As soon as Magistrate Shen's words came out, everyone present was stunned.
Although the county magistrate has explicitly prohibited merchants from hoarding grain, as merchants, hoarding grain has long been engraved in their genes and they cannot control it. Everyone present has more or less privately gone to the village to purchase grain.
At that time, after the autumn harvest, the government's price for collecting grain was ten cents. They went to the countryside and collected a lot of grain at a high price of twelve cents per catty.
However, the price of grain on the market has been suppressed, and they cannot sell it at a high price. The grain can only be stored in the warehouse and slowly become old grain.
Now, the county magistrate actually wants to collect grain at such a high price.
The purchase price was twelve cents, and the sale price was one hundred cents.
One pound of grain earned a net profit of eighty-eight cents, which was more than originally expected.
"Sir, Zhou will go back and bring the food right now."
"Before dark, the She family will send two thousand kilograms of grain."
The businessmen present all left one after another.
Master Yuan silently gave Magistrate Shen a thumbs up.
Without spending a penny, you can get tens of thousands of catties of grain for free, which makes these businessmen couldn't help but feel happy. Your Excellency is indeed very high.
However, the food hoarded by these merchants is actually not enough. After all, there are too many victims. If they can add up to 20,000 kilograms, they can save a lot of trouble.
Cart after cart of grain was transported into the county government's granary, totaling 18,000 kilograms.
By this time, the sky had darkened.
Porridge was being cooked outside the city, and Shen Zheng was holding a wooden spoon to serve the porridge to the refugees.
He has been busy outside for a day. Although he is very tired, he can't stop being busy. There is a shortage of manpower everywhere. After he leaves, the place will only be busier and more chaotic.
A woman came over with a child in her arms and two bowls in her hands.
He carefully filled two bowls of porridge. Seeing that the child was sallow and thin, and a little moved, he couldn't help but add an extra spoonful. The woman was immediately grateful.
Shen Zheng also felt satisfied in his heart.
However, when he was about to serve porridge to the next person, he suddenly heard crying.
He stood on tiptoe and looked around, and saw the woman who had just served the porridge, kneeling on the ground, crying and hugging a man's thigh, begging hard: "...I will give you my porridge, please give me my son's porridge." When he comes back, he is still young and can't help but be hungry..."
"Get out of here!" The man raised his foot and kicked him. "If I hadn't protected you, would you have made it to Ping'an County alive? Now I'm just asking you to give me two bowls of porridge, just talking about this and that, you kind of Women should be killed and brought down..."
He said, grabbing the woman's back collar.
The child next to the woman began to cry loudly and was out of breath.
The woman quickly comforted the child: "Dog, just sit here for a while. Mom will be back soon..."
She knew very well what these people were trying to do with her.
For the sake of her children, she had no choice.
"stop!!"
A cold shout.
It was Shen Zheng who came over.
He stared coldly at the three men who did the evil: "You dare to cause trouble outside Ping'an County, bully the weak, bully men and women, according to law, you should be beaten thirty times and thrown into prison!"
Shen Zheng had been busy outside the city for a day, and everyone naturally knew his identity. He was the son of the magistrate of Ping'an County, which was equivalent to the county magistrate.
The three people looked at each other and knelt down in confusion: "Mr. Shen, this is a misunderstanding. We were also very hungry, so we robbed this woman of her food... We, this woman and her children are all from the same hometown. , they sometimes share food with each other, but just now they were just a little rude."
Shen Zheng looked at the woman and said, "If you want to sue these three people, I can make the decision for you."
The woman lowered her eyes. These three men were the leaders of the refugees, and there were many younger brothers who followed them. Along the way, she saw with her own eyes how these three men ruined human lives...a lot of three- and four-year-old babies, like this Entered the stomachs of these three people.
Master Shen can stand up for her for a while, but he can't protect her all the time.
If she offends these three people, their younger brothers and followers will eat her and her children down to the dregs.
Thinking of this, the woman's mouth was full of bitterness, and she hugged the child and said: "Back to Master Shen, the peasant woman and the three of them are from the same hometown and are from the same family. They have supported each other all the way. It was indeed a misunderstanding just now..."
Shen Zheng had a look of hatred on his face.
He never forces anyone to make any choice.
He turned around, took two bowls of porridge, put them in the woman's hands, and then continued to work.
The woman turned around and handed one of the bowls to the man.
"You know what's going on." The man grabbed her collar and said, "After you finish eating, come to the woods."
The woman nodded with tears in her eyes.
She fed the remaining bowl of porridge to the child, entrusted the child to a familiar woman, and then walked towards the woods.
After four or five men took turns to feel comfortable, the woman came out of the forest with unsteady legs, looking miserable and with a dejected look on her face.
In the grove, four or five men were planning a big plan.
"I only have two bowls of porridge every day, and I'm tired of it."
"Why do those rich people eat so much and we can only have some porridge? When will this day end?"
"The city gate is closed and we can't enter, but we can still give it a try in the surrounding villages."
"For example, take Dahe Village. This village has food. The Suiru people also live in this village. It is said that the emperor has rewarded countless gold and silver treasures."
"Let's go and do something big, steal food and gold and silver, and then find a place to hide. When the storm passes, we won't have to worry about it for the rest of our lives."
"There are just five of us, which is too few."
"Then trick others into following suit. With more people and greater strength, we will surely defeat Dahe Village!"
"If you find a high-sounding excuse, there will be plenty of people willing to do it, so you won't have to live in hiding."
"..."
The wind is very strong on winter nights.
The wind blew through the trees, making a whirring sound.
Dahe Village has become quiet.
Today, all patients with high fever have gone away, and the number of patients with coughs has also decreased. Everything is moving in the right direction.
But for some reason, Cheng Wanwan always felt a little uneasy.
She tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. She was afraid of waking up Huiniang and her granddaughter, so she simply put on some clothes and got up.
Her room had a heated kang and was very warm. As soon as she opened the door and went out, a cold wind swept in from the door. She immediately wrapped herself tightly in the rabbit fur cloak, covering her whole body tightly.
She walked into the yard and saw a patrol passing by her door with torches.
She was a little surprised and said: "Xiao He, why are you patrolling?"
He Xiao is Master He in the eyes of everyone in the village. He is extremely skilled in martial arts. The men in the village respect He Xiao very much and will not let He Xiao interfere in small matters.
"It seems to be too quiet tonight." He Xiao looked solemn, "I always feel that something will happen. Cousin, lock the door, close the doors and windows tightly, and don't come out before dawn."
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "You all should also be careful."
She was about to enter the house when she suddenly saw Wang Yongcheng running over in the distance, sweating profusely: "Master He, it's not good, there is movement on Dadong Mountain. I hid and observed, there are at least hundreds of people..."
He Xiao's eyes darkened: "It seems that the refugees have finally rioted."
He has always felt that these refugees would be in chaos, and until that day came, his heart would never be at ease.
Now that he was finally in chaos, his mind was at peace.
Like a knife hanging above my head, it finally fell.
He said coldly: "Notify me, all patrols will put out their torches, use the shadows of the trees and the night to hide their bodies, so that the enemy is in the dark and I am in the dark..."
Wang Yongcheng accepted the order: "Yes!"
