The displaced people have bright smiles on their faces and work harder.

But Kou Ji, Cao Yan, and Liu Heng couldn't laugh.

The three of them hid in the tent, and Liu Heng and Cao Tong all looked sad.

Cao Tong hesitated and asked Kou Ji, "Fourth brother, can your method work?" By tomorrow, if the food from the imperial court has not arrived, it will be bad. ”

Among the mountains of grain piled up outside the tent, how many percent of it is grain, and Cao Tong knows it.

Li Di sent people to search the Kou Mansion, the Wangfu, and the Xiang Mansion, and the food raised was barely enough for the displaced people outside the tent to eat a meal.

There was not a single grain of grain in the remaining grain bags.

It's all sand!

When Kou Ji learned that Li Di had sent people to raise food, he asked him and Liu Heng to return to Bianjing City, stopped the Li Mansion steward who was transporting grain outside the North City Gate, hired a large number of carriages, loaded a large amount of sand, and pulled them outside the North City Gate to fool the homeless.

The homeless people were fooled by this method.

But this is obviously not a long-term solution.

By the evening of this evening, the food they had raised would be eaten.

Tomorrow, the fact that the grain piled up outside the tent is sand will be discovered by the displaced people.

When the time comes, no one can predict how much trouble the displaced people will make when they find out that they have been deceived.

The only thing he can be sure of is that once Kou Ji loses his trust in the homeless, then everything Kou Ji has done before will come to naught.

Kou Ji flicked the brazier in front of him, looked at Liu Heng and Cao Tong and asked, "Do you have a better way?" ”

Liu Heng and Cao Tong glanced at each other, sighed at the same time, and lowered their heads.

If they had a way, they wouldn't sit here and sigh for a long time.

Similarly, if Kou Ji had a way, he would not have made such a decision.

When things come to this point, we can only find a way to stabilize the hearts of the displaced people, and then slowly try to figure it out.

If Kou Ji had told the displaced people now that there was no food left in the camp where the displaced people had been housed, then the displaced people would have rioted.

Instead of telling the truth to the displaced people now, it will cause the displaced people to riot.

It's better to lie to them for one night and buy time for one night, maybe there will be a turnaround tomorrow.

"I'll go to the south gate to see ......"

Liu Heng got up suddenly, muttered, and walked out of the tent with a black face.

If the homeless people really rioted, they actually had little to do with him.

He only came to help, and did not take on the errand of rehousing the displaced people.

The reason why he was so worried and so irritable was also for Koji.

After all, Kou Ji is the main person in charge of the resettlement of the displaced people, and if the displaced people riot, whether it is Kou Ji's fault or not, the imperial court must deal with Kou Ji and give an explanation to the displaced people, so as to appease the hearts of the displaced people.

This is a common trick used by the imperial court.

Cao Tong was also worried about Kou Ji, so after Liu Heng left, he gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go back to Bianjing City and take a look...... There are a lot of generals who are good friends with my Cao family, so I went to them to borrow some food, and I might be able to borrow some. ”

After saying this, Cao Tong bowed his hand to Kou Ji and left the tent.

Cao Tong and Liu Heng tried their best to help Kou Ji, but Kou Ji was not at peace.

After the two left, Kou Ji threw all the matchsticks in his hand into the brazier, and said faintly: "You two do your best to help me, I can't sit still......"

Kou Ji got out of the tent, summoned the chief entourage of Kou Mansion, ordered him to enter Bianjing, and invited Mu Chong, Qian Le, and Meng Weizhong.

After Mu Chong and the three arrived, Kou Ji invited the three of them into the tent.

After sitting down.

Qian Le held his stomach and said with a smile: "Kou Gong Department, the three of us have already prepared what you want." Most of the things have already arrived, and only one percent of the things you have added temporarily are still on the way, and they will definitely be delivered within three days. ”

Qian Le is also a fox.

He seemed to have guessed that it would not be good for Kou Ji to ask the three of them to come over at this time, so as soon as he opened his mouth, he was ready to block Kou Ji's words.

Mu Chong took Qian Le's words and said with a smile: "Kou Gong Ministry, the promise we promised you has been fulfilled, I don't know when the promise you promised us will be fulfilled?" ”

Meng Weizhong nodded in agreement.

If it had been the past, the three of them would have asked Kou Ji what else he had to say.

But now, the three of them never mentioned the matter of continuing to help Koji.

From the words of the three of them, Kou Ji could hear the thoughts of the three of them.

Kou Ji stared at the three of him: "Li Xiang sent people to raise food in the city, the three of them should already know, right?" Otherwise, the three of them would not have said such a thing. ”

Mu Chong and the three of them glanced at each other and smiled dryly.

Li Di raised food in Bianjing City and did not hide it.

Because Li Di knew that no matter how much he covered it up, it was useless, and if anyone wanted to pay attention, it would be very easy to find out about his food raising.

So when Li Di sent someone to Kou Mansion to borrow grain, Mu Chong and the three of them knew about it.

It was also inferred from this incident that the imperial court's escort of grain and grass had gone wrong.

They discussed it privately, and felt that Kou Ji's errand to resettle the displaced people this time might have to be messed up.

They have spent so much money and so many materials, and it is very likely that they will also be wasted.

The reason why they are still willing to hand over the last percent of the supplies to Kou Ji is also an idea.

Facing Kou Ji's questioning, Mu Chong said with a smile: "Know something...... Li Xiang raised food in Bianjing City and did not hide it, so many people in Bianjing City knew about it. ”

Meng Weizhong said in a deep voice: "It's just that the major grain merchants in Bianjing City have no grain in their hands to sell to Li Xiang. Even if there is food, it is secretly hoarded, ready to wait until winter, and seek huge profits.

So Li Xiang didn't raise much food.

Without a food supply, I'm afraid there will be big trouble here in the Ministry of Kougong. ”

Qian Le pointed to the outside of the tent and said, "If the Ministry of Kou Gong is willing, we can find a way to help the Ministry of Kou Gong provide for those young and strong people outside." ”

"This is the only thing we can do to help the Ministry of Workers right now."

Mu Chong added.

The words of the three were beautiful.

But Koji heard what they were thinking.

Kou Ji raised his eyebrows, stared at the three of them, and said in a deep voice: "You want 40,000 young men outside?" ”

Mu Chong and the three nodded in unison.

Kou Ji said coldly: "Forty thousand young men and strong people have already met the needs of an army." ”

Mu Chong's faces changed.

Mu Chong hurriedly said: "Kou Gong Department, we don't have other thoughts. We just didn't want everything we had invested in the early stage to go down the drain, so we agreed to ask for those young people.

We just want to use the 40,000 young men outside the tent to set up a few large iron wrought workshops as soon as possible to forge the kind of iron you mentioned.

In this way, the things we invested in before were not in vain. ”

Qian Le and Meng Weizhong nodded in unison.

That's what they do.

Kou Ji also guessed the thoughts of the three people, so when he heard Mu Chong's words, he didn't feel surprised.

They do this to stop their losses.

At the same time, the benefits in hand will be expanded as much as possible.

This is very much in line with their businessman's style.

It's just that Koji's purpose is not only to build a wrought iron workshop and a textile workshop.

From the very beginning, his purpose was to settle these homeless people, and through the hands of these homeless people, he promoted the skills in his hands, so as to make a name for the Ministry of Industry, so that the Ministry of Industry could take back power from the general supervisor and the Shaofu Supervisor.

"No......"

Kou Ji decisively rejected Mu Chong's proposal.

Mu Chong's faces instantly turned pale.

Mu Chong gritted his teeth and said, "Kou Gong Ministry, we are businessmen. The reason why we agreed to help you resettle the displaced people is also to make money with the help of the displaced people. Now the issue of resettlement of displaced people has gone wrong, and it is obvious that they will lose all their money.

If we don't think about stopping the loss, all the money we invested before will be wasted. ”

Qian Le nodded and said: "You are an important minister in the court, you want to protect the court and the people, and the three of us have nothing to say." But since we have invested money, we cannot afford to lose all our money.

Although we are businessmen, we are also ordinary people, and we are also your collaborators, and you have to maintain us. ”

Kou Ji stared at the three of them and said seriously: "I need to feed those homeless people for a day now, and the food from the imperial court will arrive in one day." As long as we get through this difficulty, tens of thousands of displaced people will help us work and make money.

You must not only look at the immediate benefits, but also look at the long term.

Whether it is 40,000 homeless people who help us make more money, or whether hundreds of thousands of homeless people help us make more money, you know very well in your hearts.

You've invested so much in the early stages, and by now, you shouldn't give up halfway. ”

Kou Ji's words are very reasonable and heartwarming.

But Mu Chong and the three of them seemed to suddenly dislike money, and they were not interested in the pie drawn by Kou Ji at all.

The three of them just looked at Kou Ji and smiled awkwardly, but didn't speak.

Kou Ji frowned, feeling a hint of something wrong.

He said in a deep voice, "Do you know something?" ”

Mu Chong and the three hesitated again and again and did not speak.

There are some things they can't say, and if they say it, they will break the rules, and they will want to do some business again in the future.

Kou Ji had a gloomy face, and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me!" ”

Mu Chong took the lead in getting up, arched his hand, did not speak, and prepared to leave.

The same is true for Qian Le.

After Meng Weizhong got up, he arched his hands and hesitated for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said, "You should send someone to check the Chang Ping of Kaifeng Mansion." ”

Koji's eyes widened in vain.

Mu Chong and Qian Le stared at Meng Weizhong and shook their heads.

Meng Weizhong sighed and said to Kou Ji: "Please also ask the Kou Gong Department to help me keep it secret, don't tell outsiders, I said it." ”

After saying this, Meng Weizhong arched his hand at Kou Ji and took the lead in leaving the tent.

Mu Chong and Qian Le also left.

After they left, Kou Ji stood in place in a daze for a long time.

Meng Weizhong's words were heard by others, and they may need to guess before they can understand the deep meaning.

But Kou Ji understood the meaning of Meng Weizhong's words almost the moment Meng Weizhong finished speaking.

He rushed out of the tent, grabbed one of the guards of the Koufu, let the guards ride his horse, and led him all the way to the south gate of Bianjing City.

"Where's Lee Sang?!"

When Koji arrived at the south gate, he shouted loudly.

Li Di's heart skipped a beat when he heard Kou Ji's shout, he dropped the spoon he was distributing porridge to the homeless, and ran in front of Kou Ji with a step.

"What's wrong? The victims found that they had no food? Started making trouble? ”

Li Di stared at Kou Ji on horseback and asked anxiously.

Kou Ji jumped off the horse, rushed to Li Di's side, grabbed Li Di's arm, gritted his teeth, and asked in a low voice: "Grandpa Li, have you sent someone to Kaifeng Mansion to see it?" ”

Li Di didn't understand the meaning of Kou Ji's question at first, but when he reacted, he asked with a stunned face, "What do you mean by this?" ”

Kou Ji glanced left and right, and saw that someone was secretly watching him and Li Di, so he pulled Li Di to a place where no one was around, and said in a deep voice: "Someone told me that there may be no food in the Changping warehouse in Kaifeng Mansion. ”

Li Di's old hand trembled, and he said in astonishment: "How is it possible? If there is no grain in the Changping warehouse in Kaifeng Mansion, then where did the first batch of grain come from? ”

Kou Ji gritted his teeth and said, "Maybe there is only the first batch of grain in the Changping warehouse of Kaifeng Mansion?" ”

Li Di's eyes widened and he looked at Kou Ji.

Kou Ji continued: "The first batch of grain was delivered on time at the urging of the imperial court. However, the second batch of grain was looted and burned on the road.

Isn't there a greasy thing in this?

I didn't feel anything wrong before.

But after I heard that Kaifeng Mansion often closed the warehouse and ran out of grain, I realized that something was wrong.

Since the thief named Cyberdam is a plague victim, he should know the value of food.

The people know best the value of food, and even if they lay down their lives, they will not give up food.

If he were a plague victim, he would not have been able to burn the grain easily.

If he were a plague victim, it would not have been possible for you to kill him without even crying out. ”

The more Kou Ji spoke, the heavier his voice became.

The more Li Di listened, the more shocked he became.

His mouth trembled, his beard trembled, and he said in a trembling voice, "This...... It can't be......"

He said that it was impossible, but in his heart he already believed Kou Ji's words.

Kou Ji said with a gloomy face: "Nothing is impossible. ”

Li Di's face turned a little pale, "The third batch of grain is on the way, so the old man will send someone to investigate." ”

Li Di trembled and found the soldiers of the forbidden army, selected some soldiers of the forbidden army that he had promoted, helped, and trusted, and went along the official road to transport grain and grass to meet the third batch of grain.

After the people are sent out.

Li Di found Kou Ji and took Kou Ji to the city gate building at the South City Gate.

When he arrived at the city gate building, Li Di chased after Kou Ji and asked, "What's going on?" ”

Kou Ji gritted his teeth and said: "Someone told me vaguely that there is no food in the Changping warehouse in Kaifeng Mansion. ”

"Who?!"

Li Di said eagerly: "Tell the old man who it is, and the old man will ask him in person." ”

Kou Ji shook his head and said, "I promised him that I couldn't tell anyone who he was." ”

Li Di beat his chest and said: "It's about the life and death of hundreds of thousands of victims, and you still have to stick to this kind of promise?" ”

Koji gritted his teeth and didn't speak.

Li Di scolded angrily a few times, and suddenly as if he had thought of something, he stared at Kou Ji and asked, "It's those merchants, right?" Historically, it has been not uncommon for officials and businessmen to collude and resell grain that is often closed.

They must have resold the grain in the regular closing warehouse, so they only knew about this, right? ”

Li Di's words were roughly the same as Kou Ji's guess.

But Koji still didn't speak.

If he said Meng Weizhong's name, Meng Weizhong would not only be unable to buy and sell grain in the future, but he was afraid that his life would also be threatened.

After all, it is illegal to resell grain that is often closed.

This matter is obviously going to make a big fuss, and when the time comes, the court will not talk about any emotion.

Meng Weizhong risked killing his head and was willing to tell him about it, which was a kindness.

He can't take revenge.

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