money would fall in value at the slightest touch, and someday they might be bundled up and taken to their ancestors' graves, burned and sent directly to the underworld.
All the salt merchants went to the palace to ask for silver in exchange, and the court had to use the silver to purchase the salt in their hands.
Shi’s son was at a loss; he couldn’t just kill all the salt merchants.
If he really were to be killed, who would make salt for him?
Where does he go to make money?
Shi's son had no choice but to negotiate with the salt merchants, threatening and tempting them to promise to purchase the salt with silver at the market price, paying half of the silver to the salt merchants first, and then paying the full amount in one lump sum after the imperial court sold it to Western Shu and collected the payment.
After the two parties reached an agreement, the problem was finally solved.
The weather was good this year, so the salt merchants worked hard to dry and make salt because they had orders from the imperial court. Shi's son also calculated that Sichuan and Shu must go to Jiangdong to buy salt, so he stocked up.
Zhao Yulin was still dreaming, how could he know that Shi's son was suffering so much? He slept soundly and woke up, and Lao Cao told him that the prisoners had been beheaded at Caishikou.
Notices of the criminals' crimes were posted at the city gates in the east, south, west and north. The people were delighted to see the government cut the Gordian knot and execute the criminals swiftly, and they felt very happy.
Shunfengchu Dongmei reports: In this anti-corruption campaign, the cash confiscated amounted to 13 million strings of cash. What should be done with the Jiaozi and Guanzi that were found?
Zhao Yulin secretly sighed that these big rats were really good at stealing. They had suddenly accumulated so much dirty silver. He asked Dongmei to report it to Ding Gong for a decision.
He believes that these unopened notes should be destroyed in public to prevent them from circulating in society and causing further depreciation of the notes already in circulation.
Lao Cao and he were still discussing matters when the maid came in and said that the meal, which the Madam had personally supervised, was ready.
Lao Cao smiled and asked people to go and have some wine, some of his aged Wu Gu Feng.
The two of them arrived at the restaurant, where Xiao Yan and Mrs. Cao were already waiting. They sat down and started eating. Mrs. Cao pointed to the big bowl in the middle and said, "Fresh fish, let's taste the chef's cooking."
Lao Cao took a bite and said that he still liked fried soybeans, so he grabbed it and put it in his mouth.
Mrs. Cao glared at him and muttered: How can you look like a general?
Lao Cao laughed and said that this is what a soldier should do, and raised his glass and said, "Drink, drink." When one of the four people left, Xiao Yan's face immediately turned red.
Just as they were enjoying their meal, the guard reported: The inspector has an urgent matter to report.
Lao Cao immediately asked him to come in.
Jiang Ligang came in hurriedly to report that Envoy Chang Ping had hanged himself.
The people from the yamen opened the warehouse and found that the stored salt had been secretly replaced with sand. The account book showed 80,000 kilograms of salt, but in reality there were less than 800 kilograms, and the rest of the salt was filled with sand.
Damn it, what’s going on?
Everyone at the table was stunned. It was 80,000 kilograms of salt.
Lao Cao asked if the matter had been reported to Lord Ding?
Jiang Ligang said he had reported it. He did not find the two adults in the government office, so he came to the government office specially. People from Shunfeng Office and Ancha Si were sent, and Dongmei, the chief steward, personally led the team to investigate the case.
Immortal, Zhao Yulin sighed secretly.
Fortunately, he did not pin his hopes on these public officials, otherwise something really bad would have happened.
He asked Jiang Ligang to go back and discuss with Shunfeng and immediately block the news. The people must not be informed until the salt from Xining Prefecture arrived.
If the envoy of Changping committed suicide, we would declare it a murder and handle the case in an upright manner. We would wait until the salt incident was over before making it public.
Lao Cao also nodded and told them to do it quickly.
Both of them looked helpless. They drank their glasses of wine and went to the government office together.
Changping Warehouse was an emergency material storage warehouse set up in the Song Dynasty specifically for sudden disasters. It purchased grain, oil, tea and salt when supplies were abundant in the market, and distributed them to the market to stabilize prices when supplies were scarce in disaster years.
Now, it has become a den for some greedy people to make profits.
When they arrived at the government office, the transport and inspection envoys had already arrived. Ding Gong blamed himself bitterly, saying that he had neglected his duties and failed to supervise.
The old man believes in the policy of non-intervention, which means that everyone is happy and that you are all good. That is not called negligence in discipline, it is simply no discipline at all.
Zhao Yulin said that this had nothing to do with the adults , but that these people's eyes were fixed on the pile of silver and they forgot what they should and should not do.
The most urgent thing right now is to block the news and never let the people know, as that would cause panic.
The Censor also thought so and said that when he came back he had asked Dongmei to keep the secret.
Zhao Yulin nodded and gave a big thumbs up to the Censor in his heart.
After several people exchanged two cups of tea, Dongmei hurried back to report: After the Changping envoy hanged himself, his wife also followed him with a white silk. Everyone had been controlled, but no stolen money or stolen goods were found.
The three warehouses in the city were opened and thoroughly checked. Less than 30% of the grain was left, and precious materials such as tea, salt, and oil were almost all swapped. They detained the officials involved in the case directly in the warehouse.
Zhao Yulin believed that it must be a gang that was well organized because the grain, oil, tea and salt in the warehouse were all in bags, cylinders and packages, and there were strict procedures for transporting them in and out.
Lao Cao said there was no rush, so he blocked the news and examined it carefully according to the request of the young man from Yulin.
Zhao Yulin said that there were too many people involved in the case and they could not be put in prison to handle it, so he asked the provincial prosecutor to directly bring people in to investigate and conduct a joint investigation so that everyone could perform their duties to quickly solve the case.
The censor already knew Zhao Yulin's work style, he never procrastinated, so he immediately got up and followed Dongmei.
