The clan chief looked back at him, his eyes clearly telling him to speak his mind and not to beat around the bush.
Zhao Jiuchang also saw through it and immediately begged for forgiveness, saying, "It was my fault, please forgive me, Chief Jiang. It's just that I didn't know how to bring this up, which is why I was so long-winded."
"Chief Jiang, Village Head Jiang, please sit down and let's talk."
He grabbed one of them with each hand and pressed them both back down onto the stool.
"Village Chief Zhao, just speak frankly!"
The clan chief didn't want to waste words with him, so he simply got straight to the point.
Zhao Jiuchang didn't need to say much about the curses in his heart; he simply suppressed his smile and replaced it with a bitter grin.
"To be honest, Chief Jiang, when the barbarian elite troops attacked Chongyu Pass, although we were worried, we didn't really take it to heart. As a result, we didn't receive the news until long after Chongyu Pass was breached and the barbarians had entered Yingzhou."
"Although I received advance notice and led my fellow villagers to escape, we didn't take much food with us to avoid being caught by the barbarian army."
They've arrived.
The clan chief and the village head both felt their hearts leap into their throats.
Their fears came true.
"Although everyone has some silver, they came out in a hurry, and it was a time of war and chaos. They don't have travel permits, so they can't go into the county town to buy some grain."
"So the villagers asked me to inquire with you two to see if you could make an exception and ask the villagers to help us buy some grain?"
Zhao Jiuchang did not mention buying it from the villagers.
He had only been here a short time when he had already thoroughly understood the situation in the village.
Jiangjia Village somehow offended the former magistrate of Nan'an County, and last year when taxes were collected, it collected 30-40% more taxes than other villages.
If other villages had a place where people from Zhao Family Village could settle down at the same time, they wouldn't have come to Jiang Family Village.
Of course, the main reason for choosing this place was that I heard there was a sweater factory in Jiangjia Village that could provide jobs for the villagers.
Fortunately, since there was fighting outside, as long as he didn't have to go to the county town, the government didn't really care. This allowed him to use his money to acquire a plot of land and settle down in Jiangjia Village.
"To be honest, we ourselves are also worried about food."
“The grain in the county is already selling for seventy or eighty wen per jin. Each household can only buy a maximum of thirty jin of grain every ten days. This amount of grain is not enough for us to eat, so how can we help you?”
If it weren't for the grain rationing in Nan'an County, he wouldn't be so worried.
Zhao Jiuchang's expression also turned somewhat grim. He hadn't expected that grain in Nan'an County was sold in rations per household.
"This...is there really no other way? Please, sir, consider that every family has elderly and young members, and persuade the villagers to share some of their wealth. Even if it's just 100 coins per pound, it would be acceptable."
Zhao Jiuchang's face showed anxiety, but considering the grain reserves of each household, his expression was not entirely fake.
The clan chief was taken aback when he heard that he was willing to pay 100 coins per catty.
The village head next to him frowned.
"I can only go back and discuss this with everyone. Whether it will work out is uncertain."
One hundred coins for a pound of grain—there were bound to be people in the village who wanted to sell it, but the clan chief didn't refuse outright, lest he block the villagers' path to wealth and incur their resentment.
"Oh, thank you so much, sir."
Zhao Jiuchang was overjoyed.
In his view, with the clan chief speaking up, they would be able to buy some grain, no matter how much.
After seeing the two clan leaders off, he also forcefully gave each of them a packet of tea.
With the item in hand, the clan chief and village head found it even harder to refuse.
News from the foot of the mountain didn't escape Jiang Bai's notice. After hearing Jia Yi's report, she raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, "Oh? He really said that?"
A nodded slightly.
Jiang Bai pondered, "One hundred coins a pound of grain, what's the background of this Zhao Jiuchang?"
"If it were an ordinary village, no amount of silver would be enough to cover its expenses."
"We've already sent people to investigate, and we should have news in a couple of days."
Jiang Bai nodded.
"By the way, don't neglect the supervision of the village. Keep everyone on their toes. These refugees may seem to be fleeing, but nobody knows what kind of people are mixed in here."
"Understood."
"In addition to that, I have something else to report."
Jiang Bai raised his chin, signaling for him to speak.
"According to the person in charge of the granary, we don't have much grain left."
Jia Yi's face showed some worry, because when his master went to the capital to rescue his wife, the matter of the fake travel permit was exposed.
This has made it so that their people can no longer easily enter the city, and even if they do, they dare not buy things in large quantities.
If any item sells even slightly more in the city, it will attract the attention of the government.
This meant that their people could only go into the city to gather information; buying anything was something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.
"How much longer can we eat?"
"At most one month."
For a month, with over a thousand people, the amount of grain wasn't small, but it certainly wasn't much either.
She's running out of food; the situation on Prince An's side will only get worse.
"Chief, Master, there is a secret message."
A guard in black robes knocked on the door, holding a letter that had just been received.
Jia took it, checked it, and then handed it to Jiang Bai.
The secret letter was written by Ji Yanwen. He first asked Jiang Bai how she was doing recently, and then asked if she had enough food in Pingshan. He said that after they defeated the barbarian elites, they occupied a county town, and there was some grain stored in the county town's granary. If she didn't have enough food, he could share some with her.
Jiang Bai was surprised, but also somewhat delighted.
"Any news from Prince An recently?"
But are Ji Yanwen and his group taking such big steps?
If a county town could still seize grain and fodder after defeating the barbarians, it means that the county town had not been ravaged by the barbarians. Under such circumstances, they should have reported to the court for credit after defeating the barbarians. Why did they directly take it for themselves?
"There is some news, according to spies in the capital, that someone in the Prince Xin's mansion, the Eastern Palace, and the Second Prince's subordinates accused Prince An of plotting a rebellion. The Emperor immediately issued an edict to strip Prince An of his title and demote him to a commoner before escorting him to the capital."
"There has been no movement from Prince An's side. I thought the emperor was considering the need for his troops to suppress the barbarians, but now it seems that the imperial edict has probably already reached Luzhou."
A didn't say anything more, but those who understood, understood.
The imperial edict arrived in Luzhou, but Prince An was not stripped of his title and escorted to the capital. Either the messenger had not yet arrived in Luzhou, or he had arrived but was dealt with by Prince An.
Judging from the information Ji Yanwen sent, it's more likely to be the latter.
Thinking about the current situation and the fact that this year is clearly not a very good year, Jiang Bai tapped his hand lightly on the table.
"Jia Yi, what do you think is the likelihood of Prince An rebelling and seizing the throne?"
She originally only offered one idea: whether or not to rebel, and what kind of rebellion it was, was up to Prince An to decide. However, the matter of the Princess's mausoleum and the Imperial Seal made her realize that from the very beginning, she was involved in the whole affair. She couldn't be an outsider, or even just live a quiet life farming in a secluded corner.
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