Chapter 178 Food Problem Emerges and Jia Xiong’s Conspiracy

Author: big bell

Chapter 178 Food Problem Emerges and Jia Xiong’s Conspiracy

The next day, in the emperor's palace, Shang Xin was pacing back and forth anxiously outside. It was already three o'clock in the morning, and he still didn't see His Majesty get up.

Usually, His Majesty gets up early in the morning, washes up, has breakfast, and then prepares to go to court, but today's morning court is about to begin, but His Majesty has not gotten up yet.

He had to go into the palace, and after asking, he found out that His Majesty was feeling unwell, suffering from chest tightness, headache, and body-wide fever.

Your Majesty is ill.

"Call Dr. Xia quickly!" Shang Xin shouted anxiously, but the waiters and maids were silent. Someone stood up and said that Dr. Xia had been away from the palace for some time and had not returned to the palace yet.

"How could this happen? Immediately upload other imperial doctors."

"No!" A waiter hurried away.

Shang Xin scratched his head and didn't know what to do. His Majesty told him last night that today's morning meeting was more important and he couldn't miss it, but according to the current situation, it would be okay if he didn't miss it.

But the ministers have already arrived at the palace, and cancellation is impossible.

Soon, the imperial doctor came. After some diagnosis, he frowned.

Shang Xin quickly asked: "How?"

The imperial doctor muttered for a long time before saying, "I'm afraid your Majesty is suffering from a more serious form of typhoid fever."

"Severe typhoid fever? How is this possible? Your Majesty was fine yesterday, how could he be like this today?"

Shang Xin served His Majesty very late last night before leaving. He only knew that His Majesty was not in a good mood and was a little irritable, but there was no sign of typhoid fever.

"Your Majesty must have had insomnia yesterday, and the cold night was long, so it's not surprising that he felt it." The imperial doctor explained.

"Then hurry up and make some prescriptions. Your Majesty is still waiting to go to court?" Shang Xin urged.

The imperial doctor waved his hand and quickly persuaded: "Mr. Shang." Recently, Shang Xin was promoted to the position of chief servant. "Your Majesty must never go to court."

"It should be noted that this is a serious case of typhoid fever. It is not easy to come into contact with other people, and you should not overwork yourself. Otherwise, it will cause inflammation of the internal organs, which will be troublesome."

Hearing about the inflammation, Shang Xin was shocked and asked quickly: "How many days will it take to recover?"

"You need to rest for seven days, and with the help of my prescription, I think it will be fine."

"This means that His Majesty cannot go to court for seven days and has to stay away from the crowd? How can this be done? Your Majesty cares about the court and is particularly concerned about the court today. What should we do?"

"Seven days, seven days, it's too long. If Your Majesty blames you, neither you nor I can afford it."

Shang Xin was very anxious. He wanted to see His Majesty, but was stopped by the imperial doctor.

"Chief Commander, please don't get close to Your Majesty. This is a stubborn disease that can be transmitted to others. If you are all infected, it will take less than seven days to recover. Don't let anything go wrong."

The imperial doctor quickly warned.

"You?" Shang Xin was very anxious. He was not allowed to contact him for another seven days. This was a mistake. If the emperor blamed him, he would definitely punish him.

what to do?

He grabbed his hair and pulled it hard. The next moment, he thought of Li Zhao and felt happy.

Li Zhao's medicine quickly cured His Majesty's dysentery, so typhoid fever must not be a problem for him either.

"Quickly, go to Chang'an Township to ask for General Li Zhao."

His Majesty did not tell him about Li Zhao's entry into the palace.

"No!" A waiter soon arrived.

After a while, His Majesty sent a decree saying that he was unable to go to court due to typhoid fever, and asked Feng Quji to act as political agent, with Zong Zheng assisting him.

Early morning.

The ministers arrived as promised, and Li Zhao also went to court for the first time. But everyone was waiting and waiting, and they were stunned when they didn't see His Majesty appear, and they were extremely puzzled.

Soon, Shang Xin received an oral instruction from the emperor, saying that he was ill and could not easily come into contact with the crowd. He would not be able to go to court until seven days later. Feng Quji would act in political affairs, and Zong Zheng would assist.

This news was quite unexpected and caught many ministers off guard. Li Zhao also secretly sighed that this 'illness' came at the wrong time and he still needed His Majesty to make the decision for him.

Without His Majesty's participation, some things would be much more difficult to handle.

"How could this happen?" Some ministers started talking, "Today's memorial is extraordinary, how can your Majesty be absent?"

Many ministers were puzzled, but there was nothing they could do.

In the corner of the ministers, one person showed joy, but it was Jia Xiong. Another person's eyes were focused, and his joy was not hidden. He walked out from the front row and stood in the center, looking arrogant.

"My ministers, Your Majesty is ill today. I would like to inform you of your order, but I would be disrespectful to do so."

This person is none other than Zong Zheng.

This is a prestige. His Majesty's decree is clearly delegated to Prime Minister Feng, but this person seems to want to eliminate Feng Quji.

Feng Quji frowned but didn't say anything.

He is a human spirit, and he knows that his time in power is short, so he doesn't want to fight for anything. He just wants to live in peace until the day he retires and returns to his hometown.

Moreover, although Zongzheng is one of the nine ministers, he is the head of the clan, and he must not offend the clan.

Most of the ministers had something to say, but when Feng Quji did not express his position, it was difficult to speak out.

Zong Zheng saw everyone's dissatisfaction and was quite unhappy. He said coldly: "What? You have something to say? But it doesn't matter." Although he said this, his eyes were very sharp. After scanning, no one spoke up.

.

Li Zhao also didn't want to stand out and stood aside like other ministers without saying a word.

In fact, he doesn't want to be troublesome, as long as it doesn't concern him, it doesn't matter whether he is upright or not.

"Very good, very good!" Zong Zheng smiled slightly and waved his sleeves, as if he was looking down on the world.

"If you have anything to say, please mention it!"

He is the head of the clan, and he always wants to make a difference in the court. However, His Majesty is very cautious and rarely puts people in the clan to good use. Naturally, their ambitions cannot be realized and there is a lot of resentment.

At this moment, this opportunity was in front of him, and it was His Majesty who named him. At this moment, he could not control his emotions, imitating the emperor's posture and doing what the emperor did.

All the ministers looked at each other, wondering whether they should mention it or not.

Feng Quji saw the embarrassment in the whole scene, so he smiled and said, "Everyone, if you have anything to say, just mention it! Don't worry, this is His Majesty's will."

When the ministers saw the Prime Minister speaking, they no longer had any worries. One minister stood up and said, "Report!" But he took several breaths and didn't know who to report to.

When Zongzheng heard this, he became angry and scolded him repeatedly: "Didn't you see that I am here? Is it so difficult to report to Zongzheng?"

The minister was a little embarrassed and glanced at Feng Quji. When he saw Feng Quji's head nodding slightly, he no longer hesitated and continued: "Zongzheng, what I'm reporting is a matter of the market."

"Some time ago, Prime Minister Feng ordered me to secretly investigate the hoarding of food in the market, and I got some clues."

oh!

When Feng Quji heard this, his heart tightened, and he quickly motioned for him to continue.

"According to my investigation, there are indeed vendors in the market hoarding food. Before, it was rice and millet. Now it has developed into edible food. This is a big problem. If it continues, the consequences will be disastrous."

"I also have a vague feeling that a wealthy businessman is secretly at work, and these vendors are probably under his instigation."

This minister is Mr. Han Shaofu, and he has been secretly investigating the food issue during this period.

Feng Quji was most concerned about this matter and immediately asked: "How is the food in Xianyang now? What is the price?"

Han Shaofu handed over his hand and said: "The price has increased slightly, but it is within an acceptable range and will not have much impact. However, according to statistics from our ministry, private reserves of grain are rapidly decreasing, the state treasury reserves are not large, and agricultural taxes are also geometric.

Falling.”

Agricultural taxes are mostly on grain.

"How much has the agricultural tax dropped?" Feng Quji said this, his forehead wrinkled into a line. "This year's winter has been better, the weather has been smoother, and the grain harvest has been much better than in previous years. How can we say how much has it dropped?"

When these words came out, the ministers started talking about it. Because the price didn't change much, everyone didn't feel anything. If Han Shaofu hadn't said it, they wouldn't have known about it.

Han Shaofu took a step forward and handed over his hand: "This is a real thing. Although the weather is going well, the tax collected has been reduced by 30%."

"Is there any reason for investigation?"

"Yes, according to reports, the number of farmers has decreased, resulting in a lot of good farmland being abandoned."

"The number of farmers has decreased? The fertile farmland has been abandoned? How is it possible? Fertile farmland is the foundation of our dynasty's long-term governance and the source of people's survival. Why is it abandoned? Are you mistaken?" Feng Quji didn't believe it.

"Absolutely not wrong!" Han Shaofu said with certainty.

The discussion between the two completely ignored Zong Zheng, which made him very unhappy, so he shouted loudly: "What's wrong is ridiculous. The people of Da Qin love fertile farmland, how can they abandon it? This year's harvest is great, and it is a year of great prosperity.

Why is the agricultural tax reduced by 30%? It must be because you are talking nonsense and fooling the court."

"If there is peace this year and the people are stable, why will the number of farmers decrease?"

"Master Han, what are you worried about? Do you want to disturb our court?"

Zong Zheng stared at Shaofu Han and questioned fiercely.

Han Shaofu had no intention of confronting Zong Zheng. He held his hand slightly and said, "Absolutely not. This is what our department has investigated deep into the capital of Guizhou. It is definitely not nonsense, and it will not fool the court."

Said so sincerely.

"Who knows you!" Zong Zheng chuckled, waved his hand, and vetoed, "This matter is purely false and cannot be mentioned again. As for the wealthy businessmen who are obstructing it, I dare to ask the young master, where are the wealthy businessmen? The wealthy businessmen from six countries are concentrated in Xianyang.

, are all under the supervision of our court, who dares to cause trouble? To cause trouble is to seek death."

The ministers nodded.

Indeed, since its unification, Great Qin has taken a very close look at the dignitaries and wealthy businessmen of the Six Kingdoms, and they would never do such a thing.

"So, Mr. Han is making alarmist remarks and wants to disturb the order of the court in our country. Let me ask you, what is your intention?" Zongzheng pointed at Mr. Han, his eyes blazing with anger.

Han Shaofu showed great dissatisfaction and vehemently retorted: "I am an upright person. I am by no means alarmist and have no intentions. I suggest that you report this matter to Your Majesty immediately and let His Majesty make a decision."

After speaking, he looked at Feng Quji pleadingly, hoping that Feng Quji could speak for him, but Feng Quji didn't speak and just smiled, which disappointed him.

"Absurd!" Zong Zheng flicked his sleeves and slapped the table directly, "This is a trivial matter and should not be disturbed by His Majesty. Furthermore, His Majesty is ill. If this matter bothers him and causes damage to the dragon's body, it will be your crime.

"

"Let this matter go, there is no need to mention it again!"

These words directly blocked the way to report to His Majesty. Han Shaofu was indignant, but the Prime Minister did not speak out. No matter how hard he persisted, it would be useless, so he stopped talking.

Then, the ministers reported one after another that Zong Zheng made decisions one by one with high spirits and arrogance. He felt that this was the power he should have, and the entire hall should be his.

"You guys still have something to report. If you have nothing to do, you will withdraw from the court." Zong Zheng glanced at the whole place and was very proud to see that all the ministers were silent.

"I have something to report."

The person who spoke was Jia Xiong, and he walked out quickly, bowing his hands with the utmost courtesy.

"Oh, what's the matter? Please report it quickly." Zong Zheng looked very anxious, as if this matter made him very happy.

"I want to impeach Li Zhao."

Li Zhao?

The ministers looked at each other in confusion, and they all seemed to be thinking in their hearts, why was Li Zhao so popular that he was impeached from time to time, but thinking about it, he was a very popular person, and he didn't know how to turn around, so he should be impeached.

But, what exactly is it?

Feng Quji was not surprised and kept smiling, as if the matter had nothing to do with him. Indeed, according to his acting style, Li Zhao's matter had nothing to do with him.

Li Zhao was among the ministers. When he heard that Jia Xiong was going to impeach him, he immediately glanced over, but he quickly hid himself back.

"Oh! Please report what Li Zhao has committed." Zong Zheng was very concerned about this matter, and he did not forget to glance at Li Zhao, with a half-smile on his face.

"No!" Jia Xiong paused, with a serious look on his face, "The Second Books incident has been a big deal recently. Li Zhao took advantage of the students' enthusiasm for the Second Books and deliberately raised the price of the Second Books, which made the students very resentful."

"Then some students came to Chang'an Township and asked Li Zhao for justice, but Li Zhao was so crazy that he killed all the students. Even Dr. Dai Zhao was not spared."

"This son ignored our laws and regulations of the Qin Dynasty and deliberately harmed people's lives. He deserves to be punished for his crime!"

"Is this really happening?" Zong Zheng looked distressed and angry, but the trace of a smile on the corner of his mouth was revealed unabashedly.

"This is absolutely true! The entire Xianyang City can testify."

Um!

Some ministers also nodded. In fact, the events of yesterday were still fresh in their minds. Hundreds of students went to Chang'an Township with sincerity, but in the end there was no follow-up. So what if they weren't killed by Li Zhao.

You must know that he had the intention to kill students before, and he used a large-scale murder weapon.

Li Zhao sighed secretly, knowing it in his heart.

When Jing Wuquan said it before, he still doubted whether Jia Xiong really wanted to kill him. At this moment, it seemed that it was almost the same person who wanted to kill him, but he still couldn't figure out why the animal wanted to kill him.

In the place of death.

And this Zong Zheng, who has never been in contact with him before, why does he act so enthusiastic?

For a moment, he didn't like this animal at all.

He frowned, but his heart was not panicked.

Suddenly, Zong Zheng's cold gaze came over and he shouted: "Li Zhao, do you know your guilt?"

Li Zhao's reaction was mediocre. He didn't even bother to consider etiquette and said, "What crime am I guilty of?"

These words made Zong Zheng so angry that he slapped the table repeatedly, his eyes filled with resentment.

"Deliberately raising the price of the second book, disrupting the students' minds, and even killing the students, this is a crime."

"It's purely false." Li Zhao replied calmly, "I, Li Zhao, have always been law-abiding and will never kill students. It's Jia Xiong who wants to harm me."

"You still refuse to admit it! If you do, someone will come and capture Li Zhao and torture him to see if he admits it or not." Zong Zheng roared angrily.

This is a gesture of surrender.

As soon as these words came out, Feng Quji immediately stood up and smoothed things over.

"Zong Zheng, there is no rush to punish the criminal. Li Zhao is the commander-in-chief of our court. Even if he kills a student, the evidence must be conclusive. Your verdict is hasty."

"snort!"

Zong Zheng rolled his sleeves and snorted coldly. He did not refute Feng Quji's words, so he asked Jia Xiong: "General Jia, do you have any definite evidence?"

"Of course, my servant witnessed all this. He is Li Si."

Jia Xiong glanced at Li Zhao teasingly, his gaze seemed to contain something very obscure and unpredictable.

"Okay, okay, pass it on to Li Si." Zong Zheng was overjoyed and immediately gave the order.
Chapter completed!