The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 317 He Qi, it's your turn to explain.

Cheng Li replied, "That's right. When you ordered the granary to be fortified, I happened to be in Zhuji, so I took over the command of the granary. As a result, the granary was attacked last night, and there was even a traitor inside the granary."

Xie Chong's expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked, "How is the situation? Have you suffered any losses?"

Cheng Li shook his head and said, "It's good that you reminded me early. I followed your instructions and ordered the garrison to act in groups of ten. However, a commander instigated a troop of soldiers to launch an attack from within the granary when it was attacked from the outside. They planned to cooperate with the enemy to break through the granary gate. Fortunately, one of the soldiers under this commander refused to go along with the scheme and openly violated the order. He was captured and then brought before me to report the commander."

"The rest was simple. I arrested Qu Chang and others according to the soldiers' instructions and interrogated them separately. Some of them couldn't withstand the pressure and confessed to Qu Chang's crimes. Moreover, I found letters between Qu Chang and the traitors in Qu Chang's room, which can be described as conclusive evidence."

"The chief of the troop was captured at 1-3 AM, and the aristocratic rebels attacked the granary at 3-5 AM. Without internal coordination, those rebels were no threat and were easily surrounded and captured. I came here today to report the situation to you and ask you what should be done with those rebels and that chief of the troop?"

Xie Chong angrily cursed, "Send all the rebels to mine, and execute that Qu Chang without further ado. The vacant Qu Chang position should be filled by the soldier who violated the order to inform you. Traitors must be executed, and meritorious officials must be rewarded. This is a matter of principle."

Cheng Li nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go back and handle it right away."

After saying that, he turned and left, preparing to rush back to Zhuji to deal with the situation.

Old Cheng didn't sleep a wink last night. After dealing with the warehouse riot, he rushed to Shanyin without stopping. After seeing Xie Chong, he didn't even have a sip of water before setting off again. This kind of dedication is something that even a young man like Guan Xing might not be able to withstand, let alone an old man in his sixties.

But Cheng Li's face was still full of energy and showed no signs of fatigue. Since becoming an official, the old man Cheng seemed to have been reborn. He was no longer half-dead like before he met Guan Xing. On the contrary, he was full of energy and looked more energetic than young people. He could keep going for several days without feeling tired.

Indeed, power is the best medicine; with great power in hand, no illness can be cured.

Cheng Li strode away, but before he could even step over the threshold at the door, he heard someone behind him shout, "Prefect, the entrance has been found."

Cheng Li twisted his heel, his raised leg spun in mid-air before landing, and he quickly returned to Xie Chong's side, intending to satisfy his curiosity before leaving.

Xie Chong glanced at him and jumped into the pit. He led Cheng Li to the soldier who had shouted and looked down to check. He found that there were two stone slabs under his feet, which were laid flat on the ground and joined together like two doors. There were also two doorknobs about a foot long wedged into the doors.

Xie Chong ordered his men to clear away the soil nearby, and then had them grab the handles and pull the door open forcefully, revealing a hole two meters long and one and a half meters wide, with a wooden ladder hanging below the opening.

Xie Chong didn't immediately go down the wooden ladder. Instead, he knelt down and stuck his head into the cave to look inside. With the help of the light coming through the sky, he was surprised to find that it was much bigger than he had imagined. Moreover, the ground was made of stone slabs and there were no traps. So he didn't think too much about it and climbed down the wooden ladder. Cheng Li followed closely behind.

The two descended into the cave and stepped onto the hard stone slabs, looking around in surprise. They discovered that the cave was filled with stone chambers, each six or seven meters long and nearly two meters high, with wooden ladders standing next to them and wooden planks covering the tops.

Xie Chong arrived at the stone warehouse, stepped onto the wooden ladder, lifted the wooden plank, and looked closely to see that it was full of millet. The pile of millet was level with the edge of the stone warehouse. Although it was old, it was well preserved and looked like it was still edible.

This is easy to understand. The gentry stored grain to cope with crises, not to let it rot and mold. Naturally, they would use every means to try to delay the time it would rot.

Xie Chong then went to the next stone warehouse, lifted the wooden plank and found that it contained yellow millet, while another stone warehouse contained rice. There were thirteen stone warehouses in total, with all kinds of grains available.

After the visit, Cheng Li exclaimed in shock, "The grain stored in the dozen or so granaries must be at least fifty or sixty thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), that's way too much."

Xie Chong angrily cursed, "Yu Shao said there are only 40,000 shi here, but the Yu family has seven such secret warehouses. The smallest warehouse has less than 10,000 shi, while the largest has nearly 80,000 shi, which adds up to nearly 200,000 shi."

According to Yu Shao, these grains were stored in batches. The earliest batch was stored when Sun Ce fought Yan Baihu, and the latest batch was stored three years ago. Yu Shao also said that his family originally planned to open the earliest warehouse after the war in Jingzhou ended, take out the old grain that had been stored for decades and destroy it, and replace it with a new batch of grain. However, General Guan not only did not die, but also seized Jianye, which thwarted his family's plan.

"Old Cheng, think about it. The amount of grain and fodder hidden by the Yu family alone is close to 200,000 shi. You can calculate how many powerful families there are in Kuaiji yourself."

Cheng Li opened his mouth wide in shock, and after a long while, he said in astonishment, "The ability of the aristocratic families to resist risks is really too strong. No wonder they can survive for hundreds or even thousands of years."

Productivity in this era was too low, and the ability to withstand risks was too poor. Even a minor illness or disaster could lead to the annihilation of a family. Yet, this group of aristocratic families has been able to survive from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the present day. Putting aside everything else, their ability to plan ahead is truly remarkable, so remarkable that it is astonishing.

After sighing, Cheng Li thought of something and hurriedly said, "Then we must report to Wang Fu, the official in charge, and Deng, the prefect of Wu Commandery, as soon as possible. Wu Commandery is a major grain-producing commandery, with far more gentry than Kuaiji Commandery. They must have hidden even more grain, and there may even be some that were stored during the Chu-Han Contention and have been forgotten by later generations."

Xie Chong sighed, "Wu County might be difficult to deal with. After all, the gentry there haven't rebelled, so there's no reason to arrest or interrogate them. But it doesn't matter. We'll just report the facts. How they handle it is up to Wang Congshi and Deng Taishou. It has nothing to do with us. Let's go."

After saying this, he went down the wooden ladder back to the ground and ordered his men to take all the grain away, as leaving it piled up underground was not a good thing.

In addition, Xie Chong specifically instructed that this batch of grain should be carefully inspected and stored separately after it was taken out, and should not be mixed with the grain in the official granary. After all, it was old grain and who knew if it had become moldy. If it was moldy and inedible, it should be used to feed chickens and pigs. In short, it should not be wasted.

After giving his instructions, Xie Chong took Cheng Li away from the jade shop and returned to the prefect's mansion, intending to entertain Cheng Li before sending him back to Zhuji. However, before they even reached the prefect's mansion, a personal guard rushed over and said, "Prefect, Commander, He Qi has been brought back from Qiantang. He is less than twenty li away from Shanyin."

Xie Chong's eyes lit up and he said excitedly, "That's wonderful! But Elder Cheng, He Qi is, after all, the General of Andong and the Marquis of Shanyin. Shouldn't we go out of the city to greet him?"

Cheng Li nodded and said, "Of course, let's go."

The two turned around and left the city. Halfway there, Xie Chong suddenly thought of something and turned around to instruct, "Have the people from the jade shop load the grain onto the carts. Once loaded, immediately take them to the prefect's mansion and drive them around the courtyard wall. Make sure He Qi sees them."

Cheng Li asked in surprise, "Why is that?"

Xie Chong smiled slyly, "If the Yu family has hidden so much grain, how much has the He family of Shanyin, the largest family in Kuaiji, hidden? Yu Shaoquan has already handed over his hidden grain, how can He Qi not hand it over? Let's go."

The two men, accompanied by their personal guards, left the city and waited for He Qi's arrival ten miles outside the city.

After only half an hour, the team escorting He Qi came into view, as did Xie Chong and his group.

The moment they saw Xie Chong, two men in the procession abandoned their escorts and ran over, bowing from afar and saying, "Is that Prefect Xie ahead? Yu Gang and Niu Su pay their respects to Prefect Xie."

Xie Chong walked up to the two men, stared at Yu Gang for a while, and then smiled and said, "You're Yu Gang, the one who first discovered He Qi's whereabouts, right? Well done."

Yu Gang scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "It's all thanks to the prefect's skillful command. By the way, prefect, this is Niu Su, the commander of the Niuqu tribe. He was chosen by you through a game of rock-paper-scissors and is the commander who led the army to capture He Qi."

Niu Su quickly bowed and said, "Niu Su, the head of the troupe, greets Prefect Xie."

Xie Chong patted his shoulder and laughed, "You did a good job on the mission. It seems that you are the one who deserves to be the commander. I will write a letter to General Guan to report your merits truthfully."

Regardless of how the commander was chosen, he deserved the title for successfully completing the mission and capturing He Qi. As for the selection process through rock-paper-scissors, no one cared.

Niu Su was overjoyed and bowed again. Xie Chong led the group forward and bowed to He Qi, who was sitting in the carriage, saying, "Xie Chong, the Prefect of Kuaiji, greets General He Qi."

Upon hearing this, He Qi got out of the carriage and returned Xie Chong's greeting, saying, "Greetings, Prefect Xie. Prefect Xie, I have long admired your name."

Xie Chong smiled modestly and said, "Not at all, General, you're too kind."

The two chatted and laughed enthusiastically, looking like old friends reunited.

After chatting idly for half an hour by the carriage, Xie Chong invited He Qi through the city gate and headed straight for the prefect's mansion. As soon as they arrived at the gate, they saw more than a dozen grain carts passing by. He Qi glanced at them but ignored them, which made Xie Chong a little embarrassed. How could he answer if you didn't ask him? How could he use this as an excuse to ask you for grain?

Fortunately, Cheng Li came to the rescue. Cheng Li looked at the grain carts and asked casually, "Prefect, what are these...?"

Xie Chong, seizing the opportunity, quickly replied, "The stolen goods were recovered from the family's private treasury, as confessed by Yu Shaoquan and others, and mainly consisted of grain."

Then, as if acting casually, he asked, "General He, your Shanyin He clan must also have quite a few similar secret vaults, right?"

He Qi: "..."

So all those grain carts were just a show for me?

Damn Xie Chong, you're not planning to leave me any food supplies at all? Are you a prefect or a bandit?