The first batch of grain has been delivered, but it will take at least more than a month to reach Kaifeng from Wuchang. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Dashuai, the first batch of grain from Nanwang's side has been sent from Wuchang. However, the distance is long, and it is already very fast to be able to reach it in forty days. Xia Guoxiang reported to Wu Sangui with a sad face.

"Our army has relieved the victims, and there are less than ten days of food left! What shall we do with the remaining thirty days? Are we starving to death with the victims? Wang Shirong frowned.

Wu Sangui was also at a loss, turned his head and looked at Liu Xuanchu.

"Let's buy food first! Didn't we collect some grain when we captured a nearby county? Concentrate this food in the barracks. The students were quite familiar with this place and were willing to lead troops to collect food. Fang Guangchen replied first.

Liu Xuanchu said: "Marshal, the students have already checked the warehouses of the surrounding counties and prefectures, and the food stored is only enough for our army and the victims to eat for 12 days. Grain merchants in various places still have grain in their hands, but instead of releasing grain, they sell it at a high price, taking advantage of the catastrophe to make huge profits! ”

Wu Sangui was furious: "These profiteers! For the rich, not benevolent! Since we don't care about the victims, we have raised the price of food! Someone! Give the old man an order to go down and lead the troops to copy all the grain merchants in Henan! ”

"Dashuai!" Wang Shirong hurriedly dissuaded, "Absolutely not!" If you raid the grain merchant's house, your reputation for helping refugees will be ruined! These businessmen have more or less something to do with the Jiangnan gentry, and they have copied their homes, and those who read will write white to you black! ”

"How's that to be?" Wu Sangui asked.

It was also Wu Sangui who was sleepy and met the pillow, just when Wu Sangui was anxious for money and food, someone outside came to report: "Report to the handsome, Nanjing 600 miles is urgent!" ”

"Let him in!" Wu Sangui said.

The messenger walked into Wu Sangui's Chinese tent, knelt on one knee, and presented a top-secret letter sealed with fire paint in both hands.

Wu Sangui opened the letter and immediately smiled: "Okay! That's great! The old man is anxious about the silver, or the grandson-in-law is filial, so the silver is sent! ”

Liu Xuanchu and the others came up to take a look, and saw that inside the envelope was a stack of silver bills from the Nanyang Bank, with 10,000 silver dollars, 5,000 silver dollars, 3,000 silver dollars, and 1,000 silver dollars, adding up to 100,000 silver dollars. The silver stamps are beautifully crafted, with various hidden anti-counterfeiting marks, as well as the red seal of Nanyang Bank and the autograph of Pan Liu, chairman of Nanyang Company.

You must know that the Nanyang Bank's silver notes are well-known hard currency, which can not only be exchanged for various banknotes, gold coins and silver coins issued by the Nanyang Bank, but can even be exchanged for white flower pattern silver with other ticket numbers. Even if you go to exchange for banknotes, Nanyang Bank's banknotes have a high degree of credibility and can be used as silver.

"With this money, you can buy food! But profiteers want to raise the price of food, huh! It depends on whether the old man's knife agrees or not! A few of you, with a silver ticket, go to buy food at a parity price! Wu Sangui laughed.

Liu Xuanchu, Wang Shirong, Fang Guangchen and others brought silver tickets and went around shopping for grain. Wu Jun came forward to find grain from all over the country to buy grain, and purchased it at the normal price on weekdays. Seeing the murderous officers and soldiers armed with steel knives, the vast majority of grain merchants did not dare to raise prices, and honestly sold grain to Wu Sangui at a reasonable price.

Of course, there are also a small number of profiteers who want money and don't want their lives, who think that the price given by Wu Sangui is too low, and insist on raising prices. For those profiteers, Wu Jun was naturally unceremonious, raided their homes, and confiscated all the grain.

Spending money to buy, the profiteers don't sell, and they have to raise prices and end up being raided, which is completely different from Wu Sangui who can't help but say that he directly sent troops to raid the profiteers' homes, the former is unwilling to buy and sell fairly, and he has to make a fortune, Wu Sangui cut them, and no one dares to say that they are not there. If Wu Sangui didn't pay the money and directly robbed the troops to grab food, then Wu Sangui would be unreasonable.

Needless to say, Nanyang's silver ticket is a well-known hard currency. The area where these grain merchants were located was originally under the rule of the Qing court, and they were forced to use the Great Qing dragon banknotes, although they used silver privately, but it was not very good quality. Now Wu Sangui took the silver ticket of the Nanyang Company to buy grain, although the price is lower, but they do not suffer at all, they can take the silver ticket to exchange for the banknote of the Nanyang Company with high credit, or the silver dollar with excellent workmanship, and even exchange it for gold coins, these hard currencies are taken to the north, but a silver dollar can be exchanged for more than one or two dollars of silver!

100,000 silver dollars were taken out and 50,000 stone of grain was bought, which was enough for Wu Sangui to support for a while. According to the calculation that one disaster victim and one soldier consume an average of half a kilogram of grain per day, Wu Jun himself has 150,000 soldiers and horses, plus the 400,000 disaster victims who have received assistance, and 50,000 stone of grain can last an extra 20 days.

However, after hearing the news, the victims all rushed to the north bank of Kaifeng one after another, and some even crossed the pontoon bridge and went to the south bank. With the increase in the number of victims, Wu Jun's porridge can only become thinner and thinner. In the back, on the north and south banks of the Yellow River in the Kaifeng area, more than 800,000 victims gathered!

Fortunately, the weather is getting warmer. It's not so cold, people don't need to consume more energy to keep out the cold, appropriately reduce the supply of rations, and still survive.

More than a month later, the first batch of 5,000 stone grain sent from Wuchang was transported to Kaifeng.

"Only 5,000 stone of grain?" Wu Sangui couldn't help frowning, "The old man is running out of food here!" The victims are still coming one after another, and 5,000 stone of grain can only last for two days! What can this grain do? ”

Li Rui, who was in charge of escorting the grain, said: "Lord Wang, Lord Zhou, the governor of Huguang, is trying to find a way, but due to lack of manpower, he can only send these grains first. Five days later, another shipment of food arrived. ”

Just as Li Rui and Wu Sangui were handing over the grain, someone came to report: "The holy car is about to arrive in Kaifeng!" ”

Early the next morning.

"Tomorrow is here!" With a long shout, the banner of the Great Tomorrow appeared on the official road, and the cavalry of Li Dingguo, the king of Jin, was in the front, followed by a group of infantry in bright armor. The team in front passed, and hundreds of brocade guards wearing wingless black gauze hats, flying fish suits, and embroidered spring knives appeared in the back.

Since the Chongzhen period, Jinyiwei has not had the original majesty. After the collapse of the Hongguang court in the Southern Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei was even more depressed. Now when the people see Jinyiwei, they don't have the fear they had back then, but more just curiosity.

Li Dingguo rode a white horse, looking at the people who were kneeling on the ground, ragged and dish-faced, and only felt a burst of sadness. He was also an orphan of the disaster-stricken family, if Zhang Xianzhong hadn't adopted him, I am afraid that he would have starved to death in the troubled times. Seeing the suffering people, Li Dingguo recalled his youth and couldn't help but shed tears.