The county government lobby is very lively today.
In the corridor, there is an endless stream of official servants serving tea and water. The threshold of the lobby is almost flattened, and occasionally a few unlucky people fall down.
The county magistrate, who has always been simple in style, suddenly entertained guests with great fanfare, so he naturally had to treat him well.
County government lobby.
Major foreign grain merchants who have been active in the Longcheng rice market recently, as well as twelve rural gentry and landlords who have been rooted in Longcheng for many years, gathered together.
Magistrate Diao County, Captain Yan, and the female master named Xie who often appeared next to the young magistrate recently were all in the lobby, drinking tea with the guests.
But in the eyes of the grain merchants and squires present, the two most important people were missing in the hall.
"Why didn't Master Liu come? Could it be that he didn't invite you..."
"Where is the County Magistrate? Didn't I say that I have something important to explain..."
There was a lot of chatter in the lobby.
Diao Xian Cheng stood up and said with a smile: "Everyone, please be patient. The Ming Mansion just had something to do. I'll be here soon."
Wang Caozhi and other grain merchants and a group of squires felt a little at ease.
However, due to Liu Ziwen's absence, some of the squires who came over at short notice looked a little embarrassed and exchanged glances, just when they were hesitant to find a reason to leave.
A bustling and busy figure broke into the lobby, went straight to the stage and walked to the koan table, grabbed the tea cup, raised his head and drank, wiping his mouth and sighing.
Like a person who is lost in the desert encountering sweet rain.
"Is everyone here?"
The lobby was quiet, and no one replied. They stared blankly at the strange dress of the young county magistrate:
He was not wearing official uniform, and he was a little dirty all over. One sleeve of his regular uniform was rolled up to half of his arm. He must have forgotten to pull it down before entering the door. There was a piece of white gauze wrapped around the middle finger of his right hand, and there was a faint trace of dry blood on the fingertip.
I don’t know why, as the magistrate of a county, I have to do all those dirty jobs all day long.
Some grain merchants and squires in the lobby muttered, but Xie Lingjiang, Yan Liulang and others were obviously used to it, and their expressions did not change.
"I just finished a small errand. I didn't expect everyone to come so early. By the way, there shouldn't be any lack of hospitality, right?"
It's still the young county magistrate's signature sincere smile and enthusiastic attitude... It's still the familiar recipe and familiar taste.
Everyone in the lobby had mixed reactions.
However, these days, Wang Caozhi, Shopkeeper Ma, Shopkeeper Li and others who have seen the young county magistrate's tricks can't help but shrink their heads, fearing that the young magistrate with a bright smile will "accidentally" slip the teacup in his hand and jingle from it. Five hundred swordsmen and axemen jumped out from behind the hall, swarmed them, and chopped them into meat paste.
Then why are they so afraid? They still have to come today, because they are really forced to do nothing by the price of food. In addition, there is also the food that shopkeeper Li lost and recovered, which gives people a hint of hope.
"No, no, it's not that the hospitality was poor. Lord Diao, Captain Yan, and Master Xie are all very welcoming. Coming to the magistrate's place is just like going home."
Wang Caozhi and everyone quickly waved their hands.
"That's good."
Ouyang Rong looked at them and smiled with relief. Without any nonsense, he directly ordered outside: "Ah Shan, go and bring up the food."
The tall, dull man who was waiting with his hands down outside the lobby immediately turned around and went out.
Not long after, everyone followed the young county magistrate's gaze and looked straight through the open door of the lobby. Outside the gate of Longcheng County Government, ten carriages loaded with bulging rice bags slowly stopped.
In front of a room full of food and squires, Ouyang Rong chuckled at the stunned shopkeeper Li:
"Shopkeeper Li, would you like to go check it out? The 921 stones of fine rice you lost in the suburbs are all here."
He paused and looked apologetic: "Sorry, the speed is a bit slow, but I keep my word... In addition, I have personally criticized and educated the refugees involved in the case. Here, I apologize to Shopkeeper Li on their behalf. .”
"No need to apologize, no need to apologize, the county magistrate is too polite, the common people can't afford it..."
Shopkeeper Li jumped up from his seat as if his butt was burning, waved his hands wildly, and turned around to get out of the way of the young county magistrate's salute.
A picture of officials being kind and people being filial suddenly appeared in the lobby.
Shopkeeper Ma stared blankly for a while, then stood up and prepared to ask, "Where's mine?", but Wang Caozhi, who had quick eyes and quick hands, quickly pulled him back.
He glared at Shopkeeper Ma.
You have a big stick, Shopkeeper Li has red dates, why are you joining in the fun?
The young county magistrate seemed not to notice the pull between Wang Caozhi and Shopkeeper Ma.
"Hey, shopkeeper Li has recovered the leftover food, why is he still looking sad? So are you gentlemen."
Ouyang Rong looked puzzled, and shopkeeper Li was speechless. Ouyang Rong turned to look at the grain merchants and squires in the lobby, who all looked embarrassed.
"Oh, right……"
Ouyang Rong's face suddenly dawned, and he quickly put the tea cup back on the table, showing the caring expression of a parent to all the guests:
"Is the recent food price issue in Longcheng bothering you?"
He sighed and nodded with concern for the people: "Five qian a dou, everyone worked so hard to transport it here... It is indeed too low."
The smiles on the faces of the foreign grain merchants and the local gentry who all sold grain at home became increasingly awkward.
"Everyone here, some are guests from afar, and some are law-abiding and good citizens of Longcheng. As the magistrate of a county, I not only care about the refugees, but also care about all of you, and treat them equally."
After Ouyang Rong finished speaking, he lowered his head to think and walked to the public case. Xie Lingjiang helped him grind ink and lay paper.
He rolled up his sleeves, took out a pen from his hand with gauze on his middle finger, and asked directly in front of the entire audience:
"How much grain does Shopkeeper Li have that needs to be disposed of?"
Shopkeeper Li trembled when his name was called.
All the grain merchants also twitched their lips, "Don't you know how much grain we have in stock?" Probably more familiar than the mice in the rice barn...
However, under the gaze of the young county magistrate, Shopkeeper Li still had to bite the bullet and said honestly: "Sir, forty... more than forty thousand stones."
Ouyang Rong's face was calm, he wrote down a note, then raised his head:
"Where's Mr. Wang, the shopkeeper?"
Wang Caozhi smiled awkwardly and did not dare to call his brother-in-law in front of Xie Lingjiang: "Sir, it's about forty thousand dan."
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and wrote down again, then continued with his mouth.
"Where's Shopkeeper Ma?"
"More than fifty-eight thousand stones."
"Where is the head of the Cheng family?"
"More than seventeen thousand stones."
"..."
"..."
A certain young county magistrate had a very good memory. He called out the names of every visitor in the lobby. In the end, all the visitors except the Liu family were questioned.
He lowered his head and looked at the paper and raised his eyebrows, "Hey, everyone together has almost three hundred thousand dan to store food, which is enough for all the people in Longcheng County to live in vain for three years without doing anything."
Even though they were very thick-skinned, everyone still looked a little embarrassed when being called out by Longcheng's parents in public. They coughed and tried to explain, but suddenly there came a light word from the young county magistrate.
"Okay, I want them all."
"..."
The whole place was silent.
Seemingly seeing some grain merchants shaking their legs and some squires turning around to run away, Ouyang Rong realized something and explained softly:
"If you give me money, you won't do it for free."
There was an explosion in the lobby.
Everyone was talking:
"The county magistrate wants them all?"
"Why does the magistrate need so much food?"
"Are you serious? Give me money, how much?"
"Lord County Magistrate, please stop teasing us..."
Ouyang Rong rubbed his temples, as if he had a headache due to the noise. He stretched out his right hand, and the junior sister thoughtfully handed over the gavel. The grain merchants and squires in the audience immediately shut up obediently.
Ouyang Rong glanced sideways at the quiet crowd and nodded:
"I'm not kidding you.
"And on behalf of the county government, I will give you a fair price, eight coins a dou."
As soon as the price of the last four words was reported, the lobby was shocked into silence. Everyone stared at the young county magistrate holding up the rice paper with the record of 300,000 shi of grain in both hands. He lowered his eyes and blew the wet ink. He chuckled. :
"I want all the 300,000 stones on paper, and you can handle the rest by yourself. By the way, the time is until dinner, so please think about it carefully."
Hear the sound of "Eight Coins and a Dou" which is like the sound of nature.
Wang Caozhi, Shopkeeper Ma, Shopkeeper Li and other sixteen grain merchants, as well as twelve other squires present, were all stunned.
Although this is still a little far from their cost price, the current situation is already much higher than today's food prices in Longcheng market!
Besides, judging from the tone of the young county magistrate, he still ate it all in one go! Let them get rid of this hot potato all at once!
Every extra day that so much stored grain is left incurs a huge amount of warehouse management and anti-aging expenses, and it also faces the risk of drying out and fire at any time, which makes people worry all day long... And all of this is happening at this moment. The dawn of resolution can be seen in the smile of the young county magistrate!
"Lord County Magistrate, are you... telling the truth?"
"Lord County Magistrate, I, I, I...I'm going out, I'm going out!"
"Lord Magistrate, there is no need to think about it. Let's sign the contract right now! Once it's settled, the common people will go and transport the grain."
Everyone in the hall rushed over. If it weren't for the table, someone would have been drowned.
Ouyang Rong, who leaned back slightly, smiled and tapped his left palm with his right index finger to signal them to calm down:
"However, there is a small condition. After everyone listens, we will confirm whether to sell grain to the Yamen."
"Your Excellency, County Magistrate, please speak!" Everyone paused and listened.
"It's not a big deal, it's just that I might have to pay for it on credit and make an IOU."
Ouyang Rong smiled sheepishly, took an official document from the court that had been on his desk for a long time, and signaled to everyone:
"Assuming that we finally collect 300,000 shi of grain, the Longcheng County Government can only temporarily pay you 10% of the silver, and you will owe a small debt for the remaining 90% of the silver.
"But don't worry about defaulting on your debt. Please take a look, everyone. This is the official document issued by the imperial court when Jimincang was stolen. It gives our local magistrates the right to act expediently, as well as various tax preferential guarantees...
"So today's debt is not only guaranteed in my own name, but also in the name of Longcheng County Government and the imperial court. You can rest assured."
The grain merchants and squires looked at each other in confusion. Some calmed down, but others still looked excited.
"Okay, I have said everything I need to say. You can think about it for yourself. This is the last thing Longcheng County Government can do for everyone. Finally, pay attention to the time. It is before I go back for dinner. No waiting after the expiration date. .”
Ouyang Rong gently folded the rice paper in his hand and threw it to his junior sister.
The crowd surrounding the public case hesitated.
Wang Caozhi, Shopkeeper Li, Shopkeeper Ma and others looked at each other, nodded, and stepped forward. But the twelve country gentry who were leaderless today still looked hesitant and stopped at the end of the crowd... they did not dare to step forward without a certain family being present.
At this time, Ouyang Rong seemed to have remembered something, raised his head and said casually: "By the way, in fact, this debt... I think the county government has a project that may be quite profitable. If you are interested, you can also buy shares with debt."
"What was it built for?" Everyone immediately asked curiously.
The young magistrate smiled silently and continued writing with his head down.
The squires who were still hesitant at first became even more itchy.
…
My junior sister’s character card finally got more likes than my aunt’s, and my brothers’ XP finally became less strange to me…
(End of chapter)
