The warehouse manager didn't dare to ask, so he hurriedly opened all the brothels with a few subordinates.
Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao looked at each cell in the book.
Lao Zhu also picked up the grain stored in each cell and tasted it before he felt relieved.
No matter what happened to the army granary in Taicang, at least Yingtian's was fine for the time being.
Lao Zhu patted the warehouse chief on the shoulder: "You did a good job. Your name is Li Mian, right. We remember that he has been in charge of military rations for us since the fifteenth year of Zhizheng. It was Li Shanchang who introduced you."
Li Mian knelt down and choked with sobs: "The emperor actually still remembers that I will have no regrets even if I die."
Lao Zhu said: "You have been with us for so many years and your official position is still so low. I feel a little wronged to you. When we go back, we will think about it and give you a better position."
Zhu Bai secretly sighed: A person does not have only shortcomings and no advantages.
They hated Li Shanchang so much before, but now that they have Hu Weiyong as a comparison object, they realize that Li Shanchang is much better.
Although Li Shanchang is greedy and cunning, he still has a good way of managing people.
Just like this warehouse manager, and many previous officials.
Moreover, Li Shanchang was impeached and abused by the officials every day, and he never really took action to destroy the officials. He always fought back when forced, and most of the time he pretended to be dead and cowardly.
No wonder Lao Zhu knew that Li Shan was greedy, but still wanted to use him.
Zhu Biao was also deeply touched.
Under the influence of Liu Bowen, he has always disliked Li Shanchang.
He even thought that if Li Shanchang had not stepped down when Lao Zhu was here, then he would be the first to deal with Li Shanchang when he came to power.
Now I realize that I am a little naive and superficial, and my view of the problem is too one-sided.
Zhu Bai once said: "To be a king, you don't need to be good at everything. You just need to make good use of people who are special in one aspect."
In this regard, he is neither as good as Lao Zhu, nor as good as Li Shanchang, nor even as good as Zhu Bai.
Although Lao Zhu may have said it for the sake of publicity, Zhu Bai made up his mind: this warehouse manager has clear ideas, is familiar with the business, is honest about his duties, and has clean hands and feet. I will definitely use him again in the future.
-----
Unlike the slow pace when they came back, they galloped all the way back.
When Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao returned to the palace, they first asked the Ministry of Revenue to bring all the money and food books for the past two years.
They didn't directly ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to get the granary booklet because they were afraid of disturbing the situation.
The Ministry of Household Affairs did not dare to delay, so Ru Taisu asked someone to carry the book on a load and deliver it to the palace in person.
After putting down his things, he handed over to Lao Zhu: "What is the emperor looking for? Do you need the help of a minor minister?"
Lao Zhu said: "It's nothing, just take a look. Go and do your business."
When Lao Zhu waited for Ru Taisu to leave, he said to Zhu Bai: "Come here, son of a bitch, let's check together. Just look at the few volumes in the Taicang military granary and see how much food is left in the military granary now."
Zhu Bai muttered: "What's so interesting about this? I've had enough of looking at the account books for a long time."
Lao Zhu originally suspected that Zhu Bai knew something inside, so he took a big detour and deliberately led them to investigate this.
Now seeing Zhu Bai's reluctance, his suspicions were dispelled.
He narrowed his eyes and said, "Just do it when I ask you to check. Don't be lazy. Maybe you and your brother will have work to do soon. It's just because you read the account books too much that I asked you to check."
In fact, Zhu Bai had wanted to investigate this for a long time, but he was afraid that Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao would be wary.
He sat down pretending to be reluctant, rummaging here and there, looking absent-minded.
Lao Zhu said: "Look carefully. Otherwise, you may miss important information."
Only then did Zhu Bai look seriously.
Wait for Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao to start looking at the account books carefully.
He took out a pen and a small notebook from his pocket, and then wrote down some data.
Then he said: "Huh? It's strange. How come the relief food for Hubei comes from the military granary."
Last year's disaster relief grains were all allocated from various places according to Zhu Bai's instructions. They were borrowed and returned. They did not come out of official warehouses or military granaries at all.
Moreover, the grain that went to Hubei at that time was not used at all due to the delay of the disaster relief official Zhao Gan. Logically speaking, it should be returned directly. As a result, there was only a discrepancy in the account book of the military granary.
As time went by, hundreds of thousands of stones of food were nowhere to be found.
The victims did not get anything to eat, and the soldiers at the border were also hungry.
Either someone is using this to make up for the shortfall, or someone is being greedy.
"Haha, as expected, there is something fishy about it." Lao Zhu laughed angrily, then gritted his teeth, "We kill like this, and we actually kill countless corrupt officials. They also dare to attack grain. No wonder there is not enough grain transported to Dingliao. It turns out that it is the source. There is no food at all.”
Grain is different from salt, tea, gold, silver, copper and iron. Because the common people grow it and eat it every day, it cannot be controlled from the source or marked.
The food is the same everywhere.
So as long as it can be taken out of the granary, it can be sold, and it will not be suspected or traced when it is circulated in the market.
Zhu Biao was also very angry and said: "Father, let me go to the Taicang Army Granary to see how much food is left there. It will only take half a day along the river."
Lao Zhu glanced at Zhu Bai and said, "Brothers who fight against tigers, take your twelfth brother with you so that if anything happens, you can have someone to take care of you."
In fact, what Lao Zhu means is that the bad guys let Zhu Bai do it.
Moreover, Zhu Bai's brain works quickly and his adaptability is stronger than Zhu Biao's.
Zhu Bai frowned: "My eldest brother is definitely capable of doing this warehouse inspection, so I don't need to go to my subordinates."
He took such a long detour just because he didn't want to touch the matter, but in the end, Lao Zhufei wanted to drag him into it.
If something happens then, blame him for stealing Zhu Biao's limelight.
Zhu Biao saw that Zhu Bai was in trouble and gave him up: "The twelfth brother should be regarded as the eldest brother. If anything happens, the eldest brother will take care of it and I will never blame you."
Zhu Bai looked at Lao Zhu again
Lao Zhu said: "Well, I don't blame you."
They all said so, and Zhu Bai couldn't shirk anymore.
Lao Zhu added: "Take your gold medal with you. If anything goes wrong, we will rectify it on the spot. You two don't have to hesitate or think about whether to report it to us."
Zhu Biao and Zhu Bai cupped their hands: "Yes."
Lao Zhu personally ordered fifty people from the pro-military captains to follow Zhu Bai and the others, and secretly sent a secret order to Wu Zhen to ask him to respond.
As soon as the city gate opened the next day, Zhu Bai and Zhu Biao quietly went out from the north gate, boarded Zhu Bai's treasure ship on the bank of the Yangtze River, and went straight down the river to Taicang.
Zhu Biao stood at the bow of the boat, frowning.
Zhu Bai knew that he was worried about his own future and the future of Ming Dynasty.
The country is vast, but human energy is limited.
Lao Zhu was so diligent and capable in both literature and martial arts. There were so many talented people in the Ming Dynasty, but there were still many things that he couldn't take care of.
Even in the prosperous times, there will be lice.
Corrupt officials collude, hide their superiors and bully their subordinates, support each other, and gain wealth and glory at their fingertips.
It is difficult to be an upright official.
Just like the warehouse manager Li Mian I met yesterday.
He had been an upright official all his life without any problems, but Lao Zhu didn't notice him.
