The next day, Mo Zizai held banquets in his palace. The inner courtyard was slightly smaller and could only sit about a dozen people. This was used to entertain those particularly rich merchants.

The size of the banquet in the outer courtyard is much larger, with at least more than 100 people sitting. This is used to entertain businessmen with a slightly inferior wealth and status.

As for the things used to entertain guests at the banquet, besides clear water, there are some valuable dried fruits, such as melon seeds and... melon seeds.

There is no way. Since Jia Fu learned about Mo Zizai's purpose, he specially ordered the servants to only allow melon seeds and nothing else. After all, this thing is the cheapest.

As for some delicious food and wine, it doesn't exist at all for this group of dying people to have a good silenced meal.

The food in the Great Zhou Dynasty is so tight now. Wouldn’t it be a waste to give them food to dead people? The prince once said that waste is shameful, so just let them drink some water and go on the road.

Eat less and you can run on the Huangquan Road and reincarnate as soon as possible. Jia Fu feels that he is really a great person and thinks about others everywhere.

Chen Ying came to the door to invite people and went smoothly. Although these people didn't know what Mo Zizai's purpose was, they also heard about Mo Zizai's reputation and did not use Chen Yingliang's knife at all. They came one by one, for fear that Mo Zizai would be troubled if he was delayed.

...

All of a few businessmen were invited to the palace, and the movement could not be concealed. The Gong Gun Gun who was waiting in the court to attend the court obviously also received the news.

Yin Qishan, the Minister of Rites, looked at the time of entering the hall for a while, then came to Qian Min, the Minister of Revenue, and whispered: "Old Master Qian, what's the matter with that person who invited the merchants? He didn't want to attack those merchants?"

"He dares not."

Qian Min was thinking about something, but when he heard Yin Qishan's words, he subconsciously answered. When he came to his senses, he raised his head and looked at Yin Qishan and explained: "The people and Shang are the foundation of the country. Now the people's livelihood is exhausted. If the merchants are moved again, the Great Zhou will be in turmoil."

"He dared not do this. Even if he really wanted to do this, His Majesty would stop him, so don't worry."

Hearing Qian Min say this, Yin Qishan thought for a moment, then nodded, obviously agreeing with Qian Min's idea.

Li Zhe, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, heard the conversation between the two and couldn't help but interrupt, "Before Hu Xiaosheng and Yang Xiong died, they probably thought so."

“…”

Qian Min was poked into the pain, and she was silent for a while before she said with a dark face: "Can officials and businessmen be the same?"

"It's different."

Li Zhe nodded in agreement, but before Qian Min was happy, he continued: "Officials are much more important than merchants. Even officials dare to kill them, so why don't they dare to kill merchants?"

"you……"

Qian Min was choked for a moment, then said in a angrily voice: "You have to be in trouble with me, right?"

"Just just talking about the matter, why are you still anxious?"

Seeing Qian Min's a little angry look, Li Zhe copied his hands into his sleeves, as if he was not concerned about his own affairs and returned to the queue of the Ministry of Justice with his head raised.

"These bastards from the Ministry of Justice!"

Qian Min looked at Li Zhe with a gloomy face. The Ministry of Justice secretly supported King Bei'an, and behind his Ministry of Revenue was the Jiangnan family. The demands of the two were completely different before Mo Zizai appeared.

The Ministry of Justice wanted the King of Bei'an to take the throne, relying on the military power in his hands, to wipe out the seriousness and recreate the grand style of the Great Zhou.

The Jiangnan family behind the Ministry of Revenue wanted the empress to continue to be in power and maintain the current situation. No one charged their taxes and did not have to send people to fight. It was simply too comfortable.

If the border is really in a hurry, if necessary, they might even help the court. In a sense, these Jiangnan families are the real royalists because they think that the emperor's reign will be the best result for them.

Therefore, when the two have different demands, the Ministry of Justice often fights with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites that have turned to the Ministry of Revenue.

As for another Ministry of War that was leaning towards King Bei'an, most of their Ministry of War's power was emptied by the late emperor. In addition, they were not completely in the face of King Bei'an, and they were just fences and basically did not interfere in their fights.

Therefore, the Ministry of Justice often fights against two, and is not at a disadvantage, and its combat effectiveness is quite amazing. Therefore, Qian Min hates people like the Ministry of Justice.

Because Yin Qishan often came to fight with the Ministry of Justice in person, Li Zhe became accustomed to it, so she didn't take this matter to heart. Instead, she asked with some concern: "Old Master Qian, is it really possible that what Li Zhe said?"

"No, the people in the capital have to rely on those merchants to kill those merchants, and they will eat, wear whatever they eat, wear."

Qian Min snorted coldly and said confidently: "I heard that Your Majesty launched a fundraising campaign to those merchants yesterday, but those merchants responded in a vague way. I think Mo Zizai was the ones whom I found for this matter."

"He can scare the merchants at most and let them get some blood. He dare not kill them if he really wants to kill people."

Speaking of this, Qian Min looked a little disdainful, "If it is useful if it is scared, those businessmen will have become poor people long ago. Don't worry about this, just do useless work."

...

Just as Qian Min made a conclusion, almost all the merchants who were invited by Mo Zizai had sat down.

Their guesses were similar to Qian Min, and they all felt that the capital could not live without them, so although they were a little uneasy, they were not too worried.

After asking each other, after learning that everyone didn't know why Mo Zizai invited them, he gave up speculation. Anyway, when Mo Zizai came, he knew what he wanted to do, so there was no need to make unreasonable guesses here.

Just looking at the shabby food on the table, some businessmen couldn't help but complain.

"Forget it if there is no wine on this banquet, why are there only melon seeds? Can this be called a banquet?"

"Yes, I heard that King Zizai has copied tens of millions of taels of silver and is using this to entertain guests. Isn't it too stingy?"

"Now give water and melon seeds. What will you give after the meal starts later? Wouldn't you give me nothing to eat, right?"

"It shouldn't be possible. When I was called, I didn't even eat breakfast. I shouldn't have to eat anything, right?"

"You didn't eat breakfast because you were not hungry. I was so hungry that I was called when I was about to eat. Now I'm even hungry."

"Forget it, stop talking, eat some melon seeds first. If you really don't give it to me, you will be able to resist this morning."

Because Mo Zizai's people were not there, the merchants did not have any concerns when they complained, and expressed their dissatisfaction. For a moment, the banquet in the outer courtyard seemed noisy.

There is no need to be with the outer courtyard. There are nineteen people sitting in the inner courtyard. These nineteen people are important figures in the business community in the capital. So although they are a little dissatisfied with the shabby banquet, no one complained. They just sat there waiting for Mo Zizai to arrive with a hint of dissatisfaction.
Chapter completed!