In the dark night, a burst of fire suddenly appeared, and it could easily spread far away.
The Fengtian Hall was originally built taller than all the buildings in the capital, so not long after the fire appeared, it was seen by Lao Zhu who was sitting on the dragon chair.
"Pa." Lao Zhu suddenly put the imperial pen on the imperial desk.
He asked in a deep voice: "Where is that? Did he get lost? Mao Xiang."
"I'm here."
"Hurry and find out what happened. Why did everything go so well but it got lost?" Lao Zhu ordered in a deep voice.
"I accept the decree."
After Mao Xiang finished speaking, he quickly retreated. He hurriedly walked to the bottom of the steps. There was already a eunuch waiting here with a horse. Mao Xiang turned on top, whipped his whip and ran away.
Lao Zhu stood in the Fengtian Hall, his heart burning with fire, as if it was in contrast to the distant firelight. At this time, what other thoughts did Lao Zhu have on reviewing the memorial? He was pacing back and forth, anxiously waiting for news from Mao Xiang.
.
The old eunuch on the side saw the emperor walking back and forth like this, and was afraid that the emperor was tired. However, at this time, even he did not dare to persuade him rashly. He could only follow the emperor closely with a worried look on his face.
Move and move.
After a while, Lao Zhu did not wait for Mao Xiang, but instead waited for Zhu Biao.
"Father, when my son saw the fire, he hurriedly came to see my father. This must have gone wrong somewhere."
"I saw it and have sent Mao Xiang to investigate the news. Since Biao'er is here, let's wait here together and sit down." Lao Zhu saw Zhu Biao coming and it was not good to show anxiety in front of him.
After a while, he returned to the dragon chair and sat down.
"Yes." Zhu Biao bowed and agreed. Then, he slowly sat on the chair beside him.
The fire in the distance is getting bigger and brighter.
Zhu Biao said worriedly: "Why is there such a big fire? I hope there are no casualties."
Under the firelight, Lao Zhu's face was as gloomy as water and he said nothing.
After a long time, Mao Xiang came back sweating profusely.
"emperor!"
Before Mao Xiang could finish speaking, Zhu Biao quickly asked: "How is the situation? Are any people injured?"
Mao Xiang glanced at the emperor first, but saw that the emperor had no expression. Mao Xiang then saluted Zhu Biao and replied: "Back to your highness, according to the information I found, no people were injured."
"That's good, as long as no one is injured." Zhu Biao suddenly became happy when he heard this. In his opinion, burning a few houses is not a big deal as long as no people are injured.
But he didn't even think about it. How could a fire like this just burn down a few houses?
Lao Zhu was not as optimistic as Zhu Biao, but his heart sank suddenly. If it was such a simple thing, Mao Xiang's face would not be so ugly.
"Where did the water leak?" Lao Zhu suddenly asked.
When Mao Xiang heard this, his body couldn't help but tremble and he didn't dare to answer.
When Lao Zhu saw this, his bad premonition became even worse. He suddenly said loudly: "Say!"
"Back to the emperor," Mao Xiang quickly knelt down and gritted his teeth and said, "The grain depots of three trading companies were leaked."
"Which three?" Lao Zhu suddenly stood up, his fingers pointing at Mao Xiang could not help but tremble.
"That's right, the three companies that raised grain prices with each other with the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry."
"Snapped!"
Lao Zhu suddenly waved his hand, and the tea cup memorials on the imperial desk were scattered to the floor.
"Asshole!"
No wonder Lao Zhu was so furious. The three merchants who dared to rush to buy grain from the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry had long been noticed by the petty Lao Zhu. But it was only because they had been diligently collecting and storing grain that Lao Zhu
He did not rush to attack them. He still thought that when food was needed in the future, he would send a large army to surround the place. All the food would easily fall into his hands without Lao Zhu spending a penny.
Not only the money for buying food is saved, but also the cost of guarding the food is saved.
The reason why Lao Zhu allowed the three trading houses to purchase grain was because he thought that no matter who purchased the grain, the meat would rot in the pot of Ming Dynasty. For this reason, Lao Zhu has been sending people to keep an eye on the three trading houses.
Prevent them from transporting the food quietly.
The three trading houses had shown no signs of transporting the grain away, which made Lao Zhu feel relieved.
But Lao Zhu never expected that something like water leakage would occur at this time. Nearly a million tons of grain were stored there. After such a fire, how much would be left?
Moreover, this year's severe drought has become a foregone conclusion. Originally, there was not enough food, but now we suddenly lost so much, Lao Zhu's eyes turned red with distress.
"Come here, show off!"
After hearing this, Mao Xiang suddenly hugged Lao Zhu's legs and cried and begged: "Your Majesty, you must not do it. The fire there is too strong now. Even the water dragon can't get close. If Your Majesty, who has a body of thousands of gold, goes there rashly, it will be really dangerous."
It is too dangerous. Your Majesty, please think twice!"
Lao Zhu was speechless after hearing this.
I knew in my heart that Mao Xiang was right. Such a big fire could not be extinguished by a water tanker. Faced with such a fire, there was no other way but to wait for it to burn out and then put it out.
And when the fire is extinguished, those millions of tons of grain will also be wiped out!
Since the matter is irreversible, even if Lao Zhu is heartbroken, he can only let it go temporarily.
Immediately afterwards, Lao Zhu's expression condensed and he ordered: "Mao Xiang, go and arrest everyone in the three trading houses immediately, and wait for their arrest."
"My lord, I obey the order."
After Mao Xiang left, Zhu Biao didn't seem to have recovered from the shock.
He murmured to himself and asked: "Father, is this the grain depot leaked?"
Lao Zhu was not in the mood to explain to Zhu Biao. He just stared at the fire in the distance and said, "Take a good look. It is rare to see a fire ignited by millions of tons of grain."
Zhu Biao also looked at the fire, and he could feel the heartache of his father just now. Although the value of these million tons of grain is high, it is second to none. The key is how many people will suffer without these million tons of grain.
And starve to death?
The sky was bright, and the fire that had been raging all night was finally extinguished, and there was no longer the wanton arrogance of last night. But at the same time, where the original grain depot was, only a dark ruin with broken walls was left.
Millions of tons of grain were destroyed overnight!
Lao Zhu came here early, stood on the edge of the ruins, looked at the vast and dark area, his face was extremely gloomy.
"Your Majesty," Mao Xiang worked hard all night and finally came to deliver a message to the Emperor.
"Everyone has been caught?"
"We've all been caught, but..." Mao Xiang hesitated, not knowing what to say.