The prefect of Huaiqing led Yue Su to the back flower hall and sat down, Yue Su sat on the top, the prefect was free to accompany each other in the main seat, and the golden cicadas stood beside Yue Su.

The two first exchanged a few words of greeting and learned the name of Huaiqing Mansion, which was Meng Huade. Afterwards, Yue Su led the conversation to the topic, "Lord Meng, the headquarters has been in Huaiqing Mansion for two days, but I don't see a few victims inside and outside the city, I don't know why?" ”

"Ah......" Meng Huade sighed for a while, and said: "This matter is not very clear, I think the victims of the disaster have fled to other places." ”

"Really?" Yue Su asked with a smile.

"It should be so." Monwald replied cautiously.

"Lord Meng, your news is so ill-informed, although the headquarters has only been here for two days, I have heard that the victims of the disaster have run to Xiaojiatun in the southeast of the city. Didn't Master Meng hear about it at all? Yue Su said with a smile.

"I really haven't heard of this, and the lower officials are also wondering why the victims of the disaster have suddenly disappeared." Meng Huade said deliberately.

"Why don't the victims of the disaster disappear, Lord Meng should know it in his heart. According to the practice of the imperial court, whenever a place is hit by a disaster, the local government should open a warehouse for disaster relief as soon as possible and give porridge to help the people. Did Lord Meng not know about this system, or did the political envoy Yamen not inform him? Yue Su asked lightly.

"Opening a warehouse for disaster relief, the lower officials know it, and the political envoy Zou also has an order, but the lower officials are also helpless, and it is really difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. Don't hide it from my lord, my Huaiqing is a place of severe disaster, there are too many victims, and there is not much surplus grain in the granary. Monwald sighed and said.

"Oh." Yue Su nodded, and said: "It doesn't matter if there is no surplus grain in the granary, why doesn't Lord Meng open the treasury and fund the purchase of grain?" ”

"My lord, you have also seen that this year's catastrophe, I am afraid that I can't even collect taxes, and the tax coins collected last year, except for the usual expenses of the government office, all the others are handed over to the household department, and the current treasury does not have much silver to use." Meng Huade made another helpless expression.

Yue Su said secretly: "You shirked it cleanly." He sneered in his heart, his face remained silent, and he only said: "Since you have no money to buy for a while, can you also borrow it from the people first?" The emperor has now allocated silver for disaster relief, silver is not a problem, what is urgently needed is food. I wonder what the price of food is in the city now? ”

"It's seven or eight times the usual market price." Meng Huade said carefully.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was no clear law to regulate prices, and they basically went with the market, but this also created opportunities for many merchants. The reason why the Ming Dynasty fell was also due to natural disasters for many years, food prices skyrocketed, and the people could not afford to buy, so they had no choice but to join the rebel army.

"It's so expensive, the people in the city can't accept it, so you didn't intervene." Yue Su said it deliberately.

"Alas......" Meng Huade sighed and said, "The lower officials are also weak." There is no law in the imperial court that prohibits merchants from raising prices, and those merchants who sell grain are either princes or princes, and the lower officials really can't afford to offend. ”

"So that's the case, so do you think the ministry can offend them?" Yue Su said with a smile.

"This ......" Meng Huade dared to answer this, lowered his head, and did not dare to say anything.

"Smack!" Yue Su slapped the coffee table and said loudly: "Now the hungry people are everywhere, and the illegal merchants are hoarding and raising the price of rice, causing the people to live in poverty. How can we sit idly by and ignore the emperor's grace. Master Meng, you quickly send Huaiqing to the garrison to see me! ”

Seeing that Yue Su was angry, Meng Huade did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly sent the messenger to guard the yamen with a fire sign. But I really don't understand, what Yue Su is going to do. Yue Su didn't say anything, and he didn't dare to ask.

Yue Su calmed down, took a sip of tea, didn't say anything more, closed his eyes and got up. After a short time, the city garrison rushed to the flower hall.

Huaiqing's garrison surname is Guo, named Guo Yigang, and when he heard that the governor was here, he hurried here. Entering the Houhua Hall, he saw Yue Su sitting on the top, and hurriedly bowed down and said, "The last general, Huaiqing, guards Guo Yigang, and meets your lordship." ”

"Excuse me." Yue Su waved his hand and said, "The Ministry is now passing you on, and there is something important for you to do." ”

"The last general will be at the disposal of your lords."

"You now immediately send an order to seal up all the rice shops in the city, and the grain in them is only said to be requisitioned by the imperial court, and there must be no mistake. If it's missing, can you recognize what it is? Yue Su said, pointing to Shang Fang's sword. The emperor gave the ministry a sword, and had the right to cut first and then play, if you bend the law for personal gain and delay the military aircraft, the ministry will not be spared! ”

Guo Yigang really couldn't imagine that the new governor would say such heavy words as soon as they met, so he hurriedly bowed down and received the order, "The last general will obey the order." ”

"Now go quickly, give you half an hour, after you are done, you can get here, the headquarters still has important things to order!" Li Zhong, you go with him. ”

"Yes!" Guo Yigang and Li Zhong agreed, and the two went out on an errand together.

He also knew who the three major rice shops in the city were backstage, but Yue Su showed the Shang Fang sword, this thing can't be joked, when the time comes, he really cut off his head, and no one has a temper. Moreover, the news of Yue Su's governor of Henan had already come a few days earlier, and officials of Henan were not allowed to inquire about it in many ways to find out what hobbies this adult had. It's okay not to inquire, but after inquiring about Yue Su's temper, he was frightened. My mother, this adult is specially engaged in dealing with corrupt officials and corrupt officials, has a hobby of slaughtering corrupt officials, and is not afraid of offending people.

Although Guo Yigang was in a dilemma, he finally made up his mind, the county officials are not as good as the current management, although your Fu Wang and the abbot are big, but they are not in Huaiqing, Yue Su is sitting in the city with Shang Fang's sword, let's talk about it first. Anyway, I am also acting on orders, and if you are not angry, you should settle accounts with him.

Under the supervision of Li Zhong, the two returned to the garrison yamen, Guo Yigang immediately issued an order, the whole city soldiers and horses were dispatched, and all the rice shops were raided separately, if anyone asked, they only said that it was the order of the new governor Yue, and all the grain was requisitioned.

The reason why Guo Yigang wanted to dispatch the soldiers and horses of the whole city was that there were too few garrisons and horses in Huaiqing City, with a total of only 2,000 people. After all, it is not a frontier, how can the imperial court raise so many soldiers in the interior, plus Lord Guo has to eat more or less empty quotas, it is not easy to have these people.

There are now more than a dozen large and small rice shops in Huaiqing City, originally there were not so many, it can be said that they were all troubled by disasters, and businessmen naturally wanted to come here to take advantage of the opportunity to make huge profits. The soldiers were sent separately to seize the rice shops, and those who were ordered to raid the small shops were overjoyed, while those who were ordered to raid the three rice shops were depressed.

They are all soldiers, and they are still natives, who is easy to bully and who is not easy to mess with, that is to know. Why did you give an order from above, and if you don't go, you have to go. There is a general manager who has no backstage, and he took 200 people to seize the Fulai Mi Xing, and this guy has been turning his legs and stomachs all the way. That's the business of the Fu Wang's family, and if you go to provoke others with a sesame mung bean official, isn't you looking for death?

Fu Lai Rice Store is a large store, not only selling rice in the city, but also a grain hoarding place north of the Yellow River, which is responsible for transferring grain to its own stores in surrounding counties and towns. The large courtyard of the rice shop can have four entrances, and there are four granaries alone. This general took the soldiers and came to the Mihang Gate with a hard head.

Now that it is almost dusk, the rice store is still open, and the steward at the front door was stunned at first when he saw so many soldiers coming, but he did not speak, he was still commanding the guys, what should he do.

"Hey, who's in charge here?" The general stood at the door for a long time, and when he saw that no one took care of him, he mustered up his courage and shouted, but he obviously lacked confidence.

"Who's in charge of what you do? If you have something to say, you can say it, and if you have a fart, let it go! Don't stay in front of the door and delay our business. "How could the steward take a general in his eyes, and said very politely. The prime minister's family are all seven-rank officials, not to mention the prince's family.

After being confronted by the general manager, he didn't have any temper at all, and said weakly: "My lord sealed the order of the governor of Henan, and sent me here to seal the rice store and requisition the grain here!" ”

"What?" As soon as he heard this, the steward's eyes widened, and he scolded: ", you took the wrong medicine, right? Do you know whose property this is, Fuwang Chitose! Seal this place, want to find death? I don't care where you sent it, hurry up and get out of here, otherwise Hugh blames Grandpa for being unkind to you!" ”

This attitude of being in charge of things and speaking is that the tone of the general general to the ordinary people is very domineering. The total hit a nose of ashes, and now it can be described as a dilemma, but the military order is like a mountain, and it is really impossible to explain it when he goes back like this. He gritted his teeth, mustered up his courage, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, my lord has an order, seal up the Fulai Mi Xing, and do it to me!" ”

The soldiers also knew that they were powerful, but the leader couldn't disobey when he explained the general, so he shouted and rushed towards the rice line.

The steward was startled, but he didn't expect the other party to dare to come to the real one, and shouted loudly: "Block them for me, go and report to the shopkeeper!" ”

There were more than a dozen working guys in front, where could they stop so many soldiers, and they were pushed and pushed, and they were all rushed inside. The soldiers continued inward, heading straight for the backyard of Mixing.

The front is so noisy, and the back can naturally be heard, the shopkeeper of Mi Xing is drinking tea in the hall, and there is a young girl beating his back behind him. Hearing the commotion, he immediately stood up and shouted, "What's wrong, there's such a mess ahead." ”

As soon as the words fell, I saw a guy running in in a panic, "Shopkeeper, it's not good, there are officers and soldiers who have come to raid our rice shop!" ”

"What!" The shopkeeper scolded loudly: "It's against him, the little Huaiqing Mansion, even dare someone to come to raid the rice shop of Fuwang Chitose, I don't want to live." Go get me someone and beat them out!" ”

"Yes, yes......"

Of course, the huge rice row is indispensable for the labor, because it often loads, unloads and transports grain and rice, and more than 200 workers are supported in the rice store, which is not counting the thug nursing home. The guys ran to the backyard, and as soon as they said hello, the thugs and a group of laborers poured out one after another, heading straight to the front. As soon as I arrived in the front yard, I was just in time to meet the soldiers who broke in.

The shopkeeper also came out of the hall, and when he saw that his people had arrived, he cried out loudly, "What are you waiting for, beat them all out for me!" ”

"Brothers, give it to me!" The thugs, nurses, and laborers all had wooden sticks and poles in their hands, and under the order of the shopkeeper, they rushed up and beat them.

For a while, the yard was full of "ping-pong", and the shouts and screams were endless. The war lies in morale, Mi Xing is a person in the palace, he has always been rampant, and he never puts anyone in his eyes, and now he has the words of the shopkeeper, so he is extremely fierce. Don't look at the officers and soldiers holding swords and guns, but their confidence is obviously insufficient.

After a moment's effort, he was beaten by the crying father and called his mother, and when he saw that the situation was wrong, he took the lead and ran. When the soldiers saw him fleeing, they ran out with him, and the thugs chased after him and beat the officers and soldiers out.

(To be continued)