After Wang Gongchen said this, the wine feast was quiet for a while, and no one spoke.

The crowd could not speak.

The weather was suddenly cold, the road was closed by heavy snow, and the charcoal outside could not be transported in, and the price of charcoal in the capital skyrocketed, which has happened before. In the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu, the snow was more serious than this time, and the price of charcoal skyrocketed, and finally Emperor Zhenzong sold the charcoal in the palace at half price for 400,000 yuan, which calmed down the matter.

This is a natural disaster, there is no way, the only problem is that this time the price of charcoal has risen too sharply, 20 years ago it only rose to 200 Wen per scale, but this time it has reached 600 Wen, if there are no suitable measures, it may continue to rise.

This kind of natural and man-made disaster, everyone was supposed to be compassionate, but Xu Ping was involved in the middle. The skyrocketing prices are in response to Xu Ping's pre-session, and this natural disaster has become an opportunity for him to improve.

Seeing the gloomy atmosphere, Xu Ping picked up his wine glass and said: "Heavy snow and natural disasters, manpower is difficult to prevent, we are ordinary people after all, what can we do?" And after drinking this glass of wine, if it is involved in official business, you can go back temporarily, and if it is not involved, then we will finish the wine and find a way to relieve the disaster together tomorrow. ”

Han Qi drank the wine dry, got up and said, "Yun Xing is right, in the face of natural disasters, we can only do our best. I am in charge of the Zuo Treasury, and I must go back immediately, in case the relevant departments want to bring the materials in the warehouse, and there can be no delay. ”

Except for Xu Ping and Zhao Yan, the others were all important ministers of the pavilion, and they said goodbye to Han Qi and still drank.

In this era, it is said that the four seas are peaceful, but it is far from the level of common prosperity, the poor are never few, and it is a matter of every year that people freeze to death in the cold weather, as long as it is not the road one after another, it can only be attributed to natural disasters. As for beating the Dengwen drum, it's not a big deal, the drum is set up there for people to beat, and when there are no idle days throughout the year, it still depends on how things develop.

However, a few people were affected by this topic, and the atmosphere was still dull. The people outside are not happy, but the singing and dancing here are leveling, and the few people here can't do this kind of thing.

Although Xu Ping thought that the price rise was his own opportunity, he was still sensible and knew that natural disasters were natural disasters, and the soaring carbon prices were not price increases in the ordinary sense. Such an opportunity, it is better not to stir it up, he has his own self-confidence, after a period of time, the real price rise will inevitably come, that is his own opportunity.

Nie Guanqing, who was sentenced to the Wengu Academy, faced nearly 100 people who were in a hot state, but he didn't have this calmness. He is a literati with a classical atmosphere in the true sense, he likes to learn the ancients, he can't release the scroll, he is good at poetry and words, and a poem "Dolly" has been passed on to future generations, and he has the style of slow words in the Song Dynasty, and the time is still earlier than Liu Sanchang.

Poor Nie Guanqing is full of poetry, where can the angry people listen? One after another, you must see the driver, the cold Tiannie Guanqing was so anxious that his head was full of sweat.

It is indeed possible to see the emperor by beating the drum, but it is impossible to see the emperor after beating the drum, in that case, the emperor will be too busy with the doppelganger technique. It can only be reported by the officials of the Drum Supervision Academy, and finally go up to the emperor at all levels, and only receive them when they feel the need.

Nie Guanqing's half-pennied words were hard for the people to listen to, and at this time, the north wind blew again, and the snowflakes fell and hit these poorly clothed lower-class people, and their emotions became more and more excited.

Behind the crowd, I don't know who shouted: "This dog official is wearing silk and brocade, how can he know the suffering of our people?" He is holding us back, so why should we rely on Him? Isn't there another one next door! ”

Hearing this, the people rose up in a hurry, poured out of the drum courtyard, and went to the Dengwen inspection courtyard on the other side of the front.

If the Dengwen Drum Institute does not report to the people, you can go to the Dengwen Drum Courtyard. The two families are outside the Xuande Gate, one left and one right, and it is very convenient to come and go.

Nie Guanqing watched the people go hula and was dumbfounded. This time, I have to sue him together. But he was originally going to tell the people that he had already sent someone to ask the chief Fan Zhongyan to report the matter, so why didn't he listen to his explanation.

The Drum Courtyard is subordinate to the Doctor, and the Procuratorate is subordinate to the Doctor, the names are almost the same, but the two are not the same department. As long as this trouble goes over there, how can I end up here.

In the main hall of Kaifeng Mansion, the prefect Zhang Guan sat upright, looked at the heads and main merchants of the charcoal line standing under the hall, and said in a deep voice: "Now that the weather is bitterly cold, how can you take advantage of this time to raise the price of charcoal?" The price of charcoal has skyrocketed, where do the small people have the money to buy charcoal, they can't stand it, or die or get sick, how can you be safe? ”

Liu Daguan, the head of the line, saluted and said: "Fu Gong Mingjian, it's not that we want to make this money, but the charcoal store doesn't have much charcoal to spare now." The government doesn't allow us to close the market and not sell, and if the price doesn't rise, it will be sold out immediately, what should we do? ”

Zhang Guan said: "Don't be cunning, in winter, will you store charcoal?" How can it be sold out all at once! ”

"The government doesn't know, we originally saved a lot of charcoal, but what new money was going to be minted by the Yanqian Division, and countless charcoal were levied, and the charcoal store was really empty. The newly bought charcoal has not yet been transported to the city in other places, and it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice! ”

Xu Shen cast miscellaneous iron and copper coins, and the charcoal was originally collected through Kaifeng Mansion, and Zhang Guan naturally knew. However, at that time, it was just official business, and who would have thought that it would not be long before the weather cooled down and caused this situation. With this excuse, these charcoal farmers bite themselves and don't have much inventory, so they either close the market and don't sell it, or raise the price, and there is no room for negotiation at all.

Kaifeng Mansion is not far from the Imperial City, and as soon as there was a commotion in the Dengwen Drum Courtyard, someone reported Zhang Guan, and he immediately sent the main merchants of the Tan Store into the mansion. It is best to let these merchants reduce the price, and if they can't reduce the price, they have to sort out the rhetoric, and he must enter the palace before dark today to explain the skyrocketing price of charcoal.

According to the previous practice, at this time, it was necessary to open the warehouse and sell charcoal at an official price to bring down the price of charcoal. But now whether there is enough charcoal in the library is a problem, Xu Shen wasted a lot of charcoal, and if he can't do it, he can only come out of the palace.

Looking at the merchants in the hall pretending to sigh, Zhang Guan's face became more and more gloomy. What is hateful is that the price of charcoal was raised a little before the snow fell in the middle of the year, and there was no mandatory stipulation that the price of charcoal should not rise, leaving an opening. It's too late to get to the charcoal now, and it's not a moment's work to find out how much charcoal they have.

Forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart, Zhang Guan said in a deep voice: "You merchants go back to check the current charcoal inventory, and report to Kaifeng Mansion tomorrow." If anyone dares to hide the false report, this government will definitely punish it severely! Also, as soon as you get back, you should go out of the city and contact your charcoal cellar, so that they can work day and night without delay! ”

The merchants respectfully agreed, but I don't know how many of them took it seriously.

Sending the banker away, Zhang Guan sighed. When an official encounters this kind of natural disaster, it is really hard to say, how can manpower overcome the sky? No matter how much effort you spend, you may still be reprimanded in the end.

Standing up, Zhang Guan ordered people to immediately prepare horses, and the honor guard to show his identity was gone, and he rushed to the palace lightly.

Dismounted and entered the Donghua Gate, Zhang Guan followed the guide of the officials all the way to hurry, stepping on the thick snow, and arrived outside the vertical arch hall in a short time. When I looked up, there was a person standing outside the temple gate, it was Fan Zhongyan, the right priest.

The Drum Courtyard is under the name of Fan Zhongyan, and his purpose is the same as Zhang Guan's, which is to urgently see the driver for the soaring price of charcoal. (To be continued.) )