The world is like a prison, my body is holy

The imperial court's final verdict on Emperor Zhaode and Wang Wen's assassination attempt quickly spread throughout the country.

With the prestige accumulated by the Great Zhou Dynasty over nearly two hundred years of rule, this flawed news served as a timely rain, calming the burning and turbulent hearts of the people.

People suddenly realized, thinking, "No wonder Wang Wen, a mere general from Huainan, dared to storm the palace and assassinate the emperor; it turns out he has the support of the imperial family!"

'Let's go, let's go, it's still not lunchtime...'

Ultimately, the affairs of the imperial family are too distant for ordinary people at the bottom of society.

Few people truly cared whether Emperor Zhaode had murdered his father, plotted rebellion, or usurped the throne, nor did they care whether Wang Wen had received authorization from the Great Zhou imperial family before taking action.

They only cared whether the infighting within the imperial family would affect their own interests.

Since General Wang Wen of Huainan did not rebel, someone else can sit on the throne...

That means nothing will happen and the world will be at peace!

Those powerful figures who knew the truth of the matter, including the King of Qin who commanded a large army in the northeast, chose to remain silent and tacitly accepted the court's version of events.

Because they all knew very well that making a fuss about this wouldn't offend the imperial court, but rather the cannibalistic mountain lord of Yangzhou...

The one who is about to ascend the throne probably wishes they would open their mouths wide and spread the truth everywhere, so that the mountain lord of Yangzhou could catch them all in one fell swoop!
Behind the scenes, the major powers and figures of the Great Zhou Dynasty are desperately recruiting martial arts masters and Taoist experts.

In particular, the three sect leaders of the Talisman Sect, who were ranked alongside Wang Wen on the Earth Ranking on the Heaven, Earth, Black and Yellow Ranking, were practically overwhelmed by the throngs of "pilgrims." For a long time, Master Hunkun would use the Water Mirror Technique every day to complain to Wang Wen.

But Wang Wen heard it clearly: the old man was complaining, but the smiles in the water mirror were clearly increasing, even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were smoothing out, as if he had ushered in a second spring in his life...

Even the title of Zhi Baiqing, the Corpse King of Taihu Lake, failed to deter those "people with ulterior motives" whose minds were corrupted by fame and fortune. Countless white-gloved individuals flocked to Taihu Lake, using all sorts of methods to lure out Zhi Baiqing, like a peacock spreading its tail, in order to establish a "mutually beneficial" cooperative relationship with him.

The veteran diver Zhi Baiqing was so annoyed by these white gloves that he killed several waves of them but couldn't scare them off. So he decided to go all out and, one day when the flower boats on Taihu Lake were coming and going, he stirred up a huge wave and swallowed up all the dense boats on the lake with one blow!
Now, Taihu Lake is finally quiet again.

And those with a heart in the world have truly witnessed the terrifying power of the Heavenly Ranking experts!
……

When news of Zhi Baiqing's massacre reached Yangzhou, Xu Wu, who was busy working under the scorching sun, once again ran back to the general's mansion to complain to Wang Wen.

"Brother, why do I feel like we're the only ones in the world who are working ourselves to the bone to cope with the drought and food shortage?"

The sun outside the lobby was so bright it was hard to open one's eyes. The few ornamental trees had drooping leaves, and cicadas, hiding under the leaves, were screaming desperately like fugitives who knew no tomorrow...

Xu Wu unbuttoned his soaked clothes and slumped in the chair like a fish about to die of thirst, letting the cool air waft under his clothes.

This guy was already dark-skinned, and after two months of sun exposure, he's gotten even darker; his soy sauce-colored skin is almost reflective.

He shuttled between the City God Temple, the Jixia Academy, and the Qinghetang Wharf every day, handling all the big and small matters of the General's Mansion. Even Wang Wen, who was in charge of the central government, was not as busy as him.

Seeing his state, Wang Wen felt a pang of conscience and handed him a bowl of chilled plum juice from afar, gently comforting him, "Others are others, and we are ourselves. We can't control others; we just need to take care of ourselves."

This argument is clearly not convincing enough.

Xu Wu sipped his plum juice and pondered for a while, but still got annoyed and let out an "Ah!" before flipping over in his chair in a huff.

He's not the type to complain or blame others when things go wrong.

Unless you really can't hold on...

Seeing this, Wang Wen laughed and said, "Have you forgotten again? Your elder brother has connections down below! Work hard, for heaven is watching what people do. Let's strive to get some official position down below after we all pass away, so we won't have to suffer the torment of reincarnation anymore."

Xu Wu stared blankly as he tapped the table with his finger, then suddenly sprang up with a leap, his eyes shining, and asked, "Really?"

Wang Wen: "When have I ever lied to you?"

Xu Wu remained silent.

Wang Wen immediately changed his tune: "When have I ever lied to you about important matters? How about this, you take a break for a while, and I'll call Sandao back to fill in for you for a period of time!"

Xu Wu quickly waved his hand: "There's no need for that. San Dao is fine for rough and dirty work, but for this kind of delicate work, I have to do it myself!"

Wang Wen smiled and was about to wave the man away to continue working when he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Has Dongyu Grain Company replied yet?"

Xu Wu: "He replied with one sentence: 'Killing them will only result in bloodshed, not food loss!'"

Wang Wen stopped writing, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "How much has the price of grain increased in Hangzhou?"

Xu Wu: "How much left? The latest news I received this morning is that it has doubled!"

Wang Wen: "Doubled? Didn't it only rise by 20% yesterday? It rose by 20% today?"

Xu Wu: "That's right. Several major grain companies in Hangzhou have already said, 'Don't buy if you think it's too expensive. They don't even want to sell it to us if they think it's too cheap!'"

Wang Wen: "What about the grain tribute? Has there been any change in the grain tribute this month?"

Xu Wu: "I'll go home later and take a look at the accounts."

Wang Wen held the pen, pondering the question, only to find that it was almost unsolvable.

The unsolvable problem of food shortages lies in the fact that the food shortage is never solved by a corresponding increase in food prices, but rather by raising food prices until those who are short of food starve to death.

In fact, apart from a very few cases of widespread, consecutive years of drought and crop failure that are beyond human control, most short-term, small-scale droughts and reduced yields can be resolved through human macro-control...

For example, if grain production decreases by 20%, the ideal solution is, of course, for everyone to tighten their belts, eat less, and get through the crisis together.

A 20% shortfall may seem huge, but when spread across each individual, it simply means that someone who used to eat two bowls of rice will now eat only one, and someone who used to eat three meals a day will now eat two.

Although life is a little tight, no one will starve.

However, this idealized solution remains an ideal even in modern developed countries with excessive productivity.

Because everyone thinks about themselves and their own families...

This is not wrong; in a sense, it is the driving force behind people's pursuit of a better life.

Therefore, the problem of food shortage is almost unsolvable...

Just like now, Wang Wen used administrative power combined with military force to suppress grain prices in Huainan Circuit.

However, the grain market in Huainan Circuit was unprofitable, and the grain market in other places changed prices every day, so no new grain flowed into Huainan Circuit.

kill?
Behind any large grain company, the complexity of the shareholding structure and the number of shareholders far exceed the imagination of ordinary people. Killing a hundred or eighty people would not frighten those merchants who would risk their lives for money.

Even if you put a knife to everyone's throat, they might become passive and uncooperative, failing to demonstrate the capabilities they should have as major grain traders...

Ultimately, people will do anything that could cost them their lives, but nobody will do anything that loses money.

However, if all grain merchants were targeted at once, it would be necessary to wield the sword from south to north and from east to west, and a large number of people who did not deserve to die would inevitably perish under the sword.

From Wang Wen's own perspective, killing someone's entire family just because they raised prices in business is certainly not the right thing to do.

However, if the grain prices outside Huainan Road are allowed to rise daily, then all the efforts their Demon-Slaying General's Mansion has made to control the grain prices will be meaningless. Because people are alive and mobile, when there is no way to survive anywhere else but Huainan Road, a huge number of disaster victims will inevitably flock to Huainan Road in search of survival.

Wang Wen couldn't possibly turn away all these disaster victims and watch them starve to death.

People shouldn't starve to death...

"We can no longer let the direction of food supply lead us by the nose."

Wang Wen pondered for a long time before finally putting down his pen and saying, "Try mobilizing all the connections in our General's Mansion to investigate who the big players behind the grain merchants in the entire Jiangnan region are. I'll go talk to them and see if we can resolve this peacefully in another way. In the end, these people just want to make money."

As long as there is room for negotiation, he can mediate matters concerning fame, fortune, and even worldly riches and honors before and after death.

But if they remain stubbornly obstinate, he might really start hacking away from south to north, from east to west...

He spoke calmly and composedly.

But Xu Wu still sensed the determination hidden in his words.

His perspective might not be as broad as Wang Wen's, a time traveler, but he was still a member of the Canal Gang, with three generations of his family making a living on the canal. How could he not know how far-reaching the "big landlord" his elder brother was involved?

Let's put it this way: don't be fooled by those "high-ranking officials" in the imperial court, who act all high and mighty and seem superior to everyone else. In front of those big landlords, they're just nouveau riche who only know how to freeload.

Because those big landlords all have incredibly illustrious identities on the surface. They are either members of the imperial family, princes, or founding dukes and marquises, or local powerful families that have produced several ministers and vice ministers. Any one of them has unfathomable power to instigate rebellions in the local area and to play a policy game with the imperial court.

An ordinary local official, if he offends those powerful landlords, can lose his position, be disgraced, and beheaded in the blink of an eye...

If he provokes those people, even if his eldest brother possesses unparalleled personal martial prowess, he will still face all sorts of disgusting troubles that will leave him overwhelmed and in constant turmoil.

Xu Wu hesitated for a long time before asking the question he had asked several times before: "Brother, is it worth it?"

Wang Wen chuckled and said, "How can you do things without offending someone? Don't worry, as long as there's something to talk about, I'll definitely have a good talk with them!"

Xu Wu glanced at him, thinking to himself, "Given your temperament, you'll probably kill someone before you've even finished three sentences..."

"Or, I'll go and make contact with those people first. I'll sound them out first, and then you can make your move later with more confidence."

He said.

"No need, you're not qualified enough to get a sense of what those people are saying."

Wang Wen shook his head: "It would have made me look cowardly for no reason, making them think that I was really afraid of them, which would have made the negotiations more difficult later on."

Upon hearing this, Xu Wu knew that he couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he whispered a word of advice: "Brother, take it easy. This drought has only just begun, and we don't know what will happen later..."

Wang Wen nodded: "I know what I'm doing."

Just then, a Demon-Suppressing Guard entered and presented Wang Wen with a letter sealed with wax: "Reporting to the General, an urgent letter from the Xuzhou Inspectorate."

Wang Wen's heart stirred. He took the letter, opened it, pulled out the letter inside, unfolded it, and quickly scanned it. His gaze immediately turned somewhat gloomy.

Seeing this, Xu Wu, who was below the hall, cautiously asked, "Brother, what's wrong?"

Wang Wen casually handed him the letter: "Read it yourself."

Xu Wu jumped up and rushed to the table in three strides. He took the letter with both hands and quickly scanned it, clicking his tongue in amazement. "This family is really full of troublemakers!"

The letter recorded that King Chai Kun of Qin launched a surprise attack on Yanjing with 80,000 troops without declaring war. He defeated the main force of the Imperial Guard at Baihe and stationed his troops north of the Yellow River, with his army pointing directly at Kaifeng, the capital of Tokyo. The court urgently dispatched 150,000 Western Army troops to the capital to protect Kaifeng.

Judging from the letter alone, Chai Kun took advantage of the change of the throne and the turmoil in the court to catch the main force of the Imperial Guards in Baihe off guard...

Wang Wen tapped the table with a gloomy expression, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly asked out of the blue, "Er Gou, do you think what I'm doing is like burying my head in the sand?"

Xu Wu was completely baffled: "What do you mean by 'covering one's ears while stealing a bell'?"

Wang Wen rubbed his forehead and said softly, "We've been working ourselves to the bone every day to get more food, constantly offending people, getting so anxious and frustrated that we're ready to grab a knife and start slashing. But they're acting like nothing's wrong, gathering hundreds of thousands of troops to fight over their property... Hundreds of thousands of troops fighting on the front lines, how much food do they consume every day? How much effort do we have to put in to plug such a huge hole!"

Xu Wu was even more puzzled: "No, brother, what does it matter to us how much food they consume?"

"What's the relationship?"

Wang Wen looked up at him: "Where did they get the grain they consumed? Wasn't it grain transported from Jiangnan?"

Xu Wu: "The grain transported from Jiangnan has nothing to do with us!"

Wang Wen: "If the people of Jiangnan are starving and can't survive, where will they run to? Where else can they run to? Aren't they still going to Huainan Circuit?"

Xu Wu stared, speechless.

According to Wang Wen, the battle between the imperial army and the Liaodong army truly consumed the hard-earned money of the people of Huainan.

It's like hitting water with a stick, only to have it land on the mud...

Xu Wu also felt that his elder brother was right, but his duty as Bai Zhishan made him feel compelled to remind his elder brother: "Brother, didn't we initially only want to take care of the people in Huainan so that they could have something to eat? Aren't we getting more and more involved now?"

They've even interfered in the brothers' fight over the throne; isn't that meddling in other people's business?
"Hahaha……"

Wang Wen, on the other hand, had a change of heart. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "That's how things are. You pull out one radish and it brings out another. The more you do, the more you do, and the better you do it... Erhei, let's go for a walk!"

He pondered that whether he was herding one sheep or two sheep, it was still the same.

Having already killed Emperor Zhaode, they wouldn't care about killing another Emperor Tianqi or the Prince of Qin.

If all else fails, he'll kill them all, and then, to make do, he'll sit on the dragon throne himself...

Xu Wu was shocked. How could he be going out to walk the Qilin before he had even finished three sentences?
Also, who is the kind person who walks their unicorn all the way from Yangzhou to north of the Yellow River?

He rushed forward and grabbed Wang Wen's sleeve in a panic: "Brother, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush, let's discuss this some more..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Erhei was already mooing loudly from above the main hall.

Wang Wen waved his sleeve to break free from his grasp, and with a flash of lightning, he appeared at the gate: "We'll discuss this when I get back."

After he finished speaking, his figure transformed into a bolt of lightning and soared into the sky.

When Xu Wu caught up, he saw a tiny spark on the horizon...

"Holy shit, holy shit..."

He screamed in pain, feeling increasingly confused about the guy.

While he's decisive in his actions, he's also prone to hesitation and procrastination when it comes to trivial matters.

While he might seem slow to act, he's also remarkably decisive when it comes to important matters, making decisions without even blinking an eye.

In conclusion... King Qin is in grave danger! (End of Chapter)