bookrandom Chapter 135 Grain Release
Chapter 135 Grain Release
Early in the morning, the door of Wang’s Grain Store was crowded with people.
The shop owner and his clerks in the shop looked at the surging crowd outside, huddled together and shivered.
"Boss, what should we do?" the waiter asked with a sad face.
The shopkeeper swallowed his saliva and ordered someone to block the door tightly.
They had already sent people to report the case to the government, but the officers and soldiers were slow to arrive, and instead more and more people were outside.
"Open the door! Let us in to buy food!"
"That's right! Everyone knows that your Wang family is the largest grain store in Jiangzhou. You don't have grain? Who are you kidding!"
"Open the door! If you don't open the door, we will break in!"
Hearing the increasingly excited voices outside, the shopkeeper looked at the empty grain shop and felt like crying.
As early as a few days ago, all the grain in the grain shop had been moved away. Only at the request of the owner, they would come to the store every day and pretend that the store was still open.
It turns out that the Wang family had long known about the food shortage in the city and deliberately made them scapegoats?
The shopkeeper was scared and angry, but there was nothing he could do.
The people outside won't believe them.
The door slammed with a heavy sound.
Suddenly, one of the guys seemed to remember something and whispered:
"I remember there seemed to be a dog hole in the backyard, but it was blocked. Maybe..."
The shopkeeper immediately became excited. What's a dog hole? In ancient times, Han Xin suffered the humiliation of being kicked in the crotch. Their little shame was nothing. The most important thing was to save their lives.
So a few people left quietly and went to the backyard to look for the blocked dog hole.
Not only the Wang family's grain shop was surrounded. All the grain shops, big and small, in Jiangzhou city were surrounded to varying degrees. The most incredible thing was that the constables who were used to be everywhere were nowhere to be seen.
The head of the Wang family didn't believe it at all if he was told that he didn't add fuel to the fire.
"Humph! Su Bingtian, do you think you can make me compromise just by relying on these rioters?"
When the head of the Wang family learned that the grain store was surrounded, he laughed disdainfully.
He had already transferred the grain, so even if the grain shop was smashed, he would not suffer any loss. He could also take the opportunity to write a letter to the Wang family in the capital, asking them to report Su Bing.
With poor governance and rioters attacking the city, I wonder how much trouble he will have to endure?
Suddenly, a strange arc appeared at the corner of the Wang family's mouth.
He called a servant and whispered, "Go tell Wang Er, who is on duty in the north of the city, to open the city gate tonight."
Governor Su, Governor Su, don’t you enjoy watching these rioters making trouble?
Then I'll send you some more!
It was the events in Wushan County that gave him inspiration. If Jiangzhou was breached, Su Bingtian would not only lose his official hat, but he would also lose his life!
"Tonight, no one is allowed to leave the house. The hundreds of servants must take up their weapons and stand guard at various locations."
Although it was impossible to reach the east of the city with just a few thousand people, he still made sufficient preparations.
The door of Wang's Grain Store collapsed under the weight of the crowd, and the front group of people immediately squeezed in.
But the emptiness before their eyes shattered their hopes.
The people at the back didn't know what was happening in front and just kept pushing forward.
"No more, all gone."
"What?"
“The food stores are empty!”
"It's all empty! There's nothing!"
The words from the crowd in front finally reached the back.
Everyone stood there in a daze, as if they were under a spell.
There is no food in the grain store, what should they do?
Many people turned their eyes towards the east of the city.
There, lived the wealthy families of Jiangzhou...
It seemed that the order in the city was beginning to slowly collapse.
In a trance, many people heard the sound of gongs. When they looked up, they saw a large group of constables in uniforms carrying knives emerging from somewhere.
"The officers and soldiers are arresting people!"
"Master Constable, we didn't do anything."
"I was wrong, I was wrong, don't catch me!"
The people who were thinking of doing bad things just now saw the detectives coming out in groups. Some were so scared that their legs trembled, while others fell to their knees and begged for mercy crying.
However, instead of arresting them, the group of detectives shouted:
"If you are short of food at home, you can buy food at the government granary in the north of the city. It costs 20 coins per pound, and each person is limited to buying 5 pounds per day!"
Does the government have food?
Only twenty cents?
Everyone looked at each other, totally unable to believe what they heard.
The leading constable held the hilt of his knife in his palm, and shouted loudly, "If you don't have any food at home, go quickly! If you go too late, there will be nothing left!"
Yeah!
They can just go and see if there is food. At least they won't be caught if they go there.
Especially the small group of people who broke down the door of Wang’s Grain Shop. They were blocked in the shop by people outside and couldn’t get out. When they heard that the constable was coming, they were so scared that they broke out in cold sweats.
The people outside quickly dispersed, but they did not dare to act rashly. They left the grain shop quietly, walking like crabs.
The group of detectives did not take them away. They just glanced at them and left, apparently heading to the next location.
Walk, walk, walk. They also hurried to the north of the city to buy food. Didn’t they listen to what the group of constables said? If they went too late, there would be no more food.
The government granary in the north of the city was already overcrowded at this time. Due to the large number of people coming to buy grain, the government had to dispatch more people to help, and a team of soldiers maintained order in the team.
Jiang Jiang brought Li Xu and Li Sheng to help, and the children stayed at home.
They had run a small business and were relatives and friends of County Magistrate Liu, a popular figure around the prefect. So the steward let them be solely responsible for selling grain for a team.
At the head of the line was a sturdy man with sweat all over his forehead and breathing heavily. It was obvious that he had rushed to buy food as soon as he heard the news.
"How many pounds do you need?"
The steward had instructed that everything should be kept simple, so Jiang Jiang, who was standing at the front, started asking questions directly.
"I need 20 kilograms! There are four people in my family."
"Have the family members come? Have you brought the household deed?"
"Well, no, but there are really four people in my family." The sturdy man's body stiffened, obviously he forgot to bring his family and the household deed.
"According to the regulations, you can only buy five catties of food for one hundred coins. Next one."
The strong man wanted to say something, but the detectives around him were not pushovers. If anyone dared to cause trouble, they would be expelled or even arrested.
"Okay, five pounds is five pounds."
Li Sheng was busy counting money, while Li Xu was busy weighing five kilograms of food for the strong man.
"Don't make trouble, buy food properly. No one cares about you except the prefect and the government. Where can you buy food at 20 wen a pound?"
With the help of both big sticks and sweet dates, almost all the people obediently lined up to buy food.
After buying the food, they carefully carried it back home, either in their hands or on their backs.
"Mom, there's food!"
"Daughter, Daddy is back with food!"
Throughout Jiangzhou, voices of joy were heard from thousands of households.
The same is true outside the city.