Chapter 388: Meeting
At that time, Rong Que and Su Qingqing left Kyoto and fled to Datong. With the help of the Datong prefect, they launched a fatal counterattack against Kyoto.
To a certain extent, the prefect of Datong can be regarded as Su Qingqing's benefactor and noble man.
Zhao Ji bowed and greeted, and Su Qingqing pulled him up directly, "I didn't bring Zhao Kangjie this time, otherwise you could have met him."
Zhao Ji smiled and said, "He is serving the Majesty in Kyoto, so the Majesty can work here with peace of mind. This time I came here for the food issue. I thought the Majesty would pass by Datong on her way from Kyoto to Yulin, but I waited for half a month and still missed it."
Su Qingqing did not interrupt, but poured a cup of tea and pushed it in front of Zhao Ji with her finger, listening to him continue.
“After the imperial court issued a notice to collect and transfer grain, I and several other colleagues responded to the call and purchased a batch of grain using the government’s public funds.
These grains were originally intended to be transported directly to disaster-stricken areas or food-scarce areas, but we all discovered the same problem when transporting the grains.
Our grain cannot be transported out.”
Su Qingqing and Xiao Yu looked at each other and frowned. Xiao Yu asked, "Why can't it be transported out?"
Zhao Ji said, "The robbery on the way is too fierce. It's not just in Datong, Tianshui, Baoji, Jinchang, these places are scattered all over the northwest, and they are usually not even close to each other.
But this time when we were preparing relief food, we all encountered robbers.
This is not normal.”
It's not normal. Not only is it not normal, it's extremely abnormal.
Xiao Yu clenched his fist and asked, "What about the food you collected? Was it robbed?"
Zhao Ji said: "The troops sent out from Datong encountered fierce bandits, but because the Queen and His Majesty fought in Datong last time, it injected new strength into our Datong people. After the Queen and His Majesty left, our county immediately organized a guard army. Usually everyone trained hard, and this time it was this guard army that escorted the grain, and the grain was saved.
But all the grain sent out from Jinchang, Tianshui, and Baoji was looted."
Su Qingqing asked: "You are so far apart, how do you know that each other was robbed?"
Zhao Ji said: "Your Majesty, you don't know that since the flood in Guangdong and Guangxi, the grain prices in various places have skyrocketed to varying degrees. We, the governors of various places who still have sufficient grain reserves, have privately concluded an alliance, that is, to exchange grain with each other and keep in touch with each other regularly to ensure that the grain prices are not deliberately raised.
Because our prefectures all acted like this, grain prices in the surrounding villages have remained relatively stable, and those grain shops that wanted to take advantage of the national crisis to raise prices have not caused any trouble."
Therefore, this kind of thing does not depend on whether the imperial court can handle it, but depends entirely on whether the local officials perform their duties conscientiously.
If local officials do something, they can keep the place safe. If local officials do nothing, the people in the area will surely suffer.
“We all feel that the robbers this time are not ordinary robbers, otherwise it would be impossible for a large number of bandits to appear in our several places scattered so far apart at almost the same time.
There aren’t that many real bandits.”
After the last time Datong was besieged by bandits, Zhao Ji had a better understanding of bandits.
Su Qingqing and Xiao Yu nodded at the same time, "Indeed."
The bastard from the Minister of Rites's mansion, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interrupted and asked, "When you sent out the relief supplies, did you agree on a delivery time?"
Zhao Ji glanced at him.
This man looked handsome, but he exuded a timid air, which was very unlike the people who usually followed Su Qingqing. However, anyone who could be kept by Su Qingqing must be a talented person.
Zhao Ji said politely: "It can't be considered a special discussion, but once we send out the food, we will indeed inform each other."
"How to announce it?" the illegitimate son of the Xu family continued to ask.
Zhao Ji said: "We have jointly opened a grain store in Yulin. After the goods are shipped, we will come to the grain store to register to confirm the task of collecting the grain later."
"Why choose Yulin?" asked the illegitimate son of the Xu family.
Zhao Ji said, "Because Yulin is the most special place in the entire northwest, all the shops of the eight great families are gathered here. We can get more information about the outside world here."
This is a small news gathering place.
The northwest is far away from Kyoto, and many news are blocked and cannot be transmitted at all, but the eight major families have opened shops here, so the news here is relatively the richest in the entire northwest.
"Besides, this place is not far from the Northwest Garrison. It is safer to open the grain store here, and there will be no looting or smashing incidents."
Su Qingqing raised her eyebrows. "Is the local security in Yulin good?"
Zhao Ji said: "The garrison has sent people to patrol here, both day and night. The public security here is indeed good, and almost no one is looking for trouble here."
This surprised Su Qingqing.
If the garrison troops are not close to the local people or have an average relationship with them, she will have a great chance of success in recruiting troops here in the future. However, if the garrison troops have already reached a harmonious relationship with the local people and the military and civilians are of one mind, no matter how famous her Su family army is, she will not be able to get in.
But this is not the most important thing at the moment.
"You opened this shop here. Does the garrison know about it?" Su Qingqing asked Zhao Ji.
Zhao Ji nodded, "I know. We opened this shop specifically for purchasing food. We definitely need stronger security protection, and we must inform the garrison."
Su Qingqing twisted her fingers.
The garrison not only has a good relationship with the local people , but also with local officials, even officials like Zhao Ji who are far away in Shanxi.
Zhao Ji only came to deliver a message. After receiving the message, he did not stay for long and rushed back overnight.
As soon as Zhao Ji left, Xiao Yu and Xu's illegitimate son also said goodbye and left. The two of them first drafted a preliminary plan, discussed it and decided on it, and then asked Su Qingqing to look at it and make the final adjustments.
Given Su Qingqing's physical condition, she must get enough rest to fight this tough battle.
However, as for rest, she couldn't really rest whenever she wanted.
Compared to the last time they went to Guangdong and Guangxi, the Su family army was stopped outside Huicheng by Xu Kefeng. This time, Su Qingqing arrived at the inn in Yulin. After Zhao Ji left, she had just laid down on the bed for less than a quarter of an hour when Jixiang came in and reported, "Your Majesty, the local prefect of Yulin and General Muchuan, the commander of the Northwest garrison, requested to see you."
These two came together.
Su Qingqing's troubled consciousness disappeared in an instant.
He quickly washed and changed his clothes before going to meet someone in the next room.
The local prefect of Yulin was named Lu Yun. He was in his fifties and already had gray hair. When he saw Su Qingqing, he knelt on both knees and kowtowed with a trembling and excited expression, "I pay my respects to the Queen. I am incompetent and have troubled Her Majesty."
Before he could finish his words, he burst into tears.
