Wanli 1592

484 - Great irony

Hearing these words of warning, both firm and soft, more or less threatening, the hearts of everyone at the table were more or less beating.

Kang looked at the nearest Du and Liu, as well as Fan Shi Wang and so on, feeling a little better.

"What Futai said is very correct. We have received the grace of the country, and we are relying on the imperial army to keep safe. If the Mongolian Tartars invade, the situation will be terrible. No matter what you say, My Kang family ordered this food today!"

Kang took the lead in making a statement, which Mei Guozhen didn't expect. He was very happy and quickly praised Kang's family: "Kang is so understanding of righteousness. After this matter, I will definitely go to the court to reward Kang!"

The head of the Kang family quickly stood up and said, "It's our duty to share the worries of the country, and we should all do the same. Come on! Bring the food stamps!"

Immediately, a servant came to Kang with a plate, and the head of Kang picked up the dark green food stamp.

"Futai, we businessmen all know that we need to store food in a safer place, which is easy to take and manage, so we got such a food ticket, and we can get food by ticket. You can take it anywhere in your grain shop, and it’s not respectful to be careful.”

With a smile on his face, Kang smiled, and handed the food stamp to Mei Guozhen's waiter behind him as if he was harmless to humans and animals.

"Fifty shi new rice grains, be careful, please accept it, it's all a donation, no need to return it."

After Kangshi finished speaking, he sat back on his seat, looking calm and relaxed, while Mei Guozhen's complexion suddenly changed drastically. He took the food stamp and saw that it was indeed fifty shi!

He thought he had misread and heard wrongly!

"Since the master of the big family has made a move, we can't lag behind, can we? Futai, I, Mrs. Du, donated [-] shi of grain too!"

"Contributing to the country, I, Mrs. Liu, can't be willing to stay behind. To Futai, I, Mrs. Liu, also donated [-] shi of rice and grain. Be careful, and please don't think too little of Futai."

"Then I, Mrs. Zhang, will donate thirty shi of rice!"

"I, Mrs. Wang, also donated [-] shi of rice!"

"I, Mrs. Li, donated twenty shi of rice!"

..............................

The rich gentry and rich merchants in the room donated a total of 540 shi of rice and grain, totaling [-] catties of rice grain.

Mei Guozhen's hands were shaking in anger.

There are more than [-] garrison troops in Datong Town on the surface, but this is on the surface. The collapse of the army town began in the late Yongle period, and the combination of guards and villages also began to deteriorate from that time.

The garrison system survived in name only, and a large number of guards fled. The better guards still had [-]% of their troops, the worse guards had only [-] to [-]%, and some even had no one.

Datong Town is an important border town and has always attracted attention, so the officers dare not lie too much. However, the total number of troops is only more than 6, and there are only less than [-] available soldiers left. The situation in Junzhen is even worse.

In Datong Town, there is a famous general Magui sitting in the town, and Magui's servants, the Cangtou Army, are the main force. The situation is better. Even so, Magui can only ensure that his main force is full, and most of the remaining soldiers are still not full. .

A soldier needs about two catties of grain a day. The [-] catties of rice grain donated by these wealthy gentry may seem like a lot, but in fact, it is only enough for Datong soldiers to eat for a day. That is, five hundred shi of grain squeezed out from between the teeth.

These wealthy tyrants are actually disgraceful with only five hundred shi of grain?
Mei Guozhen couldn't believe his eyes.

He never imagined that when the national crisis was imminent and the lives of these people were threatened, they would still only pluck a hair!
Ma Gui's face was livid as he watched from the sidelines. Although he didn't say a word, his two fists as big as sandbags were clenched tightly under the tablecloth.

A stack of food stamps was placed in front of Mei Guozhen, and he just looked at it like this.

Looking at it, I suddenly felt that this was a great irony, a great irony for him.

He clearly knew that these were some hungry ghosts who ate people without spitting out their bones, but why did he still have a glimmer of hope in them?Knowing that these scumbags would rather die than spend a penny, why do you still have illusions about them?

At this moment, the comparison between the personal gifts they gave themselves and the military rations they gave to the Ming Dynasty seemed extremely ironic, and the ironic Mei Guozhen wanted to laugh.

So he laughed out loud.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Seeing Mei Guozhen burst out laughing suddenly, the gentry and wealthy households in the room were very puzzled.

"Why is Futai laughing?"

Kang was a little puzzled by Monk Zhang Er, and thought that Mei Futai had lost her mind.

"Hahahaha, you don't need to be alarmed by Kangda, everyone, I just thought of something funny, hahahahaha!"

"I don't know Futai, what's so funny?"

Mei Guozhen stopped laughing, and looked at the head of the Kang family with a strange expression, making him uncomfortable.

"One hundred thousand shi of rice grain, it takes five thousand days for me to eat it all alone. It takes about ten years, but I don't eat this food alone. It is for more than [-] people in the Datong garrison. , but also for the Tumot people outside the customs, they can finish eating in half a day.

Looking at these several boxes of precious calligraphy, calligraphy, painting, cultural relics and antiques, the price is probably ridiculously high, right?If I sell these things and convert them into taels of silver, I am afraid that I can buy all the food that is enough for [-] soldiers and the Tumed Department outside the Great Wall for a winter, right? "

Mei Guozhen faded his smile, stood up, stood beside the pile of gifts, and pointed to the pile of gifts with one hand.

"These were given to me, Mei Guozhen, by your filial piety. They are very valuable, and they can be called sky-high prices. If I, Mei Guozhen, take them and sell them, the silver taels I get will be enough for my grandchildren to spend. .”

Then Mei Guozhen raised the food stamps totaling 540 shi.

"These, these 540 shi of grain, are the tribute to the Ming Dynasty from you, the people of the Ming Dynasty who have been greatly favored by the country! It is only enough to feed the [-] garrison for a day, and everyone may not be able to eat enough!"

Mei Guozhen pointed to the north again.

"It's just to the north, just a few dozen miles outside the pass. The Tumed Department, which has protected us from disasters for Daming for more than ten years and saved countless wars, is suffering from hunger and cold. Inside the pass, Right in front of you, the [-] soldiers guarding the safety of you and the whole of Shanxi are suffering from hunger and cold.

And you, drinking the wine, listening to the song, playing with the lady, and eating the meat, the days are very refreshing, very refreshing!You don't even think about it, if Datong is breached and Yanmen Pass is lost, can you still live a comfortable life here. "

After all, Mei Guozhen threw those food stamps on the ground.

"If Datong is lost, I, Mei Guozhen, will kill myself when the city is broken to thank the world! What's the use of giving me money that Mei Guozhen can't spend in three lifetimes! Zongbing Ma! Let's go!"

Mei Guozhen angrily glanced at the circle of "elderly people" who were "deeply favored by the country" with "kind eyebrows and kind eyes", and left quickly without a trace of nostalgia.

(End of this chapter)