Chapter 45 Official Price Raising
The crowd suddenly became quiet, and the cooks began to suspect that Wei Zhongxian was deceiving them.

The purpose of doing this is very simple, which is to stabilize them and then catch everyone in one fell swoop.

But this time there was no need for anyone to instigate, as the first reaction of almost all the kitchen owners was questioning.

Since Emperor Taizu, the salt law has been reformed several times, and the court's purchase policy for stove households has also been adjusted several times.

From the earliest payment of one shi of grain for every 400 jin of regular salt, and two shi of grain for every 200 jin of surplus salt; to the payment of grain as the main payment and cash as the supplement, and finally to the devaluation of treasure notes and the change to complete market-based purchase by salt merchants.

For more than two hundred years, the stove owners had only received some benefits from the imperial court during the Hongwu period, when the treasure notes were still valuable, and these benefits were nothing more than making their lives a little better.

After this, even the cost of producing regular salt could not be guaranteed, and there were even cases where the regular salt was collected but not exchanged for grain.

Now we have heard that the imperial court is planning to abolish the salt monopoly system and prohibit salt farmers from buying and selling surplus salt. And now Wei Zhongxian, a well-known eunuch, has come out and said that the emperor wants to increase the purchase price of salt. Is this possible?

The credibility of the imperial court and Wei Zhongxian in the hearts of these kitchen owners is almost zero.

Just when the cooks decided that this was a scam and were ready to fight to the death, a large number of yamen runners suddenly rushed into the scene.

The cooks, who were already feeling desperate because they were surrounded by a large number of soldiers, became even more desperate when they saw that the power of the government had been further strengthened.

However, someone soon pointed at an official at the front of the yamen runners and shouted, "That's Lord Kou. Wasn't Lord Kou arrested by Wei Zhongxian?"

However, the cooks were not surprised for too long. When they saw Kou Shen, they felt like they had seen a life-saving straw and all knelt down.

"Lord Kou, Mr. Kou, you have to make the decision for us!"

"Lord Kou, please help us! We are not rebelling, we just want to seek justice!"

"My whole family is waiting for me to come back!"

The cooks all cried out for justice to Kou Shen, and this scene made Li Yongzhen, who was not far away, feel a little jealous.

"Damn it! I just said a few words and these unruly people are about to attack the government office. And Kou Shen has already appeared, acting like a Justice Bao!"

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Wei Zhongxian breathed a sigh of relief and sneered, "He is a great official. How can we eunuchs compare to him?"

Wei Zhongxian did not find it strange at all about the contrast between these kitchen households.

Since Kou Shen took office as the prefect of Suzhou in the third year of the Tianqi reign, he had encountered a flood, and almost every household in Suzhou was out of food.

Kou Shen not only devoted all his efforts to disaster relief, but even used up his own salary to help the people.

Moreover, he has been honest and fair during his tenure in Suzhou, and is deeply loved by the people of Suzhou.

Otherwise, when the Five Gentlemen case occurred, the people of Suzhou were outraged, and Kou Shen would not have been able to quell a potential uprising simply by showing up and persuading them.

Kou Shen comforted the people while walking towards Wei Zhongxian.

The yamen runners under him also began to comfort the kitchen residents, saying things like "Lord Kou is here, he will definitely not let you suffer any injustice" and "The government will never treat you as rioters".

Therefore, the scene of the conversation between Kou Shen and Wei Zhongxian attracted almost everyone's attention.

Everyone was watching the conversation between Kou Shen and Wei Zhongxian, waiting for the final result.

"Your humble servant greets the factory master!" Kou Shen bowed and then went straight to the point, "Factory master, why did such a tragedy happen?"

Wei Zhongxian sneered and asked, "Why? Don't you know, Lord Kou?"

"Do you think I am a bloodthirsty person who incites these people to cause trouble and then dispatches troops to massacre them?" Facing Wei Zhongxian's cold gaze, Kou Shen's heart skipped a beat and he immediately had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, Wei Zhongxian's next words almost scared him to death.

"What benefits did Ma Guoyong and Wang Fuguang give you to convince you to sit back and watch the people attack the government?"

"Factory...Factory Master!" Kou Shen immediately understood that the eunuch chief of the East Factory had obviously known about the fact that Ma Guoyong had used two men to look for him, but he didn't know how much he knew.

However, he did not intend to refute this matter. After all, it was indeed because of his selfishness that he watched the kitchen owners surround the government office and caused a melee.

Looking at the people still wailing on the ground, Kou Shen felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife.

"Sir, I am guilty! No matter how you want to accuse me in front of His Majesty, I will admit it without hesitation!" Kou Shen said with a dead look on his face, "But I definitely did not accept any benefits from Ma Guoyong, it's just..."

Wei Zhongxian raised his hand to stop Kou Shen and did not let him continue speaking.

As the saying goes, the person who knows you best is often your enemy.

Wei Zhongxian did not take Kou Shen seriously, but he knew him very well.

I know that Kou Shen is not someone who would do such a bold thing for money.

Since it's not for money, then it's just like the Donglin Party in Jiangnan, they want to get rid of me, or even kill me...

Wei Zhongxian was not surprised at all about this. After all, there were so many people in the world who wanted him dead, and Kou Shen wouldn't make a difference.

"Since the matter has been settled, why are you here now?" Wei Zhongxian sneered, "Wouldn't it be better to just let our family kill all these rioters and then impeach me in front of the emperor?"

Kou Shen looked ashamed, but not towards Wei Zhongxian.

Kou Shen looked at the people in front of him and said, "Don't make fun of me, my heart is broken!"

Wei Zhongxian said: "I am too lazy to make fun of you. Let's solve the problem at hand first. As for your helping the tyrant, your majesty will handle it."

Kou Shen said, "I wonder how the factory owner plans to deal with these people."

Wei Zhongxian rolled his eyes and said, "What else can we do? Of course we should let them go. Can we really kill them all?"

Kou Shen showed a delighted look on his face, bowed deeply to Wei Zhongxian and said, "In this case, I, on behalf of the common people, would like to thank you for your generosity."

At this point, Kou Shen suddenly showed hesitation and asked, "May I ask whether the imperial edict that the factory master mentioned earlier... is true or false, or is it just a stopgap measure to appease the people?"

Wei Zhongxian immediately said angrily: "Kou Shen, do you think we dare to forge an imperial decree? Of course it's true!"

Kou Shen first complained in his heart: It’s not like you haven’t done such a thing as false imperial edict before!

Then he realized that this was actually Chongzhen's will, and he was immediately happy for these people.

Then he was shocked again. Chongzhen significantly increased the official purchase price of salt, which would be a fatal blow to salt merchants!

"The salt administration in this world is going to be in chaos!"

With a sigh, Kou Shen turned to the kneeling stove cook.

(End of this chapter)