Outside Suzhou.

The team from Ganzhou arrived at the city gate first.

The grain spilled by the ruts along the way was coaxed and robbed by the homeless people, and even fought hard.

"Grain, there is a grain cart coming, it should be the imperial court to come for disaster relief!"

The victims outside the city wept with joy, and the people who were dragging the corpses in the mass graves quickly came to their senses when they heard the words.

"What am I doing......" The person who came to his senses felt a chill and was so disgusted by himself that he was nauseous, but he couldn't vomit anything.

"Grain cart, it's grain cart!"

"The car is full of food, keep up!"

"The imperial court is for disaster relief!"

A large number of refugees gathered outside the city, and the gates of Suzhou had long been closed at this time.

It is worried that the displaced people will attack the main city of Suzhou, or the city will be attacked by bandits, and as long as anyone has food during this period, they can respond to the call, and they must be guarded against.

"Look." On the city wall, Lin Bei stood side by side.

He pointed out outside the city, to the troop of grain carts that he could see at a glance.

"It's too little, it's not the imperial court that's providing disaster relief." Although Cai Yan is a civil official, he also has enough experience to see the scene of real disaster relief.

The grain cart will be the same as transporting military rations in a war, and the team of Hao Hao Tang Tang is full of grain trucks.

Lin Bei counted and estimated again: "Even if the car is full of grain, it will not exceed 1,000 stones, which is enough to eat two meals." ”

Zhang Feng nodded: "Suzhou had a population of more than 100,000 before the war, and there were at least more than 30,000 people in the main city of Suzhou. ”

Lin Bei's lieutenant general snapped his fingers and calculated, and said suspiciously:

"General, on average, one person can have more than ten catties of food, at least a few days to live, right?"

"It is impossible for all of this grain and grass to be eaten by people, and even if it is, it is not divided like this." Zhang Feng shook his head helplessly.

The adjutant general was puzzled.

Cai Yan understood Zhang Feng's words, and said meaningfully: "I have seen disaster relief in the direction of Qingzhou...... Some people get hundreds of catties of grain, and some people can only go to porridge every day to get a bowl of gruel that can't be inserted with chopsticks. ”

In a word, it shows the unevenness of the world.

The adjutant understood, but was silent.

Lin Bei didn't think it was strange, he had long been used to seeing such things.

"My gut tells me it's not that easy."

"Let's go, go down and have a look."

At the gate of the city, a group of dart masters with swords and swords blocked the homeless people who rushed over.

The victims were overly enthusiastic, making them feel bad and hurriedly screaming.

"Open the gates of the city ......"

The gates were opened, but not for them.

A group of Yulin soldiers came out with weapons, and the rushing homeless people immediately stopped their pace, and those who dared to storm the army a few days ago had already hung their bodies at the north gate.

Lin Bei took Cai Yan and Zhang Feng to the grain team and asked:

"Who is the one in charge?"

"Hey, this general, it's down there." In the crowd, a middle-aged man with a roe deer head walked out, dressed in brocade clothes and covered in copper smell.

The adjutant general asked, "Who are you, report your name?" ”

"In the lower part of the north, the grain merchant Chu Huairen."

This person is Chu Huairen, who came from Ganzhou on a fast horse, and came here with food all the way, for a rich and prosperous life.

Cai Yan was in a trance: "I remember, General Lin, this person is a very famous businessman in the north, and the business name he belongs to is only the Tai'an business name in Andorun. ”

"Yes, yes, exactly below." Chu Huairen smiled and bowed flatteringly.

It looks a little pleasing to the eye, but it doesn't seem to be pleasing to the eye.

Lin Bei nodded: "Merchant? Are you here to sell grain in Suzhou? ”

"Exactly, there are official documents from the imperial court, and there are business qualifications below." Chu Huairen said, and asked the entourage on the side to hand him an official document that looked like a fold, and spread it out for a few people to see.

There are stamps of the household department and the yamen of Ganzhou Mansion on it, so naturally no one will dare to cheat.

"Then let's go into town." Lin Bei stopped a few people who wanted to speak and signaled for them to be released.

Chu Huairen thanked him with a thousand thanks, smiled and walked into the south gate of Suzhou City with the grain team.

When he left, Cai Yan said:

"General Lin, why didn't you let me speak?"

"What does Lord Cai want to say?" Lin Bei asked rhetorically.

Cai Yan hurriedly said: "Of course, it is to requisition his food and make an emergency temporarily, otherwise Suzhou can't wait for the young master to come, and there will be a big mess!" ”

"Requisition?" Lin Bei teased and looked at Zhang Feng on the side.

Zhang Feng said: "Lord Cai, this Chu Huairen belongs to the Northern Chamber of Commerce, and there are big people in the capital behind him, such a businessman wants to requisition his grain?" ”

"I'm afraid that there will be impeachment by the imperial history when you go back to the capital, and if you lose your official affairs, it will be a big matter if you affect your family."

Lin Bei added: "Many years ago, during the flood in Jiangnan Province, the governor of Jiangnan at that time requisitioned the granary of a chamber of commerce in the south, and was later sentenced to steal and plunder, taking advantage of the chaos to fill his own pockets, and he was exiled by beheading his whole family. ”

"......" Cai Yan was silent.

It's not that he doesn't know about this case, but he just can't help it and wants to do it.

"We are doing things outside now, and there is no one in the capital to respond, and if the other party charges us with something, it will be difficult for us to turn the situation around." Zhang Feng said.

The same thing, different descriptions, will have different properties.

Requisitioning grain from grain merchants can be understood by others as robbery, and saying that you have taken the opportunity to seek benefits for yourself and want to win the hearts and minds of the people......

As long as you want to blame, there is a reason.

Moreover, it is indeed unlawful.

There is no law that says that a merchant's property may be forcibly expropriated in the event of a disaster.

There can be no such one.

If there is, there will definitely be people who deliberately "rob the rich and help the poor" when they are in disaster relief, and when everyone is in danger, no one wants to be such a fat sheep.

Once the businessmen are persecuted too much, they can do everything, and they will betray the country lightly, and they will also have a great experience as a leading party.

And it is not conducive to the circulation of goods and money, and the country will become poorer and poorer.

So you can't think that if you're doing a good deed, you can do whatever you want, and you have to think far-reaching.

"Suzhou Yamen, are you rich?" Cai Yan asked with a glimmer of hope.

Lin Bei shook his head helplessly.

The deputy general said: "Lord Cai, when the Beiliang Army was leaving, even the food was burned, how could he leave money for the yamen." ”

"You can't requisition, you can't buy it...... Is it possible to make an IOU first, and then ...... when the household department comes" Cai Yan looked at a few people.

Zhang Feng directly interrupted his thoughts: "Lord Cai, we don't have an administrative officer here, and no one has the right to represent the imperial court and sign an IOU with the grain merchants. ”

"In case the court doesn't recognize it afterwards, we will die."

Cai Yan shook his head: "How is it possible?" ”

Lin Bei chuckled: "Lord Cai has been sent abroad for too long, I don't know if the people in the capital can be coincidentally set up for any crime, and when the time comes, if you and I want to repay the money, who can support it?" ”

Don't doubt it, the herd of animals in the capital can definitely do it.

If you do something without power, even if you do it right, it is trespassing, and there is no reward and punishment.

If the imperial court doesn't pay for it, who will pay for it, relying on a few of us to add up to less than eight hundred taels of annual salaries?

"Then Chu Huairen knows that we have no authority, and he will not be willing to sign this white note." Zhang Feng shook his head and said.

Cai Yan gritted his teeth: "Then there is nothing to do?" ”

Lin Bei shook his head, he didn't want to, but he didn't dare.

As the commander of the Yulin Army, he has to be responsible for the Yulin Army and his family.

Once there is any illegal action, he will definitely be taken into account, and at that time, I don't know how many people in the Yulin Army will be demoted and sitting, and the exile of his whole family will be light.

Cai Yan said: "I have been a royal historian for so many years, and I also have some family property. ”

"Master Cai, I won't stop you if you want to scatter all your wealth, but then Chu Huairen will definitely not sell grain easily, at least the price will not be too low...... Together, we can't buy a hundred stones, which is a drop in the bucket. Zhang Feng dissuaded.

Lin Bei has a high opinion of this Lord Cai, although he is high, he is really willing to contribute.

At least not the kind of person who is generous to others.

So Lin Bei also agreed: "That Chu Huairen came here so soon, it can be seen that he has been prepared, he does not sell grain in various places in Suzhou, but goes straight to the main city of Suzhou...... Why does Lord Cai think? ”

Zhang Feng shook his head slowly, not knowing what he sighed.

Cai Yan is not stupid, he just cares about chaos, and he understands it at this moment:

"What General Lin means is that he knows that the countrymen have no money, so he went straight to Suzhou City, wanting to take advantage of the fire to rob and loot the people in Suzhou City......"

"This man's grain carts, each cart is full of grain, and there is no vacancy of extra grain carts, which means that not a grain of grain has been dropped on the way...... It's a straight line to the city. Zhang Feng analyzed.

Lin Bei also said: "Put it outside the city, deliberately spilled some grain, just to let people know that he has grain in his hands, and the people will naturally buy it at that time." ”

"He wants to take the opportunity to raise the price of food?" Cai Yan said angrily, "How dare he!?" This is a great crime to kill the head! ”

It is difficult to make a fortune in the country, and it has been a capital crime since ancient times.

"But it depends on whose mouth the accusation is spoken...... If he has a backer in the capital, this is not a crime, and it can even be said that he rescued Suzhou as soon as possible, just to recover some costs...... No one can say anything. "Zhang Feng, as a person from the Hanging Sword Division, is used to seeing right and wrong being distorted in black and white.

Therefore, Zhang Fengcai has always agreed with Lin Bei's worries.