When Ma Hong, the head of the household, mentioned the Qingtian King, Chu Huan thought of what happened in the desert, the Black Jiaohou was robbed by the black-robed man, and the Qingtian King chased after him, but he didn't know what happened later.

The remnants of the Hebei Qingtian King are about to move, but they don't know if the Qingtian King has returned to Hebei.

Thinking of the Qingtian King, I naturally thought of Liu Meiniang, after Meiniang and Shu Bojia left the temple, there was no news of them, and I don't know where they are now, a few months have passed, but I don't know if the toxicity on Meiniang's body has been lifted.

Ma Hong saw that Chu Huan was thoughtful, of course he didn't know that he was thinking about the desert, and sighed: "On the accounts of the household department, the sixteen warehouses in Jinling all say that the warehouses are full of grain, and I sent someone to check it a while ago, Lord Chu, how much grain do you guess there is over there?" ”

When Chu Huan heard Ma Hong say this, he knew that there must be something wrong with Jinling Cang, so he shook his head.

Ma Hong smiled bitterly: "Less than half." Sixteen. Large warehouses, six full warehouses, and five small half warehouses, add up to only half, which is far from the grain storage on the books. ”

Lang Wuxu's expression began to become embarrassed.

Chu Huan frowned and said, "How could this happen? ”

Ma Hong glanced at Lang Wuxuan as if he was nothing, and sneered: "Hu Bufan is in charge of the household department, and the saint trusts him and him, but he is lawless with the saint behind his back. This Hu Bufan actually secretly sold the grain of Jinling Cang, not only him, but also those Cangcang officials in Jinling Cang, few of them had clean hands and feet. Xiang Lang said: "Lord Lang, you know, right? ”

Lang Wuxuan was stunned for a moment, and said busily: "I don't know...... Oh, this, the officials of Jinling Cang tampered with the official grain, and the lower officials did not know, but when Hu Bufan controlled the household department, he covered the sky with one hand, and the household departments and major granaries of each province had his henchmen installed him, and the lower officials had long known that this person had formed a party for personal gain and did some unseemly things, but he didn't expect him to be so greedy. However, after the previous inspection, it was really gratifying to punish a large number of cang-treacherous officials. ”

Ma Hong said: "It's useless to say anything now. The southeast Tianmen Dao is fighting, General Lei Da personally went to the front line, and the Holy Lord should decree that I will be the whole country of Daqin, and the first priority is to pacify the Tianmen Dao. Before General Lei set off, the saint promised General Lei in front of hundreds of officials that what General Lei wanted, the court would give him, hehe, what do you want, where to give it? It's not all about pulling out of our households. ”

Chu Huan asked: "Lord Ministry, before the envoy, the lower officials also heard that the officers and soldiers besieged the Tianmen Dao, and the Tianmen Dao was weak, why did the Tianmen Dao spread so much in a short period of time?" ”

At this time, the subordinate had already brought the tea, and when the subordinate retreated, Ma Hong picked up the teacup, blew the tea powder, tasted it, and then said: "Speaking of which, that Hu Bufan is really a great crime." Lord Chu, you should know that Hu Bufan handed a fold to the imperial court before, saying that the treasury was short of grain, and he wanted to borrow grain from those wealthy gentry in Jianghuai Dao, and wait until Tianmen Dao was pacified, and then return it! ”

Chu Huan naturally knew about this, and he still remembered that Ouyang Zhi, the head of the warehouse department at that time, also objected to this matter, and he also raised objections, but in the end, the book province still adopted this strategy of borrowing grain.

He nodded, Ma Hong slapped the table, and said, "Hu Bufan is a traitor to the country." The various divisions of the Jianghuai Dao Household Department under the Household Department borrowed grain from those wealthy gentry, but they all touched the ashes, and some of the wealthy families even directly killed the officials of the Household Department and voted for Tianmen Dao...... This is a big mistake. If it weren't for this bad idea, in time, the Tianmen Demon Dao would be in short supply of food, and it would be self-defeating, but after this incident, those wealthy clans either explicitly or secretly funded the Tianmen Dao, they were all financially powerful, and they were local land snakes, and they had a wide network ......! He shook his head: "Forcing these wealthy families to rebel, what good results do you say the officers and soldiers can have...... ”

Chu Huan sighed in his heart, he and Ouyang Zhi had already thought of this, and the reason why those wealthy families were able to dominate one side was to rely on family wealth to support them, and the strategy of borrowing food was to seize people's wealth under the banner, for those wealthy families, there is no difference between taking wealth and taking life, and even family wealth is far more important than life.

In fact, Chu Huan has always been unable to figure it out, even ordinary officials like him and Ouyang Zhi could think that a slight mistake in borrowing grain would cause a catastrophe, why did those important ministers of the empire under the book ignore this.

This Ma Hong is the emperor's favorite minister, has always been trusted by the emperor, and can often meet the emperor, he is eloquent today, it seems that he has long seen that it is inappropriate, so why when this will was issued, there were few voices of opposition from the court's important ministers? Could it be that the scholars and even the important officials of the court in Shangshu Province were all fascinated by ghosts at the same time.

"Don't talk about that over there." Ma Hong didn't seem to be in a very good mood: "Let's discuss the matter of the northwest." The official also said that the grain in the granary is insufficient, and the grain in the Jinling warehouse has been reduced by half, but the war in the southeast cannot be neglected, and the relief grain that was originally transported to the northwest has been transferred to the southeast before. This is already very tight, in a few days, the Tongtian Temple Sacrifice Ceremony will be held, the Holy Enthronement held a ceremony to worship the sky, now it has been many years, this time the sacrifice to the sky is very grand, silver is like flowing water, I am the head of the household, now there is a shortage of silver and food...... If you want to grab it, there is no place to grab it, this northwest wants grain and silver, we really can't take it out, at most transfer some farming tools over there, the silver is one or two can't be transferred, and the grain is even more difficult to mobilize! ”

Chu Huan said: "What does Lord Ministries mean is to agree with the strategy of the Northwest Hao clan to occupy land with grain? ”

"Aren't I looking for two to discuss?" Ma Hong picked up the teacup and said: "This matter should have been decided by the Ministry of Books, but the Ministry of Books threw this matter to our household department." At the ceremony, An Guogong led the officials of the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple to take care of it, saying that he didn't have the energy to ask about this trivial matter in the northwest...... Hehe, it's ...... trivial matter, but it's a pleasure to say it over there, let us make a decision as soon as possible, if something really happens in the northwest, our people in the household department will be inescapable! He glanced at each of his two subordinates left and right, and said slowly while blowing the end of tea: "Two adults, you all come and talk about it, how to solve this matter?" ”

Lang Wuxu is the most perceptive person, in the officialdom, he also knows that everything must be cautious, he knows very well that this matter in the northwest is really not a trivial matter.

The book province threw this kind of thing to the household department, and the three people present were like mirrors in their hearts, who didn't know that this was a trick played by the book province.

If it were in the past, Lang Wuxuan might not be able to speak easily, this kind of state affairs, say one more word, if something really goes wrong, I am afraid that it will be difficult to escape the blame, but now it is different from the past.

Lang Wuxu was originally Hu Bufan's party, but he was close to Chu Huan behind his back, and it was precisely for this reason that after Hu Bufan fell off the horse, Lang Wuxu was uninjured and remained in the household yamen.

It's just that he followed Hu Bufan's side at the beginning, as Hu Bufan's henchman, he still has a lot of weight in the household department, and now Ma Hong is in charge of the household department, although Lang Wuxu is still the left servant of the household department, but he is very clear about his position in the household yamen, whether it is Ma Hong or Chu Huan, he is much more stable than himself in the household yamen, he knows that if he wants to keep his current position, he must try his best to cater to these two people.

Ma Hong asked, Chu Huan didn't speak, even if Lang Wuxuan didn't want to say more, but at this time, he couldn't help him, not only did he want to speak, but he also knew that he couldn't talk nonsense yet, and he must show a concerted attitude in front of these two people, so he put down the teacup in his hand, leaned forward slightly, and said softly: "Lord Ministry, I look at those guys above, this is to use us as scapegoats!" ”

Ma Hong frowned, "oh", and asked with a smile, "Why did Lord Lang say this?" ”

Lang Wuxu showed a caring gesture and said: "Lord Ministry, whether you agree or disagree with the excerpt of grain renting land in the northwest, this matter will be spread to our household, and we will be in a dilemma." If you don't agree, then whether it is an official in the northwest or an official in Beijing, there will definitely be many people who will jump out and ask our household department to allocate food and money to the northwest, if they can't get it, they will impeach us for ignoring the predicament of the empire and turning a blind eye to the chaos in the northwest. If you agree, this order will be conveyed, and everyone in the world will feel that this is what our household department does, and the wealthy families of Xiguan Road will naturally have hatred for our households, and other wealthy families will presumably also be dissatisfied with us. The Xiguan Dao Hao clan has a land deed, and our household department agrees to rent the land with grain, just like if the land deed of the Xiguan Dao Hao clan is invalidated, the people who have the land deed in the world are naturally panic......ked! Speaking of this, he smiled bitterly: "If you don't do it, you will have a mess, as long as there is a mess, the responsibility is borne by our household!" ”

Ma Hong stroked his beard and said: "Lord Lang is reasonable, that's what happened." This official thinks about it, it is difficult to have the best of both worlds, Lord Lang, do you see if there is any way to solve the urgent need of the moment? ”

"This ......!" Lang Wuxu looked at Chu Huan and said with a smile: "Lord Chu, you just came back from the northwest, look at it, how should we deal with this matter?" ”

Chu Huan immediately said solemnly: "Lord Ministries and Lord Lang are here, both of them are seniors of the lower officials, they are experienced, and they are capable ministers, how dare the lower officials talk nonsense here!" ”

"Lord Chu is humble." Ma Hong said with a smile: "This official feels that we old guys are sometimes dizzy, our brains are easily confused, and we can't turn around, Lord Chu is young and talented, shrewd and capable, and the brain meridians are active, what do you think, speak bluntly, aren't we all thinking of a way?" If you have anything, just say it. ”

Chu Huan shook his head and said: "Such a major state event is related to the stability of one party, and it is also related to the stability of the society....... Xia Guan really doesn't have any ideas now! ”

The corners of Ma Hong's eyes jumped, and Wen Lang said, "Lord Lang, what do you think?" ”

"The subordinate officials must obey the orders of the minister!" Lang Wuxu immediately said with a smile.

Ma Hong's face did not change color, his expression was indifferent, he took a sip of the teacup, and finally said: "If you can't get a charter for this matter today, you can't disperse it." Coughed twice and said: "The important matter of the country, now that it has been handed over to the household department, you two are the left and right servants of the household department, and you must come up with an idea." He first glanced at Chu Huan, then his eyes fell on Lang Wuxu, and said solemnly: "Lord Lang, you say it first, whether you agree or not, you say what you think...... It's all this time, don't be sloppy! ”