Tianya Pavilion is the largest wine shop in Yangzhou City, its area is comparable to the Taibai Building in the Eastern Capital, and it is also composed of several restaurants, which can accommodate thousands of people at the same time.

Of course, the difference between the status of the guests also directly leads to the difference in hospitality standards; For example, the Fengmo Xuan in Tianya Pavilion is usually a place to entertain literati and court officials, and if the merchants do not have invitations, no matter how much gold and silver they can take out in their hands, they will not be able to put wine here.

But it was just after noon today, and Feng Mo Xuan squeezed in one hundred and ten businessmen and tycoons, obviously, they all had the invitation cards that Su You asked Wang Shichong to send down.

At this time, Su You had not yet arrived, but Feng Moxuan seemed to be a little noisy.

It stands to reason that it should be an extraordinary honor to be able to receive an invitation from a member of the imperial court to drink here, but at this time, the atmosphere in Feng Moxuan was a little depressing; Most of the reasons for this are because Su You's burning of the wharf and the cheap sale of Zhang's cargo ships brought them coercion, and the looting of refugees in Yangzhou City a few days ago is still vivid.

Acquaintances gathered in groups to guess the true purpose of today's feast, and the hall suddenly resounded with the usual humming sound like in a vegetable market.

"Cough" With a fake cough, Su You and Mai Tie Staff appeared on the stage.

Su You walked into the small hall wearing a purple robe, holding the sword of the Son of Heaven and walking into the small hall, and to his left and right were a wheat iron staff dressed in military uniform, and Wang Bodang, who was dressed as a scribe.

Most of the people in the hall had never seen Su You, but with the Mai Iron Staff on the side, no matter how stupid they were, they knew who it was, so after Su You's dry cough, everyone stood up one after another, and bowed down and said, "Meet Su Yushi, meet Mai Envoy." ”

The voice was uneven, and Su You didn't care, but hugged his fists and arched his hand, "Thank you for appreciating the light, a little thing just now delayed a little time, and the hospitality was not considerate, please understand." ”

Everyone didn't expect Su You to be so polite, and they didn't even dare to say it.

"You're welcome, please sit down." Su You waved his hand at them, and then walked towards the main seat without giving in.

After Su You sat down, the wine and food were put up like flowing water, and the businessmen present looked at the wine and food in front of them, and they all felt that this was a dream.

As Su You's opening remarks, this is really a banquet that is not well received, and there is no singer who accompanies the wine in the banquet, but what kind of dishes are in front of you? Are these three or four dishes of cold dishes in front of him really worthy of the official banquet set by Su You?

Looking at the dishes on the table, the guests have already regretted their arrival today, but what can be done? Since ancient times, the people have not fought with officials, who dares not to accept Su You's invitation? Who would dare not give face to Su You's banquet?

When everyone was looking at the wine and food in front of them, they heard a bell ringing "dang".

The banquet officially began.

Su You picked up his wine glass at the right time, stood up and said, "All the proprietors of Yangzhou City, you can take time out of your busy schedule to come to this official's luncheon, this official is very pleased, on behalf of me and the entire Yangzhou government, welcome you." ”

After Su You finished speaking, Mai Tiezhu naturally could only stand up and raise his wine glass to Su You, and the rest of the people also quickly stood up, bowed their waists and touched the wine glass with Su You and Mai Tiezhu, and drank the first glass of wine.

After Su You toasted everyone with the first glass of wine, he sat down and drank with the wheat iron rod and Wang Bodang beside him.

The businessmen here rarely used chopsticks, as if the dishes were poisonous.

The shopkeeper of the wine shop was also seated, and when he saw that everyone was not eating this dish, his face couldn't help but feel a little hot, as if his face had been smoked by them.

This morning, when Wang Shichong sent someone to discuss the banquet with him, he agreed, and his heart was full of joy, and invited more than 100 wealthy businessmen to eat at his wine shop, which was undoubtedly a great publicity, and he was full of confidence to arrange a sumptuous banquet, deer lips, white eels, sea bass, and the best Sanle pulp drunk and dreaming of death were also on his menu.

But when he began to discuss the specific details, the shopkeeper's heart was suddenly frozen into an ice mound, and Wang Shichong was only willing to pay ten times for wine and food, with an average of less than 100 yuan per person; In this way, not to mention wine, he can't even afford meat and vegetables, and if he treats such a shabby treat, he will either lose face, or he will pay for the façade out of his own pocket.

Between face and pocket, the shopkeeper finally chose the latter, ten yuan of money, and having wine in the banquet was already his great mercy.

The shopkeeper silently put a chopstick pickle in his mouth, but what he thought was to quickly clean up his bedding roll later; Because after this Hongmen banquet, he believed that no one in Yangzhou City would be willing to come to his wine shop to eat.

"You eat vegetables, eat vegetables, why don't you move your chopsticks one by one?" Su You obviously also realized the oppression of the banquet and began to say hello.

He was responded to by a deathly quiet, awkwardly quiet.

After Su You finished greeting, no one answered, no one spoke anymore, and he couldn't even hear the sound of coughing, and a room full of people sat silently, like clay sculptures.

Su You smiled, and said in a loud voice that could be heard by the whole audience: "First of all, I apologize to everyone here, it's really because the time is too rushed, and the wine shop has no time to prepare, so it's a bit snub to you, and the official's people are solemnly negotiating with the wine shop." ”

Everyone looked at Su You's official speech, but the shopkeeper of Tianya Pavilion lowered his head and couldn't cry or laugh, - what kind of trouble is Su You going to make?

Seeing that everyone still didn't answer, Su You immediately sighed, and then said, "What you said just now is obviously a bit hypocritical, the actual situation is that the landlord's family has no surplus grain, and the price of Yangzhou City is really going to drive the official crazy."

When everyone heard Su You's complaints, they all only looked at him coldly, and they finally understood the purpose of Su You's banquet today.

Mai Tiecane stood up ashamedly, and pleaded guilty to Su You, "Shangguan just arrived in Yangzhou and encountered such a stall, it is really my Mai Tiecane is incompetent, the price of grain in Yangzhou has risen wildly since the Lantern Festival, and I can't stop it with a sword; Xia Guan thought that behind the crazy rise in grain prices, someone must be manipulating. ”

Su You joked, "Nonsense, you can also say this kind of alarmist excuse, manipulating food prices is the crime of killing heads, don't they want to die?" ”

Among the businessmen present, some people naturally could see that Su You and Mai Tiezhu were playing double reeds, and some people didn't know why, and echoed Su Youdao, "What you say is reasonable, and we won't do anything that violates the law." ”

"Don't be too sensitive. Mai Zhijun didn't say it was you. Su You shook his head, and after saying these two sentences, he said with a straight face, "But this doesn't mean that this is a false speculation, this official dares to conclude that there must be such a force that wants to destroy the prosperity of our Suzhou!" ”

Everyone nodded after listening to Su You's words, either pretending or unconsciously; There is no doubt that there is obviously a mastermind behind the manipulation of grain prices in Yangzhou City.

"Whether it is the official or you, you and I are all people who are attached to Yangzhou City to enjoy wealth and nobility." Su You looked at the businessman who began to whisper, and said in a deep voice, "You should understand a very simple truth, the better Yangzhou is, the better we are, and vice versa; If Yangzhou City really falls into turmoil, our wealth will be damaged, our status will be shaken, and what is even more sad is that we will be spurned by the people of the city, and we will no longer be as respected as before! At that time, a thousand roads will be paved and 10,000 bridges will be built, and there will be no way to restore the reputation. ”

Su You's words can be described as deafening, and of course the businessmen present understand the truth; But people are selfish, and it is clear that what they care about most now is what Su You is for the purpose of feasting them today.

Su You looked at some people below who were eager, some who were hot and indifferent, while more people seemed to be watching their own good show

Su You was angry in his heart, but he could only pretend to be serious and said, "Let's continue to thrive here, even if we don't think about ourselves, don't think about it for the sake of future generations, right?" If they are all ashamed and unwilling to mention us, what is the use of accumulating more wealth in this life? ”

When Su You's words came to this, everyone was moved, and everyone was silent for a moment, and they said, "What the envoy said is right, my hometown and my relatives are my roots, we won't watch Yangzhou City get into chaos, let alone make this mess behind our backs!" ”

"The imperial history is reasonable, if Yangzhou City is in chaos, we will not have it in the future."

"The envoy is right, how do you say it? I'd rather be a peace dog."

"That's right!" Shen Mo breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and applauded, "A sense of responsibility is the noblest virtue of a noble person, and only people with a sense of social responsibility are eligible to enjoy wealth and status." Now, let's work together to get through this difficult ordeal, how about it? ”

"I don't know what good the scriptures are, but I am willing to listen to the instructions."

After Su You's encouragement, everyone became excited, but words and deeds are obviously not the same thing; They all expressed their willingness to listen to Su You, but they all had their own little abacus in their hearts.

"This official learned from Mai Yuanjun that there are about 20,000 or 30,000 refugees who have stayed in Yangzhou recently, and most of these people are local villagers. Before coming here, I had already decided to open the Yicang for disaster relief, but the food in the Yicang was limited after all. Su You first reported his handling method in a deep voice, and then hugged his fists to everyone, "This requires everyone here to be generous and helpful, to share the worries of the lower and the imperial court, and to let the refugees in Yangzhou feel your kindness."

When everyone heard this, they were in an uproar, and they invited them to dinner with Su You just to raise donations from them.

The people who pledged were all uncles, didn't Su You know this truth?

But does Su You's wine and food used to entertain businessmen today really have the face to solicit donations from those present?

But I heard Su You continue, "I have calculated, according to the calculation of one stone of grain for each victim, a total of 30,000 stone of grain is needed, and 20,000 stones can be taken out of the righteous warehouse, and the remaining gap is still 10,000 stones; In other words, on average, each of you only needs to take out 100 stone of grain. ”

After Su You finished speaking, the banquet was in an uproar again.

Now the price of grain is already 300 yuan for rice, one stone is three guan, and one hundred stone is 300 guan!

exchanging 100 yuan of wine and food for 300 yuan of donations, this is simply a robbery of Chiguoguo!