I'm the villain in the book

Chapter 434
Early the next morning.

The latest "Beijing News" published Ning Yuke's "speech" yesterday in a full page, verbatim.

Since there is no subjective evaluation attached, it is not yet clear whether this move is considered "collaboration with the enemy".

In addition, Taichang Temple, which is in charge of managing the "newspaper industry", is now completely under the control of the Tongzhou Association, so the official level of Daning did not impose any punishment on the "Beijing News".

But in fact, neither Ning Yongnian nor the people of Daning care much about such "small things" anymore.

From the perspective of the former, Ning Yuke has absolutely no chance of winning when an army of [-] is crushing her. When the time comes, "the will of the people" will naturally return to her side.

As for the latter, they may be more concerned about how much food prices have risen today than what Ning Yuke said.

After all, when life is a problem, who would have the leisure to take care of any "national affairs".

Before dawn, there were long queues at the gates of several grain shops in the capital.

Food prices are rising day by day, and even the capital city at the foot of the emperor has now risen to "sky-high prices."

But even if the price is already sky-high, this food is not something that can be bought just by buying it.

"Everyone! I'm sorry!"

"Our shop is out of food!"

"Go back! Come earlier tomorrow!"

"."

Less than half an hour after the opening of the market, various grain shops put up the wooden signs saying "no grain today", and were about to close their doors one after another.

And those people who didn't buy food would naturally not agree.

"No food?! It's been like this for several days! What kind of grain shop do you run?!"

"There must be food! These profiteers must have seen the price of food soaring, so they deliberately didn't sell it to us!"

"Open the door! Open the door quickly! Otherwise, I will smash the door!"

"Hey, let's leave. I know the shopkeeper of this Da'an grain store. He is indeed a good person. There will be no food that will not be sold."

"If he says there is no food, then there is really no food."

"Let's go! Let's go to the food store on West Street."

"."

After yelling outside the door for a long time, those who did not buy food finally left helplessly.

And even those who bought a small amount of food did not look very happy at this time.

The food I just bought is not only expensive, but also can't be eaten for a few days.

A few days later, I have to queue up again to grab food, but who can guarantee that I will be able to grab it?

If you can't grab it, you can only eat bran.

When the bran rice is finished, they can only drink porridge.

If things go on like this, white porridge will turn into porridge, porridge will turn into rice soup, and rice soup will turn into bark.

Then again?

Was starved to death?
Obviously, there have been no major natural disasters in Daning in recent years, and food prices have remained stable.

But why did the food on the market seem to disappear overnight?
Is it because of the war?

But even if there is a war, the price of food should not rise so fiercely.
Ordinary people can't figure it out, let alone know that the situation in other states is actually worse than the capital.

But Ning Yongnian, who was in the palace, knew this clearly.

He knows very well that the soaring price of grain in Daning is because there are countless profiteers hoarding grain.

He knew better that the one with the most hoards was a firm called "Yingfengsheng" that popped up out of nowhere.

Food is the most important thing for the people, no matter what, the price of food must come down.

Therefore, Ning Yongnian decided a few days ago to use violent means to quickly solve this problem.

but
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, yesterday there were thirteen fires in Yingfengsheng granaries in various states, and there was not a grain of grain left in the granaries."

"Your Majesty! They made it clear that they are not trying to make money, but want to cholera and make the world peaceful!"

"Your Majesty, I feel that someone must have informed Yingfengsheng about this matter in advance, otherwise why would they burn all the food before the official arrival?!"

"Your Majesty, the grain market in Daning can no longer be in chaos! Let's open a granary to help the market!"

"."

In the early court, a group of officials expressed their opinions in fear or anger.

On the other hand, Ning Yongnian sat on the dragon chair with a gloomy expression, his eyes fixed on one person for a long time.

Undoubtedly, it was Wei Xianzhi with a calm expression.

"Wei Qing, what do you think I should do?"

"."

The moment Ning Yongnian spoke, the entire hall fell silent.

More than a hundred court officials stared at Wei Xianzhi standing in the first row, with different emotions in their eyes.

But the latter turned a blind eye to this, and just calmly cupped his hands at Ning Yongnian.

"Your Majesty, Xuan Jingsi doesn't care about money and food."

"You should ask Master Miao about this matter."

The "Master Miao" that Wei Xianzhi spoke of was Miao Xuezheng, who succeeded Ning Yongnian after Xu Shixing's death as Minister of the Household Department.

The Ministry of Households is in charge of money, grain, merchants, salt, etc., and it is indeed the "first responsible department" for the chaos in the grain market.

But Wei Xianzhi's words, no matter the content or the tone, are undoubtedly very disrespectful to Ning Yongnian.

"Wei Qing, I naturally know that the Ministry of Households is in charge of money and food."

Instead of looking at Miao Xuezheng, Ning Yongnian narrowed his eyes slightly, still staring at Wei Xianzhi.

"However, Yingfengsheng's collusion with the Chaotic King is the responsibility of Xuanjing Division."

"It's been a few days since I asked you to handle this matter. I don't know how your investigation is doing?"

"Back to the Emperor"

Wei Changtian folded his hands and bowed his head, and only answered five words concisely.

"The officer is still investigating."

"Still checking"

"The good one is still under investigation!"

"Ha ha ha ha!!!"

Laughter full of anger resounded through the hall, and all the court officials dared not show their trembling atmosphere.

Anyone can see that the distance between Ning Yongnian and the Wei family is only one step away, so no one dares to say a word at this time.

"Wei Qing."

After a few breaths, the angry laughter finally gradually stopped, and the murderous intent in Ning Yongnian's eyes was almost undisguised.

He slowly stood up from the dragon chair, walked down the steps step by step, and then stood in front of Wei Xianzhi.

"Ten days, I hope that Xuan Jing Division can punish all those who disturbed the grain market within ten days."

"You, can you do it?"

"Go back to the emperor."

Wei Xianzhi's expression remained unchanged, he raised his eyes and looked at Ning Yongnian: "This case is very complicated and involves a lot, ten days may be a bit short."

"Is it?"

Ning Yongnian paused and asked again: "Then how many days do you want?"

"this."

Wei Xianzhi smiled: "Your Majesty, how about a hundred days?"

"."

One hundred days to solve the case.

Not to mention whether Xuan Jing Division can solve the case after a hundred days, even if it is really possible, Daning will already be starving and dying everywhere by then, and the people will be in dire straits.

So the time limit given by Wei Xianzhi is clearly a provocation.

All court officials present understood this, so they all stared wide-eyed and breathless, wondering why he dared to speak to Ning Yongnian like this.

Yes, the Wei family is indeed powerful now.

But this is not Shuzhou, but the capital city where [-] imperial guards have been stationed for a long time!

How many people are there in total at the helm of your Xuanjing Division?How can it be worth the [-] imperial guards?
Taking a step back, you, Wei Xianzhi, are in the palace right now!

If Ning Yongnian is really angry and wants to kill you, how can you live?

More than a hundred court officials were puzzled, and they didn't understand how Wei Xianzhi had the courage to challenge Ning Yongnian so openly.

They even felt that the commander of the Xuanjing Division could no longer walk out of the hall alive.

However.
Staring at Wei Xianzhi who was smiling at the corner of his mouth, Ning Yongnian's palm hidden in his sleeve was clenched into a fist, and then slowly loosened after a few breaths.

He turned his head without saying a word, no longer looking at Wei Xianzhi, but slowly said to Miao Xuezheng:
"Master Miao, open the warehouse to release the grain."

"Yes Yes"

Miao Xuezheng didn't dare to say anything now, so he quickly bowed his head in response.

And Ning Yongnian didn't say anything more, shook his sleeves and left all the court officials and walked to the apse.

Accompanied by Li Huaizhong's "retreat", today's morning court ended hastily.

The court officials walked out of the hall one after another, deliberately keeping a distance from Wei Xianzhi like the plague god along the way.

But the latter didn't care about it, and the smile on his face seemed to be even bigger.

(End of this chapter)