"Yongtai Grain Firm, Fengyu Rice Shop, Fuhhe Grain Store, monopolizing the grain trade, hoarding bizarrely, driving up grain prices, plunging the people into misery, and placing the state in jeopardy, deserve death a thousand times over, utterly unforgivable!"
"The Emperor decrees, the heads of the three major grain shops will be executed along with their entire families, and their associates exiled to Lingnan, without amnesty, to the satisfaction of all, serving as a warning to others!"
In the light rain of the early summer, Fang Ke, clad in his flying fish robe, led dozens of strong men parading the major managers of the three grain firms through the streets of Lu Ting in stocks, shouting rhythmically and forcefully as they walked.
When they reached the front of Yuelai Inn, he even slowed his pace, pulling at his throat to shout even louder...
Countless townspeople of Lu Ting ran back and forth along the parade like mad, howling all the while.
The stones, mud, and dog feces flying towards those managers from the three grain firms fell like raindrops...
The parade crept forward, and from within the crowd, some clever folks suddenly produced strings of firecrackers, lit them, and waved them jubilantly in their hands while cheering.
Yang Ge stood in front of the inn, peering through the thick gunpowder smoke at the filthy and disheveled prisoners, unable to suppress a smile wider than an assault rifle!
He had often heard certain opinions about how revenge could not bring happiness or fulfillment, claiming it would only push one deeper into a darker abyss, that people should learn to forgive and forgive, and so forth...
Right now, he particularly wanted to tell those who preached such theories, "Bullshit!"
"Hey lad, want a string?"
A familiar clever fellow approached Yang Ge with a string of firecrackers.
Yang Ge, "Refreshing?"
The clever fellow, "Absolutely refreshing!"
Without hesitation, Yang Ge took the firecrackers, lit them from the flame in his hand, started dancing, and plunged into the rain, shouting "Oh, oh, oh..."
Behind the counter at the inn, Shopkeeper Liu watched Yang Ge frolicking in the rain outside, and with a smile, said to the regulars still drinking in the main hall, "The lad always looks so serious, so proper, who knew he could be so reckless!"
The regulars responded with laughter, "That’s great, if I were ten years younger, I’d want to run out in the rain too!"
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"The court finally did something humane this time..."
"Hey, let’s not discuss state matters!"
"What, they dare do it, but we can’t talk about it?"
"What’s the rush? You know, what goes around comes around..."
"I can’t stand you bookworms who think they know everything. When you were starving to death, wasn’t it Zhang who risked decapitation to save your whole families? How come it’s all thanks to heaven? Did a dog eat your conscience?"
"You..."
Seeing that the argument in the main hall was getting heated, Shopkeeper Liu quickly grabbed a jar of old wine from behind the counter, "Ah, Zhang is righteous, and heaven sees that too, no contradiction... Let’s enjoy a good drink, tonight’s drinks are on me!"
He went around the tables refilling the wine jugs of the regulars with old wine, and finally placed the remaining half-jar directly on the table of the loudmouth.
The loudmouth glanced at the wine jar on the table, figured it out, and smiled, bowing to Shopkeeper Liu.
Shopkeeper Liu waved his hands cheerfully.
Upstairs in a private seat, Shen Fa, in casual attire, held a wine pot by the window, looking down at Yang Ge, who was waving firecrackers and frolicking in the street, feeling a sense of fulfillment.
Even he hadn’t expected, the seed he casually planted here last summer.
To bear such ripe fruit so quickly...
It’s said when you pull a radish from the ground, it brings up the soil with it; this single move pulled up three vice-ministers, six doctors, along with their cohorts of various capital and local officials, transport commissioners, and inspectors... To date, the number of officials big and small who lost their positions due to this case has exceeded three hundred!
Even top-level officials had become much more cautious these days...
This was the biggest shake-up in the Wei officialdom since the current Emperor came to power!
Its direct impact and indirect deterrence rivaled a decade of efforts by the Imperial Secret Police in monitoring officials.
What’s called a pleasant surprise?
This right here is a damn pleasant surprise!
If roles were reversed, he couldn’t have achieved what Yang Ge did.
He had too many concerns...
Some time later, once Yang Ge had had enough fun, he "scrambled" upstairs, grabbed a wine pot on the table, and took a big gulp.
"Feeling good?"
Shen Fa leaned against the window sill, swaying his wine pot with a grin, and asked.
Yang Ge, "Feeling great!"
Shen Fa, "Did I do well this time?"
Yang Ge gave him a thumbs up, "You didn’t let me down!"
Shen Fa beamed with joy, "For that, this brother didn’t help you in vain!"
Yang Ge immediately retracted his thumb, "What do you mean helped me? Isn’t this part of your job? I was the one risking my neck to help you correct your mistakes, okay?"
Shen Fa, at a loss for words, raised his wine pot, "My bad, I’ll punish myself with three drinks!"
Yang Ge picked up the wine pot on the table, earnestly saying, "I’ll join you for those three drinks, you coordinated really well this round!"
He wouldn’t underestimate himself.
But he wouldn’t overestimate himself either.
He knew exactly what he had done, and he was well aware that without someone to take the knives he handed out in the court and start slashing wildly, it wouldn’t have caused such a big stir.
There are generally two most common methods to handle a tricky matter: make a big issue small or make a small issue big!
He had made a small issue big.
And those cunning folks at court were best at making big issues small.
Shen Fa smiled but didn’t mention the pressure he had been under in the capital these days.