Mr. Zeng's expression suddenly changed.
Just like what he and Mr. Zhu said, Huairen County is less than thirty miles away from Xi'an Fort. Once the bandit army continues to move south or east, Xi'an Fort will become the next target of the bandits.
"General Manager!" He Caoshou's soldier nearby saw General Zeng in a daze and called out.
General Zeng came back to his senses and said: "Go back first and send a message to Chanshou for me. Tell me that I will go to Sun's house and return to Chanshou's mansion after returning from Sun's house."
"Young man, please leave." He Caoshou saluted and rode away.
Xi'an Fort occupies a small area and cannot compare to large forts like Xinping Fort. It is also more than half the size of the nearest Huairen County. There are also two large families in the city, the Zhu family and the Sun family.
The Sun family is at the other end of the street, less than a mile away from Zhu's mansion.
Mr. Zeng and his people quickly arrived outside the gatehouse of the Sun family's mansion.
A soldier who followed came forward and called the door.
After a short time, the door of Sun's house was opened from the inside, and the concierge walked out.
"I have met Mr. Zeng." The concierge stepped forward and saluted Mr. Zeng.
Xi'an Fort is not a big fort. The highest guard in the city is Zhengshou, followed by the commander-in-chief, and below that are the general flags, small flags and ordinary flag troops.
General Manager Zeng was the only top official in Xi'an Fort, and most people in the fort knew him.
"Take me to see your Mr. Sun." Mr. Zeng asked straight to the point about Mr. Sun.
The concierge bowed and replied: "Please wait a moment, sir, while I will go in to report."
After saying that, the concierge quickly ran into the yard.
Mr. Zeng, who was riding on horseback, did not rush into the Sun family. Instead, he sat steadily on the horse and waited for the Sun family master to come out of the yard.
The sky had already turned completely dark. Except for the patrol team in the city passing by with torches on the street, no pedestrians were seen. In the surrounding courtyards, only the Sun's house had light.
The sound of messy footsteps came from Sun's yard.
Then the Master of the Sun family came out from behind the door and said with a smile on his face: "No wonder I heard magpies chirping in the yard. It turned out to be an important guest who came to the door. I invited the president inside."
"No need, I came here this time just to defend the city." Mr. Zeng said in an indifferent tone.
He is also a wealthy man in Xi'an Fort, and he is no longer as polite to Master Sun as he is to Master Zhu.
Although the Zhu family is not a member of the clan, they are inextricably linked to the clan, and they have royal blood flowing through them. The Sun family is just a wealthy local in Xi'an Fort, otherwise they would not send their niece to work in order to please their ethics. Concubine.
The master of the Sun family felt the indifference in General Zeng's words and said cautiously: "Defending the city is a matter for the city's defenders. For this reason, the Sun family also donated 700 taels of silver to defend the city."
In his words, he reminded General Manager Zeng in front of him that the Sun family had also made efforts in guarding Xi'an Fort.
"Conduct said, the bandits are attacking, and the young men in the city are defending the city. As a big family in Xi'an Fort, the Sun family should set an example and contribute 500 dan of food." Mr. Zeng said expressionlessly.
Mr. Sun seemed to be shocked by this number. He stumbled back two steps involuntarily and hit the door behind him.
Mr. Zeng was indifferent to Mr. Sun's embarrassment, but urged: "Master Sun, please hurry up and prepare food. The conduct is urgent, and it will be sent to the conduct house overnight."
"You can't ask my Sun family for food. My niece is the wife of Master Cheng." The master of the Sun family protested.
He was not willing to give out five hundred shi of grain. Even if the government paid the same amount of money to buy his grain, he would not sell it, let alone give it away for free.
Five hundred stones of grain can be converted into one or two hundred taels of silver. Now Datong is suffering from military disaster, Xi'an Fort has closed its gates, and the price of food in the city is changing three times a day. As long as the bandits are unjust, the price of food will only remain high. No less, it is even possible to exchange a stone of grain for an acre of good irrigated land.
In such an emergency period, whoever controls the grain controls the land and the lives of the tenant farmers.
Mr. Zeng, who was sitting on the horse, snorted softly and said, "Your niece is just a concubine by your side. She deserves to be married to your Sun family."
The concubine's status was low, and the document signed by the concubine was a contract, and the concubine could even be given away at will.
During the Song Dynasty, a scholar gave away his pregnant concubine to someone else, and even the child born from the concubine took someone else's surname.
"That's also Master Cheng's pillow." Mr. Sun emphasized with a red face.
General Zeng said coldly: "This is the general order of Chengshou. If the Sun family is dissatisfied, they can go to the Chengshou Mansion to find Chengshou, but the food must be prepared in quantities of one bushel now."
"I'm going to find Master Zhengshou right now and ask Master Zhengshou whether he gave the order for the Sun family to send five hundred shi of food. Housekeeper, prepare a carriage and go to Zhengshou Mansion." The master of the Sun family asked someone to prepare a carriage and go to Zhengshou Mansion. The government can distinguish clearly.
President Zeng said expressionlessly: "It's okay to go to the Chengshou Mansion, but the food must be prepared, otherwise no one can leave."
Behind him, a group of flag troops walked out and surrounded the main gate of the Sun family, as well as the Sun family master and other Sun family members in front of the door.
"You, what do you mean? I want to see Mr. Cheng to ask about the food. If you stop me, you are guilty of a crime." The master of the Sun family pointed angrily at Mr. Zeng.
General Manager Zeng glanced at the Sun family master and said: "The food is ready, you can go to the Chengshou Mansion, otherwise no one from the Sun family will be able to leave."
He was not polite to the Sun family.
He didn't take it seriously in the slightest when a family had never produced a rich man.
"Go prepare food for them and get it from the granary in the north." Faced with General Zeng's threat of force, Mr. Sun chose to surrender.
Even though he was unwilling to do so, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was wait for the matter to be understood, go to the Chanshou Mansion to see his niece, and let his niece blow the pillow in Chanshou's ears.
"Master, do you really want to prepare five hundred shi of food?" The steward next to him asked again unwillingly.
The master of the Sun family said with an ugly face: "Why are there so many nonsense? Go and get ready. Remember to get food from the granary in the north."
The granary to the north is mentioned again.
"I understand, I will take people to the north granary to prepare five hundred stones of grain." The steward agreed and turned back to the yard to prepare grain for Mr. Zeng.
Zeng Xiang heard Mr. Sun mention the granary to the north twice. It was obvious that the granary to the north had some special significance.
Of course, he didn't think that the Sun family would be kind enough to use their own new grain to pay for the five hundred shi of grain. They would most likely use old grain like the Zhu family.
However, he didn't care about new or old food. As long as he transported this food to the Chengshou Mansion, it would not only satisfy the daily rations of the defenders and young men in the city, but he could also take this opportunity to make a fortune.
"Boss Zeng, I can leave now!" Mr. Sun said gloomily.
The family was short of five hundred shi of food, which was like cutting off his flesh.
