After sighing, his face became extremely ugly, because the state of Chu had been vigorously advocating flour for three years, which showed that the state of Chu had known about the existence of stone mills three years ago.

Especially not long ago, the Chu State built a canal in Jianghan in the name of planting wheat rice, which led to the common people in Jianghuai planting wheat and rice.

What made King Qi even more heartbroken was that as early as more than a year ago, some people of Qi discovered a way to make flour quickly, but they hid the stone mill and kept it secret so that they could profit from it themselves, without taking the country to heart at all.

Ji Zi opened his mouth and said: "King, this kind of stone mill has not been in existence for a long time, and it has only been circulated in a small number among the people, so not many people know about it. Originally, the stone mill was only made to make it easy to hull the rice, just put the wheat rice beans on a stone plate and roll them slightly to remove the shell. ”

"However, if you roll it back and forth multiple times, then you can grind the wheat into flour."

Chu Zi said faintly: "That is to say, three years ago, or many years ago, for some reason, someone in the Chu State used this stone to mill flour, and then made food from flour, and then presented it to the King of Chu. ”

Ji Zi nodded and said, "What Xiangguo said is extremely true. ”

Saying that, Ji Zi suggested to King Qi: "King, the advantage of planting wheat in winter is too great, and now the method of making flour is so simple, fortunately, it is not too late for us to plant wheat in Qi country." Therefore, the king asked the king to issue an edict ordering the people to plant wheat and rice. ”

King Qi did not answer, but after walking around the stone, he asked: "Xiangguo, Jizi, why do you say that the State of Chu did not force the people to plant wheat and rice in three years, but guided the people to plant wheat and rice through various methods?" ”

Ji Zi replied: "King, this is very simple, the Chu State wants to take advantage of the fact that the countries have not yet discovered the role of stone mills, and take the opportunity to hoard wheat and rice. ”

As he spoke, a flash of light flashed in Ji Zi's eyes, and he said in surprise: "The king means that like the state of Chu, he will keep the stone mill secret, and find other excuses to let the people plant wheat and rice!" ”

King Qi nodded: "Ji Zi also said that this stone mill has not appeared for a long time, and it is not widely spread, and the purpose is not to make flour. ”

"I don't know if the two virtuous ministers can have a way, not only can the widow buy grain justifiably, but also let the people of Qi State plant wheat and rice willingly."

"This ······"

Ji Zi was still thinking, and Chu Zi thought for a while and said: "King, since this is the case, it is better to take advantage of the fact that this year's corn is being harvested and put into storage, let's burn the grain!" ”

"Burning grain?"

······

The capital of Yingdu of Chu.

October is the beginning of the new year and is an exceptionally busy month.

On the first day of October, the New Year of the Chu State, Xiong Huai feasted the ministers in the Chu Palace.

After the New Year, taking advantage of the fact that the feudal monarchs from all over the country came to visit the king of Chu and worship the temple of the Chu State, the Chu State held the first feudal monarch horse race.

In this horse race, where the feudal monarchs were suspicious, the feudal monarchs did not make every effort to select a good horse and prepare for the horse, so it can only be said that it is okay!

Didn't embarrass the King of Chu!

It's just that then, after Xiong Huai officially announced that the winning feudal monarch would be exempted from the feudal monarch's worship according to his ranking, all of a sudden, all the feudal monarchs were boiling.

After the horse race, people from all over Jianghan rushed to Yingdu to serve in labor one after another.

The first day of November.

Yingdu has gathered 200,000 people and officially began to build the canal near Yunmeng.

On the day of the groundbreaking, in order to show the importance of the Chu State to the water canal, Xiong Huai, as the king of Chu, personally rushed to the scene to pray to the gods with the ether prison shrine (earth god). And he personally dug up the first handful of soil to show his determination to the people.

Following.

After Xiong Huai used the morning food, he was about to cheer for the people who built the canal, but he didn't want to, and as soon as he went out, he met Chen Zhen to see him.

After the ceremony.

Chen Zhen said with a happy face: "King, thirteen days ago, the prince of Qi got married, on the same day, the king of Qi issued an edict to celebrate the whole country of Qi and carnival for three days. ”

Hearing that there was a disaster in the Qi country, Xiong Huai was slightly heavy because of the marriage of Qi and Wei, and suddenly became relaxed and happy.

"Chen Qing, I don't know what happened to Qi Guo?"

"King, the three largest granaries in Linzi of Qi State suddenly caught fire at the same time ten days ago, and then, because the fire was too big, Qi State could not be rescued, and after the fire burned for a day and night, the three granaries of Qi State were destroyed in one fell swoop, and millions of stone grains were all turned into ashes."

"The news from the State of Qi, after the King of Qi learned the news, fell ill on the spot, and after being in a coma for a day, he came out to meet the ministers."

"Really? Three granaries caught fire on the same day, is this a natural disaster or a man-made disaster? ”

As if joy fell from the sky, Xiong Huai was overjoyed and showed a look of disbelief.

"Your Majesty, this matter should not be fake. As for natural and man-made disasters, it should be both! Chen Zhen nodded with a smile, and then explained: "King, the prince of Qi is married, and the king of Qi rewards all the people in Linzi with a pot of wine, and all low-level officials have ten pots of wine and ten catties of meat, and all other officials and nobles are invited into the palace to participate in the banquet, and the banquet lasts for three days." ”

"In the end, the warehouse was unmanaged, and this happened. Our spies in Qi personally went to investigate where the granaries were, and the results were confirmed to be correct, and all three granaries were burned to the ground. ”

Xiong Huai was stunned for a moment, and then sighed: "Although this is good news. But it's a pity that the King of Qi didn't die, and it was a pity that such a big thing happened in the Qi country, and the King of Qi came out the next day. ”

Saying that, Xiong Huai suddenly had the urge to take advantage of his illness to kill him and send troops to attack Qi again, but when he thought that Chu was not ready for war, and a large number of people were building canals, he could only give up.

After a pause, Xiong Huai shook his head and asked, "Chen Qing, what is the situation in Qi State now?" ”

Hearing this, Chen Zhen restrained his smile and replied: "Great King, now that the State of Qi is worried that the Three Kingdoms of Chu, Yue and Song will take the opportunity to attack Qi, the King of Qi has issued an edict to gather troops in Tancheng and Xue Di in the south to prepare for war, and the envoys of the King of Qi have gone to the surrounding countries to buy grain. ”

"In addition, because the grain in Linzi was burned, the king of Qi ordered that grain be transferred from other major cities, and all grain in the territory of Qi was forbidden to leave the country, and ordered the people to immediately replant wheat and rice to cope with the famine in the coming year."

Xiong Huai was stunned when he heard this, and then said in surprise: "The State of Qi also sent an envoy to the State of Chu?" ”

Chen Zhen nodded: "Great King, that's exactly the case, and the carriage of the envoy of the Qi State is extremely fast, only a little slower than our messenger, and it will arrive in Yingdu in about three days." ”

Xiong Huai said with a smile: "In this way, the King of Qi is really in a hurry, and he actually bought all the grain here in the Chu State······

Four days later.

In the main hall of the state of Chu, Chen Jia, the envoy of the state of Qi who was dusty and tired, walked into the hall quickly, and hurriedly bowed: "Foreign minister Chen Jia, meet the king of Chu." ”

"Excuse me!"

After Chen Jia got up, Xiong Huai asked, "I don't know what is the important matter for King Qi Mingqing to visit Chu State?" ”

Chen Jia cried when he heard this, and said again: "King, our country is unfortunate, there has been a great disaster, all the grain in Linzi has been burned, the widow is desperate, and the special minister came to Chu to borrow grain from the king. I hope that the king will see that the two countries of Qi and Chu have cooperated in the crusade against the Qin State before, and ask the alliance leader to lend grain to the Qi State in the face of the people of Qi State. ”

"Borrowed food? This..." Xiong Huai looked at Chen Jia's anxious look, his expression of wanting to cry without tears, and his heart was secretly refreshed, as if the person kneeling in the hall was King Qi himself.