I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 40 Are you talking to me about the law?

Faced with the catastrophic famine, Yuan Shu took decisive action to respond.

First, he issued a notice through the county magistrate Han Jin, allowing the 600 core members of the agricultural assistance organization to become the temporary county government armed forces, allowing them to patrol with weapons, be responsible for public security, stabilize the situation in the streets and alleys, and prevent vicious situations such as panic buying of food and fighting and shoving each other.

If necessary, use force to arrest those who have lost their minds and throw them into prison to calm them down.

Secondly, when patrolling, members of the agricultural assistance organization should constantly spread the news in the streets that no hungry people have entered Guanzhong and that the county government’s granary has sufficient grain reserves. They should ask everyone not to believe or spread rumors and to continue purchasing grain according to the amount needed on normal days.

In addition, the most important thing is to strictly put an end to the rise in food prices. If anyone disobeys, their shops will be closed, their food will be confiscated, they will be put in prison and severely punished, with no leniency!

Regarding Yuan Shu's series of requests, Han Jin felt that if he were alone, he would definitely not be able to accomplish these things.

Those who can run business and sell grain are basically local powerful families, and only these families can protect these shops. The relationship between the government and these powerful families is very delicate, and they are trying to maintain a balance so as not to break it.

If it breaks accidentally, it will be really troublesome.

Because these powerful families not only have money and food, but also control the population. They can easily raise a small armed force of several hundred people. If they really make trouble, the government may not be their match.

Although they might not really dare to go against the imperial court, as the county magistrate who faced them most directly, Han Jin was certainly unwilling to gamble with his life and future.

But this time it was different. In name, it was he who issued the order, but in reality, he was just a rubber stamp and a hands-off boss. Yuan Shu made the final decision on everything. He obeyed Yuan Shu's decisions and issued them in a legitimate manner.

Then he just lay there and waited for his political achievements to come.

Perhaps it was because Yuan Shu himself had a great reputation, perhaps it was because Ma Rong, the super local tyrant, made a statement that made people afraid to act rashly, or perhaps it was because the powerful political background of the Runan Yuan family made people wary. In short, from beginning to end, only one grain merchant dared to raise the price of grain.

Despite the pressure from the armed patrols of the Farmers' Assistance Association, this guy openly raised the price of grain and took the initiative to spread rumors, going against the Farmers' Assistance Association, which naturally angered Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu immediately ordered his arrest and the closure of his grain shop.

The grain merchant's name was Cai Zhen. After being arrested, he continued to argue, saying that other counties were seeing price increases, so why not Maoling County?

What should we do if people from other counties come to us to buy food and buy up all our food?

The price increase is not for the purpose of making money or hoarding to make money, but precisely to protect the county's grain from being bought out!

Yuan Shu was so angry that he laughed.

It must be said that this guy is a talented person. He made the idea of making money from the national crisis sound so refreshing and unconventional. He may have become a great hero accidentally.

He wants to make money and gain fame at the same time. He is an example of someone who wants both.

During those days, Yuan Shu investigated this person's background and discovered that he was a member of the local wealthy family, the Cai family.

The Cai family was not very large, but they were related by marriage to the Du and Jia families, two prestigious families in the Jingzhao area. So relying on these two relationships, they even gave face to the Ma family in Maoling County, and seemed quite arrogant and domineering.

But this made Yuan Shu very unhappy.

Yuan is very low-key and careful here, and never does anything out of line, for fear of having a bad reputation.

Who are you?

Acting like a big shot in front of me?!

Yuan Shu got angry and decided to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys.

But before killing the chicken to scare the monkey, Yuan Shu took Xu Chong with him and personally interrogated Cai Zhen in private, hoping to get something out of him.

"Before, there were a lot of bandits in Maoling County who attacked villages, looted food, and harmed farmers. Does this have anything to do with the Cai family?"

Cai Zhen stiffened his neck, looking like a brave warrior ready to die.

"Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're a member of the Yuan family. This is not Runan, this is Youfufeng! No matter how long your Yuan family's arms are, they can't reach here!"

Yuan Shu sneered when he heard this.

It seems that this guy has a limited level of education and low political awareness, and does not understand the meaning of the seven words "disciples and former officials are all over the world."

These seven words are not something that just anyone can match.

So he spoke with a smile.

"I suddenly remembered a story. Let me tell you. The Cai family had been associated with bandits for a long time. On the surface, they looked like a good family, but in fact, they colluded with bandits, robbed homes, committed crimes, and lost all conscience. As a result, one day, the Cai family was suddenly wiped out."

"???"

Cai Zhen looked at Yuan Shu in surprise: "What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, just telling a story."

Yuan Shu chuckled and said, "Why was the Cai family wiped out? After the government investigated, it turned out that the Cai family and the bandit leader could not clearly divide the spoils. The two sides had a dispute, which led to civil strife and mutual killing. In the end, the Cai family was wiped out and no one in the family survived. The bandits who committed the crime fled far away to the sea and have disappeared."

Cai Zhen suddenly had some bad guesses in his mind.

"You are not..."

"Yes, if you don't tell me what I want to know and don't convict me of this crime, then what I say next will really happen."

Yuan Shu pointed to the east and said, "I swear in the name of my father, Jingzhao Yin Yuan Feng, that I will make it happen." Cai Zhen swallowed his saliva, his heart beating fast, but he was unwilling to accept it.

"Maoling is the imperial mausoleum. How could such a group of bandits come from there? Who can believe your words?"

"Yes, Maoling is the emperor's mausoleum, where did ordinary bandits come from? There must be someone who is interfering! Then, who is interfering, colluding with bandits, or even a bandit himself?"

Yuan Shu said slowly: "Bandits fighting among themselves and the extermination of the Cai family, how reasonable it sounds? Will anyone investigate? Maybe? But what's the point? You will die, and the Cai family will be completely exterminated. Will it still make sense for you to investigate at that time?"

The more Yuan Shu spoke, the more frightened Cai Zhen became, and the more frightened he became, the more terrified his expression became.

"Even if your Yuan family is powerful, can you confuse right and wrong and kill people at will?"

"kill?"

Yuan Shu seemed to recall something funny from the past and couldn't help laughing.

"Can I kill people at will? Me? You know who I am, right? I tell you, it is precisely because I did not confuse right and wrong and kill people at will that you can be alive and talk to me here! Moreover, do you know what Runan Yuanshi is? Do you know what these four words mean?
Let me tell you, the Yuan family of Runan has never been rigid in educating their children, but rather was quite flexible. When I was six years old, I loved reading so much that I didn't want to do anything else except reading. So my father and my third uncle were very worried and advised me to do something extraordinary.

They told me, "Child, please stop reading books, okay? Go out and have some fun, okay? If that doesn't work, you can bully men and women, do evil, or even kill someone. Show us, let us know that you are a man of the Yuan family, okay?"

I started to feel very strange, but later I realized that they were really worried that I would become stupid from studying, that I would become an old pedant, weak and mediocre, and would not be able to protect the huge Yuan family business, so they wanted me to be more ruthless, willing to kill, and dare to kill! "

Having said that, Yuan Shu paused, stared at Cai Zhen, and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.

"Especially killing someone like you who is not worthy of being a human being."

Cai Zhen was stunned, his mouth open and unable to close, as if he was shocked by what Yuan Shu said about the past.

After a while, this guy finally uttered a word.

"This...this...is there still...law in this world?"

When Yuan Shu heard this, he slapped his thigh and instantly broke down, unable to help but laugh out loud.

"Hahahaha! You're talking to me about the law? I want to laugh, really! It's okay for others, but you? Are you qualified to talk to me about the law? Why didn't you mention the law when you violated the ban and hoarded food to drive up the price of food? Where was the law at that time? In your stomach?
I tell you, you really should thank God that it's me who's against you, not some other noble family's son. If it were anyone else, they could have picked up a sword and killed you if they had a disagreement with you, and they wouldn't have to take any responsibility. But it's me, it's me who really respects the law, so I'm interrogating you.

I am kind, I want to find out the whole story, so that you can die knowingly. I have done this, why don't you know what is good for you? Do you have to make me become like other playboys and beat you up and torture you before you tell the truth? If you insist on me doing that, I can do it."

After saying this, Cai Zhen was completely speechless, and his expression quickly fell, as if he finally and accurately realized his true situation.

Looking at his cowardly look, Yuan Shu knew that the problem was almost solved. Next, it would depend on what kind of explosive inside information this guy could reveal.

Sure enough, after a while, Cai Zhen, who had lost hope, spoke cautiously.

"Mr. Yuan...you are kind, you are a good person, so...so if I tell you everything, can I save your life?"

"No, you are a target. If you don't die, the matter will not end. I can't convince the public."

"you……"

Cai Zhen said angrily: "I'm about to die, what's the point of you talking to me so much? Are you playing with me?"

"How can you play so politely if you want to? Do you look down on me? I don't want to do it, not that I don't know how!"

Yuan Shu was very dissatisfied and shook his head, saying, "Now let me explain. If you cooperate with me, your wife and your two-year-old son will be able to survive with a new look. Otherwise, they will die in front of you, in a particularly painful and torturous way."

"…………"

Cai Zhen, whose weak spot was caught, froze and fell into a long silence.

Finally, with extreme reluctance and regret, he nodded and confessed everything he knew.

The news is really explosive.

For example, that group of bandits was made up of the Cai clan's hired guns and a group of ruffians who were bribed by them.

The leader was the clan leader Cai Chong himself, and his three sons were also involved, and both father and son were not clean.

Or in other words, three generations in a row have been unclean.

This was not the first time that the Cai family had done something like this. They had done this before, starting with Cai Chong's father. They pretended to be bandits and robbed farmers, forcing them to go bankrupt and sell their land at a low price, and then drove them all away.

They were very careful about their actions and never killed anyone directly unless it was absolutely necessary. They also paid attention to managing their superiors and subordinates and had deep relationships with relevant officials in the government, so the government would turn a blind eye and not pursue the matter.

It was by this means that they slowly accumulated land and wealth and gradually became rich.

After Cai Chong's father died, Cai Chong came to power. He used wealth and property to marry off children from more powerful and famous branches of the family, and used the name of a large family to make it easier for them to do things.

This time, taking advantage of the severe famine in Sili and Yuzhou, they also wanted to follow the established path and have a good meal of meat.

As a result, he hit a wall and offended someone he shouldn't have offended.

This fully illustrates one thing.

Everything is changing, and book worship is unacceptable.

(End of this chapter)