"Your Majesty! Not good! Not good! The thousands of mu of farmland outside the city have all been trampled overnight. The wheat seedlings have all been trampled into the ground, and it looks like they won't survive! "
On the 24th day of the fourth month of the second year of Zhenguan, Liang Shidou had just come out of his bedroom when an old eunuch ran over and shouted.
Liang Shidou's expression froze, and his face instantly darkened. He angrily said, "What? Thousands of mu of farmland have been trampled? Did you find out who did it? "
The old eunuch hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Wang Shaoqing has already brought people to investigate, but they only saw many messy horse hoofprints in the fields. They can conclude that someone rode a horse at night and trampled on the crops. They don't know anything else!"
"Horse hoofprints? Has the Great Tang cavalry already arrived outside Shuofang City? "
Liang Shidou's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly had a bad premonition. With an ugly expression, he said, "Have Xin Liao 'er immediately send scouts out of the city to see if there are any Tang soldiers hiding around Shuofang City. Have Li Zhengbao increase the security of the city to prevent any Tang spies from entering the city to incite the people!"
"This old servant obeys!"
The old eunuch also smelled a trace of something unusual and hurriedly left to carry out the order.
…
Even though Liang Shidou had sent generals and soldiers to increase the patrols in the city, as the saying goes, preventing the mouths of the people was more important than preventing the river from flowing. Once the people's mouths were opened because of something big, it could not be stopped!
Furthermore, the Great Tang emissary had just left two days ago, and now, thousands of mu of farmland outside the city had been trampled. For such a thing to happen at such a sensitive time, it was hard for the people not to think of the worst!
The Tang army had cut off Daliang's grain and was about to attack Shuofang City!
This kind of rumor spread everywhere in the city. There was no need for Liu Min to send spies into the city to fan the flames. After a morning, the news had already spread like wildfire. Those gentry and noble families who had good eyesight packed up their valuables and quickly escaped Shuofang City before Liang Shidou closed the city gates!
Liang Shidou saw that he could no longer control the public opinion, so he quickly ordered the city gates to be closed. No one was allowed to enter or leave!
In the forest outside the city, in the tent of the Tang Army!
Yuchi Jingde said in a low voice, "According to the reports, Master Liang has sent out a large number of scouts to search for us outside the city. In order to prevent them from discovering the location of our main forces, General Xue, this chief steward orders you to take two thousand cavalry and immediately move out to trample the crops. While you're at it, draw the attention of the scouts in Shuo Fang City. Once a large army pursues from Shuo Fang City, immediately retreat to the southeast and draw them away!"
The Tang army had a total of more than eighty thousand people. Although they were hidden in the forest, it was still difficult to not be discovered by the Liang army with so many people. Therefore, Yuchi Jingde thought of this method.
Xue Wanjun received the order and said, "This general obeys!"
Yuchi Jingde nodded and said, "Once all the crops outside the city have been trampled, we will dispatch troops to surround Shuofang City. At that time, the spies inside the city will move out together. Without food and being surrounded by us on all sides, the officials and common people inside the city will definitely be alarmed. At that time, we will break through the city in one fell swoop!"
"Yes! Head Chief! "
…
Lantian County, Cloud Mountain Courtyard.
"Marquis! Boss Feng's fleet has returned. They are now nearing the Ba River Pier! "
When it was close to noon, Pang Feiji rushed into the house and reported to Li Zexuan.
Li Zexuan's spirit was lifted. He could not help but be overjoyed and said, "Really? That's great! Immediately go to Lantian County and find County Magistrate He. Tell him to send all the bailiffs in the county to the pier to transport the seeds! At that time, you will bring all the guards in the residence over as well! "
It was already the end of April. Logically speaking, it was a little late to plant cotton. However, if they wanted to plant it, they would definitely be able to do so. Moreover, the nutrient bowl method could also increase the survival rate of the seeds! Therefore, in general, if they immediately started planting now, they would still be able to catch the 'last bus'!
Pang Feiji clasped his fists and said, "Yes! Marquis! "
Li Zexuan nodded and immediately went out. He asked someone to bring Big White over. He rode alone on the white horse and galloped towards the pier downstream of the Ba River!
When he arrived at the pier, Li Zexuan happened to see the Feng family's big boat approaching the pier. After waiting for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the big boat docked. Feng Zhihua quickly jumped down from the big boat and cupped his hands towards Li Zexuan in a flattered manner. He said, "Marquis! What virtue and ability do I have to trouble you to personally welcome me?! "
Li Zexuan laughed and said, "Boss Feng, you have traveled thousands of miles to buy the White Fold Flower Seeds for me. How can you not be worthy of me personally welcoming you? Boss Feng, you have worked hard on this journey! "
Feng Zhihua cupped his hands and said, "It's not hard at all! It's not hard at all! It's my honor to work for Marquis! Fortunately, I did not disappoint you on this trip south to Guangdong. I used the Immortal Mirror and Colored Glass items that Marquis gave me to exchange for a total of 16,000 catties of White Fold Flower Seeds. I have a balance of more than 3200 strings of silver! If it weren't for the fact that the Nanyang sea merchants are running out of seeds, I would have exchanged for even more White Fold Flower Seeds for Marquis! "
Li Zexuan said in surprise, "You actually managed to exchange for so many flower seeds? And there's still a balance? "
Back then, he had given Feng Zhihua 80,000 strings of cash worth of rare products from the workshop and asked him to bring them to Guangdong to exchange for 10,000 catties of White Fold Flower Seeds with the Nanyang sea merchants. Although the merchants of small Nanyang countries loved the items in the Immortal Mirror and Colored Glass Cups and would give a lot of premium, Li Zexuan did not expect that there would be so much premium. After calculating, the 80,000 strings of cash worth of goods had been sold to the Nanyang merchants for almost 160,000 strings of cash!
Feng Zhihua smiled slightly and said, "This is mainly due to the Nanyang sea merchants. It's rare to see so many Immortal Mirrors and Colored Glass Cups. The price they offer is usually about 50% higher than the market price in Chang 'an. Moreover, Marquis, don't think that the White Fold Flower Seeds in Chang' an City are expensive. That's because the Barbarian merchants raised the price. In the Nanyang sea merchants, one or two White Fold Flower Seeds only cost 300 copper coins! Therefore, in the end, not only was I able to exchange for 16,000 catties of seeds, but I also have a balance of more than 3,000 strings of cash! "
When Li Zexuan heard this, he could not help but secretly praise Feng Zhihua for his honesty. If Feng Zhihua did not take the initiative to say this, he would definitely not know. If Feng Zhihua really wanted to embezzle, he could have embezzled tens of thousands of strings of cash on this trip and not be discovered. However, Feng Zhihua did not do so. Li Zexuan said with a gratified and happy expression,
"Good! Boss Feng, you've been running around all this time. Moreover, you've spent a lot of money hiring crew and repairing the ship. You don't have to give me the balance of more than 3,000 strings of cash. I can't let you come here for nothing and even pay for it, right? "
Feng Zhihua hurriedly waved his hands and said, "No, no, no! Marquis, I've long become indifferent to money. I can't accept this money! "
Li Zexuan smiled and said, "Haha! Boss Feng, you and I have already agreed before we left. Don't reject it anymore! This trip to the South, I owe you a favor! If you have any difficulties in the future, feel free to look for me! If I can help you, I'll definitely help you! "
"Marquis! Yo! I'm really lucky to have such a seed! This is really great! "
At this moment, County Magistrate He finally arrived at the harbor with a group of yamen runners. Seeing the large ship full of seeds, County Magistrate He could not help but exclaim in joy.
Recently, it was not only Li Zexuan who was waiting anxiously for the seeds. He was also waiting anxiously! April was almost over. If they could not start planting now, they would not be able to plant in the future. If that happened, the land that the commoners had cleared would be for nothing!
Feng Zhihua had met County Magistrate He before. At this moment, he hurriedly went forward to greet County Magistrate He.
Li Zexuan looked at County Magistrate He and ordered, "County Magistrate He, there is a total of sixteen thousand catties of White Fold Seed. Immediately order the yamen runners to send three thousand catties to the Imperial Palace. Bring ten thousand catties back to the county office's warehouse. As for the remaining three thousand catties, I'll have people move them to Yunshan!"
Back then, Li Er wanted to promote the planting of White Fold Seed in the Imperial Plantation. He also asked Li Zexuan to help him solve the problem of the seeds. Therefore, these three thousand catties of seeds were to be sent to Li Er.
As for the other three thousand catties, he planned to give one thousand five hundred catties to his father-in-law and another one thousand five hundred catties to the Ye Family in Nanyang.
Previously, Ye Guozhong had mentioned to him that if he had any extra seeds, he should leave some for the Ye Family.
As a prominent family in Nanyang, the Ye Family naturally had a lot of villages and land. In addition, Ye Fashan had also made a great contribution in suppressing the rebellion in the city. However, when it was time to reward him, Ye Fashan had already gone to the south to seek Dao. Li Er had no way to reward Ye Fashan himself. He could only add this reward to the Ye Family in Nanyang. In total, he rewarded Ye Fashan's father, Ye Huiming, with a total of four hundred villages!
Therefore, the Ye Family had the ability to "digest" these one thousand five hundred catties of seeds!
"Yes! Marquis! "
County Magistrate He cupped his hands in response. Then, he ordered the dozens of yamen runners behind him, "Did you all hear that? Hurry up and help unload the goods on the ship! "
"Yes!"
The group of yamen runners accepted the order and left.
Feng Zhihua was very perceptive and said, "Haha! I'll get the crew and the commoners to help. This way, it will be faster! "
County Magistrate He could not help but laugh, "Then, thank you, Boss Feng!"
He knew that the reason why Li Zexuan was able to get so many White Stack Seeds was mainly because of this businessman in front of him. Therefore, he did not dare to underestimate him.
"County Magistrate, you're too polite!"
Feng Zhihua cupped his hands and smiled.
At this moment, Li Zexuan instructed, "County Magistrate He, remember to send someone to inform all the farmsteads in Lantian County. Tell all the farmsteads who signed up at the county office and reclaimed one mu of land to go to the county office tomorrow morning to sign the agreement and receive the flower seeds! As for the farming tools used to make the nutrient bowl, each household can use the agreement to receive one free of charge! If anyone feels that one is not enough, they can also go to the county town's Strange Interest Pavilion to buy one. It only costs eighty copper coins! "
County Magistrate He cupped his hands and said, "Marquis is benevolent and righteous. I'll do as you say!"
…
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