More than a dozen famous merchants from Yixing were invited to the magistrate's office.
Seeing the pot of fragrant crayfish, and looking at the satisfied faces of the people after eating the lobsters, they all swallowed their saliva despite their doubts.
"Come here, give each distinguished guest a basin of crayfish."
As soon as Qin Shaobai gave the order, the soldiers took action immediately.
Originally, these merchants were still some distance away from the pot and could still control their appetite.
As soon as the plate was served, the aroma immediately hit the nostrils, making everyone so greedy that they couldn't help but smack their lips.
"My lords, the thing on this plate is the strange insect in the field that has troubled everyone recently."
As soon as these words came out, the elders all stepped back, obviously showing fear.
"I know that everyone has lingering fears about this little thing, so a few of us and the soldiers tasted it first. It is absolutely delicious and there is no possibility of poisoning."
Zhao Bai sat at the main table and said loudly to everyone.
Seeing that everyone still seemed to be frightened, he called the guard beside him to pick up one in a small bowl and ate it with relish.
Everyone saw that the imperial envoy was eating boldly, and even if they had doubts in their hearts, they did not dare not to eat.
After one sip, the strong aroma invaded their mouths and tongues, and they picked up the lobster without caring about any etiquette and started nibbling on it.
In the time it took for a cup of tea, the plates in front of everyone had been cleared away. Some people were still not satisfied. They even held the plate and drank all the soup. What's more, they put their fingers stained with juice into their mouths.
, sucking.
Zhao Baigang was about to signal the guards to clean up the leftovers on the table, but was stopped by Qin Shaobai.
Qin Shaobai asked people to clear away the lobster heads in front of the gentlemen's tables and put them neatly on the plates. He also asked people to put down the pen and paper in front of the gentlemen.
Everyone was still whispering and talking about the deliciousness of the lobster, but now when they saw the pen and paper in front of them, they didn't know what Qin Shaobai wanted to do.
"Gentlemen, how good was the lobster just now?"
Qin Shaobai asked with a smile.
Those big men didn't dare to say anything bad, they just nodded their heads.
"Master, are you willing to taste this delicious food again?"
Another uniform nod.
"That's good."
Qin Shaobai said and shouted loudly: "Bring me the abacus."
Now, not only the elders were surprised, but even Zhao Bai's eyes widened, wondering what kind of medicine Qin Shaobai was selling in his gourd.
"Everyone knows that our rice is eaten by these lobsters. There are thousands of acres of rice fields. I estimate that there should be tens of thousands of these lobsters. So on average, one lobster should be able to eat one part of the field."
Qin Shaobai turned around and asked Magistrate Pan.
"Master Pan, based on our government's normal grain harvest in the past few years, how much rice can one piece of land produce?"
Magistrate Pan pondered for a moment and quickly replied: "If God is kind, one piece of land should be able to produce fifty kilograms of rice."
Qin Shaobai's eyes fell on the bosses.
"My dear gentlemen, what Magistrate Pan said is right, right?"
No one dares to say a typo.
They all stared at Qin Shaobai intently.
Everyone knew that Qin Shaobai would attack them next.
As for whether to use a large knife or a small knife, they have no choice but to accept it.
"Okay, since everyone agrees with Magistrate Pan's opinion, let's start settling the scores."
"Please count how many lobsters you have just eaten."
After counting the numbers one by one, Qin Shaobai showed a smile on his face.
"Masters, this lobster has eaten fifty kilograms of rice. How many lobsters have you each eaten? How many kilograms of rice should you spit out?"
Zhao Bai was originally watching with cold eyes, but when he heard what Qin Shaobai said, he almost laughed out loud.
He finally suppressed his laughter, stood up and clapped his hands.
"General Qin's algorithm is indeed very reasonable. Please calculate the rice you need to bring out and write the number on the paper. I will ask the soldiers to collect it from each government later."
"Sir, you, you are trying to force us to death."
Finally a man shouted.
His cry was like popping a hornet's nest, and there was a buzzing sound everywhere.
"Forcing you to death?"
Qin Shaobai stepped forward and stared at the fat and strong man in front of him.
"This must be Mr. Qian of Qian's Grain Shop. As far as I know, Mr. Qian has used land and waterways to transport a lot of rice from various places in the past few months, but he is unwilling to transport this rice as usual.
Sell it to the people at a high price, seal the rice in the warehouse, and just wait until the people have no food to eat, then sit on the ground and raise the price, is there such a thing?"
How could Mr. Qian admit it? He said he was wronged.
"General, sir, I am really unjust. The rice in my shop has been robbed long ago. Our family of more than ten people is still eating white porridge every day."
Qin Shaobai twitched the corner of his mouth and sneered: "Master Qian, even if you drink white porridge every day, you will become white and fat. I really want to know what you use to make the white porridge."
Qin Shaobai's suddenly raised voice frightened Master Qian so much that he stepped back, but he still insisted that he had no food at all, and wanted to bring out Magistrate Pan to testify.
Magistrate Pan was a man with eyes. He had already seen that Qin Shaobai was going to use the poor Master Qian to operate on him. How could he be willing to put himself under the knife? He had already hid aside and let Master Qian do it.
How to use your eyes to hint, just don't stand up.
"Lian Huan, tell everyone the results of your investigation."
Qin Shaobai called.
Lian Huan hurriedly stepped forward and unfolded the scroll in his hand.
The scroll depicts a granary, which is actually filled with grain.
When Mr. Qian saw this painting, his expression changed drastically.
The granary depicted in this painting is indeed the warehouse of his grain store.
With a long sigh, Mr. Qian fell down on his chair.
"Sir General, Qian agreed to exchange one lobster for fifty kilograms of rice. Qian just ate a total of twenty lobsters, so Qian will now send someone to bring one thousand kilograms of rice."
"No, Master Qian, you just ate so happily that you finished all the lobsters on your own plate and took two from my plate. So, you ate a total of twenty-two lobsters."
A middle-aged man on the side reported the information.
"you you……"
Master Qian stood up, pointed at the middle-aged man, picked up the pen on the table and wrote down one thousand one hundred catties of rice on the paper. Qian Mo agreed with these words and walked away.
Qin Shaobai chuckled a few times and chased after Qian Mutong's back: "Master Qian, thank you for the gift. I will send someone to get the rice after a while, so I would like to congratulate you for bringing the rice."
"
After saying that, he turned his eyes to the gentlemen still present.
"Bosses, have you ever counted how many lobsters you have eaten?"
"The number is clear, the number is clear."
I saw everyone picking up pens one after another, writing a series of numbers on the white paper, and signing their names.
"Lian Huan, take these notes and take them to receive the gifts from each of the masters one by one."