The Tongzhou granary was said to hold a million piculs of grain, enough to sustain a hundred thousand people for two months.
But would there really be that much grain in the granary?
According to Shen Yun’s secret investigation, at the very beginning of the disaster, the Tongzhou granary had already been depleted to less than a hundred thousand piculs, making it imperative to access the Yunzhou granary.
Shen Yun’s brows furrowed as he looked at the endless sea of disaster victims, his heart heavy.
Now, he could only hope that the information he received was false.
That the Tongzhou granary truly had enough grain.
Perhaps Mr. Gu was right; he was getting old. Even the wisest person, once old, would become muddled.
This mess of the Daliang Dynasty needed someone with a clear mind, courage, and wisdom to take charge.
Su Xiaoqi was unaware of Shen Yun’s thoughts. She carried a person and hid in the granary behind the porridge shed, continuously transporting grain from her spatial dimension.
Whether Shen Yun’s Tongzhou granary held a million piculs of grain, she didn’t know.
But her spatial dimension truly did.
Combined with the three hundred thousand piculs she and He Qiulei had already stockpiled, if nothing went wrong, they should be able to hold out for five days.
Thinking this, Su Xiaoqi worried that other porridge sheds might not last, so she sent Zhang Yu with people to check on them one by one.
Indeed, some families did not have much grain in their granaries. It was fine to distribute for a day or two, but if it went on for too long, they wouldn't be able to sustain it.
After Zhang Yu’s rounds, Su Xiaoqi had a rough idea of the situation in those families.
The Grand Princess’s manor, the Duke of Yu’s manor, the Prince of Ning’s manor, the Duke of Huang’s manor, the Marquis of Dingbian’s manor, the Duke of Zhenguo’s manor, and several other ducal and marquis families had ample granaries, which could last for ten to fifteen days without issue.
Others could last at most three days, while some could hold out for five.
Su Xiaoqi knew the situation and felt that there was still ample time.
Since someone had taken the lead in setting up porridge sheds to distribute porridge, the disaster victims on the outskirts of the capital had not resorted to smashing and looting as they had before.
Firstly, officials and soldiers were dispatched to patrol, and any found were immediately killed.
Secondly, with food available, who would do such things?
Given the choice between being a human and a ghost, no one would choose to be a ghost.
Su Xiaoqi and her group’s actions were all being observed.
Among them, Zhao Xiaohua paid the most attention to her.
She had already moved out of the Marquis of Yong'an’s residence.
She had purchased a three-courtyard residence in the inner city.
It was inconvenient to act while staying at someone else's house.
No one knew where her money came from, nor did they know why a weak woman with no background possessed such great capabilities.
However, she not only held significant sway with the Marquis of Yong'an’s family.
She also had acquaintances in the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace.
Other noble ladies and young ladies also befriended her.
It had to be said that she was a very capable person.
At this moment, she sat on the veranda, looking at the bowing and stooping Jia Sanyu, and said, “Did you see clearly? Was it Su Xiaoqi who did it?”
Jia Sanyu replied, “That’s right, I saw it clearly. She sent people to knock on the doors of the Grand Princess, the Prince of Ning’s manor, and the Duke of Yu’s manor, asking them to join her in setting up porridge sheds to distribute porridge.
The Marchioness of Yong'an sent someone to ask if we wanted to join…”
Before Jia Sanyu could finish, Zhao Xiaohua interrupted him:
“Truly hateful! If it weren’t for her, the grain we stockpiled wouldn’t be unsellable at high prices.”
Zhao Xiaohua, like Su Xiaoqi, had predicted, or rather, she knew how things would unfold, understanding that the drought would arrive in June.
Therefore, she had long ago instructed her shopkeepers to gather a lot of grain and stockpile it.
Of course, she wasn't like Su Xiaoqi, taking it out to set up porridge sheds for charity. Instead, she planned to hoard it and make a fortune during the opportune moment.
But she hadn't expected that after her grain shops had sold high-priced rice for only two days, she received news that the grain in the "Heavenly Granary" was being sold at affordable prices.
Everyone who had bought grain from her had gone to buy it from the "Heavenly Granary."
She was not worried, as this drought would not pass so quickly.
After this, there would be a locust plague. She didn't believe Su Xiaoqi’s "Heavenly Granary" had so much grain for her to sell.
She could wait.
However, before she could hear the news of the "Heavenly Granary" running out of grain and closing, she heard about her summoning various noble families to jointly establish porridge sheds.
She thought that in such extraordinary times, those shrewd noble ladies would surely refuse.
Alas, she had underestimated Su Xiaoqi after all.
She had actually persuaded them.
The Duke of Yu’s manor and the Grand Princess’s manor were understandable; their relationship with her had always been close.
But she had even persuaded the Prince of Ning’s manor.
She was somewhat curious.
She didn’t believe the Princess of Ning was so easy to talk to.
However, she soon found out that the matter was personally decided by the Prince of Ning.
With the Prince of Ning involved, Zhao Xiaohua fell silent.
She was urgently thinking about what to do.
She had already asked Su Yuru to find out from the Crown Prince of the Prince of Duan that the court was already organizing disaster relief from the Ministry of Revenue.
At this moment, the Assistant Minister of Revenue, along with officials from the Ministry of Revenue, had rushed to the Tongzhou granary, and soon the grain would be opened for distribution.
By then, people would no longer need to travel so far to the capital to eat porridge.
“Distribute it.” Zhao Xiaohua didn't want to, but she dared not miss this collective charity.
She still needed to cultivate her image of being charitable among those noble ladies.
Besides this, the Wang family was also discussing this issue.
“The Prince of Duan’s manor has joined the Grand Princess in opening the granary for distribution. Our Wang family should have followed suit immediately.
Why haven’t we?” Wang Chengyi looked at the wrinkled face of his wife, Madam Jing, with some displeasure.
“My lord, your concubine wanted to open it, but our family… our family’s granary is not enough.” Madam Jing was somewhat wronged. A clever woman can't cook without rice.
Wang Chengyi couldn't believe his ears: “Our Wang family, so large, cannot even afford the money to open a porridge shed?”
“We do have some money, but we sold all the grain harvested from the estates at the beginning of the year.” Madam Jing felt ashamed.
Who knew there would be a disaster at the time? If she had known, she would never have let the stewards sell it.
It was because someone was specifically buying it then, and the price was quite reasonable.
Moreover, she wasn't the only one selling grain. The ladies she knew had all sold theirs.
“Alas…” Wang Chengyi sighed.
Wang Enze, who was beside them, said, “Father, it’s fine if we don’t set up porridge sheds. This is not the best time to set them up.”
Wang Chengyi knew that his younger son was always intelligent and had his own opinions on court affairs.
Upon hearing this, he said meaningfully, “Why? Now that the Tongzhou granary is about to open, if we set up porridge sheds at this time, we can gain fame and not expend too much grain. Isn’t it killing two birds with one stone?”
Wang Enze, however, shook his head subtly: “Father, if I told you that opening the Tongzhou granary is like not opening it at all, would you still think this porridge shed can be opened?”
Wang Enze’s words struck Wang Chengyi’s heart like a sharp arrow.
He was also an old hand who had weathered decades in court, so he naturally understood what his son meant.
“You mean the Tongzhou granary…”
“It’s said to store a million piculs, but it’s already less than one-tenth of that.
If porridge sheds are set up at this time, they will have to continue indefinitely.
By the time the Ministry of Revenue persuades the Emperor to open the Yunzhou granary… calculating the time difference, it will be at least half a month, and I’m afraid no one can hold on.”