The next morning, before dawn, everyone got up, taking only a few clothes and bringing along Han Laoba's cooking utensils.
Han Yuchen and Han Luoxue remained on horseback, while the rest of the group traveled in carriages. The group set off in a grand procession.
Riding a horse, they arrived at the shop quickly. Han Luoxue opened the door, and the inside was quite clean.
This is a commercial street, surrounded by shops, but very few are open now. There are quite a few people on the street, but not many are buying anything.
There are no grain shops in town now. Occasionally, someone will come out with some grain to exchange for other things, and almost immediately a lot of people will gather around, and some people will even try to snatch it.
Therefore, almost all the sellers were able-bodied laborers.
Seeing the gleam in the eyes of many people, Han Luoxue frowned. She only thought about opening a shop in town to sell grain, so that she could make money and save people from starvation. But she seemed to have overlooked the nature of humanity.
"Brother Chen, if we take out the food now, won't it be stolen immediately?"
Han Luoxue asked uneasily. Han Yuchen frowned, looking at the people outside; it seemed quite possible.
"Then what should we do?"
Only doing business with wealthy families? That's possible, but in the long run, they'll know this shop has grain, and they'll come and rob it anyway.
Moreover, during times of famine, do ordinary people not deserve to live?
Wealthy families have ways to obtain food, while ordinary people can only wait to die?
Han Luoxue sighed. It was true that she wanted to make money, but she wanted to help these poor people even more.
"I'll go to the county government office."
She had met the county magistrate of Wuling Town before and thought he was a good person. What she was doing was a good thing that benefited the country and the people, so she figured they would agree.
However, if he were to cooperate with the county government, he would have to bleed some money out of his own pocket.
"I'll go with you."
The world is too chaotic; Han Yuchen is worried about letting Han Luoxue go out alone. What if she gets kidnapped? Where will he find her then?
Wuling Town isn't a big town, so no one here would recognize him. In fact, Uncle Han was right; even his parents might not recognize him now.
The harvest is bad now, and there aren't many people in the county government office; the number of constables has been reduced to a minimum. The imperial court isn't distributing silver and grain, and even the county magistrate's family isn't getting enough to eat.
When Han Luoxue and Han Yuchen arrived, they happened to see Magistrate Wen leaving. Because Han Luoxue's appearance was so outstanding, Magistrate Wen still remembered her.
"Oh, little girl, what brings you here again? Was there a problem with the documents from last time?"
Ordinary people wouldn't come to the county government office for no reason, so the only thing that Magistrate Wen could think of was the shop document from last time.
Han Luoxue smiled brightly, took out a bright green cabbage from the basket behind her, and handed it to Magistrate Wen.
"Little girl, what are you doing?"
Looking at the lush green cabbages, Magistrate Wen swallowed hard.
These cabbages look so fresh and green. I heard the Liu family bought some fresh vegetables, but he's just a lowly official and doesn't have the money to buy them.
His family hasn't eaten any green vegetables in a long time. This large cabbage weighs over ten kilograms, enough for the family to eat for several meals.
Seeing the bright look in Magistrate Wen's eyes, Han Luoxue sighed inwardly: "It's good that the harvest is good in this year of famine. If it were any other time, and you came to ask someone for a favor with a cabbage, they would just kick you out."
But now, a single cabbage is enough to tempt people.
"It's like this, I have a favor to ask of you, Lord Wen. I see many people outside are starving, and it pains me to see them like this. I recently acquired two shops, and I'm thinking of using them to sell grain and vegetables. Of course, I'd like to buy them with silver or barter with other goods. However, we're new here, and we're not comfortable opening a shop so hastily. So, I was wondering if you could give me some advice?"
As soon as Han Luoxue finished speaking, Magistrate Wen's eyes lit up: "You have grain and vegetables? Old Liu's things weren't bought from you, were they?"
He knew that the wealthy people in the city had vegetables, but before he could even go and inquire, they unexpectedly came to him.
Han Luoxue smiled and nodded. Magistrate Wen thought for a moment, then said, "I need to discuss this matter with Magistrate Zhu."
The highest-ranking official in Wuling Town was Magistrate Zhu, and his decision on this matter was not absolute. Han Luoxue naturally had no objections. County Magistrate Wen immediately sent someone to summon the magistrate.
Magistrate Zhu was a fat man. He was about 1.7 meters tall but weighed nearly 200 kilograms. Han Luoxue was very curious about how he had gained so much weight.
Keep in mind that this is the third year of famine, and it's really not easy to find a fat man like that.
Because he was so fat, Magistrate Zhu had very small eyes. Upon hearing the situation, his small eyes darted around, scrutinizing Han Luoxue and Han Yuchen.
"It's a good thing that you want to open a shop here to sell grain. However..."
Magistrate Zhu sat in his grand chair, a calculating look on his face:
"It's too chaotic outside right now, and there are many hungry people. If we really want to sell grain, we'll need someone to go and maintain order. The government offices aren't having an easy time either; they haven't been able to distribute grain to everyone for months."
Han Luoxue knew from this that he wanted food. Since he was helping you watch the shop, it was only right to give him some food.
"So, what does Lord Zhu mean?"
"It's not easy for me to support so many people. Little girl, it's a good thing that you're opening a shop. I don't ask for much. Let's make the profits 50/50."
"Hiss," Han Luoxue thought, never expecting this county magistrate to have such a huge appetite. He was only sending people to maintain order, and he wanted half the profits? Why didn't he just rob the heavens?
Although her food cost nothing, she didn't want to be bullied like this.
Han Yuchen clenched his fists in anger and stepped forward to argue with Magistrate Zhu, but Han Luoxue raised her hand to stop him.
Han Luoxue smiled at the county magistrate:
“Lord Zhu is right, and his request is not excessive. However, my family matters are not something I can decide alone. I will go back and discuss it with my parents. By the way, we are not actually from this town. My home is not far from the neighboring Sixi Town.”
Han Luoxue bowed to the two of them, took Han Yuchen's hand, and left.
Watching the two men leave with displeased expressions, Magistrate Zhu narrowed his eyes, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth in the hall.
“Sir, there is a food shortage everywhere. Why would you make such a request? Our people are just sitting around doing nothing. They can go and help out. I think this girl is quite capable and won't let us suffer any losses.”
Magistrate Wen took out a large cabbage from the side and showed it to Magistrate Zhu: "Look at the quality of this girl's vegetables. I've never seen such tender cabbage before."
Magistrate Zhu took the cabbage, touched it, smelled it, and sighed:
"I never used to eat this cabbage, but now I'm actually drooling when I see it."
"Yes, there are almost no green vegetables left now."
Magistrate Wen also sighed. The famine had lasted for three years, and the national treasury had little grain left. If this continued, their country would be in danger even without external attacks.
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