Chapter 515: Food Prices in Shenjing
Seeing Jia Cong nod expressionlessly, Meng Hua immediately understood. Then, his newly reorganized troops headed straight for the city gate.
Not long after, bursts of shouting and killing were heard from the city, but they soon subsided.
Lu Feng rode up quickly, "General, some officers in the city disobeyed your orders and have been executed! Now, our men have temporarily taken over the city's troops. That prefect has arrived and wants to see you in the city."
Jia Cong sneered and was not in a hurry. He waited until the battlefield outside the city was cleaned up before leading the army into Chengdu Prefecture.
Miaoyu and the others from the rear army also entered the city. In the carriage, Miaoyu muttered to herself, "The Champion Marquis has won a great victory, Chengdu Prefecture has been relieved, and your plan has already failed in half!"
…
Ever since Jia Rui treated her rudely last time, Wang Xifeng has been holding a grudge against him.
She had already planned that Jia Rui was not a good person, greedy and lustful, and she could easily use any means to destroy his family.
But when the time came, Wang Xifeng still hesitated!
In the past, she never believed in retribution in the underworld, but since she had a good thing with Jia Cong, she began to believe it, or rather, she was willing to believe it.
She hoped that the gods and Buddhas in the sky could bless herself and Jia Cong to continue like this, and also hoped that the gods and Buddhas in the sky could protect Jia Cong and prevent him from being hurt! Because such a rotten person made her hands stained with blood, she was a little unwilling.
So, after thinking for a long time, he asked someone to send a letter to Jia Cong, asking his enemy to help him make a decision!
It was not difficult to deliver the message, so she handed the letter directly to Jia Yun and asked him to deliver it to Jia Cong as soon as possible, while she waited first.
On this day, after learning the rules and regulations at the Jia Mansion, Daiyu returned to the Lin Mansion.
When I arrived at the front hall, I saw that Lin Ruhai had returned from his mission.
"Daddy, why are you so frowning? Have you encountered any difficulties?" Seeing Lin Ruhai's expression, Daiyu sat down and asked.
Lin Ruhai snorted coldly, "It's that Cao Gang all over again. How dare they manipulate grain prices and threaten the imperial court at this time!"
During this half year, Niu Jizong first led his troops to Fengzhou to guard the border. However, because the number of troops mobilized was not large, it did not have much impact on the court. However, when Jia Cong went to southern Xinjiang, he mobilized an army of more than 100,000 and almost emptied the court's coffers.
To pay the army, not only was the Ministry of Revenue emptied, even the emperor's treasury had very little left. For food and fodder, all the grain that could be gathered from the entire capital was transported to the army. Fortunately, as long as the grain from Jiangnan was transported, the situation would naturally ease.
The transportation of grain naturally required the help of the Cao Gang, and this also gave the Cao Gang an opportunity.
In recent years, while the imperial court still relied heavily on the Cao Gang, it was no match for the period of the Emperor Retired. In fact, it even imposed considerable control over the Cao Gang. Naturally, this behemoth would not easily concede defeat. Furthermore, the previous incident involving Ma Hongyun, the gambling house , had led the Military Commission to suppress the Cao Gang's Shenjing branch.
Originally, Jia Cong wanted to teach the Cao Gang a severe lesson, but because of Zhongshun's plan, he temporarily gave up.
Although they could not take direct action, it was easy to cause trouble for the Cao Gang. Therefore, the Cao Gang branch in Shenjing was in a state of turmoil during this period.
Through these events, the Cao Gang also realized that the imperial court might have had ideas about the Cao Gang. Therefore, in order to demonstrate its irreplaceability, the Cao Gang has been secretly plotting.
When Jia Cong led his troops to war, the grain reserves in the entire Shenjing City became empty, which gave the Cao Gang an opportunity.
The Cao Gang spent a large amount of silver, hoarded grain, and found excuses to delay the delivery of grain. In addition, the grain merchants under the Cao Gang continued to raise prices, and soon the grain prices in Shenjing City skyrocketed.
As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lin Ruhai was naturally trying to find ways to suppress the price. However, the court did not have many cards in its hands, so the grain price became increasingly uncontrollable.
If the Cao Gang didn't have tens of thousands of young and strong men, a rash action would cause a huge chain reaction. I'm afraid that Emperor Longxing would take ruthless action and kill all these people in the Cao Gang!
"If our capital city has such a great impact, doesn't that mean that Third Brother will also be affected?" Daiyu asked anxiously.
"Of course there will be an impact, but some of the army's food and fodder can be requisitioned nearby, and the Feng-branded trade route is also helping to transport some of the food and fodder, so there won't be any problems in the short term!"
"Can't the court even come up with a few million silver coins?" Daiyu asked in confusion.
Lin Ruhai sighed and said, "If a few million taels of silver could solve the problem, that would be the best. However, the imperial treasury is now empty, and some of the silver at the bottom cannot be moved lightly. Most importantly, if we spend millions of taels of silver and still can't control the situation, the situation will become even worse. Therefore, His Majesty is also hesitating now!"
"Is there no other solution?"
"As for the solution, the first is for the imperial court to impose harsh punishment, but the impact would be too great, so Your Majesty would not make such a decision lightly unless it was absolutely necessary. The second option is to use the same merchant methods to challenge the opponent, but this is also difficult. Not only does it require a large amount of money, but it also requires a large amount of grain. It is not something that can be done easily."
"Hey, why is Daddy telling you all this!" Lin Ruhai shook his head. He had been very bored these past two days, and only said a few more words when Daiyu asked him about it.
"My daughter, please go back and rest. Daddy will have to go to the Shangshu's residence to discuss important matters later."
Daiyu nodded and returned to the back hall.
The next day, after learning the etiquette, Daiyu pulled Baochai aside and said, "Sister Bao, it's been a while since we've been to the East Palace. Why don't we stay here now? It's a good opportunity to go and talk to Sister Yuanyang and the others."
Although Jia Cong was not at home, the two of them would occasionally stay in the East Palace.
Upon hearing this, the other sisters also surrounded the two and headed to the East Palace together! After arriving at Yingchun's courtyard, Baochai found an opportunity and asked Daiyu, "Sister Lin, is there anything wrong with you?"
Daiyu didn't hide anything and directly told Baochai what she had heard from Lin Ruhai the previous day. "This matter is difficult even for father and the court. It's obviously going to have a big impact. Third brother is leading the troops away. What will they do if they run out of food and fodder? But we really can't help much."
After thinking for a moment, Baochai said to Daiyu, "Although we are not very powerful, we may still be able to do something!"
"Although we are women of the harem, firstly, Brother Cong is fighting for the country, so naturally we should join forces. Secondly, you and I have both been deeply favored by the emperor. Now that the court is in trouble, how can we not do our utmost to help?"
