Danguiju Tianzi Room D, after Xu Mu and He Qizhou left, fell into a brief silence. It was the deputy commander who spoke first and asked: "Master Huo, have you really decided? What if they don't provide food the day after tomorrow?"
What should we do? We really don’t want to see the Chen family again?”
Huo Yan said coldly: "The warrants for the three of you and me have been released. What's the use of thinking about it now?"
The deputy envoy continued: "The problem is that we haven't received a penny of silver. We need to send out 20,000 shi of food first. I'm scared just thinking about it. Are you sure they are members of the Liu family? Could it be Zhang Luyao who is tricking us?"
Huo Yan patted the table lightly and said angrily: "It's your turn, not even a tael of silver is less, not to mention they promised more than you and I want! Why do you only know how to question, what do you think we should do?
"
The deputy envoy grunted and said, "Okay, I will listen to you. I won't serve you any more." After saying that, he turned around and left.
Huo Yan became even more angry and shouted: "Get out!"
The other escort officer was secretly feeling sad. He saw the two arguing and was about to give him some advice. When he saw the two of them break up in an instant, he could only sigh and return to his room, leaving only Huo Yan, who was smiling.
The red face that had not completely faded away from the alcohol, recalled every detail of the discussion with Mr. Cheng and Mr. Zhang just now, and carefully thought about whether there was a better solution than this.
At the right time, the two Liu family members entered the house and took out the Liu family emblem on the spot, which was almost the same as what Zhang Luyao had described. Their idea was actually very simple. They would buy five pieces for six taels of silver and one stone.
Thousands of shi to transport grain is one tael higher than the Chen family's original quotation. The money can be delivered at noon tomorrow, but the premise is that in addition to the 5,000 shi of grain allocated by the Navy, another 20,000 shi of officials are lent.
grain.
The navy was extremely satisfied with the price of the transported rations, and it did not have to directly face the Chen family, which they could not easily contact. But naturally they would not dare to lend out four ships of official rations.
However, the reasons mentioned by He Qizhou later made the three people have to be tempted. At that time, He Qizhou said: According to Zhang Zhifu's secret investigation, the Chen family's grain secrets are in the hands of hundreds of people, more than 10,000 stones, and the government will issue an announcement saying,
In ten days, the autumn grains from the north and south will be on the market, government relief grains will be delivered, and grain prices will return to their original prices. If the navy stores a large amount of grain as a guarantee and sells it at a lower price in the city, the price will even gradually decrease, and the price will be higher.
Sold cheaply.
Those people who are short of food will only buy a small amount for the ten days. Seeing that the price of food has been falling, they will just continue to wait and see, so the loaned food will not be sold much. And the Chen family's 10,000 shi
It will no longer be possible to sell it at a sky-high price, so you must take advantage of the fact that the price is still much higher than usual!
With their 10,000 shi, the loaned grain will not be used at all. It will be returned the day after tomorrow. The shortfall can even be bought from the Chen family. Even if part of the grain cannot be paid in the end, Jiangling Mansion
It will also be compensated at the price of sixty taels of silver per stone. The navy can use this batch of silver to purchase flour in the north to top up the balance. If there is any investigation, there can also be a very good reason, that is, at Zhang Luyao's request, for
To save tens of thousands of Jiangling Prefecture victims, and without asking for instructions in time, it was urgent to save people, so we sold a batch of official rations to Jiangling Prefecture at a low price.
As for the money to buy grain, you don’t have to worry. The income from selling grain in the city is your guarantee. You can doubt Zhang Luyao, but you can’t underestimate our Liu family. If something goes wrong in the future, you can take the Liu family out, but if everything goes as planned
, please remember that the Liu family never showed up! It’s very difficult for you navy to deal with now, and you can’t get away with it, so you might as well go all-in, at least there are two benefits: money, and saving people!”
Then the deputy envoy asked: "When will the money arrive? When will our food be shipped?"
He Qizhou added: "In order to stabilize food prices as soon as possible, part of the food will be shipped out tonight, but instead of transporting it to the city, it will first be transported to three disaster victims' shelters outside the city. Someone will organize young and middle-aged victims to come and rush to transport them.
The money for the food will be delivered at noon tomorrow."
The deputy envoy said: "How can that be done? At least we must first receive the money."
Xu Mu said: "If we start transporting food again at noon tomorrow, go to the city in the evening, and start selling the day after tomorrow, how much food can we force out of the Chen family at once? Don't worry, you can send two people to guard each holding point.
You can evacuate the people after the money is received. I can deposit an additional ten thousand taels to you tomorrow as a deposit in case of shortage. But please remember that if it happens, let alone the Liu family involved, you must also have a stake in it.
clear."
Seeing that the three of them were still hesitant, Xu Mu was a little anxious and said: "Besides that, we can give you another three thousand taels as compensation for the risks you have taken. But we need your order to adjust the food supply now.
, time waits for no one, think about how your warrant can save people, each and every living person. If the three of you really do nothing, don't worry that you may become a fish on the ground in the future. Even if nothing happens, do you really want to see starvation with your own eyes?
The land is full of people, and the people are in dire straits? If you still can’t make up your mind, then forget that we haven’t been here, Mr. Cheng, let’s go!”
Huo Yan finally spoke up at this time and said: "Wait a minute, we will give you a warrant. In addition, I don't want compensation. You just need to pay another two thousand taels. Also, please remember, we have more than forty navy soldiers."
A brother’s life is also his life!”
Xu Mu congratulated Qizhou as they both stood up without saying a word, just clasping their fists in greeting. A transport officer like the deputy commander only gets a salary of more than one hundred taels a year, so a thousand taels of silver was definitely not a small temptation. Huo Yan signed the contract on the spot.
The other two people hesitated for a moment before signing the order to go ashore. This was why Huo Yan was extremely annoyed by the cowardice of the deputy envoy who was greedy for money and wanted to regret it later.
It was Xu Mu's last words to save people that made Huo Yan make a decisive decision. It was exactly when he thought of this that Huo Yan no longer had any worries and fell asleep.
While Chen Yang was still staying at the inn, He Qizhou and the others got rid of the pursuers, handed the order to Zhang Luyao who had been waiting in the dark, and then headed to Taohua Pavilion...
Similar to Chen Yan who spent the night raising silver in the city, Zhang Luyao was not idle either. He personally carried a warrant and secretly transported 15,000 loads of grain from the dock more than ten miles outside the city to three areas outside the east and west city gates and the southern suburbs overnight.
It was a gathering place for victims, and the convoys and porters transporting grain did not use horse-drawn carriages and handymen in the city. They were all provided by the Jinling Sect and Quanzhen Sect disciples who were helping outside the city and organized nearly a thousand young and strong victims to carry the carts on their shoulders.
The officers and soldiers on night duty in the fleet confirmed that the order was correct, and seeing the prefect's personal arrival, they did not dare to delay the important event, so they sent six people to accompany the grain transport team to three places to wait for instructions.
Xiang Chen's private residence is on the north side of Zouma Street. It is more than 200 steps west of the magistrate's office, three steps into the courtyard, and covers an area of more than ten acres. There are not many homes in the city that can match it. At this time, a moment has passed.
Zhong, the person who made the appointment has not arrived yet, but Xiang Chen is not in a hurry. He holds the teacup in his hand and leans on the rocking chair in the study. The early autumn sun is no longer hot, passing through the intricately carved window edges, and then through the incense in his hand.
The light smoke from Ming fell on the entire wall of bookshelves behind her, and the books quietly placed on the bookshelf seemed to be slowly rising upwards.
The silver has been raised, a total of fifty thousand taels, and twenty boxes are neatly stacked in the next room. There are also four hundred taels of gold in case of emergencies. He is not worried at all about losing the silver. Ten days later
Two to three times the number will come back here again, and at least one third will be in his pocket. I am already in my sixtieth year, and I can't compete with Chen Yan's group of juniors even if I don't want to. All my thoughts,
That is, these yellow and white things.
Although he has slowly begun to retire behind the scenes in the past few years, with his deceptive face, ruthless and despicable methods, and the authority he has accumulated in the underworld for decades, he has actually earned a lot of money for the Chen family, and he cannot let it go.
The young heroic knight fell into his own hands, and now it was almost time to close the mountain. But when I thought of the pair of daughters that I had just cheated the scholar to buy here the day before yesterday, and now I had to give them away, I felt a pang of pain in my heart.
The young maid announced that a guest had arrived, and Xiang Chen ordered the guest to be taken to the study. Then he stood up slowly, straightened his clothes, and walked to the door of the study. The visitors were none other than the man named Zhang and the young master of the Cheng family. The old man was neither arrogant nor humble.
Xiang Chen welcomed the two people into the study, sat down next to the desk, and poured a cup of hot tea for the two of them. Xiang Chen said: "You two, we who are in charge think that there is no problem with what was agreed last night.
, the cash has been prepared, I wonder how you two are progressing? When can we get the food?"
He Qizhou raised a scroll of documents in his hand and said: "The navy and the others really don't believe that Zhang Luyao can raise so many silver taels, so I can give you another thousand dan. This is the order for eight thousand dan. Six taels per stone will be added."
Give us one tael, a total of fifty-six thousand taels. If you give us the money, you can transport it back on your own. However, this morning Zhang Luyao has sent people to gradually transport two thousand shi of grain into the city. In order to avoid trouble, you'd better
It’s a good idea to stagger the time.”
Xiang Chendao took the order and frowned: "I didn't expect you could really talk about a thousand more stones. I don't have that much cash here. Can gold be used? Don't worry about the quality and provenance. We have all melted it into gold bars."
Xu Mu said: "Okay, gold is better, but bringing so much silver is irritating. Let's do this. One tael of gold is converted into forty taels of silver, and we give as much gold as possible."
Xiang Chen called a subordinate, handed the order to the man, and whispered a few words in his ear, saying: "Please rest assured, I will send someone to the dock to verify first. The food transportation will be done at night.
Come with me." After saying that, he took the two of them to the next door and took out a small wooden box. There were eight gold bars in it, a total of four hundred taels of gold. Xu Mu personally looked at each piece and bit it. After weighing it, he nodded in approval, and then spent more money.
After half an hour, I checked the silver.
Xiang Chen was very smart and only filled half of each box. The empty half was stuffed with cloth, so that the person carrying it would not be suspicious. After the inspection was completed, Xiang Chen went out to call the servants and gave his instructions. Soon there was a room.
The crazy woman walked into the side room holding a girl in each hand.
When He Qizhou saw it, he immediately became angry. It was Liu Juan who kidnapped children and oppressed the Luo family. The two little girls had already changed into green silk shirts and light pink skirts, with neat faces and two small buns on their heads.
She was combed meticulously, but her eyes, which were originally watery, looked a bit dull, but under her delicate face, she looked even more pitiful.
He Qizhou suppressed his anger, looked at the two little girls carefully, and murmured: "Why are they so dumb?"