At this time, the grain prices in northern Shaanxi soared, and it was already four taels of silver per stone, and one hundred thousand stone of grain was four hundred thousand taels of silver. And to be honest, 400,000 taels of grain might not be able to buy 100,000 stone of grain.

After hearing this number, the fat old man suddenly fell silent, and the others also remained silent. However, those sitting outside, because they were a little far away from Hong Chengchou, started to whisper. While speaking, some words came to Hong Chengchou's ears.

"so much……"

"Yes, there's too much..."

“…”

When the fat old man saw the smile on Hong Chengchou's face disappear, his face turned gloomy, and he said, "Master Zhongcheng, we don't want to do it. It's really a year of great disasters. Although we have some family business, the expenses are also high. The court also needs to pay some filial piety, and food is just silver, and I really don't have that ability!"

When the other squire heard this, they nodded and agreed.

"Yes, Lord Zhongcheng, we are powerless!"

"Now, the landlord's family has no surplus food!"

“…”

Hong Chengchou could hear that they had a needle in their words, implying that there were people in the court, so don’t force them too much.

He sneered in his heart, trying not to get angry, but his voice was a little cold and said, "If there is no food to send troops to suppress the thieves and let the thieves rob, you won't worry, will the thieves steal you? By then, your money, food, wives, children, and daughters are all thieves. Can they be kept?"

This was quite shocking. After he finished speaking, all the gentry fell silent again and did not dare to say that there was no food.

After being silent for a long time, the fat old man said first: "What Master Zhongcheng said is so true, Yan should do his best!"

Speaking of this, he pondered slightly and said, "Yan donated 500 stones of grain!"

After hearing what he said, the squire beside him said, "I donate a hundred stones of grain!"

"Fifty stones!"

“…”

Hong Chengchou was not afraid of it. After hearing one, he turned his eyes to the next one, and he continued to look at the next one after donating. After all the people in the hall reported, he waved his hand and asked his personal guards to go to the hall to count the amount of grain donated.

"Report to Master, I donated 2,000 stones of grain in the hall!" The guard's face clearly showed a hint of anger and replied loudly.

After hearing this, Hong Chengchou stood up, looked around the gentry present, and said coldly: "A total of 5,000 stones of grain are donated. Isn't this official think it's too little? Are you really not afraid of the thieves breaking through your villages and towns and slaughtering your whole family?"

No one replied, Hong Chengchou said again: "Since I have invited you to come, I have done statistics in advance. You are here with the ability to bear these military rations, but donating so little military rations. Or you are not sure about the situation in northern Shaanxi, so I will inform you of the situation you just learned."

Speaking of this, he slowly explained the situation of civil unrest in various places. The number of people and the vastness of the places made many people worried, and his face looked a little ugly.

"... Everyone, the one that worried me the most was the bandits of the brothers of Shen Yiyuan, which mainly consisted of border troops. They had about two thousand cavalrymen alone, and they had been in the army for a long time and were well aware of the methods of siege battle formations. According to my estimates, in other places in northern Shaanxi, except for the county towns or above, it was difficult for other villages and castles to defend Shen Yiyuan's attack. If I did not send troops, even the county town would be unsafe."

When Hong Chengchou said this, his tone suddenly calmed down a little, "I guess you have heard about the Shanxi merchants. The court has rich and has issued a clear decree. The border army's military pay will be repaid soon. You don't have to worry about donating grain in the future!"

When they heard this, the gentry present couldn't help but whisper. With such a large-scale action in the next province, these gentry were naturally more informative than ordinary people, and of course they knew a little about the situation. Although they didn't believe that even if the court paid the salary, how much money could it have to reach northern Shaanxi. However, at least there would be some, which forced them to reconsider it.

Hong Chengchou was also very kind in the face of these gentry. Because he knew that in the Ming Dynasty, he could offend ordinary people, but he could never offend these gentry. Otherwise, in his original history, he would not have ignored Yang He's instructions to surrender. Because he knew that if the gentry did not take out food and rely on the court's relief, the thieves would surrender, but they would definitely rebel when they didn't have to eat.

Seeing that these gentry were considering, Hong Chengchou advised again: "The army has no food and cannot wait for the military pay and cannot stand the hunger, there may be more mutiny. If I am weak, I can only save the town of Yulin. It will be too late for you to regret it!"

Either he was moved by what he said, or their previous discussion came to a conclusion, the gentry led by the fat old man began a new round of donations of grain. The total amount of grain reached about 50,000 shi.

After donating, the fat old man stood up and bowed to Hong Chengchou and said, "Mr. Zhongcheng, the daughter-in-law at home is waiting for delivery. The young old man is really worried about it. He must go back and watch it. Please forgive me!"

"That official congratulations to Mr. Yan first!" Hong Chengchou replied with a smile.

As soon as the fat old man left, another squire next to him stood up: "Mr. Zhongcheng, my mother is seriously ill, and the student is really unintentional to have a banquet. Please ask Mr. Zhongcheng..."

Before he finished speaking, Hong Chengchou said with concern: "Since that's the case, I am not here. You should go back quickly!"

The man was overjoyed and quickly bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Lord Zhongcheng, for your understanding!"

Another one left. Seeing that Hong Chengchou was not angry and was very considerate, he found reasons to say goodbye. Hong Chengchou was also as considerate as he began, very considerate of them. As long as you wanted to leave, he would not stay.

After a while, all the squire found various reasons strangely and exposed them all.

Looking at the empty hall, Hong Chengchou's personal guards said angrily: "Sir, they have nothing to do, they are afraid of donating food and running away!"

"How can I not know!" Hong Chengchou's face returned to coldness, and he glanced at the empty table and said, "I am poor and can save money and food for this banquet, haha, very good!"

In fact, regardless of whether there is food or not, as the highest official of the governor Yansui, he was responsible for suppressing the bandits and would definitely send troops. However, the difference between having food or not will determine his way of commanding the troops.

If there is food, he will strictly enforce military discipline. Suppressing the bandits means suppressing the bandits, and there will be no other matters. But if there is no food, he will have no choice. The first thing is to suppress the bandits. As for replenishing the military supplies, it can only be solved on the spot when marching and fighting.

Originally, in history, soldiers were even more traitors than bandits, but because of the butterfly effect, these gentry donated the greatest possible food in this plane, which allowed Hong Chengchou to restrain military discipline, which allowed many people to escape.

At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen of the capital was still considering repaying military pay, and the progress lags behind previous estimates.
Chapter completed!