In the letter from Lu Yan, besides his concerns about the Western Rong State, there was another matter.
That was - provisions.
As soon as Lu Yan arrived in Liangcheng, he immediately joined Qi Qi. Under the leadership of Chu Jietian's subordinates, they thoroughly inspected the provisions of the entire army.
Sure enough, he discovered a problem.
Before Lu Yan left Lixia, Qi Qi had actually sent him a message, saying that there was a serious shortage of provisions in Liangcheng. At that time, only Liangcheng in the whole of Lixia was under threat. Facing the 200,000 troops of the Eastern Hu and with the internal turmoil in Qimen just quelled, the provisions allocated by the Lixia court to Qimen were not a small amount. According to the 1.2 million dan of provisions that King Xia Jie had suspected Chu Jietian of and used to question Lu Yan, the actual provisions that reached Qimen were less than 500,000 dan.
Not to mention that Chu Jietian never lied to the king. The reason he requested a large amount of provisions was that Qimen was already exhausted. Years of civil war had left many disaster - stricken people. Even if he had a little selfish thought, it was to get provisions for the common people. Unfortunately, King Xia Jie didn't care about these. He was naturally suspicious. After being deceived by Qi Shuhuan, he thought that Chu Jietian might rebel, so he directly cut off the provisions to Qimen.
And the 700,000 dan of provisions that had been embezzled by someone out of the 1.2 million dan were nowhere to be found.
As the saying goes, provisions should be in place before the troops set out. Now that the enemy was at the gates of Liangcheng and the soldiers were still going hungry, Lu Yan was so angry that he directly wrote a letter in his own blood and sent it back to Lige, accusing someone of embezzling the provisions. He also said bluntly, "If the soldiers are not well - fed, how can they defend their country!"
So when Xing Zhiyuan went to Liangcheng, he was ordered to take 100,000 dan of grain with him.
But it was only a drop in the bucket. Qimen was seriously short of provisions, and now that they were on the verge of war with the Eastern Hu, Lu Yan had already ordered a thorough investigation. However, the investigation was not as smooth as he had expected. After much investigation, they only found a local agricultural official in Qimen. He said that when the provisions reached Qimen, there were only 500,000 dan left, and the order he received only stated 500,000 dan.
Since it wasn't an internal problem in Qimen, it must be an external one. The route from Lige to Qimen passed through various cities in Lixia. Lu Yan didn't have the authority to investigate further, so he could only entrust this matter to Shen Qingfeng.
After Shen Qingfeng learned about it, he immediately sent Yu Shuang that night, leading Yuanyang and Fan Zhe, two newly - recruited members of the Listening Wind Pavilion, to investigate along the route.
If the amount of provisions was small, it would be difficult to investigate. But it was almost impossible to cover up the disappearance of 700,000 dan of provisions. Sure enough, under Yu Shuang's leadership, the whereabouts of the provisions were discovered in just two days.
The agricultural official in Lige City had indeed sent 1.2 million dan of provisions to Qimen. Since ancient times, the transportation of provisions or the distribution of disaster relief supplies had always involved exploitation at every level, and everyone knew it well. But this time, the exploitation had taken a different turn. The provisions passed through four cities and eight counties. Every time they stopped, tens of thousands of dan of grain would disappear. Then these missing grains were sold on the spot by some people in exchange for silver and sent back to Lige City.
As for where they were sent, after much investigation, it still led to the Qi family.
At that time, Shen Qingfeng was visiting Xia Chuli in the Eastern Palace. Xia Chuli was recovering well. As soon as Yu Shuang sent the news, Shen Qingfeng's face immediately darkened. He even wanted to rush into the Qi Mansion and kill Qi Shuhuan. He was so angry that he couldn't sit still in the palace and cursed Qi Shuhuan for being a scoundrel.
"He failed in his plan to seize the tiger talisman and military power. Now, even during the war, he still embezzles the provisions for the battlefield? I don't know if he is really ignorant or just wants to make money by betraying the country!" Shen Qingfeng roared and angrily threw the teacup in his hand on the table.
Xia Chuli's wound on his back had almost healed. He walked to the table and sat down. He poured a cup of tea for Shen Qingfeng and said, "Qingfeng, even if you tell Father about this now, he won't do anything to the Qi family."
"I know." Shen Qingfeng rubbed his temples and said, "Your father has been deceived by Qi Shuhuan. He believes everything Qi Shuhuan says. The war hasn't started yet, and there are no consequences of the embezzlement. Even if the king knows that he has embezzled the provisions, he will still be deceived by Qi Shuhuan because of the so - called 'no consequences'. But you also know that this war must not start."
Xia Chuli nodded and said, "If the war starts and the provisions are cut off, Liangcheng will fall. If the war doesn't start, Qi Shuhuan can find an excuse to exonerate himself. Father always looks at things one - sidedly and won't consider so many things."
Shen Qingfeng pinched his chin and said nothing, obviously agreeing with Xia Chuli's words. He was thinking about a countermeasure.
In the previous life, during Lu Yan's battle, the provisions were not held back by Qi Shuhuan. After all, Qi Shuhuan was busy fighting against Xia Chuli at that time and had no time to care about Lu Yan. But in this life, Qimen was short of provisions, and the Eastern Hu was at the city gates. If the news of the shortage of provisions accidentally reached the Eastern Hu, and they launched an attack, not only Liangcheng but also most of Qimen might not be able to be defended.
So this matter had to be resolved as soon as possible.
"Since we can't get through to Father, why not directly threaten Qi Shuhuan?" Xia Chuli propped his head up, with a somewhat casual tone.
Shen Qingfeng was stunned for a moment and looked at him, saying, "Qi Shuhuan is a crafty old fox. Even if we have found the evidence of his embezzlement, how could he be threatened by us because of these things?"
Xia Chuli shook his head and said, "Then don't use ordinary means to threaten him."
Shen Qingfeng looked at him, somewhat puzzled.
"Since we have found out the people under his command who helped him embezzle, why not kill them first as a warning. When he finds out that they are dead, won't he be threatened?" Xia Chuli propped his head up, looked at Shen Qingfeng, and said, "An old man of his age is most afraid of death."
As soon as Xia Chuli finished speaking, Shen Qingfeng trembled all over. He suddenly turned his head and looked at Xia Chuli. His face was a bit unnaturally pale. There was a hint of panic in Shen Qingfeng's eyes unconsciously. But when he saw Xia Chuli's young face and the blinking eyes looking at him, his stiff body relaxed a bit.
How strange. Why did he seem to feel the Xia Chuli from the previous life just now?
No, it shouldn't be. He would never look at him like this.
"Qingfeng? What's wrong with you?" Xia Chuli looked at Shen Qingfeng with an innocent look.
"Nothing."
Shen Qingfeng secretly let out a sigh of relief. He thought that he must have been over - thinking. Then he relaxed his body and carefully considered Xia Chuli's suggestion.
"Do you mean to secretly kill all the people who work for him?" Shen Qingfeng paused and said, "Although this can have some effect on threatening him, it will take a lot of time. Not to mention so many lives..."
"They are making money by betraying the country. What's wrong with killing them?" Xia Chuli asked loudly, "Now the country is in trouble, and the 200,000 troops of the Eastern Hu are pressing on. These people are still being selfish and doing such things. They deserve to die!"
Shen Qingfeng paused. After listening, he slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again: "You're right. The people who colluded with Qi Shuhuan really deserve to die. But killing so many people at once will result in too much sin. And just threatening Qi Shuhuan is not enough. We also have to make him spit out the embezzled provisions."
Xia Chuli leaned closer and asked, "Qingfeng, do you have a plan?"
Shen Qingfeng looked down at him, sighed slightly, rubbed his head, and said, "Yes."
Xia Chuli smiled and said, "Tell me quickly."
After listening, Shen Qingfeng told Xia Chuli his general idea. After listening, Xia Chuli paused and said stiffly, "Qingfeng, why don't you just kill them all?"
Shen Qingfeng's expression turned solemn and he said, "A Li, although these people colluded with Qi Shuhuan and are extremely evil, if one person can be killed to solve the problem, there is no need to kill many."
Shen Qingfeng looked into Xia Chuli's eyes and said, "A Li, you are going to be the king of Lixia. A king should put people first. I hope you will become a benevolent king and don't follow your father's example."
Xia Chuli blinked his eyes and nodded, saying, "Then what should I do? Do you need my help?"
Shen Qingfeng looked at the still - young - looking Xia Chuli in front of him. The face so close in front of him overlapped with the tyrannical monarch in his memory, which made Shen Qingfeng feel mixed emotions for a moment.
He slightly reached out his hand, stroked Xia Chuli's head, and sighed, "A Li."
"Hmm?"
"Leave this kind of thing to me." Shen Qingfeng said softly.
Leave the killing to me.
He was no longer the Xia Chuli from that time. Shen Qingfeng didn't want him to become that Xia Chuli again. Whether it was for his regret in the previous life or for the innocent Xia Chuli in this life, Shen Qingfeng only hoped that he could be a good king of Lixia, not tyrannical, not crazy, be a wise and benevolent king, and bring peace and well - being to the common people.
That would be enough.
After instructing Xia Chuli a few words, Shen Qingfeng left. In the quiet room, only Xia Chuli was left. His figure was hidden in the shadow of the candlelight, looking gloomy and dangerous in the flickering candlelight.
He suddenly reached out his hand and touched his head, where there still seemed to be some of Shen Qingfeng's warmth.
"Hehe..." In the dark night, he laughed like a ghost.