Robbing the rich to help the poor
Gu Chi frowned subconsciously.
"Which 'rich' are you going to rob?"
The rebels are the "richest" people now, right
A previous fire did not hurt their foundation, and with the reinforcements bringing in supplies and food, they were "rich as hell".
"If you are planning to attack the rebels, I advise you to give up the idea. Not to mention that Xiaocheng is short of manpower and we can't transfer any extra people. Even if we can, they will only rob us."
Gu Chi thought he had predicted Shen Tang's prediction.
Take the initiative to block this road.
Unexpectedly, Shen Tang said arrogantly and pretentiously: "I have burned their baggage. No matter how stupid the rebels are, they will not fall into the same pit twice. Why would you want to target them? What I mean is, should we borrow some from the wealthy families in Xiaocheng?"
Gu Chi: “…”
This development was something he had never expected.
He asked: "What do you mean by a wealthy family..."
Gu Chi had already guessed it, but he didn't dare to think that Shen Tang was so bold. But Shen Tang really dared: "Xiaocheng is the capital of Sibao County, right? It is also the most prosperous and populous place in Sibao County. There should be many wealthy, powerful and influential families or gentry?"
The corners of Gu Chi's mouth twitched.
Said: "The people you mentioned have already escaped."
Those are the most informed people.
The rebels attacked the granary of the garrison outside the city. Not long after the fire started, the people in the city smelled something was wrong. They packed up their bags and left at night with the most important members of their family.
In the past, these people might not be willing to leave - the fall of the city was just a change of leader for them. In order to take over the city as quickly as possible, the new leader would generally not move these people.
Not only will they not be moved, they will continue to be employed.
This is one of their confidences.
It is also the unspoken rule during wars among countries and forces.
However, Zheng Qiao did not play by the rules.
When Sibao County was first captured, these people were ready to show off, but they underestimated Zheng Qiao's brutality and decisiveness. Anyone who sang against Zheng Qiao would lose his head at best, or even have his entire family's household registration cancelled.
In addition, Zheng Qiao deliberately allowed his soldiers to burn, kill and loot, which frightened them. So when the rebels of King Zhui came, they had already run away for fear of following in his footsteps.
Shen Tang had also heard about this news.
"I know they escaped, but time is tight. They can take away valuables, but they certainly can't take away grains and rice... Isn't this exactly what we need? It's just right that they have it!" Shen Tang added, "It's not like they're taking it for free. They're just writing an IOU."
Gu Chi: “…???”
He wasn't surprised about the IOU.
He was surprised why Shen Lang took it for granted.
Gu Chi: "You mean... borrowing grain from those aristocratic gentry?"
Shen Tang said: "Yes."
After saying that, he nodded heavily.
The landlord must have food.
Gu Chi asked again: "Have you thought about how to pay it back?"
Shen Tang shrugged, not caring about it: "Well, this is simple. If Xiaocheng can be defended, let them take the IOU to the prefecture to pay back. If the prefecture does not pay back, ask the court to pay back. If Xiaocheng cannot be defended, they will lose their lives, so why would they care whether the accounts are bad or not?"
Gu Chi: “…”
I have to say that this twisted theory sounds a bit reasonable, but normal people would not target that group of people. Gu Chi was thinking and did not give Shen Tang an answer. Shen Tang did not urge her, she was just a person who gave advice, whether it was adopted or not was none of her business.
Gu Chi asked again: "What if they refuse to lend it?"
Shen Tang asked tentatively: "Rob?"
Gu Chi: “…”
The seemingly frail young man looked gloomy and asked an irrelevant question: "Qi Yuanliang, have you been taking a lot of heart-protecting pills recently?"
He even felt a little gloating.
If you meet such a reckless boy, you will definitely be in trouble.
Shen Tang looked nervous: "You mean the heart pill? Yuan Liang did have a few bottles of medicine with him, but I didn't see him take them, so I don't know what the effect is. Is that a heart pill? Yuan Liang has a heart disease?"
How come she doesn't know
Under current medical conditions, heart disease is basically incurable.
Gu Chi: “…”
He just wanted to gloat over someone else's misfortune, nothing else.
He changed the subject and brought the topic back to the topic: "Robbery is not an option. Once you anger these people, they may have opened the city gates and welcomed the rebels into the city while you are still asleep. Don't underestimate them."
Shen Tang’s idea is also quite dangerous.
I really don’t know how Qishan teaches.
Shen Tang didn't understand the logic at all.
She was puzzled and said, "Does this count as anger? Isn't Xiaocheng their foundation? The rebels are our common enemy. We should put aside all our differences and fight together. Only when those with money contribute money, those with people contribute manpower, and those with strength contribute strength can we defend our homeland!"
Gu Chi was stunned by Shen Tang's seemingly logical words, and then laughed and said, "How can they be the same?"
Shen Tang looked at him in confusion, seeking an answer.
"They never cared who controlled Xiaocheng, or even which country it belonged to. If they hadn't encountered Zheng Qiao, a tyrant who broke the rules, they wouldn't even run away. Because no matter who came to power, their assets would belong to them, and it would not affect their enjoyment of wealth and glory. They might even be promoted to a higher level because of the new master's favor."
The situation that Shen Tang described could never happen.
Because interests and positions are always different.
Shen Tang opened his mouth, seemingly not expecting this to happen.
She really didn't expect it.
The subtext of Gu Chi's words was that the gentry had grain, but they couldn't borrow it. But in her subconscious, it was normal to do her best to defend her country. On the contrary, it was abnormal to just stand by and watch.
Shen Tang was silent for a while.
She asked: "The new rice that should have been put into the warehouse is nowhere to be found, and only 30% of the old rice that was reserved for emergency use is damp and moldy. Where did all this rice go? Whether it was eaten, sold, or thrown away, it must have gone somewhere. Can this be checked?"
Gu Chi asked, "Do you suspect they embezzled the money?"
"It may not be them, but if they want to consume such a large amount of rice, how can they do it without some family wealth? Not only do they need to have family wealth, but it would be best if they also have a legally operated rice shop. The rice shops of all sizes in the city have almost all raised their prices one after another, and have also said that the rice is insufficient one after another. It's either a tacit coincidence or it's intentional... Most of these rice shops are their businesses."
Shen Tang asked again: "Did these rice shops buy grain at high prices two days before Xiaocheng was surrounded? If so, they probably had a lot of grain. How could they be sold out so quickly? If we investigate along this line, maybe we can really find out something..."
Then use it to blackmail...
No, you can definitely borrow some grain.
Gu Chi: "The granary is not an easy place to operate. If it is really embezzled, the former county governor Yan Cheng must have been involved."
Shen Tang said, "Then we can check Yan Cheng's study. Maybe there is such an account book? Isn't it irrefutable evidence?"
Gu Chi: “…”
No, that's not what he meant.
What he meant was that if Yancheng was involved, it would be a "deal" and they might not necessarily acknowledge it, not to mention using it as a threat to force them to give up the benefits they had already taken. They were not pushovers.
If there is really no channel to get food.
As a last resort, maybe you can try this method.
Gu Chi lowered his eyelids, not really making up his mind yet.
I still need to discuss this matter with Wu Yuan, or at least let him know. He knocked his knuckles on the table from time to time, but what he was thinking about was Shen Tang and the giant dragon phantom in the sky above Xiaocheng.
No one knows the origin of the saying "Ziwei will come out of the northwest to unify the world" better than him. He knows that it is not a prophecy, but it has come true. Not too early or too late, but after Shen Tang and his friends showed up. Is there some connection here that he doesn't know about
When Gu Chi came to his senses—
On the white paper on the table were written the words "National Seal", "Shen Tang", "Gong Shuwu", "Qishan", and "Chu Yao". Chu Yao suddenly regained his literary mind, which was also a very intriguing detail. So far, the only way to restore the abandoned Danfu's literary mind was that path.
If he took that route, there was a detail that ordinary people could easily overlook—during the recovery process, Chu Yao could not be too far away from his loyalists.
The closer the distance, the better for recovery.
Chu Yao's loyalists are nearby.
In other words, the person who possesses the Great Seal is nearby.
Could this person be Shen Tang
Will the national seal of Xin State be in the hands of the Shen family
When you think about it this way, it seems to make sense.
Just as Gu Chi was thinking, he heard Gong Cheng's inner voice through the walls. Normally, Gu Chi would ignore it, but this time the inner voice mentioned a key word - Second Uncle.
Isn’t Gong Cheng’s second uncle Gong Wen who has disappeared for a long time
Wu Yuan coveted Gong Wen and had always wanted to recruit him if he met him, but Gong Wen disappeared without a trace. Gong Cheng mentioned a detail in his inner voice - Gong Shuwu made Gong Cheng feel like his second uncle.
At this moment, Gu Chi was struck by lightning.
He suddenly understood something.
He picked up the pen and wrote the two words "Gong Wen" next to Gong Shuwu.
"Gong Shuwu, Gong Shubanbu; Gong Wen, Gong Yili - half a step is martial arts, the righteousness of etiquette is literature. So that's it, haha, so that's it!" The details that Gu Chi couldn't figure out before suddenly became clear, and it was further confirmed that Shen Tang had the national seal on him!
This national seal was given by Gong Shuwu!
Shen Tang is also a descendant of the Shen family...
Could it be that Shen Lang is the hidden gem of the Xin Kingdom royal family
If this is the guess, everything makes sense.
Otherwise, Gong Wen would have no reason to follow Shen Tang.
Gu Chi sighed, "Gong Wen is really loyal to the Xin Kingdom royal family. He would rather hand over the national seal to the descendants of the Shen family and choose a hopeless path to restore the country than to help his nephew. He is still hiding his identity now. How loyal he is!"
but-
What does this have to do with him
Gu Chi suddenly smiled, with a strange and cold smile. He rolled up the paper on the table and took out a fire starter to burn it.
Until the paper turned to ashes in the fire.
at the same time-
Gong Shuwu suddenly sneezed loudly.
I had no choice but to follow my nephew and his brother-in-law in front of me.
Not long ago, Shen Tang came to Gong Cheng with a worried look on his face, saying that the city was short of food and the grain depot was suspected to have been embezzled by the former county magistrate. He was bored and wanted to find evidence, maybe he could get the grain back. When his nephew heard this, he immediately supported him!
Gong Shuwu thought these two children were naive.
Is the evidence so easy to find
If we find it, can we recover the food
Don’t you see the current situation where we are surrounded by rebels
Gong Shuwu wanted to spend more time with his nephew, so he followed to watch the fun. Unexpectedly, the two children rummaged around in the former county magistrate's study and found a wooden box under a floor tile.
The wooden box is full of booklets, and they look very important at first glance!
Gong Shuwu: “…”
He saw with his own eyes that Shen Wulang entered the study and went straight to the lamp stand, the wall, and the floor. After a short while, he made a significant discovery, which made people suspect that the box was buried by her.
He didn't ask, but Gong Cheng did.
"How did my brother-in-law know he was here?"
Shen Tang flipped through the books one by one, without even looking up, and said, "Isn't this simple? They are all old-fashioned routines."
You won’t know until you look at the account book.
Wow, the former county magistrate had a wide range of business.
After flipping through a few books, I found the content related to the granary.
As luck would have it, she was right.
"With these... how much food can we get?"
Xiaocheng can hold out for at least another half a month!
Gong Cheng took a look at the number above and took a breath.
"this-"
How audacious!
At the same time, there is also a secret joy of having unexpected wealth.
But when he went to ask for food with the evidence, Gong Cheng hesitated again.
He was also from a noble family, and he knew best what these people would do once they were angered. But if he didn't get food, the garrison would have to guard the city with empty stomachs in less than two days, and the people in the city would mutiny.
For a moment, it seemed that no matter what choice I made, it would be wrong.
Shen Tang patted his shoulder.
"Gong Cheng, can you do this?"
Gong Cheng was caught off guard and staggered. His face suddenly turned red and he said, "This matter is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly."
"You don't dare to do it?" Shen Tang asked him bluntly.
Gong Cheng said helplessly: "It's not good to offend."
Shen Tang's eyes rolled and he had a bad idea in his mind.
She hooked her finger at Gong Cheng, who hesitated, but couldn't suppress his curiosity and went forward to listen to what Shen Tang had to say. Shen Tang's idea was not only mean but also very mean.
After hearing this, Gong Cheng's eyes widened in astonishment, and hesitantly said, "How, how can you use this method? Isn't this robbery?"
Shen Tang said: "Just rob!"
Since borrowing doesn't work, just rob.
We have to give her food anyway.
The landlords have food but are unwilling to give it to the farmers. They also want to raise the price and take advantage of the war to make money? They are really rebellious!
Not to mention that these grains were obtained through greed.
The account books are the evidence!
The grain in the granary was originally for dealing with natural disasters and man-made disasters. If they were not used now, when would they be used? How would touching them be different from rebellion
It’s good enough that we didn’t come to cancel their household registration.
Gong Cheng said: "If they are pushed into a corner..."
Shen Tang: "What do you mean by forced? Did the county government force them to give out grain? Don't talk nonsense! No! Those who robbed their granaries were the 'mob', the 'people' who couldn't afford to buy grain from the rice shop and had to take risks. The 'people' have suffered from the landlords for a long time. As the local parent official, the embodiment of justice and the representative of fairness, how could the county government do such a thing as robbery? Don't you agree?"
As for how those "mobs" knew the location of the granary and why so many of them showed up, how could the county government, which was seriously short of staff and where each person wished their parents had three pairs of hands, know that
We cannot wrongly accuse honest people!
Gong Cheng was somewhat moved.
then-
Wu Yuan was troubled for a whole night and finally made up his mind to let Gu Chi give it a try - he held a banquet to invite the acting heads of each family to find out about "borrowing grain". However, before he even stepped out of the county government, the acting heads came to his door crying.
Wu Yuan: “???”
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