"Eunuch Cao." Yang Qingyuan and Li Xunhuan saluted Cao Zhengchun in return.
"Your Majesty is waiting for you two in the imperial study."
Cao Zhengchun came to invite him personally. It seemed that the matter was not a big deal.
Arriving at the Imperial Study Room, Yu Yanyi, a student from Wuying Palace, Qian Muqian, a student from Wenyuan Pavilion, Sun Fuji, the chief scholar from Wenhua Palace, and Li Hongyi, a bachelor from Jianji Palace, were all present. The bachelors from the four halls and two pavilions had arrived. four.
Kong Qinli, a bachelor of Dongge University, only holds a meritorious position and does not participate in political affairs.
Fan Xiwen, the chief minister of the cabinet and a bachelor of Zhongji Palace, is very old. He occasionally gets cold and has been bedridden at home for more than half a month.
It can be said that all the senior officials of the imperial court have gathered in the imperial study room, which actually made Yang Qingyuan and Li Xunhuan a little nervous.
"Li Qing, Yang Qing, sit down!"
Yang Qingyuan and Li Xunhuan sat at the end.
"You all know the news about the fire in the four warehouses in the capital, right!" Emperor Zhou sat on the throne with no expression on his face. "They say it was a fire, but in fact, after the official warehouse was stolen, someone set it on fire with the intention of revealing the truth."
Except for Yang and Li, the two new men present, all of them were pillars of the imperial court and members of the highest power class. They all knew the basic situation of the four warehouse fire, but looking at Emperor Zhou's appearance, all four of them guessed that the matter was not that simple.
"Originally, after the truth was found out, the official plan was to recover the official rations. Even if the official rations could not be recovered, they could still be transferred from Jiangnan. However, there happened to be a sudden snowstorm in Jizhou. The governor of Jizhou hurriedly asked the court to allocate grains. The Ministry of Revenue calculated it the day before yesterday. An accurate figure would require at least 1.1 million shi of grain."
Yang Qingyuan's heart skipped a beat. It was 200,000 stone more than the last estimate of 900,000 stone.
Li Hongyi, the Grand Scholar of Jianji Palace, frowned and said, "I remember that there is still more than 1 million shi of food in the Yongji warehouse before the fire. It can be temporarily transferred to Jizhou, but this will make the food supply in Shendu very tight. ”
The news of the theft of Yongji warehouse has been blocked by the people in the Beijing camp. So far, only Yang Qingyuan, Li Xunhuan and Emperor Zhou know the details. Yu Yanyi, who is in charge of the Ministry of War, has guessed but does not know the facts.
Just when the academicians were planning to transport grain from the south of the Yangtze River and stabilize the price of food in the capital, Emperor Zhou dropped a piece of news that shocked the academicians.
"Yongji Cang has also been stolen!" Emperor Zhou paused, "Yang Qing, Li Qing, tell me!"
The academicians turned their heads and focused on Yang Qingyuan and Li Xunhuan.
Yang Qingyuan and Li Xunhuan looked at each other. As the person in charge of the investigation, Yang Qingyuan would give a brief introduction.
"My lords, Xianguan and Li Yushi went to Yongji Granary a few days ago and found out that the grain in the warehouse had been stolen. Only 200,000 dan of grain were left in the warehouse out of one million dan."
The expressions of all the bachelors who were calculating the grain consumption while listening changed drastically. This news meant that no matter how they saved and made up for it, they would not be able to collect the 1.1 million shi of grain needed by Jizhou.
"Sir, this..." Sun Fuji, the chief scholar of Wenhua Palace University, was about to speak when Emperor Zhou raised his hand to stop him.
"No need to panic, gentlemen. Yang Qing and Li Qing have already taken care of my urgent needs."
Yang Qingyuan nodded, "Yesterday, Wei Chen sent more than 390,000 shi of food to Jizhou. Jizhou should be able to sustain it for a while."
"I asked why you applied to the Ministry of War to transfer three thousand troops to Jizhou. It turned out to be to escort food."
Yang Qingyuan nodded, "The matter is urgent. The Ministry of Revenue cannot send an official ship. I can only crash the grain into a private ship and ask your Excellency to send troops to escort me. I failed to disclose the matter in time. Please forgive me."
"It doesn't matter!" Yu Yanyi waved, "You have official duties, so it should be like this."
"Yongji Cang has also allocated 150,000 shi of grain to Jizhou. 540,000 shi of grain is enough for Jizhou to survive for a while." Li Hongyi added, originally, University Scholar Li didn't know why Yongji Cang I only had 150,000 dan, and now I know that 150,000 dan is already the limit.
Yang Qingyuan thought for a moment and asked, "Sir, if the porridge and rice used for disaster relief are boiled thinner, can we last longer."
Changsun Fuji smiled bitterly after hearing Yang Qingyuan's words, "Qingyuan, the food required calculated by the Ministry of Household Affairs is the minimum requirement. Let alone rice porridge, it would be good if the people in Jizhou can drink rice soup."
Jizhou is the most populous state in the Zhou Dynasty, and the amount of disaster relief food required is also astronomical. Yang Qingyuan has never been exposed to such government affairs, so he does not know the details.
"But now there are 540,000 shi of grain. Jizhou will not be short of food for the time being. When I learned that the four warehouses were on fire, I had already written to all the states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River to transfer grain to the north. After that, I sent three letters in succession to expedite it. I guess The food from Jiangnan should have already been sent out!"
Li Hongyi explained that he was from the Ministry of Household Affairs and was the best at planning and deployment in the room.
"Li Qing, how long does it take for the food from the states and counties in the south of the Yangtze River to be transported to the north?!"
"Starting from the counties in the south of the Yangtze River, if the road is smooth, it will take at least forty-seven days to reach Jizhou via the canal." Li Hongyi replied without thinking.
"Can't we hurry up?!" The person who spoke was Yang Qingyuan and Li Xunhuan's disciple Qian Muqian. He was in charge of the Ministry of Etiquette and didn't really know much about this kind of thing.
"This is already the fastest speed! The cabinet document I issued stipulates that the official ship transporting grain to the south of the Yangtze River does not have to stop for inspection midway, so that it can arrive within forty-seven days!"
"On the forty-seventh day, I'm afraid Jizhou won't be able to hold on!?" Emperor Zhou tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
"Your Majesty! I have something to say!" Yang Qingyuan said, "I think that all the stolen grain and grass may not have been transported out of the Gyeongsang region."
Yang Qingyuan opened his mouth and attracted the attention of everyone in the room.
"To transport such a large amount of grain out of Gyeonggi in a short period of time without arousing suspicion from others, we can only transport it by water. And water transport must pass the inspection of Sanshui Pass. Weichen went to Sanshui Pass with Master Yu's handwriting After taking the inspection records of Sanshui Pass within half a year, it seems that only part of the grain stolen by the thieves was transported, and the remaining grain was left in the Gyeonggi area, and may even be hidden in the capital."
"Oh?!" Yang Qingyuan's words made everyone see another way.
As Yang Qingyuan's mentor, Qian Muqian asked, "Qingyuan, have you ever found out who stole the grain from the warehouse?!"
"Although I haven't found out the details yet, there must be Anjia among those who steal food!"
"An Jia?!" Emperor Zhou frowned, "The An Jia in An Yunshan?!"
The richest man in the capital was not in Emperor Zhou's eyes, but a master of the Dongxuan Realm in the capital was enough for Emperor Zhou to take note of.
Warriors in the Dongxuan Realm are already qualified to enter the palace to assassinate.
The former Qin Shihuang was assassinated by two Dongxuan realm swordsmen and almost died under their swords. This made subsequent emperors extremely vigilant.
"Exactly! The minister has found out that An Shigeng, the son of An Yunshan, must be one of the people behind the theft of grain!"
