Chapter 382 The Second Enlarged Meeting of the Standing Committee
After letting all the clerks and runners disperse, Sun Shaozong led Wei Ruolan, Lin Delu and Qiu Yunfei into the main hall. With a gloomy face, they sat behind the desk and did not say a word for a long time.
Others were fine, but Qiu Yunfei couldn't sit still. He made a few faces at Wei Ruolan, but when he saw that the latter ignored him, he felt even more bored.
So he simply broke the silence in the hall and said casually: "Sir, are you a little paranoid? The last time, the 'Immortal Powder' was fine, after all, it was something that could kill people, but this time it's just a toy, is it worth mobilizing so many people?"
Just a plaything?
If it were really just a toy, it would be easy to deal with!
But during the inquiry just now, what Sun Shaozong was most concerned about was not that "Tao Zhu Jin Bei" used the casino as a medium to have a channel for circulation in the market, but the clerk's convincing remarks.
It can be traced back to the ancient times. Recently, some scholars have promoted it, and some great scholars in the Hanlin Academy even said "I would rather eat without meat than hide without pearls".
At this point, this 'Tao Zhu Jin Bei' has obviously developed a set of theories, a set of theories that can make some people believe in its 'intrinsic value' - and with the theory as a foundation, it also greatly increases its deceptiveness and appeal.
Even in the modern society with advanced information, there are still many people who are deceived by this specious theory, not to mention the ancient people who have never been exposed to the "financial bubble"!
Therefore, if we allow it to spread, the consequences will be difficult to estimate.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong slowly shook his head: "Whether I am worrying too much or not, it will never be wrong to take some precautions in advance to prevent the situation from getting out of control."
"But sir."
Lin Delu hesitated and said, "The buying and selling of such toys is not prohibited by the imperial court. If our Criminal Law Department prohibits it, I'm afraid it would be unreasonable, right?"
Wei Ruolan also questioned, "There are still many similar items on the market, and no one in the past dynasties has issued an order to ban such toys. Sun Zhizhong is setting a precedent in the past dynasties. I'm afraid it's a bit inappropriate, right?"
Even Qiu Yunfei couldn't help but curl his lips and said, "That damn gold shell only sold for five hundred taels of silver. The other day I saw a palm-sized cricket jar that was worth a thousand taels of silver!"
Tsk~
Although Sun Shaozong had long anticipated that not everyone would agree with his opinion, he couldn't help but waver in the face of such unanimous opposition and questioning - perhaps he was really overthinking it?
Not to mention anything else, aren’t the values of toys like crickets and fighting cocks inflated to the sky?
But there haven't been any social problems caused by this.
but……
After all, Sun Shaozong had heard about the dangers of financial bubbles. Even though he didn't quite understand the causes and consequences of their formation, he was naturally more vigilant than others.
Therefore, after hesitating for a long time, he still insisted: "I don't want to ban it, I just want to send someone to investigate first to see how this thing is circulated, whether there is anyone secretly manipulating it, and how many people are involved."
Wei Ruolan immediately asked, "What if there is no one behind the scenes manipulating this, and the people just like this thing spontaneously?"
"If there is no one to operate..."
Sun Shaozong hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: "If a large number of people are involved, we should also find a way to remind the people not to overestimate the value of this item, and not to listen to the rhetoric of 'it will only go up and never go down' and blindly hoard this item."
Wei Ruolan obviously disagreed with this approach, but she was too lazy to argue with Sun Shaozong, so she bowed and said, "Since Sun Zhizhong has made up his mind, there is no need to discuss it with us. I still have official business to attend to, so I'll take my leave!"
Having said that, he turned around and left the main hall.
Qiu Yunfei was about to follow suit and run away, but suddenly he saw Wei Ruolan coming back from outside and reporting: "Sun Zhizhong, Han Fuyin and Jia Fucheng have summoned you and me. Go to the inner hall to discuss matters immediately."
Meeting in the inner hall?
Since Han Anbang and Jia Yucun jointly summoned him, Sun Shaozong naturally did not dare to be negligent. He quickly packed up and rushed to the inner hall of the government office with Wei Ruolan.
When they arrived at the inner hall, they saw that in addition to Han Anbang and Jia Yucun, Fu Shi, the Assistant Magistrate of Finance and Grain, and Zhao Liben, the Assistant Magistrate of Miscellaneous Goods, were also present. Also present was Chen Zhichuang, the chief officer of the Experience Department, who was responsible for recording important meetings.
This should be considered as the "enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee" of Shuntian Prefecture.
The last time such a big event was staged was during last year's 'Longevity Festival' - could something big have happened again?
Sun Shaozong suppressed his doubts, stepped forward to greet everyone, and then sat on the chair to the right of the desk, forming a two-general formation with Jia Yucun, guarding Han Anbang, the hollow boss, in the middle.
When Wei Ruolan also sat down in the hall, Han Anbang said solemnly: "This time, our government summoned all the adults here because the cabinet issued an order this morning, ordering our Shuntian Prefecture to check the slaves and maids kept by wealthy families from now on to confirm their number and origins."
So that's what it was.
When the "Longsheng Old Store Heart-Gouging Case" was reported in the court newspaper, Sun Shaozong guessed that Emperor Guangde wanted to curb slavery, so he was not surprised.
Jia Yucun was famous for not showing his emotions on his face, so naturally it was impossible to tell what he was thinking at the moment - but he had only been in Beijing for two years, so he certainly didn't have too many servants at home, so there was no need to worry about getting into trouble.
As for the three judges, the expressions of two of them suddenly changed.
One of them is Fu Shi. This guy recently annexed the Ma family’s land and shops, and also gathered a lot of slaves. If we really check their origins one by one, wouldn’t the truth be revealed?
The other person whose expression suddenly changed was Wei Ruolan.
As an emerging noble family, his family's power has expanded rapidly in recent years, and they have also swallowed up many of the property and slaves of the fallen nobles. This may not be a secret in private, but if it were made public, it would probably cause a lot of criticism.
However, since the decree was issued through the cabinet, it was obvious that several cabinet leaders and the emperor had reached a consensus. As local officials below, they had no right to object at all. The only thing they could do was to make remedial measures as soon as possible.
Han Anbang announced the purpose of this meeting, and then said: "This is a serious matter. I would like to ask all the adults to express their opinions and discuss a safe charter as soon as possible."
"First, we must live up to the trust of the Cabinet and His Majesty and complete this task; second, we must also be careful not to cause panic among the gentry in the capital."
To put it bluntly, it is like cutting tofu with a knife so that both sides are smooth.
However, it seems that the more you try to please both sides, the more likely you are to be unpopular with both sides.
Therefore, although his two points seemed simple, they were actually not that easy. After he finished speaking, the class fell into an awkward silence.
Finally, Han Anbang had no choice but to call out his name and said, "Mr. Jia, the officials in the mansion respect you as the most respected person. Why don't you say a few words first?"
This sounds a bit sour.
Jia Yucun nodded slightly, and said without hesitation: "The prefect just mentioned two points, but I think the second point is the most important. After all, most of those who keep slaves are gentry and nobles, and the gentry and nobles are the cornerstone of the court must not be shaken!"
"good."
Sun Shaozong immediately said, "The reason why the court appointed Shuntian Prefecture to conduct the investigation, rather than the Ministry of Rites or the Ministry of Revenue, is probably because they wanted to control the scope and did not want to escalate the situation and cause panic among the gentry and nobles."
As they spoke, the two exchanged glances across the desk, and both showed some understanding.
If Emperor Guangde really wanted to take ruthless measures to crack down on the slavery trend, he would not have revealed the trend in the court bulletin beforehand, and he could have ordered the Dragon Guards to conduct a secret investigation and then close the net.
Now, with such great fanfare, the task has been handed over to Shuntian Prefecture for handling. It is obvious that the intention is to "make a show of force to scare the enemy" rather than to really conduct a thorough investigation and punishment.
Jia Yucun had obviously seen through this, so he began to speak up for the gentry and nobles, saying some helpful words in order to gain their favor among them.
And when it comes to such an easy thing, how could Sun Shaozong let him have all the credit?
Han Anbang's political awareness was not as good as before. Seeing the two men singing the same tune in front of him, although he felt something was wrong, he still sang the opposite tune out of habit: "You two adults, what you said is wrong. The gentry and nobles are the cornerstone of the court, but the decree handed down by the cabinet must not be taken lightly!"
Sun Shaozong and Jia Yucun immediately stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Excellency the Prefect is right."
But in my heart I felt quite contempt for this guy's emotional intelligence.
Especially, although Han Anbang sang a different tune, when it came to discussing the details, he was not tough at all and did not dare to point his spearhead at those noble families.
So the final result of everyone's discussion was to first kill the merchants with bad reputations as a warning to others, and then gradually expand to the homes of gentry and nobles - if by then, there are still people stupid enough to expose the handle, then it can't be wondered that Shuntian Prefecture turned against them ruthlessly.
Finally, Han Anbang shamelessly said: "In the last case of the 'Immortal Powder', our Shuntian Prefecture responded appropriately and gained quite a bit of attention. This time, we must not slack off in the 'Slavery Census' and must do a better job than last time!"
Phew!
The last "Special Campaign to Crack Down on Immortal Powder" was clearly a joint effort between the Ministry of Criminal Law, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Justice. Han Anbang avoided it as much as possible at the time, and now he still has the nerve to flatter himself.
but……
His habit of taking credit had offended even Wei Ruolan - the two people who had contributed the most to the 'Immortal Powder' project were Wei Ruolan and Qiu Yunfei.
Sun Shaozong watched coldly from the sidelines, and indeed saw some resentment on Wei Ruolan's face. Although she might not completely turn against Han Anbang because of this, it was inevitable that they would become disunited.
The reason why Han Anbang has become a hollow boss is really no one else’s fault!
"Brother."
When the meeting was over, Sun Shaozong was about to lead Wei Ruolan back to the Criminal Law Department, but Jia Yucun came over and asked with a stern face, "I heard that you had a conflict with the Lian brothers yesterday?"
Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "It's not really a conflict, it's just a misunderstanding."
"It's just a misunderstanding."
Jia Yucun's expression softened slightly, and he continued, "Although you two brothers have already relied on the towering tree of Prince Zhongshun, you should not forget your roots - especially since your family and the Rongguo Mansion have become relatives, you should support each other."
Huh?
Although this was a criticism, it actually contained the intention of "showing goodwill". However, the two had parted ways for more than half a year, so why would Jia Yucun suddenly show goodwill to himself?
Could it be that something had happened in this government office again, a change that I had not noticed?
