Chapter 30: Punish profiteers!
At this time, in front of the Li Mansion, the whole family, young and old, knelt in an orderly manner.
"The untouchables pay their respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
The man was trembling with fear, knowing that things were getting serious.
"Are you the head of the Li family?"
The head of the Li family quickly replied: "It is the pariah Li Changfeng."
Xiao Yan sneered and said, "I want to ask you, have you fully understood the new policy I have announced?"
Li Changfeng knew that the climax was about to begin, and he trembled even more violently.
"The untouchables have understood it thoroughly!"
Xiao Yan nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, I am very satisfied. Then tell me what are the benefits of my new policy?"
The people who followed at this time were listening carefully. After all, their understanding of the new policy was not very thorough.
I just know that prices have gone up!
Li Changfeng is now in tears.
"Your Highness's new policy is to promote the circulation of money and goods, lower prices, and increase merchants' income."
Xiao Yan nodded and said, "You are right. I have already reduced your taxes, but what about you?"
"Tell me, what is the price of grain in Beijing now? What was it before?"
Li Changfeng was suddenly speechless. If he told the truth, he would lose his head.
"Do you think I won't know if you don't tell me? Come on, can any of you tell me the price before and now?"
The people then understood that Xiao Yan's move this time was due to the rising prices. They were almost going crazy, and those who had previously cried out for injustice stood up.
"Your Highness, before, one stone of grain in the capital only cost two taels of silver, but after the new policy was issued, it now costs five taels. I have no rice to cook at home. Please make the decision, Your Highness!"
boom!
Suddenly all the people knelt down again.
"Your Highness, please make the decision!"
"All of you, stand up. You shouldn't be the ones kneeling. I will take charge of you today!"
Li Changfeng knew that he was finished today, but he had to protect his family.
"Li Changfeng, do you know your crime? You knew the true meaning of the new policy but dared to misinterpret it. What crime should you be charged with?"
Xiao Yan almost shouted the last sentence, and Li Changfeng shuddered and a pool of fishy yellow stuff flowed out from his crotch. He was so scared that he peed his pants.
"I am a pariah... I know my crime. I am willing to hand over all my property. Please spare my life, Your Highness!"
Xiao Yan laughed loudly upon hearing this: "Hahaha, you are dreaming. You have committed a capital crime and you still want to live?"
"The criminal Li Changfeng drove up prices, causing the people to suffer, amassing wealth without limit, and showing no regard for the royal family."
"Li Changfeng was beheaded in the street, and the rest of the Li family men were enslaved for life with varying degrees of recovery. They were sent into exile just as the border was in a state of emergency."
"All the women of the Li family will be sent to the Jiaosifang to be slaves and prostitutes!"
"All of the Li family's property will be confiscated and put into the national treasury for disaster relief and border defense."
"In addition, all grain stores owned by the Li family are open, and all grain will be sold to the people of the city at one tael per stone!"
"Jinyiwei, take action!"
Duan Tianya knew that Xiao Yan was establishing his prestige among the people at this time, and it was impossible to change it at this time!
He immediately ordered his men to drag up Li Changfeng, who had already fainted. With the movement of the sword, a head rolled down.
The people, however, showed no fear and were all cheering.
"Your Highness is wise, Your Highness is wise!"
Naturally, someone will deal with the remaining people in the Li family, and it is almost impossible for them to escape.
"This is what I should do. I will pay back what I owe you today!"
"The unscrupulous businessmen misinterpreted the new policy and caused hardships for the people. This is my dereliction of duty. Such things will never happen again in the future ."
At this moment, Xiao Yan was absolutely the most important person in the hearts of the people. The people were just trying to survive. If they couldn't even survive, who would care about anything else?
"Long live the prince, long live the prince, long live the prince!"
Xiao Yan looked at the people and nodded, at least what he did was worth it.
"Let's go to the Cui family next and see if their neck is as strong as the Li family's."
When the people heard that it was not over yet, they immediately became excited and followed Xiao Yan to Cui's house again.
At this time, all the young and old members of the Cui family had already knelt obediently in front of the mansion.
The news of Xiao Yan beheading Li Changfeng on the street naturally quickly reached the ears of the Cui family who were paying attention to the matter.
How dare I not kneel down to greet you in advance.
"Who is the Patriarch of the Cui family?"
At this time, a middle-aged man knelt down.
"The lowly Cui Hao pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
When Xiao Yan heard this, he didn't look at him but looked at another person on the side.
"Your Highness, Wang Zhi pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
Xiao Yan frowned and looked at Wang Zhi, and immediately realized that things were not that simple. The price increase might be caused by Hu Zhenghe.
"What are you doing here?"
Wang Zhi said calmly, "Your Highness, Cui Hao is my cousin. I came here today to visit him."
"I didn't expect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come. Please forgive me, His Royal Highness!"
Xiao Yan nodded and said, "Then go stay aside. I hope you don't have anything to do today."
Xiao Yan only expressed his hope, but he was sure that something would happen to him today.
"Cui Hao, I just came out of the Li family. Can you guess what the current situation of the Li family is like?"
Cui Hao suddenly panicked. He heard clearly what was happening in the Li family. He turned his head and looked at Wang Zhi on the side.
"Your Highness, please spare my life. I...I..."
Wang Zhi knew that he had to protect the Cui family, otherwise the merchants would not listen to him in the future.
"Your Highness, please forgive me. My cousin has never been involved in the grain business, nor has he participated in price gouging. Your Highness, please understand clearly."
Xiao Yan turned around and looked at Wang Zhi coldly.
Just as Xiao Yan was about to speak, the person who had previously cried out for injustice stood up again.
"Your Highness, the Cui family runs a wine business. Where does the wine come from? Isn't it brewed from grain?"
"In order to make the price of wine go up naturally, they bought up grain at a low price and hoarded it. How could grain prices not go up? They are not immune from responsibility!"
"Also, I cannot listen to what this gentleman said just now. They are a family, so naturally we have to protect them. Your Highness, please understand clearly!"
Wang Zhi looked at the person just now with a threatening look, but he didn't dare to say anything when the person was dying.
"Your Highness, I suspect they are colluding with officials and businessmen. He even threatened me. Investigate them thoroughly. I dare to say this even if you glare at me!"
Xiao Yan was delighted. He just needed an excuse to attack them, but unexpectedly, someone handed him a pillow when he fell asleep.
"Yes, Your Highness, check them, check them!"
Immediately, the people began to shout again. Wang Zhi thought to himself, "This is not good, but it is difficult to escape now. I just hope that the Prime Minister can save me."
Xiao Yan also looked at Wang Zhi coldly: " Sir Wang, is it as the people say?"
Wang Zhi's forehead was covered with cold sweat. "Sir, although the Cui family is my cousin, I really didn't know that they were driving up the price!"
Cui Hao was immediately unhappy when he heard this. Just like that?
"You bullshit, Wang Zhi. If it weren't for you, how dare we raise the price? You took my money, but now you want to buy me, forget it!"
