Zhang Luyao also finished the drink in one gulp and said: "How can you sit here and sit casually? Brother Huo is out of town. We haven't seen each other for probably almost two years. I am a landlord after all. You are dining and sleeping on the river. Why?"
I'm so busy traveling around the country, how can I, my brother, invite you to have a drink and then go out?"
Huo Yan was straightforward and said with a grimace: "Master Magistrate, please don't make fun of us. We are just some petty officials, and we are looked down upon as navy masters. We have not received any military exploits, so we probably will be like this for the rest of our lives."
, how dare you make friends with such an important member of your party."
Huo Yan is a sixth-grade navy escort and a generous man. The other two are a seventh-grade deputy escort, and the other is an eighth-grade sergeant. The three of them belong to three mountains of the navy. The deputy
He quickly winked at Huo Yan and said, "Commander Huo is too straightforward. Please forgive Mr. Zhang for his inappropriate words. We are deeply honored by Mr. Zhang's kind invitation."
Zhang Luyao said: "No, no, I'm so lucky to have you answer my urgent need today. I have to thank you all for the tens of thousands of victims. I just have an unkind request, which is really hard to say."
The deputy envoy said: "Master Zhang is compassionate to his people, and I really admire him. Unfortunately, I am busy with military affairs, and lending official rations is an act that exceeds the limit. I hope you can understand me."
Zhang Luyao didn't say anything, just looked at Huo Yan. The deputy envoy said: "Sir, please don't embarrass our Commander Huo anymore. It would be safer for you to wait for the imperial edict."
Huo Yan stood up and said: "Shut up, do you know that we are now in a mud pit, unable to advance or retreat? It's better to make it clear today, so as not to know how our heads fell off in the future! Damn it, what the hell?
Just take this good trip."
Zhang Luyao waved his hand and asked Huo Yan to sit down. He lowered his voice and said seriously: "You all are sensible people. Since Commander Huo has said so, I, Zhang Luyao, will be frank and tell the truth.
According to the current food prices, almost 500,000 people in Jiangling Prefecture will not have enough to eat. There will be no other food sources to provide relief within ten days. If there is no food, not only good people will swarm to steal, but the former dynasties will starve to death everywhere.
, the tragedy of Yi Zi cannibalizing each other is very likely to happen again. At that time, Tianwei is furious and all the ministers participate in the impeachment. I and Governor Jin are the first to bear the brunt. Whether you lose your head or lose your hair depends entirely on luck. But have you ever thought about it?
Even though there are one hundred thousand loads of food right in front of us, the Holy One has still killed so many of his people. Will those gossip officials let go of the navy who refused to save them? Will the Holy One let the people of the Qianqiu Prosperous Age under fifty years of rule boil over with resentment?
?And His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, of course he can’t control the navy now, but what about in the future? Will he forget about this? Don’t forget that Governor Jin is the Crown Prince’s Grand Master!"
Hearing what Zhang Luyao said, the three officers all looked frightened.
"I don't know how difficult it is for you. Using military rations privately is a capital crime, but I don't want to bring up the idea of smuggling those five thousand loads of rations. After all, it's your navy's hard-earned money, not to mention that you are also doing it.
I don’t know. I might as well give you a thorough explanation. Now the price of grain in the city has risen to 150 yuan per catty. Why is this happening? I am not a fool. Naturally, I have checked privately and found that there are indeed not many rice shops under the control of the Chen family.
However, they have huge power in the city and have dense minions. They break the grain into pieces and scatter them throughout the city. They are sold by private individuals on the streets. People who don’t have much food in their homes need to run restaurants and wine shops to accommodate disaster victims and buy money with donations.
Temples, Taoist temples, etc. that only buy grain from these people can only buy grain from these people. I estimate that these people have at least ten thousand dan of grain in their hands, but they only sell a few hundred dan of grain every day. Naturally, the price of grain has skyrocketed. This move of the Chen family can be described as
You can achieve multiple things with one move, not only making money from the national crisis, but also using it to cause a civil uprising to overthrow Governor Jin. Even if someone is held accountable in the future, those pawns who sell privately will be the best scapegoats." Zhang Luyao added.
Huo Yan said: "The Chen family did offer to buy grain from us."
"It was definitely a wise move for you not to sell directly to the Chen family. South Zhili is related to His Highness's plan to cut the body. Why did the Jiangling Chen family want to add insult to injury? I don't need to say more about the relationship between their backstage and His Highness. You also know that they are the accomplices of the tiger.
It’s not of any benefit to the Navy. To be honest, I really can’t afford much money to buy the grain you bring, but I have already submitted the discount for requisitioning official grain. In fact, my request is not high. I just ask you to please continue.
Wait for two more days, and you must know that the grain that can be used for disaster relief can only come from Luoyang warehouse. After the imperial edict is replied, you can rest assured that the official grain sent to Luoyang warehouse will be transferred directly to this government."
Huo Yan had a sad look on his face, but after listening to Zhang Luyao's words, the other two people had pale faces and were speechless. Huo Yan said helplessly: "Master Zhang, we have already taken a huge risk by waiting one more day.
, there are so many military orders. If we wait another day or two and the imperial edict has not been delivered, we will be delayed for no reason. Who will rescue our more than 40 brothers? Unless we can get the military order from the superior officer."
Zhang Luyao frowned and said: "The Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army of the Navy is far away from Daming Mansion. Even if we travel quickly by land, a round trip will take at least five or six days. Besides, if you were the Commander-in-Chief, would you issue such a difficult military order?
"Master Huo, we are all in the same situation now, and we can't get rid of it. In this case, why not help our compatriots, maybe we can still be in peace."
Seeing Huo Yan hesitate, the deputy commander said in a trembling voice: "Commander Shi, offending His Highness is a long-term worry, but missing the ship schedule is a near-term worry!"
Huo Yan nodded and said, "Master Zhang, can you allow us to discuss it further?"
Zhang Luyao said helplessly: "I hope Mr. Huo can make a decision soon, but there is someone who may bring changes. Do you know that the hometown of Mr. Liu, the imperial envoy of Zuodu, is in Jiangjun County? His second son's house is in the city.
, On the way back to the city today, a man who claimed to be Liu Yushi's retainer came to see me and learned about the current situation. He said that after Master Liu heard about the disaster in his house, he cared about his hometown elders and decided to help. That person
I want to discuss a business deal with you, which may help resolve the current danger. I wonder if Mr. Huo would like to meet this person?"
Huo Yan smiled miserably and said: "After thinking about it, I am still thinking about those people who brought in food. Since they are people sent by Yushi Tianguan, how dare we not see them? Do you think you have offended too few people?"
Zhang Luyao said: "Master Huo is serious, that person is in the box next door now. It is definitely not my intention. If Master Huo is willing to wait for two more days, I really don't want to deal with others. There are many people here."
"Miscellaneous, the man said that Mr. Liu doesn't want others to know about this matter. Please tell me where you live, and the man will visit you at the inn later."
Huo Yan said: "Room D, Tianzi, we will go back to Dangui Residence in a while."
Zhang Luyao asked the servant guarding the door to call the waiter, and asked for a few jars of osmanthus wine. He said that the account should be recorded at the head of the Yamen, then stood up and said: "You three gentlemen, I will take my leave now.
If the hospitality is not good, I still hope to see Haihan."
The three of them stood up to see each other off, but Zhang Luyao politely refused. When leaving, Zhang Luyao asked his servants to inform Xu Mu and others in the room of the residence Huo Yan had agreed upon. The shopkeeper and the waiter who delivered the wine saw Zhang Luyao out of the restaurant and watched him off.
As the magistrate was leaving in the sedan chair, the waiter spat on the ground bitterly and said: "Damn fat man, you're here again to cheat me out of food and drink!" The shopkeeper didn't stop drinking, put away his smiling face towards the sedan chair, and walked away with his sleeves fluttering.
Go back to the restaurant.
In Osmanthus Alley, to the north of Ruyi Fang is Jianghu Tower, and to the south is Peach Blossom Pavilion. Although the shape of the entrance is almost the same, in terms of size, Peach Blossom Pavilion is several times larger than Ruyi Fang, with a larger imitation building.
Inspired by the artistic conception of Yangzhou gardens, in addition to the main building with three bays and two floors on the top of the mountain with double eaves, the pavilion also has seven or eight independent pavilions of various sizes scattered around the garden. Most of them are composed of popular brothel pavilions.
Famous prostitutes occupy the place just to receive those high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen.
Deep in the garden, in a secluded place near the lake, backed by a rockery several feet high, is an inconspicuous small building. The small building has been occupied by Chen Yan all year round for his pleasure, and for another purpose.
, is the meeting place of the Chen family in Jiangling Prefecture. Only a few people with real power in Jiangling City are eligible to enter. The small building has only two rooms, inside and outside. The inner room is the bedroom, and the outer room is the living room. At this time, the simple carved round table in the living room
There were three people sitting next to them, one was Chen Yan, one was the amiable old man from the casino, and the other was a middle-aged man with a medium build and a dull face. There was another person standing next to him,
But it was the gambling house guard who was still in Jianghu Tower just now, breathing heavily.
The old man from the casino said: "Chen Yang, weren't you told to keep an eye on those two people? Why are you here?"
The guard said: "Mr. Xiang, the two people didn't go far with Ben. They went directly to Jianghu Tower and asked for a private room on the third floor. The middle-aged man who helped them in the gambling house also got in after a stick of incense.
On the third floor, after a while, another person took three naval officers to another private room, guess who that person is?"
Chen Yan shouted: "There is so much nonsense, tell me quickly!"
The guard named Chen Yang hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, Mr. Chen, that person is Zhang Luyao. He came in a sedan chair. Apart from the sedan chair bearer, he only brought one servant, while the three navy officers came with him.
The carriage came. I didn't dare to be careless. I waited in the corner of the second floor. However, Zhang Luyao left not long after. He seemed not very happy. He probably didn't reach an agreement with the navy, but the carriage
I was still waiting in the corridor opposite. I thought the restaurant was being watched by the shopkeeper, so I immediately went to the gambling house. I heard someone said that Mr. Xiang had been called to discuss something, so I came over immediately to report the news."
Chen Yandao: "Well, you did a good job on this matter. Now go outside the building immediately, call a few more people, and keep an eye on the three officers and the three people who appeared in the gambling house. Remember, most of them are
For those who are practicing martial arts, all you need to know is where they will end up, and don’t add any unnecessary fuss."
"I understand, Mr. Chen." Chen Yang said.
The seemingly dull middle-aged man at the round table said: "Cousin, Chen Yang is quite friendly when it comes to fighting, but when it comes to his head, he is not very smart. Do you think you can ask some more people to follow him?"
Chen Yan looked at the middle-aged man and said: "Brother Su, you are being too modest. Chen Yang is your biological brother. How can you still not know what his head is like? You two are both born with good looks, unlike
I, with my sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, can tell at a glance what I am not. If he can't handle this, who among us can handle it well?"
The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly and said, "My cousin thinks too highly of us."