At midnight, Li Yuan arrived in Wujin County under Changzhou. Although people and horses were exhausted, Li Yuan was relieved to be able to arrive in Wujin ahead of the Jin army's ships.
At night, the gates of Wujin County were closed, so Li Yuan was naturally unable to enter the city. Coupled with the fatigue of the troops, Li Yuan had no choice but to make do with the inn next to the official road outside Beicheng for one night, and then go to the county town to find local officials at dawn tomorrow. Although time is tight, the Jin fleet will not arrive in Wujin until at least tomorrow evening. There is still one day and one night to prepare, so it is not urgent.
There was no talking all night, and when the rooster crowed the next day, Li Yuan got up early, washed up, and led his horse out of the shop.
After riding on horseback for half an hour, Li Yuan arrived outside the north gate of Wujin County when it was getting dark. But what surprised Li Yuan was that the northern city gate of Wujin County was tightly closed, and there were no people entering the city at the gate. Even the city tower was empty. A few flags embroidered with the word "Tang" were lazily displayed. Flying at the top of the city.
Li Yuan shouted several times towards the top of the city, but not even a single person appeared on the top of the city.
While I was anxious, I suddenly heard the sound of "squeaking" wooden wheels turning from the path below the city. Looking around, I saw a common man pushing a peace cart from west to east along the path below the city.
Li Yuan hurriedly rode forward, raised his hands and asked: "Brother, I dare to ask, why is the North City Gate not open?"
The common man pushing the cart looked Li Yuan up and down, wiped his sweat and said, "Are you a foreigner? Don't you know that the North City Gate is closed today? Not only today, but also for the next two days, the city gate will not be opened."
Li Yuan's heart moved, and then he said hurriedly: "I am indeed not a local. I come from Changzhou City in the north. But I don't know why the North City Gate is not open."
"From today on, at the East Gate Wharf, the merchant ships of the Gu family of the Wuyue Kingdom will deliver food at a fair price to the people on the wharf. The officials and soldiers of Wujin County have gone to the wharf to maintain order. Everyone is so busy that there is no manpower left. Open the North City Gate? During the past few days of grain distribution, only the East City Gate has been opened, and the gates of the other three cities have been closed. No, I also have to go to the dock to collect grain." The commoner explained.
Although Li Yuan didn't quite understand what he said, it was obvious that the North City Gate would not open, but the East City Gate was open, so he could only go around the East City Gate to enter the city.
Li Yuan wanted to inquire about the inside story, and then waved to the people and said: "Brother, you get on the horse, I will give you a ride, and you lead the way for me. They are all on the river path. I am afraid that I have strayed off the road."
The common man hurriedly waved his hands and said: "I don't dare. I have never ridden a horse. I am afraid I will break my bones. Besides, did I lose my peace car?"
Li Yuan smiled and said: "Don't worry, my horse is very stable. The Taiping Car is very simple, just hang it on the back of the horse's butt."
After saying that, Li Yuan immediately bent down and reached out, grabbed the handle of the Taiping Car, lifted the car up with one hand, hung it on the hook on the side of the horse, and fixed it with a rope, which was very stable.
The people wanted to stop him, but it was too late. They just stood on the ground and clucked their tongues: "Oh, you little brother looks so skinny, how can you be so strong? I can't move this rickshaw by myself." Move. You are such a powerful horse. There is such a heavy thing hanging on the back of your butt, but it doesn't move at all."
Li Yuan chuckled and said: "People should not be judged by their appearance. Don't look at me because I am thin. My bones are full of meat. Get on the horse!"
The man climbed on the horse awkwardly and sat behind Li Yuan. Li Yuan lifted the reins and the horse moved forward. The man was so frightened that he hugged Li Yuan's waist. Although Li Yuan felt a little weird being surrounded by a big man, he could only endure it.
After getting off the official road, he walked eastward along the small path outside the city wall. Although Li Yuan wanted to save time and reach the east gate quickly, there were all paths, ponds and lakes along the way, and the paths were densely covered like spider webs. Can't get up quickly. And if the common people hadn't pointed out the direction and told Li Yuan which road led to the river without a bridge, and which road was connected by a small bridge, he would have inevitably taken many wrongful paths.
Although it took some time, Li Yuan also found out the whole story on the way. Last year, the war in the Southern Tang Dynasty had a great impact. Coupled with the drought, it brought many adverse effects. Due to the severe drought and chaos, the price of food in Jiangnan soared. Unscrupulous merchants hoarded and drove up the price of food, but the people were forced to Low-priced grains are taxed to the government, making local people unable to afford grains.
Faced with such a situation, the Gu family of the Wuyue Kingdom, who had lived in Wu County, Suzhou for generations, took the initiative to express their willingness to provide a huge amount of grain and sell it at a fair price to the people of the neighboring Southern Tang Dynasty. The intention was naturally to relieve the people. Naturally, such a kind act was greatly welcomed by the people.
Since the fall of last year, Gu has shipped many ships of grain across the border from Suzhou every two months, and Wujin County has also been allocated three ships. So when it was time to distribute food at a fair price, the magistrates and officials of Wujin County and the training soldiers of the Yamen Service Corps went to Dongmen Wharf to help distribute food.
Therefore, several other city gates were closed due to manpower constraints. People also gathered at the East Gate Wharf to buy cheap food according to their accounts. This person named Sun Da, who lives in a small village to the west, could not sleep well today. It was a little late, so I didn’t take the north city road to the east gate until now.
"You said, this is the Gu family in Suzhou? Which Gu family?" Li Yuan asked.
"It's the Gu family. You don't even know this?" Sun Da looked at Li Yuan as if he was looking at a monster.
"Who doesn't know the Gu family today? The largest wealthy family in the southeast and one of the top merchants in Wuyue Kingdom? The Gu family has vast hectares of fertile land and billions of dollars in furniture. It is said that their family has some relationship with the Tang Dynasty. Didn't the late emperor live in Suzhou? Is it a funeral?"
Li Yuan suddenly realized that this so-called Gu family, the largest wealthy family in the southeast, was probably the Gu family, one of the four surnames in Wuzhong that was passed down from the Soochow period of the Three Kingdoms. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, there were many high-ranking officials from generation to generation, and history books also recorded the Gu family in the Tang Dynasty. In the last five generations, due to wars, the family gradually withdrew from the political arena, transformed into merchants and achieved great success. With its strong economic foundation, it prospered until the Southern Song Dynasty, and did not disappear until the Mongols invaded.
Li Yuan did not expect that the Gu family would be so capable. At a time when grain prices were as high as gold, he would be willing to sell a large amount of grain at a fair price and benefit the people of other countries. This was not an ordinary generosity and magnanimity.
You must know that Wujin County is just a small county, and relief can be obtained here, let alone all the cities in the south of the Yangtze River. How big a deal it must be. However, in Li Yuan's view, these big businessmen and wealthy families naturally have their own purpose in doing this, and they spent money to win people's hearts. This is probably the reason why they stood up at this time.
