Su Jin, who was busy for most of the night, was still asleep, and was awakened by a rapid shout, Su Jin got up, only to see Wang Dynasty standing at the door with a straight voice and calling.

Su Jin scolded: "What is it called early in the morning? Looking at this daylight, I am afraid that the time has not yet arrived. ”

Wang Chao said with a sad face: "Son, do you want to be scolded?" The prefect of Song called the villain to invite you, saying that there was something important to discuss. ”

Su Jin had to get up, wash up indiscriminately, get dressed and go out, the place where he lived was a guest room in the inner hall of the yamen, not far from the yamen lobby, through a patio to the front of the yamen lobby, the roadside was covered with white frost, the air was cold, and the exhaled white air was like a long dragon lingering around the face, and the weather was really cold.

Entering the yamen lobby from the back door, the atmosphere inside made Su Jin stunned, only to see Song Zhen sitting in the hall in a daze, a group of subordinate officials and officials were standing in the hall, there were dozens of tall and short feet, but it was surprisingly quiet, and there was a dead silence.

After glancing at the hall, Su Jin was startled, only to see four humanoid objects wrapped in white cloth on the straw mat under the hall stunned, obviously four corpses.

When Song Zhen saw Su Jin, he immediately stood up from his seat and arched his hand: "Your Excellency, I invited you early in the morning, and it is really a sin that you didn't let you rest well yesterday because of the ups and downs." ”

Su Jin arched his hand and said, "Lord Fuzun doesn't have to be polite. Pointing to the dead body, he said, "What's going on?" ”

Song Zhen sighed and said: "Early in the morning, people came to report to the official, this is Wang Laoliu's family in the west of the city, Wang Laoliu and his Hun family, as well as two underage children, all died at home last night. ”

Su Jin frowned and said, "Destroy the door? Are there traces of a murderer? ”

Song Zhen said with a bitter face: "I'm afraid I can't find the murderer." ”

Su Jin said: "What? Isn't there a trace of it? ”

Song Zhen said: "That's not it, I just had an autopsy, all four of them died of arsenic, and there were some wild vegetable soup at the bottom of the pot at home. ”

Su Jin's heart tightened, he stepped forward gently, lifted the corner of a white cloth, and saw a man with a blue and black face, his eyes slightly open, and the death and pain could be seen to be a symptom of poisoning.

Su Jin looked at several other corpses, the two six or seven-year-old children were also in a miserable death, Su Jin looked at his heart with pity, and his throat was nauseous, fortunately he didn't eat in the morning, otherwise he was afraid that he would have vomited it all.

Su Jin stood up and asked, "Lord Song, can you find out why they took poison?" ”

Song Zhen said to an official beside him: "Ma Tixing, tell the envoy about the situation." ”

The official had a capable face, looking like he was in his thirties, and when he heard the words, he stepped forward and said: "Your Excellency, after I received the report, I took someone to take the neighbors around him, according to the neighbor Yan Pozi, this Wang Lao Liu has been suicidal in recent days, and yesterday afternoon he was still scolding at the door of his house and didn't know what to do, and I heard his Hun family cry in the evening. ”

Su Jin frowned and said, "What are you doing with a good suicide?" What does this Wang Lao Liu do. ”

Ma Ti sighed: "Envoy sir, Wang Lao Liu was originally a coolie who carried goods on the wharf, the Hun family lived at home with two children, since I beat my Yangzhou grain shop after the grain was cut off, it is said that the whole family has not entered the grain of rice for several days, and the work on the wharf is not always there, and the money earned is not enough to buy a handful of rice on the black market, these days the neighbors always see him scolding, saying that it is not interesting to live, tired and tired to support his wife and children, it is better for the family to die clean, the neighbors have the heart to help but take care of themselves, I didn't expect to really find a short view. ”

Su Jin was silent, his heart was clogged and uncomfortable, he didn't expect this matter to have reached such a point, this is a precursor to the outbreak, once the people are not even afraid of death, it will be the time for crises, and it is absolutely impossible to rely on the suppression of officers and soldiers to maintain it.

Su Jin held the last glimmer of hope and said: "Master Ma, the evidence of suicide is not enough, you can go to the Chinese medicine shop in the city to visit, and ask the pharmacy manager if Wang Lao Liu has bought arsenic in a certain store, if there is such evidence, it can be determined as suicide." ”

Ma Tixing knew from Su Jin's words that he was an expert, put away his previous contempt, turned around and ordered the two arresters to hurry up and investigate.

Song Zhen came to Su Jin's side and said: "Envoy Su, if this matter hadn't started because of food, the government wouldn't have bothered you, now you see how this matter should be resolved, hey, I can't imagine that there is such a human tragedy under my rule, this government is incompetent, and I am ashamed of the grace of the saint." ”

Su Jin said: "Lord Fuzun doesn't have to blame himself, the situation is erosive, but the main responsibility is not here for Lord Fuzun, if it weren't for natural disasters and man-made disasters, how could this human tragedy come about." ”

Song Zhen said: "Having said that, this government is hard to shirk the blame, the envoy, the official is not afraid of offending you, the court appointed you as the envoy, but you came empty-handed, how can you solve my Yangzhou predicament?" When will the 500,000 stone grain you said arrive? ”

Su Jin didn't blame Song Zhen for being abrupt, everyone should be in a hurry to get angry under anyone's rule, and thought about it: "The grain is shipped from Luzhou, and I am afraid that it will not arrive until ten days at the earliest." ”

Song Zhen said: "There is still something to be done to arrive in ten days, then let's wait for ten days, I hope everything goes well." ”

Su Jin shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I can't wait for ten days, and the current situation is slow to say ten days, even three days." ”

Song Zhen was stunned and said, "What? Is the envoy afraid of ......? ”

Su Jin said: "When the people are not afraid of death, chaos will be born, although Lord Fuzun has an army in hand, but is it really to go to these people who have no way out because of hunger?" In fact, they are the innocent people. ”

Song Zhen was puzzled: "It's not like this." ”

Su Jin said: "My lord, as soon as this matter spreads, the people will gather to petition today, don't you see that this Wang Lao Liu is already cornered?" I think there must be many people whose situation is similar to his, these people are no longer afraid of life and death, isn't Lord Fuzun still vigilant? ”

Song Zhen was surprised, thought about it and hurriedly ordered: "Wei Dutou, pass the order, send more people to patrol the streets, and disperse them immediately if there are people who gather in the roar." ”

The head of the Weidu led the order and left, Su Jin shook his head when he saw this and said: "At this time, it is not appropriate for Lord Fuzun to use heavy pressure, and he must be appeased by Huai Rou." ”

Song Zhen spread his hands and said angrily: "What do you tell me to do?" You are the imperial court's food envoy but you didn't bring a single grain, what can I do. ”

Several subordinate officials saw Song Zhen's gaffe, and hurriedly handed him a look, this has lost his demeanor, Su Jin is the special envoy in charge of raising grain sent by the imperial court, although he did not clearly say how big the grade is, but in fact it is the same as the Qin Poor, Song Zhen has not solved the matter so far, offended the Qin Mission's special envoy, I am afraid that it will get worse and worse.

Su Jin didn't care, looked at the puffing Song Zhen, and sighed secretly in his heart, this Song Zhen is actually not suitable for being an official at all, good knowledge does not mean that he is a good official, it is right to transfer him to the Hanlin Academy to compile history books, or it is not bad to go to the emperor's side to be the intellectual system that drafts the holy decree, as a state official, it is okay to have nothing to do, once something happens, he has no way to deal with it.

"Lord Fuzun, all in all, I'm afraid it's too late to wait for Luzhou to transfer grain, look at the weather, the wind turns to the northwest, the clouds are getting thicker, the fog is very thick in the morning, the first snow of the year is about to fall, and once the snow falls, I am afraid it will be even worse; Hungry and cold, I'm afraid that a large number of people can't get through it, and they have to make a decision immediately. ”

Song Zhenwu was angry, and said angrily: "Then what do you say we should do?" ”

Su Jin quietly approached him and said, "Lord Fuzun, how about taking a step to speak?" ”

Song Zhen glanced at Su Jin, and when he saw Su Jin's serious pleading look, he didn't want to refute his face too much, and immediately took Su Jin to the inner hall.

The two sat down, and Su Jin said: "Lord Fuzun, you tell me the truth, is there any food in the official warehouse in Yangzhou now?" ”

Song Zhen glared and said, "Where did the food come from?" There are only 2,000 stone of grain in the official warehouse now, which is the ration of the officials and officials, and the 2,000 stone grain can't even last for half a month, besides, even if these 2,000 stones are taken out, what is the use? ”

Su Jin smiled and said, "Is there really nothing?" Think again? ”

Song Zhen's face was ugly and said, "Could it be that my dignified prefect is still lying to you?" ”

Su Jin put away his smile and said softly: "How did I hear that there are still 100,000 stones of grain in the official warehouse in Yangzhou that haven't moved." ”

Song Zhen changed color and said: "How can the 100,000 stones move?" That's military food, the military food collected after the autumn, the canal is dry, and the transportation is not passable, so the three divisions postponed the transportation and temporarily put it in the Yangzhou official warehouse. ”

Su Jin Zhengse said: "Can't we borrow it first?" When my Luzhou grain arrives and immediately replenishes the warehouse, it can not only solve the urgent need, but also will not have any trouble, how about the prefect? ”

Song Zhen said categorically: "By all means, I don't know where your 500,000 stone grain is, once this matter is leaked, you and I will be beheaded, this matter is categorically disagreed." ”

Su Jin looked at his pedantic appearance, and a nameless fire rose in his heart, he felt like a barrel of dynamite, the fuse had been lit, and it was about to explode.