When Cao Ying saw it, he immediately understood, didn't say more, and after sending Liu Xiu to the throne, he turned around and went back to the Song family. The Song Qi brothers and sisters already had an idea, discussed with Cao Yingyi, and decided to take a two-pronged approach, on the one hand, Empress Song would work hard to win the favor of the Son of Heaven, and on the other hand, they must ask Liu Xiu for that method no matter what. Liu Xiu is right, the famine in Luoyang is a foregone conclusion, and whoever has food will be equal to having money, and it is better than money, no matter how much money there is, you can't eat it. It is conceivable that the Son of Heaven will be under tremendous pressure at that time - although when there is a natural disaster, the Three Guilds will be thrown out to take the blame, but the crime can all be on the Son of Heaven, who made you the Son of Heaven - at this time, not to mention taking out hundreds of thousands of stones of food, even if it is ten thousand stones, it can make the Son of Heaven feel a trace of warmth.

The icing on the cake is not as good as sending charcoal in the snow, this reason is not complicated.

The key to both aspects is Liu Xiu, if Queen Song wants to win the favor of the Son of Heaven, she needs Liu Xiu's guidance, and the Song family needs Liu Xiu's advice if she wants to get food and relieve the worries of the Son of Heaven.

Liu Xiu has already said, I am a businessman, and it is easiest to please me, just give me money.

If you really think he's making an analogy, you're stupid.

Although the Song family cannot be compared with the Yuan family, the Song family has a huge amount of money, that is, the bride price when the Son of Heaven married the Empress of Song, 10,000 gold. The Song family has never dared to move, always thinking about backup, but now that it has reached the point of life and death, there may be no chance in the future.

After Song Qi and the others discussed, they were ruthless and decided to take out one-tenth of it and give it to Liu Xiu, as the saying goes, either you don't send it, or if you want to send it, you can send a big one, and it doesn't hurt or itch. Liu Xiu now owns the Luofu Noodle Restaurant and the Tai Chi Dao Pavilion, although he said that the Tai Chi Dao Pavilion has other owners, but he himself estimates that there is a lot of money in it, and if you give one of two or three hundred gold, he may really not take it seriously.

"Daughter?" Liu Xiu was shocked, and inexplicably felt that he had become a huge greed, a few months ago, he resigned for a few dozen stones a month, and now someone is giving me a thousand gold? In my previous life, I heard that some public servants could collect hundreds of thousands of dollars during the New Year's Festival, but now how can I become such a person? And more greedy than they are.

"It's just a little thanks, don't take it to heart." Song Qi's heart was also twitching, saying that he didn't care, this was fake, this was cutting meat. However, at this time, the Song family had no way to cut the meat.

Liu Xiu was speechless, but he really needed money, a lot of money. I just received a letter from Lu Min a few days ago, and after Lu Min apologized to him, he really talked about Shanggu's predicament. Shanggu has now become a key place for Xianbei people to attack, only a few months, Xianbei people have come more than a dozen times, almost every few days, beacon fires, alarm bells often ring. Under such circumstances, it became a dream to let the displaced people go to Tuntian, and Lu Min had no choice but to resettle the displaced people to Zhuojun and Guangyang to go to Tuntian.

At this time, Lu Min felt the benefits of Liu Yu. Originally, he felt that Liu Yu was too weak and constrained everywhere, so he criticized him a few words in front of the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven exempted Liu Yu from the history of the assassination of Youzhou, and now he found out that even if Liu Yu is not in a thousand ways, at least he is not insatiable, and he can do okay on the surface, but now this history of assassination is even worse than Liu Yu.

Lu Min's biggest headache now is food, there is no grain in Shanggu, there is also a shortage of grain in Youzhou, there is a great drought in Qingji and Hebei, and it will be difficult to endure this winter, if there is not enough food to stabilize the people, it is inevitable that the displaced people will flee, and their efforts will be in vain.

Lu Min asked Liu Xiu to do everything possible to get grain, and try to reserve as much grain as possible to send to Shanggu before the price of grain skyrocketed. At the same time, he asked people to send money for the purchase of grain, which was all the money raised by the Mao family and the Zhang family, which seemed to be a lot, but it was still far from what he needed. There are now more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in Shanggu alone, plus hundreds of thousands of Wuhuan people, if you want to survive the winter, there is at least a shortage of one million stone of grain, according to the current grain price is six or seven thousand gold, once the price of grain rises, I am afraid it will be hundreds of millions of dollars.

The price of food in times of famine has always been a matter of flux. There is a precedent for a stone of grain to be sold for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Liu Xiu now needs a lot of money, a lot of food. The Song family's gold is equivalent to the meat sent to his mouth, and it is impossible not to eat it. Of course, he also knew that the Song family came here for a request, but he was also waiting for the price to sell, and he had no intention of guarding himself like a jade.

"It's really deserved, deserved." Liu Xiu was humble on his lips, but in his heart he wished he had more.

"Deran, don't be modest, you have a splendid belly in your belly, and you deserve this gift." Cao Ying looked at him with a smile: "How about it, tell me about your good idea." ”

Liu Xiu smiled, introduced Song Qi and Cao Ying into the elegant room, and dipped his fingers in the wine to draw a sketch on the table: "Mengde, there are several places where Dahan produces grain, you should know very well, right?" ”

Cao Ying pondered for a moment, the most important grain producing area of the Han Dynasty is Yanyu Qingxu, and these four states will definitely not be able to count on the harvest this year because of the great drought. The rest are Jingzhou, Hanzhong and Guanzhong, Guanzhong, Jingzhou and Guanzhong have a lot of population, and the surplus grain is also limited, and the last thing left is only Hanzhong.

"Hanzhong can't do it, Hanzhong's grain output is limited, and you have to guard against the war in Xiliang, so you can't move at all." Liu Xiu shook his head again and again. Cao Ying was even more puzzled, where else was the food?

"Jiaozhou."

"Jiaozhou?" Cao Ying smiled dumbly, and shook his head again and again: "I know that there are many rare treasures in Jiaozhou, and everyone who goes to Jiaozhou has made a fortune, but if you want to talk about food, ......" He waved his hand and motioned Liu Xiu not to say more. There are many fishermen in Jiaozhou, and there are more people who go to the sea to fish for pearls than those who farm the land.

"You only know that there are jewels in Jiaozhou, but you don't know that there is rice in Jiaozhou." Liu Xiu smiled, he had long known that Cao Ying would have a kind of thinking. Jiaozhou is still a semi-wild place for Luoyang, the most famous is Hu Shang, is jewelry, and has never heard of grain production. But he knew that there was grain in that place, and Vietnam and Thailand in later generations were all large grain producers, supplying most of the world's population, although they were not so developed at this time, but it was more than enough to provide 100,000 stone of grain.

The reason why the Hu merchants did not sell rice was only because the profit of rice was too low for jewelry, and it was unprofitable to transport it over long distances, but now the situation is the opposite, the priceless jewelry cannot be eaten, and only rice can solve the impending famine.

"Where did you hear that?" Cao Ying and Song Qi were both skeptical, feeling that what Liu Xiu said seemed to be reasonable, but it was not completely reliable. Liu Xiu smiled confidently: "You are not like me, you walk around the city every day, and I know at least half of the Hu businessmen from Jiaozhou." You'll find out if you're free to ask, and see if I'm lying. ”

Seeing that Liu Xiu said very solemnly, Cao Ying's suspicions were omitted, and he decided to go to the city immediately to ask the Hu businessmen. Song Qi thought of another problem, Jiaozhou is too far, from Jiaozhou to Luoyang, this freight is very scary, I am afraid that I will not make any money at that time, and I may lose money.

"Transporting grain for thousands of miles, ten minutes and one stone, if you want to transport it by land, you will definitely lose money, this is needless to say." Liu Xiu smiled, "However, if you use a ship, it will be different." If you set off now, it will take about a month to arrive in Jiaozhou, give you two to three months to buy food, and make corresponding preparations, ** The south wind is strong, you take the wind and sail south, at most a month to the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then turn Huaishui, enter the chasm, all the way to Luoyang, the rest of the things, I don't need to say it, right? ”

Song Qi was surprised and delighted, and Cao Ying glanced at each other, and both saw the glittering golden light in each other's eyes. The rest of the words really don't need Liu Xiu to say again, they are worried about the Son of Heaven, as long as the Son of Heaven sends an edict, they can requisition the big ships and shipwrights of the Panyu Shipyard in the South China Sea, and there are officers and soldiers escorting them along the way, and they don't even have to pay taxes. Compared with land transportation, the volume of shipping is large and the cost is low, as long as you can buy enough food according to Liu Xiu, you can not only help the Son of Heaven solve the problem of famine, but also definitely make money. Of course, if you bring a little jewelry or something, you won't explain it in the book.

"Clever and clever." Song Qi said repeatedly, with such an unheard of idea, this thousand gold is worth it. "As soon as I go back, I'll have someone send the gold, is it to this hall or to Buyun?"

"Let's send it to Jiaozhou." Liu Xiu said with a smile, "I also take a hitchhiker, and this thousand gold is my share." ”

Cao Ying laughed, pointed at Liu Xiu and said, you are really a person who can make money, this thousand gold, at most half a year's effort, can become at least three thousand gold.

Liu Xiu smiled and didn't answer, took a sip of wine, and said solemnly: "I want to ask Song Jun for a favor, can you help me send this thousand gold of grain directly to Youzhou." ”

Song Qi understood as soon as he thought about it, Liu Xiu's thousand gold rice was prepared for Lu Min. He nodded very righteously: "Deran Gaoyi, I am not an unreasonable person." Anyway, there are boats, but it's a matter of a few more days to sail north. I will definitely do it, and Deran will arrange for someone to pick up the goods there when the time comes. ”

"On behalf of the people of Youzhou, I would like to express my gratitude to Song Jun." Liu Xiu gave a very serious salute: "With Song Jun's help, hundreds of thousands of people will be able to survive this winter." The Song family has accumulated this yin virtue, and they will definitely be able to glorify their ancestors in the future. ”

Hearing these four words, Song Qi didn't dare to play with it. In these years, people believe in the accumulation of Yin virtue, the reason why the Wang family in the previous dynasty was rich and noble was because Wang He did not kill in vain, and the reason why the Yuan family in this dynasty has now is because Yuan Anli Chu Wang Ying conspired against the prison, and hundreds of people survived. If it is really as Liu Xiu said, he can save tens of thousands of people in this move, and the Song family will definitely be able to surpass the Wang family and the Yuan family in the future.

"Dare to disobey." Song Qi returned the salute dignifiedly, with some sacredness on his face.

They immediately discussed the details again, Liu Xiu didn't say much, but suggested that Song Qi go out in person, this business is very important, there is no room for a little mistake, and Song Qi's personal experience shows that he attaches great importance to this, I believe that the Son of Heaven will be very happy. In the end, he made a little suggestion by the way, if the Son of Heaven has a reward in the future, I hope you can recommend Jia Xu to fill the vacancy.

Song Qi agreed. As long as you can gain the trust of the Son of Heaven, this fact is too small.

Liu Xiu said again, I suggest you don't take money to Jiaozhou, since you go to Jiaozhou, it's a pity not to bring some goods to sell. Bi Lan and Qu Mu are running a printing workshop, the first batch of the Five Classics should come out, they are still worried about whether they can get off to a good start, you buy a batch of books and take them to Jiaozhou to sell, you will definitely be able to make a profit. And after helping Bi Lan and them, Queen Song will also have powerful supporters in the palace in the future.

Song Qi promised to contact Bi Lan immediately, and if possible, he was ready to buy all the first batch of books that Bi Lan and they printed, even if it was a little loss—the Song family needed a few supporters in the palace.

After sending Song Qi and Cao Ying away, Liu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, although a thousand gold of rice may not be able to meet Lu Min's needs, but with these rice, their pressure is much less. If this move can be rewarded by the Son of Heaven, there will be much less resistance in the northern Xinjiang Tuntian border in the future.

After Song Qi and Cao Ying left the Taiji Daoist Hall, they didn't go home immediately, they turned around and went to the market to find those Hu merchants to verify Liu Xiu's words. This inquiry, they knew that what Liu Xiu said was not necessary, and those Hu businessmen all verified what Liu Xiu said from different angles, there was grain in Jiaozhou, but it was mainly concentrated in the area of Yuenan and Jiuzhen, especially Jiuzhen, and the price of grain was very cheap, only about 20 yuan. Jiuzhen to the west is Funan country, Funan country is rich in rice, two to three crops a year, the output is very large, but as soon as I heard that it was shipped to Luoyang, the Hu businessman shook his head one by one, and even said that he did not make money, although the rice in Jiaozhou is cheap, but the fee is too expensive, it is better to sell jewelry to make money quickly, ten boats of rice are not worth half a boat of jewelry.

Song Qi smiled and didn't answer, this time they were not only to make money, but more importantly, to earn the heart of the Son of Heaven.

After getting a positive answer, Song Qi and Cao Ying immediately took action, not only did they gather the spare money in hand of the Song family and the Cao family, but Cao Ying immediately sent people back to their hometown in Qian County to try to raise more money. Since you want to do it, make a big trip.

Empress Song asked the Son of Heaven for an edict, saying that her father and brother wanted to share the worries of the Son of Heaven, and that the elder brother would go to Jiaozhou to sell rice in person to prepare for the upcoming famine. When the Son of Heaven heard this, the dragon's heart was overjoyed, to be honest, he was still overwhelmed by the great drought, and he didn't have time to think about the great famine that followed. The queen can think so, Song Qi has not traveled thousands of miles to personally rush to the wild land to do this matter, he is very happy, and immediately issued an edict to appoint Song Qi as a special envoy, specifically responsible for this matter, and the states and counties along the way must give support.

The Son of Heaven finally said, it is not easy for your Song family to think about the world, as long as this matter is done, I will definitely not treat you badly. Queen Song was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked her. On the same day, the Son of Heaven stayed in the Jiaofang Palace to pass the meal, and the queen tuned the piano and composed music, the piano was harmonious, and finally the intention was still unfinished, and he got up in the middle of the night and ordered the queen to grind the ink, wave the book, and give Song Qi a pair of words: "The talent of the country".

The next morning, after the Son of Heaven left the Jiaofang Palace, Queen Song looked at the Son of Heaven's Mo Bao overjoyed, on the one hand, the Son of Heaven finally praised Song Qi, Song Qi is no longer a dispensable waste, on the other hand, she found that the Son of Heaven's hobby is piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, although she is not proficient in this aspect, but it is better than He Guiren, and more importantly, Liu Xiu is good at calligraphy and painting, if he can learn a little bit from him, she and the Son of Heaven will have a common language in the future.

After receiving the ink treasure from the Son of Heaven, Song Qi and his wife were also overjoyed, the matter has not been completed, they have already been rewarded by the Son of Heaven, it can be seen that Liu Xiu's method is right. Song Qi waited for Cao Ying to raise funds, and rushed to the court to find Bi Lan, first praised Bi Lan's intelligence, and then said, I want to buy your first batch of products.

Bi Lan and Qu Mu spent a lot of effort and invested a lot of money, and finally got the movable type printing technology out, but they had not yet opened the printing, and they were also very worried about whether they could make money. This money is the last coffin book for many people in the palace, ready to retire after leaving the palace, if the investment is lost, they will be scolded to death. Now, when they heard that Song Qi was going to be their first customer, and that they had paid three hundred gold at once, they were so grateful that they burst into tears. Even if there is only this one business, they can at least save their capital.

Without saying a word, Bi Lan and Qu Mu took over the business and immediately prepared to start work, but they immediately encountered a new problem, insufficient manpower. If you want to print books, you can't just have people, you have to be literate people, and it is better to be people who know the Pentateuch, so that they can easily pick out any mistakes, but how many people who know the Pentateuch are willing to work in the printing workshop?

Seeing that there was business to do but could not deliver the goods, Bi Lan was anxious and found Jia Xu again to ask for a plan. Jia Xu is also well-behaved, if you go to Liu Xiu for this matter, he will definitely be able to give you the best answer. Bi Lan found Liu Xiu again non-stop.

Liu Xiu listened to Bi Lan's question, and directly took Bi Lan to the gate of Taixue, pointing to the Taixue students who came and went, although there are a lot of people here, it is not a problem to find a few people who know the Five Classics.

Bi Lan's face was bitter, of course I know that Tai students are the most suitable, but they look down on me, who is willing to go to the printing workshop to be a craftsman.

Liu Xiu smiled, you, it seems that you were frightened by these students. I have seen a lot of students, arrogant, and of course there are many people who don't care about money, but there are not a few people who can fill the vacancies of students and become officials. There are not one or two people who work part-time jobs to earn living expenses, only those who have abundant family resources and don't care about money are good. You just need to pay them in time, and symbolize that there are more people with surnames than those illiterate craftsmen, and I guarantee that someone will rush to go.

Bi Lan still didn't believe it. Liu Xiu said again, aren't you afraid that they will be nameless and worthless? Quite simply, according to the old practice, the students had to take an exam every year, and a hundred people were selected from them to fill the Lang official or other positions? These people have now become a burden to the Son of Heaven, let's take the exam, there are not so many shortcomings for them to make up, don't take the exam, and complain, saying that the country raises scholars but does not choose scholars, and they are in a dilemma. You ask the Son of Heaven to issue an edict to select some of the people who have passed today's examination to be appointed as school scriveners and arrange them to go to your printing shop, so that they will have their names and benefits, and you will also solve some problems for the Son of Heaven, which can be described as killing three birds with one stone.

Bi Lan woke up like a dream, so happy that she couldn't find the north, and she didn't want to stay for a moment longer, so she immediately drove back to the palace and asked the Son of Heaven for an edict.

Sending Bi Lan away, Liu Xiu looked at those students who had nothing to do, what a waste of his heart, so many talents have become a burden, I don't know if it's stupid to read. While thinking, he walked back to the Luofu Noodle Restaurant, as soon as he entered the door, he felt that the atmosphere was a little wrong, he glanced at the fake shopkeeper - Hu Nu Liu Mochou, Liu Mochou pointed to the second floor: "The owner, a master of the Xu family has come, and he is injecting the remaining stone drum text on it." ”

Liu Xiu was stunned, which master of the Xu family, could it be that Xu Shen crawled out of the coffin? However, he immediately calmed down, as early as the day when he turned his face with the Yuan family and Xu Xun dismissed Cao Song, he knew that the Yuan family had retreated behind the scenes, and the Xu family was pushed to the front of the stage, and this day would come sooner or later.

"You're going to be busy, it's going to be fine." He smiled, reached out and took a bronze knight, drank a glass of wine, put his hands behind his back, and went upstairs unhurriedly.

(To be continued)