Hearing the sound coming from behind and the violent coughing, the soldiers who had been blocking Huang Qiong's face hurriedly moved out of the way. After the soldiers moved out of the way, an old man with an unusually thin figure and gray hair and beard sitting on a temporary chair that had been converted into a sedan chair, cupped his hands and said: "Commander of the Commander-in-Chief of the Former Division of Xijing Hall, veteran, Ouyang Jie pays homage to the King of England."
"The old man has been suffering from physical inconvenience recently and has not been able to go to Baqiao to greet the King of England. I would like to ask the King of England to be considerate. The little ones have not read books and their eyesight is really poor. They always want to let the old man rest in peace and recuperate, so I have not recognized His Royal Highness, and I would like to ask Your Majesty to ignore the faults of small people. There are many of you, so please do not get angry with these little brats. Your Majesty, please."
After hearing these words from the gray-haired Uncle Ying Cheng, who was coughing violently again, the former commander of the Xijing Liudian Hall said. Before arriving, he already knew that the veteran was ill. Huang Qiong had made petitions many times, hoping to resign from his official position so that he could go home and rest in peace, but he had not yet received the old man's consent. He just nodded slightly and stepped in.
As for adults not remembering villains' mistakes, Huang Qiong naturally wouldn't care too much. If it weren't for the commander-in-chief, he wouldn't have vented his anger on an innocent soldier today. Outside the Xiaoqi camp, he had endured Yu Mingyuan's obvious dislike. How could he meet a group of soldiers who were supposedly doing their duty faithfully today?
When Huang Qiong walked into the lobby of the Si Yamen in front of the palace, the first thing he said was not to ask the veteran why he had not moved forward for so long after receiving the imperial edict. Instead, he turned to the Minister of Household Affairs in Xijing and the Shaanxi Road appeasement envoy and said: "How is the mobilization of food and grass for Longyou's counterinsurgency this time? Don't tell me that you have done nothing for such a long time?"
Hearing Huang Qiong's question, the two of them stood up in unison and said tremblingly: "Reporting to the prince, the grain and grasslands have almost been collected. But prince, you also know that there was a severe drought in Longyou and Shaanxi last year. , the drought has not been completely lifted yet. Except for a few official warehouses in Hanzhong and Chang'an, most of the remaining official warehouses are now empty."
"Although the Ministry of Revenue has provided most of the money and food, it needs to be transported thousands of miles from the official warehouse in Luoyang to Chang'an. Now the military rations promised by the Ministry of Revenue are only about 60%. I have tried my best to raise them, but I have also found a way to raise them. Thirty percent. But now there is such a big chaos in Ningxia Mansion. After the party members took control of Ningxia Mansion, they forced the Han people to shave their heads and even killed innocent people."
"After this man gained control of the entire Ningxia Prefecture, he once killed thousands of Han people who refused to shave their heads in the name of trying to rebel. This caused a large number of Han people in the Ningxia Prefecture to flee. The entire Longdong area of Longyou, There are also Han people escaping from Ningxia Prefecture in these eight hundred miles of Qinchuan. Lord Zheng Daoyuan, who arrived first, allocated a batch of military rations that had been collected to provide relief to the victims."
"It's just that the amount he allocated, although it is not much, is only about 35% of the food that has been raised. In addition, Liu Jiedushi went to Yan'an Mansion and took some of it away. The gap left now, based on the current situation, The situation on the Shaanxi Road cannot be made up for. Before the arrival of the grain and fodder transferred from the capital, the grain and fodder to supply the 20,000 troops to Longyou is still slightly insufficient."
Huang Qiong didn't speak to the two men's answers. He just pondered for a long time before saying: "You don't need to fill this gap. I ask you now, how much food can Shaanxi Road provide for emergency response? Don't tell me King, all your official warehouses in Shaanxi Road have bottomed out now. Although there was a severe drought in Shaanxi Road last year, the harvest in Hanzhong was still good, far from being a complete loss."
"What's more, at the end of last year, in order to alleviate the drought on Shaanxi Road, the imperial court filled all your empty official warehouses at once. Even if there is a drought this spring, the drought on Shaanxi Road has been completely alleviated by summer. Now the autumn harvest is around the corner. , the harvest in Shaanxi this year should still be good. Therefore, you don’t need to keep too much food in your hands for emergencies."
"You are complaining in front of me just because you are worried that the difference will eventually fall on you. It is not that I don't understand the principle of dead Taoist friends and undead poor Taoists. Why did he go out to Longyou? The money and food you need can come out of Shaanxi? It is your Longyou victims who caused the rebellion, and those who fled to Chang'an are also your Longyou victims."
"This thing was caused by you Longyou. Why should Shaanxi Road spend money and food to wipe your butt? Everyone has selfish motives. If you think so, I can't say you are wrong. But things have priorities. Zheng Daoyuan misappropriated The military rations are used to provide relief to the victims, and it is the people of our Daqi Dynasty who are being rescued, and it is also the people of Daqi Dynasty who are being stabilized, so that your Shaanxi Road will not be as chaotic as Shanxi Road."
"So, I can't even say that he did something wrong. He is my participation in politics this time. This matter is not confirmed until he puts the 35% of the embezzled grain into his pocket. At least for now. , I have to help him, let alone trying to gain fame. But the military situation is urgent, and before the food from the capital is shipped, I can only take advantage of you to make up for the shortage. "
After Huang Qiong finished speaking, the Xijing Household Secretary, the Shaanxi Road Comfort Envoy, and the Chief Envoy looked at each other and couldn't help but turn a little blue. Together with the food that was not fully mobilized and transported in the first place, the current shortfall in food totals about 70,000 dan. As for this amount, Shaanxi Road is now selling everything, even if it cleans out the entire warehouse, it still can't be taken out.
Looking at the expressions of the three people, Huang Qiong just smiled faintly and said: "Part of the food allocated this time was originally used to relieve the victims of the Ningxia Mansion. Therefore, Zheng Shenzheng transferred part of it, although it is a matter of killing first and reporting later. , but there is no big problem. Moreover, I don’t ask you to fill up all the gaps immediately, I just ask you to take out a part first.”
"In this way, you will first take out 70% of the gap and transfer it to Huazhou. The rest, I will urge the capital to transport the remaining grain as soon as possible. Don't worry, this 70% of the grain can be temporarily lent to you Shaanxi . When the tax arrives this autumn, the court will pay it back immediately. I always keep my word. If you are still not at ease, I can give you a written note."
After hearing Huang Qiong's words, the Shaanxi Road Comfort Envoy and the Chief Envoy looked at each other and said helplessly: "King Ying, not to mention the current gap of 70,000 stones, Shaanxi Road really can't come up with it. It's up to you to surrender. When it reaches 70%, none of the 50,000 shi of grain can be brought to Shaanxi. Last year, the imperial court allocated to replenish the official warehouse's grain, but it only reached 70%. The remaining 30%, I have not seen it until now."
"After you took office this year, you issued an order to allocate 130,000 shi of grain from various official warehouses in Shaanxi to Longyou for Longyou. In addition, this year you ensured that within the borders of Shaanxi Road, the frontier army, the guard army, and the Xijing University The food required by the battalion garrison, as well as a minimum amount of emergency reserve food. Before the autumn tax arrives, Shaanxi Road can now provide up to 40,000 shi of food."
"Any more will be really powerless. Your Majesty, we can't leave even 10,000 shi of grain reserves in the official warehouse of Shaanxi Road. If we encounter any other situation, Shaanxi Road can even provide some emergency supplies." We have no other options. There was a severe drought in Shaanxi last year, and the drought eased slightly after half of this year. But the rain came too late, and the autumn harvest situation in Shaanxi this year may not be optimistic either."
Huang Qiong was slightly startled by the Shaanxi pacifier's complaint. Then he turned to the somewhat guilty Hubu Shangshu and said: "Master Lu, you are the Hubu Shangshu left in Xijing. The official warehouses in Shaanxi and Longyou are all under your control. Last year, the imperial court replenished the grain of the official warehouses on Shaanxi Road. It's only 70%. Why didn't you report such a big thing to the court truthfully? Could it be that you did something in this?"
There was uncontrollable anger in Huang Qiong's tone. The Lu Shangshu was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground and kept kowtowing and shouting: "Your Majesty, this is not the fault of the official. It was because when the food was allocated last year, the official had not yet taken office. The official took office last year. It happened last autumn. After Xiaguan took office, he wrote many times to urge the Ministry of Household Affairs on this matter. But there was no reply at all from the capital."
"I was tired of asking, so I said that the holes in various places were too big last year, and the grain was temporarily diverted to other places. The remaining 30% will be maintained as it is for the time being. When the autumn grain comes this year, it will be replenished according to the situation. It will be recorded in the account first Well, they can't keep their accounts anyway. You also know that Xiaguan, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, is just a decoration, and he is of the same rank as the Minister of the Ministry of Finance in the capital."
"In terms of real power, there is not much at all. The real power in allocating money and food in the world is in the hands of the capital. The lower officials in the household department of the capital really cannot afford to offend. Especially this year, Longyou and Shaanxi Second Road are like this This is a situation. There is no way to make up for it on your own. If you really ask for help and offend those people, the 30% of the vacancy might actually become a short position. "
"Although the 30% of the food here has not arrived yet, it has already been recorded in the ledger. If the other party really refuses to pay it back, then Xiaguan will be full of words and cannot explain where the 30% of the food has gone. Xiaguan's words The officials speak softly, but who will believe it? The subordinates are also forced to have no choice but to wait until the tax comes up this autumn to find ways to make up for it."
Lu Shangshu's words made Huang Qiong frown and never relaxed. Huang Qiong had never thought about the bad official habit of peeling off all the money and food that passed through his hands before putting it into practice. But he didn't expect that the people in the household department would be so courageous. It turns out that this peel is only 30%, and it is so blatant, even to the point where you can't stand it.
There are holes everywhere and they have been misappropriated to other places. Although there was a severe drought in Longyou and Shaanxi last year, Jiangnan, Lianghuai, Shandong, and Hebei all had great harvests. Where do we need to dig grain from Shaanxi Road to fill that gap? This 30% of the grain, a total of 100,000 shi, was simply resold through channels by the daring and unscrupulous officials in the Ministry of Revenue. Anyway, all the money and food in the world are controlled by the Ministry of Household Affairs.
They also have the right to dispose of the grain that comes from the autumn tax every year. When the drought here is over, they are looking for excuses to make up for it, or directly ask the court to reimburse them. Last year there was a severe drought in Longyou and Shaanxi, and the amount of rice per pound rose to more than 300 yuan. Even those on Shanxi Road and Henan Road, which are close to Shaanxi Road, have experienced a sharp increase in food prices. These 100,000 shi of food can be exchanged for hundreds of thousands of guan.
Anyway, as long as nothing major happens on Shaanxi Road, the food that has been allocated will be enough to meet daily needs. There is not much food for more than one hundred thousand stone, and there is not much food for less than one hundred thousand stone. Isn't it better to take this opportunity to make a huge fortune? The only thing they didn't calculate was that Longyou would cause a rebellion among the party members.
