After two days of hard work by the Jingzhao Prefecture and the county government, more than 300,000 refugees have gradually settled down. However, the food shortage problem is still very serious. The local government can allocate less than 10,000 dan of food, and can only provide relief to more than 300,000 people.
The refugees had been homeless for a few days. At this moment, the second imperial edict arrived. The imperial edict clearly stated that it allowed various places to open charity warehouses to provide relief to the victims. "Please familiarize yourself with the domain name" "".
Free warehouses are the people's own grain reserves. After the autumn harvest every year, part of the grain will be paid and stored separately. It will be used for disaster relief when there is a famine. It is usually under the control of the local government.
Opening charity warehouses to provide relief to the victims does not mean that the charity warehouses in Luoyang are used to provide relief to the victims in Xuchang, that is not what it means. It means that each place opens its own charity warehouse, which means that the refugees must return to their hometowns to enjoy the grain reserves they paid in previous years.
This is a trump card to stabilize the victims. No one wants the food they have worked hard to store in the charity warehouse to be eaten by others. Early the next morning, when the government officially announced to the refugees that the court had decided to open a charity warehouse to relieve the victims, although many
People are still skeptical, but many people are starting to pack up and return home.
One family drives hundreds of families, and one hundred families drives thousands of families, slowly forming a trend of returning home. Especially the refugees who grabbed rice in Beishi City are worried about the government liquidation and order them to return the grain. This group of people are more determined to return to their hometowns.
.
By noon, a huge crowd of people returning home appeared on the official road, as if they had fled and were now going back to their hometowns to enjoy their food reserves.
Cui Bosu and Wang Shunzhi breathed a long sigh of relief when the returning chao appeared, but this was just the beginning of a serious problem being solved. There was another serious problem to be solved, that is, Changpingcang was robbed, how to report it to the Holy One?
…
The Baibao Winery in front of the main gate of Fengdu City is the largest winery in the capital. It covers an area of five acres and consists of three four-story restaurants. It can accommodate thousands of people dining at the same time. The backstage of this winery is also the Dugu family.
But a small restaurant, in the eyes of the Dugu family, is really worthless, just to give the Dugu family a little appearance.
In the morning, in the spacious square of Baibao Winery, the left and right guards of the East Palace led General Yang Yuanqing to place hundreds of banquets for more than a thousand representative wealthy households in the capital.
Yang Yuanqing's 1,200 invitations were delivered door-to-door to wealthy households by the army the day before yesterday and yesterday. They said, "I have specially prepared a glass of wine to invite you to discuss your righteous deeds." They were very polite and tactful, and even added:
He said, "If there is something going on in the house, please let us know in advance and the young general will come to visit in person." The signature was "Yang Yuanqing" and there was no position or title.
The printing is also very simple, without decoration. It is just a small piece of paper with a few modest words printed on the engraving.
But it was such an invitation with a simple print and a respectful tone. No one who received it dared to ask for leave and say he couldn't come. I fell ill and my son had to come. Everyone knew that if he really dared to refuse and couldn't come, then Yang Yuanqing would
They will go to the door alone to visit, and the money and food they have to pay at that time will probably make them unable to cry. Holy church.
Yang Yuanqing's reputation has spread all over the world, but this reputation has a hint of killing and blood. His name is signed at the end, and there is always something chilling in the flying dragons and phoenixes.
In the morning, an endless stream of guests came to Baibao Winery with invitations. Everyone had a serious expression and did not deliberately change into solemn clothes. Instead, with a worried heart, they silently calculated the money and food they might have to pay.
Thousands of troops were surrounded by the wine shop. They were all in armor, with bright weapons and cold eyes. In front of these troops, Yang Yuanqing, the host of today’s banquet, had changed into a civil official’s robe and led a dozen people who were also wearing civilian official robes.
General Ying Yang stood in front of the wine shop to welcome the guests.
"Welcome everyone to join us! Yang Yuanqing is honored!"
"Please! Please sit by name."
"We are in a hurry and the reception is not good, please forgive me!"
…
This was indeed a banquet with poor hospitality. It was not a traditional separate banquet, but a joint banquet that people were not used to and disliked. That is, more than a dozen people sat around a large table with a small plate in front of each person.
, a pair of chopsticks, only five or six plates of cold dishes on the table, not even wine.
But the names are meticulous. This is for the convenience of fundraising. Each guest has his own fixed seat, and his name is posted in front of each person's seat. It is divided according to the neighborhood where he lives, so it is easier to find.
The banquet has not yet started, but more than a thousand guests have already arrived, whispering and asking each other. They are more concerned about the money they need to pay than the food on the table. They all hope to get some news from others, but unfortunately
Yes, there are various theories ranging from five stones to five hundred stones, but there is no accurate and authoritative figure. It is just as disappointing as the few plates of cold dishes on the table.
"Dang!" A clear bell rang, and the banquet started on time. The banquet gradually became quiet, and occasionally there were a few poisonous people who looked like they would die.
The shopkeeper’s surname is Zhang. Yesterday when Yang Yuanqing sent someone to discuss a banquet with him, he agreed without hesitation. He was extremely happy and invited more than a thousand wealthy businessmen to his restaurant for dinner. This was undoubtedly a great publicity. He was confident that
He arranged a sumptuous banquet, including deer chun, white eel, sea bass, fine Italian rose wine, and all kinds of fine delicacies on his menu.
But when we started to discuss the details in the afternoon, shopkeeper Zhang Da’s heart was instantly frozen into a lump of ice. The other party was only willing to pay 100 dan for food and drinks. The average table was only 1 dan. Not to mention the wine, he couldn’t even afford the meat and vegetables.
With such a shabby treat, he would either lose face, or the shopkeeper would have to pay for it out of his own pocket.
Between face and pocket, shopkeeper Zhang Da finally chose the latter. For a small amount of money, he couldn't even prepare rice. He only had five plates of cold dishes, all of which were fresh and refreshing mountain side dishes. "".
At this time, shopkeeper Zhang Da was weeping silently in his room, packing up his bed rolls. He knew very well that this was a grand banquet, and I am afraid that from now on, no one from Chang'an's wealthy merchants would be willing to come to his restaurant for dinner.
At the banquet, Yang Yuanqing walked up to the front. He was about to start speaking. This was today's main course. Everyone's ears were perked up and they were holding their breath. A fat and wealthy businessman was so nervous that he coughed repeatedly, which made everyone in the room angry.
Staring at him angrily, he became even more frightened and nervous, suppressed his blush, and suddenly fainted, causing a small commotion. Several soldiers quickly stepped forward and lifted him down.
Yang Yuanqing smiled and said in a loud voice that could be heard by the whole audience: "I would like to apologize to everyone first. It's just because the time was too short and the wine shop didn't have time to prepare, so I neglected everyone a little. My men are working with the wine shop.
We will strictly negotiate with you."
In the room, shopkeeper Zhang Da couldn't help crying.
Yang Yuanqing continued to explain to everyone the principles of family, country and world, trying to make everyone feel that this was an honor, sharing the worries of the imperial court and the Sui Dynasty, and sharing the joys and sorrows with the Holy One.
"More than 300,000 refugees have poured into the capital. They are all citizens of the Sui Dynasty. They are all brothers and sisters. When one side is in trouble, help comes from all directions. The imperial court has ordered the opening of relief warehouses for disaster relief, but the food is still not enough. This requires the generous help of all of you to serve the imperial court.
Share the worries and let the 300,000 victims feel the goodwill of the gentry in the capital, including the army, and we are also doing our best..."
Yang Yuanqing's topic turned to the army again. He wanted everyone here to understand that it was the army that was protecting them. He had received a favor, and now it was time for them to repay the favor.
"Tens of thousands of us brothers have not slept for days and nights to protect the safety of the capital and the property of everyone here. So far, none of your homes has been attacked by refugees. We are doing our best to protect everyone, and we also ask everyone to cooperate with the government.
and the military to provide disaster relief.”
Yang Yuanqing raised his voice, "We don't want your residence to be attacked by refugees. We will do our best to protect it, but there is no guarantee. If there is insufficient food, we will not be able to control the hungry people and make trouble. It is very likely that one of your homes will be attacked by the hungry people."
We don't want to see this situation. If such a thing really happens, I, Yang Yuanqing, will be ready to apologize to the Holy One. Everyone, everyone is responsible for the safety of the capital. Let's take this responsibility together with me!
"
After the opening remarks, Yang Yuanqing's speech got to the point, "We have calculated that based on one stone of food for each disaster victim, a total of 300,000 dan will be needed, and there are a total of 6,000 large households in the capital that need to share the worries of the court, which means that each household has an average of 5
Ten stones of grain, if the grain is not enough, we can discount the money at the Changpingcang price, and we can buy grain elsewhere."
After Yang Yuanqing finished speaking, there was an uproar at the banquet, and there was a lot of whispering. The price of grain in Changpingcang is 400 yuan per dou of rice, one stone of rice is four thousand yuan, forty yuan, and fifty yuan is two thousand yuan. Every household has at least
It costs two thousand coins, but the market price is two hundred coins, so only one thousand coins is needed. This is simply a blatant robbery.
"Everyone, please be quiet! Please be quiet!"
The banquet gradually became quiet again, and Yang Yuanqing said with a smile: "I know everyone is wondering why they don't use the market price to convert it, because I want the Holy Spirit to explain it, and the Holy Spirit uses the official price of Changpingcang. The Holy Spirit doesn't know the market price, and he doesn't know the price.
We will consider the market price, mainly because there is currently no rice in Changpingcang, and the price is still at 400 cents per bucket of rice, so I advise everyone to donate food as much as possible. If you really don’t have enough food at home, you can go to the market to buy it.
And I can also tell you the news that the Holy One will return to Beijing in a few days. If anyone is willing to share the burden of the Holy One and donate more than five hundred dan in food, I will present his name to the Holy One and ask for a special commendation from the Holy One."
A group of soldiers walked into the guests with a donation book and asked them to sign and pledge. A businessman sighed and whispered to everyone: "There is no way, if you don't donate, you probably won't be able to leave, and maybe the soldiers will dress up as refugees."
Attack the mansion, everyone, think about your wives and accept your fate!"
He picked up a pen and wrote down a donation of fifty dan for food, signed his name, and pressed his fingerprints. He stood up and said to everyone, "Brother, go home and prepare food. Let's go first!"
One after another, guests made their pledges and left. Not long after the donations started, a group of people, about **about ten people, gathered in the northeast corner of the venue.
These big households are from the Longyou Township Party. They held a meeting and negotiated for a day yesterday and finally decided to collectively boycott the fund-raising. Everyone gathered around their temporary leader Jiang La. Jiang La had sworn to them that the Dugu family had promised to support their boycott.
Fundraising.
At this time, many guests at the banquet noticed this group of Longyou Township Party members and gradually became quieter. Even Yang Yuanqing also noticed.
After everyone discussed for a while, Jiang Yan stood up suddenly, pointed at Yang Yuanqing and asked sternly: "Excuse me, General Yang, you keep saying how hard it is for the victims. Each person needs one stone of food, so it costs 300,000 stone. But according to the news I got, from this morning
At first, the victims have returned to their hometowns in large numbers and there is no need for so much food, but you didn’t mention it at all. Do you think we are stupid?”
The middle-aged man's stern questioning made the banquet fall into silence, and everyone was looking at him. He was like a big tree rising from the ground, providing a source of support for countless wealthy people who were desperate for money and food.
Yang Yuanqing glanced at him and asked the county magistrate next to him in a low voice, "Who is this person?"
The county magistrate hurriedly said: "This person's name is Jiang Li. He is from Longyou. His family is extremely wealthy. He is the fake son of General Yuwen. He also has a daughter who is married to the Dugu family. She has always been quite powerful."
Yang Yuanqing smiled and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Jiang. I'm sorry. How much food do you need?"
Jiang Yan snorted heavily, "We don't know how much food we need, but there's something wrong with your algorithm. We definitely don't need 300,000 dan, so we don't know where the extra food will go."
Yang Yuanqing's eyes became cold and stern, "You mean to say that the extra food was embezzled by me, Yang Yuanqing, is that what you mean?"
"I didn't mean that, but you have to give us an explanation."
Jiang La turned around and shouted: "Everyone, tell me, don't you think so?"
"Yes -" The villagers around him responded together, but they had no courage and their voices were not loud.
"Okay! Let me give you an explanation first."
Yang Yuanqing turned around and winked at the soldier, then smiled and said, "Then please invite Jiang Dahu to the room to talk."
Jiang La took a step back. He must not enter the room. At this moment, seven or eight soldiers suddenly rushed out from behind him. They knocked him to the ground with their sword handles and dragged him away fiercely.
The **10 township party members next to him suddenly became silent and retreated one after another. No one dared to step forward to save him. At the critical moment, the calculation, cowardice and selfishness of the businessmen began to show, and they fought against the army for fifty shi rice.
, so worthless!
Jiang La was dragged backwards into the house. He struggled desperately, "Let me go, let me go!"
He turned back to the other township party members and shouted: "You all are talking! Come and help me. Didn't we discuss it yesterday?"
But apart from pity for him, no one dared to move. Zhang Xian Cheng could not bear it. After all, he was a relative of the Dugu family. He quickly whispered to Yang Yuanqing: "General Yang, this may not be appropriate..."
Before he finished speaking, Yang Yuanqing gave him a stern look, which scared him so much that he did not dare to plead for mercy.
Jiang La was dragged into the room, and soon there was no sound. Yang Yuanqing said coldly: "Continue!"
He then pointed at the Longyou Township Party, "These people are all wealthy people, please donate 100 dan!"
**Ten looked at each other in shock and began to complain to each other. After a while, a soldier handed a pledge letter to Yang Yuanqing. Yang Yuanqing looked at it, then stood up and smiled at everyone: "Unexpected! Jiang Dahu is very considerate of the emperor's difficulties.
, is actually willing to donate five thousand dan of food. I hope everyone will follow his example and donate food enthusiastically to relieve the imperial court!"
This result frightened everyone and they did not dare to resist anymore. They pledged donations one after another. There were also wealthy people who were willing to donate thousands of stones of grain and registered their names with Yang Yuanqing. They knew in their hearts that his harvest would be completely different from that of Jiang Dahu.
A Hongmen banquet attended by more than a thousand people ended in just an hour. At the same time, thousands of soldiers raised money and grain from other wealthy families who did not attend the banquet. By night, Changpingcang had transported 100,000 shi of grain.
, completely making up for the food stolen from Changpingcang.
At this time, Yang Guang's sage had arrived in Hanoi and was preparing to cross the Yellow River to return to Beijing. That evening, Yun Dingxing finally appeared in the Chaoguan Tent Camp and found Pei Ju's tent.