Dressed as Su Peisheng

Kangxi 50 years

On the eighth day of February, Tongzhou

"Prince Yong!"

The door of the carriage was opened, and Li Zhangshan saw the people in the carriage, his legs softened and he knelt on the ground.

The people in the car got off, and the cloud-patterned boots with red gold and black soles stopped in front of Li Zhangshan. Li Zhangshan closed his eyes tightly, and his calves began to tremble.

However, the cloud-patterned boots in front of him didn't stay for long, and quickly passed him, heading straight for the gate of Xicang.

The guard beside the car kicked Li Zhangshan, waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and follow!"

"Yes, yes," Li Zhangshan didn't dare to be sloppy, got up quickly, and staggered to keep up with the team that had already entered the gate of Xicang.

After entering the West Warehouse, there is a row of row rooms for transporters, defenders, and judges to rest at the base of the wall. Right in front of the West Gate is a council hall, and behind the council hall is a wide paddock, which is open-air The grain stored in the grass fence is surrounded by thousands of warehouses.

Walking through the council hall, the smell of distiller's grains is not so heavy, and what is even more unpleasant is the rotten smell of rotten rice.

"Forgive me, my lord." Aqinai wiped the cold sweat from his head, bowed his waist and followed the fourth elder brother. "These days are rainy and humid, and the grain on the paddock will inevitably rot. We have already tried our best to remove it."

"Why are these grains stored in the paddock? Is the warehouse full?" The fourth elder brother's voice was deep, and no one could hear his emotions.

"Returning to your lord, there are only four vacant warehouses in Xicang at present, and most of the rest are unfinished. As soon as a warehouse is vacated, we will definitely fill it with food immediately." Aqinai said with a look on his face. sincere.

"What about Zhongcang and Nancang?"

"Go back to your lord," Li Zhangshan took two quick steps, bowed his body and said, "there are only three empty warehouses left in Zhongcang, and they will be filled up immediately when the new rice arrives. Nancang is a small place, and there is not even a single empty warehouse. This is also the case. In the past two years, things have been abundant and the people have been prosperous, and water transportation has developed, and the ministers and others have relied on—”

"Go to the warehouse to have a look!"

The fourth elder brother didn't let Li Zhangshan finish his flattering words, and went straight to the granary closest to the paddock.

The door of the warehouse was opened, and a strong smell of rice wine came out!

The entire warehouse was only filled with a small half of the grain, and most of the small half of the grain had changed color, and the ones in the corners had even turned black.

Aqinai was stared at by Prince Yong who turned his head, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, "My lord, only most of the food has been put in this warehouse, and the rest has not been taken for a long time, so it can only be stored temporarily." You know, regardless of whether it is the Ministry of Officials or the Ministry of War, they don’t want Chen Mi, and every time they have to open a new store, there is no way for me to do so.”

Aqi Nai's old face was neither red nor white, and Eunuch Su, who was with the fourth elder brother, had the urge to curse.

I don't know how many people can't eat during this new year's festival. The rice here is almost turning into wine, and it's still left like this?

The fourth elder brother held his breath, didn't say anything, and continued to walk to the next granary.

Aqi Nai and Li Zhangshan secretly exchanged glances, but they couldn't figure out what Prince Yong was thinking, so they could only take a step forward for the time being.

Another warehouse was opened, but there was a lot of food left in this one, and it was still fresh.

As soon as Aqinai breathed a sigh of relief, he saw several guards following Prince Yong enter the warehouse.

"Eh--"

The two grain officials who had ghosts in their hearts couldn't stop them, and saw two guards dump a whole basket of grain on the ground.

Su Wei's eyes widened suddenly, new rice beats old rice!

"My lord!"

Aqi Nai couldn't hold back anymore, and knelt down on the ground together with Li Zhangshan, "My lord, please forgive me, and this humble minister has no choice but to do it, my lord, please forgive me..."

The fourth elder brother still didn't say anything, and led the people to the next warehouse.

By the time Hongsheng had collected his accounts and arrived at Xicang from the General Administration of Warehouses, the fourth elder brother had asked people to open more than ten warehouses.

However, there are five or six warehouses that are in good condition, and they can be paid and collected normally. Even if some grains and rice have been stored for a long time, the quality is still good.

However, the rest of this is just a chilling scene.

In some warehouses, the old rice was discolored, and in some there were only a few baskets left, and there were nests of rats, and there were not a few people who mixed old rice with new rice.

Hongsheng followed the fourth elder brother to look a few times, his face was already livid and speechless.

Seeing that the sky was getting darker, the fourth elder brother didn't look any further, and instead walked towards the paddock.

There was quite a lot of newly shipped grain in the grain stacks in the paddock, and Fu Nai led people to find the polished rice that Aqinai, Li Zhangshan and his group had hidden alone in the open space between several warehouses.

This day's trip to Xicang was fruitful, and Aqinai and Li Zhangshan could not explain anything, so they could only follow behind, desperately begging for mercy.

"Uncle, what shall we do?"

Hongsheng looked angry, "Let my nephew force them to return to Beijing, none of the officials from the General Administration of Warehouses can escape!"

"No hurry," the voice of the fourth elder brother was still light, "we will talk about it after we check the accounts."

"Fu Nai!"

"My lord," Fu Nai stepped forward in response.

"You divide people into guards in Xicang, and the rest go to Zhongcang with me."

"Yes."

"My lord!"

Aqi Nai was almost knocked to death on the brick road, "It's already dark, you are a body of a thousand gold, let's see it tomorrow."

Unfortunately, he cried miserably, but no one responded.

The fourth elder brother and Su Wei got into the carriage again, and after the door was closed, the fourth elder brother leaned his head on the cushion and let out a long sigh.

Su Wei didn't know what to say, so he could only reach out and tug at his sleeve.

"This is Guocang, at the foot of the emperor, near the capital."

The fourth elder brother raised his hand and pinched the center of his brows, "I don't even dare to think about what the official warehouses in various places look like. The people have worked hard for a year, growing food and collecting donations. In the end, they all fell into the mouths of a bunch of rats!"

The carriage arrived at Zhongcang very quickly. Even though Zhongcang had already got the news at this time, the problem of hundreds of warehouses could not be covered up in an hour or two.

There is almost no difference from Xicang. There is nowhere to store the new rice, and in the end more than half of it becomes old rice inexplicably, and then the old rice is mixed with new rice.

Looking at the General Administration of Warehouses kneeling all over the floor and the officials sitting in the Grain Department, the fourth elder brother has not issued any punishment, and he was greedy for the dark and finally went to the newly built South Warehouse.

When we came out of Nancang, it was already midnight.

The magistrate of Tongzhou has also received the letter, and has been waiting outside early.In the final analysis, he, the magistrate, couldn't escape being involved in the matter of Sancang in Tongzhou.

The fourth elder brother took Su Wei, Fu Nai and his party to live in the government office, and the officials in the warehouse could only return home temporarily in fear.

On the way, Hongsheng was a little anxious, and kept chattering beside the frame of the fourth elder brother, "Uncle, even if we don't escort them back to Beijing, we should lock them up. What should we do if we just let them go and run back? Even if they can't escape, it's tantamount to giving them a chance to make a statement. If they find a reason and escape punishment, wouldn't our work be in vain?"

"We came to Tongzhou to inspect the warehouse, not to inspect the government," said the fourth elder brother, leaning on the soft pillow with one hand through the car window, slightly closing his eyes, "I will report the situation of the warehouse to your emperor truthfully." Mafa, how to deal with it is up to his old man to decide."

"Yes," Hongsheng subconsciously felt that something was wrong, but just as soon as the words came out, he swallowed them back hastily.

He almost committed the crime of disrespect, how can he doubt that the current emperor will condone those corrupt officials?

When the carriage arrived at the Tongzhou government office, the magistrate of Tongzhou had already emptied the backyard for Prince Yong and his son Hongsheng to live in.

Fu Nai led people to inspect the surroundings and surrounded the entire backyard.

Su Wei was already so sleepy that he yawned. After a hasty dinner with the fourth elder brother, he climbed into bed.

The fourth elder brother couldn't sleep, and frowned tightly at the pile of accounts that Hongsheng brought back.

"If you want to check the account, you have to check it tomorrow. It's so late, go to bed!"

Eunuch Su patted the bed board very dissatisfied, and forced the fourth elder brother to blow out the candles and lie down on the bed.

Soon there was silence in the government office, but the storehouse general office was brightly lit.

"What should I do, my lord?"

The four or five judges who participated in it all looked at Aqinai, and none of them could run away when the higher-ups were about to settle the matter.

Aqi Nai sat in the first place, the panic of the day had disappeared at this time, his thin face, his eyes looked like those rats that were about to mature in the warehouse.

"It's really not good, let's fight, my lord!"

Li Zhangshan had a pale face, and his fists were tightly clenched, "Prince Yong only brought a team of guards, not even a guard of honor. There are so many people coming and going in Tongzhou City every day, who would remember? The imperial edict has not yet arrived. Tongzhou is the best chance for us to attack!"

"Are you crazy? That's the prince!" An officer next to him looked at Li Zhangshan like a fool.

"If something happens in Tongzhou, none of us will survive!"

"Who said it happened in Tongzhou?"

Li Zhangshan stared back, "As long as people are transported out of the city unknowingly, who's head can't be relied on? The law does not blame the public, and the Long Live Lord needs to have evidence if he wants to pursue it."

With the word "benefit" in the foreground, several officials who were deeply involved in it all felt their necks go cold after seeing Prince Yong.At this moment, Li Zhangshan's incitement made her heart flutter.

"My lord, what do you think?" One of them looked at Aqinai.

Aqi Nai stroked his sheeptail beard, closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, then opened his eyes and said, "Time doesn't wait for me, whether or not I can save this life, it's tonight!"

Many of the guards guarding the warehouse and those who followed the grain ship had internal relations with the warehouse officials.

The four or five officers listened to the orders of Aqinai and Li Zhangshan, and immediately went to transfer people.

Everyone made an appointment at Choushi to strike at three o'clock, and Aqinai promised to persuade the prefect of Tongzhou to turn a blind eye.

After all the judges went out, Li Zhangshan changed his excitement and panic just now, and quietly walked to Aqinai's side, "My lord, is there any danger?"

"If you don't enter the tiger's lair, you won't catch the tiger's cubs," Aqinai looked at the backs of those who were anxiously leaving, and breathed out lightly, "Whether we can escape safely this time depends on them."