Duan Xun came in a hurry and left in a hurry, and after a short while, Song Yansheng never thought that he had immediately set off for Lin'an Mansion. Over the next few days, bad news came one after another.

First of all, the disaster relief team was attacked, and the disaster silver and grain transported to Yangzhou were looted. She had already learned the news from Duan Xun.

Then there were the homeless people in the city, and a large number of them fell ill again. In autumn, the weather is getting cooler, and the rain has been falling for several days, and in the blink of an eye, it is the season of falling leaves. Since the opening of Yangzhou, it has been exhausted.

The worst-case scenario is that there is news from Lin'an that the rice merchants do not cooperate with the government to release grain for disaster relief. Although the money has arrived, it is also a symptom but not a cure, and there is still a batch of grain that has not yet arrived, and at this time, tens of millions of victims can not wait.

"And that's not the worst of it, these businessmen are grouped together and are taking advantage of the opportunity to hoard grain to drive up the price of rice." Song Meichang has also been busy recently, and Song Yansheng didn't say a few words even when he met him. Uncle Song Zhi was still trying to exert pressure outside, but it was late at night but he hadn't returned home yet. She frowned and shook her head when she heard this, these businessmen must be instructed, otherwise they would never be so bold to make a fortune in the country. In this case, it is useless for the government to coerce, and they obviously have more powerful backers above them.

She seriously suspected that this was Duan Hong's instruction, and his faction really dared to do such a thing.

"Now that Lin'an Mansion has risen to 130 yuan per bucket of rice, the merchants of the Jiangnan provinces will inevitably follow the trend."

Song Xiaodu sat in the chair without saying a word, and when he finished speaking, he slowly raised his eyes and said, "Not surprisingly, this is Pan Zongjiang's idea." "Jiangnan is rich, he can naturally catch a handful. The merchants are very rich, and filial piety is naturally indispensable. But they colluded together to squeeze all the hard-earned money of the people.

"Yangzhou's disaster relief funds have not yet arrived, and it is estimated that he is also a hindrance from it, this person regards us as a thorn in the side, and when the time comes, there is a crime of poor disaster relief, and there is no way to distinguish between them. Besides, these merchants in the city are all old faces from the past, and most of them are on his side, who will have trouble with the silver. ”

Song Meichang's brows never stretched, and Song Yan listened with his cheeks on the side, but unexpectedly bumped into the old man's gaze. As soon as he raised his hand, he casually turned to her and asked, "What do you think about this?" ”

Not to mention that Brother Song was stunned for a moment, even Song Yansheng was also shocked, "Grandfather ......"

Song Meichang knew about this sixth sister, she was very favored, and the second elder was very fond of her, but she didn't expect the old man to spoil her so much, not only let her listen, but also ask her opinion. If he remembers correctly, this sixth sister is only a teenager this year. How can a young girl's family understand the affairs of the government.

"Grandfather, I don't understand that." She hurriedly found an excuse to jump off the chair, "I heard Hengbo say that the osmanthus flowers in the house are blooming, so I'm going to pick a few and come back to make osmanthus sugar cakes." ”

Song Xiaodu laughed, picked up the tea on the desk, and changed the topic, "I heard that the situation at the medical office is okay?" ”

"Yes, this thing is also strange to say, it was donated by some merchants a while ago, mostly some medicinal materials, as well as some rice grain, clothes and bedding, etc., which eased the pressure on the medical department."

"These businessmen in the city are rushing to pat Pan Zongjiang's ass, and they will not lend a helping hand to the victims. I checked, and most of them were donated by some merchant women, and they were more energetic one after another, and asked the medical officers to write down the source clearly on the credit book. ”

Song Xiaodu smiled, glanced at the curtains swinging on the side, and then looked over again and said, "Big brother, release the news, let the merchants in the city hear the news of the increase in rice prices, and follow them." ”

Song Meichang was stunned again, he was a slightly shrewd and sleek reader, but his vision and mind were far inferior to Song Xiaodu's old spicy. He pondered for a moment as if he had a feeling, and then immediately took the order.

"What are you hiding, come out." Song Xiaodu drank tea slowly.

The curtain moved slightly, Song Yansheng stretched out his hand to open it, and complimented him with a smile: "Sure enough, Jiang is still old and spicy." ”

"You, the big brother, are not bad if you are tempered with all kinds of poisons in terms of human feelings."

She sat on the couch next to her and poured a cup of tea, "In this way, Pan Zongjiang's move is tantamount to digging their own graves, and the chickens and eggs are nothing more than this, I think they are too proud and carried away." ”

As long as the news of the rising price of rice in Lin'an spreads, it will naturally attract businessmen from all walks of life to come for profit, and the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River will hoard rice grain to be sold at a price, and sooner or later a situation of oversupply will be formed, but the transportation and storage of rice grain are costs, and then in order to quickly picture the book, it can only be sold at a reduced price, and the price of rice will fall back. Pan Zongjiang and his party, what benefits can they get? The merchants wasted their efforts in vain and could not make profits, so they were naturally very dissatisfied. When they tear their faces, things will be easy.

It's just that she still has doubts, and asked puzzledly: "The human heart is not enough to swallow the elephant, and Master Pan should also know this truth?" ”

"You don't know, Pan Zongjiang used to be the general director of Lianghuai Salt Transportation. In order to take advantage of his position to quickly accumulate wealth, this person is the most greedy and greedy. Now that he is revisiting, can he bear it? Song Xiaodu didn't want to say much here, feeling that his ears were dirty, he sighed and said, "The entire Jiangnan officialdom is already a mess, and there is only one opportunity left to turn the world upside down." ”

This is not the first time he has said this, and Song Yansheng is still nervous when he hears it. In the past, she also doubted where the huge financial support came from when the third son of the emperor entered the East Palace, but now that she thinks about it, it is estimated that it is inseparable from the Jiangnan side, and the disaster relief in Lin'an Mansion can be implemented quickly, in addition to local officials, it is estimated that there are many wealthy businessmen who support him.

What a trip to troubled waters.

When the price of rice in Yangzhou rose to 180 yuan per bucket, it began to fall back unexpectedly, and the price of rice in the whole south of the Yangtze River fell back to the bottom in an instant, and everyone was unexpected. The price of grain and rice in Yangzhou naturally fell sharply, and the rice merchants lowered the price again, with a sad face, and the supply was too large, so they could only reluctantly sell it in this way to recoup the cost. The government took the opportunity to purchase a large amount of rice and noodles for disaster relief, which solved the urgent need for a while.

The displaced people finally settled down, and Song Zhi came to his grandfather's study again to discuss how to work for relief. This is a good idea, because these displaced people who have been unconditionally supported will sooner or later the government will collapse, they have already overcome this difficulty, and the physical condition of the victims is gradually recovering. Before the completion of the Fujiang River in Lin'an Prefecture, if you don't want to repeat the previous mistakes, you have to find another way to settle these displaced people.

Song Meiyong is very good at applying what he has learned, and the third son of the emperor of Lin'an Mansion thought of this method, and many victims were arranged to repair embankments in the Fujiang River in exchange for daily food and wages.

"There are many places in Yangzhou that have fallen into disrepair, such as the stone bridge of the Yanbo River, as well as the lacquer decoration of Damingshan Temple, and there are many houses of wealthy families in the city that also need to be repaired. Song Meichang analyzed like this, and after getting the approval, he went out with great ambition. With his eight-sided exquisiteness and extreme maneuvering, these are small things to him.

The autumn rain fell again, and Song Yansheng was reading the letter by the window, while sneezing unexpectedly. If it's getting colder and colder today, the autumn and winter clothes her mother prepared for her may really be useful.

Duan Xun's efficiency has been very fast, the last time he asked him to inquire about Chu Huan's whereabouts, today's news arrived. The letter was as brief as ever, with only one line written: Beijing Gate, Swallow Lane. Yuan Court has paid attention.

After reading the letter, Song Yansheng wrote "Thank you" on the paper very seriously and was ready to send it out, but when he looked at the handwriting, he threw it down and wrote it again, and wrote three or four copies, and picked the most satisfactory one. While spreading the paper with ink, he wrote the message and prepared to inform Chu Min. Hengbo helped her seal the letter, and then went out with an umbrella to deliver the letter.

She finished writing a notebook and stretched her waist, but Hengbo hadn't come back yet, but the seventh girl came to talk to her for a while. Since removing the poisonous weed bedding, Song Shusheng has recovered quickly, at least not as seriously as before.

The two of them sat and played chess for recreation, and after a while, a grandmother came, and Song Yansheng looked up and saw that it was an old man in his grandmother's room, and he seemed to be holding something in his hand. When I got closer, I found that it was an invitation, this rich and gold-painted post was given by the girls of the Yangzhou businessman's family, she wanted to avoid it when she saw it, but when she glanced at the tattoo on the post, she was stunned for a moment.

The post is depicted with a phoenix pattern, which is lifelike and extremely exquisite. This phoenix pattern can only be used by the heavenly family, except for the queen mother, the queen, and the princess can be used, otherwise it is trespassing.

This invitation came suddenly, and she took it to see that the inviter was actually the eldest princess of Ruiyang. Speaking of this eldest princess, who is the only daughter of the current Queen Mother, the half-sister of the saint, has always been very favored. Dacheng is now the only eldest princess, who lives in Jiangling with her concubine and does not show up much. A few days later is the eldest princess's birthday banquet, because it is the whole birthday, so it is rare for the house to be lively, and the guests are feasted.

If she remembers correctly, the eldest princess of Ruiyang's concubine is the eldest son of the current governor of Liangjiang. The reason why I remember it clearly is because in my previous life, the Governor came to drink the wedding wine between her and Xiao Changyuan, and he was a member of the Three Emperors Party.

"It'......" she looked at the old woman, without raising an eyebrow.

"The old lady means to let the girls decide for themselves."

She handed the invitation to Song Shusheng and looked at it, and the seventh girl pursed her lips, "I'll follow my sister." She paused, "I heard that Her Royal Highness the eldest princess has a gentle temperament and is a very good person to get along with, but she doesn't like to show her face very much. ”

In the memory of her previous life, the eldest princess was a rich idler, but her body bones have never been very good. In the third year of Xiao Mansion, I occasionally heard people talk about her suffering from tuberculosis and her time was running out.