Royal Gold Magistrate

On the ninth day, the main page of the Crown Prince Daily changed.

It became a huge ranking list.

A ranking of grain reserves held by the wealthy in the capital, with all the court officials on the list without exception.

Of course, this ranking was based on the weight of grain stored in their homes.

It ranged from tens of thousands of dan to several hundred dan, listed one by one.

As for how much grain each official actually had at home, that was, of course, made up by Fang Zheng…

It wasn’t entirely baseless, though. Over the past few days, Fang Zheng had ordered an investigation of all the large and small brokers in the capital.

Although most of the high officials’ estates were in their hometowns, they also owned land in the capital. Combining this information with their official ranks and usual behavior, he had come up with the list.

Beside it was a short article that Fang Zheng had rushed out overnight.

【If you don’t serve the people as an official, you might as well go home and grow sweet potatoes】

The article detailed the difficult situation of the grain disaster in the south and called on court officials to donate grain and money, while also encouraging wealthy civilians to participate.

Those who eagerly donated grain would have the chance to advertise in the newspaper first.

When this edition came out, it undoubtedly exploded public opinion in the capital instantly.

The gossip and resentment towards the rich were stirred up among countless commoners.

High officials in the court actually had grain reserves of over ten thousand dan? Damn, how long would it take to eat all that?

Their meager imaginations couldn’t even conceive of it! Who knew how much silver those families had?

It seemed there wasn’t a single honest official in the court!

Except for Fang Zheng, who was at the bottom of the list.

Fang Zheng’s number was actually true. He personally had hardly any grain stored, left with nothing but silver.

……………..

By noon, Li Yuanzhao was in the newspaper office, holding the paper and looking rather anxious.

Beside him, Fang Zheng was leisurely drinking tea.

Li Yuanzhao said urgently, “Old Fang, haven’t we exaggerated these numbers a bit? I’m a little worried…”

“Is Your Highness afraid?” Fang Zheng said with a smile.

Li Yuanzhao replied meaningfully, “No, just a bit anxious. What should we do if the court officials make a fuss tomorrow? I didn’t expect things to get this big. Now it’s spreading like wildfire outside.”

“I didn’t feel it before the paper was published, but now I’m worried about you…”

Fang Zheng smiled slightly and put down his teacup. “I’ve thought it through. The worst outcome is that I’ll be free without an official position. His Majesty surely won’t strip me of my title. I’ll just retire to Taoyuan County then.”

“Your Highness can also return to the Eastern Palace to enjoy life. Either way, we both win!”

Li Yuanzhao looked indignant. “Don’t even think about it! If I go back, I’ll drag you back too!”

“Instead of wasting time on that, why don’t we think about how to solve tomorrow’s problem?”

Fang Zheng sighed, “What’s there to think about? I don’t know what will happen either. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Those crafty fellows, who knows what they’ll do to me. But right now, they’re the ones on the hot seat. We don’t need to worry yet!”

“Your Highness, remember, no matter what they say at court tomorrow, we’ll just pressure them to donate! If we can force them to donate grain first, we’ll be halfway to success. We can deal with other matters later.”

As they were talking, a hurried voice came from the stairway. “Fang Zheng! Where is Fang Zheng! Get out here now!”

Fang Zheng looked towards the stairs in surprise, then smiled when he saw who it was.

He greeted warmly, “Uncle, what brings you here?”

The reporters in the office focused their attention on the two.

Hiss, Lord Fang’s uncle-in-law has come looking for him. It doesn’t look like a friendly visit!

The visitor was Li Yansong. Hearing Fang Zheng’s voice, Li Yansong’s whole body trembled. He walked over, fuming with anger.

Pointing at Fang Zheng’s nose, he scolded, “Stop grinning at me! Fang Zheng, you’ve got some nerve!”

He pulled out a newspaper from his bosom, shook it open forcefully, and pointed at the ranking list with a trembling finger.

“This thing! Did you make this? How dare you! How dare you!”

Li Yuanzhao jumped out, “No! I made this. What? You got a problem with that?”

Li Yansong looked pained, “Aiya! Your Highness, please don’t cover for him! I know everything!”

“Let me have a word with him!”

“Indeed, I wrote it. What advice do you have, Uncle?”

“Shut up! Who’s your uncle, you shameless thing!” Li Yansong truly couldn’t hold back anymore.

He had been happily on duty when this newspaper appeared and the whole office exploded.

Everyone discovered that the amount of grain stored in their homes had been published in the paper. Upon closer look, they were furious.

Damn it! It’s clearly made up!

They didn’t have that much grain at home. Two thousand dan would be enough for a clan of hundreds to feast for over a year.

Especially Zhang Shi’s family, supposedly having tens of thousands of dan of grain. His family didn’t even sell grain, what would they do with so much? Let it mold?

The usually calm and collected Li Yansong was the first to lose his cool and rush over to confront Fang Zheng.

The reason was simple: he was ranked second.

The one ranked first was reportedly smashing things in the office.

Hearing Li Yansong curse at him, Fang Zheng’s face turned serious. “What business brings Minister Li here?”

Seeing his serious expression, Li Yansong tried to calm himself. “I do. Tell me, who told you I have twenty thousand dan of grain stored at home?”

Fang Zheng tilted his head and thought for a moment. “It was Zhang Shi. Yes, it was him!”

Li Yansong’s eyes bulged, pointing at Fang Zheng, trembling with anger. “You… you’re treating me like a fool!”

Attempt at sowing discord: Failed!

Fang Zheng quickly shook his head and smiled sheepishly. “Not at all. This was all estimated from brokers’ information. If there are any inaccuracies, just tell me. I’ll have someone correct it tomorrow, and that’ll be that, right?”

“Minister Li, please tell me, how much grain do you actually have at home? I’ll arrange for the correction right now, and we’ll publish a clarification tomorrow!”

Li Yansong slapped his thigh, on the verge of tears.

“You’ve ruined me! My lifelong reputation, how can I face anyone after this!”

“Fang Zheng, you’re courting disaster too! I advise you to stop now while there’s still room to maneuver. If you keep going like this, making enemies of all the officials, it won’t end well!”

“Even if you want to raise grain, this isn’t the way to do it! You’re pushing yourself into a corner!”

The surrounding reporters couldn’t help but look moved.

What a true uncle-in-law, clearly heartbroken to the extreme. Why don’t I have a relative like this?

Fang Zheng sneered, acting shamelessly, “What?! The officials dare to be my enemies? Everyone in the capital knows that I, Fang Zheng, stand with His Majesty and the Crown Prince! Are the officials planning rebellion? I’ll submit a memorial against them right now!”

Li Yansong felt his worldview shatter.

Are you some kind of monster? Can’t we communicate like normal humans?

Li Yansong trembled with anger, “Hopeless… hopeless. Fang Zheng, have you gone mad? Why? Can’t we talk this out properly? Bring it up in court and discuss it slowly!”

Fang Zheng looked straight at Li Yansong, “Discuss it slowly? Minister Li, you shouldn’t be saying this to me. Go tell those who are about to starve to death. If they’re willing to wait, I’m willing to discuss slowly.”

“Besides, Minister Li, you don’t really think we can discuss our way to a good result, do you?”

“The matter of donating grain shouldn’t even have been brought up by me. Look, is anyone in court voluntarily mentioning grain donation?”

Li Yansong felt somewhat guilty. By rights, he should have been the one to bring this up.

But no one wanted to touch this unlucky topic. Usually, they would only chime in after His Majesty spoke.

Who would have thought such a troublemaker would appear, and in such an unusual manner?

Li Yansong stammered, “There isn’t anyone now, but the time isn’t right yet.”

Fang Zheng spoke earnestly, “What time are we waiting for? Uncle, you old fogies, if I don’t push you a bit, you won’t know how much potential you have!”

“You!”