Chapter 217 Chen Jiusi's plan, Yelu falls into the trap ( words, please subscribe)

"I've met the princess."

Chen Jie came to Zhao Ya's temporary residence and met the princess.

Zhao Ya saw Chen Jie was stunned, frowned slightly and said: "We just met not long ago, do you have anything else to do?"

Chen Jie clasped his fists and said, "Princess, I have an urgent matter to report to you."

"One hundred thousand emergency?"

Zhao Ya frowned slightly and looked at Chen Jie with a puzzled look. What was so urgent?

Chen Jie: "This matter concerns the life and death of 100,000 people in Mianshui, so I have no choice but to come to the princess for help urgently."

"Well, the life and death of 100,000 people?"

Zhao Ya instantly became serious and looked at Chen Jie: "You are not kidding me, are you?"

Chen Jie said: "I dare not."

Zhao Ya said: "Okay, if that's the case, tell me what's going on."

"food……"

Chen Jie directly told the princess about the food shortage problem in Mian River.

Due to this torrential rain, the entire Mianshui County was affected, fertile fields were destroyed, villages suffered, and even the Mianshui warehouse built outside the city had problems, resulting in an extreme food shortage in the entire Mianshui.

It has been raining heavily these days, and most people have some surplus food at home, so it is not obvious. But once the rain stops, people will definitely realize that they don’t have enough food.

At that time, people will definitely scramble for food.

What was destroyed this time was the autumn grain. The autumn grain production was reduced, and the people had almost eaten up their summer grain. Then they would face the dilemma of having no food to eat in the autumn, winter and spring.

If it lasts this long, people will really starve to death.

Even before that long, many people would find it difficult to survive until the autumn harvest, and most of the 100,000 people would starve to death.

If Zoroastrianism takes advantage of the opportunity to incite people, it might even cause a civil unrest.

Therefore, this matter is extremely urgent, and Chen Jie had to come to the princess to seek a solution, to rescue the people and stabilize Daqian!
Chen's commentary was righteous and he talked about the people all the time, without mentioning that these people were also the base of his fishing gang, because he knew that the princess was a righteous person with a demonic side, and he didn't know who her master was, who actually taught such a princess to serve the country and the people.

Chen Jie even once doubted whether this princess was from Mulan?

Are there still people among the Mulan people who care about the life and death of the Han people?

After listening to Chen Jie's narration, Zhao Ya's expression became serious.

"You mean, from now until the summer harvest, the people will have no food to eat?"

Chen Jie nodded and said, "Yes."

"One hundred thousand people?"

Zhao Ya spoke.

"One hundred thousand people!"

Chen Jie nodded and said, "In fact, we may not need to wait until the summer harvest. When the autumn harvest in other prefectures is ready, we in Mianshui can buy food from other prefectures. However, I am afraid that a large number of people will starve to death in the next two months."

Zhao Ya asked, "The people have no more food left at home?"

"Yes, but not much. The rural people outside the Mianshui City may still have enough food to sustain them for half a month to a month, but the tens of thousands of people in the city definitely have no food. They generally need to eat the food in the Mianshui warehouse."

"But the Mianshui warehouse was flooded this time, which means these tens of thousands of people have nothing to eat."

Chen Jie explained the situation. Zhao Ya's face became very solemn. After a long pause, she looked at Chen Jie and said, "Chen Jiusi, since you came to me to report, you should know how big the food shortage in Mianshui is. Tell me!"

"From now on, the autumn grain that supports other provincial capitals can be sold to Mianshui County. How much grain is needed for the transition?"

Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and asked. Chen Jie listened to this and thought for a moment before saying, "Princess, there are still two months from now until the autumn harvest. It will take at least another month for the grain from other prefectures to be transported to Mianshui, including the autumn harvest and other matters."

"And the Mian River now has a food shortage of 100,000 people. 100,000 people for three months. I did a simple calculation and it will take at least 300,000 shi!"

"Three hundred thousand stones?"

Zhao Ya murmured, and Chen Jie said, "It's better to eat sparingly. If you want to eat normally, it will probably cost 500,000 dan."

Zhao Ya understood that the minimum standard was 300,000 dan, which meant that one had to tighten one's belt to eat these 300,000 dan, such as eating porridge with wild vegetables, one meal a day.

If you want to eat better, such as returning to a normal diet, you will need 500,000 shi of grain.

It is possible to restore the people's demand for two meals a day and make the porridge thicker.

So the minimum is 300,000, which can ensure that people do not starve to death, and the best is 500,000, which can ensure that the people of Mianshui have enough to eat.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and said, "Since you are so concerned about the issue of food, don't you have any food stored in your fishing gang?"

Chen Jie said: "There is a reserve, but it is less than 70,000 shi."

"Seventy thousand stones, this is far from the gap."

Zhao Ya frowned. The gap was 300,000 stones, but there were only 70,000 stones left. That meant a shortfall of 230,000 stones.

Zhao Ya thought for a moment and said, "Except for your fishing gang, how much grain can the imperial court have from the big families in Mianshui, including the gangs?"

Chen Jie thought for a moment and said, "Together, they probably have about 50,000 shi. However, at a time like this, these big families will definitely want to hoard the treasures and won't sell them easily."

Zhao Ya said: "They dare. Human lives are at stake. Do they dare to hoard food and not sell it?"

Chen Jie said: "My lord, people die for money, and birds die for food. They can't sell the food they have hoarded at a low price."

Zhao Ya frowned and said, "I still don't believe it."

"Ada."

"The county lord."

Ah Da clasped his fists. Zhao Ya said, "Go to the county government office and tell the magistrate Tang Wannian to issue a notice to reassure the people. Inform all the grain shops in the city that from now on, they must sell grain at a fair price. Anyone who dares to raise the price without permission will be severely punished."

"Yes!"

Ah Da immediately clasped his fists, turned around and left.

Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and asked, "Will this make them take out the food?"

Chen Jie said: "There are countermeasures from above and policies from below, but since you, the princess, have given the order, they should at least give you some face."

Zhao Ya frowned and said, "You mean, they dare not obey my orders?"

Chen Jie said: "What's so strange about this? No matter how powerful the princess is, she is only a first-class official. The worst that can happen to them is that they can just avoid her. So force cannot solve this matter."

After hearing this, Zhao Ya frowned and asked, "What do you mean? Do you think no one listens to my orders?"

Chen Jie said, "Princess, let's not discuss this for now. Even if the big clans and gangs in Mianshui all listen to you and take out the grain they have stored, it is estimated that there are only 50,000 to 60,000 stones. Add my 70,000 stones, and we still have a shortage of at least 200,000 stones."

Zhao Ya thought for a moment and said, "Then I will write a letter and go to Huangzhou Prefecture to ask if they can mobilize some food and grass to solve the urgent problem."

After hearing this, Chen Jie smiled. Okay, this is what he was waiting for.

Why did Chen Jie come to look for Zhao Ya? Was it to trick the grain out of the hands of the gentry in the city?
No, it's not that. It's because Chen Jie discovered that even if all the grain in the hands of the gentry in the city was squeezed dry, it would still be impossible to fill the huge hole in the Mian River.

So we can only attract external forces.

This will help to break the impasse, for example by mobilizing food and fodder from Huangzhou Prefecture.

Zhao Ya looked at Ah San and said, "Ah San."

"My subordinate is here."

"Go to Huangzhou Prefecture and tell my third brother to gather some food to help the Mian River."

Ah San clasped his fists and said, "Yes, Princess. I'll go right away."

Watching Ah San hurried away, Chen Jie said, "Then I'll leave everything to you, Princess."

Zhao Ya said: "Don't worry, the people's affairs are my affairs, leave the matter of grain to me."

After hearing this, Chen Jie nodded slightly and said, "Then I'll take my leave."

Chen Jie turned and left.

It all ended like this. Chen Jie was in a good mood and hoped that the princess could get some food.

After returning to the fishing gang, Chen Jie immediately gave orders and began to make all-out rescue efforts to help more people. Chen Jie was very busy these days.

However, the impact of the disaster continued, and the entire Mian River fell into a state of grief.

……

The eleventh year of Zhizheng.

The Mian River flooded and destroyed more than 10,000 acres of fertile farmland, affecting more than 100,000 people. The Mian River caused a major disaster.

There will be disasters in the year of great calamity, and the first to be affected is food. The largest granary in Mianshui County, Mianshui Granary, was destroyed, and all the stored food inside was gone. For a time, Mianshui was in a panic, and even some scoundrels spread rumors that Mianshui was short of food.

For a time, the people were in a state of panic and rushed to the major grain stores in the city to buy grain frantically.

However, almost all the major grain stores in the city were closed and stopped selling grain in an attempt to hoard it.

In this environment, Zhao Ya joined forces with the Mianshui County Government to issue a notice and intervene strongly, ordering all major grain shops in the city to open and sell grain at a fair price and not to raise grain prices, otherwise they would be severely punished.

For a time, all the major grain shops were forced to sell grain under pressure.

But anyone with a discerning eye knows that relying on pressure from above will not work.

Because every time there is a policy from the top, there is a countermeasure from the bottom.

Mian River, South City, Datong Grain Store.

This grain shop is opened by Zhou Peng from the Beggars' Gang.

"Okay everyone, today's food has been sold out, please go back."

Inside the shop, the shopkeeper waved his hand and asked the shop assistants to rush people out. At the same time, he closed the door and hung a sign on the door: Sold out today.

This immediately caused a burst of complaints from the people outside.

"Hey, shopkeeper, why are they sold out so quickly today? We haven't bought any yet."

"Yes, shopkeeper, why are you so angry? Let me tell you, the government has issued a notice. The princess said that we must sell grain at a fair price. Do you want to disobey the order?"

"That's right, that's right, shopkeeper, please be kind, I've been waiting in line for three days and still haven't gotten a seat, you can't do this!"

"Boss, if you do this, we will go to the government office and sue you. You are pretending to obey but secretly disobeying your will!"

"Sell food, open the door and sell food!"

……

Hearing the people outside shouting loudly, the shopkeeper inside opened the window and said, "Everyone, please stop shouting. There is no food even if you shout. We have 50 quotas every day, and each person can buy two kilograms of food. We have sold all of it. Why are you still shouting?"

"What? The princess said..."

At this time, a commoner wanted to interrupt, but he heard the shopkeeper say, "The princess told us to open the door and sell affordable grain. We sold it, but the inventory is just this much. The princess can't force us to produce grain. No, look at how many pounds of meat I have, I will sell it to you."

"Alright, alright, everyone, stop crowding around. If you have time, go to West City and line up."

After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he put down the wooden board. After hearing what the shopkeeper said, the people outside started cursing, but the shopkeeper turned a deaf ear to them and turned back to the backyard.

At this time, Zhou Peng was playing mahjong with a few people in the back.

The people sitting there were not ordinary people either. They were the local Chai Gang leader, Liu Rong, and the two local landlords, Mr. Zhang and Mr. Wang.

At this time, four people sat together playing Majiang, which is similar to Mahjong and was a popular game in this era.

While playing mahjong, Zhou Peng was served by a beautiful maid. He took the teacup from the maid and drank a sip of tea. Then he saw the owner of the grain shop in the front yard come in and bowed, saying, "Boss, we have run out of grain for today."

Zhou Peng stretched out his hand and played a card and said, "Well, thank you for your hard work. How are the people who came today?"

The shopkeeper said, "More than yesterday. People started lining up at 1:00 this morning, and they were sold out in just a few minutes after opening."

Zhou Peng said: "Haha, it seems that this food is in great demand. We deserve to make a fortune."

"bump!"

Zhou Peng reached out and took the chicken card played by Wang Yuanwai on the opposite side.

Liu Rong from the Chai Gang on the other side said, "Boss Zhou, the trick you taught me is indeed useful. If we buy less of the daily limit, we can reduce the loss. But what if the princess finds out?"

Zhou Peng heard this and said, "What did you find? Didn't we all follow her request and open the store to sell affordable grain? A pound of sorghum rice costs ten cents, which is no different from before the disaster."

"I didn't add any sand to the rice, right? It's already like this, why is she dissatisfied?"

After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai said, "Boss Zhou, but, aren't fifty places a day too few?"

"A little? Not a lot. We don't have any food. Food needs to be allocated every day. We only have this much. We have tried our best. Does the princess really want to hold us back?"

"Besides, she's a temporary official and will be gone in a few days. Do you think she can really keep an eye on this matter?"

Zhou Peng said as he played a card.

After hearing this, Mr. Zhang said, "Yes, Old Wang, you are too timid. You took the princess' fart as an imperial decree."

Chai Bang Liu Rong said: "Yes, she is a noble princess and wants to be a saint, but what does her becoming a saint have to do with us? We don't buy food with money. There are 50 quotas a day, more than 100 kilograms of sorghum rice. Do you know how much sorghum rice costs on the black market now?"

After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai asked, "How much?"

"Twenty cents a pound, and it's going to go up."

After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai asked, "Has it doubled in size?"

Liu Rong said, "What do you think? How much will I lose if I sell 100 kilograms of sorghum rice a day? And according to my estimation, the price may rise to 25 wen in a few days."

After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai breathed heavily: "Such huge profits!"

"What do you think?"

Zhou Peng said: "I tell you, I estimate that the food supply will at least increase fivefold!"

After hearing this, the people around breathed heavily. Five times, what does this mean? This means that the assets have increased fivefold. If the net worth was 100,000 taels before, now it has become 500,000!
This is such a huge profit.

Zhou Peng looked at him and said, "So do you still think that one hundred kilograms of sorghum rice is not enough for one day?"

Wang Yuanwai said, "Not a small amount."

Zhou Peng smiled and said, "Yes, this 100 kilograms of sorghum rice is my sincerity, the princess should appreciate it."

As Zhou Peng was speaking, he saw thirty younger brothers coming back from the front yard one after another. Each of them carried a sack and went to the rice jar not far away and poured the sorghum rice in it into the jar.

Seeing this, Chai Gang leader Liu Rong asked, "Brother Zhou, what are you doing?"

Zhou Peng said: "Recycle the food."

"Hmm? Can it be recycled?"

The three looked at Zhou Peng in bewilderment. Zhou Peng said to the shopkeeper behind him, "Old Qian, please tell the three of you."

After hearing this, Lao Qian laughed and said, "Haha, fellow shopkeepers, this is the idea of ​​our gang leader. We will send people outside to line up in advance every day. Then we will sell the food to the disciples we sent to line up in advance. Here, after the food is sold out, we will come back and sell it again tomorrow, and the cycle will continue."

"To be honest, the total amount of food we sold in the past few days is less than 20 kilograms."

Ok?
After hearing this, Liu Rong and the other two seemed to have discovered a new world. They stared at Zhou Peng and asked, "Can you still do this?"

Zhou Peng laughed and said, "Why don't you guys really invest 100 kilograms of sorghum rice every day?"

"Hi!"

After hearing this, the three of them clapped their legs together. At this time, Wang Yuanwai said, "Boss Zhou, why didn't you tell us about this wonderful method earlier?"

Zhou Peng said: "You didn't ask earlier."

Liu Rong said: "Oh, I've suffered a loss, a big loss. I have sold 400 to 500 kilograms of sorghum rice in the past two days. How much money can I make if I put it on the black market?"

Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhang also agreed very much.

The black market is the latest underground trading place for selling grain established in Mianshui, which is different from the previous black markets.

Since Hua Sanniang is now completely aligned with the fishing gang, the black market she runs has suffered a great impact. As a result, a new black market has spontaneously emerged in Mianshui, specializing in the sale of grain, with prices much higher than those in the shops on the market.

But it is true that food can be bought.

Unfortunately, the price of food sold on the black market has not been going up recently. The reason is very simple: someone is causing trouble.

who?

Chen Jiusi of the fishing gang.

That's right, Chen Jiusi's Antai Grain Shop has been strictly complying with the princess's requirements recently and selling affordable grain. Although the quantity purchased by each person is limited, there is no limit on the number of people who can buy.

Moreover, Chen Jiusi also made a bold statement that the grain he had was enough to feed the people of Mianshui for a year, so he would not restrict the price of grain.

Therefore, the long queues in front of Antai Grain Store these days can stretch for several miles.

Chen Jie's daily grain sales are also increasing day by day. In the past two days, he has sold more than 6,000 stones of grain. If he sells it freely, this amount of grain will probably be snatched up in a few days.

It is precisely because Chen Jie is holding up the grain prices that the grain prices have only doubled in so many days, which can be said to be very impressive.

But some people also said that Chen Jiusi didn't have much food and was just holding on.

Moreover, there are too many people queuing up every day, and many people cannot buy food, so they can only buy it on the black market.

Therefore, in the short term, the grain price in Mianshui can remain stable.

This made those who were hoarding goods very anxious, and they were all trying to find out how much stock Chen Jiusi had left.

Yelu Mansion!
"I, Zhou Chu, greet Lord Yelu."

Zhou Chu clasped his fists towards Yelu. Yelu glanced at Zhou Chu and said, "Oh, Zhou Chu, hahaha, no need to be so polite, no need to be so polite, sit down, sit down."

Yelu extended his hand and asked Zhou Chu to sit down.

Zhou Chu sat down and Yelu clapped his hands and said, "Serve the food." Soon, several dishes were served in front of Zhou Chu, among which Yelu's favorite, sashimi.

Yelu then gestured to Zhou Chu and said, "Try it. This is pufferfish shipped from the seaside. It was made by the chef I just found. It's very fresh."

Zhou Chu lowered his head and saw a plate in front of him. There was ice on the plate and fish meat as thin as a cicada's wing and transparent on top of the ice.

It is puffer fish sashimi.

Zhou Chu took the chopsticks and took a bite. A look of surprise immediately appeared on his face and he said, "Mm, delicious, very fresh, worthy of being a top-notch sashimi."

"Alas, this is not top-notch. The top-notch one is the dragon-patterned pufferfish. That's top-notch sashimi."

Zhou Chu heard this and said, "Sir, I heard that this dragon-patterned pufferfish is extremely poisonous. Even a strong man in the Wolf Smoke Realm can be killed by it."

Yelu said: "That's right, but Zhou Chu, you don't know that the more poisonous things are in this world, the more delicious they are."

"Just like Chen Jiusi!"

Yelu said this, looking at Zhou Chu and said, "Zhou Chu, I heard that you have a close relationship with Chen Jiusi?"

Zhou Chu said: "Well, we can be said to be friends for life and death. I have known him since I was in Xiantao Village, and later we supported each other after entering Mianshui City. I used to think that we were inseparable, but..."

"Oh, let's not talk about this, let's not talk about this."

Zhou Chu looked at Yelu and said, Yelu looked at Zhou Chu and said, "It seems that Brother Zhou Chu has a lot of grievances."

Zhou Chu said: "He doesn't treat me as a human being."

Yelu said: "Brother Zhou Chu, there is no need to be like this. He doesn't treat you as a human being, but I do. The reason why Chen Jiusi was able to take the position was because I supported him. If I can support him, I can also support you. Do you want to be the leader of the Fishermen's Gang?"

Zhou Chu frowned and said, "This... Lord Yelu, Chen Jiusi is not easy to deal with!"

"Haha, how difficult can he be? Can he defeat the imperial court alone? And I represent the imperial court. Whoever I support will be in power."

"Zhou Chu, do you want to be promoted?"

"miss you!"

Zhou Chu thought for a moment and nodded vigorously: "If I didn't want to be promoted, I wouldn't be sitting in front of you today."

"Okay, if you want to get promoted, that's easy. I'll help you kill Chen Jiusi, and you'll be the leader of the Fisherman's Gang."

After hearing this, Zhou Chu looked at Yelu and said, "Yes, thank you for your support, sir."

Yelu Jian smiled and said, "You're welcome, you're welcome."

"But Zhou Chu, it's not easy to bring down Chen Jiusi. We have to do it step by step."

"Master Yelu, what can I do?"

Yelu thought for a moment and said, "Help me do something first."

"Sir, what's the matter?"

"Did you know that there is a food shortage in Mianshui?"

Yelu looked at Zhou Chu, and Zhou Chu said, "I know."

Yelu said: "Chen Jiusi has a batch of grain."

Zhou Chu said: "Yes, it is stored in the warehouse."

Yelu said: "Burn it for me!"

"what!"

Zhou Chu's eyes suddenly widened: "Burned?"

Yelu said: "Burn it."

Yelu was adamant that it must be burned down. Chen Jiusi's grain shop had greatly affected the price of grain on the black market. He had already borrowed grain from Yong'an Prefecture. His old classmate was very helpful. One hundred thousand shi of grain had already been allocated and would arrive in about ten days.

But now the grain price in Mianshui has always been unable to go up. The price in Yelu's mind is fifty to sixty coins per catty.

That is to say, the price of grain will at least increase fivefold, which means that once he gets these 100,000 shi of grain, he will make five times the difference.

This is his real purpose.

But now Chen Jiusi's grain shop has been selling grain continuously, causing many people to wait and see, and the price on the black market dare not rise too much.

Therefore, the price only doubled, which was not what Yelu expected. If he could only make this little profit, he would not do it.

So he thought of burning Chen Jiusi's stored grain, leaving Antai Grain Shop with no grain to sell. Naturally, the grain price on the black market would go up. Ten days later, the price rose to fifty or sixty cents. He could just sell it directly and make a fortune.

This money is enough to make up for his recent losses.

So Chen Jiusi’s food had to be burned.

And Zhou Chu is a very useful chess piece. Yelu was suspicious of Zhou Chu's surrender to him, so he took this opportunity to test Zhou Chu.

See if he is truly loyal or just pretending.

Therefore, he directly asked Zhou Chu to burn Chen Jie's granary.

Zhou Chu shook his head and said, "No, I can't burn it."

Yelu frowned and said, "Zhou Chu, what you said just now about joining me and overthrowing Chen Jiusi, were all false words?"

"Do you have any conspiracy in contacting me?"

Yelu squinted his eyes and looked at Zhou Chu, but Zhou Chu clasped his fists and said, "Lord Yelu, I am sincerely surrendering to you. Chen Jiusi and I are sworn enemies, but I cannot burn the grain. The 100,000 people in Mianshui depend on this batch of grain to survive. I, Zhou Chu, can do wicked things, but I cannot joke with the lives of so many people."

"So, Lord Yelu, I can't burn it. If I burn it, I will definitely feel guilty, and I am afraid I will never be able to live in peace for the rest of my life."

Zhou Chu looked at Yelu and said.

Yelu looked at Zhou Chu carefully, and then suddenly laughed and said, "I didn't expect you to be a man of great righteousness. Well, you can go ahead and burn it. Don't worry about the food. I have sent people to transport the food into the Mian River."

"Um, really?"

Zhou Chu looked at Yelu and asked. Yelu said, "Why would I lie to you? If you burn Chen Jiusi's food and I can't bring new food, I will do whatever you say."

Zhou Chu looked at Yelu and said, "Sir, how much food do you want to bring?"

Yelu looked at Zhou Chu and said, "Don't worry about it. The quantity will definitely be enough. Don't worry."

After hearing this, Zhou Chu pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, then my lord, I will burn Chen Jiusi's food, but my lord, you said that nominating me as the leader of the fishing gang will count."

"Don't worry, after Chen Jiusi falls, you will be the leader of the Fisherman's Gang."

"Thank you, sir. I feel relieved now. I will definitely burn down the fishing gang's granary in the next one or two days."

After hearing this, Yelu raised his cup and said, "I wish you a great victory."

Zhou Chu said: "I would like to thank you for your good words, sir."

The two raised their glasses and toasted each other, thus reaching an agreement.

After having a good meal and a good drink, Zhou Chu left through a small door. As he left, the butler came over and said to Yelu, "Sir, do you think he is really willing to join you?"

Yelu laughed when he heard this and said, "Whether it's sincere or false, it doesn't matter, as long as you can be of use to me, it's good."

After hearing this, the butler said, "Your Excellency is wise."

……

At this time, Chen Jie was also invited by the princess to her residence.

"Chen Jiusi, meet the princess."

The princess looked at Chen Jie and said, "Chen Jiusi, I asked you to come here this time for two things."

"Please speak clearly, my lord."

Chen Jie looked at the princess, and the princess said, "First, the things I promised you have arrived, the recipe for the Wolf Smoke Realm, and the herbs you bought. In addition, here are eighty first-grade Tai Sui pills."

The princess pointed to something on the table.

Chen Jie's eyes lit up when he saw this, and he immediately went over, picked up the prescription on the table and started to look at it.

【Wen Yun Dan】

Chen Jie first looked at the name of the pill formula, followed by the forty-eight auxiliary medicines and three main medicines.

Chen Jie looked around for auxiliary medicines and found that he still had some of them, including a lot of Hua Jin herbs, some precious herbs below Hua Jin, and even some herbs that could be used in the Qi and Blood Bao Dan realm.

Chen Jie already had some of them, and some of them he could get by slowly, so it wasn't something that was difficult to accomplish.

There are mainly three main ingredients, which Chen Jie has never seen before.

They are [True Spirit Grass] [Wolf Smoke Fruit] [Yulin Bamboo Root]

Chen Jie looked at these three herbs and frowned, because he had never heard of them before.

At this time, Zhao Ya said: "Why are you looking at me like that? These herbs are indeed very precious and generally hard to get."

Chen Jie looked at Zhao Ya and said, "The princess can't do it either?"

Zhao Ya was silent for a moment after hearing this and said, "I, I actually have a medicine in my hand."

Chen Jie's eyes lit up and asked, "What?"

Zhao Ya said: "True spiritual grass!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at the princess and said, "I'll give all eighty Tai Sui Pills to you, can you give me this Zhen Ling Cao?"

Zhao Ya shook her head slightly and said, "I don't need Tai Sui Dan."

Chen Jie frowned, and Zhao Ya said, "Let's not talk about this for now. I want to tell you something serious."

Hearing this, Chen Jie wanted to say, isn't this [True Spirit Grass] the real deal? However, seeing the princess's anxious look, Chen Jie remained silent and looked at Zhao Ya. Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and said, "I'm afraid that the matter of borrowing grain that Chen Jiusi told you about will have some twists and turns."

Chen Jie looked at Zhao Ya and asked, "What do you mean, Princess? Didn't you get the grain?"

After hearing this, Zhao Ya was silent for a moment and said, "I can't say that I didn't borrow it. I can only say that Ah San, please talk to Jiu Si."

After hearing this, Ah San said, "Yes, I rushed to Huangzhou Prefecture and met with the young prince. I told him that we wanted to borrow grain. The young prince asked me to tell the princess that because of the war in the north, all the grain in Huangzhou Prefecture has been sent north. Now Huangzhou Prefecture is also short of grain, and it is impossible to meet the 300,000 shi gap in Mianshui County."

"But the young prince couldn't bear to see the princess being stumped by this matter, so he agreed to help her raise some money, but the maximum he could provide was only 30,000 dan of grain, and he couldn't do anything more than that."

Ah San told Chen Jie what happened. Chen Jie looked at Ah San and said, "So, Huangzhou Prefecture can only transport 30,000 shi in total?"

Ah San said: "Yes, there is no more Huangzhou Prefecture."

After hearing this, Chen Jie's eyes narrowed slightly, full of worry. This was not a easy situation. Huangzhou Prefecture had 30,000 shi, and he had 70,000 shi in his hands. The gangs, big and small, and the gentry families in the city also had 50,000 shi.

All together, this is still half less than the agreed amount, at least 150,000 shi less.

Thinking of this, Chen Jie frowned. Zhao Ya standing beside him wanted to know that she had not done this matter well. She had originally promised Chen Jie, but now even if all the grain in the entire Mianshui County was counted, the shortfall was still not even half, which was still too huge.

Zhao Ya said: "No, I will go to other states to ask."

Chen Jie said: "Princess, there is a war in the north, Huangzhou Prefecture is being levied for grain, and other prefectures cannot help but be levied for grain. It is extremely difficult for the princess to collect grain from other prefectures!"

"These local officials are only thinking about making money for themselves. Food is so important now. Even if the princess uses her connections, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get enough food."

Zhao Ya sighed and said, "I didn't expect the situation to be so bad."

Chen Jie thought for a moment and said, "It's alright, Princess. This matter is not unsolvable."

After hearing this, Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and said, "Jiu Si, do you have a solution?"

Chen Jie said: "There is a way, but it still requires the princess's full support."

Zhao Ya said: "That's easy. As long as you can save the people in this city, I'm willing to help you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie clasped his fists and said, "The princess is righteous."

The princess looked at Chen Jie and said, "What do you have in mind? Tell me quickly."

Chen Jie said: "Princess, I'm afraid it won't work if I tell you, but as long as you trust me, I can definitely gather enough food to save the people of Mianshui."

Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and said, "Okay, if you can really save the people in this city, then if there is nothing else, I will give you the [True Spirit Grass]."

"really!"

Chen Jie's eyes lit up when he heard this. Zhao Ya said, "Seriously, I, Zhao Ya, never lie when I say anything."

After hearing this, Chen Jie immediately smiled and said, "In that case, thank you very much, Princess."

Zhao Ya said, "Hey, don't thank me too early. The premise is that you can save the people of this city. If you can't save the people of this city, not only will I not reward you, but I will also punish you severely."

Chen Jie laughed after hearing this and said, "Haha, Princess, don't worry, I have a brilliant plan."

Zhao Ya said: "Then I will wait and see."

Chen Jie clasped his fists and said, "Princess, you can rest assured."

Zhao Ya said: "You are quite confident."

Chen Jie lowered his head in silence, thinking to himself that he actually had two contingency plans long ago. The first one was that if Zhao Ya found food, that would be easy to deal with, as it would just solve the city's urgent need for coal.

If the princess cannot find the food, then Chen Jie will have to use his own methods.

Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and asked, "How do you want me to cooperate with you?"

Chen Jie heard this: "Princess, you need to help me do two things now."

Zhao Ya heard this and asked, "Which two things?"

Chen Jie said: "First, the grain borrowed from Huangzhou Prefecture, the princess gave it to me to manage."

Zhao Ya said: "Okay."

"Second, the county lord must post a notice to the public, stating that it is to appease the people and call on the powerful families, gangs, and officials in the city to use their own channels to raise grain and make contributions to the country."

Zhao Ya frowned and said, "This will work? They didn't listen to my orders, so if I issue a notice to reassure the people, it will work?"

Zhao Ya looked puzzled, but Chen Jie said, "Hahaha... Princess, you don't know that sometimes, this notice is more useful than your order."

After hearing this, Zhao Ya said, "These two things are easy to do. Are there any others?"

Chen Jie said: "Not for now, but in the future, I will definitely need the princess's help."

Zhao Ya heard this and said, "Hey, Jiusi, since the notice is useful, why don't I hold a banquet tomorrow and invite the city's leading figures. I will call on everyone, and then you can give me the ninety second-grade Tai Sui pills and say that you are helping me raise food. How do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at Zhao Ya and said, "The princess is wise."

"In this way, I can give the Tai Sui Pill to the princess in public without anyone noticing it, and at the same time, I can let others find a way to accept the notice. Wonderful, wonderful!"

Zhao Ya said: "Haha, of course, this princess's method is not ordinary. Oh, by the way, how are you going to raise the remaining 150,000 shi of grain?"

Chen Jie said: "The hermit has a clever plan."

Zhao Ya said: "Humph, who cares to know? I'm telling you, if you mess up, I'll show you how I'll deal with you."

Chen Jie looked at Zhao Ya who suddenly became arrogant and knew that she was throwing a tantrum.

However, Chen Jie was not ready to say it clearly, so he collected all the other things on the table and left the princess's residence directly.

Watching Chen Jie's departing figure, Zhao Ya looked at Ah San and said, "What do you think Chen Jiusi has come up with?"

Ah San said: "I don't know, but if he says he can do it, then he can definitely do it."

Zhao Ya was stunned and looked at Ah San and said, "You seem to trust him quite a lot."

After saying that, he rested his chin on his hand and asked, "How on earth is he going to fill this huge hole?"

……

It was dark at night. Chen Jie left Zhao Ya's residence carrying a bag of things. He found a deserted place and threw the things in the bag directly into the iron ring. Then Chen Jie walked around in circles and finally came to a wonton stall.

Someone was already waiting for him. Chen Jie sat down, looked at the three empty wonton bowls on the table and said, "Old Zhou, you must be a starving ghost."

Zhou Chu said: "Fuck, who knew that Yelu only ate raw fish? That thing didn't satisfy his hunger, so he ate more."

Chen Jie heard this and asked, "How is your injury?"

Zhou Chu said: "Okay, Gang Leader, after taking your Tai Sui Dan, not only did your injury heal, but your strength also increased, hehe..."

"That's good."

Chen Jie nodded, and Zhou Chu said, "Boss, let's talk business. Yelu asked me to burn down the granary of our fishing gang."

"Burning food?"

Chen Jie was stunned for a moment and then asked, "Did he get the food?"

Zhou Chu said: "Well, he said he got a large amount of food, but he didn't say where he got it from or how much he got."

After hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Haha, knowing that he got the grain makes things easier. I was just worried that no one would fill the gap, and it's just right that he came. As for where he got it from, a small amount won't solve the problem, and a large amount is probably from the government warehouse. If Huangzhou Prefecture has no grain, then it must be Yong'an Prefecture, or Xiaogan Prefecture. We'll know once we check."

Chen Jie analyzed.

Zhou Chu heard this and said, "It's good that the gang leader knows what's going on. By the way, he asked me to burn the food?"

Chen Jie said: "Burn it, haha, you must burn it. If I don't burn the grain, how can I plan? Go and burn the east warehouse tomorrow."

Zhou Chu heard this and asked, "What about the food?"

Chen Jie said: "I have already switched the food. Food is so precious now. Can I just leave it there and wait for others to destroy it?"

Zhou Chu heard this and said, "Then I will really burn it tomorrow."

Chen Jie said: "Burn."

"If we don't burn it, how can Yelu get involved?"

Chen Jie raised his head and looked up at the sky and said, "Haha, Yelu, this time I want to see who is the hunter and who is the prey!"

(End of this chapter)