Obviously not.
The continuous torrential rains have once again destroyed the rice fields.
The once highly coveted Ping An City is now beginning to change.
The people in the city were frantic. They wanted to save their crops, but the rain poured down as if the sky had been opened, and it didn't stop until three days and three nights later.
The moment the rain stopped, people rushed outside, their faces filled with despair: "It's all gone... everything is gone, nothing is left."
"If we had waited a few more days, the grain could have been harvested, but now it's all ruined."
As he spoke, the man knelt on the ground and began to wail loudly: "God, how could you be so cruel! Why are you doing this to us!"
Everyone felt despair; the once bustling streets had been destroyed, replaced by a heavy atmosphere of oppression and depression.
Under such circumstances, Cheng Shanshan had already made preparations, and had Cheng Shisi seal all the doors, leaving only the smallest and most hidden one for Huo Mingchen to pass through daily.
Looking at the ruined vegetables in the backyard, Madam Bai and Aunt Dong couldn't help but sigh, "All the good things are ruined. We still have food here, but how are others supposed to survive?"
"Yes, I heard that some people's families have already started to run out of food."
The people here have always lived a simple and prosperous life, relying on self-production and self-sales for many years. Since rice and grains may get infested with insects if stored for too long, most families do not have the habit of stockpiling rice and grains, and they buy only what they need.
After thinking for a moment, Bai asked, "Aren't there two rice merchants here?"
"Yes, one is the Li family, and the other is the Jiang family. Every year during the autumn harvest, they collect rice and grains to process into refined grains. Because the things they sell are not expensive, many people like to be lazy and exchange their harvest for silver, and then buy refined grains when needed."
Aunt Dong paused for a moment before continuing, "However, seeing that there's no harvest left, I'm afraid they're unwilling to sell, right?"
People die for wealth, birds die for food.
Selfishness is an inherent human trait, and it's not wrong to act in one's own self-interest.
However, the grain they originally had was all collected from the people in the city, and now that they were unwilling to sell it, naturally no one else was willing to do so either.
The two rice shops were next to each other, and a large crowd had gathered there: "Hey, you surnamed Li, you surnamed Jiang, it's not like we're not paying you. What do you mean by not opening your shops to do business?"
"Yeah, isn't that going too far?"
"We've run out of rice to cook. Do you want to see us die?"
Squeak.
The door was opened.
The Li family was the first to emerge.
Their shopkeeper took out a sign, hung it at the entrance, and said with a smile, "The situation is special right now, and we've been discussing this for a long time. We're sorry to have kept you all waiting."
"Wait, Manager Li, what do you mean by twenty taels of silver per dou of rice?"
"That's right! You used to charge us only one string of copper coins per peck of rice, how come the price has suddenly increased so much!"
Manager Li, all smiles, said, "As you all know, the situation is special right now. We should all be grateful that we were born in Ping'an City. Otherwise, like the people outside, we really wouldn't be able to buy food no matter how much money we have!"
"You're clearly taking advantage of our misfortune!"
"That's just too much."
Despite the insults from the crowd, Manager Li remained calm and composed, seemingly unconcerned: "You don't need to insult me like this. After all, I'm a businessman, not a charity. Everyone knows how precious grain is at times like this. I'm already doing well if I can sell any."
At this point, he glanced disdainfully at the Jiang family's rice shop next door, which had its doors tightly shut, before continuing, "Didn't you see? They didn't even open the door; they were just preparing to live off their stockpiled grain. That's truly ruthless!"
The crowd still wanted to speak.
But Manager Li didn't give them that chance, and simply waved his hand dismissively.
The next moment, dozens of burly men stood at the entrance of the rice shop, wielding sticks, and some even sat at the door with abacus beads and writing brushes: "Those who want to buy rice, come and line up. You can only go in and get your rice after you pay."
"..."
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
After a moment of silence, he thought of his whole family waiting for rice to be cooked.
Left with no other choice, I had to join the queue.
However, the price of twenty taels of rice still managed to deter many people. Some were short of money and couldn't fight back, so they could only return home dejectedly.
This incident caused an uproar in Ping'an City. Everyone said that the Li family was acting like ingrates, since all their grain was harvested from the fields, and they were raising prices to sell it at this time, which was really too much.
The problem is they have no way to deal with it, since the Li family has hired a lot of thugs.
The mere sight of those people standing there was enough to frighten these ordinary people.
But the Li family's ambitions didn't stop there. Some people finally managed to scrape together enough silver to go there the next day, only to find that the sign at the door had been changed to fifty taels for a peck of rice!
The price gouging again enraged everyone, so they all went to Huo Mingchen: "Prefect Huo, please do us justice! The Li family is really going too far. If they continue like this, everyone will starve to death."
Perhaps this is what Manager Li really wanted.
Huo Mingchen was also in a dilemma. After all, there was no reason to force a sale. The goods were with the Li family, and he couldn't just go out and steal them. He could only agree to help everyone resolve the issue.
So he tidied himself up and went to Li's Rice Shop.
Two rows of men stood at the entrance of Li's rice shop, resembling door gods, their imposing presence almost comparable to that of a government office.
When Manager Li learned that Huo Mingchen had arrived, he came out to greet him with a big smile: "Prefect Huo, you are so busy, how come you have time to come here?"
"I think you know the reason."
Huo Mingchen cut straight to the point: "Because too many people have come to me about my rice prices?"
Manager Li explained with a beaming smile, "Think about it, in these times and circumstances, there's no way the second batch of grain can be produced. This means that what I have in my hands is the only grain I have left, which may be what I need to save my life. I've already risked my life, so isn't it reasonable to charge fifty taels of silver?"
"It's true that food is precious, and I don't mean to stop you from making money, but these are difficult times. I just want to ask if you could adjust the price to a reasonable level?"
Huo Mingchen did not choose to use force at this time, but instead used gentle persuasion: "The main thing is that Manager Li still needs to live here. It seems that you will not gain much by offending everyone?"
But Manager Li didn't buy it at all; instead, he turned cold!
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