This thought only flashed through his mind by chance, but Qi Chengjun seized upon it firmly.
His gaze was fixed on the map of Houhu, then he took the map and strode out, instructing, "Tian Er."
The guards hidden in the shadows stepped forward silently and whispered, "Lord Qi."
Qi Chengjun handed over the map of Houhu: "Give the order to investigate the grain stores under the name of the Prince of Chu. Find out exactly how many shi of grain are delivered at a time and how often they are delivered, for every single grain store that supplies grain to the Jiangnan Navy."
"Furthermore, investigate thoroughly how many men the Jiangnan navy had before the King of Chu came to his fiefdom, how much grain they used, and how often they were delivered."
There is an answer to everything when there is a comparison.
His original investigation was to see if there were any unusual grain sales by the King of Chu's grain stores. If not, then it meant that he secretly had grain stores to supply his private army.
Qi Chengjun's investigation has always focused on this direction, and even without much progress, he is confident that his approach is correct.
Raising an army is not something that can be achieved simply by talking about it.
These soldiers all need to be bought with money.
But now, thinking about it from a new perspective, he realizes that his previous ideas were completely wrong.
Tian Er said softly, "Lord Qi, what grave mistake?"
Qi Chengjun then realized he had spoken out loud and waved his hand, saying, "It's nothing."
Of course, if the King of Chu used the pretext of the navy to secretly hide the food supplies for his private army among the supplies, who would have thought that this amount of food could feed two groups of soldiers if they hadn't been investigated carefully?
Previously, all the prefectures in Jiangnan were under the control of the King of Chu, so no one would bother to investigate.
Since I came to Huizhou, even if I felt there was a problem, I would never think about it in that direction.
Qi Chengjun closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again: "Go and arrange for all the owners of grain shops in Huizhou to come to the yamen to see me. Tell them I have important matters to discuss with you."
He was certainly not good at military campaigns, but Qi Chengjun felt he could handle the task of maintaining morale in the rear.
My father said that His Highness and the others are already preparing for the winter war, so they must be stockpiling grain.
In the Jiangnan region, war is expected to break out in at most another month, so he must stockpile grain as soon as possible to prevent Huizhou from running out of food after the war begins.
After waiting for a while without receiving any instructions from Xin, Tian Er strode out.
However, as soon as the side door opened, Tian Er was so frightened that he withdrew his foot.
"My dear mother..."
How much time has passed since he opened the door? Why does it seem like there are more people outside the mansion now?
Not seeing Lord Qi come out, they hurriedly asked in a flurry, "Brother guard, what is Lord Qi doing?"
"Did you tell Lord Qi that we're waiting for him outside?"
"Lord Qi usually goes to the yamen very early, but he hasn't left yet at this time today. It's really worrying."
"Yes, yes! Lord Qi, are you perhaps ill? Should we ask a doctor to take a look at him, brother guard?"
Tian Er's face was practically beaming with joy as he kept answering the people's questions: "Lord Qi is on official business and will be leaving soon. There's no need for everyone to crowd together to avoid a stampede. Please go back now."
Going back first is impossible, after all, the King of Chu just brought troops yesterday to take Lord Qi away, so they have to keep a close eye on him.
We absolutely cannot let Huizhou fall into the same chaos as other prefectures.
The other guards also tried to persuade them, but the people kept talking, like hundreds of ducks opening their mouths at the same time. Tian Er's throat was almost burning from talking, but the people still didn't leave.
Tian Er was surrounded by people and couldn't get out of the house, so he had to turn around and go back inside, muttering to himself, "Even if the people want to take care of Lord Qi, they don't need to do this."
"With the whole street blocked off, wouldn't it be even easier for Lord Qi to get into trouble?"
Tian Er was about to leave through the back door of the mansion when he turned around and saw Qi Chengjun, already dressed, staring at him leisurely: "My lord."
Qi Chengjun hummed in agreement: "What's the situation at the front gate?"
Tian Er said in a low voice, "It's similar to yesterday. The streets are packed with people, just waiting for you to come out."
Qi Chengjun paused as he descended the steps, his gaze sweeping through the covered walkway as if he could see the commotion outside.
He said softly, "Even if you want to take care of me, you don't need so many people, do you?"
Do these people have nothing better to do?
He felt something was off, but he didn't have time to think about it. The guard who was temporarily acting as the gatekeeper came in again to urge him: "Sir, there are more and more people on the street, all asking when you can go out."
"The people said they wouldn't dare leave until they safely escorted you to the government office."
The guard thought to himself, given the enthusiasm of the people, he probably wouldn't leave even if they were taken to the yamen, since Lord Qi would have to go to the yamen that night.
eccentric!
Unlike the touching feeling of being protected by the people yesterday, today Qi Chengjun only felt a chill slowly rising from the soles of his feet and quickly spreading to his limbs and bones.
The chill in the air was telling him that he couldn't leave this door today, or he would be in danger.
But the anxious clamor of the people could already be heard coming from above the mansion's gate.
The guard acting as the gatekeeper whispered, "Sir, there are more and more people. If you don't go out soon, I'm afraid the gate will soon be too weak to guard."
Tian Er was speechless.
"This isn't taking care of Lord Qi at all; it's clearly treating him like a monkey."
Tian Er stared blankly at Lord Qi, who first remained silent, then dressed neatly, waved to him, and strode towards the outside of the mansion.
His appearance gave off a somewhat execution-like feeling.
The vermilion gate suddenly opened amidst the commotion, and the people on the street instantly fell silent, looking up at Qi Chengjun.
Even though Qi Chengjun was prepared, he was still shocked by the scene when he stepped out the door. People were packed together, shoulder to shoulder, and there was no way to put his feet down!
"Lord Qi is out!"
Someone shouted, and it was like a drop of water falling into hot oil, causing an uproar. The concerned chatter of the people could be heard again.
"Lord Qi, why are you so late today? We were so worried about you."
"Make way for Lord Qi to pass."
"That's right, that's right, Lord Qi is extremely busy with affairs of state..."
Qi Chengjun waited with a smile until the noise subsided. Then he repeatedly cupped his hands in thanks and said, "Everyone, I have come out. Please go back. Thank you for your concern. There is no need for this in the future."
The crowd next to him had already made way for Qi Chengjun, a very narrow path, just wide enough for one person to pass at a time.
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