Perhaps realizing that what he just said was a little inappropriate, the grocery store owner immediately changed his words and said, "Our ancestors' roots are all here, so what if we don't protect them?

As for the fact that this young man said very little, there is a reason for that.

There are fewer merchants traveling back and forth, and we dare not go out on our own. Without a source, won’t the goods become less and less?

I only have so little stuff, and my family doesn’t want me to stay here every day. If you come a few days later, I might not have anything to sell.”

Gu Wenheng knew that the situation here would be serious, but he didn't expect it to reach this point.

"The shopkeeper knows that we just arrived and we are short of everything. But there are only a few shops open and we have to make a living. Is there any way you can help us buy some things?"

The grocery store owner glanced at Gu Wenheng and shook his head, "I usually only look after this little piece of land, and I don't know much about what's going on outside.

If you need anything, you can actually go find the chief constables. They know more people than ordinary people like us."

In theory, there should be no need for the prefect's family to come out and inquire about these things, as the people under him should have already handled these matters.

Although he is old, he knows that the things happening here are not something an ordinary citizen like him can get involved in.

Gu Wenheng was not angry when he was rejected. He smiled and asked the shopkeeper to settle the bill. He paid the money on the spot and then continued to stroll around.

After finally finding a grain shop, Gu Wenheng went in to check the prices. It turned out that the prices had not increased, but there were not many types of grain and the quantity was limited.

But this is already very good. It should be the result of some efforts made by Deputy General Wang before, otherwise these people would just hide themselves tightly.

Mingfeng pointed to a small alley at the corner ahead and said, "The market is in the front. We'll buy our vegetables there today."

Gu Wenheng looked back at Jiang Shuiniu who was still following behind him, "Don't bring anyone to follow closely here, stay away."

With so many big men standing close to him, he doesn't have to do anything next.

"Sir, how about I stay with you? After all, Mingfeng is not as strong as me." Jiang Shuiniu glanced at the weak Mingfeng. The boy was agile, but his strength was still not enough.

Ming Feng did not dare to argue in this situation, and said in agreement, "Brother Jiang is right. Let Brother Jiang stay by your side!"

Gu Wenheng glanced at the burly Jiang Shuiniu and said, "I think it's better for Mingfeng to follow. With your size, you can scare people just by standing there."

Having said that, he did not allow them to refuse and turned around and walked towards the alley at the side.

The buffaloes didn't dare to just stand there, so they followed closely, still looking around cautiously.

Gu Wenheng didn't expect that the market in the whole city would not be as lively as that in Fu County. There were only a few stalls with some wilted vegetables. "The morning market should be much more lively!"

Mingfeng: "It is more lively, and many people from nearby will bring their own food here.

But there wasn’t much, and I only bought today’s supply this morning.”

Gu Wenheng squatted in front of a mustard greens stall and asked, "Fellow villager, how much is this vegetable?"

The old farmer had never learned Mandarin and muttered in the local dialect. Gu Wenheng guessed and only understood a small part of it.

He turned to look at Mingfeng, "How did you communicate with him this morning?"

Mingfeng just remembered this question and looked at Gu Wenheng with embarrassment on his face, "I forgot. Because I was not familiar with the place this morning, I went to find Governor Wang, and he asked his men to bring me here."

Before, shopkeepers on the streets had learned Mandarin in order to do business, but the common people had no such need, so naturally they had no way to communicate.

In the end, Gu Wenheng bought the vegetables from the old farmer by guessing.

"Go back and ask the cook to pickle these vegetables. You should also buy more these days. Otherwise, the weather will get colder and colder. If we don't have any food stored, life will be difficult."

Gu Wenheng didn't want to think that as a prefect, he would have to borrow food from others to survive.

After another round, everyone was curious and wary of these unfamiliar faces, but at least no one had any ill intentions.

Gu Wenheng felt even worse. No matter what kind of disaster it was, the people at the bottom of society would always suffer the most.

But there was no rush to do this. Until the bandits were completely repelled, he would have to suppress all his ideas.

However, at least the market is still operating, and the people who remain in this city can continue to live.

After a tour, he had some understanding of Lucheng.

Those who could run away have all run away. Those who could not run away either were reluctant to leave their homeland or had no way to survive even if they ran away.

In addition, after the last incident, General Zhou personally brought people to appease the people and sent soldiers to patrol the city, so everyone was not so afraid.

The situation here was different. He Gaofei and his men had finally managed to fill their stomachs with stock, and a sense of crisis began to emerge in their hearts.

Although there was some food left on the journey, they couldn't feed their mouths for long. Besides, the food was cooked by the men and could only barely be eaten. It seemed that they had to go find a mother-in-law.

These are all matters that require money. Looking at the little money left for settling down, he can only let the people under him arrange it.

The three men huddled together and whispered. Even if they were inexperienced, they knew that the treatment they were receiving was unprecedented among previous officials.

Normally, these should have been arranged by the previous official, and they could understand that there was no arrangement by the prefect. But the injured adults below obviously forgot about it on purpose.

Wu Yichen, "What should we do now? I think these former officials know about it, but no one has spoken up."

Lu Shenggen, "What can we do? Let's go find them directly.

We just arrived and are unfamiliar with the place, so it is understandable to ask them to help us get things sorted first."

He Gaofei, "Oh, I think you two should not be so optimistic. Didn't you see that Master Gu has already handled everything himself? If we come to him now, won't it make us look particularly useless?"

"I knew that Gu had bad intentions. It was just a matter of a word. Why didn't he remind us this morning?"

Wu Yichen, who said this, obviously forgot that they all went to the government office early in the morning with the intention of watching a show. Even if Mingfeng wanted to remind them, there was no one in charge in the backyard.

He Gaofei sneered, "Don't forget, the prefect has kindly reminded us. Whether we can smoothly secure our position depends on our own ability.

No matter how many complaints you have here, in the eyes of others, you are nothing but a joke."