Suzhou Mansion, Changzhou County Ya, in the lobby, under the plaque hanging high in the mirror, Hai Rui and Gui Youguang sat opposite each other.

Hai Rui's official uniform is no longer as bright as when he first took office, the corners are a little worn, and the color is also a little black, it is hard to imagine that he has only been wearing it for a few months, and it has become like this.

But if you look at his tired and emaciated face, you will understand from the frothing at the corners of his mouth and the bloodshot in his eyes how hard he is on an errand.

It is very appropriate to describe it with the sixteen words of 'night after night, forgetting to sleep and eating, worrying unbearable, and exhausting energy', which is very appropriate and not an exaggeration at all.

"How many days will the food in the city last?" His voice was hoarse and dry, not as confident as before.

Gui Youguang had been stunned all the time, and then he was suddenly asked, and replied a little hastily: "There is one more day." ”

Hai Rui asked: "The mansion is not here, the Suzhou mansion is my and the lord's business, now I have to come up with an idea, after a day, what should I do if the food is cut off?" "The city and the outside of the city are full of mouths for eating, and the food extorted from the Lu family is now running out, if you don't take countermeasures to stabilize the people's hearts, the people will be in chaos, but it will be a disaster.

Gui Youguang has also been under a lot of pressure recently, he has mouth sores, and his old hemorrhoids have also recurred, and he said with red eyes: "Before leaving, the adults said that the food would be transported back tomorrow at the latest." ”

"What if it doesn't arrive tomorrow?" Hai Rui still said with a straight face: "When the time comes, there will be a civil uprising, what should we do?" ”

"So what do you say?" Gui Youguang is a decent person, even if he talks to him silently, he is very polite, and now he is treated like this by Hai Rui, which is quite unaccustomed.

"Borrow grain from big households! I am the magistrate of Changzhou, and I will borrow the big family in Changzhou, and Wu County will rely on you. Hai Rui couldn't refuse, "Don't borrow too much, just borrow enough food for three days." ”

"Borrowed food? No way! Gui Youguang shook his head and said: "My lord has told me a thousand times, and I have instructed you to maintain the stability of Suzhou City. Since Shen Mo got the 70,000 stone of grain, he announced that in view of the special situation, the grain store in Suzhou City would be temporarily taken over by the government, and the grain would be sold in the official warehouse, and grain stamps would be sold uniformly; Of course, the food stamps that were originally issued are also valid.

In this way, the people do not have to worry about which store will go out of business, and they are in blind trust in the government, so there will be a lot less panic buying, which is conducive to the stability of the people. And for the various merchants of the Grain and Oil Chamber of Commerce, it is naturally a good thing to be able to throw this big burden that is about to crush people to the government-because after silently asking them to come up with two million taels of silver, they will take all their bad debts, and promise that even if they completely collapse, the government will bear it, and it has nothing to do with them; At the same time, it was also guaranteed that after the incident subsided, the government would not encroach on anyone's store or whose store.

"I can't care so much." Hai Rui sighed and said: "It is precisely because of this kind of passable heart that today's situation will appear...... Tomorrow there will be a shortage of food, and the facts are now revealed to the world, what else is there to hide? As he spoke, he raised his voice slightly and said, "Do you wait until the disaster victims and hungry people themselves go to the big households and cause chaos?" ”

Gui Youguang is a guy who is good at planning and short on execution, and when he heard Hai Rui say this, his head was two big, and he said in distress: "Okay, how can we borrow it?" ”

"Borrow it in the name of the yamen, let's borrow it, and Lord Fuzun will pay it back." Hai Rui said irresponsibly: "So just borrow it, whether it's a pit or a meng, as long as you can borrow it." ”

"Okay, I'll try." Gui Youguang didn't hesitate and said, "But I, I'm not sure I can borrow it." ”

"If you can't borrow it, let's run away with your family." Hai Rui's expression seemed to have remained unchanged for ten thousand years, picked up his official hat, stood up, and strode out.

"W, why is this man like this?" Gui Youguang muttered depressedly, then picked up the black gauze hat and walked out.

After leaving the county government, the two went their separate ways, and according to their own style, they went to borrow grain from large households...... Hai Rui's method was very simple, he took a large team of officials, as well as hundreds of ordinary people, according to the ranking of the county's richest people, and began to visit the door in turn...... 'Dangdang ......Dang' Hai Rui knocked on the door.

"Who?" Menzi asked.

"Hai Rui, the magistrate of Cheung Chau."

Menzi hurriedly opened the door, and when he saw so many people, he wanted to close it, but was stopped by the left and right officials.

"My eldest man is not at home." Menzi said timidly.

"Even if the eldest master is not here," Hai Rui said as he pushed open the door and walked inside: "Then there should be a second master, even if the second master is no longer there, there should always be someone in charge, ask him to come out to see me!" ”

Seeing that all the officials and the people were rumbling in, the men and the family who rushed to hear the news hurriedly stopped: "You can't trespass on people's houses!" ”

But he was forced back by Hai Rui's knife-like gaze and said, "They are the entourage of the official, why can't they come in?" ”

"Lord Taizun, do you have hundreds of followers?" Menzi said with a bitter face.

"The official's shelf is very large." Hai Rui dropped a sentence and strode into the hall, and sat down with a big sword, but fortunately, the hundreds of people did not follow up, but just stood in the courtyard outside, looking at the hall with fierce eyes.

What kind of visit is this, this is obviously forcing the palace, the door is helpless, so I had to order someone to serve tea and report to the back.

After a while, an old man with a white beard came with him, and after saluting Hai Rui, he introduced himself as the housekeeper of the house, and then asked Hai Rui about his intention.

"This official is here to borrow grain." Hai Rui said without blinking an eyelid.

"Borrow grain......" The housekeeper laughed dryly and said: "The food has been in short supply for so long, and the surplus grain of the Han family has long been exhausted, and now from the master to the servant, he can only eat two meals a day, and he has to ask the government, what is going on!" ”

"What's going on?" Hai Rui looked at him coldly and said, "You know better than me, if it weren't for your master's gang, hoarding and driving up prices, how could Suzhou City be without food?" He said in an accentuated tone: "Listen to me, today's grain is said to be borrowed, and it is also a forced loan, and you have to give it if you don't give it!" ”

"I've never heard of forced buying and selling, and I haven't heard of it, and you have to be forced to borrow from others!" The housekeeper said in a sullen voice: "The master of the Han family is not here, I can't do anything as a housekeeper, so my lord should come back another day." As he spoke, he was about to walk away.

But when he heard a 'bang', Hai Rui slapped it heavily on the table, shaking the teacup over, which frightened the old housekeeper for a while, turned around, and said angrily: "The Han family is an official eunuch, and the second master is the political envoy of a province, please know the county lord to give respect." ”

"This official is just to give your family face, so he came to waste words with you!" Hai Rui stood up, pointed to the crowd outside the door and said: "These people are helping the official to transport food, if you don't borrow it today, the official will not come, but they will still come, and the official will not be responsible for what happens at that time." ”

"You ......," said the butler, trembling with anger, "are you going to incite them to rebel?" ”

"Wrong!" Hai Rui said in a deep voice: "This is precisely to prevent them from rebelling. Saying that, he slowly approached two steps, his eyes were like knives, staring at the old housekeeper and said: "Listen, I will repeat it to your master later-there is still a day's grain left in the official warehouse, if you don't borrow food, Suzhou City will be in chaos tomorrow, with today's scene, tomorrow they will not come to my Haigang Peak, but will definitely come to you who are rich and unkind, hoarders, no matter what happens, even if you burn down and kill your house, it is just the word 'civil unsrest'!" Even if it doesn't hit your family by luck, in order to appease the people's anger at that time, the imperial court will have to take your house - whether to take out a thousand stone of grain now, or let them get it tomorrow, and weigh it yourself! Saying that, he looked at the sky and said, "Give me an answer within a quarter of an hour, and I won't wait for it." He sat down again, glanced at the table with messy cups and plates, and said in a deep voice, "Change the tea!" ”

Two quarters of an hour later, the grain was finally delivered, and Hai Rui saw that it was obviously not enough, so he frowned and said, "But it's only five hundred stones, right?" ”

"60,000 catties of grain." The housekeeper said angrily: "It's already the limit of the Han family, don't push people too much." ”

Hai Rui pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Forget it this time." With a wave of his hand, he said, "Carry it away?" The officials and the people dispersed in a hurry, carrying the bag of 150 catties of hemp to the cart outside.

Seeing this scene, the housekeeper sighed and said, "Lord Hai, there has never been such an official as you since ancient times. ”

"You've cornered us." Hai Rui glanced at him contemptuously and said, "Rules are for people who follow the rules, not you who do evil." ”

"Didn't you think about the consequences?" The butler asked, "Trespassing on a private house and harassing the gentry, this appalling crime is enough to bury your future." ”

"Fart future." Hai Rui took a sip and brushed his sleeves away.

Lord Hai knocked down such a family, fortunately, there is an example of the first one, and the latter ones dare not borrow grain, your family is 300 stones, my family is 200 stones, and it took half a day to borrow more than 9,000 stones.

Waiting until midnight to send the grain to the warehouse, Gui Youguang also came over with the grain, and as soon as the two met, Wu County borrowed more than 7,000 stones, "I have a three-cent monthly interest, and when the time comes, as long as the grain does not need money." Gui Youguang said: "It's good to say, I beg grandpa to sue grandma, I gave so much." This is something that only an academic leader like him can do, and he gathered more than 200 disciples, and each of them assigned tasks to make them all go home and ask for rice. There is a way that the master has something to do, and the disciple obeys it, and most of those students are from well-off families, and anyone can take out food.

After all, the literati of this era still have to write faces, and no one is embarrassed to refuse him, so he lent him this one hundred and eighty stones, and the thirty or fifty stones.

In the end, more than 200 IOUs were exchanged for more than 8,000 stone of grain, although it was said that more than 10,000 stone would have to be repaid after a month, but that was an adult's business, not his.

Originally, Gui Youguang was quite proud, and his heart said that it was me who had such a big face to borrow food, but you Haigangfeng offended people all day long, and you didn't have to borrow food, so he asked with some bad taste: "I don't know how much Lord Hai borrowed?" ”

"Nine thousand stones." Hairui ancient wells do not wave.

"Ah......" Gui Youguang said in surprise: "How much interest?" ”

"No interest." Hai Jui took off his official hat, scooped water from the water tank and poured it into the basin, washing his hands and face.

"I don't believe it. Show me the IOU. "Gui Youguang feels very devastated.

"No IOUs." Hai Rui wiped his hands and face, then took a black cake from the plate and ate it vigorously...... This kind of dough made of wheat bran and black bean flour can't even bite it, and I don't know how Hai Rui can eat only this kind of thing once for more than ten days.

Looking at this guy with an expression forever, the feeling of returning to the light is beyond words, and I don't know whether to admire or accuse him.

But in any case, with these grains, the city of Suzhou lasted for another four days, and by the evening of the fifth day, the two looked into the distance by the river, but still did not see any trace of the grain boat.

Four days have passed since the return date promised by Shen Shen, and the grain depot has run out of food, and the victims outside the city have also run out of food. The agitation in Suzhou City was finally uncontrollable, and this morning alone, there were five incidents in which people injured officials...... Without food, Hai Qingtian's name didn't work, he rushed to calm the situation, and was scolded by the people, saying that he was a big liar, and he knew that he was fooling the people.

This hurt Hai Rui, who was wholeheartedly for the sake of the people, and he sat on the big bluestone by the dock, his eyebrows were no longer firm, replaced by a faint sadness. This expression appears on the face of an iron man, and it is especially poignant.

This time, Gui Youguang is also a complete grass chicken, he squatted on the edge of the dock, hugged his head and said: "It's over, it's over, if you don't come today, tomorrow will be a complete mess." He knew very well that the anger of the people of Suzhou City had been suppressed by various methods for two months, and if it broke out, it would be enough to destroy everything in the entire Suzhou City.

"Why don't we borrow some more food?" Gui Youguang suggested.

"Who will borrow?" Hai Rui's eyes were confused and said: "This kind of thing, you can only do it once, they must have hidden the grain now, can we really not raid the house?" As he spoke, a trace of fierceness flashed on his face, and he gritted his teeth and said, "If you copy your home, you will copy your home!" It's better to grieve them than to make the people mess up! ”

"Don't do it until you have to." Gui Youguang sat down beside Hai Rui and said: "It's not Meng Yuan now, raiding the house for no reason is a big taboo in this dynasty, and even Emperor Yanjing will not do this." ”

"What's the matter?" Hai Jui said angrily: "They hoard! ”

"How do you prove they're hoarding?" Gui Youguang said in a deep voice: "I inquired that the food they hoarded was not in Suzhou City at all, just to prevent our dogs from jumping off the wall in a hurry." ”

"It's a big deal." Hai Rui said with some anger: "You can't let the wicked get away with it, so that the people can't even eat!" ”

"Hey......" Hearing his frustration, Gui Youguang sighed and changed the topic: "Why don't you say that the adults haven't come back?" Didn't you get food? ”

"I'm afraid I'm running away," Hai Rui is a man who keeps his promises, so he has a very good opinion on Shen Mo, a guy who doesn't return on time: "Two million taels of silver, you can eat and drink for a lifetime wherever you go." ”

"That's it!" Gui Youguang shook his head and smiled: "You have to have confidence in adults, he can't do that kind of thing." ”

"Then hurry back!" Hai Rui said angrily: "Two million taels of silver, even if you go to various prefectures and counties to buy market-priced rice, you can buy two or three hundred thousand stones, right?" Knowing that Suzhou is short of food, why hasn't it been sent back yet! ”

He was gesturing excitedly, but he saw Gui Youguang staring blankly at the northwest direction, as if he was enchanted.

Hai Rui's heart moved, and as he looked over, he saw a big ship in the fiery sunset, with three sails open, coming with the wind! Look at the back of the big ship, the grain boats are full of sails, covering the entire river.

When he saw the word 'Suzhou' hanging high on the big ship in front of him, Hai Rui's excited heart was about to jump out, and Gui Youguang burst into tears, shouting excitedly: "Come, come, I'll just say, the adults haven't abandoned us!" ”

When the fleet docked, the wharf was crowded with people who had rushed to hear the news, and people looked forward to the lanterns with red letters on a white background on each ship, the eye-catching word 'grain', and talked excitedly, and most of them were extremely happy and relieved...... Of course, there are also those who have ulterior motives, such as mourning and examining, and can't help themselves.

Hai Rui and Gui Youguang hurriedly transferred all the soldiers and formed a thick cordon in front of the people, so as not to have bad guys take the lead in looting.

After everything was arranged, the two of them went over to meet the adults in high spirits.

I saw Shen Mo smiling and sitting on the bow of the big boat, leaning on the Taishi chair, but not wearing an official uniform, but a beautiful maroon lake silk deep coat, holding a book in his hand, his attitude was extremely leisurely, affectionate and uninhibited. There is also a goose yellow dress standing on the side, Rou Niang, who is using a feather fan to drive away the insects on the river for him.

(To be continued)