Chapter 61 Turning Enemies into Friends (Vote Requested!)
The county government hall was bustling with activity today.
In the corridor, servants came in an endless stream to serve tea and water, and the threshold of the main hall was almost worn down. Occasionally, a few unlucky people would fall down.
The county magistrate, who was usually frugal, suddenly held a grand banquet, so naturally we had to treat him with the utmost courtesy.
The main hall of the county government office.
Recently, major out-of-town grain merchants who have been active in Longcheng Rice Market, as well as twelve local gentry and landlords who have been rooted in Longcheng for many years, gathered together.
County Magistrate Diao, Constable Yan, and Xie, the female advisor who has recently been frequently seen by the young county magistrate's side, were all in the main hall, drinking tea with the guests.
However, in the eyes of the grain merchants and gentry present, two of the most important figures were missing from the hall.
"Why isn't Patriarch Liu here? Could it be that he wasn't invited...?"
"Where is the magistrate? Didn't he say he had something important to tell me...?"
The lobby was filled with chatter.
County Magistrate Diao stood up and said with a smile, "Please be patient, everyone. The Magistrate just had an urgent matter to attend to and will be here shortly."
Wang Caozhi and other grain merchants, along with a group of local gentry, felt somewhat relieved.
However, due to Liu Ziwen's absence, some of the local gentry who had been notified at the last minute looked somewhat embarrassed and exchanged glances. Just as they were hesitating whether to find an excuse to leave.
A hurried, busy figure burst into the hall, went straight to the desk, grabbed a teacup, tilted his head back and drank it down in one gulp, then wiped his mouth and let out a long sigh.
It's like a lost soul in the desert finding timely rain.
"Everyone's here?"
The hall fell silent; no one spoke, all staring blankly at the young magistrate's unusual attire.
He wasn't wearing official robes, and his whole body was a bit dirty. One sleeve of his casual clothes was rolled up to his upper arm, probably because he forgot to pull it down before entering. There was a piece of white gauze wrapped around the middle finger of his right hand, and there were faint traces of dried blood on the fingertip.
I don't know why a county magistrate like me spends all day doing those dirty and tiring jobs.
Some grain merchants and gentry in the hall murmured among themselves, but Xie Lingjiang, Yan Liulang, and others were clearly used to it and their expressions remained unchanged.
"I just finished a small matter, I didn't expect everyone to arrive so early. By the way, I hope there's nothing wrong with our hospitality?"
It's still the same sincere smile and enthusiastic attitude of the young county magistrate... the same familiar recipe, the same familiar taste.
The reactions of the people in the lobby were varied.
However, in recent days, Wang Caozhi, Manager Ma, Manager Li and others who had witnessed the young magistrate's methods couldn't help but shrink back, fearing that this smiling young magistrate might "accidentally" drop his teacup, causing five hundred axemen to jump out from behind the hall and swarm him, chopping him into mincemeat.
Why are they so afraid, yet still coming today? It's because they're driven to desperation by the high grain prices. Besides, Manager Li's recovered grain offers a glimmer of hope.
"No, no, there's no mistreatment at all. Lord Diao, Constable Yan, and Master Xie were all very hospitable. Coming to the magistrate's place is just like coming home."
Wang Caozhi and the others quickly waved their hands.
"That's good."
Ouyang Rong glanced at them, smiled reassuringly, and without saying a word, directly ordered outside, "Ashan, go and bring the grain up."
The taciturn, thin man who had been waiting outside the lobby with his hands hanging down immediately turned around and went out.
Before long, following the young magistrate's gaze, everyone looked straight ahead through the open doors of the main hall and saw ten horse-drawn carriages, fully loaded with bulging rice sacks, slowly coming to a stop outside the gates of the Longcheng County Government Office.
In front of the room full of grain and gentry, Ouyang Rong smiled lightly at the stunned Manager Li:
"Manager Li, would you like to take stock of the 921 shi of high-quality rice that you lost in the suburbs? It's all here."
He paused, his face apologetic: "I'm sorry, it was a bit slow, but I keep my word... Also, I personally criticized and educated the vagrants involved in the case. Here, I apologize to Manager Li on their behalf."
"No need to apologize, no need to apologize, Your Excellency is too kind, I cannot accept such an honor..."
Manager Li jumped up from his seat as if his backside was burning, waved his hands frantically, and turned to make way for the young county magistrate's bow.
A scene of benevolent officials and filial piety suddenly appeared in the hall.
Manager Ma stared blankly for a while, then got up to ask, "What about mine?", but was quickly pulled back by Wang Caozhi.
He glared at Manager Ma.
That's a big stick, and Manager Li's is a red date. Why are you going up there to join in the fun?
The young magistrate seemed oblivious to the tug-of-war between Wang Caozhi and Manager Ma.
"Hey, Manager Li has found the remaining grain, so why is he still looking so worried? And you all are too."
Ouyang Rong looked puzzled, while Manager Li remained silent. Ouyang Rong turned to look at the grain merchants and gentry in the hall, whose faces were all embarrassed.
"Oh, right..."
Ouyang Rong suddenly realized what was happening, quickly put the teacup back on the table, and showed the guests a caring expression befitting a local official:
"Is the recent grain price issue in Longcheng troubling you all?"
He sighed and nodded with concern for the people: "Five coins a bushel, and everyone has worked so hard to transport it here... it's really too low."
The smiles of the visiting grain merchants and the local gentry, whose families all sold grain, grew increasingly awkward.
"Among you all, some are guests from afar, and some are law-abiding citizens of Longcheng. As the magistrate of this county, I not only care about the refugees, but also about you all, and I will treat you all equally."
After Ouyang Rong finished speaking, he lowered his head to think, walked to the desk, and Xie Lingjiang helped him grind ink and lay out paper.
He rolled up his sleeves, pulled out a pen from his hand with the gauze wrapped around his middle finger, and asked directly in front of the entire room:
"How much grain does Manager Li have that needs to be sold off?"
Manager Li shuddered when his name was called.
The grain merchants twitched their lips. "You don't know how much grain we have in storage? You probably know it better than the rats in the rice granary..."
However, under the young magistrate's gaze, Manager Li still braced himself and honestly said, "Your Honor, it's... more than forty thousand shi."
Ouyang Rong remained calm, made a note in his notebook, and then looked up again:
Where is Young Master Wang?
Wang Caozhi gave an awkward laugh, not daring to call Xie Lingjiang "brother-in-law" in front of him: "Reporting to Your Excellency, it is also around 40,000 shi."
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and wrote it down again, continuing to speak.
"Where is Manager Ma?"
"More than 58,000 shi (a unit of dry measure)."
"Where is Patriarch Cheng?"
"More than 17,000 shi (a unit of dry measure)."
"..."
"..."
The young magistrate had a very good memory. He called out the name of every guest in the hall, and finally, he questioned everyone except the Liu family.
He glanced down at the paper, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Wow, everyone has nearly 300,000 shi of grain stored up, enough for all the people of Longcheng County to eat for free for three years without doing anything."
Even though they were already thick-skinned, they still looked a little embarrassed after being spoken to in court by the magistrate of Longcheng. They coughed and tried to explain, but a light-hearted remark suddenly came from the young magistrate.
"Alright, I'll take them all."
"..."
The entire room fell silent.
Seemingly noticing some grain merchants' legs trembling and some local gentry preparing to turn and flee, Ouyang Rong realized something and quietly explained:
"You get paid, you don't get something for nothing."
The lobby erupted in chaos.
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions:
"The magistrate wants them all?"
"What does the magistrate need so much grain for?"
"Is that true? You'll get money? How much?"
"Your Excellency, please stop teasing us..."
Ouyang Rong rubbed his temples, seemingly having a headache from the noise. He stretched out his right hand, and his junior sister thoughtfully handed him the gavel. The grain merchants and gentry in the room immediately shut up obediently.
Ouyang Rong glanced sideways at the now quiet crowd and nodded:
I'm not kidding you all.
"Moreover, on behalf of the county government, I offer a fair price: eight coins per dou."
The moment those four words, representing the price, were uttered, the hall fell into a stunned silence. Everyone stared in disbelief as the young magistrate picked up the sheet of Xuan paper containing the price of 300,000 shi of grain, lowered his eyes, blew on the still-wet ink, and chuckled softly:
"We'll take all 300,000 shi of grain listed on the paper. As for the rest that were concealed, you can deal with them yourselves. Oh, and the deadline is before dinner. Everyone, think it over carefully."
Hearing the heavenly sound of "eight coins a bushel".
Wang Caozhi, Manager Ma, Manager Li, and sixteen other grain merchants, along with twelve local gentry members present, were all dumbfounded.
Although this is still a bit far from their cost price, it is already much higher than the grain price in Longcheng Market today!
Besides, judging from the young magistrate's tone, he seemed determined to take it all at once! He wanted them to get rid of this hot potato all at once!
Every extra day that so much grain is stored now incurs a considerable amount of warehouse management and anti-aging costs, and there is also the constant risk of it drying out and catching fire, causing constant anxiety... But at this moment, all of this can be seen in the young county magistrate's smile, which offers a glimmer of hope for a solution!
"Your Excellency, are you... telling the truth?"
"Your Excellency, I...I...I'll pay, I'll pay!"
"Your Excellency, there's no need to hesitate any longer. Let's do it now and sign the contract right away! It's a deal. I'll go and deliver the grain right away."
The crowd surged forward, and if it weren't for the table blocking their view, the person would have been overwhelmed.
Ouyang Rong, leaning back slightly, smiled and tapped his left palm with his right index finger, signaling them to calm down.
"However, there is one small condition: everyone should listen to this before confirming whether to sell grain to the government."
"Your Excellency, please speak!" Everyone held their breath and listened intently.
"It's nothing serious, it's just that we might have to buy on credit and get an IOU."
Ouyang Rong smiled sheepishly, took a long-forgotten official document from his desk, and gestured to the crowd:
"Assuming that we ultimately collect 300,000 shi of grain, the Longcheng County government can only pay you 10% of the silver upfront, and the remaining 90% will be owed to us on credit."
"However, there's no need to worry about them defaulting on their debts. Everyone, please look at this official document issued by the imperial court after the theft of the Jimin Granary. It granted our local magistrate the authority to act expediently, as well as various tax incentives..."
"Therefore, this debt today is not only guaranteed in my personal name, but also in the name of the Longcheng County Government and the Imperial Court. You can rest assured."
The grain merchants and local gentry looked at each other, some calming down, while others remained tempted.
"Alright, I've said what I needed to say. Gentlemen, consider it yourselves. This is the last thing the Longcheng County government can do for you. Just remember the time: before I go back for dinner. No exceptions."
Ouyang Rong gently folded the Xuan paper in his hand and tossed it to his junior sister.
The crowd surrounding the jury hesitated.
Wang Caozhi, Manager Li, Manager Ma, and the others exchanged glances, nodded, and stepped forward. However, the twelve gentry members of the village who were leaderless today still hesitated, stopping at the back of the crowd... not daring to step forward if any of them were not present.
At this moment, Ouyang Rong seemed to remember something, looked up and casually said, "By the way, actually, this debt... there's a construction project in the county government that might be quite profitable. If anyone is interested, they can invest in it using the debt."
"What kind of construction is this?" Everyone immediately craned their necks out in curiosity.
The young magistrate smiled silently and continued writing with his head down.
The local gentry, who were still hesitant, became even more eager.
...
My junior sister's character card finally got more likes than my aunt's, and my brothers' fantasies finally feel less unfamiliar to me...
(End of this chapter)
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