Chapter 563: Arrival of food and grass, solving the eight cases
"Commander, the food transport team has arrived!"
Xin Qiji cupped his hands and said.
"oh?"
When Shen Tang heard this, he raised his eyebrows! The food has arrived, which is naturally a good thing, but looking at the expressions of Xin Qiji and others, it is obviously not that simple!
Therefore, he did not speak in a hurry, but waited for Xin Qiji and others to continue talking.
"Commander, the food they brought was only 50,000 dan and 200,000 taels of silver in total! Moreover, the officer in charge of transporting the food secretly wanted to extract some profit from it!"
Xin Qiji said bitterly.
"If it weren't for the command of the commander-in-chief, the general would have killed them directly! The commander-in-chief led our brothers to fight to the death here in Chengdu. Could it be that the imperial court couldn't even get enough food and salary?"
Bian Xi on the side also looked unhappy.
Not only the two of them, but also Shao Hongyuan and others also frowned.
Tens of thousands of stones, grain, rice, and two hundred thousand silver may sound like a lot, but when put into a large army, they are really not much.
Now, if we include Shao Hongyuan's men and horses, Shen Tang will have more than 100,000 troops. These hundreds of thousands of troops will consume at least 3,000 stone grains and rice every day for people to eat and chew horses. If there is a war, it will consume even more.
Just tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass are enough for what?
Shen Tang thought for a moment, and then said calmly, "Go and bring the chief officer who transports grain to me."
Shen Tang's eyes narrowed slightly. He had long known that there were many things going on in the military regarding food and grass matters, but these matters had nothing to do with him before.
But this time, if the chief food transporter was doing something wrong, Shen Tang wouldn't mind killing someone to establish his authority.
The reason why he guessed so was because Zhang Jun and several people were in charge of raising food and grass.
It would be fine if Shi Hao didn't know about military affairs, but neither Zhang Jun nor Ma Shao, the envoy of the third division, knew how much grain and grass Chengdu required?
Don't they know that these 50,000 stones, grains and rice will not have much effect?
Moreover, two hundred thousand silver! Even one labor service is not enough. How could the imperial court be so stingy...
"Let me go!"
"You are looking for death!"
"I am dealing with a transportation case. Even if you, the commander-in-chief, meet me, you must show courtesy to me!"
"How shameless, you are not afraid that I will go back to report to the Third Secretary Envoy and directly deduct your food and salary..."
Not long after, there was a noisy sound!
Listening to the commotion outside the door, a sneer appeared on Shen Tang's face, "Yes, our shipping case is very powerful!"
"bump!"
The door of the hall was pushed open, and Xin Qiji, Bian Xi and the others pushed a man in crimson official uniform into the hall.
"Let him go!"
Shen Tang drank lightly.
The man was released by several people, snorted coldly, straightened his clothes, and then looked at Shen Tang, "Is this the General of the Conquest of the West, Commander Shen Tang?
I have met the commander-in-chief, Du Heng, who is responsible for the transportation of goods under the command of my lord, the Third Chief Envoy!"
Du Heng slightly arched his hands, with no sign of respect on his face! However, he was right about one thing. Duzhi was indeed one of the most powerful figures in the Duzhi Shipping Case! Although he was not as powerful as a minister or minister, he still held real power. There is a lot of oil and water.
Under the three departments, there are three agencies: the Ministry of Revenue, Salt and Iron, and Duzhi. The three departments are in charge of finance, and among these three branches, there are deputy envoys in charge.
For example, in this Duzhi organization, there is a deputy envoy of Duzhi! And under the deputy envoy of Duzhi, there are eight cases, each of which is in charge of one party. The Duzhi shipping case is one of these eight cases.
"I don't know how much military pay and grain rice Mr. Du has delivered!"
Shen Tang asked calmly.
"Fifty thousand dan of grain and rice, and two hundred thousand silver of military pay! General, hurry up and send someone to receive it.
In addition, I have come thousands of miles away, and I have traveled so hard for you, the general will not let me go back empty-handed."
Du Heng lifted it up slightly. What about the general?
All the food and grass are controlled by the three departments, so I am not afraid that you will not compromise. Don't you want the food and grass next time?
Furthermore, I am also acting in accordance with common practice.
This Du Heng did go too far, but it was not because he wanted to die. In fact, the Song Dynasty had already formed such a pattern.
First of all, the three divisions are all civil servants. Compared with these rough guys fighting on the battlefield, they are many times more noble! Moreover, isn't it normal to receive some benefits from doing things for you?
Even more than just the benefits, the grain and rice are naturally numerous.
However, after traveling thousands of miles, there is also a lot of loss! This gives the people who transport the food an opportunity to take advantage of the loopholes.
If the loss should be 50%, but it is directly said to be 80%, then the remaining 30% can be put into the pocket in exchange for money?
As for the battle on the front line, what does this have to do with you?
Could it be that a civil official should be blamed for a defeat?
After traveling thousands of miles, the losses were huge, and Du Heng was secretly greedy. To be honest, when he arrived in the capital city of Chengdu, he was still able to leave tens of thousands of stones, grains and rice for Shen Tang, so Du Heng had no mercy.
"Okay, okay..." Shen Tang smiled instead of getting angry, "What a great shipment master! Someone came and tied him up. I immediately sent a message to the court to see how much grain and rice the court had delivered. If there was any shortage, For one stone, I will cut this gentleman's body with a knife!"
"you……"
Du Heng couldn't figure out how a simple soldier could dare to treat him like this.
Is it really okay to be so tough?
"You are so presumptuous! This officer is involved in a transportation case. You dare to detain me here. Do you want to rebel?"
Of course Du Heng knew what he had done. If Shen Tang was asked to contact the court and reveal what he had done, what would he do?
When the time comes, even the deputy envoy Duzhi will not be able to protect himself.
However, how could Xin Qiji and others pay attention to him?
Immediately, several people stepped forward, grabbed Du Heng with a ferocious smile, and took him out.
After a few people left, Shao Hongyuan and others couldn't help but look at Shen Tang.
Dealing with a shipping case is indeed not a big deal, but the problem is, now that there is a problem with food and grass, how should they solve it.
"Commander Qi, there is someone outside the city asking to see you, saying he is under Lord Lu Feng's command..." At this moment, a soldier entered the hall and said to Shen Tang.
Shen Tang nodded and said, "Let him come in."
Then, he turned to Shao Hongyuan and others and said, "General Shao, I will temporarily allocate some food and salary to you, and I will wait for you to find a solution for the rest."
"Thank you, sir!"
Shao Hongyuan and others hurriedly thanked him, and then said again, "We will go to organize the army first. If the commander-in-chief has anything to do, he can summon us at any time."
Everyone left, and about a quarter of an hour later, the soldiers entered the hall with a man.
"I have met you, sir. This villain is Qian Hua from Dark Night Pavilion. I have news to pass on to you!"
With that said, he handed a letter to Shen Tang, "This news comes from Mianzhou, please take a look."