Zhao Mingyu didn't dare to go against Chen Xi openly.

Chen Xi insisted on meeting local merchants, and the order Kaifeng Prefecture asked for money and grain from the merchants in the city was stopped as soon as it was issued, which made Zhao Mingyu very upset.

Originally, Chenxi had to meet local officials and gentry first and then local merchants, but after what happened last night, Chenxi directly changed the local merchants and then local merchants.

Zhao Mingyu originally wanted to see what Chen Xi was going to do, but was told that outsiders were not allowed to attend this meeting, and even local governments could not send people to attend the meeting.

Zhao Mingyu was able to serve as a fourth-rank prefect in a key place like Kaifeng Prefecture, and he still had the ability to come up with a solution in a blink of an eye... He first greeted several merchants who participated in this meeting and asked them to spread the news as soon as possible, so that he could know what Chen Xi’s plan was.

Unfortunately, during this meeting, Chen Xi did not intend to negotiate details with these merchants in person, but only appeared and returned to the storefront, expressed his importance to local merchants in Kaifeng Prefecture, and made a promise to borrow and repay them in public. Finally, Yunliu agreed with them in detail.

Chen Xi took the lead in leaving the noisy venue and came to Kaifeng Prefecture, preparing to meet Zhao Mingyu and go out to the city to provide disaster relief together later.

"Duke Chen, it's very messy outside now. The victims gather together, it's dirty and smelly. You don't have to go out of the city in person, just let the people below take a trip to handle the matter."

Zhao Ming became more and more embarrassed.

Yesterday, when Chen Xi arrived in Kaifeng, he had no choice as the highest administrative official at the local level. He followed Chen Xi among the victims, mainly to show his image as a good official who did his own work and worked hard in front of Shen Xi, the Minister of Personnel.

Now that he has done superficial work, he feels that there is no need to pretend to be hypocritical and hide behind and control the overall situation.

Chen Xi frowned and said, "If Magistrate Zhao doesn't want to go, I can go alone."

Zhao Mingyu quickly changed his words: "It's just that there are some trivial matters in the city. The officials originally wanted to stay in the government office to deal with it, but since Duke Chen insisted on going, the officials would definitely be accompanied."

...

...

Zhao Mingyu followed Chen Xi out of the city, and was still thinking about the merchants gathered in the inns in the city. He wanted to know what deal Chen Xi's subordinates had reached with those merchants.

It was not until noon that the officials from the prefectural office came out of the city and arrived on the river bank to inform Zhao Mingyu. At this time, Chen Xi was holding a telescope to look at the dam-broken mouth on the other side of the Yellow River. There were densely packed disaster victims around, and it was inconvenient to speak.

Zhao Mingyu saw his subordinates waving in the distance, his eyes rolled, he approached Chen Xi, and whispered: "You have something to deal with, please don't worry, Duke Chen please do it first."

Chen Xi put down his telescope, looked around first, and then nodded at Zhao Ming, and Zhao Ming hurried towards the informant.

At the same time, Xier had already brought the news from the city, climbed the river bank, and came directly to Chenxi, "Sir, the matter has been discussed. The merchants in the city are willing to take out 40,000 stones of grain and sell it to us at the price before the disaster a year ago. We can just replenish them silver."

Chen Xi nodded and asked, "Where are the conditions?"

Xier said angrily: "They want to do business with us. Please ask the adults to hand over the industrial products manufactured in Xincheng to the merchants under the Kaifeng Chamber of Commerce to monopolize the transactions in Henan. They also want to send some people to open shops in Xincheng to sell local specialties in Henan, and also find a way out for the wealthy labor force in Henan. I hope the adults can agree... I really don't know what's wrong!"

Chen Xi gave Xier a blank look and said angrily: "They are willing to take out 40,000 stones of grain to solve my big trouble. The conditions they offer are not too high, but too low. In this way, I don't want them to suffer losses... I will give them more benefits, first allocate a piece of land in the new city to build buildings and clubs, and become the base of the Henan Chamber of Commerce."

Xier said in surprise: "Sir, we have paid for the goods twice, so we can give a certain discount, so why bother too much?"

Chen Xidao: "Do you think that just relying on merchants in Kaifeng Prefecture can save the flood in front of you? I want people from all over Henan to see that whoever cooperates with me can give them enough benefits. Even if they don't want it, I will take the initiative to give them something to make a fortune... But if anyone wants to play with Huatou, I will let them know the consequences of going against me."

Xier thought for a while and nodded, "Sir, this is to win people's hearts. Uh... Bei Zhi said the wrong thing."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "It's not necessary to hide it. The truth is that. I will give them whatever they want from me. Of course, they have to give me what I want with sincerity. This is a win-win cooperation. Go to the city immediately to inform them that half of the food should be sent out in one day, send people to help me transport it to the severely affected area on the north bank of the Yellow River."

Xier said, "That adult, don't you need to recruit people from the government to help?"

Chen Xi shook his head slightly: "The people from the prefect's office cannot count on it, but the people from the local garrison office and the inspection department can be recruited. Now there is a major disaster. In addition to repairing the river embankment and providing relief to the victims, we must also beware of large-scale plagues that will occur afterwards, and also beware of civil unrest."

Xier smiled and said, "With an adult here, I will keep those little thieves and dare not cause trouble."

...

...

Zhao Mingyu was extremely surprised after receiving the news from his subordinates.

He knew very well what 40,000 s of grain meant, and even when the Kaifeng Prefecture Treasury was full, he could not produce so much grain.

"This is six or seven million kilograms of grain... This Duke Shen's move is really extraordinary."

Zhao Mingyu felt extremely emotional, but then he looked puzzled, "But the problem is... those merchants really have so much food? Or are they talking nonsense here and cheating Lord Shen?"

Zhao Mingyu returned to Chen Xi with a lot of questions. He wanted to pretend to be ignorant, but Chen Xi said to him directly: "The merchants in the city decided to take out 40,000 stones of grain and raise them within two days to provide disaster relief."

Zhao Ming was a little surprised: "Ah! Why did Lord Shen tell me so bluntly that he would not hide it at all? If I had known this, I would not have to spend time asking someone for information. If Duke Chen knew about my little move, it would be difficult to explain."

Zhao Mingyu hurriedly said: "Duke Chen, you have to think clearly. Compared with the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan, the merchants in Kaifeng Prefecture are not as rich as that. How can they take so much food... Don't just deceive you!"

Chenxidao: "According to what they said, the grain stored in their shop is about 20,000 shi. When they heard that the Yellow River broke the dam, they immediately organized a supply of goods from surrounding prefectures and counties, but only purchased more than 5,000 shi of refined grains, and the remaining 15,000 shi were corn, sweet potatoes and other coarse grains... With these grains, the victims around Kaifeng Prefecture can be properly resettled."

"This is..."

Zhao Mingyu thought about it and found that 40,000 stones of grain could indeed solve the big problem.

One stone in the Ming Dynasty weighs about 154 kilograms. This kilogram is not a 500 grams of later generations, but nearly 600 grams per kilogram. In this way, 40,000 stones are equivalent to nearly 4 million kilograms in later generations. According to the calculation of one kilogram per person per day in famine years, it can be used for 100,000 people to eat for seventy days, which can indeed solve the urgent problem.

Chen Xi said again: "According to the plan, I will go to see the rich and wealthy gentry in the city next time. They have a lot of land on hand and should have a lot of food."

Zhao Mingyu quickly said: "Will someone send someone to notify me now?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "It seems that it is better to not see these people for the time being. It is too difficult to expect them to take out the food... Didn't Zhao Gong surrender before?"

"ah?"

Zhao Mingyu didn't expect that Chen Xi was actually Men Qing's situation. He was caught off guard and had no way to explain this other words. He stammered: "Every family has a difficult sutra. Although the gentry has great achievements, they have also suffered a disaster this time and they really can't force it."

Chenxi Road: "As far as I know, Kaifeng Prefecture's main fertile fields are on the south bank of the Yellow River. Kaifeng Prefecture has always built river embankments to make the south bank embankments higher and firmer. At the same time, the silt in the river channel dredged every year is also used in the south bank embankments... Is this official wrong?"

When Zhao Mingyu heard this, he felt that Chen Xi was asking for guilt and quickly explained: "Donald Chen was a wise judge. The officials were not very clear about these matters... The officials were a Jinshi in the sixth year of Hongzhi. They had previously been in the capital, Shaanxi, and Shu as officials, and they had not served as the prefect of Kaifeng for a long time... Although the river embankment had been strengthened in the past two years, the river repair was mainly carried out by the Henan Governor's Office, and the local government only followed the above orders."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Prince Zhao, don't worry. I am not pursuing which side of the river embankment is more solid. Now that the disaster has occurred, we should think about how to rescue the disaster and how to avoid it in the future... As for the responsibility for the breach, we naturally have to wait for the river embankment to be repaired and disaster relief will be completed before we talk about it."

“Yes, yes!”

Zhao Mingyu looked panicked, and his thoughts did not come out of Chen Xi's accountability for a moment.

Chen Xi said again: "Even if there are any wealthy families in the city, they will probably not take it out. I cannot forcefully collect grain. Now... the merchants in the city are willing to buy it, striving to increase the total amount of grain collected to 60,000 shi. After all, restoring the river bank is a physical job, and adults can only have the energy to work after eating two kilograms of grain a day... But add 20% to the market price before the disaster, and buy it from the wealthy and gentry owners... What does Zhao Magistrate think?"

Zhao Mingyu thought for the better, shook his head and said, "Your Highness can understand the intention of Duke Chen, but the current price of grain has increased by more than twice. It is somewhat unrealistic to want to collect grain at a low price."

Chen Xi pondered for a moment and said, "As long as it is not too much, I can meet the requirements of the gentry in the city, but the difference must be adjusted after the disaster relief funds are allocated, but now this price can only be given. At the same time, I can give a clear letter. In the past two years, I will try my best to reduce and exempt, and the people in the disaster-stricken areas of Kaifeng Prefecture will be properly resettled... Only if the people have the needs, the land of the gentry also needs to be cultivated after the flood recedes. Protecting the people is to protect themselves, and I hope they will think twice before doing it."

Zhao Mingyu did not refute Chen Xi's words. He felt that all this had nothing to do with him. He was just a middleman. No matter how Chen Xi made a decision, at most he would ask him to pass on a message, whether he agreed, or whether the gentry and wealthy families had any objections, it was not something he could decide.

Zhao Mingyu said: "In this way, the next step is that Duke Shen will not meet them, and the lower officials will do it on their behalf?"

Chen Xi shook his head and said, "The meeting should be done by the people brought by me. Prefect Zhao only needs to be transferred to the position after going back... There should be government affairs in the city that need to be handled urgently, so I will not try to keep it. Prefect Zhao please."

Zhao Mingyu was very surprised and thought to himself: "I didn't want to come before, you insisted that I come. Now I'm not in a hurry to leave, but you want to drive me away? What's the reason?"

Zhao Mingyu said: "The officials can also accompany Duke Chen to inspect more, but this place is not a place to collapse. If you want to know the specific disaster, you may have to cross the north bank of the Yellow River."

Chen Xi looked at the north bank after hearing this and sighed softly: "Magistrate Zhao said that I did think so, but I had sent people to the other side of the river earlier. Now the disaster relief work in the north is in an orderly manner. I believe that it will take no time for the people to build a dam on the river embankment..."

"In order to solve the Yellow River flood once and for all, I have allocated a large number of cement from Jiangnan to the disaster area. The Yellow River will never be allowed to become a sword hanging on the heads of the people on both sides of the river. It will fall down at any time... The Yellow River flood must be eradicated from my official."

"ah!?"

Zhao Mingyu didn't expect that Chen Xi would do things in a straightforward manner, so he sent people to the disaster area so quickly, and even did not ask for anyone from the prefect's office.

Chenxi Road: "After a year, the local government will use no small amount of disaster relief funds, and disaster relief is not a matter of several days. It is important to build river dams and ensure that the people have a full meal, but more importantly, to prevent the occurrence of plague and the subsequent recovery of people's livelihood. The official will not stay in the local area for a long time, and the rest of the matter will be done mainly by you, Prefect Zhao."

Zhao Ming became more and more confused and looked confused, but he still saluted: "The officials must do their best to let the people in the disaster area live and work as soon as possible."

...

...

Lin Qingzhou, Zhu Houzhao still looked half-dead.

But now he wants to go back to the capital.

Because he had been angry with the people below, he said that he would wait for Chen Xi to come back to walk together to show his respect for Chen Xi, which made him embarrassed to regret it.

In the past two days, he has become a little enthusiastic about the disaster in Henan. In addition to asking Xiao Tiaozi, he also called Zhang Yong, who had been neglected before, to ask questions.

However, what Zhu Houzhao cares more about was the return of Jiang Bin and Xu Tai. At the same time, Qian Ning, who said goodbye to Chen Xi in Xuzhou, came to Zhu Houzhao to report to him, was almost here.

"Qian Ning said he was coming to Linqing?"

Zhu Houzhao was a little surprised when she heard that Qian Ning was coming back. She frowned in front of Zhang Yong and Xiaotiao, "Didn't I let him stay with Shen Shangshu to serve? There is no errand here for him to do."

When Zhang Yong heard this, he thought to himself: "Qian Ning was neglected by His Majesty before, and he thought he had done something wrong, but according to His Majesty's tone, it seemed that he had just been dispatched to do things. Now Qian Ning has re-appointed the position of commander of the Jinyiwei, and has great power. If he also defected to Lord Shen, Lord Shen would be said to be strong."

Zhang Yongdao: "Your Majesty, Commander Qian came back to report his life. He specially sent someone to inform him that he would arrive in the next two days."

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "Where is Jiang Bin? When will he be back?"

Zhang Yong was a little worried when he heard Jiang Bin's name. Obviously, compared to Qian Ning, he was even more afraid of the emperor's favor to Jiang Bin, and said immediately: "Mr. Jiang has not heard of news yet, but I think it's coming soon."

Zhu Houzhao nodded: "I want to go back to the capital, so don't let anyone go here, but it's reasonable to go back together... I quickly urge Mr. Chen to complete the errand as soon as possible. If it is not completed temporarily, it will be handed over to the local officials for handling. I don't want the important officials in the court to delay too long in the disaster area."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong couldn't help but look up at the little knives standing beside him, and then asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, will you issue an edict to urge me?"
Chapter completed!