The Huai Shan County Government Office is located in the north of the county town. The facade looks similar to what you see in TV dramas. However, the carving of the two stone lions at the entrance is really not flattering. The grievance drum next to it is also covered with a thick layer of dust, and it is unknown how long it has been since anyone touched it. However, the entire government office building looks relatively clean and tidy, so it must have been renovated in the last year or two.
If you asked where the most bustling place in the entire county is right now, Ruyi never expected the answer to be the county government office.
Horse-drawn carriages came and went, and boxes of goods were unloaded and quickly carried inside by the yamen runners. If it weren't for the large "Huaishan County Yamen" plaque hanging at the entrance, one would have thought it was some kind of business.
Perhaps because Cheng Ruyi and her group seemed too out of place here, two yamen runners soon noticed them and came over shouting.
"You audacious scoundrel! How dare you wander around openly during the lockdown? Do you have no respect for the law?!"
Ordinary people like Cheng Yan still have a natural fear of the government, so he immediately explained, "I'm innocent, sir! We weren't wandering around. It's just that a few petty thieves came to our house last night. We caught two of them and brought them over as soon as it was light!"
After saying that, he bent down to step aside and pointed to the cart behind him, saying, "Sirs, look, that's them!"
The two constables glanced at the two people bound hand and foot on the cart, then scanned the others several times, their eyes filled with suspicion.
Then he said disdainfully, "Thieves? How can you prove they are thieves? I think you are just spouting nonsense. How dare you deceive the government? Do you want to be flogged or go to jail!"
What kind of logic is this? Such a huge accusation was just dumped on the Cheng family without any explanation, leaving them dumbfounded.
At this moment, Xu Xiucai immediately revealed his identity. He had a degree in the imperial examinations and was knowledgeable about the law. With just a few words, he silenced the two yamen runners, completely dispelling their previous arrogance.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Hui immediately slipped a red envelope over and spoke a few words in a friendly manner. Only then did the constables stop making things difficult for them. They simply cursed a few times and took the two petty thieves away.
Fortunately, Cheng Ruyi had no expectations of the county government before, and now she has only gained a deeper understanding of its unreliability and its dark nature.
I knew they might be unreliable, but I never imagined they'd be this unreliable... Is it just Huai Shan County like this, or is the whole of Dayue like this? If it's the whole of Dayue, the future is really not optimistic.
After regaining his senses, Cheng Yan quickly thanked Xu Xiucai and Zhang Hui. It was fortunate that they had come along this time, otherwise the Cheng family really wouldn't know how to deal with these yamen runners.
Moreover, judging from their expressions just now, they seemed completely unsurprised by the rude behavior of the yamen runners. They must have come to the yamen before or had interacted with the yamen staff to be so familiar with the procedures for seeing officials.
"Ding-dong! Congratulations on completing a special mission."
Because she was too tired last night, Cheng Ruyi had no energy to pay attention to the task. It wasn't until the system's voice suddenly sounded that she realized that the task was only now completed.
Special Mission: Defeat the Thieves (Completion Level: A)
Mission Details: Three petty thieves will break in one hour. Please defeat them and protect your home.
"Special mission completion: A, reward: three points of spiritual power."
"Current spiritual power: 23 points."
Despite achieving the highest completion rating, I only have three points of spiritual energy, which is even lower than previous side quests. It seems that this "special quest" is indeed not very difficult.
As the group was about to return to Wutong Lane, Zhang Hui, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped, beckoned mysteriously to everyone to come closer, and then whispered, "Did you see those goods in front of the county government office just now? I took a closer look, and they all seem to be grain!"
Seeing that everyone still looked confused, he continued his analysis in an even softer voice: "Those boxes of grain are printed with the names of major grain shops, so they must have been collected by the county government recently. We didn't know where they were stored before, but now they're being brought back to the county government so openly, which means that the government is finally planning to open the granaries!"
"Really? That's wonderful!"
Everyone perked up instantly upon hearing this, and almost cheered.
"Shh! Everyone, calm down. Although it's roughly the same, I can't be sure without the official document. Just keep it in mind and don't tell anyone else!"
It must be said that Zhang Hui truly deserves his reputation as the manager of a large cloth shop in the city. His keen business acumen and smooth social skills are qualities that are hard for ordinary people to possess.
Based on the information gathered from exchanging supplies during this period, Cheng Ruyi concluded that, on average, each household in the nearby alleys had stockpiled about two months' worth of food. Now that the city has been under lockdown for two and a half months, many households are nearing their limit.
The government probably calculated that if the granaries were not opened in about two months, the chaos might turn into riots, and if many people really starved to death as a result, the county magistrate's performance record for the year would definitely be ruined.
Sure enough, the next day the yamen runners went around announcing with gongs and drums that the government was going to open the granaries and that every household should bring their household registration to line up, with each person allowed to buy a maximum of five liters of grain.
The news caused an uproar throughout the county. People couldn't help but go out and cheer loudly, finally they wouldn't starve to death! Many even called the county magistrate a benevolent and righteous official, or a second parent.
Five liters of grain per person is about eight to ten catties. For the eight people in the Cheng family, they can buy eighty catties, which is enough to eat for a month. Cheng Ruyi is also very happy. Although her family is not worried about food for the time being, who would complain about having too much grain?
But when they went to queue up the next day, they realized they had been too naive.
The prices of grains such as millet and wheat have increased tenfold, while rice and flour are extremely expensive. No wonder the government is so kind as to allow each person to buy so much; they have calculated that most people simply do not have enough money to buy the limited amount.
Ruyi didn't want to stand out too much, so she mainly bought coarse grains like an ordinary family, and only bought a small amount of rice and wheat flour. All of it added up to far less than the Cheng family's limit, but even so, it cost almost ten taels of silver.
The only good news was that the government office posted a notice stating that the next grain sale would take place in half a month, and that the price of grain would be adjusted according to the situation at that time.
Ordinary people are actually very easy to please. As long as it's not a dead end and there's still a glimmer of hope, most people will obediently listen and stop thinking about random things.
Cheng Ruyi felt that the magistrate probably used all his brainpower on how to scheme against his own people.
In any case, after this grain sale, the security situation in the county town has indeed improved a lot.
After a few long days of such peaceful living, the Cheng family smoothly welcomed the warm month of May.
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