Hong Shixing is the president of the Yanzhou Chamber of Commerce, and has a reputation in the four states and 18 counties of Yanzhou that no one else can match.

The Hong family may not be the richest in Yanzhou Mansion, but it is definitely the most prestigious. Hong Shixing is famous for his meritorious work, and has been a county magistrate in Ziyang County, where the government is located, for more than 20 years, and he was officially appointed in the year of knowing the Mandate of Heaven.

His sons Hong Teng and Hong Jiao were respectively in the 41st year of Zhaowu and the second year of Yuan You.

In the afternoon today, Jia Cong, who was the deputy envoy of the Qin Mission, posted a banquet for the gentry and wealthy merchants in the city.

As soon as they received the invitation, the celebrities in Fucheng basically gathered in the Hong family compound. Except for the Yan family, it is really not suitable to go to the banquet, such as the Qu family and the Qin family, who have backers behind them, and the rest are worried that this banquet will be a Hongmen banquet.

In the end, Hong Shixing knew a lot about the officials of the DPRK and China, and he didn't have the courage to refuse Jia Cong's invitation, and he also persuaded people who wanted to follow the trend of the composer and the Qin family.

Every month, he can receive a report from the imperial court, what kind of person Jia Cong is, he thinks he knows better than everyone else in Yanzhou Mansion.

To fight against this young master is to fight against Rongguo Mansion, and more directly, that is, to oppose His Majesty the Emperor.

Not to mention that there are nobles behind the composer and piano stand, no matter how expensive it is, it can be more expensive than His Majesty the Emperor?

It's a pity that the grain in Yanzhou Mansion is basically ......

Alas, there is a desire to please but no ability to raise food!

The more he pondered, the more regretful he felt, Hong Shixing, who was good at observing words and feelings, hurriedly explained after seeing Jia Cong's gradually cold look: "My lord doesn't know, it's not that we don't want to help the court, it's really powerless. The grain in Yanzhou Mansion has always been controlled by the Qu family and the Qin family, and it is the output of our family, which is only enough for our own use. In the entire grain shop in Yanzhou Mansion, there are only two surnames, Qu and Qin!"

"Yes, yes, we are also powerless, the court is short of food, and I am willing to donate 200 stones, and no matter how many people in the family will be hungry."

"The little people are also willing to help, in addition to leaving enough for the needs of the family, the little people are willing to give all the remaining food to the adults...... Oh, no, it's dedicated to the court."

"I...... I...... I don't have any food at home. If I raise money, I still have a lot of money, and the last thing my family lacks is silver......

Well?

It was a chubby middle-aged man who spoke, with a simple face, and his face turned red anxiously when he saw that everyone was showing their loyalty to offer food.

Jia Cong raised his hand and pressed it, and asked the man, "......Who is this?"

The chubby middle-aged man saw Jia Cong's gaze turn to him and talk to himself, a little flattered.

"Lord Hui, Xiaomin Guo Lindong, his family is in the ceramics business."

Ceramics?

"My lord, the Guo family has been firing porcelain and pottery for generations, and it has been the only imperial merchant family in Shandong since the founding of the country."

Hong Shixing's introduction made Jia Cong look at this seemingly honest fat man with admiration, no wonder he dared to say that the most important thing in his family was silver, and people really did not lack silver.

Since there is no shortage of silver, then ......

Jia Cong coughed lightly twice, and his face became more solemn.

He sighed: "In fact, the silver treasury of Yanzhou Mansion has basically been emptied by corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and the prince has just gone to the court to ask the household department to urgently transfer silver. But as you all know, the roads are frozen when the snow is falling......

"It's okay, my lord, you can leave the silver to Xiaomin!"

When Guo Lindong heard that he was asking for silver, not only did he not resist in the slightest, but slapped his chest with a bang.

Jia Cong was surprised, when did a businessman have such a high sentiment?

"Except for Guo Yuan, what this official lacks is not hundreds or thousands of taels...... Lu Langzhong, how much silver taels do you need for accounting?"

Lu Xiaozu arched his hand and replied, "According to the estimation of the following officials, the minimum amount cannot be less than 500,000 taels of silver."

Hiss!

Hong Shixing just returned it, just frowned slightly, and the others took a deep breath, 500,000 taels, 10,000 taels must be enough for each of them.

On the contrary, the smile on Guo Lindong's face became even bigger, and he actually pulled it into his sleeve and took out a stack of silver tickets

Come out.

I saw Guo Lindong striding forward and handing over the silver ticket with both hands: "My lord, this is a hundred thousand taels of silver tickets, I am in a hurry today, Xiaomin will bring such a point, and after Xiaomin goes back in a while, I will send another 400,000 taels over." If 500,000 is not enough, Xiaomin can make up another 500,000 taels!"

Hiss!

This time, Hong Shixing took a deep breath, everyone knows that the Guo family is rich, but they didn't expect it to be so rich.

Raising your hand is 500,000, which is not enough......

Jia Cong was shocked by Guo Lindong's generosity, and after the soldiers presented the silver tickets, they were thick with a stack of silver tickets, and the lowest was a denomination of one thousand taels.

"Kwok Wai ......"

Guo Lindong arched his hand and explained: "My father said that the prince and the adults feasted on the gentry in the city, which is nothing more than raising grain and silver, and my family does not have food, but there is really no shortage of silver. My father's leg was too bad to walk, so he told the people to deliver the money to the adults."

"Guo Jiazhongyi, this official has written it down. When I return to Beijing in the future, I will definitely report the Guo family's loyalty and righteousness to Your Majesty."

Jia Cong did not hesitate, and handed the silver ticket to Lu Xiaozu behind him. and gave Guo Lindong a promise: "Of course, this silver is borrowed by the imperial court, and as soon as the silver from the household department arrives, the official will order someone to send it to your house......

Guo Lin Dongqian conceded for a while, saying that the Guo family was favored by the emperor, and the silver should be dedicated to the imperial court for disaster relief and banditry.

Jia Cong solemnly rejected his proposal, disaster relief and bandit suppression are the obligations of the imperial court, and using the Guo family's silver to do these things can indeed save the imperial court a lot of silver, but this will reduce the prestige of the imperial court among the people.

Not much food was raised, but Guo Lindong's heroic act solved the problem of silver for Jia Cong, which can be regarded as unintentionally inserting willows.

Hong Shixing and others only raised a total of more than 3,000 stone of grain, and Guo Lindong also said that they did not have much grain, and the grain in Yanzhou Mansion was almost controlled by Qu and Qin.

Fortunately, Jia Shiyi's movements were very fast, and the army went straight to the grain shops of Qu and Qin in the city, not counting the Zhuangzi outside the city, and the grain stored in the city alone was as high as more than 10,000 stone of grain, which was considered to be a solution to the urgent need.

Jia Cong breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the news, and he raised his teacup to thank everyone.

Hong Shixing raised his glass and returned the salute and said to Jia Cong: "We have just discussed, although we can't help the court on the issue of food, we can also give some silver and manpower to help the court relieve disasters and suppress bandits."

As he spoke, he got up and whispered in Jia Cong's ear, "My lord, the concubine of the Qu family married Qufu, and one of the sons of the Qin family is the son-in-law of Qi Cifu of the cabinet. If you want to raise food, you might as well check the changes in the fields of the Qu family and the Qin family in the past few years......

"I see, no wonder the Qu family and the Qin family have such a big shelf."

A glimmer of light flashed in Jia Cong's eyes, this Hong Shixing is worthy of being a county leader for more than 20 years, and he pointed out the background of these two families and their problems to Jia Cong in one sentence.

Field......

It seems that there is a big problem with the land of these two families!

Jia Cong thought that this food raising banquet would be very difficult, but he didn't want it to be so smooth and simple.

Although the grain was only raised more than 3,000 stones, plus the 1,000 stones promised by the Yan family, the total was less than half of the preset amount.

But the problem of silver was solved, and in addition to Guo Lindong, who was the number one on the list, Hong Shixing and other wealthy merchants from Yanzhou submitted a list, and the number of silver donated was written behind each person's name.

Lu Xiaozu's mouth couldn't close when he smiled, and after the accounting was completed, he ran to the study and said to Liu Ke and Jia Cong: "Lord Wang, my lord, not counting the silver tickets given by the Guo family, the total is 112,500 taels. The people of Yanzhou City are so bold that they have donated at least two thousand taels of silver."

Liu Ke took the account book and looked at it, and was also shocked by the heroic deeds of the gentry and wealthy businessmen in Yanzhou, and sighed: "Before the Gyeonggi snow disaster, the fourth brother proposed to donate to the central government, and a total of less than 30,000 taels of silver was raised.

Lu Xiaozu's face turned red, and he muttered, "The lower officials also know loyalty...... Xia Guan also donated two months' worth of silver...... Poor, the lower officials still live in the official house."

"I didn't say you!"

Liu Ke glanced at Lu Xiaozu, Hu

There are few people in the ministry who don't pick the door, and all of them are very close to the old Pixiu.

Jia Cong started a round, returned the account book to Lu Xiaozu and instructed: "Lu Langzhong is a clean official, and if he can donate two months' worth of silver, of course, he is a loyal minister. Lieutenant Lu Lang will make a list of the loyal and righteous people who donated money and food today, post it for publication, and ask someone to engrave a monument and erect a biography."

Lu Xiaozu's eyes flashed, and he arched his hand and said, "My lord has a good idea, and the lower officials will arrange it."

Knock knock knock......

The soldiers of the palace at the door knocked on the door and came in, clasping their fists and reporting: "Lord, there is a person named Guo Lindong outside the palace who brought more than ten carriages, saying that he is here to deliver silver."

Because of the bandits in Yanzhou, access control inspections in Yanzhou are much stricter than before.

On the second day after the Qincha settled in the government, a large number of displaced people caused by natural and man-made disasters began to gather in the capital of Yanzhou.

Under the porridge shed built outside the city wall, the steaming hot porridge brought tears to the eyes of the victims who had struggled to reach the city.

Maybe they still have their relatives by their side when they set off, but it is noisy and the weather is cold, and they may be the only ones who can hold out of this porridge shed.

Liu Ke stood on the city tower and looked at the north of Yanzhou City.

The line of displaced people stretched for a long time, far from end.

"How many people have been affected, and the food you got yesterday probably won't last a few days."

Jia Cong on the side nodded, a total of less than 20,000 stone of grain, if it was only the soldiers and civilians in the city, it could last for ten days and a half months.

But looking at the more and more victims gathered under the porridge shed, Jia Cong only made a rough estimate, and he could see that the situation was much worse than he expected.

"Lord, my lord, Xiaomin has a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not."

Liu Ke glanced back at the honest Guo Lindong, held back his irritability and nodded, "Say it."

Since Guo Lindong pulled the silver to the government last night, he said that his father, who was a member of the household department, drove him out of the house and asked him to follow behind Lord Qincha to help the court suppress bandits and relieve disasters.

When the thief has been cleared and the victims have been settled, let him go home.

So Guo Lindong lived in the government office, helped Lu Xiaozu raise money and food, calculated accounts, and organized people to build porridge sheds......

I have to say, don't look at this as a simple fat man, he is really good at doing these things, the people sent by Hong Shixing and others to help, under his command, did not even make a mistake, and it can be regarded as a great help to Lu Xiaozu.

I only heard Guo Lindong say: "I don't dare to say it in other places, but the situation in Yanzhou's states and counties is still very familiar to the people. It is said that the prince and the adults have only been in Yanzhou for two days, and it is impossible for the victims to know that the Qin mission is coming to Yanzhou City so quickly, let alone the gathering of so many victims on the second day of the prince's arrival in Yanzhou. It's not normal."

"So, someone did it on purpose!"

Of course, Liu Ke and Jia Cong were also aware of this problem, but no matter what the reason was, the victims learned that Qin was in Yanzhou, and they had to find a way to relieve the disaster.

Jia Cong couldn't help but smile bitterly: "No matter what the reason is, the imperial court can't leave the victims behind."

Guo Lindong hurriedly shook his head and replied: "Of course, Xiaomin doesn't mean that he doesn't care about the victims, Xiaomin has a not very mature suggestion, it is better to distinguish the disaster victims, the young and strong go to the old and weak to dredge the river and build city defenses, and it is best to stay away from the important places in the city. The old and infirm women live next to the city and are supported by the court."

Cash-for-work?

It coincided with Jia Cong's thoughts, it was really more and more people gathered under the walls of the mansion city, and no one dared to guarantee that there would be no White Lotus Sect bandits mixed in them, and it was too dangerous to let them gather outside the mansion like this.

Liu Ke turned his gaze to Jia Cong and asked Jia Cong's opinion.

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Guo Yuanwai is right, you can't let the disaster victims gather outside the city like this, and you can't let them be idle, people are prone to problems when they are idle. Craftsmen could be recruited in the name of the imperial court, whether it was to dredge rivers or build city defenses, so as to separate the victims. It would be better to be paid with food so that the victims can have hope for their future lives."

Hearing Jia Cong agree with himself

Guo Lindong was overjoyed.

His father asked him to give both silver and strength, but he just wanted him to show his face in front of nobles and ask for appreciation.

"Xiaomin also thinks so, it is best to be able to pay the salary, and not all of it, only half of it will be given during the working period, and the rest will be temporarily stored in the government, and everything will be distributed uniformly when they return to their hometowns in peace."

Liu Ke thought for a moment and understood the meaning of Jia Cong and Guo Lindong, and a smile appeared on his face.

There will always be a way to solve the problem of food, and as soon as the problem of resettlement of displaced people outside Yanzhou is solved, the pressure on the capital will be relieved by half.

He smiled and patted Guo Lindong's shoulder: "Guo Lindong, you are very good!"

"This is what the people should do......

"This king is now appointing you as the counselor of the Qincha, so he will tentatively appoint the seven products, and you will be responsible for distinguishing and relocating the victims outside the city."

Liu Ke beckoned to his personal guard commander and ordered, "You go and arrange, arrange a team of personal soldiers for Counselor Guo, and obey Counselor Guo's dispatch. In these years, many people who really do things have been troubled, and if the people below make it difficult for you, you will have people tell this king, and this king will take the sword of the Son of Heaven and cut him!"

When Guo Lindong offered silver yesterday, many people still didn't understand why the Guo family was so stupid, and the court said that borrowing would really be borrowing? When will the people of the government spit out the meat that they have eaten in their mouths?

But the next day, Guo Lindong was awarded the title of Seven Grades by the King of Zhongshun as the minister of the Qin Mission, and was ordered to resettle the victims outside the city.

Hong Shixing slapped his thigh, and his heart was full of regret.

Old man Guo is really an old woman who is cunning, why didn't he think of this?

His eldest son, Hong Teng, was only admitted to the Tongjinshi, and he is still in the southwest as the governor of a small state with no hope of promotion.

The second son, Hong Jiao, was also born as a fellow jinshi of his wife, and he was promoted to the county for two terms, but he had no hope of resigning and returning to his hometown, and now he is taking care of the family business.

Take the road of officialdom, either you are talented, or you climb to the nobles, aren't the two people in the government right now nobles?

"Someone, go and call Jiao'er!"

"Back to the master, the second master went to the Yan family to visit Master Yan."

Hong Shixing responded with a hum, alas, he was confused.

Yan Hui was seriously ill, he sent the second child to visit the patient with a Liaodong ginseng early this morning, and after hearing about Guo Lindong's encounter, he was in a hurry and forgot about it.

Forget it, it's better to do it yourself!

"Go and ask the lady to get five thousand taels of silver tickets, prepare the car, and go to the mansion!"

The Hong family is not as good as the Guo family and other imperial businessmen, and the family sounds rich, but in fact there is not a lot of cash.

Jia Cong looked at the silver ticket handed over by Hong Shixing, and asked in surprise, "What is the old man doing?" Didn't the staff just donate 5,000 taels of silver yesterday?"

Hong Shi got up, bowed his hand to the north, and said: "The holy monarch is above, Hong has been an official in Yanzhou for 20 years by the emperor's grace, and now Yanzhou is suffering from natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the people are displaced, how can Hong be left behind. Today, Hong is here to ask for his life, and he also asks the adult to agree and give Hong a certain position to repay his hometown!"

?Pass?? Referral ticket?