There were indeed a few servants in Jiangding Village collecting grain there. As the county magistrate of Luojiang County, Yang Heshu didn't bring many servants, but there were quite a few who could be used.
Anyway, the yamen was not open during the big festivals, so he simply used the public equipment for private use, took part of the reward money, and directly recruited the servants in the yamen.
Even the chief bookkeeper and secretary of the county were dragged out by him to go to the countryside to collect grain.
As for where the county government got so much money, of course he paid in advance.
Yes, these grains were purchased in the name of the county government, because as the county magistrate of Luojiang County, according to the laws of the court, he was not allowed to do such business in Luojiang County.
Of course, if he chooses a servant at random, it is no problem to put the business under his name. In fact, this is how many officials operate.
Therefore, when Yang Heshu and the gentry in Luojiang County spent a lot of money to ask them to buy grain, they thought that Yang Heshu was using it for private use.
The chief clerk and the others offered to help without any complaints, because according to official practice, not only the witnesses have a share in this kind of thing, but the participants also have a share.
Didn't you see that the county magistrate came up with the reward first
Someone offered a higher grain price, and the villagers were not stupid, so they naturally sold the grain to the county government.
The grain merchants waiting to collect grain in various big villages are dumbfounded. Isn't this...isn't this competing with the people for profit
Even if the former County Magistrate Fu had been in Luojiang County for many years, he was not so overbearing that he directly robbed them of food.
You must know that when magistrate Fu is greedy for money again, at most he dares to ask them to mix two shares.
The local grain merchants in Luojiang County were shocked.
Then they couldn't help but get angry, but this is their own county magistrate after all, so of course they can't tear themselves apart without asking, so several grain merchants discussed in private and decided to invite Yang Heshu to dinner.
Of course, before that, you have to talk to the county magistrate and the master book in the county.
As a result, the county magistrate came to find them in person.
Yang Heshuyu expressed earnestly that he didn't want to compete with the people for profit, he just didn't want the low price of grain to hurt the people, if they insisted on low prices, that's fine, and the price of the grain sold had to be lowered accordingly.
Yang Heshu said: "There is no reason to collect grain from farmers at a low price and then sell it at a high price."
All the grain merchants: "...My lord, isn't this business about buying low and selling high? We receive low prices, and there is nothing wrong with selling high prices."
Yang Heshu's smile sank, and he said, "Of course it's okay to buy low and sell high, but if the price is too low or the price is too high, there will be problems."
He said: "This county doesn't care about other places, but under the jurisdiction of this county, I will not allow such things to happen."
All Grain Merchants:…
The two parties finally broke up unhappy.
Although Yang Heshu is the county magistrate, he has just come here and has only been in office for half a year. Except for the matter of crediting cattle, he has not done anything extraordinary in the past six months, and he is still very young.
Even if he is an official, everyone always subconsciously thinks that the hairless guy is not reliable in his work.
Therefore, his power in Luojiang County is really not as good as that of Fu County Magistrate who just arrived back then.
The grain merchants didn't take Yang Heshu seriously, and after returning home to discuss, they also sent people down to collect grain. After a round of harvesting, they found that it was difficult to collect grain at a price of less than eight yuan.
Because Yang Heshu, a small-bellied man, was so annoyed by them that when he returned to the county government, he asked the servants to call all the townships, and asked them to beat the gongs and drums to inform the villagers below that the county government was buying millet for ten cents a bucket. Wheat is fifteen cents a bucket.
Not all Lizheng listened to Yang Heshu, after all, some Lizheng had a good relationship with grain merchants.
They may even be related, or simply belong to the same family.
But there is no notice here, as soon as the gongs and drums in the next door are played, this side will know, so it didn't take two days, all the villages in Luojiang County, even remote villages such as Qili Village, knew about it, let alone other places.
As a result, the grain merchants were even more unable to collect grain.
They were not in a hurry, and after waiting for two days, they found that Yang Heshu had transferred half of his staff to go back to collect taxes, while half of them continued to purchase grain outside.
And this time Yang Heshu spent money to hire a lot of people, these people were the gangsters who used to collect protection fees everywhere in the county.
At some point, they actually listened to Yang Heshu, and now they were directly hired to guard, carry and transport grain.
All Grain Merchants:…
Seeing that the county government was about to collect the surplus grain from the villages this year, they couldn't help but bought it.
If one family can't stay, the other families can only scramble to end, and the price is raised to ten cents at once.
But for some unknown reason at the moment, the villagers are still reluctant to sell their grain to various grain merchants, and prefer to sell it to the county government.
No way, the grain merchants gritted their teeth and raised the price of grain by another penny, which was just one penny more than the price paid by the county government.
Only then did someone sell them the grain in their hands.
Yang Heshu looked at it with a smile, and said to the farmers who still insisted on selling grain to him: "How can you have money and not make money? You also transport grain to sell them. If they dare to lower the price, you can sell it back to me." , this fight will cost an extra penny, which is not a lot.”
When everyone heard this, they dragged the grain to the purchase points of various grain merchants and queued up.
Of course, the grain merchants will not suffer in vain. The purchase price has been raised here, and the price of grain in the grain shop over there has also increased, directly increasing by five cents a bucket.
Yang Heshu was so angry when he heard this, he said to Wan Tian: "Look, I said they are profiteers, right? The price of the purchased grain has only increased by two renminbi, and the price of the grain shop has gone up by five renminbi. Grain shops go up together, up to the county town, and down to the townships... They have made up their minds and feel that the county can't do anything to them."
"Master, what can you do with them?"
"I can't," Yang Heshu said with a sneer, "this county will not publicize private revenge, nor will public weapons be used for private purposes."
The master bookkeeper, who was reporting back with the account book, couldn't help but pause, and secretly said: You asked us to help you buy grain, isn't this for private use
"My lord," the master bookkeeper pretended not to hear what their master and servant said, and went in holding the account book, "This is the account book for this purchase of grain."
Yang Heshu opened it, looked at it, nodded and said: "Very good, let someone clean up the small room guarded by the county government, open a small door on the wall facing the street, and let the word out, the county government wants to sell grain. Twelve coins for a dou of grain and eighteen coins for a dou of wheat, with a daily limit of one dou per person.”
The master's eyes widened.
Yang Heshu continued: "Choose a few old officials to go and take care of them in person. There will be no one they don't know in the county. Remember, those who have bought it once are not allowed to buy it again within a day."
The chief bookkeeper had only one thought in his mind. County magistrate Yang deserved to have a big backer. Not only could he use public property for private use and let everyone buy grain for him, but he even used the house of the county government, and the people of the county government sold grain for him!