As all the grain merchants fled Bingzhou and moved all their grain, the rumors in Bingzhou City intensified.
Although the official warehouses have been stocked with food, the people are still uneasy. The native people naturally know how many official warehouses there are in Bingzhou City, and how much grain is stored, which is enough for the whole city to eat for a few days.
It is precisely because of knowing that the people feel uneasy.
The official warehouse is only enough to feed the people of the city for more than 20 days, so what will happen after more than 20 days?
This panic, as if life was counting down, spread throughout the city unconsciously.
The first to be affected were the more than ten grain shops set up by the governor's office in the city. The grain shops sold grain at a fair price according to Li Qinzai's instructions. People flocked to the grain shops, and long queues formed outside each grain shop.
There was a rush to buy grain stores in the city. People spent their life savings, and some even borrowed money and pawned money. After getting the money, they waited outside the grain stores day and night.
Within a few days, the sales of grain increased significantly, and every citizen almost lost all their money to buy grain. More than ten grain stores continued to replenish their supplies every day, but the supply of grain was still in short supply.
Then rumors spread, and the rumors came from unknown sources, exaggerating and amplifying this year's drought.
Various versions of rumors vividly stated that the ground outside the city was full of hungry people and the land was bare for thousands of miles. The farmers in the four counties under the jurisdiction of Bingzhou had already left their hometown with their families and were fleeing towards Bingzhou.
Once tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of refugees arrive outside Bingzhou City, the governor's office must take care of the livelihood of the refugees. The food in the official warehouse will definitely be stopped and will be used to provide relief to the refugees.
Therefore, the food in the official warehouse could not last for twenty days, and the people in the city could only watch the refugees eat up the food that originally belonged to them.
If the newly appointed Governor Li cannot quickly replenish the food supply in a short period of time, the food in the official warehouse will not be able to feed the refugees. If the food is exhausted and the refugees have no rice to cook, a civil uprising will inevitably occur.
A civil uprising means attacking cities, looting territory, killing people and setting fires.
The people in Bingzhou City will be regarded as enemies by the refugees and killed indiscriminately.
It has to be said that those who spread rumors are well versed in human nature. These rumors are well-founded and very close to the facts. If the grain stored in the official warehouse is exhausted, the consequences will be terrible indeed.
It was natural for the people to believe such a convincing rumor.
As a result, the atmosphere of panic spread throughout the city like a plague.
Early in the morning, Wang Shifu rushed to the governor's office to report that there had been a series of stampedes at the grain stores in the city, injuring more than thirty civilians.
There are too many people queuing up to buy food, and stampedes can easily occur when the crowds gather together.
In addition, the public security in the city has become chaotic. Several groups of bandits have sneaked in from nowhere and deliberately provoked troubles and conflicts while the people were gathering to buy food, and then fights and even armed fights broke out.
Not only that, several wealthy households in the city were also broken into by bandits, who robbed a lot of money and fled.
In short, Bingzhou City has begun to fall into chaos.
Wang Shifu said with a bitter look on his face: "Li Shi, in the final analysis, the problem is all caused by food. We must find a solution quickly. If the situation is allowed to develop, the city will be in chaos before Bingzhou's food reserves are exhausted."
Li Qinzai's eyes flashed and he whispered: "Those groups of bandits... have they ever been captured?"
Wang Shifu shook his head: "The security in Bingzhou City has always been good. I have been in Bingzhou for many years, and I have never seen bandits dare to rob in the city. It is very unusual."
Li Qinzai smiled: "The bandits appeared just at the time when people in the city were panicking. Do you believe it is a coincidence?"
Wang Shifu looked stunned and said, "Li Qishi suspects that it was... the group of grain merchants who escaped from the city were instigated?"
"Otherwise? During the Qing Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty, the Ministry of Criminal Justice only sentenced dozens of cases every year. In this era of great rule of law where people lived and worked in peace and contentment, how could bandits survive?"
Wang Shifu said with a bitter face: "No matter what the origin is, the bandits are no longer important. Li Governor, the most important thing now is to appease the people."
Li Qinzai thought for a while and said: "You transfer all the officers of the governor's office to the grain store to maintain order. In addition, there are more than a hundred members of my Li family, who have been transferred to help."
Wang Shifu hesitated and said: "Order is a trivial matter, food..."
Li Qinzai smiled: "Wang Biejia, if you hold on for a few more days, someone will send food."
Wang Shifu's eyes lit up: "Li Jishi has made arrangements?"
Li Qinzai said seriously: "No, but I plan to ask the monks to hold a ceremony and pray to God to give me food. As long as I am pious, God will definitely receive the text messages I send and respond to my requests..."
Wang Shifu:? ? ?
"Li Shi, are you...serious?"
Li Qinzai laughed, gave him a push, and said, "Go and get busy. Leave the food to me."
Seeing Wang Shifu leaving hesitantly, Li Qinzai stood alone in the atrium with a smile.
After a long time, Li Qinzai suddenly said: "Ah Si."
Liu Asi appeared in response.
Li Qinzai pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Send twenty or thirty soldiers, disguised as merchants, to the cities around Bingzhou, and spread the word in those cities..."
"It is said that Bingzhou City is in urgent need of grain reserves. The governor is worried about this, so he collects grain from grain merchants in neighboring cities at a high price. As long as they are willing, the governor will purchase millet at forty cents per liter in the name of the government."
Liu Asi was stunned and said in shock: "Forty coins? per liter? Fifth Young Master, are you...are you feeling sick?"
"Do you think it's too high?" Li Qinzai said with a smile: "Back then, the grain merchants in Bingzhou sold them for thirty cents per liter, and I gave them a severe beating. Now I pay forty cents per liter. Do you think I'm going crazy? Your own face?"
Liu Asi was stunned for a moment and then said cautiously: "Although it's a bit disrespectful, but...that's what the villain really means."
"You and I have different brain capacities. I don't know how to explain it to you. Just do as I say. I have my own plan."
Liu Asi had no choice but to respond.
Li Qinzai added: "In addition, find a few tribesmen to disguise themselves as grain merchants from other places, transfer more than a dozen carts of grain from the official warehouse, quietly leave the city in the dark, and then enter the city again during the day. Then you will come forward to buy it on behalf of the government at a price of forty cents per liter. Those dozen carts of grain..."
Liu Asi was shocked again: "Why is this, Fifth Young Master?"
"Have you heard the allusion of 'a thousand pieces of gold buys horse bones'? I have to show it to some thoughtful people in the city, so that they will believe that what I say is true. Remember that money and food must be disclosed in public Let some caring people witness the transaction with their own eyes."
Liu Asi's head was buzzing. With his IQ, he really couldn't figure out the intention of Fifth Young Master's operation.
The grain belongs to Guancang, and the money belongs to you. If you use your left hand instead of your right, you have been taken advantage of and spent a lot of money to buy the grain from Guancang.
Not to mention publicly spreading the news that grain merchants from other places were asked to transport grain to Bingzhou and purchase their grain at a high price of 40 cents...
Is it possible that the army was used to rob all the grain from foreign grain merchants? That would be big trouble.
Liu Asi suddenly felt deeply powerless. He really couldn't keep up with the way of thinking of the powerful children. It seemed that he could never hope to cross the class in this life.
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