Li Jichen said: "Xu Mu is my closed disciple. I told you that I will no longer accept disciples. If you really understand the pulse one day, you can become a disciple of Lu Zhenyao, and I will give you some guidance when I have time."
Seeing He Qizhou standing still, Xu Mu hurriedly said: "You fool, why don't you quickly thank your master?"
Seeing how powerful Li Jichen was, He Qizhou was actually thinking about changing his master, but after thinking about it, he felt a little sorry for the chubby Lu Baogen, and said a little sadly: "Mr. Li, thank you, but it's a pity that I have no more apprentices. One day
That guy really doesn’t care about me anymore and comes to you again, do you think it’s okay?”
Li Jichen felt a little unhappy. It was not that he felt that he had been turned away from his kindness or that he could not live with it. In fact, he quite agreed with He Qizhou's reluctance to switch to a master after he had a master. He just felt that He Qizhou should not be so rude in his words when dealing with such a serious matter.
, deep down in my heart, I even felt a little regretful that I could not receive a student with such special talents as He Qizhou. At the moment, I could only say lightly: "Then it depends on fate."
Xu Mu secretly kicked He Qizhou and said, "There is no one as stupid as you. How many people do you know who dream of learning one and a half moves from their master?"
He Qizhou did not fight back, showed a pair of neat white teeth, and said with a smile: "You want me to call you uncle, right? No way!"
The four returned to the inn and separated in pairs. Li Jichen stopped Xu Mu who was about to enter his room and asked, "Do you know why I suddenly want to teach that little guy martial arts?"
Xu Mu said: "I'm also curious, does he have a chivalrous heart like you?"
Li Jichen nodded and said: "Looking at how flattering you are, I'm embarrassed to say anything. It's not because of his qualifications. To be honest, I may not have the ability to teach him the kind of physique that absolutely strengthens muscles and pulses.
I want to teach him just because when Chi Yuan hit you in the back with his palm just now, He Qizhou reacted faster than you. He doesn’t have your internal strength, so it’s impossible for him to use a move to resolve the palm. Let me see his reaction.
He wants to use his body to block between you and Chi Yuan. His steps and body shape have been slightly expanded. If he hits that palm, his life will probably be eliminated. Look at him, he is so cold.
My God, I'm sweating on my forehead, I must be scared and breaking out in a cold sweat."
Xu Mu looked up at his master in surprise. He was silent for a while and said, "Master, I understand. You should rest early. I will not be so reckless in doing things in the future."
Li Jichen said: "Do you think my master ever scolded you? Master, I am actually very pleased that you were born into a wealthy family and can have such a chivalrous heart. Master is old. When you are named on the gold list this time, master will prepare to retire.
"
"Master, my disciple will definitely not let you down!" Xu Mu said with clear eyes and a gentle fist.
Early the next morning, He Qizhou and Lin Chuan packed their bags and went to say goodbye to Master Xu Mu first, but found that no one was there. Later, when he went to check out the hotel, he heard the old shopkeeper said that the two of them had gone out early in the morning. He Qizhou felt a little confused.
Feeling reluctant to leave and wondering when they would meet again, the two went to the stables to pick up the horses and headed directly to the prefect's Yamen.
After He Qizhou adjusted his breath and breathed out in the middle of the night, the discomfort caused by receiving the dragon's palm yesterday was gone. The rain stopped overnight, the autumn mood began to rise, and the slightly humid air was particularly fresh. After the two of them washed and changed clothes, they looked even more energetic.
Before arriving, he arrived at the Yamen and saw Zhang Qingrou wearing a beige outfit with cuffed cuffs and trousers, and a lavender cloak. She was standing pretty next to a maroon horse. Lin Chuan looked like he was crazy when he saw this handsome appearance.
Seeing this, Zhang Qingrou, who had always been generous, felt a little embarrassed and said hello with a slight blush.
He Qizhou said: "Good morning, Heroine Zhang is indeed very heroic. Where is your maid? Why don't you bring her with you?" Then he patted Lin Chuan hard and whispered: "I have never seen you behaving like this with me when you are practicing.
What the heck, haven’t you met Miss Zhang yet?”
Lin Chuan lowered his head to look at his shoes to cover up his embarrassment and said good morning. Zhang Qingju said: "I don't know how to ride a horse, so how can I lead it? I'm the only one. My dad happens to be going to the dock today. According to the rules, the prefect has to prepare for the inspection.
Honor guard, we have to wait a little longer."
In the government office, Chen Yan and Zhang Luyao had been chatting for a long time. Chen Yan submitted his resignation and insisted on resigning. Zhang Luyao changed his strong attitude from yesterday and tried to persuade him, saying that he had been really stressed out recently and had bad luck happening one after another.
, failed to control his emotions, and asked Chen Yan to help him through the difficulties. Without waiting for Chen Yan's reply, he said that the scheduled time to go to the dock was about to pass, and it was inconvenient to keep his subordinates waiting, so he sent Chen Yan away.
Qi Zhou and the other three were chatting without a word outside the Yamen. Not long after, the Yamen's ceremonial door opened wide, and a large number of people walked out. First, two Yamen servants on horseback opened the way, followed by those holding licenses, holding batons, and beating gongs.
Everyone was waiting. Zhang Luyao took a four-carrying sedan in the middle and headed east along Yangzhou Avenue. He Qizhou and three others followed slowly on horseback. After about half an hour, they left the west gate. The team then turned north along the official road.
After walking another six or seven miles, we arrived at the wharf on the bank of Bailian River. Officials including water transport officials, wharf stewards, warehouse officials, etc. had already received the notice and were all standing on the roadside, bowing deeply to greet us.
The most convenient way from Jianglingfu to Jinling is water transport. The Bailian River merges into the Guangling River from north to south, a total of more than 100 miles. It can enter the river in one day and one night, and then follow the Guangling River eastward. It takes two days to complete the journey.
To reach Jinling City, the passenger building boat departs every two days, all the way from Luoyang, the capital. It usually arrives at about six o'clock and leaves at noon. The building boat has passengers on the second floor, and the horses and boatmen live on the bottom floor.
It was still early, so Zhang Luyao did not enter the offices of the officials at the pier. He sat down in the pavilion beside the pier and listened to the officials' reports one by one. He Qizhou and the other three had nothing to do and walked around the pier before returning.
Go to the corner of the pavilion to wait, and listen to what the officials are talking about. Seeing Zhang Qingrou inside, the government officials guarding outside the pavilion will not stop her.
When they entered the pavilion, the steward of the dock had just finished speaking and left. The water transport officer here was reporting to Zhang Luyao. Water transport is not under local jurisdiction, but as a local official, he has the right to know the local water transport situation. After all, the supply of the dock is
Some labor still requires local efforts, and if there is an error in water transportation, local officials must also bear the responsibility.
According to what the official said, a fleet of twenty grain transport ships will dock this afternoon. They are the last batch of tax grain from Huguang Province. Each ship is five thousand tons, totaling one hundred thousand tons. They will be escorted by the navy.
The escort officer is Huo Yan, commander of the West Road Water Transport. He will stay at the dock for one night to replenish supplies before setting off northward tomorrow morning.
Then the warehouse official came forward to report that the official warehouse of Jiangling Prefecture was in the city. The granary here was mainly used for unloading dock goods and was used for temporary storage. One of the purposes of Zhang Luyao's trip was to see how much material was left in the warehouse.
During the requisition, when he was asking questions, a horse came to report that a large number of people had gathered in front of the government office and asked the prefect to step in to stabilize the price of grain. Zhang Luyao asked about the lowest grain price in various grain stores this morning. Chen Mi
The price has also risen to one hundred and fifty cents per catty, and several rice shops have announced that they have no grain for sale.
Zhang Luyao's fat face immediately drooped. Just as he was thinking about how to reply, two more fast horses came to report at the same time. There were five victims' shelters inside and outside the city that would run out of food today, and there were a few more places that could last for another day at most.
He would eat them all. Zhang Luyao looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh. After calming down, he sadly reported to the yamen officer and said: "Go back, everyone. Just say that I am collecting food."
After the messengers left, the warehouseman also finished what he had to say. Originally, there were still a lot of grains from foreign merchants in the warehouse, but local grain prices had soared. They had already sold the grains to rice shops. In a word, the warehouse
Not a single grain of food was left.
There was a noise on the pier. It turned out that a large ship coming from the north had appeared in the distance. The officials who greeted them in the pavilion had all left, leaving only three energetic young people and a dejected Zhang Luyao.
Zhang Qingrou broke the silence and asked: "Dad, when will the disaster relief money and grain from the court arrive?"
Zhang Luyao sighed again and said: "The memorial asking for relief just passed by the local area the day before yesterday, and it will not be handed over to the Holy Master until tonight at the earliest..."
"Master Zhang——" A shout from outside the pavilion interrupted Zhang Luyao's words. It turned out that Xu Mu and Li Jichen were standing more than ten steps outside the pavilion with their horses. They were stopped by the Yamen servants, and Xu Mu called out to the pavilion.
Zhang Luyao waved his hand to dismiss the government servants, and Xu Mu tied up their horses and entered the pavilion. Li Jichen said solemnly: "Mu'er and I went to the Quanzhen Sect and the shelter outside the east gate in the morning, and we won't be able to sustain food until tomorrow."
There are too many victims, and the little food brought by Zhenyao is of no use at all. The food raised by Lord Jin is not much, about three to four thousand dan. Calculating the time, it should be available the day after tomorrow."
Zhang Luyao shook his head and said: "How can we let him easily raise food? Why don't we take the opportunity to kill him? Alas, this flood is too dangerous. More than 10,000 houses in three counties have been destroyed overnight.
More than 100,000 acres of grain fields were harvested. In less than ten days, 60,000 to 70,000 victims had gathered inside and outside the city, and nearly 100,000 people in the city were almost out of food."
Li Jichen asked: "Is there any response from the imperial court? Can neighboring provinces help?"
Zhang Luyao said: "Isn't that true? Rou'er is also asking about it. The petition for relief was submitted through the governor. It took seven or eight days to go back and forth. Yesterday, I went over the limit and submitted a memorial urgently.
If the imperial edict is sent directly to Jiangling Mansion, it will take three days at the earliest. If the edict is issued and grain is distributed from Luoyang Granary at the same time, it will take ten days. By then, the world will be in chaos. Speaking of grain from neighboring provinces,
According to what the magistrate said, Huguang Province tried its best to collect 80% of the taxed grain, and the last batch will arrive locally today. The wheat harvest in Henan has just started in the past two days. Even if it is bought with cash or borrowed on credit, it will at least be shipped here.
It takes ten days; let alone the south of the Yangtze River, it has always been the northern route through Yangzhou and the canal. How is it possible if the grain distribution does not last ten days and a half? By then, all the autumn rice that has not been affected by the disaster will have been harvested.
"
Zhang Luyao sighed and then said: "The most annoying thing is that the grain merchants headed by the Chen family have unexpectedly raised prices and hoarded grain without selling it. I did a rough calculation and found that they have at least more than 10,000 shi of grain on hand."
, enough to last seven or eight days. Chen Yan came to submit his resignation this morning. He really played a good move. He wanted to give up first and take it later. He wanted to withdraw first and watch the good show, and then add insult to injury. I heard that Long Yin only left a few
The provincial capital police officer pretended to have returned by land early in the morning. It seems that what happened to old man Chi yesterday scared him, and the two little boys from the Chen family also followed. Chi Yuan may be recuperating in a private house in Chen Yan
Well, your slap yesterday was really admirable!"
Li Jichen said: "I knew you would follow me. Let's not talk about it for now. What are you going to do now?"
Zhang Luyao said: "What else can we do? We can only think about taxing food in Huguang. Look, I came here personally this early in the morning. Isn't it just to grab this last straw?"
Li Jichen shook his head and said: "This is the hardest straw to grasp. It is tax food. If it is sent to the military warehouse, it may be beheaded. Our holy king has collected more and more taxes in the past two years.
The more there are, the tighter it will be this year. There are floods in the south and severe drought in the north. I heard that the pastures of the Northern Zhou Dynasty are also in great disaster. They may go south to plunder this winter. The military rations are the most closely watched. You still have to be careful, Wu Sha Di.
If you take it, throw it away. Don’t go in at the risk of your life?”
Zhang Qingrou exclaimed softly: "Dad, you can't mess around!"