gnovel Chapter 47: Wang Junxing's Story of Dong Zhuo
Chapter 47: Wang Junxing's Story of Dong Zhuo
Wang Yansheng's public trial, his public parade, and his sentencing to be executed in the autumn, though he himself did not die and Zhao Kuangyin even treated his parents, wife, and children well, had a far greater impact on Kaifeng and even the entire country than the death of his entire family.
With both the Palace Guard and the Imperial Guard maintaining discipline, Kaifeng's security is improving, and it has clearly reached a point where it can move towards great order.
Even without Wang Jun's intervention, grain prices in Kaifeng have stopped rising recently and are showing signs of declining.
Of course, it has only dropped a little bit. Compared to before the Lunar New Year, it is still very expensive, with a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice costing nearly 200 wen (a unit of currency).
In fact, it was time to dump large amounts of stock. This opportunity was not only seen by Wang Jun, but also by many capable people in the government, and they were taking action.
"Grand Commandant, this is a list of all the unscrupulous merchants who hoard goods and engage in speculation that I have recently investigated. Among them, the one who hoards the most in Kaifeng is Wang Jun from Tongji Ward."
Inside the Three Departments Office, a subordinate clerk placed a thick stack of neatly arranged documents on the desk of Zhang Mei, the Commissioner of the Three Departments. Zhang Mei frowned, but merely flipped through the documents without saying a word.
Instead, the clerk standing to the side couldn't help but frown and say, "Wang Jun of Tongjifang? Isn't that the Second King's underling? Doesn't he deliver grain every day?"
"He was distributing grain, but he was also stockpiling grain at the same time. He alone stockpiled more than half of the grain in Kaifeng."
Moreover, the grain he distributed was exchanged for mud, which was also the material he used to make bricks. This man is clearly a treacherous villain disguised as a loyalist.
"You can't say that. He was distributing grain under the Second Prince's name, so I'm afraid the hoarding was..."
"Shut up!" Zhang Mei, who had been looking down at the documents, suddenly turned around and glared at her head secretary.
"Yes, Grand Commandant, I know I was wrong."
Slap yourself twice.
"Yes." The secretary didn't hesitate after hearing this and actually slapped her twice. Zhang Mei was satisfied and then started looking at the document again.
After reading it for a while, he nodded and said, "The time is ripe. Arrest all these unscrupulous merchants who are hoarding goods and speculating, no matter who their backers are. Torture them severely."
"Make their families pay, squeeze their assets dry and confiscate them. The national treasury is tight right now, and this is the only way to replenish it. Those who really can't pay, hand them over to the Ministry of Justice, behead them, and exterminate their entire families."
"Furthermore, I'll press them to find out who's backing them up. Give me a list, and I'll personally go talk to them. If they hand over the money, this matter can be considered a thing of the past, and they can be released."
"If they can't come up with the money, let the Censorate handle it. First, impeach them, dismiss them from office, then do the same thing: urge the Kaifeng Prefecture to directly torture them, force them to pay, and if they can't pay, exterminate their entire family."
With a single utterance of Zhang Mei's lips, mountains of corpses and seas of blood would appear.
The civil officials in the early Song Dynasty were different from those in later years. Although Zhang Mei's official post was as the Commissioner of the Three Departments, he was also the Grand Commandant of the court, a proper first-rank military officer.
In fact, Zhang Mei, a civil official, is the role model that Wang Jun wants to become. Judging from his resume, Zhang Mei is a pure civil official at least so far. But because he does a good job, a civil official can also be promoted to a first-rank military officer as a side job. Why does he have to be a military general?
If the transmigrator isn't going to be a civil official, and this isn't a war novel, why would they become a military general?
Although Zhang Mei's title of Grand Commandant was actually given by Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin's appointment of officials was not as chaotic as Chai Rong's.
"What about Wang Jun? He hoarded the most grain, but he was indeed hoarding grain for the Second King."
Zhang Mei raised her head, thought for a moment, and said, "I have very clear information that Li Jun of the Zhaoyi Army has communication with the Northern Han, and has been transferring troops to Tianjing Pass. There is a high probability that this battle will be fought. Once they take Tianjing Pass, they may be able to cut off the supply lines. Therefore, this battle must be won quickly."
Turning back, he said, "If we want to win this battle quickly, the Imperial Guards of the capital must advance lightly and hastily. The court must stockpile grain in Huaizhou and Mengzhou in advance. Where will the grain come from?"
In Huaizhou, at least 30,000 hu (a unit of dry measure) need to be stockpiled there in advance. The imperial court's military rations are running low. If they were to purchase large quantities of grain from the market, the price would rise further, and the imperial court is also short of funds.
"When faced with matters of national importance, there's no time to worry about anything else. He should have at least tens of thousands of bushels of grain on him. Here's what we'll do: I remember he has a partner in Tongji Ward, a rogue and wandering knight-errant by trade. Let's pin the blame on him."
Wang Jun and the Second King misjudged people. Ignorance is no excuse; arrest that scoundrel and behead him as a warning to others. Those tens of thousands of bushels of stockpiled grain must be confiscated.
"Yes, I understand."
After giving these instructions, Zhang Mei acted as if nothing had happened and continued working with her head down.
However, his subordinate returned shortly afterward: "Grand Commandant, there's been a problem. It's not easy to arrest people in Tongji Ward right now."
Zhang Mei didn't even look up, simply asking, "What's the problem?"
"Wang Jun is buying new grain to provide relief to the villagers. There are so many people here that they've blocked the roads."
"Buying grain? They used to hoard grain at night, so why are they doing it in broad daylight now, without hiding it from anyone?"
"One hundred coins for one dou (a unit of dry measure), after buying them, they were piled up outside and then opened to cook porridge."
Zhang Mei was taken aback, then looked up and asked, "Buying grain at a price of one hundred coins per dou? From whom did you buy it?"
"It is... Immortal Master Yuqing."
"Who is he? I've never heard of such a person in Kaifeng."
"Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager Fu."
"what?"
Zhang Mei was completely stunned for a moment, then shook her head, thinking she was hallucinating: "Who did you say he bought grain from? I didn't hear you clearly."
"Immortal Master Yuqing, also known as Empress Dowager Fu of the previous dynasty."
"Empress Dowager, has she left the palace?"
"The people are in Tongji Ward. They say this grain... is something that takes from the surplus to make up for the deficiency. There's so much grain! The grain transport boats stretch for miles, carrying at least 20,000 bushels."
"Where did she get the food?"
"It is said that the King of Wei transported it from Daming Prefecture via the Grand Canal."
"Nonsense. Do you think I don't know how much grain Daming Prefecture has left? Last year, during the war against Liao, all the surplus grain from Daming Prefecture was transported to Cangzhou and Xiongzhou. Now, in the entire Hebei province, only Chanzhou has a little surplus grain."
"Yes... If the 20,000 hu of grain really came from the Prince of Wei and was transported all the way from Daming Prefecture, there's no way our Three Departments wouldn't know. We've been watching the Bian River transport all along. Where did the Empress Dowager get this grain?"
Zhang Mei thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Interesting, interesting, this Wang Jun is really something."
"Grand Commandant, have you figured out where this grain came from?"
"In the entire Kaifeng, the only person who can still produce 20,000 dan of grain right now is Wang Jun himself."
"You mean... this isn't the Empress Dowager selling grain, but a charade she and Wang Jun put on together? But the Empress Dowager said there will be more tomorrow, and Wang Jun doesn't have that much grain, does he?"
Zhang Mei laughed and said, "At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo only brought three thousand Xiliang soldiers into the capital. Since his forces were insufficient, he ordered his men to sneak out of the city at night and swagger back in during the day. After several days of this, none of the people in the city knew how many soldiers Dong Zhuo actually had."
Once the rumors spread, everyone believed he had an army of 100,000, so no one dared to resist, and instead he seized military power in the capital.
"Ha, it's just history repeating itself, nothing new. But this Wang Jun... he's truly interesting. How did he manage to convince the Empress Dowager to play along?"
"If he does this, grain prices will drop, and he'll go bankrupt."
"Please write him a visiting card for me. Just say that I am Zhang Mei and I am inviting him to dinner at Tongfu Inn tonight."