Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 2935 All merchants, who is going to ask?

  These merchants in Wancheng were panicked. They thought that they had encountered another autumn queen to settle accounts.

  The businessman trembled, but the Wancheng officials who were above the businessman were not too flustered.

  Even a little excited...

  Because this means that you can fish in troubled waters.

  Eat big fish on the top, dried shrimps on the bottom, and have fun together.

  So in Wancheng, some innocent people inevitably appeared. Some merchants were arrested, and the unlucky ones who couldn't explain clearly were also arrested.

  Better to be that, not that, is not the motto of Bald Qiang alone.

  The blood spread, and the sound of crying and blood shrouded the sky over Wancheng together with the smell of blood.

  Zhang Shiping walked out of the government office, his back was drenched with sweat, he sighed deeply, and clenched the token in his hand.

  At this moment, he felt more and more the difference between money and authority.

  Money is like sand, although it is gathered like a tower, but the tighter it is, the faster it will leak.

   Authority is like stone like iron...

  Hold it, it's icy cold.

  Zhang Shiping held the token tightly, then hurriedly called his followers, and then went to the top of Wancheng to find Huang Zhong.

  He wants to save some people.

  Some merchants may deserve death, but equally, some merchants don't.

   Not all people are good people, not all people are bad people, businessmen are people too, so the same principle applies, some deserve to die, but some are also innocent.

  Zhang Shiping exchanged a piece of his friend's Zilubu for the token, and now he wants to use the token to exchange the lives of more ordinary merchants.

   This may be a loss-making business, but Zhang Shiping thinks he can take the risk.

   Maybe it was because of Wancheng, maybe it was because of hussars, maybe there were other factors.

   Merchants appeared in China very early, but whether intentionally or not, the jurisdiction and governance of merchants was very backward, even to a somewhat heinous degree.

  Can China be without merchants?

   Obviously not.

  Although merchants are also the four peoples, they are excluded from the "people" in daily life.

In the feudal dynasty, the emphasis on agriculture and light on business does not mean that there is no soil for commercial operations, but that there is a great lack of merchants. After all, China is so big and the distribution of resources is very uneven. If there are no merchants to transfer, the people in many areas will be They can only barely live without development, and it is impossible to condense into a huge empire.

  The word "Shang" was originally the name of the Yin Shang country, and it is said that the Yin Shang embarked on the road of conquest because the king was killed in the process of doing business...

  Wang Hai coughed and coughed twice, indicating that it was too embarrassing to talk about it.

  Of course, this matter is true or false, and it is difficult to verify it after a long time, but it proves that businessmen are actually easy to be targeted by various people because of their large wealth very early on.

  There are not many businessmen who get a good death.

In addition to the Shang Dynasty that established the country with business, well, perhaps it was also because of the Shang Dynasty’s move to establish the country with business that made the rulers of the subsequent feudal dynasties very uneasy. In the process of evolution, the management methods for commercial activities have always been backward. In many cases, there is no way to get any tax from the merchants, so merchants are excluded. In addition, the landlord class, the protector of the local small peasant economy, tries to monopolize production and consumption. All the profits, advocating agriculture first, led to the general trend of thought in the entire feudal society to be jealous of business and hate business.

  Most of the people follow blindly. Maybe some people know that some businessmen around them are not bad people, but when the knife is raised, these people often either keep silent or take advantage of the fire. Those who can hold back and not add insult to injury are considered to be very moral.

Most of the people without brains will be distorted by the useless theory of businessmen advocated by the local tyrants of the gentry, just like later generations often advocate the useless theory of knowledge from time to time, happiness must come first, etc., plus businessmen often have more wealth , but those people themselves did not, so they became more and more dissatisfied, and vented their resentment on all the businessmen, but did not think about why and how it happened.

  If it is said that the rich are not benevolent, then there are also amazing wealth in the families of noble families and powerful families in the countryside...

Even among the merchant class, there were quite a few "traitors". For example, Sang Hongyang in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. "Businessmen and merchants have a high rate of failure."

Even Mr. Sima couldn't bear to do this. Of course, it is not ruled out that Mr. Sima felt that many actions of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were slapped on the forehead and butt. Under the policy, most merchants went bankrupt, and business development was hit hard. The hard-earned business income of businessmen and businesses was returned to the state overnight. It is said that those who have a permanent property have perseverance, and the enthusiasm of the people for production has been greatly undermined. People have begun to stop thinking about production, and they are "sweet food and good clothes" instead of developing their own industries. In the end, Sima Qian commented, "If you increase your calculation, you will lose money, and the more you pay, the less you will benefit."

  Because of the "wise and powerful" like Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, since the Han Dynasty, merchants, um, of course, refer to such pure merchants among the four peoples, and their status is very low. Officials and businessmen are not among such miserable ranks, which has led to the lack of risk tolerance for private commercial activities. When encountering a war, they are the first to shrink, and instantly return to solution... er, a hundred years ago.

  The large-scale shrinkage of private merchants from time to time, in turn, stimulated the vigorous development of the small-scale peasant economic system of the landlord class, and the unscrupulous government and businessmen.

  In a manor, there are farming and weaving, as well as various craftsmen, daily necessities are not fake, so what is the use of merchants?

  Everything seems perfect, but just like the old saying, all the gifts given by fate have already been marked with a price.

The suppression of commerce has indeed made the Chinese feudal dynasty dominated by farming more stable, the region more stable, the people more honest, and management more convenient, etc. It seems that everything is the best, but in fact the legacy it brings, even It is the end of the feudal society, and it is still like a resentful soul on the land of China, and it can't go away.

  The simplest point is that where the small peasant economy is strong, how can there be any official authority and unified government orders? The pace of China's great unification is to stop at the counties forever, and the way to go down is cut off invisibly.

  The servants of the outstanding kings of the three generations of King Qin successfully transformed the feudal counties into counties. The Dahan inherited the prefecture and county system, but couldn't go any further. The subsequent feudal dynasties also stopped here one by one. It is not that no one wants to change, but because they all come from this landlord class, they are the beneficiaries of the manor small peasant economic system, and it is difficult to repair themselves...

   Such a reason is obviously beyond Zhang Shiping's deep understanding. He just vaguely feels that something is wrong with Wancheng's current situation. And he couldn't say that he closed his eyes completely and blocked his ears, as if he didn't see or hear anything.

Regarding the reform of the commercial system in the feudal dynasty, even Fei Qian had only vague ideas, and also asked Yi Zhen Mi to conduct experiments and adjustments in Chang'an, a commercially developed area, so Pang Shanmin of Wancheng was naturally more Nothing too high opinion.

It's just that because of the geographical location of Wancheng itself and the continuous high commercial activities, Wancheng is more commercial-oriented than Chang'an, so Pang Shanmin is also unwilling to participate in this large-scale cleaning process. It led to the direct and complete decline of Wancheng's business, so Zhang Shiping was given a chance, which can be regarded as a chance for the people and businessmen in Wancheng.

   And the one who acts as a bridge among them is the dead Su Shuang.

  Su Shuang, with his good deeds, proved that businessmen are still good...

  No matter what Su Shuang's original intention was at the time, he did save many refugees at that time. This is understandable, and it cannot be said that Su Shuang might have some selfish intentions at the time, so he denied everything Su Shuang did.

   It's like not allowing the brave to become the defendant at every turn.

  This kind of dirty thing should not be established in itself. This is the lack of functions of social government management, and it is the dereliction of duty of the main person in charge.

Either in order not to take responsibility, or to detonate the traffic, or to fill in something on their political achievements, they know that this kind of prosecution is problematic, but they all accept it, and then arouse public opinion, and then pretend to show what they have inherited. What, what, in the end, he said that he maintained the so-called fairness and justice, but he didn't know that the brave man had to stand disheartened in the dock after paying more courage than ordinary people and taking on greater responsibilities. This in itself has harmed the fairness and justice of the entire society.

  Zhang Shiping hurried forward, and the further he walked, the stronger the smell of blood became.

   Far away, he saw some soldiers wearing red and black war robes under the inner wall of the city wall.

The red and black war robes are uniform uniforms for the soldiers of the Han Dynasty, but Zhang Shiping heard that in the early days of the Han Dynasty, the soldiers wore yellow robes, but now the red and black colors of the Han Dynasty are stained with blood. …

  Zhang Shiping originally thought that the soldiers of the Han Dynasty should be stained with the blood of the enemy, but after he reached a certain age, he discovered that not all of them were actually the blood of the enemy.

Of course, this is just a legend. When Zhang Shiping had never seen the yellow shirts of the big Han soldiers, he was not sure whether it was true or not, but what he could be sure of was that not all those who were caught and killed by these big Han soldiers were enemies. .

  『Knife, keep people under the knife...』

  Zhang Shiping shouted, holding up the token high, as if holding a heavy life, and like a light sentence.

   Huang Zhong squinted his eyes, and then signaled the soldiers to pause.

  Zhang Shiping came to Huang Zhong, bowed his head to pay respects, and then recounted in general the content of what Pang Shanmin said in the government office, "General Ming Jian, so you have something to say, if you don't understand the crime, you don't deserve to die." 』

  Huang Zhong pointed to the various prohibited items searched at the side, as well as the spies who had been arrested or killed, "How about these? 』

  Zhang Shiping looked at it and sighed, "You can kill the master, but most of the guys are innocent. I also hope that the general will learn from him. 』

  『Heh…』 Huang Zhong squinted his eyes, nodded and said, 『That’s it. 』

  Huang Zhong waved his hand.

  The soldiers began to select those merchants, shopkeepers and ordinary folks.

For most of the guys, they obey orders, maybe they know about the illegal behavior of some shopkeepers, but they may not know, so after catching these prohibited merchants, they kill the ordinary guys together. Yes, maybe it is also a way to cut grass and roots, but it is undoubtedly too cruel.

  Zhang Shiping gave the guys involved a chance to survive, but the merchants who were in charge quit. They thought the guy’s life was nothing...

"ah! Brother Zhang, brother Zhang! It's me, it's me... I don't know anything! Wronged, wronged! ” Someone tried to break free from the pawns, shouting loudly to attract Zhang Shiping’s attention, “I don’t know anything! I just recruited a guy temporarily, but he hurt me! I don't know him at all! do not know! Just recruited temporarily! I was wronged..."

  Maybe he really felt wronged, so when he shouted the word "wronged", the merchant's mouth was wide open, and his little tongue was trembling.

   Huang Zhong squinted his eyes, as if he was watching and listening, but he didn't seem to care at all.

  Zhang Shiping sighed again, and took a step forward, "Since he is the person in charge, if he bears the benefits, he must bear the harm!" If you don't know people, you should be harmed by them! Is it possible to be exonerated by ignorance or ignorance? ! 』

  The person who called for injustice was stunned for a moment, "Brother Zhang! I really don't know! I'm also from Zhongshan... I've had a drink with you before..." the man shouted, and immediately other merchants also shouted, those who made friends, those who established relationships, and even promised how to repay, how much to give How much money, or a vague threat, is really for survival, and I have to try any method.

  Huang Zhong stroked his beard slightly, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

  Zhang Shiping shook his head and said: "Friendship from the same country is not a reason to avoid death!" Everyone! And listen to me! 』

  No matter what Zhang Shiping said, everyone was struggling, shouting as loudly as possible, as if they wanted to use up all their energy in their last life time, and it was a chaotic scene.

  These merchants originally consciously knew that they were bound to die, so they had nothing to struggle with, but now that they saw Zhang Shiping, they immediately felt unwilling. Why Zhang Shiping was alive and kicking outside, and they had to face death?

  The desire to survive makes these people who were just waiting to die suddenly look like fish that have been thrown on the shore, jumping around trying to get back into the water.

  Huang Zhong stood on one side, watching Zhang Shiping shouting hard, but he was mixed with the shouts of a group of people, and he couldn't hear what he was shouting at all, and naturally he couldn't calm down the group of merchants who had fallen into madness.

  『…』 Huang Zhong moved his eyes slightly, and gestured to the guards around him.

  The guard nodded and stepped forward, then drew out his saber, walked up to the merchant who shouted the loudest, and beheaded him with one blow.

  The scene suddenly seemed to be choked by everyone, and it was so quiet that only the gurgling sound of blood gushing from the broken neck was heard...

  Huang Zhong squinted at Zhang Shiping.

  Zhang Shiping quickly took the opportunity to shout: "Mr. Pang has an order of grace!" Everyone listen! 』

  『One, those who have the merits of living people and have clear evidence can avoid death! For example, there are those who have been awarded by the Hussars Zhangzi Road..."

  Most of the people were at a loss, and suddenly in a corner, a person shouted with a kind of joy of rebirth after a catastrophe: "I have son Lubu!" I have! 』

  Huang Zhong waved his hand to let the soldiers come forward, and immediately pulled one out.

The man choked up and said: "At the beginning of the fifth year, I, I, I, I... I bought a batch of herbs, and transported them from Nanyang to Chang'an, and near Lantian, there were refugees in the wild, and epidemics broke out frequently. I... I used powdered medicine at that time." Yu Ye, some people survived... Hushi gave my son Lu Bu..."

  Zhang Shiping nodded and said, "Where is Lubu today?" 』

  『At...at home, not by my side...』 The man's face changed a little, obviously realizing that something was wrong, so he hurriedly said, "I have witnesses, witnesses!" 』

"who? ’ Zhang Shiping asked.

  The man said: "Nanyang Deng's name is Changming, and the medicine I brought saved him back to life!" Later, he won the imperial examination in Chang'an and served as Lantian Congcao, and I ran into him in the city later! He can testify for me! 』

  Nanyang Deng family, originally a common surname, but later involved in court disputes, was almost slaughtered, and the rest of the people also declined.

  Zhang Shiping looked at Huang Zhong, Huang Zhong nodded slightly, then waved his hand, "Take it to the custody first, and then deal with it after verification." 』

  The man wept with joy, tears flowed down his face, his legs and feet were weak, and he was carried down by the soldiers.

  『Is there anyone else who has Zilubu? ’ Zhang Shiping asked again.

  But this time, everyone stared and no one responded.

  『Second,』Zhang Shiping held up his second finger, "There are good merchants who have settled in Wancheng, and five people as sureties for them will avoid death!" However, if the insured is later guilty, the guarantor is also guilty! 』

  This is actually a deformed Baojia Liansi system.

  The Baojia system was not only in the era of the feudal dynasty, nor does it mean that this system represents ignorance and backwardness, because even in later generations, variants of this type of system are often seen. For example, such things as "one person's extra life, the whole village will be sterilized", and "throwing a ball in the sky, the whole building will be punished", etc., are actually the deformed state of the Baojia Liansi system.

Taking the merchants who settled in Wancheng as guarantors will invisibly stabilize the status of merchants who have settled in Wancheng, so that more and more merchants will settle in Wancheng, which will undoubtedly make the value of merchants in Wancheng more manifest. It will also allow more businessmen to come and settle in Wancheng.

  Similarly, the even seat system will also make Wancheng businessmen more cautious, and will not promise to guarantee at will. This is the same as the nature of the guarantor of the loan in later generations, and the law of joint and several liability has never been outdated.

  Zhang Shiping didn't care about the eager thinking of these merchants, and didn't wait for them all to think about it, so he directly said the third law, "The third! If you come forward to report other people's crimes, you can be rewarded and exempted! 』

  After Zhang Shiping finished the third article, everyone was in an uproar.

  『I want to report! I report Pang for engaging in..." Among the crowd, someone suddenly shouted loudly, "I report him for extortion, accepting bribes, shoddy goods..."

  『I want to report it too! 』

  『I...I also want to...』

   Suddenly there was chaos.

  Some people were eager to report, while others shouted angrily, "Aren't you afraid of death and annihilation if you use the method of Sang Hongyang to sue?" ! 』

   Zhang Shiping showed some indescribable expressions on his face, "If you can't tell the truth, is it right to hide your crime?" 』

Although some people objected, they shut their mouths angrily and did not report on others, thinking that it violated their conscience and loyalty, but more merchants were scrambling to report and report, trying to exonerate some of their own guilt. …

   Suddenly, the scene was chaotic.

   And what no one expected was that even greater chaos was yet to come.

  (end of this chapter)