Lu Songli invested 10,000 shi of grain in five counties, towns and villages. It can be said that a drop of water fell into the frying pan and caused an uproar.
Everyone took their household registration certificates and lined up in a long line at the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Grain and Oil Store in the town and county.
Nowadays, each household registration has more than ten people. Unlike in later generations, if there was a single family, there would only be four or five people. Therefore, even if the purchase limit per person is three kilograms and the maximum purchase is thirty-six kilograms, many people have bought enough grain.
The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Grain and Oil Store sold affordable grain for the first time. Wu Ren personally took charge and started selling at noon and was busy until evening.
Those who bought grain came out of the grain store with dozens of kilograms of grain in their arms, and went home talking and laughing while guarding the grain with their families.
Wu Ren saw that there was not much food left in the food tank, and there were still many people lining up outside. After thinking about it, he walked out and counted the five people in front of him. He came to the sixth person and said, "Uncle, this food is almost sold out. Those of you behind me, please stop queuing up and go home."
Those who came late and didn't buy anything were already anxious, and they couldn't stand hearing Wu Ren's words.
"Why is it sold out? I haven't bought it yet." The old man who spoke blamed himself for walking too slowly.
Some people who couldn't bear it even cried, "Yes, my family is almost out of food to cook, so I just hope to buy some cheap food back home."
Someone begged Wu Ren, "Brother, can you let the store add more grain?" They saw it. This is a conscientious business. The grain sold is all good grain. Next door, it costs fifteen cents a pound. .
The shopkeeper next door came out and looked at it four, five or six times this afternoon, and he was so blown away by his beard.
Wu Ren also noticed this scene, but Wu Ren was not afraid of him. What was the background of their Liaodong Chamber of Commerce?
Besides, regarding the price of grain, Mr. Lu also asked Mr. Guo Chunsheng to talk to the grain merchants and asked them not to set the price so high, but to make it cheaper. It would be better to occasionally give some special grain to the poor people. But these profiteers are crying and shouting that they are not making money. If they really want to reduce prices, they would rather close their stores.
This forced his master to work hard to find ways to get food for Liaodong County outside.
Facing the hopeful looks of the people, Wu Ren could only bow with a wry smile, "Everyone, uncles and aunts, the food quota in the shop has really been used up today."
The master told them to put these 10,000 shi of grain, 1.2 million jin, in three batches.
Today is the first day of affordable grain distribution. Houcheng has invested one thousand shi, which is 120,000 jins, and the remaining four counties have invested a little less, which is 70,000 jins.
He is now in Gaoxian County. The entire Gaoxian County has eight townships. , each town has one of their stores, and each store only distributes less than 10,000 catties of grain.
They were all sold out in one afternoon, and their store clerks were all exhausted.
Wu Ren's words caused an uproar among those present who had not yet bought food.
Wu Ren quickly added, "Everyone, listen to me. If you didn't buy it today, you can come tomorrow. It will still be sold tomorrow."
Someone immediately asked him, "Brother, can you close your store without us leaving?" They had to continue queuing, otherwise what would happen if they couldn't catch up tomorrow if they went back?
Wu Ren thought for a while and said, "In this way, if you are queuing up, I will have someone register and give you a serial number. When you come tomorrow, can you line up according to the serial number?"
Some people think his method is okay, while others think it is safer to stay in line.
As expected, the grain was sold out quickly. The clerks at the Gaoxian County Grain and Oil Branch of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce were busy doing the finishing work and preparing for proofing.
The people who were queuing up before didn't leave. Now that all the food was sold out, they were no longer anxious and were free to chat. The last two people carrying food out were a pair of brothers, and they were stopped by people from the same village.
"Uncle Zhang, Uncle Zhang, have you divided your households?" Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to buy so much grain. The total of two bags of grain must have exceeded 36 kilograms.
"Yes, households are divided, and food is the most important thing."
"There are twenty-one people in our Zhang family, regardless of household division. We can only buy thirty kilograms of grain, which is not enough to eat."
The Zhang brothers replied separately. After returning, they saw that the sky was getting dark and they quickly said goodbye to their fellow villagers.
The Zhang family's splitting up households has aroused the thoughts of many people present. In addition, there are still so many people who have not bought food today, which exacerbates their anxiety. They also want to split up their households.
This scene fell in Wu Ren's eyes, and he smiled secretly. The master's move was really effective. The matter of household division cannot be forced, but must be induced.
The next afternoon, Wu Ren noticed that there were still many people queuing up to buy food.
On the third day, people from other counties even came to line up. However, according to regulations, the food invested in Gaoxian County can only be purchased by the people of Gaoxian County with priority.
Wu Ren has been sitting in this shop for three days in a row. He has a tender face and smiles when everyone meets him. His friendly appearance makes people very fond of him.
The ladies and gentlemen felt that they were familiar with him and couldn't help but get close to him.
"Shopkeeper Wu, who runs this Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Grain and Oil Store? Who is the owner?"
"Yeah, I've never heard of this grain and oil store before."
"Our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce is a new company." Seeing that they were still confused, Wu Ren continued to explain, "Actually, it is similar to Ji's Company. Have you heard of Ji's Company?"
"heard about it."
Wu Ren went on to say, "Our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce is specially approved by the county governor and specializes in high-quality and low-priced goods."
The old man who spoke nodded, "The grain you sell this time is of high quality and low price."
"Haha, thank you for the compliment, old man. In the future, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce will handle more types of items, so stay tuned."
"Yes, otherwise the price of food would be so high that people would die."
"Yes, this food is good, but the purchase is restricted. There is too little that can be purchased, and many people cannot buy it."
Wu Ren smiled. In fact, they calculated the purchase limit. In the past three days, they could basically buy food for 5,000 households, covering 80% of the population.
"There is no way. The entire Liaodong County is short of food. In fact, it is not just Liaodong County. There is a flood in the south. There is a food shortage everywhere."
An old man with a mustache next to him shrugged and said, "Just laugh at the fact that you still have such affordable food in Gaoxian County. We don't have it in Liaotuan County yet."
The young man next to him immediately said, "We don't even have one in Xinshui County."
The people in Gaoxian County were stunned when they heard this. They thought that every county and town had cheap food for sale.
Then they started talking about it.
"Don't you have any in Liaotui County?"
"Don't you even have a chance to study in the county?"
"No, no!" the young man replied.
God knows, when they learned that the nearby Wulu County and Liaoyang County had cheap food for sale, but they didn't have it in Jiandu County, they almost burst into tears. Who knows the feeling of grievance?
"How could this be?"
The old man with a mustache said in a plain voice, "Houcheng has put in the most affordable food this time. People in Houcheng are limited to buying five kilograms per person, and they have basically bought it. Others such as Wangping, Wuyou, Gao Xian, Liaoyang and other counties and towns have limited purchases to three kilograms per person, and most families have bought it."
"Shopkeeper Wu, what's going on?"
Wu Ren was not in a hurry to explain. When the old man with the mustache finished speaking and the others came to ask him, he said, "Everyone, please be quiet. I will explain to everyone."
"First of all, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce operates independently. We will cooperate with some government policy controls when convenient and appropriate, but we are not subject to government control."
"Secondly, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce did not obtain much food this time and was unable to cover the eighteen counties of Liaodong County. Please forgive me for this."
"Then, Houcheng is where the new county governor's office is, and Wangping, Wulu, Liaoyang and other four counties are bordering the Xianbei grassland. A lot of food was robbed last year. The people in these counties are living too hard. Not to mention , They are still working to build roads." More policies to benefit the people are needed to appease and attract people who have left their homes to return.
"The last reason is because of the crime of holding a jade. We have too many bandit nests in Liaodong County. Once the grain is divided, no one is sure which village will be spotted, and then be killed by the bandits. Therefore, the distribution range of affordable grain , tentatively designated as the counties and towns where these bandits have been eradicated."
"No, what about Gaoxian County? It doesn't border Xianbei." Someone raised doubts.
"Gaoxian County is able to get affordable grain because it happens to be evenly distributed. It can only be said that it is very lucky. Moreover, Gaoxian County is already assisting the army in suppressing bandits."
After Wu Ren's words spread, the people of Houcheng were very proud. Other counties, such as Wang Pingping, are also proud of you, while people in the other thirteen counties have a bitter taste in their mouths.
They can also serve as corvees to build roads or support the army in fighting bandits. They are guaranteed to be obedient.
Lord Sheriff, the owner of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce, you cannot favor one over the other.
Wu Ren finally reassured, "But please don't worry, our boss is already doing its best to purchase food. In the future, the other fifteen counties will also have affordable food for sale. Please be patient and wait."
After saying that, he wanted to go back to the store, but was stopped by the aunt next to him, "Shopkeeper Wu, will all the good things from your Liaodong Chamber of Commerce be limited to purchase like this time?"
"Yes, there will be a limit to the purchase of household registration books, and each household registration book also has a limit."
As soon as he finished speaking, another lady grabbed him and said, "Shopkeeper Wu, are you still hiring people in your store? My eldest son is tall and strong. He can help you carry the goods." Can you enter? This store is so good. Not to mention the wages, I can tell you in advance that they will have good stuff for sale in the future.
"We are recruiting. But auntie, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce will be strict in recruiting people. Basically, they all need to be literate. The specific recruitment requirements will be posted, so everyone just pay attention."
Many of the current members of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce are recruited from Tianshui Village, the original team.
The aunt let go after hearing his words.
When they were talking, everyone else was listening carefully and took Wu Ren's words to heart. Some people were happy and some were worried when they heard Wu Ren say that they needed to recruit people who could read. But without exception, everyone is somewhat aware of the importance of reading and literacy.
