The hundred-mile radius of Qufu County has become a ruin. The White Lotus Sect keeps resisting the tyrannical rule, saying that White Lotus comes to the world and saves all people. In fact, it is the White Lotus Sect that has caused the most harm to the people.
There were bandits and bandits. It was less than a hundred years since the founding of the country, and the military discipline of the imperial army was acceptable. Not to mention that Qiu Wuzhen would not do evil things like plundering the people.
But the White Lotus Sect is different. They robbed people of their food reserves, burned down their houses, and even kidnapped young wives and girls. They also forced people to join the religion. Otherwise, they would be demons in the world and would be tied to the fire rack and burned. die.
Leader Zhang went over to search, and Hall Leader Li came again.
Hall Master Li finally left, and King Xu came again. Qujia Town at the foot of Fangshan Mountain fell into panic again.
Fortunately, this King Xu is different from others. The soldiers under his command seem to be different. They do not disturb the people, do not enter homes, and do not collect food...
The town was not big, and the owner of the only inn had long since run away. A team of elite escorted the carriage into the backyard of the inn, and out stepped a middle-aged scribe, dressed in Tsing Yi with a solemn expression.
The mighty man beside him clasped his fists and asked, "Sir, we don't have much food and grass. Do you want your subordinates to go to the town to collect some?"
"Forget it, where do they still have food?"
The middle-aged scribe walked into the room and turned on the stove, and the temperature in the room gradually rose.
He unfolded the map and looked at it carefully, and finally pointed to the north bank of Surabaya on the north side of the town, where several Zhuangzi were marked.
"Niu Ben, if you are tired tonight, go here and grab it."
"Ah? Mr. Xu, robbing people's property by force is not tolerated by military law. Besides, these Zhuangzi are the property of Duke Yan Sheng's Mansion!"
The middle-aged scribe looked at the bright red word Kong specially marked on the map and chuckled: "Remember, your current identity is the White Lotus Sect. Isn't it natural for the White Lotus Sect to rob the Kong family?"
Uh~
The expression on Niu Ben's face was extremely complicated. After struggling for a while, he cupped his hands and responded under the indifferent eyes of the middle-aged scribe: "Since the imperial envoy has an order, I will obey your order!"
"Go, remember not to hurt innocent people. Those servants of the Kong family who are protecting you will be killed. Bring all the food back. We will have to stay here for some time to come and wait for the opportunity."
After sending Niu Ben away, Xu Jin was the only one left in the room. Staring at the fire in the furnace, he sighed: "It's true that prosperity and death are suffering for the people!"
Dong dong dong...
"Come in."
With a creak, a well-dressed man walked in, closed the door and handed Xu Jin a letter.
"Mr. Qingteng, Dongchang Mansion has sent news that King Zhongshun and General Xiao Jia have arrived in Linqing County, accompanied by three thousand forbidden troops."
Xu Jin tore open the envelope, read it hastily and threw it directly into the stove.
"Tang Wu, let people find out the strongholds of the White Lotus Sect in Jinan, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou as soon as possible. Find out who among the Kong family has colluded with the White Lotus Sect. Don't hold back after finding out, kill!"
"yes!"
Tang Wu bowed and promised, and then asked: "Then do you want to send a message to His Royal Highness King Zhongshun and General Xiao Jia?"
Xu Jin shook his head and solemnly replied: "No need. If we can handle the Kong family matter quietly, we can send a message then. If someone finds out, you and I can just suffer the verbal and written criticism. Why bother dragging others into this?" In the quagmire."
Tang Wu was still expressionless. He was Yu Linlang's secret guard. He was born to walk in the dark, and he had long been accustomed to doing things for the Supreme Emperor that could not be done openly.
but……
Xu Jin is different. Wenquxing, who passed the sixth grade and should join the cabinet to worship the prime minister in the future, can't be trapped in the small Qufu.
Tang Wu was helpless to the stubborn scholar in front of him. He had tried to persuade him many times before, but the Wenquxing rejected his suggestion with great determination after seeing the hard life of the people around Qufu.
"Sir, in fact, it's better to leave this kind of matter to the future. Before leaving the capital, the sage said that the Habayashi secret guards must keep you safe and sound."
Xu Jin poked the charcoal in the stove, and the ashes of the burned letters disappeared completely.
He smiled, raised his head and said to Tang Wu: "Someone has to take that step, and as a Confucian, I really want to see with my own eyes how many outrageous things the Kong family has done!"
After Liu Ke and Jia Cong entered Dongchang Mansion, they only replenished food and supplies, rested briefly overnight, and then continued southward.
After three days of galloping, we finally arrived at Yanzhou Mansion. The imperial envoy was stationed in the government office. The prefect Liu Guoliang, Tongzhi Mu'e and all the officials from the government office met the imperial envoy in the lobby.
After Liu Ke roughly browsed through the documents sent by Yanzhou Prefecture, he wrote two edicts in a few strokes.
"Invite Ma Jing, the commander of the city guards, to mobilize five thousand soldiers and horses to search carefully along the Surabaya and Yishui rivers in the direction of Qufu County. If any White Lotus sect bandits are found, destroy them."
"Prefect Liu, how much grain does the city have? Open warehouses immediately to release grain. Jining, Zouxian, Wenshang, and Ningyang counties plus the city must set up porridge sheds to accommodate the refugees."
When Liu Guoliang thought about the treasury that could starve a rat to death, Liu Guoliang's heart skipped a beat, and the embarrassment on his face was obvious.
Um?
Liu Ke snorted coldly: "What? Is it because there is no food in the treasury? If I remember correctly, when winter just arrived last year, the Ministry of Revenue distributed a lot of relief food to the states in Shandong to prepare for snow disasters."
Qin Tianjian reported to the emperor as soon as winter began last year that winter would become increasingly severe in the past few years, and the imperial court had already prepared for disaster relief in the north.
Especially in Gyeonggi and the five provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan, all provinces and counties have prepared enough food to prevent disasters.
However, all the disaster relief food in the Yanzhou Prefecture's treasury had long been swallowed up. Not to mention sending it to surrounding counties, even the prefectural city itself is not enough to cook a few mouthfuls of porridge.
Originally, Liu Guoliang wanted to contact Qufu as soon as possible and ask the Kong family to temporarily send some food to replenish the treasury. Unexpectedly, Qufu sent news yesterday that several granaries of the Kong family on the north bank of Surabaya had been wiped out by the White Lotus Sect.
The grain stored in other places was sold to Korea and Liaodong when the price was high in winter. Only Qufu County still had grain for its own consumption, which was not enough for the government treasury.
snort!
Liu Ke stared coldly at Liu Guoliang, who was sweating on his forehead, and raised his hand: "Come here, strip off the official robe of Liu Liangguo, the prefect of Yanzhou, and take him to the prison to await trial!"
"My lord, you can't...wuwuwuwu..."
The royal soldiers ignored what Liu Guoliang wanted to say. They stuffed the rags they had found from nowhere into his mouth and dragged him down.
Liu Ke glanced at Mu'e, a fellow magistrate of Yanzhou Prefecture, whose arms were trembling. The old man over fifty only glanced at Liu Ke's cold face and knelt down unconsciously.
Dong dong dong...
After ringing his head three times in a row, Mu E begged: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will tell you nothing..."
"Press down and interrogate carefully. Before dinner, I want to know where the food has gone."
Cutting the mess with a quick knife, Liu Ke was too lazy to fight with these corrupt officials and directly let his soldiers take everyone in the hall into custody.
Jia Cong has already read the documents sent by the Yanzhou government, as well as the intelligence information sent by the counties to the government.
He couldn't help but frown. Judging from the situation in Yanzhou, it was a bit strange.
It is said that Qufu is the source of this banditry. Yanzhou Prefecture is less than two days away from Qufu County. Why did Rencheng Guards delay in moving? It was not until the White Lotus Sect robbed the Kong family and fled to Sishui County that Rencheng Guards was dispatched. The army pursued and suppressed the bandits.
If local officials have no right to mobilize guardsmen and horses, what about teacher Xu Jin? .z.
Xu Jin was on the emperor's mission, holding gold and arrows, and there was no need for an army of less than 10,000 people to report to the capital.
According to the news from the Long Imperial Guard, when Xu Jinlin set out, he clearly ordered the Rencheng Guards to dispatch troops to suppress the bandits. However, until Xu Jin disappeared outside Qufu County, none of the Rencheng Guards left the camp.
"Master Thirteen, I want to go to Renchengwei..."
Liu Ke interrupted Jia Cong directly: "If you don't want to, just stay in the government office. I will send an order for Ma Jing, the commander of the city guards, to come."
Are you kidding me? At present, no one in Yanzhou Prefecture can trust Wen Wu. Jia Cong has gone to Rencheng to guard the ghosts to know if there will be any accidents.
.
Even the dignified imperial envoys can be found missing outside Qufu County, so what's the impossibility of losing another deputy imperial envoy.
Jia Cong sighed after hearing this, and was about to ask for orders again, when he saw Lv Xiaozu, a doctor from the Shandong Qing Li Division of the Household Department who was accompanying him, walking in with two scribes and a stack of account books.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Jia, the situation is worse than I imagined. The Yanzhou treasury only has one thousand shi of grain and 20,000 taels of silver. That's not even official silver. It's equivalent to over 17,000 taels of market silver at most."
Wow…
Lu Xiaozu asked people to pile all the account books on the table in front of Liu Ke, casually opened one and sighed again.
"They are all fake account books. According to the account books, the government's grain inventory should be more than 30,000 dan, and the silver deposit should be 80,000 taels of silver. But the official personally took people to check, and found that there was moldy 1,000 dan in the grain depot. Chen Mi, the silver warehouse only has market silver of very poor quality on the shelves."
Liu Ke was still calm and suppressed the anger in his heart to stop Lu Xiaozu from continuing.
The top priority is to quickly raise money and food. According to the news sent from everywhere, I heard that the imperial envoy is stationed in the capital city of Yanzhou, and refugees from all over the country have already gathered here.
Jia Cong stood up, clasped his fists and asked for orders: "I'm asking for orders to raise food. We will definitely raise ten thousand shi of food before noon tomorrow!"
"That's ridiculous, where are you going to collect food?"
Liu Kezheng was upset and interrupted Jia Cong's words with his hand.
But seeing Jia Cong's expression solemn, he handed over his hand again and said: "I really have a way to raise food, but I need to borrow the name of the prince..."
Bandits broke out in Yanzhou, natural disasters and man-made disasters occurred, and mourners were mourning outside the city, but it did not affect the peaceful singing and dancing in the city at all.
The Sishui River passes through Yanzhou Fucheng, and both sides of the river have the charm of the Qinhuai River. On the Sishui River southeast of Fuya, there are restaurants, teahouses, brothels and boats.
Jia Cong leaned against the wooden railing and looked at the lights in the distance. Lu Xiaozu looked at the list in his hand with some doubts.
He couldn't help but ask: "Sir, are these people really going to sell food to us? Hoarding has always been the tactic of these merchants. Now that the price of food in the city is rising three times a day, how can they sell it to the government at a fair price?"
Jia Cong touched the Yan Ling Dao at his waist and said coldly: "Even if they don't want to sell it, I will let them sell it to us."
Dong dong dong...
Jia Shiyi opened the door of the private room and walked in. He clasped his fists and said, "Except for the Qu family, the Qin family, and the Yan family, the heads of the remaining squires and wealthy businessmen in the city, a total of forty-two households, have arrived and are waiting downstairs. .”
"Uncle Eleven, did those three families have any reasons why they couldn't come together?"
Jia Cong took off the Panlong Golden Ling from his waist and gently rubbed the dragon pattern on it.
Just listen to Jia Shiyi's reply: "The head of the Qu family asked someone to reply. He is infected with the cold and cannot go for the time being. The housekeeper of the Qin family said that the concubine of the eighth house of the head of the family is due to give birth today and has no time to come over. The Yan family is in the city. The old house outside was poisoned by the White Lotus Sect. The ancestral hall was destroyed, and more than 20 members of the clan were killed or injured. The head of the Yan family, Yan Hui, vomited blood and fell into a coma. His eldest son, Yan Chenglin, actually responded to a letter..."
With that said, Jia Shiyi handed over the letter. Jia Cong opened it and read the letter. The content of the letter was very simple. The head of the Yan family, Yan Hui, was in a coma. All his children were sick at home and could not attend the banquet.
Skipping those few words of apology, Yan Chenglin probably thought of the reason for Jia Cong's invitation, and attached a handwritten letter stamped with the seal of the head of the Yan family, with which he could go to the Yan family's grain store and take away thousands of stones of grain.
Yan Chenglin said in the letter that he would donate food free of charge and only asked the government to avenge the death and injury of more than 20 members of the Yan family.
Jia Cong put away the letter and handed the Panlong Golden Order to Jia Shiyi.
"Since the Qu family and the Qin family are shameless, I don't intend to continue to give them shame. Uncle Eleven, you personally lead people to seal down the shops and warehouses of these two families, and bring all the food to the house overnight. Store it in the warehouse. If anyone blocks it, he will be killed without mercy!"
Gudong!
Lu Xiaozu couldn't help but swallowed his saliva. He hesitated for a moment and persuaded: "Sir, this is a bit of a punishment without teaching. Just seal up the shop and warehouse. If you want to kill people..."
"If you don't kill, how can you scare Xiao Xiao?"
Jia Cong's indifferent face showed a trace of murderous intent. He waved his hand: "Go ahead. Since the Qu family and the Qin family don't want to come, then don't come again. Mr. Lu, follow me downstairs for a meeting." Meet these Yanzhou celebrities."
Yimeng Tower is the largest and most luxurious restaurant in Yanzhou Fucheng. The first and second floors are filled with celebrities from Yanzhou invited by Jia Cong.
When Jia Cong and Lu Xiaozu walked down the stairs on the third floor, the originally noisy restaurant immediately became quiet.
Jia Cong, who was wearing a purple robe, made these people both curious and afraid. This young man had a father who was generous and had no taboos.
They had thought about joining forces to resist Jia Cong's invitation, but after discussing it for an entire afternoon, they finally did not dare to find reasons to refuse like the Qu family and Qin family did.
After all, not everyone has a noble background. Maybe they have the reputation of being a scholar or a scholar, and they have one or two officials and gentry in their family to support them, but no one's waist can be as thick as the waist of the young man in front of them.
Besides, there is a great god behind this young master. The world-famous Prince Zhongshun is still sitting in the government office.
"Greetings to Mr. Jia, meeting Mr. Lu..."
Jia Cong walked halfway up the stairs, looking down at the people saluting with a calm expression.
He raised his hand and said in a deep voice: "You don't have to be polite. I invite you here today to ask for a favor..."
There were buzzing whispers all around, but Jia Cong didn't pay attention to it, and instead stated his request directly.
"You must all know about the rebellion caused by the White Lotus Sect. Natural and man-made disasters have occurred, and the people have been displaced. Shuo Shu has appeared in Yanzhou Mansion, and all the food stored in the treasury has been lost. Therefore, I invite you here today just to buy some food from you. Food should be urgently needed."
"I, Hong Shixing, would like to ask Mr. Jia, if Yanzhou has no food, why doesn't Jinan Prefecture adjust the food supply?"
Jia Cong looked at the white-bearded old man who asked him a question, shook his head and replied: "It's beyond the reach of the whip. The refugees are about to gather in the city. It's snowing all over the sky. It's too late to get food from Jinan. That's why I said, yes I want to buy some food with you for emergency use.”
Hong Shixing raised his hand and asked again: "If we can help the imperial court to provide disaster relief, we will be obliged to do so. But..."
"Mr. Hong, you can speak out!"
I saw Hong Shixing with a self-deprecating look on his face, exchanging glances with the people around him and saying, "To be honest with Mr. Jia, if it's 1,800 shi of grain, we can get it if we scrape it together. Let alone buying it, it's just a free donation." It can be given to the imperial court. But as you said just now, the treasury has almost no food, so even if we raise 1,800 dan, it will only be a drop in the bucket!"
?Monthly ticket??Recommended ticket?
