Nanzhili, Suzhou Prefecture. It has been half a month since the grain began to rise, and the current grain price is five taels and four stones of silver, according to the records of the prefecture, the highest grain price in the history of Suzhou City, appeared when Emperor Taizu besieged Zhang Shicheng, in the eighth month, before the city was broken, it reached four two hundred and eighty-one stones.

"I feel very relieved to be able to easily break the historical record." Shen Mo rummaged through a book of Fu Zhi and said: "Now it is unprecedented, I hope to be able to rise a little more, it can rise to ten taels or eight taels, then there will definitely be no one to come." He said proudly, "From now on, this record is exclusive to me." ”

Gui Youguang this sweat, the heart said that adults will not lose their hearts and go crazy.

Seeing his expression, he said silently: "Don't be like this, I'm just having fun in the bitterness, otherwise I will really suffocate to death." As he spoke, he leaned on the table, held his head in his hands and said: "Lao Gui, you said that after so many years of chaos, it has not become a problem for us to eat in the south, why can't we buy food with money now?" ”

"My lord, didn't Hu Butang raise food for us?" Gui Youguang asked.

"That's a really hard question to answer you." Shen Mo raised his head and said thoughtfully: "You said he didn't raise it, but it is said that he has already collected ten boatloads of grain for us, but you want to say that he raised it, right?" What is enough food for this? He scolded in a low voice: "Jiangshan is easy to change his surname, and if he can count on it, the old sow can go up the tree." ”

"What about Huguang? Didn't you say that Hu Butang and Governor Huguang were in the same year? ”

It's okay not to mention Huguang, but when Huguang is mentioned, his face fell silently, and he said: "Don't count on it, think about which emperor Huguang has produced, right?" ”

From the Three Emperors and Five Emperors to Zhu Yuanzhang, Gui Youguang finally gave an answer: "Chen Youliang? ”

Shen Mo slammed his head on the table and said, "Are you careful?" Is Chen Youliang the emperor? Saying that, he didn't sell it anymore, and said, "Where is the current dive house?" ”

"Oh......" Gui Youguang slapped his mouth vigorously and said, "How did I forget this stubble?" "Before Jiajing entered Beijing, he was the 'King of Xing' in Anlu, Huguang, of course, this King Xing was not earned by him, but the title of his father Zhu Youqi. As the fourth son of Emperor Chenghua, it was not Zhu Youqi's turn to inherit the throne, so he went to Huguang to settle in Lu, and his chief guard at that time was called Lu Song.

Later, Zhu Youqing's princess gave birth to Jiajing, so she asked Lu Song's wife to be his wet nurse. And the reason why Lu Song's wife has milk is because she just gave birth to a son, and the son's name is Lu Bing. In other words, from the beginning of Jiajing's father to Anlu, to the thirty years since Jiajing left Anlu, the Lu family spent time in Huguang.

Of course, the princes are all raised in captivity, no one can afford to look down on them, and people generally believe that it will take eight lifetimes of mold to have a royal official with no future and no oil and water, so the father and son of the Lu family must have been ignored at the beginning.

But he couldn't stand the explosion of Jiajing's character, and he turned from a vassal king to an emperor, just as the so-called one person ascended to heaven, Lu Bing also became the emperor's milk brother, and he was a member of the world! One of the two great gods of the dynasty...... 'If you want to be promoted to an official and make a fortune, worship strict old age, and if you want to be safe and sound, worship Lu Taibao', this is a secret that all children in Huangkou know.

For a while, those who were close to each other, those who brought their old friends, and those who didn't know each other, all came to have a relationship with Lu Bing and Lu Jiapan, as if the whole Huguang was their relatives. As a result, the Lu family spoke in Huguang better than in Zhejiang...... Shen Mo couldn't help but recall the scenes of this while...... Seven days ago, in a firewood room with iron windows in the backyard of the prefect's yamen.

"If you let me go, I'll write a note and ask Huguang to send you food." , Lu Ji did not have the consciousness of a prisoner.

Shen Mo smiled and said, "Do you have a servant in your family surnamed Hu Mingguang?" ”

"It's stupid." Lu Ji pouted and said, "I'm talking about the Hu Guangbu Political Envoy Division. ”

"I can't buy food with silver, so why do you get it with a blank slip?" Shen Mo rolled his eyes.

"Because my surname is Lu." Lu Ji smiled proudly, the corners of his mouth drew a good-looking arc, and that innate sense of superiority made Shen Mo very unhappy: "You don't know yet, right?" Successive governors of Huguang would see my uncle before entering Beijing to face the saints, and if my uncle did not see them, they would not dare to take office. ”

The silent heart sank suddenly, and secretly said How did I forget this stubble?

Seeing his face tighten, Lu Ji was even happier, and even the depression of being imprisoned was swept away, and he hurriedly hit the railroad while it was hot: "Let me go, I'll write you a note now." ”

"Okay, as long as you can write a note." Shen Mo said helplessly: "I will let you go, and then give you compensation, you can still dispose of it." ”

"Really?" Lu Ji's eyes flashed, and he couldn't believe his ears and said, "Is what you said true?" ”

"Of course it's fake." Shen Mo has become a fine character, how can he be deceived, he gritted his teeth and smiled: "I'll talk about it casually, don't take it seriously." ”

"You!" Lu Jideng's eyes widened, and he grabbed the window lattice and said, "You are entertaining me!" ”

"Aren't you entertaining me too?" Shen Mo laughed and said, "I believe that the governor of Huguang may give you the face of the Lu family, but it is not at the mercy of the surname Lu." ”

"You!" Lu Ji snorted angrily, glared and said, "Tell you, the Lu family's current foreign affairs are up to me!" ”

"Then your house is not far from the end." Shen Mo said with a hateful smile on his face: "How did people wither to this point? ”

Lu Ji said angrily: "Shen Cunyan! You dog eyes look down on people! As he spoke, he slapped the window lattice vigorously and said, "I am, that is, the outside master of the Lu family!" ”

"It's useless," Shen Mo laughed: "You don't even know how many of the maritime merchants in Fujian and Zhejiang have in the background, what kind of Lu family is in charge?" ”

"Who says I don't know?" Lu Ji was furious, and blurted out: "In addition to our family, there are also Wu Yan, Wang Yan, Zhou Xie, Feng and Zhao Bajia......" After speaking, he suddenly woke up, biting his lower lip tightly, and his jade face instantly turned red, and he knocked his head on the window lattice in frustration, while gritting his teeth and saying: "You are cheating!" ”

"You're stupid." Shen Mo shrugged his shoulders, shook his head slightly, and said, "It's really unaccomplishing to play with you." As he spoke, he instructed Tie Zhu and said, "Send this fool to the prison, lest my lord and my yamen be infected with stupidity." ”

"Shen Shuyan, you bastard!" Lu Ji felt like a ball, which was about to explode at any time.

Lord Shen, who was satisfied and happy by hitting others, as soon as he returned to the signing room, he saw Gui Youguang greeted him with a sad face and said: "My lord, the three prisons are full, and Lord Hai keeps sending people to the yamen, let's pretend there?" ”

Shen Mo also scratched his head in distress and said: "Yes, this sea pen holder, let him maintain law and order, he is good, take the chicken feather as an arrow, and give me a hard beating." ”

It is said that since Haizhi County received the order, it announced that Suzhou City had entered a state of curfew, that gambling establishments were suspended, and that the common people had to go home on time in the middle of the unitary hour, and that the officials of the three yamen were divided into two shifts and patrolled the streets at night. But all those who fought and brawled, gathered crowds to make trouble, abducted and abducted, bullied the common people, and even those who did not return home at night were all arrested by him and put in prison.

Although his subordinates felt bitter, they were not embarrassed to say anything, because Lord Hai himself was reluctant to rotate day and night, and only rested for less than two hours every day, and spent the rest of the time leading patrols on the streets. His experience is so vigorous that he is praised by Lord Fuzun as 'taking a broken wheel', can it be that taking a broken wheel can have a refreshing effect?

But everyone still felt that the nickname of 'Ruler of the Underworld' was more suitable for Lord Hai, so they called him 'King of Haiyan' behind his back.

Of course, power alone cannot calm a panicked city. He took the trouble to appease the anxious people, telling them that the Lord Fuzun had asked the governor for military rations, and that he would soon be shipped to Suzhou, and it would be more than enough to eat the new grain on the market, so there was no need to panic about the temporary food shortage, as long as the food at home was enough.

If ordinary officials say this, the common people will not believe it, and it may even be counterproductive, causing even greater panic. Because for thousands of years, in the hearts of the common people, officials have always been a bunch of bastards, but they do not include Qing officials. As the highest form of a Qing official, Qingtian. Hai Rui has accumulated enough character in ordinary times, so that his reputation of 'honest and self-controlled, not afraid of power, diligent government and love the people' is well known in Suzhou City, and has always been regarded as an idol by the people.

That's why everyone believed him! Although some people wanted to question it, the old man grabbed his ears and said: "What Hai Qingtian said is more true than real gold, if you don't believe it, you have to believe it!" ”

So, an unprecedented miracle in human history was born, in a city where prices are soaring and materials are scarce, there is a good scene of not leaving the road behind and not closing the door at night, so that those who are full of hope that Suzhou will be in chaos, the people will begin to rob, and then smash and rob, and finally burn and kill the people who rob, and shatter the glasses on the ground.

Martial arts supreme, sword slaying dragon, command martial arts, don't dare to disobey, leaning on the sky, who will compete?

So when Angelica Youguang suggested to Shen Mo whether to ask Lord Hai to stop arresting people, or to let go of some of the people who were originally arrested, Shen Mo did not agree, only to see him shake his head and say: "The so-called 'Troubled Times', who is asked to maintain law and order in Suzhou City now, will not have this effect." He smiled happily: "Just get it by the sea pen holder, you just need to tell you the fact that the prison is full, and he will definitely be able to come up with a solution." ”

"Your Excellency really has faith in him." Gui Youguang said with a smile.

"In terms of doing things alone, no one is as capable as Hai Rui." Shen Mo smiled proudly, what is the greatest blessing of being a leader? It is to have a capable person who can bear the most headache for the leader.

"yes." Gui Youguang also sighed and said, "It's a pity that he is not very good at being a man." ”

Shen Mo laughed at himself: "It's more likely that people disdain to 'be like us'." ”

The two laughed for a while, and Tie Zhu came in to report: "President Gu and Boss Shen ask to meet." ”

"Yes, please." Shen Mo retracted his smile.

Gui Youguang went out, Gu Rundong came in with heavy steps, and after saluting the adults, President Gu said softly: "The grain in the warehouse, even if it is sold according to the ration, can only persist in lawlessness." "Now the city of Suzhou is in a special period of 'siege', so Shen Mo ordered the grain store to implement rationing to sell grain, stipulating that each person should not buy more than five catties of grain, and the back of the hand must be marked with a special pigment that is difficult to wash off, and it is only allowed to buy once a day.

However, because of the skyrocketing price of rice, the last time the rice was imported, the grain shops did not bring enough money, and generally only bought less than half of the usual grain, so even with this rationing, it still couldn't last long.

Once there is no rice to sell in the grain store, the city of Suzhou, which is now 'calmed', will inevitably fry the pot immediately, and a hundred Hairui will not be useful at that time! Because only by letting the people set up a pot to cook white rice, he will be patient to listen to you and take the trouble to reason, if there is no white rice, the truth is broken, and you can't satisfy hunger!

"They're forcing us to buy high-priced rice!" Hearing that Shen Mo told him that not only Zhejiang could not count on it, but Huguang could not buy rice, Gu Rundong said gloomily: "It seems that they have already laid a net of heaven and earth, and calculated that we are desperate in the end, so we have no fear of one price a day, just wait for us to comply." ”

Silent and noncommittal, he snorted: "What is the situation with the food stamps now?" ”

Hearing the adults ask about this, Shen Hongchang, who had been silent since he came in, finally spoke: "Since the Grain and Oil Chamber of Commerce promised that the grain stamps in the association can be used in accordance with the instructions of the adults," said a little incredulously: "Nine hundred thousand taels of silver grain stamps were sold in five days. He couldn't understand why the blind could see the risks faced by the grain and oil chamber of commerce, but the common people turned a deaf ear.

"Nine hundred thousand taels?" He said silently: "With the original money for buying grain, we have two million taels, how much grain can we buy?" ”

"If it is at today's price, you can buy 540,000 stones." Shen Hongchang said softly.

"It's enough for the people of Suzhou City to eat for a month." Shen Mo smiled and said: "Mix some wild vegetables to save some food, it is enough to wait until the summer grain is on the market." ”

"But we are not destined to buy so much food." Gu Rundong said depressedly: "They will definitely sell us at most 10,000 or 20,000 stones at a time, and then they will increase the price again, so that we can spit out all the money we eat in the continuous shortage of food." ”

"Of course I do." Shen Mo smiled and said, "I mean, as long as we can get 500,000 stone of grain, we can survive this crisis." ”

"That's right." The two nodded.

At this time, Tie Zhu came in again to report: "Someone claims to be the butler of the Lu Mansion and asks to see him. ”

Shen Mo smiled and said, "Let's knock off the bamboo." Then he said to Gu Rundong and Shen Hongchang: "You go back first, if you really can't help it, you can buy some food with those smashes first, but don't buy too much, because maybe when, it will be clear." ”

"Yes." The two bowed and withdrew.

After the two left, a burly middle-aged man was brought in by the iron pillar, saluted Shen Mo very regularly, and then explained his intentions: "The villain Pinghu Lu family steward Lu Qiang, because the little son of the Han family was detained by the government, the old lady of the family was worried and couldn't eat, so the villain was specially ordered to come to pay the ransom, please be gracious." ”

In the laws of the Ming Dynasty, there is a provision called 'atonement for crimes' for the rank of 'scholar', that is, the suspect can pay a certain amount of ransom...... The specific amount depends on the size of the alleged offence, and then they can be released, of course, in a state of attendance, although they must be re-processed if proven guilty in the future.

After such a long time of practice and study, Shen Mo already has a good understanding of the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and Wen Yan asked, "Do you want to 'redeem'?" ”

"Yes, sir." Lu Qiang took out a certificate of student status from his arms and said, "My young master is a student of the county school, and he can be exempted from detention according to the law. ”

"Prepared?" Shen Mo smiled faintly: "Look at your capable appearance, I know that you are a happy person, let's talk about the price directly." ”

A smile hung on the corner of Lu Qiang's mouth, and he said very gracefully: "How much money is needed, adults can mention it casually, as long as you can take my son-in-law away now." ”

"Since you have done your homework in advance," Shen Mo smiled, "you should know that the amount of ransom is based on the size of the crime." ”

"Yes." Lu Qiang nodded.

"Your little son-in-law's crime is that he disobeyed several holy decrees and trespassed the five-grade officials, and this crime can be sentenced to hanging." Shen Mo squinted.

The other party knew that he was definitely going to rip off the bamboo, and he didn't argue: "How much, right?" ”

"I don't want money." Shen Mo shook his head, his eyes turned cold as a knife, staring at Na Lu Qiang and said, "I want food." ”

"Your Excellency." Lu Qiang smiled bitterly and said: "Now that Suzhou is like this, we only have money, no food. ”

"Don't pretend to be pitiful with me," Shen Mo said with a look of disgust: "Suzhou City is like this, who did it clearly, if you say that you don't have food, then I'll tell you that your little boy has been thrown into an overcrowded prison by me, and I don't know what your little son will become in that place full of ruffians, villains, hooligans, and outlaws!" ”

(To be continued)