With a "bang" sound, a palm-sized stone inkstone was hit hard on the ground.
The ink flew around and splashed directly on the black clothes.
Li Xuan glanced at the ink spots on her clothes, then raised her head coldly and looked at the two chief and deputy warehouse managers who were kneeling on the ground.
Li Yuanyi, a member of the Kucao army on the side, smashed the stone inkstone away, then without hesitation pulled out a long knife from his waist, and put the sharp blade directly on the necks of the two warehouse guards.
With just one stroke, a trace of blood was drawn.
It was obvious that he was in severe pain from being scratched and his cheek was twitching constantly, but the warehouse manager still knelt there straight and bowed his head deeply.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Li Yuanyi looked at the two people fiercely. He now wanted to eat them alive. .z.br>
Under the cold blade, the two of them could not help but tremble, but they refused to utter a single word.
Li Xuan's eyes moved away from them and fell on the straw sack behind them.
A bamboo pipe was thrown on the ground, a small pile of old rice was piled in a row, and in the deepest part of the granary, what flowed out of the straw bag was sand and gravel.
"In the entire grain depot, there are now twenty-seven full grain granaries. Only nine of them are one-year-old grain, nine of which are mixed with half of three-year-old grain, and nine of which are mixed with three-year-old grain and six-year-old grain. Another half is made up of sand and gravel.”
Li Xuan casually turned his head and looked at Zhang Yi, who was also livid, and asked expressionlessly: "Zhang Canjun, it is your duty to lift bombs for good and evil. Come and tell me, this kind of thing, the state How should the government impose penalties?"
Du Bixing and Yu Ze are currently in charge of the state government office. The only people here with Li Xuan are Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Han Jiang and Yan Tao.
"Reporting to the prince, according to Yonghui law, the prison guard should be sentenced to the crime of self-stealing, one of the six stolen goods. Depending on the severity of the case, the sentence will be different. The lighter one will be punished with sixty sticks and three hundred miles of exile. The more serious one will be punished with one hundred sticks and three thousand miles of exile. , if the situation is serious, beheading!" Zhang Yi said "Beheading", and the two warehouse managers trembled even more.
The grain in the grain depot should all be new grain that is less than a year old, but now, according to the statistics of the whole depot, the amount of new grain only accounts for half of it.
Three-year-old grain accounts for 30%, 60% grain accounts for 15%, and the remaining half is complete sand and gravel.
In particular, the last nine grain depots contained old grain mixed with sand and gravel. Even the refugees would not eat it, let alone the soldiers who went into battle to kill the enemy.
Perhaps the three-year-old grain in the last nine granaries can be salvaged, but if it cannot be made up for, it will inevitably affect the morale of the frontline troops.
These two people may not be clear about the truth, but for some reason, these two people just keep their mouths shut and don't say a word.
In fact, looking at the delicate skin and tender flesh of these two people, I know that they are not people who can withstand such a severe punishment.
But if they insist on doing so, it seems that there is someone behind them!
At this time, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in Li Xuan's mind, and it seemed that he could...
Li Xuan smiled softly, leaned forward slightly, looked at the two warehouse managers, but asked Zhang Yi: "Zhang joined the army, what about during the war? If during the war, the guards would steal, resulting in a lack of food and pay, and the morale of the army would be shaken ..."
"Treason, beheading, confiscating homes, and killing clans." Zhang Yi said the cruel decree in an extremely cold voice.
With one sentence, the two warehouse managers who had been trembling suddenly raised their heads and looked at Zhang Yi and Li Xuan in disbelief.
"Then let's do this." Li Xuan stood up and walked out with his hands behind his back, saying, "Let the brothers in the state prison greet these two people well, and try their best to learn from these two people and their They, their families, tribesmen, relatives and friends, all look for one..."
"Your Majesty, have mercy on me..." Loud sounds of begging for mercy came from behind, and Li Xuan stopped. Amidst the banging and banging sounds of kowtows, more begging for mercy came: "Your Majesty, please spare your life, we... we are willing to explain. "
Li Xuan turned around and sat back in the center of the grain warehouse.
The blade on my neck is still there,
But the two people still struggled and crawled to Li Xuan's feet on their knees.
"What time is it now? I believe that even if I don't tell you, you should also know in your hearts whether I have bluffed you. So, let's talk about what is going on. I, the king Come and listen to the bad habits of these treasurers." There was a trace of ridicule on Li Xuan's lips.
Li Yuanyi, who was standing aside, immediately held up his hands, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, this subordinate is guilty."
Before, whether at the dock or in the state government office, Li Yuanyi always seemed to be sworn that there would be no problem with Ku Cao.
But now, under his eyes, only 50% of the grain collected last autumn was left, and the other 50% was either replaced with old grain from other years, or directly replaced with sand and gravel, and he unexpectedly Ignorance, a crime of dereliction of duty cannot be escaped no matter what.
Thinking of this, Li Yuanyi's face couldn't help but turn blue and white.
Li Xuan shook his head slightly, looked up at Li Yuanyi, and said, "Uncle Clan has said before, nine and a half out of ten treasurers in the world will guard and steal, and the remaining half are just unfamiliar with the methods. They are novices, so the treasurer must be replaced every three years. Now these two people are only in their first year and their hands are still raw. Otherwise, the problem of this granary would not have been discovered so easily. "
Li Xuan was not a generalist, and he only knew about the grain officials' methods of stealing grains from Yu Ze and the others, and even they knew little about the details. The fact that Li Xuan could easily discover it today was simply due to their incompetence. Reasons for ripeness.
"They are not familiar with each other, but the official was still deceived." Li Yuanyi looked a little embarrassed.
He had inspected the warehouse countless times before, but he never found anything fishy in it. But when Li Xuan came, he just poked the bottom of the straw bag with a sharp bamboo tube, and immediately revealed the little tricks of these warehouse officials.
"It doesn't matter, as long as the food can be found back." Li Xuan shook her head calmly, looked at the two treasurers, with a cold look on her lips: "Okay, you two, explain to Li Canjun what is going on here. How did it happen? It's best to think about how to make up for it. If you can't think of a good way, then don't blame me for confiscating your homes and exterminating your clans."
That is to say, the summer harvest is very close now, and the Tianyin Sect uprising is also very close. If it were not worried that the news of the grain depot being exchanged would have too much impact, Li Xuan might have already killed these two people. Thousands of people were cut into pieces, their families were confiscated and their families were exterminated.
"Reporting to your lord, the Wuzhou grain depot has a total of fifty warehouses. After the grain is put into the warehouse every year, in addition to being transferred to Taicang as tax grain, distributing salary to officers and soldiers, and preparing for famine and disaster relief, there is about half of the grain left in the warehouse every year... This batch of grain will be replaced with new grain that year, and then the expired old grain will be sold at a low price to provide relief to the people."
"...Before the new grain is put into the warehouse, replace the one-year-old grain with three-year-old grain, or even older grain, and then sell it at a lower price when the new grain is put into the warehouse. , then there will be all new grain left in the warehouse, and we can make a profit."
After saying that, the two warehouse managers lowered their heads.
"Why, why don't you just sell the grain at a lower price and earn a large commission when you replace it with new grain? Instead, you have to do it yourself. It's troublesome and you have to use older grain in advance. This is not more risky. Is it big?" Li Yuanyi looked puzzled by this operation.
"Because you can make more money that way." The words of the two warehouse managers made Li Yuanyi not know what to say.
"It is indeed safer to take kickbacks, but in addition to making less money, it is also easy for others to get caught. But if you do it yourself, you will not be easily caught, and you will also make more money. Those grain merchants who collect old grains Once you know what's going on here, you won't make random decisions.
Not to mention, they didn't secretly replace so much food at once, but slowly replaced it bit by bit over a long period of time. "
Li Xuan sneered: "They won't endure until today. What we see today is the result of a long time."
Li Yuanyi suddenly turned around and looked at the two of them, gritting his teeth and said, "You deserve to die!"
"Spare your life if you join the army. We also have wives, children, and children." Two warehouse managers lay on the ground.
He grabbed Li Yuanyi's trousers with a look of panic on his face and begged bitterly.
"My lord, how do you think this matter should be handled?" Li Yuanyi turned around and looked at Li Xuan.
Li Xuan stood up, walked to the two warehouse managers, and looked at the two people with a cold face: "I am not an unkind person. You want to live, but I want someone to fill the food supply here." There is a shortage, so as long as you can do two things in this matter, I will expel you from the treasury, and I will no longer pursue you."
"Please give me your permission, Your Majesty!" The two warehouse managers immediately bowed to the ground.
Li Xuan raised her head, looked at the grain warehouses around her and said, "First of all, no matter what method you use, I will see that within three days, all the main warehouses will be filled with one year's new grain; Second, after I leave, you must act as if nothing has happened. If anyone asks, you must say that I have found nothing. If someone from the Tianyin Sect contacts you, you must also stand firm to me until the end. If they sneak into here..."
"Your Majesty wants to capture the bandits of the Tianyin Sect." Before Li Xuan finished speaking, the two warehouse managers immediately reacted.
At this time, the Tianyin Sect's rebels are about to start an uprising. Li Xuan and the others' biggest enemies are the Tianyin Sect's people. If they can help Li Xuan and the others catch the Tianyin Sect's bandits, and make up for the debt they owe, After that, even if he is dismissed, he will be fine in the end.
What's more, the money these people earn from Kucao is enough to make up for their food shortage.
"I am willing to obey the order." The two warehouse managers bowed to each other again.
Li Xuan did not look at them anymore, but looked at Li Yuanyi: "Li Canjun, I will leave this matter to you."
"I accept my order from my humble position." Li Yuanyi immediately handed over his hand.
On the broad street, Li Xuan was riding on a horse, with his head lowered as if he was thinking about something.
At this time, Yan Tao couldn't help but urge his horse forward and asked with concern: "Your Majesty, can this matter really attract people from the Tianyin Sect?"
"This is inevitable." Li Xuan nodded casually and said, "If this king's prediction is correct, these two bastards may have been targeted long ago, but as long as they grit their teeth and refuse to admit it, Tianyin will Those who teach will become suspicious..."
Having said this, a cruel smile suddenly appeared on Li Xuan's lips: "If the people of Tianyin Sect are smart enough, they will immediately discover that these two bastards are secretly raising food."
"The prince deliberately wants the people of the Tianyin Sect to find out that there is a problem with the grain depot. He doesn't want them to find out that we are secretly raising grain, and then let them catch them all while they are here to destroy it?" Yan Tao was in a daze. I saw the Tianyin rebels who were completely wiped out under Li Xuan's scheme.
"You are thinking too much." Li Xuan glanced at Yan Tao, shook his head and said: "The Tianyin Sect does not have many manpower in Wucheng. After encountering repeated attacks from me, the manpower they can use is even less. It's pitiful, so even if they come this time, it's just one or two people, either setting fires or poisoning. In short, they want us to have no food available. Once the city is besieged, the food will be exhausted and the city will be destroyed."
"Your Majesty!" Hearing what Li Xuan said, Yan Tao couldn't help but shudder. He quickly asked: "If it's so dangerous, why would Your Majesty..."
"Why take such a risk again, right?" Li Xuan smiled faintly and said, "It seems very risky, but there is a premise, that is, the summer grain cannot be stored in the warehouse... Once the summer grain is stored in the warehouse, the weather will be cloudy No matter how many plots you teach, it will be useless."
"Xia Liang?" Yan Tao vaguely seemed to grasp something, and asked subconsciously: "If Xia Liang is intercepted by Tianyin Sect..."
"Look, isn't there another reason why they have to take action against us?" A sneer appeared on Li Xuan's face, looking to the northwest, and said softly: "In this case, when will the war start? Once the war begins, all the leadership will fall into my hands."
"But what if, what if, there is a shortage of food in the city." Yan Tao had infinite worry on his face.
The spring grain has been used up and before the summer grain is put into storage, food is scarce in the world, but no one is willing to buy it.
"So we need to move the food in advance and let them destroy it.
Fake warehouse, and didn’t you hear what he said? When the time comes every year, the main warehouses everywhere will sell grain at low prices. "Li Xuan chuckled. The next moment, he turned to look at Han Jiang on one side and said coldly: "These two guys can't do such a thing on their own. There are people behind them, dig them out."
"Here!" Han Jiang immediately handed over. In these aspects, it was most suitable for him, a household officer, to join the army.
"Let's go to the armory. I hope there won't be any problems there." Li Xuan said coldly, waved the whip in her hand, and rushed forward like lightning.
The other people behind him quickly raised their whips and chased after him, feeling vaguely uneasy in their hearts.
