Several henchmen who were summoned by the prince in the room shook their heads in unison after hearing the prince's request. One of the dark-looking people spoke: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, Lord Zhang has just been removed from his post because of a conflict with the King of England, and the King of England over there has died violently, I am afraid that it will be difficult for you and Lord Zhang to get out of the relationship." ”

"Do you think you're waiting for a while, at least until the limelight has passed? The king of England has no masters around him now, and he has nothing to rely on in the court and the palace. As long as the limelight is over, when will you want to get rid of him, it's not a matter of His Highness's words? As for now, the ministers think that it is better to wait. ”

"Lone has said it, Lone has no patience to wait now. The King of England is just a clown, what do you have to worry about? Is it because your father made an exception and went to the British Palace, do you really think that your father will have a fundamental change in his attitude towards that Huaiyang remnant? ”

"Back then, the king of Huaiyang County killed the clan with a river of blood, and all the clans in the world hated it to the bone. There are not a few people in the clan who want to kill this remnant of Huaiyang, who can recognize that it is a lone hand? As long as the father does not catch the actual evidence, the father will not do anything to Lone. ”

"The prince Lone, although in the eyes of his father, is a little worse than in the past, but it is not comparable to him and the remnants of Huaiyang. As long as Lone is still on the throne, there are some things that no one can endure Lone. But then again, if you leave evidence that you've been caught, what else do you want you to do? You have made up your mind, so don't talk too much. ”

Several henchmen disagreed with the crown prince, and now they are attacking the British king. But seeing that the prince insisted on going his own way, he didn't dare to say anything more. Otherwise, once the prince has doubts in his heart, with the character of this master, then the unlucky one may not be the king himself. As confidants who have followed the prince for many years, these people know the prince's character well.

If the prince really doubts himself, I am afraid that it will be difficult for several of his people to have a good death. Isn't that Master Zhang just now a lesson from the past? Nominally, he was sent to protect him, but in fact he was responsible for surveillance, and could become his talisman at any time.

Seeing that several henchmen were not objecting, the prince nodded with satisfaction. It's just that they didn't expect that their conversation would have fallen into the ears of a caring person a long time ago. After the crown prince gave the order to kill, a person who eavesdropped outside showed a strange smile on the corner of his mouth.

All this that happened in the prince's courtyard, Huang Qiong naturally would not know. When he learned that Zhang Qian was demoted, Jia Quan once again asked Huang Qiong to increase the request of the guards, but this time Huang Qiong listened. It's just a card that can be played in his hand, and under the really limited circumstances, Huang Qiong can't come up with too many ways for a while.

was worried about Huang Qiong's safety, and couldn't come up with any way for a while. Jia Quan did not hesitate to treat Liu Hu's injuries, and the doctor Li who was already able to leave now was detained just in case. During the treatment of Liu Hu, this Dr. Li let people see his amazing medical skills.

The person who was already dying, he insisted that he snatch it back from the side of death. Although he has not fully recovered, he is basically fine, but it will take a while to recover. Except for the external injuries that even the gods can't heal even if they are in a certain department, even the kung fu has not been affected much.

It was precisely because of this guy's amazing medical skills that Huang Qiong acquiesced to Jia Quan's move to detain people. At this time, there are many people in hand, and there are many roads. Although you may not really use it, it is better than if you panic when the time comes. Anyway, his current British Prince's Mansion is not bad enough to feed so many people.

It's just that sure enough, the old man's title is not Bai Jin's. The next thing made Huang Qiong no longer have the heart to worry about her own safety. Half a month after Zhang Qian left Beijing, a holy decree summoned Huang Qiong into the palace again. The errand that the old man gave him this time, although it was not a trouble, was definitely not a good thing.

This errand is actually very simple, that is, to ask Huang Qiong to meet a few sects who have entered the capital to face the saints. In addition to meeting with these clansmen, it was for him to take out some money and food from the hands of these wealthy clan tyrants. To put it bluntly, it is to let those clans bleed.

As for the reason why the old man summoned these clans to Beijing, it was very simple, that is, to raise a batch of money and food for the currently empty household department. Although it has not yet really entered autumn, the grain harvest is almost certainly extinct, and the drought has become a foregone conclusion.

Since the beginning of spring, there has been a major drought in most areas of Longyou and Shaanxi Second Road. Most of the rivers and mountains are cut off, and the 800-mile Qinchuan River, which is known as the eight rivers surrounding Chang'an, also has a large area of drought. The original Bashui water, which had a large amount of water, is now basically cut off from the other six rivers except for Weishui and Jingshui.

The disaster was serious, and although it was not yet the autumn harvest, the imperial court could not help but prepare in advance. Longyou is already in the mixed area of Han and Hu, and the folk customs are extremely strong. Once the last autumn really does not harvest, the imperial court is likely to cause chaos if it does not prepare in advance. In particular, a large number of people have already appeared and are moving outward.

Originally, the Great Qi Dynasty, which was going to say that it had the world, couldn't take out food to prepare for disasters, and no one would believe it when they said it. But the current facts are like this. After receiving the second route pacification envoy and the transfer envoy, in the face of the severe drought, the emperor, who knew that the situation was not cleaned up well and was very likely to cause chaos, did not hesitate at all.

In addition to ordering the officials of the Second Road to find out the drought situation, they immediately sent people from the Household Department of the Warehousing Department to transfer grain from Chang'an Mansion, Shaanxi Road, Hanzhong Mansion, Longyou Qingzhou, Suzhou Granary, and Shaanxi Prefecture to Longyou. The granary belonging to the second-road storage ambassador will provide relief to the victims who have already appeared.

It's just that what makes the emperor feel embarrassed is that, according to the imperial court's customization, not counting the Suzhou granaries that only supply the border army, the three major granaries set up in Chang'an, Hanzhong, and Qingzhou alone by the household department, there should be at least more than 2 million stone of grain in stock at present. The granary to which the second-road storage ambassador belongs should also store grain in millions of stones.

However, whether it is the granary belonging to the household department or the granary belonging to the second road, all the grain stored together is only more than 100,000 stones. Among them, the largest in the entire northwest is also responsible for the supply of military rations in the entire northwest. The Chang'an granary, which was supposed to store 600,000 stones, now has less than 50,000 stones.

Especially in the entire Longyou area, which is the hardest-hit area, the grain storage is less than 200,000 stones, and only 30% of the grain customized by the imperial court. Unless the rations of the border army and the local guards are reduced, all the granaries can only make up 100,000 stone of grain for disaster preparedness and relief. There is no doubt that there must be no shortage of supplies for the border army.

This is the top priority related to the safety of the imperial court, you must know that even the emperor cannot send hungry soldiers. But 100,000 stone of grain, although it can't be said to be a drop in the bucket, is still too far from what is needed. As for where the rest of the grain went, I'm afraid only the Household Storage Department and officials at all levels of the Second Road know.

What embarrassed the emperor was not only in the granary, but most of the grain that should have disappeared without a trace, and he could only take out 100,000 stone of grain for disaster preparedness and relief. What embarrassed him even more was that the household department could only allocate 150,000 yuan for disaster relief before the autumn tax was collected. This amount is a fight with several large granaries that can only take out 100,000 stone of grain.

To make matters worse, the second-way officials have been concealing the disaster. It wasn't until the drought was a foregone conclusion, and a large number of victims had begun to appear on the Second Road, and even some of the victims had begun to starve to death, and some of the victims had already appeared in Jingzhao Mansion, that they thought about reporting to the imperial court, hoping that the imperial court could allocate relief food.

After receiving the report from Zhongshu Province and the Ministry of Households, the emperor was extremely angry. Even if the Hubu Shangshu and the Hubu Zuo Shilang were removed, as well as all the officials of the Hubu Warehousing Department, they were handed over to the Yushitai and Dali Temple for strict interrogation. And sent 800 miles to expedite the second road pacification envoy, the transfer envoy, and all the grain road officials, and brought them into Beijing in one lock.

It's just that it's easy to remove these officials, but the disaster in front of you waits for no one. It will take at least two months for grain from Huguang, Liangzhejiang and Jiangnan to go on the market. And even if it is listed, it will be transported from Huguang and Liangzhejiang to the disaster area for thousands of miles, and I don't know when, but the victims of the two roads will not be able to wait for that time.

Now that some of the victims have appeared, the number is not too large, and there is still a certain amount of time for the imperial court to provide relief. In the autumn, if the area of the harvest is really larger, the number of victims will only be larger. When the time comes, if enough food cannot be raised, then the chaos will be even greater.

Although the old man said that he had made an order, he had already waived the money and food for the second way. But the problem is that the Holy Decree cannot be eaten, and no amount of tax reduction or reduction can fill the stomachs of the victims. But now the problem is that the imperial court has no food to adjust. Even if you want to fill the hole in the granary in the northwest in case of a large-scale disaster in the fall, there is no way to make up for it.

There is grain in several granaries around the Jingshi, but the problem is that in addition to satisfying the people of the Jingshi, as well as the large number of civil and military officials in the capital, and the hundreds of thousands of garrisons of the four major battalions, it is already very tight. It is also very difficult to allocate a certain amount of food.

The situation was grim, although the emperor transferred 300,000 yuan from his own treasury. The 150,000 yuan that was scraped together with the household department first made up enough money for 400,000 yuan. Although it can't solve all the problems, it can be regarded as a partial solution. But the money is there, the question is where does the food come from?

In desperation, the emperor could only find a few of the richest clans, wanting to fight the local tyrants, hoping that they would take out some of the grain and sell it at the official price set by the imperial court, so as to solve the urgent need first. It occurred to me that when these clans heard that the imperial court had asked them to sell grain at official prices, it was as if they were going to kill them.

If on weekdays, the imperial court asked them to sell grain at official prices, these people naturally didn't care. But in this year of disaster, they still expect the hoarded grain in their hands to make a big fortune in the country, where will they promise to sell grain at a fair price? Wouldn't that be like stripping their flesh?

Especially the king of Linfen County, whose fief is in Linfen and is close to the disaster area. Now they are preparing to sell the mountains of grain in their names at a high price in order to make huge profits. And the king of Yuancheng County, who is known as the richest man in the clan, is far away from the disaster area. But this county king, who has a keen sense of business, began to transport and hoard grain to the border between Shanxi and Shanxi.

These people are all counting on this great drought in the northwest to make a lot of money, where will they care about other people, even the life and death of the imperial court? At present, this grain is equivalent to a large amount of wealth in the eyes of these people. As soon as they heard that the imperial court asked them to pay grain at a reasonable price, they shouted louder than anyone else.