Zhang Fu came to the counter, and the situation outside the shop suddenly scared him. Thousands of people outside were angry and surging. Some people kept throwing stones at the shop. The guys were squatting on the ground with their heads in their arms, and their faces turned pale.x.

"What the hell is going on? Where is the army?" Zhang Fu shouted in anxiety.

"The big manager, there is no army outside!"

The shopkeeper at the front desk said with a sad face: "Today we are all here to return rice, and none of them are here to buy rice."

Zhang Fu also realized that something was wrong. It was not that a few people made trouble, but that something big happened. He was so anxious that he grabbed the shopkeeper's clothes and said, "What's going on? What happened to our rice?"

"Master, you can understand this by looking at it."

The two guys brought a large dustpan, which was filled with white rice, with at least four or five dou of rice.

"This is the first five dou of rice returned. There are a lot of white sand inside, which cannot be eaten at all."

"White Sand!"

Zhang Fu's mind was dizzy. How could he find out?

He grabbed a handful of rice and spread it on his palm. In just a moment, he found more than a dozen white sand from the rice, which mixed with the rice, making it difficult to tell.

"Where is the rice?"

"It's the rice from the Zhao family in Gushu County. Only their family provides the shelled rice. We sell 20 cents a dou, and they are all the ones that have happened."

Zhang Fu's heart was in chaos, and he calmed down and said, "Is there any problem with us? Where are other food shops?"

"There are all problems. There is a trend of rice reduction in all Zhang's grain shops. Now everyone dares not buy our rice. What should I do if the boss is in charge?"

"Return the rice! The profiteer! Return my hard-earned money!"

The angry crowd outside shouted like thunder, and bricks and stones were thrown into the store, and the cabinet was smashed, "Bang!" The plaque "Shi Ze Tianxia" written by Zhang Yaozuo was smashed into a big hole.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Fu would not refund the rice any longer, and the people outside would set fire to the shop. He was so scared that he shouted: "Refund the money! Refund them all, refund them all!"

In just two hours, the news that Zhang's grain shop sold poor quality rice mixed with sand spread throughout the city. The crowd of people who returned the rice rushed to Zhang's shop from all directions. Many people obviously bought good rice, but returned the rice mixed with most of the mud and sand. They shouted and smashed the shops if they did not return it. The trend of rice withdrawal quickly swept across the city. The Zhang's grain shop located in the Zhuangyuan Bridge in the south of the city was destroyed and the stock was robbed.

In order to prevent the situation from escalating, the prefect Fanning sent a thousand township soldiers to maintain order and ordered the Songcheng County Magistrate Hou Wen to negotiate with the Zhang family grain shop. The Zhang family grain shop finally accepted the unconditional return of grain within one month.

The grain withdrawal storm took a month to subside. Zhang's grain shop suffered heavy losses, but if it was just a loss of money, it was still secondary. The key was that Zhang's grain shop completely lost its credibility in this storm, and the shop customers dropped sharply. In the following six months, Zhang's grain shops closed one after another, from seventeen to three, struggling to maintain a dismal operation.

Affected by the rice withdrawal storm in Songcheng County, Zhang's grain shops in other counties in Yingtian Prefecture were also affected. Although they were not as bleak as Songcheng County, their market share also dropped from the initial 40% to 20%, which fell by more than half, and even the share of tea shops in various places fell below 30%.

The arrest of Zhao Qian and the simultaneous withdrawal of rice storm had a profound impact on the Zhang family's influence in the Song Dynasty.

Yingtian Prefecture is just a starting point, and gradually affects the prefectures of Jingcheng and Jingdong Road. The influence of the Zhang family on the Song Dynasty began to decline from then on, which would undoubtedly have an extremely adverse impact on Zhang Yaozuo's struggle for the inheritance of the throne.

Although the news of the grain withdrawal storm in Yingtian Mansion quickly reached Zhang Yaozuo, Zhang Yaozuo had no time to take care of the loss of money at this time. He received news today that Zhao Qian had been discharged from Dali Temple and was preparing to handle it after strict trial.

Zhao Qian's weight is far greater than Zhu Yuanjun in Zhang Yaozuo's heart. Not only is he a high position, but the key is that his family has a great influence. If Zhao Qian cannot be protected, it will directly undermine Zhang Yaozuo's prestige. Many supportive ministers will give up. Especially now that the emperor favors Zhao Zhongzhen, the news has spread throughout the court and the country, and Zhang Yaozuo is even more eager to maintain his prestige.

Aide Yang Kai observed Zhang Yaozuo on the side. He clearly felt that Zhang Yaozuo's current thoughts were confusing. He wanted to save them with one blow from the east and another hammer, but in the end he was not able to do so, and the gain was not worth the loss. In contrast, Zhao Zongshi's faction had clear ideas, and he pushed Zhao Zhongzheng internally and seized Yingtian Mansion with all his strength. In addition, he was able to employ people, so the effect was obvious.

If Zhang Yaozuo does not change his strategy, his future decline will be obvious and even eventually fail.

Yang Kai said carefully: "The Grand Master needs a clear goal now!"

"A clear goal?"

Zhang Yaozuo said in confusion: "Is my current goal still unclear?"

"No! Bei Zhi felt that the Taishi was considering the power struggle for Yingtian Mansion and wanted to save Zhao Qian. These two things were not easy to do. If the Taishi was distracted, it would be very likely that both ends would be lost!"

Zhang Yaozuo was told that he wanted to rescue Zhao Qian again, but Yingtian Mansion was unwilling to give up. His face turned hot and he asked, "What do you think of sir?"

"The humble vocation means giving up Yingtian Mansion and saving Zhao Qian with all his might."

Yang Kai immediately added: "The Yingtian Mansion has only two major military and political powers. The imperial guards are the territory of the meritorious family, and they can't be attacked. However, Fan Ning of Yingtian Mansion has already settled down and Wang Anshi assisted him. There is little hope. As for the Pacification Envoy, since the emperor appointed Fan Ning to serve on the same position, he felt that Fan Ning would probably be in office. After all, he was arrested in Kunzhou in full military and political power."

"Why can't we fight for it again? Fanning has no qualifications. Why would the emperor hand over the position of appeasement envoy to him?"

What Zhang Yaozuo was unwilling to accept was that he wanted to win the appointment of the Jingdong Road Pacifier after Zhao Qian. Even if his own people could not get this position, he could get the person recommended by Jia Changchao. He always believed that the emperor had to be balanced and it was impossible to hand over the military and political power of Yingtian Prefecture to the Zhao Zongshi faction.

Yang Kai understood Zhang Yaozuo's thoughts and shook his head slightly and said, "Have you forgotten the Grand Tutor? The military and political power of Yingtian Prefecture was in our hands before, and the officials did not pay any attention to any balance. If the officials really wanted to talk about balance, he would not touch Zhao Qian for the time being. The reason why Fan Ning secretly arrested Zhao Qian was actually to hand over the position of the appeaser to him, otherwise Linghu Jin would just take action. Why take more risks? "

Zhang Yaozuo's expression changed. He did not express his opinion easily and asked again: "How confident are you to rescue Zhao Qian?"

"That depends on the efforts of the Taishi. If Zhao Qian is allowed to restore his post, it will definitely be impossible. Even if another official position is appointed, it is unlikely. After all, the official is ordering arrest, which means he is guilty. I think the best result is to be demoted to a commoner, followed by one year of exile, and the worst is to exile for ten years. In this regard, I believe all officials understand that Zhao Qian's dismissal for the people is the greatest effort of the Taishi."

Zhang Yaozuo agreed with Yang Kai's analysis of Zhao Qian's prospects. He pondered for a moment: "How likely is Zhao Qian to be dismissed?"

Yang Kai smiled slightly, "I think I'm 60% sure!"

Zhang Yaozuo was excited and was 60% sure. He hurriedly said, "Sir, why not talk about it in detail!"

Yang Kai nodded and said, "Zhao Qian has three crimes: first, usurpation, second, tax evasion, third, military military dynasty. Neither of the two previous articles are big problems. Urpation can be said to be an inappropriate construction. I didn't know the height of the Guide Hall at the beginning, and I didn't take this into consideration. As long as the ancestral hall was demolished and rebuilt, the second is tax evasion, the problem is even less. There are many families of powerful and powerful evasion, and just replenish taxes. Moreover, these two are actually irrelevant to Zhao Qian himself, and it was his family's actions. The key is that the third article is more serious in nature. It is impossible to say that Zhao Qian knows nothing. He must know, but he did not care about this matter, but he should not bear the main responsibility. As long as he can determine this point, Zhao Qian's crime will be lighter."

"Although the sin can be slighted, he is still guilty after all, isn't he?"

Yang Kai smiled and said, "The misdemeanor that Bei Zhi mentioned is exile for one year, but if you can do something in the Privy Council, get some credit for Zhao Qian, and make a demerit between merits and demerits, the crime of exile can be exempted. If the Zhao family can reimburse taxes in time, and the officials will consider the founding of the Zhao family, this matter will inevitably be high and light. Zhao Qian can also hold a free position to support the elderly. The Grand Tutor is running actively behind the scenes, and the ministers will see it. If this game is lost, there will be a chance in the next game."

Zhang Yaozuo sighed softly, "I'm afraid that Privy Councilor Zeng Gongliang will not buy it!"

"Don't worry about the Grand Tutor. Zeng Gongliang is very good at balancing. Last time he helped Han Qi remove Yang Du, I believe that this time he will definitely give the Grand Tutor favors and find some credit for Zhao Qian. Then the Grand Tutor will look for Jia Changchao and ask Jia Changchao to ask Zhao Qian for pleading, and then ask the Zhao family to disband the Zhuang Ding quickly, demolish the ancestral hall, and pay the land tax. The matter will definitely be resolved successfully."
Chapter completed!