In the dark night, a burst of fire suddenly appeared, and it could easily spread far away.
The Fengtian Hall was originally built taller than all the buildings in the capital, so not long after the fire appeared, it was seen by Lao Zhu who was sitting on the dragon chair.
"Pa." Lao Zhu suddenly put the imperial pen on the imperial desk.
He asked in a deep voice: "Where is that? Did he get lost in the water? Mao Xiang."
"I'm here."
"Quickly go and find out what happened. Why did everything go so well and got lost?" Lao Zhu ordered in a deep voice.
"I accept the decree."
After Mao Xiang finished speaking, he quickly retreated. He hurriedly walked to the bottom of the steps. There were already eunuchs waiting here with their horses. Mao Xiang turned over, whipped his whip, and ran away.
Lao Zhu stood in the Fengtian Hall, his heart burning with anger, as if it echoed the distant firelight. At this time, what else does Lao Zhu think about reviewing the memorial? He was pacing back and forth, anxiously waiting for news from Mao Xiang.
Seeing the emperor walking back and forth like this, the old eunuch on the side was afraid that the emperor was tired, but at this time, even he did not dare to persuade him rashly. He could only look worried and follow the emperor's movements closely with his eyes.
After a while, Lao Zhu did not wait for Mao Xiang, but instead waited for Zhu Biao.
"Father, when my son saw the fire, he hurriedly came to see my father. This must have gone wrong somewhere."
"I saw it and have sent Mao Xiang to check out the news. Since Biao'er is here, let's wait here together and sit down." When Lao Zhu saw Zhu Biao coming, he didn't want to show anxiety in front of him. After a while, he returned to the dragon chair and sat down.
"Yes." Zhu Biao bowed and agreed. Then, he slowly sat on the chair next to him.
The fire in the distance grew bigger and brighter.
Zhu Biao said worriedly: "Why is there such a big fire? I hope there are no casualties."
Under the firelight, Lao Zhu's face was as gloomy as water and he said nothing.
After a long time, Mao Xiang came back sweating profusely.
"emperor!"
Before Mao Xiang could finish speaking, Zhu Biao quickly asked: "How is the situation? Are any people injured?"
Mao Xiang glanced at the emperor first, but saw that the emperor had no expression. Mao Xiang then saluted Zhu Biao and replied: "His Royal Highness, according to the information I found, no one was injured."
"That's good, as long as no one is hurt." Zhu Biao suddenly became happy after hearing this. In his opinion, as long as no people were injured, burning a few houses was not a big deal.
But he didn't even think about it. How could a fire like this just burn down a few houses?
Lao Zhu was not as optimistic as Zhu Biao, but his heart suddenly sank. If it was such a simple thing, Mao Xiang's face wouldn't be so ugly.
"Where did the water leak?" Lao Zhu suddenly asked.
When Mao Xiang heard this, his body couldn't help but tremble and he didn't dare to answer.
When Lao Zhu saw it, he had an even worse premonition. Suddenly he said loudly: "Speak!"
"Go back to the emperor," Mao Xiang quickly knelt down and gritted his teeth and said, "The grain depots of three trading companies were leaked."
"Which three?" Lao Zhu suddenly stood up, his fingers pointing at Mao Xiang could not help but tremble.
"That's right, the three companies that raised grain prices with the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry to collect grain from each other."
"Snapped!"
Lao Zhu suddenly waved his hand, and the tea cup memorials on the imperial desk were scattered all over the floor.
"Asshole!"
No wonder Lao Zhu was so angry. Those three trading houses who dared to rush to buy grain from the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry had long been noticed by the petty Lao Zhu. It was only because they had been diligently collecting and storing food that Lao Zhu did not rush to attack them. I was still thinking that when I needed food in the future, I would send a large army to surround this place. All the food fell into Lao Zhu's hands easily without spending a penny.
Not only the money for buying food is saved, but also the cost of guarding the food is saved.
The reason why Lao Zhu allowed the three trading houses to purchase grain in the first place was because he thought that no matter who purchased the grain, the meat would always rot in the pot of Ming Dynasty. For this reason, Lao Zhu has been sending people to keep a close eye on the three trading houses, just to prevent them from quietly transporting the grain away.
The three trading houses had shown no signs of transporting the grain away, which made Lao Zhu feel relieved.
But Lao Zhu never expected that such a mistake would occur at this time. There are nearly a million tons of grain stored there. After such a fire, how much can be left?
Moreover, this year's severe drought is a foregone conclusion. There was not enough food in the first place, but now so much has suddenly been lost, Lao Zhu's eyes turned red with distress.
"Come here, show off!"
After hearing this, Mao Xiang suddenly hugged Lao Zhu's legs and cried and begged: "Your Majesty, you must not do it. The fire there is too strong now. Even the water dragon can't get close. If your Majesty, with his body of thousands of gold, goes there rashly, it will be really difficult." It’s too dangerous. Your Majesty, please think twice!”
Lao Zhu was speechless after hearing this.
I knew in my heart that Mao Xiang was right. Such a big fire could not be extinguished by a water tanker. Faced with such a fire, there is no other way but to wait for it to burn out and then extinguish it.
And when the fire is extinguished, those millions of loads of grain will also be wiped out!
Since the matter is irreversible, Lao Zhu can only let it go temporarily even if he is heartbroken.
Immediately afterwards, Lao Zhu's expression condensed and he ordered: "Mao Xiang, go and arrest everyone in the three trading houses immediately, and wait for their arrest."
"My lord, I obey the order."
After Mao Xiang left, Zhu Biao didn't seem to have recovered from the shock.
He murmured to himself and asked: "Father, is this the grain depot leaked?"
Lao Zhu was not in the mood to explain to Zhu Biao. He just stared at the fire in the distance and said, "Take a good look. It is rare to see a fire ignited by millions of loads of grain."
Zhu Biao also looked at the fire, feeling his father's heartache just now. Although the value of these million tons of grain is great, it is second to none. The most important thing is that without these million tons of grain, how many people will starve to death?
The sky was bright, and the fire that had raged all night was finally extinguished, and there was no longer the wanton arrogance of last night. But at the same time, where the original grain depot was located, only a dark ruin with broken walls was left.
Millions of tons of grain were destroyed overnight!
Lao Zhu came here early, stood on the edge of the ruins, looked at the vast and dark area, his face was extremely gloomy.
"Your Majesty," Mao Xiang worked hard all night and finally came to deliver a message to the Emperor.
"Everyone has been caught?"
"We've all been caught, but..." Mao Xiang hesitated, not knowing what to say.
