Chu Huan returned to Duzhicao, and before he could drink a cup of tea, a voice sounded outside the door: "Is Lord Chu busy?" Don't blame yourself for taking the liberty of bothering. ”

Chu Huan looked back, but saw that it was Ouyang Zhi, the head of the warehouse, who came over, he was a little surprised, he was stunned for a moment, and said with a smile: "It's Lord Ouyang, please come in, please come in!" "When he was in the household department, except for Du Zhicao's subordinates who came to report on official business, there were really few people in the ministry who came to talk to him.

Ouyang Zhi came in, Chu Huan called someone to serve tea, and then sat down and said, "Lord Ouyang is here, I don't know what advice you have?" ”

Ouyang Zhi looked a little embarrassed, thought about it for a while, and finally asked: "Just now on the side of Lord Ministry, Lord Chu also said that you can't borrow money to buy grain, do you really think so?" ”

The officials above the head of the household department attended the meeting, and among the many officials, except for Ouyang Zhi, only Chu Huan did not agree with the IOU to buy grain.

Chu Huan thought for a while and said slowly: "Speaking from the heart, Lord Ouyang's heavy purchase of grain is actually an excellent strategy to calm the turmoil in Tianmen. ”

"Oh?" Ouyang Zhi smiled and asked, "What do you mean by Lord Chu's words?" ”

"Although Tianmen Dao is very fierce, after all, it is just a group of people who rebelled under the misery of rumors, and it is just a group of rabble, just burning and looting with a moment of anger." Chu Huan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then said slowly: "In the real war, there are too many factors to consider, in addition to the number of troops, but also to consider a series of factors such as food and grass, equipment, training, strategy, tactics, etc., and the chaos of Tianmen Dao is just a roar, although they occupy several county seats, but their overall strategy is obviously still very vague. They have no solid stronghold, no economic support, no logistical support, and even the necessary equipment for the battle, if such a group of rabble, if the imperial court can make full use of the strength of the local gate lords and work together, it is very likely that the Jianghuai rebellion will be quelled in a short time. ”

When Ouyang Zhi heard this, he couldn't help but nod.

Chu Huan glanced at Ouyang Zhi and continued: "Buying grain with a lot of money, in a sense, can indeed control the grain in the hands of the imperial court, not only can solve the problem of grain and grass for the army, but also can fundamentally cut off the grain and grass guarantee of the Tianmen bandits, as long as the grain and grass are under the control of the official army, then even if Tianmen Dao wants to grab grain, there is nowhere to grab it, and once any combat force is cut off from food, it will soon fall into collapse." Although Tianmen Dao looted a lot of food, but in addition to everything on hand, there was no real logistics supply, the more people they had, the faster the food on hand would be consumed......! ”

Ouyang Zhi immediately clapped his hands and said: "Yes, as long as there is no food, a group of rabble is vulnerable, and the king will definitely be able to sweep away that group of Tianmen demons." ”

Chu Huan shook his head and smiled, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't speak after all.

Ouyang Zhi saw that Chu Huan had something to say, and hurriedly said, "Is there anything that Lord Chu has that is inconvenient to say?" After a pause, he lowered his voice and said: "Lord Chu has something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it, although Ouyang Zhi is not a gentleman, he is not a villain, asking for advice today is purely a private conversation, and when he goes out of this door, he can't bring a word out." Then thinking of Chu Huan's current situation, he might not believe himself, sighed, and said: "But I won't be strong, if Lord Chu is inconvenient to say, don't say anything!" ”

Chu Huan raised his hand and said with a smile: "Lord Ouyang, please use tea!" Waiting for Ouyang Zhi to pick up the teacup, he said softly: "Chu just thinks that if the imperial court can really cut off the food and grass of the Tianmen Rebellion, it may not need to use troops to kill them all next." ”

Ouyang Zhi was stunned and puzzled: "What does Lord Chu mean?" ”

"In fact, it is not only swords and soldiers that can be used to suppress bandits." Chu Huan said with a smile: "In addition to a word, there is also a word that can be used as a chapter." ”

"Fu?" Ouyang Zhi is familiar with money and food, but he is not familiar with military affairs, Chu Huan's words, he has not understood it for a while.

Chu Huan said: "To deal with the Jianghuai Rebellion, it is necessary to suppress it, but if you want to stabilize Jianghuai or even the southeast, you can't do without Fu." If there is no suppression, it will be difficult to appease, but if it is only suppressed, the Jianghuai Rebellion may not be able to be eradicated. ”

Ouyang Zhi solemnly arched his hand and said, "Please ask Lord Chu for advice." ”

Chu Huan said: "The imperial court can first use swords and soldiers to exert huge military pressure on the Tianmen Daoists, so that they can feel that the imperial court will not tolerate the rebellion, and on the other hand, according to Lord Ouyang's strategy, the imperial court will take out a sum of silver and buy Jianghuai grain with a lot of money." Although they occupied a lot of county towns and grabbed a lot of grain, grass, gold and silver, most of the grain in Jianghuai was still in the hands of the gentry and grain merchants, if the imperial court borrowed a note to buy grain, the local gate lords in Jianghuai only thought that the imperial court forcibly occupied the grain, and they would be resentful, but they would be willing to sell the grain in their hands if they took the silver to buy grain. ”

Ouyang Zhi nodded and sighed: "The country is in trouble, and the local gate valves have never been counted on, it is a good thing that they don't interfere, if they want to make them fully contribute, it is almost impossible, unless their interests are consistent with the imperial court, it is possible to make them and the imperial court one mind." ”

"yes." Chu Huan bowed his head and said: "The consequence of buying grain by IOU can only be that the Jianghuai Gate Valve and the Imperial Court are getting farther and farther away, so if you want to hold the Jianghuai Gate Valve, the heavy money for buying grain is indispensable." The local gate lords control most of the resources of Jianghuai, as long as they are united with the imperial court, they can control the spread of Tianmen Dao, and encircle and suppress it with heavy troops, and it will not take long for Tianmen Dao to be pacified. ”

Ouyang Zhi said: "That's exactly what I think. Although Tianmen Dao has made a lot of noise over the years, and it has been very demagogic, and many people have been bewitched by it, they are still a rabble, and there have always been many cults that have done so, but there are very few people who have succeeded in doing things. Fu Xu said: "In fact, Jianghuai Tianmen Dao is rampant, the imperial court has long paid attention to this matter, and the local government has been suppressing it, I thought that even if Tianmen Dao took action, it could not be at this time, they suddenly got into trouble, it was really a little unexpected to me, I always felt ...... The turmoil in Tianmen Dao seems to be a bit hasty, and it seems to be a little weird! ”

Chu Huan smiled and continued: "In fact, as long as the imperial court handles it properly and suppresses Tianmen Dao a few times, when they are in trouble, they can take action to appease them. ”

"Extinguish the heart, soothe the heart!" Ouyang Zhi praised: "Lord Chu, this is a good thing. Then he shook his head and sighed: "It's just that Lord Chu may not understand, as far as I know, the Tianmen demons' demagogic kung fu is indeed very powerful, many people have been bewitched into the Tao, and their minds are very strong, and they are driven by the Tianmen demons, and they are like corpses, and it is not easy to win their hearts." ”

Chu Huan said with a solemn expression: "I also understand what Lord Ouyang said. I have also heard that after being tricked into the Dao, many Heavenly Gate Daoists completely obeyed the instructions of the Heavenly Gate demons, and they were very crazy...... But I still believe that most of the people still retain their sanity, not blindly obey, there are millions of people in Jianghuai, and it is only a small number of people who are bewitched by Tianmendao. And those bewitched people, just because of the hardships of life, by the Tianmen demons to take advantage of the weakness, if the court is properly appeased, I believe that it will still be able to disintegrate the sinister intentions of the Tianmen demons, and also be able to win the hearts of the people. ”

"Lord Chu thinks he can save the hearts of the people?"

"Of course." Chu Huan said with a straight face: "As long as the imperial court is willing to let the people live well, it will be able to win back the hearts of the people." In fact, I have always felt that it seems very difficult to win the hearts of the people, but in the final analysis, it is also very simple, it is nothing more than to let them eat enough and dress warmly, as long as the court does these two things, it is not difficult to win the hearts of the people. The original intention of those people to follow the rebellion of the Tianmen demons, in the final analysis, is just to feed and clothe, if the imperial court can do this, why should they make a big move and fight with their lives to provoke a rebellion. ”

Ouyang Zhi bowed his head slightly and said, "What Lord Chu said is reasonable. So how exactly should the imperial court be appeased? ”

Chu Huan picked up the teacup and said with a smile: "There are many good talents in the imperial court, I just have a crude opinion, how to do it, as long as the imperial court is attentive, they will definitely have many methods." After taking a sip of tea, he sighed lightly: "We and others are soft-spoken, and how the court wants to deal with it is not something we can participate in." ”

Ouyang Zhi also sighed: "Lord Chu, it seems that now you are indeed not suitable for the household department!" ”

Chu Huan was stunned for a moment, and Ouyang Zhi had already said: "Lord Chu, don't get me wrong, I mean to say, you should go to the military department, what you said today is really a good way to calm the chaos." Shaking his head and sighing: "It's a pity that you are an official of the Ministry of Households, marching and fighting, quelling chaos and suppressing bandits, that is a matter decided by the Ministry of War, our Ministry of Households cannot interfere in it, you and I are just sitting here and talking." ”

Chu Huan said: "Actually, this truth may not be difficult to figure out, most of the people in the province are important ministers of the imperial court, and they are also the elite of my empire, can't they think of this?" ”

Ouyang Zhi smiled bitterly: "Lord Chu, there are many things that are easy to say, but if you really want to do them, they may not be as simple as you say. He picked up the teacup, drank half a cup in one gulp, and then said softly: "I'm only worried that the imperial court will really accept the proposal of IOU to buy grain, if that's the case, Jianghuai is only afraid of ......!" He shook his head helplessly.

Chu Huan saw that Ouyang Zhi's face was full of distress, it seemed that this person was really concerned about state affairs, not those dignitaries who only thought about their own interests.

"There are many wise people in the court, we just need to do our errands with our hearts." Chu Huan smiled and comforted: "Many things, we think it's useless. ”

Ouyang Zhi bowed slightly, got up, and said, "Excuse me, Lord Chu, you are busy first, and I will come and sit again when I have time." Saying goodbye, Chu Huan sent him out of the door, looking at his back, thoughtfully.

When Ouyang Zhi left the Duzhi Cao compound, Lang Wuxu had just come from behind him, Ouyang Zhi was thoughtful, he looked a little in a trance, and he didn't notice Lang Wuxu coming, Lang Wuxu saw Ouyang Zhi, his face was slightly gloomy, and he was about to say something, but when he saw Ouyang Zhi's trance-like appearance, he didn't stop, and went straight to Duzhi Cao, and did not go to the main courtyard to find Chu Huan, but asked someone to summon a judge.

After Dou Yi was transferred from Du Zhi Cao, there was a vacancy in the right charge of Du Zhi Cao, although this matter had been made clear to the emperor, but the emperor did not have a will, and the officials below naturally did not dare to urge, the position of the right head of Du Zhi Cao was suspended, and the remaining five judges had the intention to compete for this position.

After a judge came out, Lang Wuxuan beckoned him to come closer, and said in a low voice: "Si Tiantai Medicinal Herb Silver, did you let Chu Huan seal it?" ”

The judge hurriedly said: "The people from Si Tiantai have already come over yesterday, and they are preparing to submit an official letter for the seal of the principal in the past two days. ”

Lang Wuxu groaned slightly, and said softly: "You hurry up and write an official letter now, send it over now, the official is waiting here, whether Chu Huan stamps it or not, you will report to the official immediately!" ”

The judge was puzzled: "My lord, there are still a few days left, is this silver going to be pulled out in advance?" ”

"If you want to go, you will go." Lang Wuxuan lowered his face: "Where is there so much nonsense, hurry up and do it, this official is waiting here!" ”

The judge didn't dare to say more, but hurriedly said yes and walked away quickly.