After one month, it’s autumn harvest.
In the East Palace, Prince Xiang Baichuan hosted a banquet for many officials.
However, it is said that there are many officials.
But most of them are Qingliu officials headed by Prime Minister Wei Qing, and officials from aristocratic family factions are scattered and rare.
As for the generals, none of them came.
Everyone sat down one after another, after three rounds of wine and five tastes of food.
Xiang Baichuan stood up and said: "It's late autumn now. According to the emperor's wishes, the Northern Expedition to Dayan will be either at the end of this year or at the beginning of next year."
"This is a great time to accumulate food and grass."
"In the past month, my father has generally not been in charge of things. Instead, he has gradually begun to delegate power. Many things have fallen on me and Prince Yuan."
"This is probably the case now."
"King Yuan is responsible for recruiting troops from various counties and counties, while we are responsible for purchasing money, food, and preparing iron tools."
"This is our first contest with the Yuan Wang Party. I hope you will work together as one."
Gu Beichuan sat next to Hu Yan and couldn't help but smile bitterly when he listened to His Highness the Crown Prince's words.
The first contest…
If this competition were to start among the princes, I'm afraid it would be uneven.
However, since we are in the middle of the situation, we may not be able to escape even if we want to.
Just do your best.
Fortunately, compared to recruiting soldiers, preparing food, grass and iron tools is undoubtedly a relatively simple task.
Moreover, according to the wishes of Prime Minister Wei, he is only responsible for the food and grass of Jianghuai County.
This is even simpler. After all, he is a native of Jiangnan, and his property is spread all over Huainan.
It’s just collecting food, it couldn’t be easier.
There is even no need to raise funds. If only Feihong's family contributes, it is not impossible.
It’s just to add an extra sum to the imperial merchant grain payment every year.
Although there are some difficulties, it seems to be nothing to the Jianghuai counties that have begun to popularize hybrid rice.
Obviously, Prime Minister Wei knew his demands and specially arranged an easy job for him.
I don't want him to get too involved in the struggle between the prince and his heir.
From this point of view, this prime minister is indeed good.
No wonder he could teach such great scholars as Hu Yan and Qin Xiuwen. Even Gu Beichuan himself admired them after such contact.
…
After returning from the East Palace, Gu Beichuan continued his usual schedule of two o'clock and one line of work.
In the morning, he went to the Jiangmao workshop, went home at noon, practiced martial arts in the afternoon, and listened to Zheng Jian's report on business matters.
Mostly it's quite relaxing.
He didn't pay much attention to the food issue. He only wrote a letter to his father Gu Jun, and Huainan would naturally raise enough food and grass to transport it.
But...even so, something happened!
The food was robbed while being transported!
Moreover, the robbery happened near Qiandu!
The three brothers Du Jinxin, Du Shuimiao and Du Musen were delivering the food. They were only slightly weaker than Li Dongbi in terms of martial arts cultivation, but they were at the pinnacle of Zheng'er Ba Jing's true energy.
The only ones who can steal the food from their hands are those in the True Qi Realm.
In the main hall of the Gu Mansion, Gu Beichuan sighed quietly when he saw the three brothers who were all injured but with a bit of shame on their faces.
"The matter has passed. Three senior brothers, don't worry too much."
"It's just that in recent days, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been fighting constantly with King Yuan, and the water in Qiandu is very deep."
"I hope the three of you can stay in Gandu and help me for the time being."
The three brothers looked at each other and nodded: "How dare you disobey me!"
Nowadays, Gu Beichuan's status in their Medicine King's Palace has risen sharply and is no longer what it used to be.
If he was only a peripheral disciple and partner of Yaowang Palace before, now he is undoubtedly a high-ranking person among the high-ranking officials.
Why?
Because he discovered bacteria and antibiotics!
This is an amazing theory that even Medicine King Sun Xing has never discovered!
If this set of tools can be confirmed and antibiotics are successfully extracted, I don’t know how many lives can be saved in the future.
This alone is enough to make many of the disciples of the Medicine King's Palace revere him.
Naturally, these three brothers were included.
After arranging the three brothers, Gu Beichuan sat alone in the main hall, frowning slightly and looking a little ugly.
This was the first confrontation between the Crown Prince and Prince Yuan. The job assigned to him by Prime Minister Wei was relatively simple and easy, but he still messed it up.
This... is really unreasonable.
If this matter is not resolved, I am afraid it will cause criticism among the general public.
"Come here, prepare your horses, I'm going to the Wei Mansion."
In a short time, Gu Beichuan arrived at Wei Qing's house.
But to his surprise, not only did he come, but most of the officials from the Qingliu faction also came.
"Prime Minister...the grain shipped from Hexi County was lost on the way." A Qingliu official lowered his head, quite ashamed.
"Prime Minister, the iron ore transported back from Meishan County was also robbed on the way." Another official said with a similarly depressed look.
When Gu Beichuan heard this, he frowned immediately.
Emotions, this is not an exception for him.
Wei Qing looked at Gu Beichuan and had a bad feeling. Among these people, he had the greatest hope for Gu Beichuan.
After all, Gu Beichuan was the most capable and knowledgeable, not to mention that he was originally from Jianghuai County.
But don't...
"The food in Jianghuai County has also been lost."
"The three people we were responsible for delivering food were all at the peak of our true energy, but they all returned with injuries."
As soon as these words came out, Wei Qing's heart suddenly sank to the bottom.
The three peak Zhenqi had already walked sideways without releasing their Gangqi.
Gu Beichuan used such armed forces to transport food, which shows that he really put his heart into it. He can't be blamed for this.
"So much food was robbed at the same time. I'm afraid... this is not an ordinary gangster..." Hu Yan spoke with a deep look in his eyes.
Not surprisingly, the food and fodder he was responsible for was also robbed.
Seeing this, Gu Beichuan looked around, pondered for a moment, and said, "May I ask where your food and iron ore were robbed?"
When the officials heard this, they were not sure what he meant for a while, but given Gu Beichuan's talent and reputation, they answered truthfully.
"It's close to Qiandu. It was probably robbed in Jiuyuan."
"I was also near Jiuyuan. That strongman was very powerful. The sergeants I arranged were killed and injured."
"The iron mine I was responsible for was also robbed in Jiuyuan near Qiandu."
Jiuyuan is an area close to Qiandu. It is connected by nine large and small plains, hence the name. There are many farmers living there and there is a lot of rare and good land. If people from the south enter the county, they will probably pass through Jiuyuan.
"They're all in Jiuyuan... I'm afraid they weren't taken away by strong men, but by... the nobles in Qiandu." Gu Beichuan said.
When everyone heard this, they fell silent.
They knew who the noble person Gu Beichuan was talking about.
The two sides were originally just competing normally, but now...the other party's methods are a bit underhanded, and they are a stumbling block in the gutter.
However, it was difficult for them to say anything about that noble person, so they could only report it and let His Highness the Crown Prince make the decision.
