Chapter 431: First Visit to Rice Bank

The two came to Chen Ji Rice Shop and saw the sign in front of them, which was magnificent and extremely eye-catching.

"Girls, do you want to buy rice?"

"Ladies, are you interested in buying rice?" The shopkeeper came forward with a smile and tapped the carved wooden sign at the door. "Here is the price of rice today. Please take a look."

Zhu Qingyan glanced at the wooden sign and whispered to Zhu Lan:

"The price of rice is only slightly higher than that in the capital, but it is far from being as exaggerated as Hu Ping'an said."

Zhu Lan nodded calmly and said to the shopkeeper, "Please weigh three liters of rice for me."

"Okay!"

While the waiter was weighing the rice, Zhu Lan said casually:

"I heard that Qingzhou suffered a disaster in the middle of the year and the price of rice has soared. When we passed by this place, we thought there would be a shortage of food, but we didn't expect that the price of rice is still reasonable.

It seems that the Qingzhou prefect, Mr. Shi, has really governed well, and the people are blessed!"

"No way." Upon hearing this, the guy curled his lips slightly, revealing a hint of disdain.

"Oh?" Zhu Qingyan immediately became interested, "What do you mean?"

The shopkeeper came over and said:

"Mr. Shi is good to the common people, but it makes life difficult for us businessmen.

You see, during times of famine, people flocked here, the price of rice should have risen, and we could have made a profit from it.

However, Lord Shi strictly ordered the rice shops not to raise prices. During the most difficult period, he even forced us to sell the remaining grain in the warehouse on credit to be distributed by the government.

Although the relief grain from the imperial court later made up for our losses, but... alas, the opportunity to make money just slipped away."

Zhu Qingyan showed disdain on his face, and the shopkeeper quickly smiled apologetically and began to explain the principle of "business is business".

Zhu Lan raised the corner of his mouth, "It seems that this prefect Shi really loves the people like his own children and governs well."

Without waiting for the shopkeeper to reply, she changed the subject and said:

"Since the prefect is so popular among the people, why are there so few people from Qingzhou entering the capital in the past six months?

Could it be that the prefect has governed this place so well that everyone is nostalgic for their homeland and doesn't want to go out?"

"This..." The shopkeeper's smile froze slightly, "Haha, I'm not an official, how would I know that?"

After saying that, he took the money, found an excuse, turned around and walked into the inner room, and never came out again.

Zhu Lan and the other person stopped for a moment. At this time, other customers came to buy rice. The two of them observed from the side and found that they were all trading according to the market price on the wooden board.

Zhu Lan found a topic and soon started chatting with several guests. He tried to find out the price of rice in Qingzhou many times.

However, all the customers who came to buy rice said that there was no sharp increase in rice prices, and they also praised the prefect Shi for his diligence and love for the people.

After leaving Mihang, Zhu Qingyan felt a little powerless and sighed:

"Zhu Lan, you are right, it really is a big show for us.

After asking around, I got nothing. I almost believed it was true. "

She thought about it, but still felt a little unwilling.

“They must have expected that we would take this main street after entering the city and go to Chen Ji Rice Shop, so they made arrangements for the routes we might pass by.

But Qingzhou City is so big that it is impossible for all the people to be bribed and play along with them.

Zhu Lan, let's go to that remote and dilapidated place right now. I don't believe that we won't be able to find out anything!"

"Wait." Zhu Lan suddenly spoke.

She stroked her chin with her hand, thought for a moment and said:

“When we entered the city, our identities might have been exposed. We are unfamiliar with this place, and even if we find out something, our opponents will know it immediately.

It would be bad to alert the enemy.”

"What should we do now?" Zhu Qingyan asked.

Zhu Lan raised his head and looked towards the city gate, and said slowly:

“Our grain transport convoy should have entered the city by now.

Let's go, let's go directly to the government office. The prefect who loves the people like his own children has probably already prepared a banquet to welcome us."

After Zhu Lan finished speaking, he whispered a few more words into Zhu Qingyan's ear. Then the two asked passers-by for directions and headed towards the government office.

…

Before they even stepped into the red gate of the government office with its carved beams and painted rafters, they could already sense a strange atmosphere from afar. In front of the government office, a group of people lined up neatly, obviously waiting for the arrival of some important person.

Shi Yuanzhong, dressed in an official robe, stood at the head of the queue. He was tall and strong, with a slightly fat figure, and was particularly conspicuous.

As the figures of Zhu Lan and the other person gradually became clearer, Shi Yuanzhong almost trotted forward to greet them.

The people behind him immediately followed and knelt down in unison. Shi Yuanzhong looked excited and delighted:

"I, Shi Yuanzhong, the prefect of Qingzhou, and I, along with all the officials from the Qingzhou government office, -

Respectfully welcome the two imperial envoys!"

Zhu Lan gave him a false helping, his smile seemed to have deep meaning.

"This must be the prefect, Lord Shi? We wanted to see the local customs and habits of Qingzhou, so we dressed casually and entered the city, but we didn't expect that you were already waiting here.

Your Excellency, you are very well-informed."

Shi Yuanzhong could tell that Zhu Lan had something else in mind, but he pretended not to know and only smiled and replied respectfully:

"I don't have any news, except that Lord Li has brought relief food into the city and has already arrived at the government office.

Only then did I realize that the two imperial envoys would enter the city in plain clothes, so I led everyone here to wait and welcome them.

I hope the two imperial envoys will forgive me for not being able to go out of the city to welcome you."

Zhu Lan nodded slightly to him and walked towards the government office.