Question: how much grain was two hundred thousand shi?
Answer: I had no idea either.
When Zhang Qingyuan and the others found where the grain was stored, it turned out to be a valley, with grain filling their entire field of vision.
Sacks of grain were piled throughout the valley, and loose rice had spilled onto the ground, forming mountains of its own.
"My heavens!"
Tang Zhong stared at this valley of grain, utterly at a loss for words.
"Master Zhong."
A worker swallowed and exclaimed, "There aren't nearly enough of us!"
"Move it!"
They had to move it regardless. First, they would fill the carts they had brought, then send for more once they returned.
"Good grief, if all this grain were mine, how many years would it take me to eat it?"
A fat man sighed.
Everyone looked at him. They had no idea how many years it would take him to eat it, but long before he died, all this grain would have rotted.
Zhu Zizhao stood beside Zhang Qingyuan, gazing into the valley. "I'd wager there's more than two hundred thousand shi here."
"Definitely. Besides Landowner Tang, Listening Wind Stronghold robbed other unlucky bastards too."
Looking at the grain piled throughout the valley, Zhang Qingyuan wondered whether the other grain convoys that had been robbed had reported it to the authorities.
Reporting it would certainly do no good, but they still needed to establish exactly whose grain had been stolen.
As the saying went, officials did not investigate unless the people lodged a complaint. They had to find these grain merchants who had been robbed and get them to take their grievances to the capital, because only then would the imperial court take notice.
If these people remained a heap of loose sand and could not be brought together, Liu Xiangquan would pick them off one by one. When the time came to lodge an imperial complaint in the capital, they would not even have a victim. What would they use to accuse him?
"Why do you think he's so bold?" Zhu Zizhao looked at Zhang Qingyuan. He could not fathom it. For a prefect, a little graft and bribery was normal. Even embezzling some disaster-relief grain and funds was normal.
But to brave the world's condemnation and use bandits to rob grain merchants-the imperial court would learn of these things sooner or later, and then nobody could protect him.
Why would he do this?
Zhang Qingyuan watched the workers hauling grain, pondering the same question.
Before coming here, he had been too busy being furious. Anger had filled his head, leaving him no time to think it through. Now that he considered it, how the hell could Prefect Liu have amassed all this grain just to sell it?
With so much grain missing and people struggling to find it, would selling it to anyone not amount to confessing without being questioned?
The two exchanged a glance, and Zhang Qingyuan said bluntly, "This grain isn't meant to be sold at all."
Zhu Zizhao had thought of that too. He added, "If it isn't for selling, it's for eating."
They both looked at the fat worker again, recalling what he had just said. Even if it was for eating, how many years would it take him to eat this much grain?
"People!" Zhang Qingyuan exclaimed in realization.
Zhu Zizhao continued, "A lot of people!"
"He's gathered all this grain. Listening Wind Stronghold alone has this much. Who knows how many strongholds like this there are throughout Kaifeng Prefecture!" Zhang Qingyuan exclaimed.
Zhu Zizhao shook his head. "We certainly can't know how many Listening Wind Strongholds there are right now, but who is he planning to feed with all this grain?"
"An army!"
"An army?" Zhu Zizhao frowned slightly. "But there aren't any imperial troops stationed in Kaifeng Prefecture."
I think I've found the key.
Zhang Qingyuan continued, "Who are there the most of in Kaifeng right now?"
"Disaster victims!"
"What do disaster victims need most?"
"Grain."
Zhang Qingyuan smiled. "Exactly. Disaster victims need grain, and in Kaifeng Prefecture, whoever gets the grain gets the means to control countless thousands of disaster victims!"
Zhu Zizhao was no fool either. As a member of the imperial clan, he was very intelligent; he simply had not thought of the crucial point right away.
Now that Zhang Qingyuan had prompted him this far, how could he fail to see it?
"He's gathering all the grain merchants' grain into his own hands. Once the court's disaster-relief grain and funds arrive, he'll take those into his hands too.
"When the time comes, he'll have more grain than anyone under heaven, and the disaster victims will have to obey him for a full meal."
Zhu Zizhao suddenly felt his scalp prickle. His eyes reddened. "He's planning to... rebel!"
Zhang Qingyuan drew a deep breath. Though reluctant to accept it, he still felt deeply frustrated. I just wanted to keep my head down and help a few more disaster victims. How did I get dragged into the vortex of rebellion out of nowhere?
Is this something I can get involved in?
Is this something I should even be hearing?
I'm just a miserable transmigrator whose soul crossed into another world, trying to live a modest little life!
"When the time is ripe, he'll hold half the grain under heaven. He'll raise his arm and call, and the disaster victims will answer in their hundreds." Zhang Qingyuan looked at Zhu Zizhao sympathetically.
This fellow belonged to the imperial clan. He was bound to be more anxious than Zhang Qingyuan.
After all, as far as Zhang Qingyuan was concerned, it did not matter who became emperor. It won't be me anyway.
But Zhu Zizhao was different. He belonged to the imperial clan, sharing the emperor's surname, Zhu. They were of the same family.
If the Great Qian Kingdom fell, he would fall with it.
"Shameless traitor!" Zhu Zizhao flew into a rage. You dare rebel against my family? You really don't fucking know what's good for you. He told Old Seven, "Old Seven, you're fast. Hurry toward the capital right now and stop the imperial commissioner escorting the grain from coming here to provide disaster relief!"
As he spoke, he took out a token and handed it to Old Seven.
Zhang Qingyuan glanced at it. It was a gold-inlaid jade token. Gold-inlaid jade might have been everywhere on twenty-first-century Earth, but in this era, it was extremely valuable.
Old Seven accepted the token. Understanding the gravity of the situation, he dared not delay and cupped his fist in salute. "Your subordinate obeys."
Zhu Zizhao turned to Old Five. "I'll write a letter now. Take it to the capital and give it to His Majesty or the crown prince. Remember, you must place it directly in their hands. No one else is allowed to read it."
"Young master, what about you? Who will protect you once we're gone?" Old Five asked worriedly.
Fuming, Zhu Zizhao tore off his inner robe and bit through the tip of his index finger. As he wrote a letter in blood, he said, "Kaifeng is about to fucking rebel, and you're still worrying about whether I live or die?"
Then he looked up at Zhang Qingyuan and asked, "Qingyuan, can you protect me?"
No... Zhang Qingyuan very much wanted to say no, since protecting members of the imperial clan held little interest for him. But remembering that their family was facing a stab in the back, he nodded. "As long as you don't court death."
When he finished the blood letter, he handed it to Old Five. "Remember, nothing must go wrong. Once you're done, bring the Twelve Guards here to protect me."
"Understood."
Old Five looked at Old Seven and told him, "Come back and protect the young master as soon as you've stopped the imperial commissioner!"
Old Seven nodded firmly. The two turned and vanished into the mountain wilderness.
After they left, Zhu Zizhao put his injured index finger into his mouth and sucked on it. Zhang Qingyuan asked, "Hurts quite a bit, doesn't it?"
"Of course." Zhu Zizhao declared with righteous conviction, "But for the country, for our Great Qian Dynasty, this little pain is nothing!"
He was still lamenting in a spirit of self-sacrifice when he turned and saw Zhang Qingyuan pull a writing brush from his sleeve with an infuriating look.
Then Zhang Qingyuan looked at him as though he were an idiot and asked, "Then why didn't you use a brush?"
"You had a brush and didn't say so sooner?" Zhu Zizhao roared.
"I had a brush all along. You didn't ask sooner either!" Zhang Qingyuan said.
Because Zhang Qingyuan often needed to jot down his inspirations, he always carried two or three brushes.
"I thought you wanted to use a blood letter to get the emperor's attention."
Zhu Zizhao: "..."
With that interruption from Zhang Qingyuan, he was no longer quite as indignant as before.
Then Zhang Qingyuan said, "We've wrecked Listening Wind Stronghold. Don't you think Liu Xiangquan might have had hidden lookouts here?"
Having regained his composure, Zhu Zizhao thought of something too. He looked at Zhang Qingyuan. "Do you think someone is backing Liu Xiangquan?"