The granary on the outskirts of Zhujia suddenly caught fire, killing five people and destroying thousands of catties of grain, which can be described as a heavy loss.

The fire was menacing and caught people off guard, and the food was flammable, but when it met the flames, it became a flash in an instant, and even watering was useless. In winter, it was difficult to get water, and the few men in the granary alone could not put out such a big fire.

When Zhu Jintang hurried over, there was only a large piece of charred ash left on the ground, scattered all over the ground with fine fiery smoke. Thick smoke billowed up in the night sky, accompanied by a bitter cold wind.

Zhu Jintang looked at the mess, frowned, slammed the horsewhip in his hand on the ground, and reprimanded: "What about the person in charge? ”

The accompanying little guy immediately raised his voice and said, "Old man Geng, you thing that doesn't know whether you are dead or alive, why don't you hurry up and get out and reply?" ”

As soon as his words fell, a cropper man who was covered in black staggered over and kowtowed to apologize: "The little one should be damned, the little one should be damned." ”

The man who guards the granary is surnamed Geng, and he has been working as a long-term worker in the Zhu family since he was 46 years old this year, and he has worked hard for more than 20 years before he has come out to become the owner of the village.

His face was blackened with smoke, and Zhu Jintang didn't recognize it for a while, but as soon as he heard his voice, he knew it in his heart.

Geng Zhi knew that he had caused a big disaster, and he didn't dare to beg for mercy, so he only kowtowed again and again: "Big young master, the small one is wrong, the small one is wrong, and the small one deserves death." ”

Zhu Jintang let out a white breath and said sharply: "Do you know how much this grain is worth? Say! What the hell is going on? ”

Geng Zhi's face was full of shame, and he fell to the ground and said: "Big young master, when I got up in the middle of the night, I heard the water walking, and when I came out, I saw that the grain stack had been lifted, and I couldn't save it......"

The granary has never been touched by water and fire, and there is no stove outside, only the concierge can make a fire, usually cook and cook, boil water and make tea.

Geng Zhi has been doing things for decades, and the rules in this are the clearest, and this fire is quite strange.

Zhu Jintang saw that he couldn't say one, two, three, and said angrily: "Check it for me, check it well, you must give me an explanation before dawn." ”

Suddenly, the subordinates brought out several black, charred corpses from the burned house, they were all the watchmen of the granary, and four shifts of people took turns guarding and patrolling the day to ensure safety.

Only one of the six watchmen escaped, and the remaining five were burned to death.

When Zhu Jintang saw the corpse, he was even more angry, and after thinking about it, this happened suddenly, there must be something wrong with it.

Because of the fire in the granary, the whole Zhu family was alarmed, and the old man Zhu was so angry that he dropped three tea bowls in a row, pointed to Zhu Feng's front door and scolded.

"There was a fatality in the first month, and I had to follow the mold all year round. How did you come to be a family? How is it managed? The granary in the western suburbs is the most important, and until the beginning of spring next year, all the grain shops will have to rely on it to supply. The granary is gone, what do our Zhu family do business with? ”

Zhu Feng is also a person of a little age, and after being scolded by his father like this, he couldn't help but feel a little unbearable on his face.

Li Shi was beside him, and couldn't help but persuade softly: "Why is the master so angry? The people at the bottom don't do things properly, and we don't have a problem. ”

Old Man Zhu was so angry that his face turned red: "The things left by the ancestors can't be lost!" Boss, you hurry up and make this matter clear to me, clear. ”

Zhu Feng was sullen, and it was not good to be angry with his wife Li Shi when he went back with a solemn face, so he had to call Zhu Rong over and scold him, and let out the fire.

Zhu Rong will also be a confused lawsuit, busy running at both ends in the morning, and his mind is buzzing.

Shen Yuechen heard the news from the Li family, and couldn't help but be slightly shocked in his heart, a little incredulous.

There is no need to calculate carefully, the silver taels lost by the Zhu family this time are at least tens of thousands of taels.

The year before last and last year were both famine years, and the grain harvest in the Texas area was bleak, and many peasant households lost money and land, and even had to sell their sons and daughters in exchange for a year's rations to survive.

When Shen Yuechen bought the land, it was also at this time, so he was able to lower the price a little.

The Zhu family controls the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the people in Texas, the most important of which is food.

The granary in the western suburbs of the Zhu family has been stockpiled for three years, which is not only the property of the Zhu family, but also the hope of the people of Texas.

The more grain the Zhu family has in stock, the more stable the grain price in the market will be, and once something happens to the Zhu family, those grain merchants from other places will sit on the ground and raise the price, mess up the price, and then make a profit from it.

Shen Yuechen has been paying attention to the news outside, and finally waited for a reliable news for most of the day.

Last night's fire was not an accident, but a man-made disaster, and it seems that the Zhu family seemed to have offended someone and was calculated.

When Zhu Jintang came back, it was already dark.

Old Man Zhu was straightforward and asked him the ins and outs of the matter.

Zhu Jintang said in a deep voice: "The loss of the granary is not small, nearly seventy percent of the grain has been burned, five have died, and one is left. ”

When everyone heard this, their faces sank.

Zhu Jintang continued: "I checked the granary for a day and saw a lot of flaws. The husband must have been drugged before they were stuffed in the granary, and the cause of the fire should have been an oil lamp. ”

Old Man Zhu was originally angry, but when he heard this, his face had regained calm, and he held his palms in front of him, and began to guess in his heart who had done it.

On the surface, the Zhu family does not have any real enemies, but peers are like enemies, face is face, and linzi is linzi.

"It's been a long time since anyone made such a big move, it seems that this person has a lot of suspicion with our Zhu family." Old Man Zhu groaned slightly.

Zhu Feng frowned and said: "With such a bad move, the market will definitely not be too peaceful tomorrow." ”

Zhu Jintang interjected: "Our family's food is less than fifty percent, and we can barely cope with it for a few months. When the time comes, I'm just figuring out how to turn around. ”

Old Man Zhu shook his head: "Even our family's granary dares to move, this enemy will never give up, we can't help but guard against it." ”

Zhu Jintang knew that his grandfather was experienced, so he said, "Then according to your meaning, what should we do?" ”

Old Man Zhu said lightly: "Hang the sign and close the store." Instead of being chased and beaten, it is better to see the situation clearly first. ”

The news of the fire in the granary will spread all over the city of Texas in a few days, and the common people will definitely flock to it, busy fighting for food, and the more they fight, the higher the price of grain, and then it will definitely be a mess.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the Zhu family's shop was already open for business. This, suddenly closing, I am afraid that it will cause a lot of commotion.

Zhu Jintang understood what his grandfather meant, and instructed the major shopkeepers overnight to close the store tomorrow for rest.

Everyone rested for one night, and the next morning, the people in Dezhou City crowded outside the door of the Zhu family's grain store, knocking to buy food.

Someone wants to buy, and naturally someone wants to sell. It's just that after half a day's effort, the price of grain has doubled, rising and rising.

Many small merchants and small households in the city have earned a lot of money by relying on the grain stored at home, and they are secretly happy in their hearts.

has been pressed by the Zhu family for so many years, but it can be regarded as a chance to get ahead, the big fish can't swim, and the small fish and shrimp can also show their faces and breathe.

The price of grain in Dezhou City is rising higher and higher, attracting a large number of idle merchants from other places to come and join in the fun, and there is chaos in the city.

Old Man Zhu said: "My lord, the Zhu family's vitality has been greatly injured this time, let alone helping others, it is difficult to even protect themselves." My lord, it's not that we don't have a market, but we really don't have anything to sell. ”

Liu Fuyin sighed: "Old man Zhu, what you said is chilling!" Let's talk about decades of friendship, not a confidant but also a friend. Old man, how thick the Zhu family's family is, we all know that you should give me a face, don't let those villains with bad intentions take advantage of the loopholes. ”

When Old Man Zhu heard this, he immediately got up and saluted, and deliberately trembled and said: "How dare you talk about friendship with adults when you are an old man?" Please don't bother your old body. ”

Liu Fuyin knew that the Zhu family was a big family with relatives of the emperor, and he couldn't be easily offended, so he couldn't come by force, so he could only persuade softly.

Liu Fuyin personally helped Old Man Zhu up, sighed again and said, "Old man, don't you make this official embarrassed when you say that?" ”

Old Man Zhu accepted it when he saw it, and grabbed Lord Liu's hand: "My lord, you are the master of Qingtian, how dare the old body embarrass you?" The old body also points to you to make the decision for the old body's family! ”

Liu Fuyin knew that he was worried about the fire in the granary, and said in a slight mutter: "The matter of the granary in the western suburbs, this official has been sending people to investigate, but the person on duty is either dead or disabled, and it is not easy to find out......"

Cases without evidence are the most difficult to handle.

Old Man Zhu hurriedly said: "Human life is a matter of heaven, my lord." ”

Liu Fuyin's face was embarrassed, "Old man, as long as you can help me stabilize the price of grain, this official will definitely give you an explanation." ”

When Old Man Zhu heard this, he nodded in his heart: "With the words of the adult, the old body will be relieved, and the old body will rest assured, the old body will definitely do his best to calm down this matter." ”

Both got what they wanted from each other. What Liu Fuyin wants is beautiful political achievements, and what the Zhu family wants is a decent job, so that those who secretly make trouble behind their backs know that offending the Zhu family is offending the government, and as a result, they can't eat and walk around.

Three days later, when the price of grain rose to three times the original price, the Zhu family opened a store to sell grain, and the price was only half of the market, and Zhu Jintang personally came forward to assure everyone that the Zhu family's stock of grain was abundant, which comforted people's hearts.

As a result, the grain price dispute, which had lasted for more than ten days, finally came to an end, and the people in the city no longer frantically stocked up on grain, and everything returned to normal.

Seeing that the Zhu family was trustworthy, Liu Fuyin made more efforts to find the real culprit, and the results of the investigation surprised everyone.

It turned out that the person who set the fire was Wang Yue, the eldest young man of the Wang family who Zhu Rong had released the prince's debt earlier. Because of gambling debts, he borrowed money to repay his debts, demolished the east wall and made up the west wall, but was forced to a dead end by Zhu Rong.

Zhu Rong took the IOU he signed, found the palace, and personally showed it to the old man, who was so angry that he fainted on the spot and almost suffered a stroke.

In a fit of rage, Master Wang drove Wang Yue out of the house and cleaned up the portal.

After Wang Yue was kicked out of his home, he has been living on human relief, and he has suffered a lot in the open air.

He lived outside the city doing chores for a living, and by chance, he got mixed up with a daughter-in-law of a husband in the Zhu family's granary.

The daughter-in-law of the husband used to be a woman on the Fengyue field, and she was very impressed with Wang Yue.

Wang Yue has always been resentful of the Zhu family, and whenever he thinks that Zhu Rong's old boy has set him up before and made himself look like he is now, he is angry.

When the daughter-in-law saw that he was depressed, she gave him a bad idea to relieve his anger.

The daughter-in-law of the husband had to bring food and food to her husband every day, and sometimes brought wine for him.

They quietly poured sweat medicine into the drink, then mixed some into the food, and secretly ran out to set fire to them while they were fainted by the drugs.

Wang Yue originally just wanted to burn a grain stack to relieve his anger, but who knows, it was when the northwest wind was strong, and the fire was out of control, which caused a catastrophe.

Wang Yue was so frightened that he fled overnight, leaving only the husband and daughter-in-law crying and grabbing the ground. Although her husband died, because she was a thief herself, she didn't dare to squeak, until the government posted a notice and offered a reward for the murderer, she stood up and shook out the truth of the matter.

The Zhu family lost tens of thousands of taels of grain this time, and they definitely would not spare Wang Yue.

Later, the Wang family came forward to pay the Zhu family 1,000 taels of silver, and gave them two pharmacies in the capital, just to exchange Wang Yue's life.

Old man Zhu ordered someone to accept the silver, and only replied to the old man of the Wang family: "Repay the debt, kill to pay for your life!" ”

Wang Yue was beheaded by the government, and the lord of the Wang family was also angry with himself as a loser, and a farce finally came to an end.

Although the matter is over, Old Man Zhu still cares about it. That night, he called Zhu Rong to him, and slapped him heavily in front of the whole family, which stunned Zhu Rong and shocked everyone.

Zhu Rong didn't even have time to snort, only heard Old Man Zhu pointing to his front door and said, "From now on, you are not allowed to take the Zhu family's money out to lend money, no one is allowed!" Our Zhu family's business was earned by the hard work of our ancestors, and it was not stolen in such an opportunistic way. You can pull this face, I can't afford to lose this person! ”

It was the first time for Shen Yuechen to see the old man so angry, so he couldn't help but be startled, lowered his eyes slightly, and sat up straight.

Zhu Rong knelt on the ground and confessed his mistake, his face was red and white for a while, not a color.

Zhu Jintang immediately got up, saluted and admitted his mistake: "The grandson is at fault, and the account of Steward Zhu is the one that the grandson promised......"

Old Man Zhu snorted lightly: "It's a shame that you have studied since you were a child, and you have learned so many great truths." I'd rather offend a gentleman than a villain! You don't understand the truth that the dog jumps off the wall in a hurry? ”

What is a small loss of a big one, this is a vivid example.

Zhu Jintang lowered his head, neither quibbling nor explaining, if he was wrong, he was wrong.

Old Man Zhu sat back in his chair, knocked on the table and said, "Heaven has the way of heaven, and business has the way of business." Eat with your own ability, the God of Wealth will take care of you, whether our Zhu family can't eat or drink, it's worth your mind. From now on, remember to me, you are no longer allowed to fight such crooked thoughts, do such shameless things, who wants to make mistakes again, don't blame me, an old man, for turning his face and not recognizing people. ”

When everyone heard this, they hurriedly got up and didn't dare to slack off in the slightest.

Zhu Jintang has almost never been scolded by his grandfather since he was a child, and today is the first time, and he hopes it will be the last time.

At night, Shen Yuechen saw his sullen appearance, and did not speak, but sat quietly on the side, and waited for him to get up and prepare for sleep, before he greeted him and waited for him to change clothes and wash.

The two of them lay side by side, but a cup of tea, Shen Yuechen silently counted it, and she heard Zhu Jintang sigh three times.

When he sighed for the fourth time, Shen Yuechen simply sat up, looked at him and said, "If you can't sleep, uncle, get up and talk to your concubine." ”

Zhu Jintang glanced at her lightly, and only said, "What did you say?" ”

Shen Yuechen stroked her hair, tilted her head and smiled at him, "Anything is fine?" Happy with the uncle. ”

Instead of being bored like this, it is better for two people to talk and change their moods.

Zhu Jintang turned sideways, lay on the bed with one hand on his head, thought about it again and again, and then said, "Actually, I have always wanted to ask you something?" ”

He likes to gossip, and every time he speaks, he has to be a little targeted.

Shen Yuechen was slightly stunned, "What's the matter?" ”

Zhu Jintang said: "Your name, Shen Yuechen, where does it come from?" ”

The first time he saw her name, he felt strange, and when he learned that the names of the sisters in her family were either Yuechan or Yue'e, he was even more surprised. Everyone else is from the moon and from the female character, but she chooses a dust word.

Shen Yuechen bent the corners of her mouth, lowered her eyes and said, "The concubine body is very ordinary, there is no provenance." "It's all bitter to say, what an allusion.

"The names of the sisters in your family seem to be from the moon and from the daughter, why are you the only one who is different?"

Shen Yuechen didn't expect him to remember this, and she couldn't help but hesitate a little in her heart, she didn't want to mention it, and she didn't want to complain about the past in front of him......

Zhu Jintang saw her bow her head and said lightly: "If you don't want to say it, forget it, let's talk about something else." He wanted to know more about her, but she always seemed to have some kind of stealth defense.

Shen Yuechen looked directly into Zhu Jintang's eyes and said, "Before my uncle married me, I should have heard some rumors, I am not a child who grew up with my family, so my name was not obtained by my father...... My name was given to me by the master, and she said that on the night I came, there were no clouds on the mountain, the moon was in the sky, and the moonlight was bright and bright, but the round moon had a slight gray mark on it, as if it was covered with dust, so she named me Yuechen. ”

"Because the master got the name with exactly one month, just the word on the family tree, after I went home, I didn't change my name, and I have been using it."

Although Shen Yuechen said these words with a smile, his tone was vaguely sad.

Dust on the moon, dusty moon. Moon dust and moon dust sound like a name, more like a law name.

After listening to her words, Zhu Jintang suddenly felt that her name was a little sad, and his brows unconsciously frowned slightly, how did she grow up?

Shen Yuechen saw that he was looking at him thoughtfully, so he smiled busily, hiding the emotions in his heart, and said, "The concubine said that there is no source." ”

Zhu Jintang immediately said: "Fortunately, when you were a child, you only went to the temple to practice, if you really became a monk, wouldn't you be a nun for the rest of your life." ”

Shen Yuechen smiled and said: "The concubine's body is not clean, where is the monk, it is better to be a stupid daughter-in-law." ”