Gu Jiu drank a sip of honey water and smiled faintly, "I am just a woman with long hair and short knowledge. I am very satisfied with my current life and don't want Liu Zhao to return to the court."
Ahem…
The Shaofu household steward coughed several times.
He didn't expect that Gu Jiu would trick him.
The conditions have been put forward, but Gu Jiu still refuses to give in.
His beard was shaking, he looked very upset!
Gu Jiu laughed, "Old Ancestor, you're having tea. The court's work is endless. Besides, His Majesty didn't insist on you solving the food problem. This is the Ministry of Revenue's job, how can the Minister of Revenue take the lead?"
The Shaofu Household Officer laughed at himself and said, "This old man wanted to share your Majesty's worries."
Gu Jiu smiled softly, "But His Majesty may not be willing for you to help him share his worries."
The Shaofu Household Manager frowned, not quite understanding what this meant.
He was full of questions. "Xiao Jiu, look at me, I'm so old, I can't think as fast as you young people. If you have any ideas, can you tell me directly?"
Gu Jiu tapped the table lightly.
After pondering for a moment, she said, "To be honest, ancestor, the court will receive news in a few days. The thing you are most worried about has already happened. For the court, this is simply adding insult to injury."
What are you most worried about?
Of course, there were people who took the opportunity to rebel and cause chaos.
The Shaofu Housekeeper's expression changed. "Did it really happen?"
Gu Jiu nodded. "Si Hai Trading Company's caravans travel all over the world, so they have better access to information than others. Plus, the government deliberately concealed the news and didn't send it out in time, so it's natural that I knew the news earlier than the court."
"When did this happen? I didn't hear any movement in the court." The Shaofu household steward asked anxiously.
Gu Jiu didn't hide it. "It happened more than twenty days ago, and not just in one place. Several places raised the flag of rebellion one after another. A motley crowd, but armed with a small number of elite weapons, they were unstoppable. Oh, and the latest news is that a county town was breached. With internal and external forces, and siege equipment, the force was fierce!"
"What? Even siege equipment and elite weapons?"
The Shaofu household official was shocked.
Siege weapons, like later heavy weapons, rockets, and missiles, are large-scale attack weapons.
Anyone other than the military who possesses these weapons is in rebellion.
Siege equipment may seem simple, but it actually requires a lot of technical skills.
A bunch of peasants rebelled with kitchen knives, machetes and hoes. They didn't even have a proper sword, so how could they make sharp siege weapons?
The Shaofu Household Manager asked anxiously, "Is this news true?"
Gu Jiu nodded, "Absolutely true!"
"No! There's something wrong here. This isn't just a simple call to raise your arms and kill officials in rebellion."
The Shaofu Household Official, who lived to be seventy years old, immediately grasped the key to the matter.
A rebel force that possesses siege equipment and elite weapons is by no means an ordinary rebellion.
This was clearly planned in advance. Someone took advantage of the chaos to start a rebellion and overthrow the Zhou Dynasty.
The Shaofu Household Officer asked anxiously, "Who is rebelling?"
Members of the imperial family of this dynasty are not allowed to leave the capital without imperial permission.
In order to save the national treasury and prevent the royal family from causing harm to the local area, the royal family titles were all honorary titles and there were no real seals.
In other words, there is no fiefdom.
To rebel, you need money, people, soldiers, weapons, and territory.
In the past, members of the royal family were granted fiefdoms and fiefdoms.
In those days, when rebellions broke out, the first to be suspected were members of the royal family.
The royal family was also the group that was most oppressed.
However, the royal family now has no fiefdoms and all stay in the capital to eat the emperor's food, so it should not be a rebellion by the royal family.
"Is it a local official who is rebelling? Or is it a military general who is rebelling?"
Gu Jiu shook his head slightly. "According to the news sent down, Jiangling Prefecture, Jizhou, and Hongzhou have successively reported incidents of killing officials and rebellion. These places have not had peace in recent years. The disasters are very serious, and because of the large population, it is very easy to cause civil unrest.
In just a short time, a spark has already spread like wildfire. Unfortunately, instead of resolving the issue, the lower-level officials suppressed the information and refused to report it promptly. As a result, the best opportunity to extinguish the spark was missed. However, news is already on the way, and the court will soon be informed of the situation.
"Who is rebelling?" The old Shaofu Housekeeper was extremely anxious. But Gu Jiu said so much but refused to say who was rebelling.
Gu Jiu took a sip of honey water. "It wasn't the court officials, nor the court generals who rebelled. As for who exactly was rebelling, I'm not sure due to my limited information. I only know that the thieves in Jiangling Prefecture spread rumors that the late emperor came to power illegitimately and killed his brother and father. Your Majesty, the traitors and ministers, are to be punished by all means. The Liu family father and son are not legitimate and their words are not right."
The Shaofu household steward exclaimed, "Ah!"
“This, this, this…”
No matter how you look at it, it looks like a rebellion by the royal family.
But the royal family is all in the capital.
"It can't be that Liu Zhao is rebelling."
Gu Jiu sneered, "Old Ancestor is really a joke. Liu Zhao is a legitimate prince, no matter who rebels, it is not his turn to rebel."
Although Liu Zhao was rebellious, he was a prince and could inherit the throne legitimately through political means.
There is no need to rebel, which will only ruin your reputation and earn you the reputation of being illegitimately placed.
The Shaofu Housekeeper was anxious, "No, I must inform His Majesty of this news in time."
Gu Jiu's face darkened, and he said unhappily, "Are you trying to harm me, Old Ancestor? My news is faster than the imperial post station, and it's not just one or two days faster, it's at least five or six days faster. If His Majesty knew about this, what would His Majesty do to me?
I told the truth to my ancestor because I trusted him. But he betrayed me to Your Majesty. Our cooperation ends here. "Food, court, get out!"
The Minister of the Imperial Household regretted his actions deeply. "I was foolish and worried about your situation. But this is such a big thing, should I hide it from Your Majesty?"
Gu Jiu lowered his voice and whispered, "Ancestor can send people south to inquire. I believe that people in the prefectures along the way have already received the news. I also believe that I am not the only one who knows about this. There must be other people in the capital who have received the news early.
Especially those high-ranking officials and noble families whose ancestral home is in Jiangling, Jizhou, and other places. They are well-informed. The soaring grain prices in the capital are fueled by these people. Obviously, they have received the news long ago and started to speculate on the grain prices in the capital.
The Shaofu household steward nodded repeatedly, saying that this made sense.
"I know what to do. I will find another source of information and will definitely clear you out. But I still need your help to solve the food issue."
Gu Jiu laughed. "There's no rush for the food problem. Let's go confirm the news first. When the news of the rebellion spreads throughout the court, it won't be too late to discuss this issue."
The Shaofu Household Officer was puzzled and asked directly, "What are your plans? What do you want to do?"
"It's not about what I want to do, but what Your Majesty intends to do. It's time to send some of Your Majesty's trusted generals out of the capital for some training."
Gu Jiu looked at the Shaofu Housekeeper with a smile that was full of meaning.
Because she was better informed than anyone else, it was clear that she and Liu Zhao had planned everything long ago. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
The Shaofu Household Officer knew it very well, but he couldn't get the truth out of it.
Forget it, he would just be a chess piece and do as Gu Jiu arranged.
Don't seek to achieve anything, but seek to achieve nothing.
If we can persuade Gu Jiu to take out food to save people, it will be a great achievement.
After seeing off the Shaofu's steward, Gu Jiu did not leave in a hurry.
She looked at the prosperous Xinmin County and asked the eunuch Zhao Minfa, "When will your master come back?"
Zhao Minfa's master was Deng Cunli.
Zhao Minfa bowed and said, "Madam, when we last communicated, Master was still in the northwest arguing with General Pei and his men."
The corners of Gu Jiu's mouth twitched.
Xiliang trade has been full of disputes since its inception.
Xu Yousi was able to manage the warehouse well, but he was unable to deal with the treacherous father and son, Lu Hou Pei Meng.
The father and son, Marquis of Lu and Pei Meng, are simply the kings of scams. You will be cheated by them if you are not careful.
There was no other choice but to let Deng Cunli deal with the father and son.
Deng Cunli was originally in charge of the overall situation in the Northwest, and now it is very appropriate for him to return to the Northwest to take charge of the overall situation.
As for Qian Fu, he was sent out by Liu Zhao as early as the fifth year of Wende when he returned from Xiliang.
As of this year, no one has been seen.
I guess he is in Jiangling Prefecture, gathering information about the rebels.
The situation in the capital was changing so rapidly that many plans needed to be re-formulated. Gu Jiu had no choice but to recall Deng Cunli to the capital for discussion.
Some things can only be explained face to face.
Letters are not always that convenient.
Gu Jiu instructed Zhao Minfa, "Contact Eunuch Zhou Miao. This lady hopes he can make some moves."
Zhao Minfa bowed and accepted the order, then talked about another matter. "Manager Chen sent someone to ask Madam if the meat and vegetable shops under Sihai should follow the market and raise their prices. Right now, with the exception of Sihai, every grain and oil shop in the capital is raising its prices."
Gu Jiu tapped the table lightly. "You can raise the price, but not too much. The purchase price for those below should also be raised appropriately. To prevent people from hoarding grain, all grain and oil shops under Sihai will implement purchase limits.
I hope that other grain and oil merchants with whom I have cooperative dealings will also follow suit and implement purchase restrictions. As long as they are willing to support me, I will reward them generously in the future. Don't forget to tell Zhu Ci, the Earl of Cheng'en, too, so that the Zhu family doesn't think I am ostracizing them."
In fact, Gu Jiu was ostracizing the Zhu family.
Over the years, Gu Jiu has been very concerned about suppressing the Zhu family's business empire.
"As you command! Madam, do you have any other instructions?"
"Is there any news from the south?"
Zhao Minfa shook his head. "The last time I heard from Eunuch Rong was during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year. Calculating the time, he might have already returned. Should we send someone to urge him?"
"Hurry them up! We're counting on them for the disaster relief supplies."
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