On the third day of the third month of the first year of Jingtai, this is the Shangji Festival in the traditional festival, which means that spring should be visited and worshipped.

However, there was no festive atmosphere in the Forbidden City. The capital received early warnings from the Liaodong Army. However, due to the limitations of the time limit for the route, the cabinet received the latest news that the Wassat army had abnormal movements and was preparing to launch an attack on the Tatar tribe or the Liaodong Army.

The emergence of this military situation is equivalent to announcing that Chen Yichen's previous decision to refuse to open warehouses and release grain was correct, and it also made the atmosphere of the imperial court suddenly tense. You should know that the grain prices in the north have risen to the sky. Once the news of the war spreads, in panic, it will once again raise the price of grain.

When ordinary people realize that it is impossible to afford food and there is no way to survive in the future, then there is only one way left to go.

rebel!

There is a great enemy outside, and if there is any turmoil inside, the scene of the siege of the capital in the 13th year of Zhengtong will likely reappear.

"Looking north, sometimes I really admire your foresight. Fortunately, I didn't touch the food reserves in Tongzhou Warehouse and the capital, otherwise the nine sides would be in chaos!"

In the Wenyuan Pavilion office, Shang Lu's tone was full of emotion. Only by working with Chen Yichen in person can he realize the foresight of many of his decisions.

Now that the Tartars invade Liaodong, if there is not enough military rations on the nine sides, the consequences will not be the turmoil of one city and one pool. The entire northern land order will collapse structurally, and the crisis will not be less than that of last year's Tartars' troops coming to the city.

Facing Shang Lu's feelings, Chen Yichen looked at the military newspaper with a serious expression, thought for a while, and replied: "This matter should be discussed with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, transporting the grain and grass in Tongzhou warehouse to Liaodong as quickly as possible to work the troops, and inspiring the Liaodong army to take the initiative to go on the expedition."

"Otherwise the Tatar tribe will be in danger!"

Through the perspective of God in history and the understanding of Taishi Yesen, Chen Yichen accurately judged that the direction of the attack of the Wastu army was not the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty, but the Tatar tribe controlled by Tutuobuhua.

Chen Yichen personally participated in the Battle of Liaodong once, and knew that in the past decade, the bloody feud between the Liaodong Dusi and the Tatar tribe that moved eastward. The experience of Liaodong General Cao Yi leaving the town for more than 20 years further shows that he is a conservative and rigid general and lacks the bloodiness of taking the initiative.

The commander was unwilling to go out to war, and the lower-level soldiers did not want to rush to support. Relying on Li Da and other middle-level generals, he wanted to implement his own "alliance" of the Tatar tribe, it was obvious that his power was insufficient.

Chen Yichen now needs to seize the time and through the joint court discussion of the cabinet, it is determined that the Liaodong army will go to the expedition to aid the Tatars, and prevent the Washu tribe from completely completing the unification of the entire Mongolia. In addition, the food and grass will go first before the troops move, and the most direct and effective way to inspire morale in ancient times was to reward them.

With the money and food in place, the combat effectiveness is in place!

"I'll leave this matter to me to discuss with Yuanfu. Xiangbei, you focus your main energy on the grain prices in the north. It's time to take action!"

When he said this, a rare "murderous aura" appeared on Shang Lu's face, who had always been gentle.

Shang Lu had already learned that Chen Yichen had transported three million stones of rice from the south through the sea ship fleet. Now the Liaodong Army has received emergency military information. This non-secret information may have been heard by the powerful and powerful people in the capital as early as the time of the post station's transmission.

After all, the forces that control grain prices are also concerned about changes in the situation on the nine borders. If the border is stable, the court will have the possibility of releasing the storage of grain.

Now that war is imminent, the court will surely ensure that military rations are preferred. It can be said that the future direction of grain prices will be completely controlled by the officials and gentry headed by Huichang Bo Sun Zhong, and they have no worries anymore!

When the opponent takes action, it is when Chen Yichen plays his trump card.

Faced with Shang Lu's determination, Chen Yichen's mouth showed a smile of victory and replied: "The food war has begun."

That's right, just as Wenyuan Pavilion was discussing the military situation in Liaodong, a large number of imperial court nobles gathered in the mansion of Sun Zhong, Huichang's mansion, including Chengshan Hou Wang Tong, Xing'an Hou Xu Heng, Chief Inspector Wang Wen, Minister of Works Chen Gong and other important officials in the court.

Although the title of Huichang's eldest son Sun Zhong was only an earl, his identity as the biological father of the empress dowager and the oldest relatives among his relatives made Sun Zhong's qualifications and prestige in the group of honors and relatives was once second only to the Duke of England and Duke Cheng of the Ming Dynasty and other Dukes of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the personal reputation of Huichang Bo Sun Zhong was not disgraced by the people because of his control of grain prices. On the contrary, he has always been famous for his honest and humbleness, and has helped many court officials within his ability. He also built porridge sheds to help the people from time to time in disaster years.

This led to the fact that all parties inside and outside the court and the country sold the Chang Bo Sun Zhong as a little bit disrespectful, and the people thought he was a great charity. This is why, Wang Zhen, who was powerful at the time, knew that the empress dowager was brought to the Qing Dynasty by Sun Zhong, still did not dare to take revenge and let Li Shimian go honestly.

It's because this person cannot move.

"I believe you have already known the reason for summoning all colleagues today. After the emergency military information from the Liaodong side, the Tartars' Wasat tribe could not help but mobilize their troops to prepare for the expedition after the spring, and a war will soon break out."

Huichang's uncle Sun Zhong took a sip of tea and said this sentence slowly, as if such a military and national event could not bring any emotional turmoil in his eyes.

"Once war begins in Liaodong, the entire nine borders will be martial law. Then the grain and grass in the capital and Tongzhou warehouse will definitely not dare to release grain. It is time for us to close the net."

Chengshan Hou Wang Tong immediately agreed, saying that he was a hardcore alliance of Huichang Bosun Zhong. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, he was guarding the Jiaozhi area (north Vietnam), but was defeated by the rebels of the vassal states many times, and finally there was a scene of abandoning the city and escaping.

What's even more outrageous is that in order to whitewash the peace, Wang Tong, Hou Cheng'an, privately allocated the land south of the Ming and Qing Dynasties to Li Li, the founding monarch of the Annan Li Dynasty, which was a complete loss of power and humiliation.

It can be said that during the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty lost Annan during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, the existence of a useless honorary relative like Wang Tong had to take at least half of the blame. The other half of the blame was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and many strategic mistakes were made against the vassal states, which led to the incoming difficulties.

Cheng'an Hou Wang Tong lost power and humiliated the country, and was impeached by civil and military officials in the court, and was taken away from the imperial edict and sentenced to death.

However, the problem is that although the honors and relatives of the Ming Dynasty were not like the vassal kings, they could all become madmen outside the law as long as they did not rebel. But in fact, as long as they confessed their guilt and were not involved in the struggle for imperial power, they would still not die even if they lost their troops and were humiliated.

After Wang Tong was imprisoned, Huichang's No. Sun Zhong helped him wander around. After his grandson Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne, he was released in four years. During the Battle of the Capital, the Nine Gates were extremely lacking enough guards. Wang Tong was appointed as the governor and Tongzhi, restoring his original title and returning his family property.

Cheng'an Hou Wang Tong naturally remembered the kindness of helping him in time in the "defense" and became a hard-core gangster of Huichang's boss Sun Zhong.

"Now is indeed a good time to close the Internet, but the problem is that many grain stores under the name of Duke Cheng Guo’s Mansion are still releasing grain continuously, so it is difficult for us to increase the price of grain and sell it."

The Du Yu envoy Wang Wen showed a hint of caution on his face. After all, when he was in the eunuch party, he had seen Chen Yichen's power. A powerful figure like Wang Zhen did not kill this little ant. Now the other party is in the cabinet minister, it is probably even more difficult to deal with.

If you want to close the Internet and sell the hoarded rice and grain at a sky-high price, the premise is to monopolize the market. Chen Yichen controlled the grain store under the name of Duke Cheng's Mansion. During this period, he has always insisted on releasing grain, stabilizing the soaring grain price to about two taels.

Although the price of grain of two cents and five-one stones at the beginning still rose by nearly ten times and had huge profits, this still did not meet the psychological expectations of Huichang Bo as a nobleman. After all, their ultimate goal was not to silver and money, but to a large-scale annexation of land, and to bring trouble to Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu and caused drastic changes.

The current grain price is still lacking in ignition.

When it comes to releasing grain, Xu Heng, Hou Xing'an, felt a little confused. He said, "The farm grain shop under the name of Duke Cheng can take out at most about 30,000 stones of surplus grain. Now we roughly estimate that more than 500,000 stones have been purchased. Where did Chen Yichen get these rice and grain?"

The honors and relatives in the early and mid-Ming Dynasty were not as rich as expected, because the dynasty in the rising period could effectively suppress corruption and mergers. Their annual income was converted into only tens of thousands of taels of silver.

In the early days, the stockpiling of rice and grain raised the price of grain had already cost Sun Zhong and others hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. After the price was raised, the purchase of affordable grain "sold" by Chen Yichen had already cost nearly one million taels of silver.

Even though the financial contributions of the honorary officials and important officials were all invested together, the powerful and wealthy, who had a poor family, began to feel that Chen Yichen's food was a bottomless pit. He bought 500,000 stones but it was not over yet.

"Ha, I suspect he moved the capital warehouse to store grain!"

Chen Gong, Minister of Works, snorted coldly. Duke Cheng Guozhu Yong would definitely not be able to provide so much food, even if there were other honorary relatives behind him to help. Only by opening the military rations in the capital and Tongzhou warehouses could the amount of 500,000 stones privately.

Listening to the words of Chen Gong, Minister of Works, Huichang's eldest son Sun Zhong looked in deep thought. He rationally analyzed that only by storing grain in the capital could he release 500,000 stones in a steady stream.

But for some reason, Sun Zhong always felt that this matter was not that simple, and the batch of food in Chen Yichen's hand came inexplicably.

"Jin Lian, the Minister of Revenue, is too upright. If he is willing to join us, he can find out the source of Chen Yichen rice and grain."

Sun Zhong said this with a little regret. Among the six ministers, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites were considered to be a potential alliance of the Supreme Emperor, but the relationship did not reach its own level.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Works are their own people, but Yu Shiyue, the Minister of Justice, dared not participate in this matter. After all, as the chief officer of the Three Laws, he was the crime of knowing the law and breaking the law. He did not have the foundation for the Du Yu envoy Wang Wen in the court for many years, so it would be better not to get involved.

Needless to say, Minister of War Yu Qian, the hard-core new king, and the fact that he never formed a clique for personal gain, there is no possibility of being attracted to him.

Only Jin Lian, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was originally a member of the civil service group and was also standing opposite Chen Yichen. As a result, after taking charge of the Ministry of Revenue, most financial managers were prone to complain, so they simply took the stance of not recognizing their relatives, and formed a faction that they would not accept all parties' competing.

Otherwise, if you remember the source of Chen rice and grain, it would be easy to find out whether it was related to the capital and Tongzhou warehouses, and you could even find out the other party's trump card. You would not have all kinds of suspicion and warning like now.

Just as Sun Zhong sighed, the old housekeeper in the mansion walked in quickly from outside the house and said with a panic expression on his face: "Master, I have something to report to you."

"There are all people here, let's talk."

Huichang's uncle Sun Zhong and the mansion's stewards have been in charge for many years. The other party did not report it immediately, and knew that he had some concerns, so he specifically emphasized.

"Han Xing just heard news that the grain shop under the name of Duke Cheng's Mansion suddenly increased the scale of grain release. He wanted to ask the master if he continued to purchase."

Can we also increase the scale of grain release?

Listening to the report of the housekeeper of Huichang Bo Mansion, everyone present showed a look of shock. Five hundred thousand stones were placed in the north where food was short of food, which was already astronomical. Now that Liaodong is full of clouds, Chen Yichen is so brave that he has exhausted military rations. Has the price of grain collapsed for gambling?

"It really fits this son's always arrogant style, leaving no room for everything!"

Wang Wen, the envoy of Du Yu, said, "Most of Chen Yichen's actions in recent years have been decisive, but he always bets for him. Now he uses military rations to suppress the price of grain, which is undoubtedly another big bet."

"Huichang Bo, what should we do, continue to acquire or stop it?"

Xu Heng, the Hou of Xing'an, looked a little serious. He was a subordinate of Zhu Yong, the Duke of Chengguo, and theoretically had a friendship. If it weren't for his defeat in the battle of Jiaozhi in the early years, he and Wang Tong, the Hou of Chengshan, were both guilty of being punished for losing the battle of Jiaozhi, the two sides would have formed a friendship of sharing weal and woe.

Later, he was re-elected by Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Qizhen, and he had the grace of re-creation, otherwise he would not have stood opposite Chen Yichen and even the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion.

Now the other party was obviously taking a desperate bet. Xu Heng, the Hou of Xing'an, didn't want to make a fuss to death, so he felt like he was withdrawn.

"Stop it?"

Feeling Xu Heng's mental state, Huichang's tone became stern in an instant.

"Chen Yichen dared to use military rations before the war. If the Liaodong Army and even the Nine Borders were defeated, they would be the sinner of the Ming Dynasty."

"The new king is not aware of people and has caused the country to shake the foundation. He needs the Supreme Emperor to correct the situation and support the building to fall. How can such a great situation be reached?"

In addition to seeking benefits for one's own benefit, there is another important reason why Huichang Bo Sun Zhong is so active, that is, the soaring grain price will cause unrest, which will shake the ruling foundation of Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu and create opportunities for the restoration of the Supreme Emperor.

Sun Zhong, the eldest uncle of Huichang, is over 80 years old. He feels that he has not had enough time and must ensure that the emperor's lineage will regain control of the world before his death. If Chen Yichen uses military rations to cause the collapse of the Nine Borders, it would be like digging his own grave and cutting off his new king's arm, and delivering the opportunity to his door!
Chapter completed!