The first gift Zheng Da sent was already priceless, and it was not difficult to imagine the value of the other two gifts. As expected, the other two gifts, one was a lifelike jade carving, and the other was a headdress.
The jade carving is nothing, but the quality of the jade it uses is so good, it is extremely rare black jade. Among Hetian jade, black jade is also an extremely precious variety. The value of such a large piece of black jade carving is by no means inferior to that
To the night pearl.
As for that headdress, it is exquisite. The most astonishing thing is that it uses the Dian Cui craftsmanship. You must know that at that time, the jewelry that could use the Dian Cui craftsmanship was basically from the royal family and was used by the royal family.
The jade craft has a long history. It involves picking off the most beautiful feathers on the back of the kingfisher, lining them with gold thread, and then inlaying them on gold and silver jewelry.
This sounds simple to say, but if it were to be done, even the most skilled craftsmen at that time might not be able to complete it.
It is precisely because it is so difficult to make that the jade craft is mostly used in the inner courtyards of palaces to make beautiful headdresses for queens, concubines, etc.
The three gifts sent by Zheng Da are each more precious and rare than the last. They can indeed be regarded as generous gifts.
He said that he wanted to save the lives of Lu Yue and Jia Liang. In fact, he didn't care about the lives of Lu Yue and Jia Liang at all. For him, the only people he could use were Lu Yue and Jia Liang.
How can the value of human beings be compared with night-light pearls, black jade carvings, and emerald ornaments? The reason why he gave such a heavy gift was just to use Lu Yue and Jia Liang as a cover. The real purpose was to please Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu also didn't expect Zheng Da to be so generous. Each of the three gifts was priceless. He coughed dryly, smiled at Zheng Da, and said, "Mr. Zheng is too polite. These three gifts are too valuable.
"
Zheng Da said seriously: "Lu Yue and Jia Liang have offended General Liu first. As a sworn brother, I am not strict in discipline. It is my fault. These gifts are also the villain's apology to General Liu. I hope General Liu will accept them."
Down."
Liu Xiu pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "In this case, I would be disrespectful."
Zheng Da quickly bowed to Liu Xiu and bowed deeply.
Seeing Liu Xiu accepting the three important gifts from Zheng Da, everyone present looked at each other in shock. Money can really make the world go round. Yi Zhun, it was like this when Xie Sheng was there, and it is like this now when it is the Chung Ling Army.
Liu Xiu changed the topic and said: "Our army has just entered Chaoyang. We are short of soldiers, military pay, and food and grass. I hope you gentlemen can donate generously. Those who have money will provide money and food. Xiu is very grateful!"
"
As he spoke, he bowed his arms and bowed to everyone present.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Da was the first to say: "General Liu led his army to Chaoyang to protect the peace of our people. Now that General Liu is encountering difficulties, we, the people of Chaoyang, naturally cannot sit idly by and ignore it. Let me express my opinion first.
, I am willing to donate two million yuan and five hundred shi of food."
As soon as he said these words, the expressions of everyone present changed. Two million dollars is already a lot of money, and five hundred shi of grain is even more generous. You must know that according to the market price in Chaoyang, five hundred shi of grain is equivalent to five hundred
Thousands of dollars.
The big businessmen who cooperated with Zheng Da looked at him one after another and asked him with their eyes, is it really necessary to pay so much? Zheng Da glanced at the businessmen, then lowered his head and played with the wine glass happily.
Seeing this, several merchants understood what he meant. One of them raised his hand to Liu Xiu and said, "General Liu, the villain Wei Chong, is willing to donate one million yuan and two hundred shi of food."
Zheng Da secretly rolled his eyes and scolded Wei Chong secretly for not knowing the importance of it. What time has it been now and you are still so stingy. You only donate such a small amount of money and food. What's the use of keeping you?
The other three merchants also expressed their opinions and donated the same amount of money and grain as Wei Chong, which was one million yuan and two hundred shi of grain.
Only five people, including Zheng Da and Wei Chong, donated 6 million yuan and 1,300 shi of food. This was not a small amount. The 1,300 shi of food alone was enough to feed Liu Xiu's subordinates.
More than a thousand soldiers for more than a month.
The grain stored in the granary of Chaoyang County Government is only two thousand dan.
When it was other people's turn to donate, compared with Zheng Da and Wei Chong, they were simply too shabby. Not to mention those who didn't donate one million yuan, even those who donated one hundred thousand yuan were rare. Most of them donated tens of thousands.
As for money and food, the donation was even less, only a few stones.
It's not that they don't want to donate more, but they don't dare to donate more. If they donate too much, their family will have no food to eat.
After everyone had finished expressing their opinions, Liu Xiu asked curiously: "What is the price of food in Chaoyang now?"
Zheng Da and Wei Chong looked at each other, but no one answered.
An elderly man bowed and said: "Reporting to General Liu, the price of grain in Chaoyang has increased dozens of times. Taking millet as an example, it used to cost only three or four hundred yuan per stone, but now it costs ten thousand yuan."
One stone for money.”
As he spoke, the old man's eyes were moist. With such high food prices, let alone the common people, even wealthy nobles like them could hardly afford it.
Liu Xiu rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, and said: "Although there have been constant natural disasters in recent years, the disasters in Nanyang have been relatively light in the past two years. The harvest in the fields is not abundant, but it is self-sufficient, not to mention the water flow.
After Chaoyang, the land in Chaoyang is fertile and the disaster is less severe, so the harvest should be larger. How can the price of food be so high that one thousand yuan per stone is too unreasonable."
As he spoke, he glanced at everyone present with lightning eyes. The old man who spoke looked at Zheng Da, then at the three important gifts placed next to Liu Xiu, and he swallowed back the words that came to his lips.
Others also lowered their heads and did not dare to say anything.
Liu Xiu said slowly: "Mr. Zheng, Mr. Wei and others all donated more than one million yuan and more than a hundred dan of grain, but you only donated tens of thousands of money and a few dan of grain. It really makes people laugh."
His words made everyone present blush, while Zheng Da and others looked on with gloating eyes.
Liu Xiu said quietly in a calm tone: "It seems that you all do not want to see my Zhu Tiandu Department sincerely, and you only want to welcome the reckless soldiers back to the city!"
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of everyone present changed drastically, and their bodies were all shocked. Liu Xiu's words can kill people. Now that Chaoyang City has been captured by the Chung Ling Army, whoever is still leaning towards the government at this time does not mean that
Looking for death?
The old man who just spoke hurriedly stood up and left the table, knelt down and kowtowed to Liu Xiu, and said in a trembling voice: "General Liu, we have no intention of rebelling against the Tiandu tribe and welcoming the Mang army back to the city! Please give me some advice from General Liu."
!”
The rest of the clan leaders also left the table, knelt down behind the old man, and said in unison: "Please tell me, General Liu!"
Liu Xiu blinked, waved his hands and said, "Gentlemen, what are you doing? Get up and speak."
People knelt on the ground and did not dare to move. Liu Xiu said: "You keep saying that you have no intention of opposing our Zhutiandu tribe, but your behavior is not what you say. You and others are like Chaoyang." Gentlemen, a century-old family with a great business, but when it comes to needing you, your performance is far inferior to Mr. Zheng, Mr. Wei and others. You tell me, how can I believe your words?"
The old man at the head pondered for a moment, then he raised his head and said: "General Liu, the reason why the price of grain in Chaoyang is so high is because several big grain stores in Chaoyang joined forces to make malicious acquisitions and mergers. They hoarded food and artificially caused a food shortage in Chaoyang, and then they joined forces to raise the price of food and sold the food at tens of thousands of yuan per stone. We Chaoyang nobles, like the people of Chaoyang, are miserable."
"Oh? Is this happening?" Liu Xiuxiao asked: "Even according to the law of thieves, maliciously raising the price of grain is a capital crime. How could just a few grain merchants act so boldly? Doesn't the county government care? ?"
"The county government dare not take care of it! Because the largest grain merchant is a relative of the prefect!" As he spoke, the old man turned to look at Zheng Da, who was sitting beside him.
Zheng Da looked angry, stood up from the table, pointed his finger at the old man, and shouted: "Tao Qian, you old man, you don't want to spit on others!" As he spoke, he subconsciously looked at Liu Xiu, who was also happy to see him. Looking at himself with a chuckle, he hurriedly raised his hands and said: "General Liu, although I am a relative of Zhen Fu, I have never had a close relationship with Zhen Fu and have not moved between them. Tao Qian poured dirty water on the villain's head. General Liu please take a closer look!"
An old man named Tao Qian also risked his life and said to Liu Xiu: "General Liu, Zheng Da, Wei Chong, He Wen, He Pu, and Shen Zhong are the five major grain merchants in Chaoyang City! They may buy them at low prices. , or plundering, hoarding food, and then selling it at a high level. The county magistrate Yi Zhen was concerned about the relationship between Zheng Da and Zhen Fu, and turned a blind eye to what they did. As a result, the five Zheng Da people continued to grow bigger. , completely monopolized Chaoyang’s food, and made a fortune..."
Zheng Da's face turned red and he shouted angrily: "Tao Qian, shut up! Don't slander anyone again!"
Tao Qian didn't even look at him and continued to say to Liu Xiu: "Originally, the people of Chaoyang and I welcomed General Liu and the brothers of the Chung Ling Army into the city, because only the Chung Ling Army would ignore and not care about Zheng Da and Zhen. With the relationship between Fu and Chaoyang, profiteers and villains can be severely punished in Chaoyang, but General Liu..." As he spoke, the old man's eyes fell on the three gift boxes next to Liu Xiu again, and he hesitated to speak. His meaning was obvious. They thought they were pounding. After the Ling army entered the city, they would have a good life, but they didn't expect that Liu Xiu and Yi Zhen were just the same.
"You...you are so brave!" Zheng Da pointed at Tao Qian and said to Liu Xiu: "General Liu, the old thief Tao Qian, not only slandered people and framed villains, but also slandered General Liu and the Chung Ling Army. Brother, this is really a heinous crime and cannot be forgiven. Please General Liu punish this thief severely!"
"I'm quite old, so I'm not afraid of death, but even if I die, I still have to tell what's in my heart! The Chung Ling Army is determined to fight against recklessness, but if the Chung Ling Army and Zhen Fu, Yi Zhun, Zheng Da and others are in the same league, , and how is it different from Wang Mang?"
"You...you..." Zheng Da pointed at Tao Qian and said nothing for a long while, but beads of sweat were already dripping down his forehead.
Liu Xiu's fingers tapped lightly on the desk. After an unknown amount of time, the knocking sound stopped. He stood up immediately, holding the hilt of his sword in one hand and clasping his other hand behind his back, he walked around the desk.
Walked up to Tao Qian.
Zheng Da knelt on the ground with a bang and said urgently: "Tao Qian called a deer a horse and confused right and wrong. General Liu must be aware of it and punish him severely!"
Liu Xiu glanced at him, stretched out his hand, helped Tao Qian up from the ground, and asked, "Is what Mr. Tao just said true?"
What he said was not only a question to Zheng Da, but also to everyone present.
