Chapter 413 Location
Mrs. Ji looked at Su Qingqing with gritted teeth, the anger in her eyes showing the humiliation and unwillingness in her heart, but Su Qingqing remained calm, drinking her tea sip by sip, waiting for her to digest the information herself.
After half an hour, the ferocity on Mrs. Ji's face finally faded. She bit her lip and looked at Su Qingqing. Her shoulders slumped and she finally gave in. "How much food do you want?"
Su Qingqing smiled and said, "Since I am cooperating with you, I don't want your food."
Mrs. Ji was stunned, "You don't want mine?"
Su Qingqing said: "I only want Duke Xue's share. Although Duke Xue has fallen and his mansion has been confiscated, I know that Duke Xue's real property is not in his mansion.
I only want his share of the food. As for the rest of you, I never intended to take any from you from the beginning.
You are in the northwest, and you can tie up Mu Chuan. Why should I be your enemy? Can't we hold each other back?"
It is true that the Eight Great Families can contain Mu Chuan. Su Qingqing's words made Madam Ji feel more at ease. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "After Duke Xue fell, all his properties here were managed by the shopkeeper of the Bai family's store. It's hard to say how much property he has, but I know that half of their food is in Mu Chuan's army, and the other half is in the outer house of the shopkeeper of the Bai family. That outer house is not in Yulin, but in Datong."
Datong?
Su Qingqing never expected that it would be Datong.
"How many can there be?"
Madam Ji said, "Let me put it this way. All the grain in my house, added together, is not as much as the grain stored in the Bai family's store in Datong."
Su Qingqing raised an eyebrow, "Your family is so small?"
Her disdainful tone made Madam Ji choke. "It's not that my family has little, it's that his family has too much. Our eight families were originally balanced with each other, but after Duke Xue became powerful, he took 10% of the harvest from each of our families. His family has more land than ours, so if you count it all together, he must have the most."
Su Qingqing was puzzled, "Why did you seven families let him take away all the money? None of you seven families is easy to bully in the court."
Madam Ji shook her head, "That's not the case. We can't just store our own grain. We have to sell it. Duke Xue is in collusion with the Weiyuan Escort Agency, which is in collusion with the former Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Xu Kefeng, who is in collusion with the Marquis of Rong'an. They have formed a complete closed loop, monopolizing the entire process of grain supply, transportation, purchase and distribution.
If we want to sell our grain, we have to rely on Duke Xue, so it is only natural that he will take a cut from us."
Su Qingqing asked: "Why not take the dividends , but take the food instead?"
Madam Ji shook her head. "I don't know about this, but I heard from other families that Duke Xue might be selling grain to foreign countries. He took the grain to some nomadic tribes around him and didn't sell it for silver, but exchanged it for horses and wool. He then brought it back and sold it to the inside. Not only did he make money, but he also opened up a trade route."
The value of this trade route is far greater than silver.
The establishment of a large-scale trade channel cannot be bought with any amount of silver. Transactions in this black market that is kept secret from the imperial court must not be as they appear on the surface.
Su Qingqing paused and said, "Except for Duke Xue, who has the most food here?"
Madam Ji said, "In fact, the rest of us are pretty balanced. The reason why our Ji family is more powerful than others in Yulin is mainly because others use a small shop, but we are different. The status of the master is different from those housekeepers who run shops."
She smiled bitterly, "A big tree attracts the wind."
So while other families escaped, their family was targeted by Su Qingqing.
Su Qingqing smiled and ignored her words, only asking, "Where is your family's food hidden?"
Madam Ji immediately looked at Su Qingqing warily. Su Qingqing smiled and let her look. The two looked at each other for a moment, and Madam Ji gave in. "My family is also in the military camp. Most of our eight families are in the military camp ."
Su Qingqing was waiting for this sentence. She said sarcastically, "This military camp is big enough to store the food of so many of your families."
Mrs. Ji was stunned.
What's the meaning?
Is Su Qingqing targeting Mu Chuan?
Yes, the food problem must be solved, but Muchuan in the northwest lives like a local emperor, which must be a major concern for the emperor and empress.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Ji couldn't help but think one step further.
Perhaps, the Queen's coming to the Northwest to solve the food problem was just a cover, and the real target was Muchuan?
After all, it is a fact that there is a food shortage in the country. Isn't the most effective and quickest way to solve this food problem to purchase food from neighboring countries?
Su Qingqing was the princess of Zhao State. When the Great Yan State was in trouble, Su Qingqing purchased grain from Zhao State, which not only solved the Great Yan State's problem, but also created income for Zhao State. Isn't this a way to kill two birds with one stone ?
Thinking of this, Mrs. Ji suddenly became enlightened. She determined that Su Qingqing's ultimate goal was Mu Chuan.
Now her heart was finally at ease, and she was in a relaxed mood. She chatted casually, "General Mu's territory is much larger than the place registered with the court. The mountain outside Yulin is basically General Mu's territory.
They said they were training troops there, but there weren't actually that many soldiers and horses.
In recent years, General Mu has reclaimed more wasteland than the land we have enclosed. It won’t be long before he becomes the largest grain producer in the entire northwest.”
Madam Ji speculated on Su Qingqing's intention and deliberately led the topic to Mu Chuan. Su Qingqing was also happy to let her misunderstand. After hearing this, she deliberately showed an unhappy look, "Eating the court's food and salary but seeking personal gain."
After saying that, Su Qingqing stood up and said, "Okay, your son is next door, take him back later."
Su Qingqing said this suddenly, and Mrs. Ji was stunned.
Is her cooperation with Su Qingqing so simple? Is it enough to just tell Su Qingqing where the food of Duke Xue's family is hidden?
Madam Ji stood up and said, "Then the master..."
Su Qingqing said without even turning her head, "If I release your master today, do you think you can still face the other six of the Eight Great Families?"
Mrs. Ji was stunned again.
Su Qingqing was thinking about her? Did she not want the other families to know that she had betrayed the alliance of the Eight Great Families?
But she only revealed the location where Duke Xue stored his grain, and did not reveal any secrets of the other families. How could it be considered a betrayal?
Mrs. Ji didn't have time to think more. Su Qingqing opened the door and went out. Ji Changming's voice was immediately heard outside, and Mrs. Ji hurriedly followed him out.
But Mrs. Ji never expected that a huge fire broke out in Muchuan’s military camp that night.
