Gongsun Chu hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "My lord, the lower official may not listen to his words, but he ...... It's just that thanks to the importance of adults, I have to speak! ”

Chu Huan immediately said: "Lord Gongsun has something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

"My lord came to Xiguan, put down the rebellion, promulgated the Juntian Order, and transferred the rent and maids, all of which are practical things that benefit the country and the people, and the officials are very admired." Gongsun Chu said slowly: "But if you want Xiguan to restore the former peace in a short period of time, it is possible to ask for but not to get...... The lower officials are presumptuous, and the adults are afraid that they will have to prepare early to prevent the civil unrest that will occur in the coming year. ”

Chu Huan frowned.

"There is definitely not enough food." Gongsun Chu said: "At present, almost all the grain collected is the fields of the Xiguan gentry, and the adults are going to lend the grain in the hands of these gentry in the name of the government, and then lend it to the people in the name of the government according to the amount of land. He arched his hand to the old lady Su next to him, "The old lady is highly respected, kind-hearted, and willing to lend the harvested grain, but this does not mean that all the gentry will lend it." ”

Chu Huan said lightly: "This governor is thinking about the overall situation of the entire Xiguan, and he borrowed their grain, and he will return it to them with interest in the coming year, is this also difficult for this governor?" ”

Old Lady Su hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Chu Du, Lord Gongsun's words are not unreasonable. Before the grain was harvested, everyone swore that they would lend the grain to the government, but once the grain was taken back to the house, it would still cost some time to let them take it out again. Although the government promised to repay the grain with interest in the coming year, for many people, they may not be willing to wait for the interest in the coming year, and as long as there is a shortage of grain in Xiguan, the price of grain will inevitably rise wildly, and compared with that interest, they will take the opportunity to sell the grain in their hands at a high price, and the benefits will be much greater. Stroking his white beard, he sighed lightly: "As the saying goes, people die for money, birds die for food, and food is at home, they will inevitably calculate it in their hearts." ”

Chu Huan shook his head and said: "It's up to them, whether they borrow or not, this year's grain will be lent to the government, this is a matter related to the overall situation of Xiguan, and they can't be allowed to play tricks." ”

Gongsun Chu said: "This is the problem, if they are like the old lady, give up their own interests, and cooperate with the government, on the contrary, they will feel that the government is too domineering, and dissatisfaction will arise in their hearts, one or two are fine, if they all think like this, things will be troublesome, and if they don't make trouble, someone will come out to make trouble, so adults must think of this, take precautions, and we must do a good job of countermeasures." ”

Old lady Su said: "Governor Chu, what Lord Gongsun said is that the government will take countermeasures well, and the old man will also try his best to find the local gentry with the Qian family and the Hong family, and persuade them not to only care about their immediate interests, but to take a long-term view, and cooperate with the government as much as possible." Our family still has some prestige in Xiguan, and it may be useful to go to persuade us, but there are countless gentry in the state capitals and counties of Xiguan, but they may not all listen to our words. ”

Chu Huan bowed deeply and said gratefully: "The old lady will definitely get twice the result with half the effort, Chu Huan has thanked him here first." ”

"It's all my own family, so I don't have to be so polite." The old lady stroked her beard and laughed, and her words were meaningful.

Chu Huan knew that as the head of the seven surnames in Xiguan, the Su family did their best to help him, in the final analysis, it was because of the relationship between Linlang, in the eyes of the Su family, he was the son-in-law of the Su family, so that Chu Huan could stabilize in Xiguan, and if the Su family's status in Xiguan was unshakable.

Chu Huan actually didn't dislike this kind of relationship, after all, he knew very well that no matter how capable he was, he wanted to sit firmly in Xiguan with his bare hands, it was just a fool's dream, without the help of the Xiguan gentry, it was impossible for him to be here for a long time, Xiguan Seven surnamed These local gentry of Xiguan are the roots of the tree that are entrenched in the land of Xiguan, and they can use the power of this root, at present, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

The Su family has a strong Linlang brand, every time the Su family tries their best to help, Chu Huan will think of Linlang in his mind, because of Linlang, her family has helped her a lot, and Linlang herself has assisted Du Fugong to take care of the salt road affairs attentively, although Linlang has not been back to the northwest for a long time, but under her care, the sales of new salt have spread all over the northwest, and the entire northwest has been created by Linlang to create a criss-crossing salt road network, and the importance of this salt road network to Chu Huan is naturally self-evident.

Gongsun Chu said again: "Except for the gentry, the biggest trouble is still on the side of the common people. Even if all the gentry were willing to lend this year's harvest to the government, the government could dispose of the grain, and the remaining grain would not be enough to sustain the livelihood of the people, so ...... After all, many people will starve to death this year, but the number is still impossible to estimate. As long as someone starves to death, someone will take the opportunity to get up and make trouble, the more people starve to death, the bigger the trouble, the fewer people starving to death, the smaller the trouble, but no matter what, there will be no turmoil in Xiguan in the coming year, so before things happen, we must also prepare in advance, although it is to deal with the turmoil. ”

The late autumn wind blew over, with the smell of wheat, but Chu Huan's face was very dignified at this time.

After a while, Chu Huan finally shook his head and said, "You can't let people starve to death, and you can't starve people to death to cause a civil uprising and ruin the current development trend......!" ”

"Xia Guan doesn't want anyone to starve to death." Gongsun Chu sighed: "But...... It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and the government does not have enough food in its hands, so it will not be able to provide relief to all the victims at that time. ”

Chu Huan pondered for a while, and finally asked, "Old lady, the Su family has connections in the Guannei, so they should be very clear about the business and trade in the Guannai, right?" ”

The old lady nodded and asked, "What does Chu Du want to know?" ”

"Salt!" Chu Huan asked: "You said earlier that among the grain harvested this year, there is still a part of the principal and interest to be repaid to Guannai?" ”

"Yes!" The old lady nodded and said, "Even the principal and interest, I have to repay 100,000 stones." ”

Chu Huan thought for a while, and finally said: "For the current Xiguan, every inch of rice and gold, 100,000 stone of grain, is not a small amount. ”

The old lady said: "Although it is not a small amount, but it cannot be less than a grain, after all, when we were in trouble, they helped us, and now that there is a harvest, we must return it to them with interest according to the promise." ”

"Old lady, I have an idea." Chu Huan walked to the edge of the ridge, regardless of the dirt on the ground, and sat on the haystack by the ditch, Gongsun Chu helped the old lady to sit down next to him, Chu Huan said: "If we use the same value of new salt instead of grain to repay them, what do you think?" ”

"New salt instead of grain?" The old lady was stunned for a moment, thoughtful, and finally smiled: "Why didn't the old man think of this...... Yes, you can give it a try. He also said: "Chu Du, we know about the market in the Guannei, the salt at the southeast end has been completely occupied by Tianmen Dao, the imperial court can't get salt, Tianmen Dao has salt in his hands, even if he wants to sell it to the mainland, but the road has been blocked by the officials and soldiers of the imperial court, so the salt road over there has been completely cut off." Now the salt in the pass, in addition to the scarce amount of well salt, can only rely on the sea salt transported from the Fuhai Road, from the Fuhai Road to the inland, the shortest road is to pass through Hebei Road, now the Hebei Road has been occupied by the rebels of the Qingtian King, so that road can not go, they either Beishan bypass Liaodong Road and then turn inland, or they can only take Weihai to transport it by sea...... Diverting from Liaodong Road is several times longer, and the loss and cost are many times longer, and if you go by sea, although the journey will be greatly shortened, it is said that the risk is very high. ”

"Risk?" Gongsun Chu couldn't help but ask, "What risk?" ”

"Lord Gongsun doesn't know that there is a sea route on Fuhai Road, but there are many more pirates on the sea now." The old lady stroked his beard and said solemnly: "Weihai originally had a naval army, which was leaning on the Ningzhou harbor in Hebei Province, but the rebels of the Qingtian King defeated Ningzhou very early and captured the Ninghai harbor, although there were not many warships in the Ningzhou Naval Division, but there were also thirty or forty warships in size, it is said that before the defeat of the Ningzhou Naval Division, the Admiral of the Naval Division ordered all the warships to be destroyed, so as not to be taken away by the rebels, but the speed of the rebels was too fast, and before the warships were all destroyed, they had taken the Ningzhou Seaport and won nearly half of the ships. ”

Gongsun Chu changed color slightly, "So, Wei Hai is now under the control of the rebels?" ”

The old lady said: "The old man also listened to what people said, and I don't know what the situation is. However, it is already very difficult to transport salt from Fukukaido to the interior, and the salt stores in many parts of the Kannai are already out of stock, and not long ago, the price of salt in the Kannai has been raised by half compared to before, and according to the current situation, the shortage of salt will only become more and more scarce, and the price will be higher and higher. He looked at Chu Huan and said: "Actually, if our new salt can be sent to the Guannei, it can also increase the input, but according to the old man, the imperial court has very strict control over the salt road, and whether our salt can enter the Guannai is a problem, but if salt is used instead of grain as compensation, it should not be a big problem." ”

Chu Huan's eyes lit up: "In this way, our new salt can play a big role." ”

"What do you mean?"

Chu Huan said with a smile: "There is something, I haven't had time to tell you, just a few days ago, the approval document in Beijing finally came down, and I have already obtained the official document for the new salt to enter the customs, and the new salt in our Xiguan can be sold in the customs." ”

The old lady and Gongsun Chu suddenly showed surprise, "Did the imperial court really give the approval?" ”

"This is still approved by Scholar Xu Congyang personally." Chu Huan said with a smile: "I came with the official document, and there was also a letter from Scholar Xu, saying that there was likely to be a salt shortage in the Guan, and he asked us to prepare for it and mine as much new salt as possible. ”

Gongsun Chu praised: "Scholar Xu is still a minister of the old Cheng Mouguo, with the approval of this new salt entering the customs, our new salt in Xiguan can enter the customs justifiably." Then he asked, "My lord, what are the conditions of the imperial court?" You can't just say yes, do you? ”

"The new salt entering the customs must be in contact with the local salt road yamen, and the new salt sold must be counted through the local salt road yamen." Chu Huan said: "The price is still regulated by the local salt road yamen, and every catty of new salt sold, you must pay a tax of 30% to the imperial court. ”

"The cost of mining, production and transportation is on our side, and the imperial court collects 30% of the tax, which is indeed higher." The old lady stroked his beard and said: "But if you can let the new salt enter the market in the customs first, it will be higher for the time being, and it can be bearable." ”

"But I've changed my mind now." Chu Huan thoughtfully, "When the new salt enters the customs, I don't want silver, just food." ”