Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 106
"Thirty percent?"

In the official mansion, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou frowned and then made up their minds when they heard the words, and finally Zuo Guangdou frowned and said:
"From now until next year's autumn harvest, it will take at least 8 months. If you have to work, you will need at least [-] catties of grain per day. In eight months, it will be [-] catties, which is almost [-] shi of grain."

"The cultivated land recorded in the Yellow Book of Huai'an Mansion to the north of the Huaihe River is only more than [-] million mu, and the land is all occupied by gentry and guards. The rich people are only two mu per person, and the poor have no land."

"If it is according to Lu Tongzhi's words, then each person eats six stones of grain, and the grain returned is only one and a half stones!"

Huai'an Mansion has two crops a year, and the yield per mu in two seasons a year is about three shi, and half of it means that one person only pays one and a half shi, so based on [-] people, it is still [-] million shi of grain.

Zuo Guangdou can't just think about the people like Yang Lian, he also needs to think about the court.

[-] people need to eat [-] shi of grain, that is, [-] taels, which is enough to pay the military salary of a town in Yulin Town for three months.

It is difficult for the people, but it is also difficult for the court.

He cannot abandon the court for the sake of the people, nor can he abandon the people because of the court.

This is a dilemma, not so easy to solve.

But his question was very simple in Lu Wenzhao's eyes.

Lu Wenzhao said with a flat face: "If there is not enough land, we will give out land, and if there is not enough food, we will give out food."

"The gentry instigated the common people, corrupted the government's food, and choleraed Huai'an in order to earn money. Shouldn't they be charged with crimes and ransack their homes?"

His words forced back what Zuo Guangdou wanted to say, but Zuo Guangdou was also difficult.

How could he not know what Lu Wenzhao said?
But the problem is not that simple, because no one can predict how big the chain reaction will be if the gentry of Huai'an Mansion is moved.

It is too difficult to completely control the situation in Huaibei and find out the accomplices involved in the Huaibei Great Hunger case with only the four thousand Jinyiwei of Nanbei Town Fusi.

Right now, they seemed to have to wait for Qi Yuanfu to lead the troops to arrive.

But as far as the current situation is concerned, it will be more dangerous if it is delayed for one more day.

Thinking of this, Yang Lian gritted his teeth and said:
"Regardless of what the imperial court does, put Changping warehouse first for disaster relief!"

"Yes!" Zuo Guangdou objected to releasing the official warehouse, but the Changping warehouse was originally used for disaster relief and to stabilize grain prices, so Zuo Guangdou did not object to releasing grain to it.

"There are more than [-] stone grains in the Changping Warehouse of Huai'an Mansion, and it takes at least three days for Huainan's grain to be transported to the north." Yang Lian said with a serious expression:

"The grain in Changping warehouse in Huaibei is only [-] shi. It is better to take this opportunity to do a good job in road and water conservancy by means of labor relief."

"By the way, how about dredging the Huaibei section of the canal completely?"

"Yes!" Zuo Guangdou nodded, and Yang Lian looked at Lu Wenzhao.

Lu Wenzhao also nodded, and then said:

"Since this is the case, I will arrange for someone to post a notice in Huaibei, and then ask someone to transport the grain from the Changping warehouse in Huainan, Huai'an Prefecture, to the north."

"it is good"

As soon as Lu Wenzhao finished speaking, Zuo Guangdou was about to pour a cup of tea, but just as he was pouring tea, someone suddenly shouted outside the courtyard:

"Fire! Fire! Fight the fire!"

With a "crush", the three of them stood up quickly, thinking of leaving the courtyard quickly.

As soon as Lu Wenzhao came out, he saw Jin Yiwei who was busy putting out the fire. He grabbed one of them and asked anxiously:
"Where is the fire! Is the fire big?!"

The captured Jin Yiwei was still annoyed at who was stopping him from putting out the fire. When he saw it was Lu Wenzhao, he hurriedly said, "My lord, it is the back door and front door of the yamen that caught fire."

"Among the common people, some outlaws poured tung oil on the door of the Yamen, and then threw out the torch."

"I wanted to fight the fire, but the fire couldn't be suppressed for a while!"

Hearing this, Lu Wenzhao quickly grabbed a Jinyiwei Baihu and said:
"Leave two hundred people to protect the yamen, and the rest will go over the wall with me to the Changping warehouse and the official warehouse!"

"Yes!"

Lu Wenzhao knew very well that just burning the gate of the yamen would not hurt anyone at all, it was just a trick to distract people.

The silver treasury is in the government house, and thieves cannot enter, and most of the people in Huaibei are starving people after the disaster. The simplest and most profitable action is to directly rob the official warehouse and Changping warehouse.

There are less than [-] Jinyi guards in Changping warehouse and Guan warehouse, and it is decided that they cannot stop thousands of hungry people!

Thinking of this, Lu Wenzhao led people over the high wall, and ran all the way to Changping Cang after landing.

In just a quarter of an hour, I saw hungry people crowded around Changping warehouse and Guan warehouse.

"Fire the arrows!"

"Release them all!"

Lu Wenzhao anxiously yelled behind him, and then a dozen Jinyi guards took out their hand crossbows, raised the crossbow arrows, ignited, and pulled the trigger.

Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of "咻", the arrow exploded in the air, instantly attracting the attention of the hungry people besieging the granary!

"Who dares to surround the granary! Are you planning to rebel?!"

Lu Wenzhao yelled, and the nearby hungry people immediately stepped back a few steps because of fear.

It's just that among the hungry people, some unruly people shouted:
"The imperial court won't let us live! We haven't provided disaster relief for several months, and now you have detained good officials who have provided disaster relief! You are the same as those mine supervisors back then..."

"Bang bang bang!"

The man hadn't finished yelling when an arrow shot out from the roof of a one-story house, killing him on the spot, and there were also three shots of firecrackers in the air, like thunder on the ground, which made all the people feel terrified .

Lu Wenzhao looked up, and saw Lu Jianxing, who had changed into Jinyiwei's scarlet clothes, and three Jinyiwei holding bird guns standing on the roofs of the houses in the street.

Seeing the rare opportunity, Lu Wenzhao hastily said loudly:

"Who told you that the imperial court does not provide disaster relief?"

"I tell you, from tomorrow onwards, the government will provide labor relief. You repair the canals in your hometown, and the government will distribute food to you, four catties per person per day!"

"Four catties? That's a lot." Hearing Lu Wenzhao's words, some people who were soft-hearted, not wanting to rebel, put down their guard and didn't want to continue to make trouble.

But at this time, some people in the crowd saw the change in the situation and hurriedly shouted:
"Four catties?!"

"A few days ago, when the prefect Liu was still in power, he gave us ten catties of grain and copper coins every day! I think you are corrupt officials! Folks, kill these corrupt officials!"

"I'll see who dares!!!"

With a roar, Lu Wenzhao pulled out the long knife from his waist.

But at this time, more than a dozen people in the crowd threw stones at Lu Wenzhao.

No matter how good Lu Wenzhao's kung fu was, he was still hit by a few stones flying with his long knife.

He only felt a pain in his forehead, and then he took two steps back. Although Lu Jianxing on the top of the building hastily shot two arrows, the others learned their cleverness and changed positions when they hit someone.

"grown ups!"

Jin Yiwei, who was supporting Lu Wenzhao, saw the blood slowly bleeding from Lu Wenzhao's forehead, and yelled anxiously, which made the Jin Yiwei behind him think that something happened to Lu Wenzhao, and pulled out their knives one after another, and more than a dozen people walked directly in front of them , Raised the bird gun to the people.

Seeing this, the ordinary hungry people timidly took a few steps back, for fear of being misunderstood as the one who smashed it.

Seeing the further intensification of the conflict, Lu Wenzhao hurriedly covered the wound on his forehead with one hand, got up and pushed away Jin Yiwei who was using the bird gun, and said:

"Put away your weapons!"

Lu Wenzhao, who was used to conspiracies and tricks, suppressed his anger. He knew that those who threw stones in the crowd were all gentry people, and ordinary people were coaxed to come because they could not grasp the real information.

His calmness successfully stopped a riot, but such calmness made the people in the crowd anxious.

But without waiting for them to worry, Lu Wenzhao covered his wound, turned around and said to thousands of people holding various tools:
"Everyone, this is Lu Wenzhao, the commanding officer of Jinyiwei Nanzhen Fusi Commander!"

"I, Lu Wenzhao, guarantee with my life that starting tomorrow, all places in Huaibei will open Changping warehouses and put grain in Changping warehouses."

"After the grain in the Changping warehouse runs out, the official warehouse will be opened to lend grain to everyone until next year's summer harvest."

"The food borrowed is six shi per person, and the food that needs to be repaid is only [-]% of the next year's field food!"

"You guys know better than I, Lu Wenzhao, how much grain an acre of land can produce. The imperial court has made a profit. Why don't you believe in the imperial court?"

Blood flowed from Lu Wenzhao's fingers, staining half of his face, but Lu Wenzhao still explained:
"Then Liu Bian, if you really want to provide disaster relief, why didn't you provide disaster relief at the beginning of the famine?"

"Everyone, think about it carefully. When is the summer tax going up? Why doesn't Liu Bian use the summer tax to distribute food?"

"Besides, Liu Bian, his ancestral home is Sichuan, and his hometown is only a thousand acres of land. How can he sell the land and get back millions of stones of grain? Could it be that grain is as cheap as gravel now?"

"The great famine in Huaibei is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster!"

"It was not others who caused the great hunger in Huaibei, but some unscrupulous merchants and illegal gentry!"

"Their people are mixed among you, and they are also the ones who encouraged you to surround the granary and the government."

"What they want to do is to stop the imperial court from investigating the case of the Huaibei Great Famine."

"Hundreds of thousands of people! Hundreds of thousands of people were killed by this man-made disaster, how can these people get away with it?!"

Lu Wenzhao's bleeding appearance made the one or two hundred people in the front row see clearly, and they also began to reflect on themselves.

Among the crowd, the bolder ones said cautiously:

"Lord Lu, we trust you, but we don't trust others. You are a good official, but others are not!"

"Yes! Mr. Lu, you are a good official, but others are not! If we retreat, can we really get the food tomorrow?"

"Can the offender really be caught?"

The problems of the common people are miscellaneous, and the most important thing is nothing more than the food problem.

Regarding this question, Lu Wenzhao patted his chest and said:
"I, Lu Wenzhao, patted my chest to assure the people of Huaibei that Master Yang and Master Zuo, together with me, will definitely bring the offending country gentry and merchants to justice."

"As for the food, the Changping storehouse is the first to transfer food for disaster relief. If there is not enough, the official storehouse will be used for disaster relief."

"It's just that everyone, the imperial court also has difficulties for the imperial court. Right now, there are Jian captives in the north, and the northern captives are invading the border, and the imperial court has no money or food."

"So the official grain is considered to be a loan, but as I said just now, if you borrow until next year's summer harvest, you only need to repay [-]% of the grain yield per mu, which is enough."

"The remaining four stones and a half of grain is the disaster relief funded by the imperial court!"

Borrowing grain, there is no other way, and the common people also know that if you lend six stones of grain and only pay one and a half stones back, the court is considered benevolent and righteous, at least it will not refuse to save you.

The people living in this land are like this, as long as they can see the hope of life, they will obey like sheep.

Gradually, some people put down the tools in their hands, and Lu Wenzhao also breathed a sigh of relief, and asked them to pass on the news to everyone.

The crowd began to evacuate under Lu Wenzhao's calm arrangement, and Jin Yiwei also took action among them.

By the time the crowd had almost evacuated, Shen Lian had already caught three tongues.

He brought the person in front of Lu Wenzhao, and then composed, with a little apology on his face:
"My lord, I only caught three tongues."

When Lu Wenzhao heard the word tongue, he felt a dull pain from the wound on his forehead. He glanced at the three people whose legs were weak from fright, and said calmly:
"It's up to you……"

"Yes!" Hearing this, Shen Lian returned the salute, and after watching Lu Wenzhao lead the people away, Shen Lian turned to look at the three of them.

At this moment, their bodies were trembling uncontrollably, their legs were weak, and they were almost erected by the six guards next to them.

"Take it to the Hundred Households Office first, and you take your time to interrogate..." Shen Lian said flatly, and after his words were spoken, a Jinyi guard asked tentatively with a smile:

"My lord, means..."

"Anything is fine." Shen Lian put the Yanling Saber back into its sheath, glanced at the three people who were almost frightened, then turned and left.

Hearing the words, the six royal guards also had inexplicable smiles on their faces, and looked sideways at the three of them.

Amid the crying of the three of them, they were taken directly to Baihu House by Jin Yiwei, while Shen Lian found Lu Jianxing.

At this moment, he has changed back into his clothes, and when Shen Lian saw him, he also smiled and said:
"Fortunately, brother, you brought someone here."

"You are wrong, even if I don't bring anyone here, my lord can solve this matter." Lu Jianxing shook his head, and then said:
"Second brother, do you want to continue the task with me now, or stay with Master Lu?"

"Of course I followed elder brother." Shen Lian replied without thinking.

Hearing this, Lu Jianxing also breathed a sigh of relief. He was most afraid that his brother would follow Lu Wenzhao right now. If that happened, there would be few people around him who could be used.

After getting an accurate answer, Lu Jianxing stretched out his hand and patted Shen Lian on the shoulder:

"In this case, wait until the matter in Huaibei is over, and then bid farewell to Mr. Lu."

"Okay" Shen Lian nodded, but after nodding, he asked Lu Jianxing again:
"Brother, in the current situation in Huaibei, do we still have to sell grain?"

"I heard that Mr. Lu and Mr. Yang and Mr. Zuo are going to open a warehouse to release grain."

Shen Lian's words were very simple, that is, if Lu Wenzhao and the others opened a warehouse to release grain, then Lu Jianxing and him would not be able to sell grain.

Although Lu Wenzhao is also a member of Zhu Youjian, even Zhu Youjian dare not use the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people to make money.

That's why Shen Lian asked Lu Jianxing like this, and Lu Jianxing could only sigh after hearing this:
"I can't make a lot of money, but the price of grain in Huaibei cannot be suppressed for a while. As long as all the gentry grain merchants involved in this case are arrested, I can still sell the grain at a higher price than other places."

Lu Jianxing knew that there was no turning back when he opened his bow. He had already asked people to bring more than [-] taels to buy enough grain in Huaibei, Fengyang, Shandong and Jiangxi.

Right now, they must find a place to sell the grain. If they can't sell it, they can only use the names of Zhu Youjian and Jin Yiwei to forcefully transport the grain to the sea and go directly to Liaodong to sell it.

Five hundred thousand taels of silver, the grain that can be bought is millions of stones.

Even if the price of food in Huai'an Mansion is stabilized, the price of food in Liaodong is still [-] yuan per stone, which is twice as profitable for Lu Jianxing.

At that time, the task of one million taels of silver can be successfully completed, and it can also help Liaodong to stabilize food prices. His Highness will not blame him if he thinks about it.

After Lu Jianxing said what he thought, Shen Lian also nodded. The two brothers chatted about other things, and then went to their respective goals separately.

As for Lu Wenzhao, as soon as he brought people back to Baihusuo, he received news of civil unrest in various places in Huaibei.

Huaibei, Xuzhou, and eleven counties in the two prefectures were besieged. Among them, Taoyuan, Yancheng, and Haizhou, which had the weakest defenses, were robbed of grain from the Changping warehouse. A total of more than [-] shi of grain was robbed by the mob.

As a result, there are only [-] shi of grain left in the entire Huai'an Mansion, and only [-] shi of grain left in the Changping warehouse in Huaibei.

The opening of the official warehouse is obviously imminent, otherwise the turmoil will not be quelled at all.

Only by opening warehouses to borrow grain and releasing grain can the people survive and the unrest be ended.

Thinking of this, Lu Wenzhao went to Pizhou County Government Office with the news.

The rioters in the Pizhou county government have already left under the persuasion of other rioters, leaving only the burned gate of the county government.

This attack swept away the majesty of the imperial court, and Lu Wenzhao crossed the gate and found Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others with livid faces in the backyard.

He first told about the robbing of Changping's granary in two counties and one prefecture of Taoyuan, and then said:

"It is imminent to borrow grain from the official warehouse. In my opinion, there is no need to distribute grain at all. Just borrow grain and lend it out in one go!"

What Lu Wenzhao said was not unreasonable. In the situation in Huaibei where there was only [-] grains, it was useless to distribute grains, so they simply borrowed grains in one go.

Sure enough, when he said this, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou immediately nodded their approval.

After Yang Lian nodded, he said:
"I heard that Lu Tongzhi caught three tongues. Since these grain merchants dared to encourage the people to besiege the granaries and yamen, in my opinion, just follow the clues and arrest all the grain merchants hiding behind!"

"The house should be ransacked, and those who should be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment!"

Yang Lian's stubborn temper also came up. In his opinion, if the grain merchants in Huai'an Mansion stay honest, then it is enough to solve the Huaibei famine and find out the main culprits.

But now the Huaibei grain merchants are encouraging the people to watch the county government and rob the official food, so this is speculation, but a blatant disgrace to the court.

If we don't punish them severely this time, and let the gentry and merchants in other places follow suit, wouldn't the world be full of hungry people?
Yang Lian became cruel, but Zuo Guangdou was still hesitant, but his hesitation was not whether he should clean up the grain merchants, but whether he should ask the emperor for instructions first.

"The old man thinks, it's better to ask Long Live first."

As soon as Zuo Guangdou opened his mouth, Lu Wenzhao nodded and said:
"I've already asked someone to deliver the letter to the north of the capital. If it's expedited by [-] miles, it will be delivered to the palace tomorrow at most."

"Okay! Then wait for the news first." Zuo Guangdou no longer hesitated, but nodded.

But when they had made a good deal, a group of grain merchants and gentry hurried around in Li Juren's mansion in Pizhou County.

"It's hard to deal with now. I didn't snatch all the food back in one breath, and three people were arrested by Jin Yiwei."

"What should we do now? They were taken away. With Jin Yiwei's means, I'm afraid those three people will confess before night."

In the face of the so-called absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are just buffers to delay one's execution on the guillotine.

The great famine in Huaibei and the killing of the mine supervisor in Suzhou are two different things.

One is an official grain merchant, and the other is a mine supervisor's eunuch.

The latter's evil actions caused the most powerful Zhejiang Party to attack the imperial power at that time, but the former was different.

Right now, these grain merchants don't even know that the Beijing-based inspection system has been restructured, and that the Donglin Party is about to start retaliating against the Zhejiang Party.

They thought that the Zhejiang Party could protect them from the wind and rain, but they didn't know that the Zhejiang Party was already too busy to take care of themselves because of their affairs.

Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were able to take down as many officials from the Zhejiang Party in the Huaibei Great Famine case as there were officials from the Donglin Party.

This matter has changed from simple officials bullying the people to a struggle between officials and officials, parties and parties.

Li Juren, who was sitting in the main seat, also had cold sweat on his forehead, but he still stubbornly said:
"Don't worry, the people in Nanjing have accepted so many benefits from us, it's impossible for everyone to die, right?"

"What's more, if we are arrested, then the people in Nanjing will also be recruited, and they will find a way to protect us."

Save?How can I protect it?

Li Juren's self-comforting words had just finished, and a manager walked in from outside, walked to Li Juren's side, sweating profusely and whispered nervously:

"Master, Mr. Liu sent someone to tell you not to make trouble..."

"When did you say that?" When Li Juren heard this, sweat dripped from his forehead and his hands and feet were cold.

"Three days ago..." the manager said nervously, but when Li Juren heard it, he immediately felt that it was too late.

Listening to what the other party said, it seems that he can't keep himself, but now he is instigating the people to besiege the county government, and things have become serious...

"When I got the money, I said it well, but now I want to do things, but I'm pushing back and forth!"

Li Juren turned from fear to anger, and stood up abruptly, while others saw him speak like this, and asked anxiously:

"how?"

"Master Liu won't protect me anymore?"

"Asylum for what? He's going to treat me as an abandoned son right now!" Li Juren shouted angrily, then his heart sank, and he called directly to take charge:
"Hide all the family members involved in those three people."

"Tell the servants and tenants in the mansion and outside the mansion that no matter who comes to ask them, they must not say they know those three people."

"Yes!" Hearing this, the director's heart sank.

There is no such thing as hiding, it is obvious that the other party's family members are dealt with first, and it is just a false claim to hide.

In this way, the three thought that there was a family member in the hands of Li Juren, but in fact Li Juren had no reason to be threatened.

As long as all the traces left by the three of them are cleaned up, how can they frame themselves with their mouths?
I have to say that he is vicious enough, but with this little means, he is still a little tender for wanting to make an ax in front of Jin Yiwei...

(End of this chapter)