The shopkeeper inside the door saw that it was the messenger who came and stepped forward with a smile on his face and asked, "I wonder what instructions you have for me, sir?"

"According to the Master's orders, from now on, all shops in this city that serve the people's livelihood are prohibited from raising prices in the near future. Those who violate this order will be treated as profiteering and disrupting people's livelihood!"

Yang, the yamen runner, patted the shopkeeper on the shoulder and continued, "Go back and tell your boss that if you don't do as you're told, not only will your earnings be confiscated, but you'll also be sent to the county jail!"

The shopkeeper agreed repeatedly with his head bowed, but in fact he was extremely reluctant, but he didn't dare to show it on his face.

After hearing the news, the people standing outside the door changed their previous dejection, applauded and praised the adults for their wisdom.

After sending the officers away, when these people wanted to go into the grain shop to buy grain, the shopkeeper's expression really changed!

"Go away, our shop is about to close!" said the shopkeeper in a bad attitude.

"The officers just left and you've already changed your face! Let's go to the county government office and file a complaint!"

After hearing this, the shopkeeper's attitude softened a bit. "Everyone, everyone, I'm just a shopkeeper. I have to report the price fluctuations to our boss before I can make the final decision, right? Please allow me to go back and report!"

After hearing what he said, the people also understood the situation and finally left the shops without any hesitation. They came to buy food, not because they were really short of food at home, but just wanted to stock up!

After the customer left, the shopkeeper immediately revealed his mercenary face and first spat at the door.

Then he asked the boy behind him to watch the shop inside while he went to find the boss through the back door.

In his opinion, his master would definitely not obey him obediently!

Just as he expected, when he reported to the old man, he saw him put down the teacup in his hand with a snap, which scared the shopkeeper so much that he immediately shrank his neck!

"Dad, does our family really have to do what the adults say?" Zhao Da asked.

"That guy named Zheng is dreaming! Once the grain in his shop is sold out, he'll say we're out of food! Boss, contact the grain shops in the other towns nearby and tell them we have grain to sell to them!"

This sentence woke Zhao Da up from his dream. He nodded excitedly. The people in Rongcheng have no food to eat. You can't blame me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too nosy.

You should know that cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents. I did as you said, and the grain shop did not raise the price, but I have no grain to sell. What can you do to me?

This is also the reason why county magistrates with little foundation could not defeat local gentry in ancient times.

Once a disaster occurs, or when there is a need to build water conservancy projects or ditches, the taxes collected by the people are simply not enough, and this is the time for these wealthy families to donate generously.

First of all, the county magistrate is dependent on them, so how could he make an order that violates their interests?

The reason why County Magistrate Zheng was able to make such a decisive order was that, on the one hand, he considered that if this kind of terrifying mood was allowed to spread in Rongcheng, it would be very detrimental to the development of the market. As food prices rose, the prices of all related items would also rise, and a vicious cycle would ensue.

In order to prevent the problem from happening, County Magistrate Zheng ordered his officers to inform every store one by one, and also posted a notice at the entrance to the city. Anyone who reported any store that raised prices without reason would even receive a reward!

On the other hand, the reason why County Magistrate Zheng was so tough was of course because he had the confidence given by Qin Yue Grain Shop.

As long as the prices are stabilized and people don't start looting, there will be no problem in maintaining the food rations for the people in the city for three months.

These grains were prepared in advance by Qin Yue for the Northwest Army. Now, for emergency purposes, it would be okay to allocate them to the people.

The wheat in the south will be harvested soon, and it will not be a problem to transport food and grass over then. The key now is to stabilize the people.

Creating a safe and stable environment for everyone is not only important for the people, but also for the businesses staying in Rongcheng!

On the other hand, when Li Yan saw the county magistrate order to stabilize the prices in the city, her originally worried mood couldn't help but relax a little.

She walked from inside the city to outside and saw many villagers gathered under the city wall, discussing the notice posted by Zheng County Magistrate.

The people living under the city wall were eager to try, imagining that they would be able to come across a shop that would raise prices at will.

Among them was a commoner who had received the news early and whose grain had become expensive. He sighed deeply and then said regretfully, "If I had known the county magistrate would issue an order to control it, I wouldn't have been so anxious to buy grain. This has cost me nearly two hundred coins more!"

The people nearby heard this man sigh and said thankfully, "Fortunately, I went to a few more stores and bought grain from that store outside the city. I didn't suffer any loss!"

When the people around heard this, they exclaimed in surprise, "Then Yuelai Grain Shop didn't raise its prices!"

"No, if you don't believe me, go and take a look!"

These words resonated with everyone's heart.

So much so that later the Zhao family's grain shop declared that all the grain in the shop was sold out and closed the shop.

They originally thought that when the people could not buy food, they would cause trouble, and then County Magistrate Zheng would definitely come to their house to beg them for mercy.

At that time, he would definitely try to curb the temper of this foreign county magistrate!

His Zhao family is the largest grain merchant in Rongcheng. He wants County Magistrate Zheng to know that his Zhao family still has a place in Rongcheng!

It’s just that the imagination is beautiful, but the reality is not what they expected. By the time they reacted, Yuelai Grain Shop had already won the hearts of the people of Rongcheng, but that’s a story for later!

When Li Yan returned to the shop, she found that the snack shop's business was not as booming as it was a while ago.

When Li Jianmin saw his sister return, he quickly told her what he had learned. "Sister, the arrival of these refugees will have a huge impact on our food shop. I heard that food prices in the city have gone up!"

"Don't worry, big brother. I just came from the city. The Lord has already issued an order not to raise prices arbitrarily. Just stock up on fried chicken and other things these days. As for the noodles with soybean paste, it shouldn't be affected much. The merchants staying next door also need to eat, right?"

Li Jianmin felt a little relieved after hearing what his cousin said, but he also knew very well that if these refugees were not properly settled, it would be difficult for their shop to return to its original state.

The same is true for the soy sauce shop next door. Merchants from outside dare not come, and merchants stranded in Rongcheng dare not leave. The villagers who used to come here every day to carry soy sauce and fermented bean curd to sell are now taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Most people are timid, and it is not their fault. The news they received was that refugees were coming, so they were worried that they would not be able to sell their products and could not afford such a risk.

There are those who are timid, and of course there are those who are bold, quick-witted and able to bear risks. They have not stopped stockpiling.

The reason why he dared to do this was, firstly, that his family was well-off, and even if he suffered losses, it would not shake the foundation of his family; secondly, he believed that this thing would be easy to sell, and once the refugees were properly resettled, he would surely be able to make money later!