hotmtlnovel Chapter 1690 Spices Begin to Become Short of Supply
Chapter 1690 Spices Begin to Become Short of Supply
Lu Dingniang's Discipline Inspection Department almost caused Li Shen to choke to death on tea.
This name sounds very high-end.
The main reason is that it is very relevant to him, the inspection department of the Prince Ji’s Mansion, abbreviated as the Discipline Inspection Department.
After much thought, Li Shen decided not to spoil the fun, although he was afraid of being reported.
But as long as Lu Dingniang is happy, that's all.
"Okay, my lady, this name is very good, from now on we will call it the Discipline Inspection Department.
Lao Wang, you should also set up a department, the Ji Wangfu Commerce Department, and you will be the Minister of Commerce in the future, which sounds much better than being the Chief Treasurer."
Li Shen also set a tone for Wang Hongfu.
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji. I will start the formation immediately when I return."
Wang Hongfu replied happily.
Although he is still himself and does the same job, his title makes him sound much more noble.
"Okay, if there's nothing else, Old Wang, go do your work. I still have some palace matters to discuss with Xuan Ce."
Li Shen waved to Wang Hongfu.
However, Wang Hongfu did not move, but bowed and continued to report:
"Your Majesty, I have something else to report to Your Majesty."
"If there is something else, please tell me quickly."
"Your Majesty, it has been more than a month since you ordered us to control the spice market.
Because the Yuanzheng and Shangyuan Festivals consumed a large amount of sales, spices are now in short supply and prices have also risen slightly.
And it's not just Chang'an City that is like this. I have already sent people to visit the surrounding areas, and the same is true for Luoyang and other places.
I believe that it won’t be long before the spices in the nobles’ homes are almost used up, and the price of spices will definitely go up.
And the price may be much higher than before.
So please ask Your Majesty, what should we do next? "
Li Shen ordered this matter when he knew someone was killing people to silence them. It has been more than a month.
Spices are consumables. As they were consumed, Chang'an City began to run out of stock.
The prices of spices also began to increase slowly.
Wang Hongfu didn't know what Prince Ji's next plan was, so he didn't dare to act rashly.
Li Shen smiled when he heard this.
“Don’t be in a hurry. Wait a little longer. It’s not time yet. What you need to do now is to control the spices that appear in the world.
He accepted all the spices regardless of how much they cost. If anyone asked about it, he would say that Prince Ji's Mansion, the Flavor House and the Imperial Palace all needed a large amount of spices.
It would take at least a year for the spices from the Western Regions to arrive here.
The news came out that the production of spices has decreased due to some reasons, and the spice market will return to its previous state.
Let’s brew it for a while.”
"Your Majesty, all parties are on guard against our Ji Palace. I think it is best not to let our people come forward this time.
It would be best to find someone who has no connection with our Ji Wang Mansion to handle this matter.
I think the Du family is more suitable."
At this time Wang Xuance suggested.
Now, as long as there is a little disturbance, all forces are keeping an eye on the movements of Prince Ji's Mansion.
Li Shen sighed helplessly after hearing this:
“Alas, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do business nowadays.
Then I'll do as you say and ask the Du family to cooperate, but I'm afraid the Du family will also want a piece of the pie."
Li Shen lamented that it was becoming increasingly difficult to defraud money, and the aristocratic families were becoming more vigilant.
Regardless of whether it is a trap or not, they will have to wait and see for a while.
The repeated questioning of the students was probably a trick of Prince Ji, which made Li Shen cautious in doing anything.
Sometimes Li Shen even wondered if these people had downloaded an anti-fraud app.
After reporting the matter, Wang Hongfu stood up and bowed to take his leave. Lu Dingniang and Wu Meiniang also returned to the back house.
After everyone left, the smile on Li Shen's face disappeared:
"Xuan Ce, how should we deal with the aftermath of Xizhou? In ten days or half a month at most, the people from the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple will be back.
We are in no way divorced from the affairs of Xizhou.
Just for these few crimes, namely, winning over local officials, persecuting the people, and killing passing merchants, I will receive severe punishment.
Demotion of rank was the lightest punishment, if things went wrong one would be demoted to a commoner or exiled.
This is a crime tantamount to treason.”
After Li Shen finished speaking, he came to the tea table, sat down, and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Your Majesty, for now, we can only take that last step to preserve Prince Ji's Mansion.
Just words like this…”
Wang Xuance stopped talking here.
Li Shen raised his head and looked at Wang Xuance.
“Until the very end, I don’t want to take this step. This will disrupt our plans and fail to achieve our goals.
This king does not wish him to live, but he cannot die from this matter alone.
It will also have a bad influence on me. Your Majesty, the Queen, and even the Crown Prince will all have complaints against me.
This king does not want this.
I want him to die and have nothing to do with me. I will also shed a few tears in front of his grave to show my friendship.
Do you understand? "
At the end, Li Shen became a little excited.
“I understand that being too direct will not benefit Prince Ji’s Mansion in the future, nor will it benefit you, Your Majesty.
only....."
"No, it's just that." Li Shen interrupted Wang Xuance and said, "This matter won't cost him his life.
There is definitely no evidence to prove that the officials who were cleansed were killed, so they cannot be convicted.
If we investigate strictly, he will push the blame onto others and will naturally receive a lighter punishment, which is not what I want.
By the way, have you checked all the people I asked you to check?"
Wang Xuance immediately reported:
“Your Highness, I have already checked. In addition to the people from the aristocratic families, the first people who mentioned this matter in the court were Liu Shi, the Left Prime Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lai Ji, the Sheren of the Central Secretariat, and Liu Heng, the Junior Minister of the Imperial Household.
Yoo Seok and Yoo Hyung are brothers."
"Liu Shi? Liu Heng? Never heard of him." Li Shen frowned and thought when he heard the unfamiliar name.
"Your Highness may not know these two people, but the relationship between them is not ordinary. They are the uncles of Princess Jin."
After hearing this, Li Shen suddenly realized.
"Oh~~~ I see, there is actually this kind of relationship. I was wondering, what about Lai Ji? He probably doesn't have any background,
Didn't his father come here to protect his son?"
Li Shen was a little puzzled. This Lai Ji should not have any background. His whole family was loyal and brave, but they were all killed by Yu Wenzhi.
Only he and Lai Heng were young and escaped the disaster, but they were also displaced for a long time.
Wang Xuance replied:
"Your Highness, according to investigation, this Lai Ji has close ties with the noble family."
"That makes sense, but I'm quite surprised that the Changsun Party didn't get away with it this time."
What surprised Li Shen was that Zhangsun Wuji's followers, such as Chu Suiliang, Gao Luxing and others, did not take advantage of his misfortune.
It's as if it has nothing to do with them.
"I think Duke Zhao wants to stay out of this?" Wang Xuance guessed.
“He won’t. I guess he might be preparing for a final blow, or he might think he can’t defeat me.
That’s why there is no outcome.” Li Shen shook his head, rubbing his chin, thinking.