"Your Majesty, His Majesty has ordered Wu Ge to be in charge of disaster relief in the county, but this granary only has 10,000 dan of grain, and is still short of 20,000 dan. What should we do?" Liu Yu asked.
Zhao Yi sneered, "I knew it. I've already brought disaster relief grain when I arrived. These 20,000 dan of grain were shipped overnight from the south of the Yangtze River. Remember, you must distribute all of these 40,000 dan of grain without missing a single grain. Zhao Huan wants to set an example, so let's fulfill his wish."
Prince Ding was almost made Crown Prince. However, due to the support of the other ministers, Zhao Yi gave up the throne when the situation became stalemate. The details of the situation are unknown, but Zhao Ji showed great favor to Prince Ding after ascending the throne.
Even Zhao Huan respected this imperial uncle very much, and Zhao Yi had a good reputation in the court. No one expected him to be such a person.
"Your Highness, please forgive me for what I have to say," Su Yuanzhong said with his head down. "If we distribute all the 40,000 dan of grain, Your Highness will suffer a great loss."
Zhao Yi's eyes twitched. "It's more than just a loss. The shipping costs from other grain warehouses to here are astronomical. Add to that the high prices we paid for these grains, and this king is nearly bankrupt."
Liu Yu and Su Yuanzhong were shocked. They both relied on Prince Ding's protection at court. Zhao Yi's favorable reputation at court stemmed not only from his low profile but also from his renowned generosity. He gave gifts to court officials annually, which was another factor contributing to his favorable reputation.
Zhao Yi's cleverness lies in the fact that he never gives gifts such as gold, silver, or jewelry, as that is bribery. For those honest officials or those who appear to be honest, he gives insignificant gifts. But these gifts are often what the other party likes.
For example, if a member of the Privy Council liked to drink tea, he would give him one or two kilograms of tea during festivals, and the tea must be the other person's favorite kind, and some of it was even good tea that could not be bought with money.
If the other party enjoyed playing the zither, he would get a thousand-year-old guzheng as a gift. Therefore, as long as Prince Ding asked, these officials generally had no reason not to help.
Although Guangyuan Grain Shop had no relationship with Zhao Yi on the surface, many officials knew that the official grain shop had an unusual relationship with Zhao Yi in private.
Only his confidants knew that the largest shareholder of Guangyuan Grain Shop was Prince Ding Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi's face was fierce. "Remember, the emperor can't stay in Haizhou forever. Su Yuanzhong, you must perform well and strive to complete the disaster relief work so that His Majesty can appoint you as the governor of Haizhou. When the time comes, no matter how much food we give to the people, we will make them spit it out!"
Su Yuanzhong knelt down and said happily: "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. I will do my best."
If I were the governor of Haizhou, I'd be raking in the dough. Didn't the emperor exempt Haizhou from taxes for three years? So, just do it. I can come up with all sorts of excuses, like subsidies for county officials, drought relief taxes, and so on. The court will turn a blind eye. Even if you exempt taxes for three years, the officials still have to eat. Plus, the local government still has to pay for projects like maintaining stability, disaster relief, and water conservancy projects. When has the court ever allocated money for them?
Wu Ge was released. He was so proud that the first thing he did was to find Liu Yu.
"Sir Liu, this general needs 8,000 dan of grain tomorrow and will send it down right away. Do you think you can prepare it?" Wu Ge said as he sat down as soon as he entered the door.
Liu Yu was surprised. "General Wu, why do you want so much at once? I don't have enough time to prepare. How about this? Let's ship out 3,000 dan first. What do you think, General Wu?"
Wu Ge was in a dilemma: "You have to know this, Lord Liu. His Majesty hopes that the Haizhou affairs will be resolved as soon as possible, and this general does not want to drag it out like this."
"I know this. I hope General Wu will be flexible on this. I really need time to prepare." Liu Yu said with a fist salute.
He called himself a subordinate, so Wu Ge couldn't refuse. "Well, this general will give you a favor. Three thousand dan of grain, but you have to prepare the rest quickly."
"Of course, of course!" Liu Yu said, clasping his fists.
After Wu Ge left, Zhao Yi came out from the inner room, his eyes sinister and fierce: "Notify the grain transport team at Guangyuan Grain Store to speed up and deliver the grain at all costs!"
Liu Yu hurriedly bowed and agreed.
Wu Ge came every day to ask for food, but Liu Yu always made excuses. For seven days, he only gave him 8,000 dan of food. On the eighth day, Liu Yu suddenly stopped trying to stop him and gave Wu Ge whatever he wanted.
Zhao Huan knew that the food supply loophole had been plugged.
"Linghu Yunlong, how is the investigation I asked you to do going?" Zhao Huan asked.
"Your Majesty, I think it's time to close the net. We've lured Prince Ding to Haizhou, and we can capture them all in one fell swoop."
Zhao Huan thought for a moment and said, "Let me think about this again. The Guangyuan Grain Shop is indeed a powerful force. I can't match their speed. How do they do it?"
"Well, I don't know." Linghu Yunlong answered honestly.
The Guangyuan grain store was later dubbed the "Guangyuan Speed" by Zhao Huan, as they were able to gather 20,000 dan of grain in a short period of time. Even the imperial court couldn't achieve such a speed.
Later, Zhao Huan learned that Guangyuan grain shops were spread across half of the Song Dynasty. They had branches in almost every prefecture and county. Normally, the Guangyuan grain shops were law-abiding. They bought low and sold high, making a lot of money.
Zhao Huan wanted to wait a little longer. He wanted to find out how the Guangyuan grain shop operated, but an urgent letter from Bian Jing disrupted his plan.
The letter was sent from Japan by Zhao Li's dragon boat. Zhao Huan was shocked when he saw the letter.
"Linghu Yunlong, notify Wu Ge, close the net! Arrest Liu Yu, Su Yuanzhong, and Zhao Yi!"
Linghu Yunlong bowed and said, "As you wish!"
Zhao Huan waved his hand: "Come here!"
Two guards came in. They were Xia Qing and Yang Wu, who served beside Zhao Huan. "Xia Qing, you and Yang Wu take a team of imperial guards to Yingtian Prefecture and arrest the prefect Chang Xuelin. Send him to the Tianlao in the capital. I will sentence him when I return to the capital!"
"As you say!" The two bowed and left.
Zhao Yi was still at Liu Yu's house when he was surrounded. When Liu Yu and his guards including Su Yuanzhong rushed in, they knew something was wrong.
Arresting them was no different from arresting corrupt officials. When the shackles were put on their heads, they immediately wilted. They didn't even say a word of argument. In fact, every corrupt official would have thought of such a day, and they had imagined the scene of their own arrest countless times in their minds.
As long as Zhao Yi: "How dare you! Do you know who I am?"
Wu Ge sneered and said, "Prince Ding, I'm sorry, but His Majesty has granted you special permission to come to the government office so that His Majesty can personally interrogate you."
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