Chapter 56                                                             �

Zhang Hui talked happily and said, "Justice Zhao had just said that there are food around. Only Datong and Beijing. The imperial court reported that this year, the Jiangnan region was in chaos and the Yellow River broke. There was not much grain in the warehouse. It was allocated to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei for disaster relief. Now there is no much grain in Beijing, and the remaining grain must be stored. It is impossible to sell it. Only Datong, Zhou Mengchen, has vigorously promoted military farming in recent years, and now he has put in a lot of effort to build more than a dozen irrigation canals and Wenyinghu project. My news is that Datong will definitely reduce production this year, but it will definitely not be completely harvested. In addition, Datong's original grain storage was not large, but there are still some. I estimate that if Zhou Mengchen put in hard work, he would squeeze out 200,000 to 300,000 stones of grain."

"Twenty or three hundred thousand stones are almost the same for us."

Even in the Ming Dynasty, disaster relief was not to save everyone, but to let the young and strong survive as much as possible. The 200,000 to 300,000 shi, plus some food in Qingcheng, was enough for Xinai Headquarters to survive this winter. As for what to do in the spring of the year? That is next year.

After the spring is warm and the flowers bloom, even if there is no green or yellow, it will be much better than in winter.

"If Zhou Mengchen is willing to take out the 200,000 to 300,000 stones of grain, it is the key." Zhang Hui said: "A gentleman can deceive him. The ancients still had the order to redeem people, and today, if we say we want to return the people and let Zhou Mengchen give out some grain, it should not be too much."

"And even if these people are not sent out, they will be able to survive this winter. I am just a waste to use it."

After hearing this, Xin Ai calmed down and thought slowly. He said, "Zhou Mengchen is really willing to give food for this person?"

Zhang Hui said, "He can't help but spread this matter immediately. However, the people of Datong have to rely on Zhou Mengchen. Zhou Mengchen is a scholar at least. The two words "benevolence and righteousness" must be read."

Even so, Zhang Hui judged from his own impression. Zhou Mengchen was definitely not the one who ignored the people. However, he could not show it.

Xin Ai sighed in her heart: "Please take the least of the two." However, Xin Ai was still unwilling to give up and said, "However, yes, yes, but this person cannot be raised from Bansheng. Bansheng is my granary. We must not be missing people. Didn't you just say that other tribes have Han slaves? No matter what you do, just bring these Han slaves to Datong. No, keep the young and strong, and send them to the old and weak."

Zhang Hui couldn't say anything. Perhaps this was what Zhang Hui thought. After all, the Han people in Bansheng also had the status of slaves. Because the Han people in Bansheng had to ascend the throne under the name of Mongolian nobles to have the power to freely cultivate. In principle, the land reclaimed by these Han people was not their own, but the Mongolian nobles they belonged to.

Now that Zhang Hui established a yamen according to the Ming system, he could not shake this affiliation. He was nothing more than collecting two taxes, one from the government and the other from the land rent of the Mongolian nobles.

The Han people in Bansheng were useful to Xin Ai and would not give up easily. However, the Han people in each tribe were different. Only a small number of these Han people reclaimed land like Bansheng. They were more engaged in animal husbandry, such as horse release, stocking, etc. These things were dispensable for the Mongolians. Although it was easy to have trouble, it would be fine if they didn't.

Moreover, in order to prevent the Han people from escaping, they are usually locked up with animals. It is normal to freeze a lot in winter.

Therefore, the real danger of life is still these Han people.

Zhang Hui agreed and immediately made preparations. He tried to find a way to exchange Han slaves from various tribes as much as possible through the exchange of interests. Although it was a bit difficult, it was not impossible. After all, today is different from the past. Food is more important than slaves.

Moreover, in the Mongolian system, slaves can be bought and sold. It just depends on the price.

The second hand is to contact the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Hui couldn't run to Datong. The person he could contact with the Ming Dynasty was Li Chengliang, the experience official.

Zhang Hui also knew that Li Chengliang was his contact. However, Li Chengliang had no jurisdiction over him. He fully supported Zhang Hui's autonomy. Li Chengliang was nothing more than a channel for message transmission. After all, in the past few years, the biggest trouble was that the news could not be transmitted to Datong in time. Even the news that Zhang Hui was conscious of it.

Li Chengliang also assumed the obligation to send Zhang Hui and others back to Datong once Zhang Hui and others were exposed.

However, neither of them had met.

Facing Zhang Hui's active visit, Li Chengliang was extremely shocked. However, Li Chengliang was quick-witted and quickly blocked his emotions in his heart. He smiled and said, "Without the Grand Master coming to visit, my little yamen is really full of glory."

Li Chengliang's experience in the yamen was really a small yamen. He just chose a triple courtyard in Qingcheng. There were about twenty followers from Li Chengliang and him. In this courtyard, it can be said that Li Chengliang saw all the servants brought him. Here, Li Chengliang would not use any local people.

Zhang Hui had a cold face, as if she had no intention of saying anything to Li Chengliang. The two entered the main hall and let everyone around her go out in a few words.

Say it's about to talk in secret.

Zhang Hui's followers naturally did not doubt that he had. They all retreated.

After all these people left, Zhang Hui obviously felt relaxed. But he opened his mouth several times, but he didn't know what to say? He had not had such an occasion to tell about for several years. But at this point, he suddenly realized that in the past few years, it had become an instinct. Every word had been passed in his heart several times to ensure that he could say it without any mistakes. He had long lost the ability to say it and blurt out.

Zhang Hui didn't say anything. Li Chengliang said, "Brother Zhang, just say anything. When it comes, Zhou Da gave instructions. If necessary, he will take you back to the pass at all costs."

Zhang Hui felt warm and said, "It's not that time yet. Today I came here because a master was ordered by Xin Ai to negotiate with the court."

Zhang Hui had countless words in his mind, but knew it was best not to say it. Therefore, he ignored these things in the end and went straight into the topic. He told Li Chengliang all the plans related to population exchange for food.

Zhang Hui said: "Please tell Lord Zhou that this matter is related to the life and death of tens of thousands of people. Let him be cautious."

Li Chengliang said: "I understand. I will definitely report this to the adults. But do you have nothing to say to your family?"

Zhang Hui was silent for a while and said, "It's better not to say anything." Then he left here with great strides.

Li Chengliang could only watch Zhang Hui leave.

After Zhang Hui left, Li Chengliang immediately sent someone to tell the news and sent it back. He started a job himself, that is, Ao Ying.

It’s not that Li Chengliang was so idle. But now he is not busy now. There hasn’t been anything that he must have come forward as an experienced official. After all, the Shanxi merchants’ methods of dealing with things may not be able to make trouble for the official. Second, this eagle is of great use to Li Chengliang. It is used to convey messages.

Li Chengliang knew very well that whether a message could be transmitted in time at a critical moment was related to the outcome of the war. Li Chengliang also knew that there were countless people around him staring at him. Now both sides were in peace. Of course, they could pass the message quickly, but once the war started, they would probably be controlled first. Even if they were not controlled, they could not leave the city again. However, no news could be transmitted.

Therefore, a special method must be used. Li Chengliang thought of the carrier pigeon.

But he knew about the pigeons, and others knew about it. It was not a big secret to sending messages to pigeons. Moreover, there were too many birds of prey on the grassland. If there were fewer pigeons, they would probably be eaten. If there were too many pigeons, they just told others clearly that he was raising pigeons?

Li Chengliang needed a letter eagle. This was where he got a letter from the Jurchens through the relationship between the Li family in the northeast. It is said that he is the most humane. Li Chengliang wanted to train him to become a messenger who could travel between Datong and Qingcheng.

But this is also a lot of effort.

Anyway, he has nothing to do now, even if it is a matter of population transactions, he can just pass it on to the letter. His preparation is to deal with the future.
Chapter completed!