I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 249 I, Su Jingming, am lawless in Yangzhou!

October 26th, near noon.

Mr. Cao, the head of the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce, held a banquet at Mingyue Tower, the best restaurant in Yangzhou City, and invited nearly a hundred big businessmen in a high-profile manner.

As Su Liang came to Yangzhou, there were rumors about "Su Liang's personal letter".

Fourth Master Cao did this.

Naturally, it was to win over the businessmen.

He was afraid that the content of this letter was true and that Su Liang would target him, so he wanted to attract many businessmen to form a network.

It has to be said that Fourth Master Cao is quite prestigious in Yangzhou City.

Nearly 90% of the businessmen he invited rushed to Mingyue Tower on time for the banquet.

The name of Mingyue Tower is taken from two poems in "Remembering Yangzhou" by Xu Ning, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: One part of the world is the bright moonlit night, and the other part is Yangzhou.

The owner of this building.

It is Qiao Sanniang who owns twelve romantic places.

In addition to Qiao Sanniang, the eldest son of the Ao family, Ao Lie, and Monk Hui Ben, the superintendent of Kongshan Temple, also came to support.

Under normal circumstances, businessmen do not want to fight with officials, and they do not dare to fight with them.

But if the government wants to use its power to embezzle their money, they will resist with all their strength.

The rebels in the Song Dynasty were mostly ordinary craftsmen rather than big businessmen.

The main reason was that the imperial court regarded big businessmen as part of the ruling class.

Including the various current reform measures, they are still carried out to a degree acceptable to the big business class.

Ruo Su Liangzhen ransacked Master Cao's house to solve Yangzhou's money shortage.

Businessmen will feel the crisis.

If someone throws fire into the fire.

It is not impossible for merchants in Yangzhou, and even a large group of merchants in Jiangnan, to rebel.

The banquet in Mingyue Tower lasted from nearly noon to nearly dusk.

During this period, all the merchants present signed an alliance agreement.

The general idea is: Yangzhou merchants share weal and woe. If they encounter unfair treatment, they will go on strike or leave Yangzhou city.

The most common thing Mr. Cao said most was: No egg will be left unfinished when the nest is overturned.

Although they did not mention the imperial court, reform, or Su Liang, this alliance was obviously to protect their own interests.

Before Su Liang arrived, this group of people had already shown their attitude.

"Personal interests above all else!"

If all these merchants go on strike or leave Yangzhou, Yangzhou's commercial tax revenue will be reduced by at least half.

Even the entire city of Yangzhou will decline as a result.

This is undoubtedly a huge disaster for local officials and people.

……

Su Liang naturally heard the news.

He expected businessmen to stick together and protect their personal interests.

There was no movement from these businessmen, so Su Liang didn't know what to do. But now that there was movement, he had an idea.

……

The twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month, early morning.

Su Liang, Cao Hu and others took a small boat and ran towards the outside of the city.

They will meet up with the official ship and then arrive in Yangzhou City in a grand manner under the watchful eyes of countless people in Yangzhou.

At the moment, Su Liang had figured out the situation in Yangzhou City and had some ideas in his mind.

……

Near noon.

A plainclothes Forbidden Army soldier, holding an identity token, came to Yangzhou Yamen.

"Su Zhizhou, Su Liang, the censor and miscellaneous officer, will arrive in Yangzhou City in the afternoon. I would like to ask Su Zhizhou to arrange a boat and vehicle to pick him up."

Su Shunyuan immediately handed him the "Su Liang's personal letter".

He also said that this letter has been lost, and now everyone in Yangzhou City knows the content of this letter.

At this moment, Su Shunyuan almost believed that this autographed letter was genuine.

The plainclothes imperial soldier smiled and said: "Zhizhou Su, Yushi Su has already known about this and asked me to tell you that everything is as expected."

After that, the Imperial Guards soldiers strode away.

Su Shunyuan paced back and forth, feeling uneasy.

He was afraid that Su Liang would attack the big businessman in a fit of anger.

Although the money shortage problem will be solved by then, it will also ruin the business and trade in Yangzhou City.

Years later, Su Liang patted his butt and returned to Beijing to receive the reward. Life for him and the people would be miserable.

immediately.

Su Shunyuan arranged ships and vehicles, and sent dozens of government officials to meet Su Liang.

In terms of rank, Su Liang was only half a rank higher than him.

But at the moment, Su Liangnai came on behalf of the Reform Department, and the Reform Department represented the official family.

Su Shunyuan did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

As soon as the state government officials took action, the people knew that Su Liang was really coming.

The credibility of the handwritten letter is also increasing.

Many people speculated that Su Liang came here to harvest the wealth of wealthy businessmen, not only to solve the money shortage, but also to ensure the smooth implementation of the Market Change Law after the new year.

The businessmen group was in panic.

But many people are very happy. They have been exploited by some big businessmen for too long.

Now that the Chinese New Year is approaching, things are cheap and money is expensive, and the people at the bottom dare not spend anything at all.

After hearing the news, Fourth Master Cao suddenly became nervous.

Although he has been on the canal for more than thirty years, he has experienced downfalls and glory, and has encountered life and death.

But Su Liang was the master who dared to fight in the court and cut off the heads of dozens of Xixia people.

He didn't want to be his enemy.

But in order to protect himself, he doesn't mind fighting to the death.

He thought for a while and said to the steward on the side: "As soon as Su Liang enters the city, I will send someone to monitor him. I want to know wherever he goes."

……

An hour later.

Two large ships were parked at the North Pier of Yangzhou City.

Su Liang and his family will take a boat and enter Yangzhou City from Beishuimen.

On the pier, there are crowds of people.

As soon as Su Liang got off the ship, he heard someone shouting: "Su Yushi, you are the pride of our Yangzhou people!"

Su Liang couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

He said to Cao Hu behind him: "Get ready to throw money!"

After a while.

Su Liang got on the boat arranged by Su Shunyuan.

There was another ship in front of the ship. In addition to four Forbidden Army soldiers, there were sacks of copper coins on board.

After entering the city gate.

The four Forbidden Army soldiers opened the sacks and began to scatter money towards both sides of the Guan River.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Copper coins were scattered on the riverside, attracting many people to fight for them.

There isn't much money.

There was no stampede by the people.

People pick up money just for a good fortune.

When Su Liang entered the city, he scattered money in a high-profile manner to inform the people of Yangzhou City: When he came, the copper coins came!

The boat moves forward slowly in the water.

Su Zimu looked at everything around him from the hatch of the ship, his eyes full of curiosity and excitement.

"Su Yushi, do you still remember? That year you took my ox cart to take part in the provincial examination!"

"Su Yushi, I have all your articles, please come and write one for my bookstore!"

"Su Yushi, did you write that letter? Are you going to take action against Fourth Master Cao?"

……

On both sides of the Guanhe River, people were shouting at the top of their lungs and asking various questions.

Su Liang smiled and waved at the bow of the boat, without answering anyone's words.

About half an hour later.

Su Liang got on the carriage ashore and went to the state government office with Cao Hu and others.

Tang Ze, Tang Wanmei and others returned directly to Tang's house.

As soon as Su Liang walked to the gate of the state government office, Su Shunyuan, the magistrate of Yangzhou, walked over quickly.

At that time, Su Liang and Su Shunyuan's younger brother, Su Shunqin, who was imprisoned in the memorial court, had an old relationship, and they were even involved in the memorial court case.

Su Shunqin died of illness last year, and Su Liang was also sad for a long time.

Su Shunqin strongly supported the reform.

If he had not died of illness, he would have been able to show off his talents. Su Shunyuan and Su Shunqin had similar looks, and Su Liang recognized them at a glance.

"Su Yushi, I have finally expected you to come. Hurry! Please come inside, please come inside!" Su Shunyuan said politely.

"Brother Cai Weng, just call me Jing Ming. Zimei and I are old friends, so there is no need to be polite between you and me!"

Hearing this, Su Shunyuan couldn't help but feel warm in his heart.

Some colleagues once told him that Su Liangnai was the most ruthless Taiwanese admonishment officer in the dynasty and would do anything for the sake of his official career.

But when he met Su Liang today, he subconsciously felt that Su Liang was not that kind of person.

What he didn't know was that since the "Hundred Days Official Examination", few local officials would speak well of Su Liang.

After a while, the two of them arrived at the Yamen Hall.

After they sat down respectively, Su Shunyuan eagerly took out the "Su Liang's autograph letter" and asked, "Jing Ming, was this letter written by you?"

Su Liang smiled slightly.

"Yes and no."

"Huh?" Su Shunyuan didn't understand what he meant.

Su Liang smiled and said: "At that time, I heard the rumor of 'exchanging sons for copper coins' spread in Yangzhou City. In order to overturn this rumor, I wrote such a letter and deliberately let the people of Yangzhou City spread it."

"High, it's really high. Then this letter is fake. I will refute the rumor today so that Cao Si can rest assured and stop thinking of going on strike."

Su Liang shook his head.

"No, don't refute the rumors first. Whether this letter is true or false depends on Cao Si's attitude."

"You... you don't really want to raid Cao Si's house and solve the money shortage in Yangzhou. This... is the last resort. The merchants will go on strike or even leave Yangzhou. No, absolutely not!"

"Brother Cai Weng, don't be anxious. I certainly won't ruin Yangzhou City's trade in order to solve the money shortage. Don't worry, I have a plan in my heart and I guarantee that the merchants will not be dishonest!"

"As for how to solve the money shortage, we will wait for two days. After finally returning home, I want to spend time with my family first."

"Yes, you finally came back. Then I won't refute the rumors!"

Su Liang nodded.

Afterwards, Su Liang and Su Shunyuan chatted for a while and then went home directly.

……

Half an hour later, Mr. Cao was in the courtyard.

His housekeeper hurried over and said, "Fourth Master, Su Liang has gone home, but the government clerk told me that they did not receive the task of writing information to refute the rumors."

Fourth Master Cao frowned.

"Don't refute the rumors? Does this Su Liang really dare to use me to scare the monkeys? Isn't he afraid that Yangzhou's trade will become a mess, and isn't he afraid that the ships on the Yangzhou City Canal will stop?"

"If you go to investigate again and find out what he does, report it immediately. If he dares to lead soldiers and government officials to look for me, immediately notify all merchants and put them all on strike. If there is anyone who disobeys my orders, I will let him live in Yangzhou City. Don’t go down!”

"Yes, Fourth Master!" The housekeeper ran away quickly.

……

At night, two people enter the courtyard.

The rooms had all been cleaned up, and Su Zimu was running around in the courtyard.

Tangze sat on his mahogany chair that was more than forty years old, with a happy face.

Tang Wanmei and Xiao Tao got into the kitchen.

Yangzhou cuisine can only taste delicious in Yangzhou, using Yangzhou’s local ingredients.

After a while, the food was served and the family started eating and drinking happily.

……

The next day.

Tang Ze and Su Liang took the initiative to invite more than 30 old neighbors to their home for dinner.

There were four large tables in the courtyard, and the food and drinks were all from Mingyue Tower.

When Tangze lived here alone, the surrounding neighbors provided a lot of help.

If Su Liang ignored these people because of his official career to avoid suspicion, it would seem a bit ungrateful.

Su Liang also had a lot of the proper etiquette.

He is not afraid that these real neighbors will come to him for help.

If you have some troubles, Su Liang will definitely help.

When the neighbors and old friends left, Su Liang also gave money and gifts without any official airs.

October 30th.

The sun was shining brightly, and Su Liang's family went out for an outing in the city. They set off at dawn and returned after dark.

Those who don't know may think that Su Liangnai is returning home for vacation.

The most miserable person in these two days was Mr. Cao.

He couldn't eat well or sleep well.

The state government did not refute the rumors about the "Letter written by Su Liang", which was an act that went against common sense.

He was afraid that Su Liang and his men would suddenly break into his house and arrest him for an innocent crime.

……

It's early morning on the first day of November.

Su Liang wore a moon-white gown and came to Yangzhou Chengzhou Yamen.

At this moment, the state government office has become his office.

When Su Shunyuan saw Su Liang coming to the government office, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and asked hurriedly: "Jing Ming, what should we do next?"

Su Liang smiled slightly and looked at Cao Hu standing aside.

"Cao Hu listened to the order and immediately led the soldiers of the Forbidden Army, divided into eight teams, held the seal of the Reform Department, sealed the eight treasury of Kongshan Temple, and arrested Monk Huiben and the treasury manager and imprisoned them!"

"I will obey your orders!" Cao Hu handed over his hands, turned around and left.

"Ah?" Su Shunyuan was confused.

He originally wanted to stop him, but when he thought that Cao Hu was under the orders of the Reform Department, he quickly looked at Su Liang.

"Jing Ming, don't be so reckless, don't be so reckless! If you do this, won't you offend all the Yangzhou merchants? In addition, according to the procedures, sealing up shops and arresting people without questioning or trial is somewhat inconsistent with the laws of the Song Dynasty!"

Su Liang puffed up his chest and said, "In Yangzhou, I am the law of the Song Dynasty!"

Su Shunyuan was choked by these words.

Su Liang added: "Su Zhizhou, there are some things that I can't tell you yet. Just wait a moment. Trust me, if you cause any trouble, I will be responsible for it!"

After hearing this, Su Shunyuan understood somewhat.

Although Su Liang and he were close brothers and sisters three days ago, Su Liang still didn't believe him when it came to official matters.

Su Liang used the soldiers of the Three Yamen, and the seal of the Reform Department came under the holy order.

He has no right to interfere, and he has no right to stop it.

Immediately, Su Shunyuan slightly cupped his hands and stopped talking.

Only then did he realize what this young admonishment officer relied on to thrive in the court.

It's faster to turn over a book than to turn over a book.

And good at using power.

Even if the ministers of Zhongshu came to Yangzhou, they would not dare to say something like "In Yangzhou, I am the law of the Song Dynasty."

But Su Liang had no scruples.

With these words, all Su Shunyuan's doubts could only be swallowed temporarily.

This oppressive feeling made him suffocated.

Less than an hour.

All the eight treasuries of Kongshan Temple were sealed, and monk Huiben and the storekeepers of the eight treasuries were all arrested and imprisoned in the state prison.

The speed is incredible.

It wasn't until everyone was caught that word got out.

The people were shocked.

In the past, when the government arrested people, they were all guilty, but this time, only one sentence was left behind.

"The Reform Department doesn't need a reason to arrest people!"

This matter soon reached the ears of Fourth Master Cao.

Then, many businessmen rushed to Fourth Master Cao's mansion in panic.

The businessmen thought that Su Liang would target the big businessmen, but they felt that he would at least follow the procedures.

Discuss first to determine whether the merchants will cooperate.

If they don't cooperate, they will fabricate a crime that will convince everyone, and then they will be arrested and imprisoned. If the merchants are finally willing to circulate the coins in the hoard, they will still forget the blame.

Because if Yangzhou City was separated from this group of big businessmen, business would immediately be in chaos.

But Su Liang suddenly confused all the businessmen.

Su Liangruo wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.

The best chicken should be Mr. Cao.

Although Monk Huiben made huge profits, he was in the lending business after all, and his hoard of copper coins was far less than that of Fourth Master Cao.

The businessmen wanted to help Monk Huiben complain, but they didn't know how to do so.

Because I don't know the guilt.

This is clearly the use of force to arrest people.

Su Liang's overbearing and illogical behavior made all the merchants panic, fearing that if they went on strike together, Su Liang would do something more powerful and arrest everyone.

No one has ever seen such lawless scholar-bureaucrats. This is a plan to perish together.

(End of this chapter)