Chapter 100: All the disaster relief funds turned into stones!
Disappointment flashed in Shen Yuanjing's eyes, but he said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I heard that Dongchuan is covered in ice and snow for half the year. My older brother used all his money to buy a boat. If we don't earn some now, how will we survive when we get to Dongchuan?"
"I still owe ten taels of silver, and I need to kill ten pirates to pay it off. I'm young and have only been learning martial arts for a few days. Even if I survive, how many pirates do you think I can kill? I might not even be able to pay off my debt!" So how could I possibly give money to my family?
Even if he were lucky enough to have some money left over, he wouldn't give it to his family!
The Shen family had all forgotten that Shen Yuanjing was still carrying a huge debt of ten taels of silver. Just a moment ago, they were thinking that he could go out and earn money for the family, but now they were just feeling resentful.
Looking at her three sons and their grandsons behind them, Old Madam Shen lowered her eyes and asked, "What do you think?"
Shen Conglian pouted, "Mother, let's forget about it. The cabin is fine too!"
"Yes, Mother, right now the most important thing for our Shen family is the safety of our offspring; everything else is secondary. Once we reach the shore, we can sell this ship and we'll have the money, won't we?"
"None of us can swim, and we're seasick right now. How are we supposed to fight pirates!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Shen's brows relaxed slightly.
It's not that they didn't send anyone, it's that they can't swim and get seasick. Seasickness is so unpleasant, there's still a smell of vomit in the cabin.
"What you said makes sense. We don't want to become a burden instead of a help!" Old Madam Shen said thoughtfully.
Shen Yuanjing's eyes darkened, and he silently led his younger brother toward the registration area.
There were quite a few people in line. When it was Shen Yuanjing's turn, someone patted him on the shoulder.
"Yuantang, Yuanxin, Yuanqing, Yuanzhao, what brings you here?" Shen Yuanjing asked with a look of surprise.
Shen Yuantang snorted arrogantly: "So you're allowed to come, but we're not? We're also descendants of the Shen family!"
"Yes, we also want to kill pirates and earn money!"
"It's a pity, Yuanqing originally wanted to come too, but Father kept him here." Shen Yuanzhao looked disappointed.
Shen Yuanjing asked in surprise, "Does Father know you're here?"
Shen Yuanqing nodded, somewhat disappointed, and said, "I know. Father said he wanted to come too, and Grandmother is keeping an eye on him."
Everyone looked helpless and signed the papers one by one.
Just as I was about to leave, four more people arrived.
"Why didn't you call us when you were registering?"
They are Shen Yuanxu and Shen Yuankun from the second wife's family, and Shen Yuanpeng and Shen Yuanhao from the third wife's family.
Shen Yuanjing smiled sheepishly and said, "Wasn't it because I was afraid my uncles wouldn't let you come?"
Shen Yuanxu rolled his eyes at him and said irritably, "We have legs, so you're allowed to sneak in, but we're not?"
Shen Yuanjing laughed and punched him lightly: "It was so much fun killing bandits together last time, let's do it again this time!"
Shen Yuanxu smiled and raised his chin: "That's more like it!"
Shen Yuanjing smiled and put his arm around his shoulder. The group chatted as they walked up to the second floor where they practiced martial arts.
Time is running out, they need to practice quickly!
With a hawk's cry, Xiaoxue arrived once again with intelligence.
After reading the note, Shen Lanxi sent someone to fetch Liu Yanhui and Wei Dongzhu.
"The Liu family has sent their navy to pursue us. Tell the boatmen not to rest tonight, go at full speed!"
After reviewing the intelligence, Liu Yanhui quickly went to find the ship owner.
"Tomorrow afternoon, you will take Liu Yan back to Tongluo Island by small boat!"
Wei Dongzhu: "Yes!"
In addition to the news of the Liu family's involvement, there was also information about Zhou Xiwu's collusion with pirates.
She needs to think carefully about how to use this information.
Tianjin
Zhou Ruan rested for two days and originally planned to set off early tomorrow morning, but suddenly received an urgent report from his subordinates and had to leave in a hurry!
"Load all the boxes onto the boat, be careful!"
For safety reasons, all the disaster relief funds brought by Zhou Ruan were deposited at the dock on the shore, and heavy troops were assigned to guard it.
They were in a bit of a rush this time. The soldiers were carrying the boxes in a hurry, and when they were walking onto the deck, they tripped on the deck, lost their grip, and the boxes fell to the ground.
With a splash, a handful of pebbles fell out of the open box.
Zhou Ruan had been watching closely the whole time. When he saw the box land, he walked over with a dark face. He had intended to teach the soldier a lesson, but he never expected to witness this scene.
How did pebbles fall out of the box containing disaster relief funds?
"Open the box!" Zhou Ru'an suddenly had a bad feeling. He thought the guards were too slow, so he opened the box himself.
After seeing what was inside the box, Zhou Ru'an turned pale and looked horrified, as if he had seen a ghost!
"Stone? How could there be stone inside?"
Is this the case for just this one box?
What about the other boxes?
Zhou Ru'an's heart suddenly raced as he thought of the stolen military pay from Wei's army.
"Quickly, open all the boxes."
The soldiers stopped and quickly opened the box.
Stones, all the boxes are filled with stones!
Zhou Ruan felt a chill run through his body, and his vision blurred.
The soldiers were equally terrified.
"Second Prince, we swear, we guarded the warehouse every step of the way, eating, drinking, and sleeping there. We have dockworkers who carried goods during the day as witnesses, and dockworkers who unloaded goods at night as witnesses. We kept a close eye on the warehouse, and not a single mouse has ever entered!" The soldiers' commander knelt on the ground in a panic to explain.
Zhou Ru'an's face was as white as a dead man's. This was disaster relief money. He had just received information that a refugee uprising had occurred in the north, and he was setting off now to provide disaster relief as quickly as possible.
Now that all the silver has turned to stone, what will he use for disaster relief? The soldiers' heads?
"Second Prince, I can also testify. Ever since the disaster relief funds were moved to the warehouse, the guards have stayed by our side at all times, and outsiders are not allowed to get within a hundred meters." The Second Prince's advisor hurriedly testified for the guards, and by testifying for the guards, he was also testifying for himself.
Zhou Ru'an snapped out of his daze and roared angrily, "Then how do you explain that all the silver in the box turned into stones?"
The moment the strategist saw the stone, he immediately thought of the case concerning the provisions and pay of the Wei family army.
"I dare to guess that these disaster relief funds either had problems before they were handed over to us, or they had problems en route after they were handed over to us. After we left the capital, we traveled by boat all the way, and there was no way we could have had the opportunity to exchange them on the boat!"
These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Zhou Ru'an's head, instantly sobering him up.
Could it be that the grain and provisions allocated by the national treasury to Wei's army were just stones from the beginning?
Impossible, absolutely impossible. How could the vast treasury of the Great Zhou Dynasty be so poor as to exchange stones for silver?
But what if it's true?
Zhou Ru'an's heart raced as he was startled by his own conjecture.
"Second Prince, I believe now is not the time to investigate who took the money. The most urgent task is to raise funds for disaster relief as soon as possible."
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