Daming: At the beginning, recognize Zhu Yuanzhang as grandfather!

Chapter 52 Surprise
In the winery.

The little girl cleaned up thoroughly, and put on clean clothes, as if she was a different person. Although her head was big and her limbs were small, and she was a little dark, she had a pair of big eyes blinking, and she had a lovely and pitiful appearance. .

No wonder that Ren Yazi fell in love with her.

But Huang Xiongying thinks, maybe people are pretty good-looking when they are young.

Because I'm small, I don't have so many twists and turns in my heart, so my eyes are also clean and reflective.

Huang Xiongying asked someone to cook a bowl of noodles in clear soup, added two eggs, and served it in front of the little girl.

"Eat."

The little girl didn't want to be too embarrassed, but it was a pity that this bowl was like rain after a long drought to her. As soon as she smelled the fragrance, the word "worry" was thrown into the sky.

She almost buried her face in the bowl, and ate it like a gust of autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Even after eating two bowls, her stomach became round.

"What's your name?"

Huang Xiongying sat beside him quietly, waiting for the little girl to finish eating, and then asked aloud.

The little girl still had unwiped vegetable soup on her mouth, she stared blankly at Huang Xiongying with her eyes like black pearls, opened her mouth, but couldn't make a sound, just shook her head.

It seems that the little girl must have been overly frightened during this period, and her language function has been damaged.

"Um……"

Huang Xiongying thought for a while and said, "Why don't I call you Xiaobao for now, what do you think?"

The little girl's eyes flooded immediately, and she kept nodding...

Huang Xiongying asked the Guo brothers to find someone to take care of Xiaobao's father's body, and then took Xiaobao to her father's grave, and burned three sticks of incense for her father.

Xiaobao cried so hard that after kowtowing to his father, he kowtowed to Huang Xiongying.

Huang Xiongying picked up Xiaobao and headed towards the capital...

……

Henan Mansion Lobby.

Looking at a large box of Chase Treasure Banknotes in front of him, Li Jinglong finally showed a long-lost smile.

As expected, Huang Dasun did not lie to him, and within half a month, he raised 10,000+ taels of silver for them. Now the disaster relief funds allocated by the court have been used up, and now it is disaster relief. critical period.

It can be said that this money came at just the right time.

Next, Li Jinglong arranged for Tie Xuan to purchase food. It was not enough to have money, but the most important thing was to convert the money into precious food.

The remaining part of the money was handed over to Xia Yuanji to build the embankment.

Everything is well arranged, and Li Jinglong is also full of confidence.

But soon, he suffered a slap in the face.

Because in the hardest-hit provinces of Henan and Shandong, the price of food has already been sky-high. Before the famine, one tael of silver could buy rice and two shi, but now, it has almost increased by more than ten times.

Even the surrounding provinces have followed suit.

The money that could have purchased hundreds of thousands of stones can only buy tens of thousands of stones now.

Li Jinglong frowned again, and said to Tie Xuan: "Go and summon the officials from the counties!"

"Yes!"

Tie Hyun took orders to go...

Soon, Henan Mansion Lobby

Li Jinglong, who was sitting upright in the courtroom, glanced at the county officials and said:

"Let's not talk nonsense. This time you are called here because the imperial court's disaster relief funds have arrived."

"Now, we will distribute 1 taels of relief food to each of your counties, and you will return to your county immediately. Within ten days, each county must immediately purchase grain at a fair price. The grain purchase at a fair price in each county must not be less than [-] shi. Hand over to Fuku Dacang!"

Having said that, Li Jinglong asked Tie Xuan to distribute the prepared 1 Datongbao banknotes to the county officials.

Looking at the thick wad of Chase Treasure Banknotes in the small wooden box in their hands, all the county officials showed embarrassment on their faces.

The lobby was quiet for a while.

An official finally stood up and said, "Master Li, I... I'm afraid our county won't be able to hand over this ten thousand shi of grain?"

"Why?"

Li Jinglong narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the magistrate.

"Hey--"

The county magistrate sighed, and replied: "Your Excellency, I don't know. The price of grain has exceeded five taels of silver a stone. The 1 taels of silver, let alone [-] stones, even two thousand stones, may be difficult." !"

A group of officials nodded after hearing the words: "Yes."

Li Jinglong frowned and asked: "The two provinces of Shandong and Henan suffered disasters and food shortages, which is understandable. Could it be that even the grain merchants in the surrounding provinces have no food to sell?"

"Hey--"

The county magistrate sighed again, and replied, "It's not that the grain merchants don't have grain in their hands. On the contrary, they have plenty of grain. But you just said that there is a shortage of grain in Shandong and Henan provinces. How can they be willing to sell it at a low price?"

"Humph!"

Li Jinglong snorted coldly: "Okay, they are trying to make money for the country!"

All the officials were silent.

Li Jinglong said angrily: "Call me the grain merchants from the surrounding provinces tomorrow, I still don't believe they can turn the world upside down!"

Day two.

Li Jinglong was sitting in front of the public case in the lobby, with Tie Xuan and Xia Yuanji standing on both sides.

The people sitting on both sides of the lobby are all big grain merchants from Shandong, Henan and surrounding provinces.

Li Jinglong glanced at it, and then said: "You are invited to come today. I must have known why. The Yellow River flooded and millions of people were affected. Although the emperor is in the capital, he is always worried about the situation in the disaster area. , the old man tried his best to raise the relief food and sent it to us, but we heard that the price of food has increased by ten times, is there such a thing?"

Hearing this, the whole hall was silent, and all the grain merchants remained motionless as if they had been immobilized.

"Okay, don't talk, right? Then listen to us!"

Li Jinglong's face darkened, and he said: "Henan and Shandong were hit by disasters, and millions of victims were displaced and starved of food. You are so fat that you fart your crotch, but you are still raising food prices. What is this? You guys This bastard is making a fortune for the country!"

"We don't want you to donate grain now, as long as you sell grain at the previous price, isn't that too much?"

After listening to Li Jinglong's words, all the grain merchants still looked like dead pigs not afraid of boiling water, and they didn't move or speak.

Li Jinglong's face became longer and longer, but he still said patiently: "Listen to our persuasion, selling grain at a low price is for the emperor, for the court, and for yourselves!"

After speaking, Li Jinglong's face finally turned completely cold when he saw that the grain merchants didn't express any intentions.

"Very well, since you don't shed tears when you see the coffin, let's say something first, starting tomorrow, if any of you present here dare to continue to sell grain at a high price, we will fix it first and then act!"

Having said that, a grain merchant finally stood up.

The grain merchant had a fat head and big ears, cupped his hands and said: "My lord, Jia Zheng, a grain merchant in Qingzhou, Shandong Province, suffered disasters in Henan and Shandong. As a grain merchant, Caomin has a low status and life is not easy. Where is there any high-selling grain? At home Everyone, big and small, is saving money on food and clothing!"

"Nowadays the adults say they want to buy grain at a low price, but there is really not much food in the grass people's house. How about it, the grass people don't want the money from the adults. The grass people take the lead and donate one-third of the grain in the grass people's house... ten stones!"

The words were nice, but Li Jinglong's face turned pale with anger!

Someone stood up to speak, and the other grain merchants became active all of a sudden, as if the immobilization spell had been eliminated.

Another grain merchant stood up: "Brother Jia is concerned about the country and the people, and he sacrifices himself for the country. He can be called an example for my generation, but I'm just playing around. How can I compare with Brother Jia? I don't want money from the court either. , pledge...nine stones!"

Another grain merchant stood up: "I also pledge nine shi!"

Another grain merchant stood up: "Me too!"

……

Watching a famous grain merchant stand up to express his opinion, Li Jinglong was so angry that his good teeth almost gnawed.

"Okay, you guys are doing great!"

As he said that, Li Jinglong was so angry that he grabbed the inkstone on the public case and threw it hard on the ground!
with a snap.

The inkstone fell to the ground, ink splashed everywhere, and several grain merchants were splashed all over their faces.

"You wait for us!"

After Li Jinglong said a harsh word, he turned around and took Tie Xuan and Xia Yuanji away angrily.

All the grain merchants looked at each other in blank dismay. Those with ink on their faces and those without ink all turned their attention to Jia Zheng who was the first to speak out.

Jia Zheng's eldest brother is Jia Shaozu, the prefect of Qingzhou, Shandong.

And he himself is the largest grain merchant in this area of ​​Shandong and Henan.

The corners of Jia Zheng's mouth curled up slightly: "Hey! We donated food with good intentions, and it's a shame? Are we not allowed to sell food? Then we won't sell it! What are you afraid of? See who is begging who behind!"

A grain merchant approached obsequiously and said, "Want to take the grain from us at a low price? No way!"

Another grain merchant said: "Yes, we don't have any money, what should we give to Prince Qi..."

Jia Zheng immediately stopped in a low voice: "Shut up!"

The grain merchant was startled and shut up quickly.

Jia Zheng glanced at the grain merchants, and said, "It's rare for us to get together, tonight at the same place, I'll serve wine to calm everyone's surprise."

Everyone understands, can't stop nodding...

……

Yingtian Mansion, Forbidden City, Fengtian Temple.

Snapped!
Zhu Yuanzhang threw the memorial on the ground.

"What's the matter, Your Majesty?"

Fu Youde, who had just reported the sales of mirrors, asked cautiously.

"Humph!"

Zhu Yuanzhang let out a cold snort in his nasal cavity: "Look for yourself!"

Only then did Fu Youde carefully pick up the memorial on the ground, Xu Huizu also came over, opened it, and found that it was the memorial of Cao Guogong Li Jinglong who was sent to relieve the disaster this time.

In the memorial, Li Jinglong first explained that the disaster relief in the two provinces of Shandong and Henan was proceeding in an orderly manner, and that it was gradually improving. The victims had porridge to drink. Except for the death of illness, no one died of starvation.

However, grain prices in the two disaster-stricken provinces, as well as the surrounding provinces, have risen steadily to six taels of silver per stone of rice. The minister called all the grain merchants overnight...

After seeing it, Fu Youde was also gasping for breath, cursing:
"Bold, what a daring dog! How dare you drive up the price of food and make the country rich!"

"Humph!"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted again: "Should be killed! These profiteers should be killed!"

Seeing the murderous look on Zhu Yuanzhang's face, Fu Youde and Xu Huizu didn't dare to say much, they could only stand respectfully aside.

After a while, the murderous look on Zhu Yuanzhang's face dissipated, and he asked Fu Youde and Xu Huizu:
"Tell me, what should I do?"

Fu Youde pondered for a moment, then replied: "Your Majesty, I think that now...you can't kill him!"

"The profiteers who drive up grain prices should indeed be killed, but Cao Guogong has already stated in the notebook that after he issued a warning, the grain merchants are now not even selling rice. It can be seen that they are colluding together, and there must be someone behind them to support them If they are killed, the situation will be even worse!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slowly.

Why didn't he know that he couldn't kill them, because there were many grain merchants in Shandong, Henan and surrounding provinces, big and small, so they couldn't kill them all.

In the future, no one is willing to be a grain merchant.

Because once there is a famine, the imperial court will kill them and rob them of food. How is this different from robbers?

Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor has never been the way to govern the country.

Zhu Yuanzhang signaled Fu Youde to continue, and Fu Youde continued:

"I don't have a good solution for a while, but I think, can I purchase food from the capital and then support the disaster area?"

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while when he heard the words, and said: "It's a way, but we are worried, will it even raise the price of grain in the capital? You must know that these profiteers are everywhere!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned the word profiteer, he couldn't help but aggravate his tone, which shows his hatred for profiteers.

Fu Youde lost his mind for a moment.

The emperor's worry is not unreasonable. If the situation in the disaster area implicates the capital, then the loss outweighs the gain.

"Anhe, recruit all ministers to the palace!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, and strode towards the main hall of Fengtian Palace...

In Fengtian Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang's anger lasted for a long time.

All the princes and ministers trembled.

What made Zhu Yuanzhang even more angry was that after discussing for a long time, he couldn't come up with a good solution.

Killing is the easiest.

As long as Zhu Yuanzhang puts down one will, a team of Jinyiwei can kill heads.

But at this juncture, the problem cannot be solved by killing people, and it may even be counterproductive, because once they start to attack the grain merchants, they may be forced to burn all the grain, which will lead to a series of problems in the future.

In the end, after much discussion and discussion, the solution was to find out the behind-the-scenes forces of these grain merchants. Without the support of the behind-the-scenes forces, the colluding grain merchants would be easily disintegrated.

But in this way, who knows how long it will take?

After three to five months of investigation and investigation, the disaster area has long since disappeared...

This court meeting ended amid Zhu Yuanzhang's furious scolding and the trembling of the ministers.

But Zhu Yuanzhang, who had left the court meeting, was still worried.

It is not difficult to be an emperor, but it is difficult to be an emperor who cares about the people!

At this moment, he actually missed a woman very much.

A woman whom he considers to be the most virtuous and intelligent woman in the world, Empress Ma.

If she is still here at this moment, she should be able to give some advice for herself, even if she can't, at least she can comfort and make myself feel at ease.

Thinking of Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang unconsciously thought of his grandson.

Because his eldest grandson Zhu Xiongying gave him the same feeling as Queen Ma. Every time he went to his eldest grandson, it always made the impatient him feel relieved, and his whole body became warmer.

And every time he goes, he can get different surprises, which makes him both happy and looking forward to...

Hope this time is no exception.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but shook his head with a wry smile. It was ridiculous that he had such an idea. His eldest grandson had already solved a problem that could not be solved by the court, so he couldn't count on his eldest grandson again this time, right?

But don't expect to return, Zhu Yuanzhang still called Jiang Yu, and went to the Qinhuai River, because...

He really misses his grandson!
During this period of time, he has been busy with government affairs, and he has a lot of headaches. Only with the grandson can he relieve his fatigue, just like the girl Ma...

……

A small courtyard by the Qinhuai River.

Xiaobao lived here with Huang Xiongying.

Slowly, Xiaobao recovered her language function, and a smile began to appear on her face.

And this little guy is extremely diligent, cleaning the house clean every day. Since Xiaobao came, the hot water in the thermos has always been full, and the garbage has never stayed in the house overnight.

Huang Xiongying never thought that a six-year-old girl could be so sensible.

When Zhu Yuanzhang entered the room and saw Xiaobao, he couldn't help being startled.

Huang Xiongying on the side smiled and said, "Xiaobao, call him grandpa!"

"Great grandfather!"

Little Treasure called obediently.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Huang Xiongying and said, "Stinky boy, you will really surprise us!"

(End of this chapter)