Zhang Fu sent people to check for information about Mu Yan, but found nothing.
With a frown on his face, he ordered Zhang Jin to hide the news from Huo Xi, and he simply didn't even return to the mansion.
"Master, I heard that the eldest lady's shops in several places in Zhejiang Province have suffered a lot of losses this time. I heard that the eldest lady sent several groups of people to check various places and also took a lot of banknotes from the bank.
I’m afraid that there will be a loss of manpower in the shop.”
Zhang Fu was stunned, "I forgot about this. She still has a shop in Ningbo." I'm afraid it will be difficult.
With a serious look on his face, he ordered Zhang Jin: "Go back to the palace and see if there are any latest newspapers in the palace. Make a copy of it and give it to your daughter. Then let people keep an eye on it. As soon as there is a newspaper in the palace, copy it and send it back to your home. In addition, give some money to your daughter.
, I’m afraid she will use it.”
"yes."
Zhang Jin returned to his residence and gave Huo Xi the latest residence newspaper.
Huo Xi was heartbroken when she saw the above-mentioned news about the casualties in various places, the loss of houses, crops, livestock, etc.
"Thank you, Uncle Jin. I'm worried about how to get this newspaper. My second and third uncles are also helping me find someone, but it's my father's face that matters. I don't need the banknotes. I'm not short of money."
"That's good. The master said that if anything happens to the family or the eldest lady, you can send someone to the Yamen to find him."
Huo Xi nodded and suddenly stopped him: "Father, can you receive military reports from various places?"
Zhang Jin's eyes flashed, "Yes. Military reports from various places will be sent back to the Fifth Army Commander's Office in the capital." After saying this, he stopped talking.
Huo Xi didn't notice anything strange about him, so after thinking about it, she asked him: "So, is there any news about the coastal navy's suppression of bandits?"
Zhang Jin's breath stopped, and he replied bravely: "Yes. Uncle Ping Jiang, who led the navy from Zhejiang and Fujian to pursue the pirates this time, had already detected something strange at sea before the big storm, and ordered all the warships to return to port.
Take shelter from the wind.”
Uncle Ping Jiang is Gong Ziyi's father-in-law. Uncle Ping Jiang has outstanding abilities. Besides, he is commanding a navy of 400,000 men, so I'm afraid nothing big will happen.
Huo Xi nodded, "Okay, I understand."
She was just fine. I didn’t ask any more questions. I didn’t see Zhang Jin sighing in relief and leaving in a hurry.
Along the southeast coast, the wind stopped and the rain stopped, but it was a mess.
Due to high tides, the seawater overflowed the embankments, and an area of 130 miles from Haimen to Yancheng was affected.
Chen Xuan was ordered to divide 200,000 troops to build a tidal embankment. It was estimated that the embankment would be more than 18,000 feet long. While building the embankment, he also had to count the number of casualties and missing soldiers.
An urgent report from Beijing was delivered to him.
A private message from a British public servant?
Uncle Ping Jiang hurriedly opened it. After reading it, he was a little puzzled and handed the letter to the military advisor on the side.
"Why did the British Duke ask me to send troops to find the eldest son of the Duke of Guizhou?"
This time there was a sudden storm, and many warships at sea were unable to return to port in time. The shipwrecks and casualties were still being counted. Why did Tettete write him a private message, asking him to help find Mu Yan's whereabouts?
The military advisor read the letter and said, "Uncle, the British Duke's eldest daughter is the one who just returned home this year."
Uncle Ping Jiang nodded. He had also heard about the British Duke's family affairs.
Seeing that Uncle Ping Jiang didn't understand, the military advisor pointed it out directly: "Uncle, I heard that in May, the third young lady and the third uncle went to the British government as guests."
The reason was explained again. The military advisor did not know the specific circumstances, but had only heard rumors about the capital.
Uncle Ping Jiang immediately understood, "Have you accepted your adopted sister? The Gong family is lucky enough to have recognized the eldest daughter of the British father-in-law as their adopted sister."
It's like hugging the British male's lap.
Ping Jiangbo pondered for a while: "You mean, this Mu Yan is the British Duke's chosen son-in-law?"
"I can't confirm whether it is a subordinate. But this Mu Yan, who had joined the British Duke to suppress the Annan rebellion before, this time he was asked to lead the Zhili elite troops to suppress the bandits. I'm afraid it was also the British Duke's intention. It seems that the British Duke wanted to give him
He has accumulated some military merit. Moreover, this young master Mu is also the emperor's personal guard."
No matter what, Ping Jiangbo cannot treat him as an ordinary soldier.
Uncle Pingjiang thought for a while and then ordered: "Order people to investigate in the direction of Turtle Island. We must find the whereabouts of Mu Yan."
"yes!"
Although Beijing was not affected by the disaster, the impact was not small.
"Girl, the price of food has not increased much, but the price of salt has increased! Now a pound of salt costs eighty cents!" Xianghua ran over to report the situation to Huo Xi, sighing with emotion.
"What, a pound of salt costs eighty cents!"
The people who followed Huo Xi were not the kind of people who don't care about fireworks. They were all very proficient in economic and general affairs. After hearing this, they all looked at her in shock.
Huo Xi was also shocked.
The capital is close to the salt farm, and the price of salt is not expensive. At its most expensive, it was only thirty-five cents per pound. Now, one pound of salt costs eighty cents?
In areas where no salt is produced, can people still afford salt?
"Girl, I heard that in Yancheng and Huai'an, a strong storm caused seawater to flood the salt warehouse, and the salt was dissolved and soaked in water. The salt farm cannot produce salt now, so the price of salt will keep rising. Girl,
Should we stock up on some salt?"
"How much salt can you eat?" A few girls thought it was unnecessary.
"But if the supply of salt is insufficient, it will become more and more expensive!"
Everyone looked at Huo Xi one after another.
Huo Xi also didn't expect that the first thing to happen would be salt. The price rise was a bit scary.
People can eat less, drink less, and wear less clothes, but they cannot stop eating salt. Since ancient times, social instability has been a common problem due to the price of salt.
"Go and ask the second lady about the salt hoarding situation in the house, and ask her to arrange for someone to buy some. In addition, Qiu Shuang will go back to the Huo family to see if your father has any news, and then ask my parents to
Go buy some salt and store it."
"Yes." Amber and Qiu Shuang responded and ran out.
The British government and the Huo family bought enough salt to take home before the people in the capital could react.
By the time everyone came to their senses, there was already a long queue at the door of the salt store, and the price of salt had already risen to one hundred and twenty cents.
Due to massive hoarding, the salt shop was only open for half a day and then was forced to close because there was no salt to sell.
The less salt is sold, the longer the queue becomes.
The emperor has begun to issue orders to stabilize the price of salt. The price of salt has not increased anymore, but it has begun to be limited. Each person can only buy half a catty a day.
Slowly, people from the suburbs of Beijing and nearby counties and towns came to the capital to buy salt.
When I walked onto the street, I saw a strange scene. There were very few people in other stores, but there was a long queue in front of the salt store.
Even if there is news from the palace that there is no shortage of salt and the people are asked not to hoard large amounts of salt, there will still be no shortage of people lining up in front of the salt shop.
Huo Xi obtained a copy of the newspaper and reported the death toll from various places. It was said that in Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Xiangshan areas, tens of thousands of houses were washed away, 150,000 hectares of farmland drifted away, and more than 30,000 people drowned.
shocking.
Yang Fu and others reported back that Huzhou, Jiaxing and other places were not seriously affected by the disaster.
Although there were strong winds and heavy rains, the shop was still there, not many goods in the warehouse were damaged, and no workers were injured or injured. The Songjiang area was only slightly affected. My maternal uncle's family in Huzhou are also safe.
Uncle Li Yu has gone to Hangzhou to join Yang Fu. His uncle also helped to inspect the silkworm fields in Huzhou, Jiaxing and other places.
Just when Huo Xi breathed a sigh of relief, worse news began to spread from the palace.
An epidemic occurred in Wucheng, Gui'an and Deqing counties in Zhejiang Province, resulting in numerous deaths.
Two days later, another report was received that an epidemic had occurred in Yinxian, Congxi, Fenghua, Dinghai, and Xiangshan counties in Ningbo Prefecture, and the death toll was unknown.