Chapter 21: Troubles Continue
Whether it is the saint on the temple, or the princes and generals, or the people who weave mats and sell shoes, they all have one thing in common, that is, they all need to eat, which seems like nonsense, but it also proves a truth, no matter how strong a person is, he can't just drink the northwest wind. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
Therefore, as the foundation of life, the grain has an important value beyond imagination, as the saying goes, as long as you have food, you can be the king of grass, but as the Donglin Party people try their best to protect the interests of the landlords and the wealthy industrialists, so that these upper classes are exempt from taxes and pay grain, the court will put all the taxes on the heads of the people, but at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the situation is worried about internal and external troubles, natural disasters continue, the fields are not harvested, thousands of miles of bones are everywhere, so that the people everywhere rise up, so it is not easy to mix a mouthful of food to live,
Therefore, in the place where the disaster and famine occurred, most of the young and strong people who were desperate, in order not to starve to death, either joined the army or joined the rogues, and lived a life of licking blood on the knife edge, speaking of which was just for a mouthful of food, but unfortunately this minimum demand is often not satisfied.
And in Fengyang, the central capital where Han Yu is located, as the news of the lack of grain spreads, in less than a day, suddenly all the rice shops seemed to have been discussed, and then all the rice shops went on strike one after another, but some small guilds and shops had a small amount of grain for sale, and soon the grain was fried to a sky-high price, and even then even the chaff and rough food eaten by livestock were quickly snapped up.
And the rumors of the lack of food soon spread like a plague throughout Fengyang City, and there was a panic up and down.
Especially those poor people who set up porridge sheds to relieve them are even more panicked, because most of these people are old and weak women and children, and the men in the family are either killed on the battlefield or have not returned for many years, of course, there are also some of them who are strong and have joined the militia group formed by Zhang Tanghuai.
And what's worse is that the grain that Kean asked the captain Wang Wei to hide was actually stolen and sold by a few profit-hungry guards and militia soldiers, and soon made a lot of money, and on a dark and windy night of a month, several people carried a lot of gold and silver, and when they tried to escape over the wall at night, they were captured by the officers and soldiers guarding the city defense, and what was worse was that one of the people who took the lead in stealing food was actually Zhang Tanghuai, who grew up together.
A storm of food shortage, troubles one after another, has seriously affected the normal order of Fengyang.
The officers and soldiers in the battalion were nervous, and the people were at a loss, so they could only blindly believe that Zhang Tanghuai, the general manager, could create another miracle as before, and almost everyone opened their eyes wide, waiting for Zhang Tanghuai to deal with this tricky matter, and at the same time, the three armies of the Kou army were about to join forces, and if this matter was not handled well, it was likely to cause irreparable consequences.
Han Yu, who returned to the inn earlier, didn't know that a storm was forming in Fengyang City, in addition to playing chess with Zhang's husband every day, he told stories to the girl next door, slept until he woke up naturally, and then thought about how to resist the attack of the three major Kou armies.
Having said that, since Zhang Tanghuai has mastered the real power of the military and government in Fengyang City, he is almost so busy that he has no time to sleep, and the inn has naturally never come back, when Han Yu plays chess every day, but he has to listen to Zhang Laozhang complain for a few hours or two, and repeatedly say that he hopes that Zhang Tanghuai will marry as soon as possible, and I have to say that Han Yu, who is alone, is a little envious, and he does not have the slightest impatience when he listens to Zhang's words.
Han Yu also learned from Wang Wei, the captain who came to the inn every other day to drink tea, that Zhang Tanghuai had invited Tongzhi, Zhizhou, County Ling and others to a banquet in the past few days.
These local court officials, who are usually high-spirited and look at people with their nostrils, are very respectful to Zhang Tanghuai and have a very cooperative attitude.
It is not difficult to guess the change in the attitude of the imperial court officials, because they know very well that the prefect Yan Rongxuan is finished, and just a private contact with Kou Jun is enough to hit the ground, although they usually look at the prefect's horse, but now they have already cleared the relationship, in order to protect themselves, there are even people who fall into the well, adding a lot of evidence with actual evidence to Yan Rongxuan, as for the banquet of Zhang Tanghuai, who is just a thousand chief officials, they are naturally happy to go, and they are called brothers and sisters for a while, and they seem to be intimate.
In addition to guarding Zhu Guozheng's inventory, there are also guards and soldiers, the military rations are sufficient, and the salary is distributed in a timely manner, and the morale of the Fengyang soldiers is greatly boosted, Zhang Tanghuai took the opportunity to reintegrate the guards and battalions, and selected the elite for training, and made great progress in the past few days.
On this day, Han Yu, who was taking a nap, was restricting the level system with Zhou Gong's daughter, when suddenly the door was pushed open, and Zhang Tanghuai, who was pale, rushed in.
Listening to Zhang Tanghuai eagerly talking about everything that happened in Fengyang City, Han Yu also looked incredulous, and said frankly that Han Yu didn't expect that there would be a shortage of food in Fengyang.
Although Fengyang is not a rich place in comparison, it is also the capital of the Middle Mountains, as the location of the imperial mausoleum, there are many dignitaries and dignitaries living here, and the extravagance is extremely popular, plus there are a large number of caravans coming and going, and each rice station has already hoarded a lot of grain, even if the price of the Kou army besieged the city is not too much of a twist and turn, that is to say, although the food is precious earlier, it is not at the point where there is no price and no market, and many people in Fengyang can still afford to use it for daily use.
There is no shortage of food in the morning, there is no shortage of food in the evening, but after the prefect Yan Rongxuan was imprisoned, these rice stations suddenly closed at the same time, it is obvious that this matter is not simple, there must be someone behind the scenes to support, Han Yu clearly realized that if this matter is not solved well, the Kou army will not attack at all, Fengyang City will be self-defeating.
"Brother Zhang, there are some things that should be decided earlier!" While thinking about countermeasures, Han Yu suggested to Zhang Tanghuai.
Zhang Tanghuai showed hesitation on his face, he naturally knew what Han Yu was referring to, it was about how to deal with those officers and soldiers who stole food, if it was someone else, it would be fine, but one of the leading officers was Zhang Tanghuai's little Wang Yun who grew up together, this person was righteous, when Fengyang City was in a bloody battle, Cao Yun covered Zhang Tanghuai left and right to rush and kill, and he almost didn't survive with seven knives in his body, but no one is perfect, but he has a problem of greed for money, this time he is even more greedy, and he teamed up with several soldiers guarding the treasury to smuggle a large amount of grain out.
According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, stealing military food is a big crime, and Wang Yun not only steals but also sells it at a high price, this matter has been pressed for two days, and the impact in the army is extremely bad, some people disdain, some people are ready to move, Zhang Tanghuai's authority has also been greatly threatened, plus Zhang Tanghuai's companions who grew up together have come to intercede, so Zhang Tanghuai has been hesitant.
Zhang Tanghuai looked at Han Yu, knowing that he had something to say, and he didn't say anything.
Han Yu sighed slightly, and saluted Zhang Tang with a fist: "Ci does not lead soldiers, righteousness does not raise wealth, and please make a decision as soon as possible!" ”
Speaking of which, Han Yu even commensurate himself with his military position, which was completely a warning reminder.
Zhang Tanghuai knows very well that if he covers up the small, then it will be difficult to convince the public, and this matter will not be the end but the beginning, the soldiers of the army that have just been formed, will definitely try to seek benefits, Zhang Tanghuai is familiar with the military books, and once read one of the sentences of Liutao is still fresh in his memory, kill one person and three armies shake, kill it, reward one person and ten thousand people are pleased, reward, is the importance of clear rewards and punishments.
Zhang Tanghuai naturally knew this very well, and he also knew that Han Yu's words were right, so he sighed slightly, and had made up his mind in his heart.