"Hurry~! Hurry up!"
At noon, on the streets east of Taiyuan City, a group of government officials escorted more than a dozen grain trucks and were heading west. The leader of the government officials moved forward while turning his head to urge the people behind him.
These government officials did not come from the governor's office, but from the Jinyang County government office in Taiyuan City!
Taiyuan belongs to Bingzhou, and Bingzhou has jurisdiction over thirteen counties. The state offices of Jinyang County and Bingzhou are both in Taiyuan City. In the morning, Wang Liaoyuan ordered to mobilize 10,000 shi of grain from the official warehouse, and all the government officials in Taiyuan City took action. Temporarily acted as a "food transport team".
After all, these 10,000 shi of grain are not a small amount. At this time, one shi was equivalent to about one hundred kilograms in modern times. Ten thousand kilograms of grain was equivalent to one million kilograms. Just transporting these grains to the car required a lot of manpower and labor. Time, not to mention that the officials in the official warehouse have to keep detailed records of every grain moved out!
The government soldiers in Taiyuan City are currently busy guarding the city gates and maintaining public order in the city, so the matter of transporting food can only be left to the government officials of various government offices in the city!
It's noon, the sun is scorching, and all the government servants pushing the grain carts are sweating profusely. Some of the weak ones have already begun to feel weak in their legs and complain incessantly!
"Boss Wang, can you let the brothers rest for a while? This is the third time we have moved!"
A yamen servant who was slightly forward couldn't help but said to the leading yamen servant.
The "Prince's Head" paused upon hearing this, frowned, and scolded: "Why rest? The governor has an order to release a total of 10,000 shi of grain from the official warehouse. There are fifty or sixty large and small grain stores in the city. , we and our brothers from other government offices have to transport these 10,000 shi of grain to the major grain stores in the city before dark! We want to stop after less than three transportations? According to your method of transportation, we It won’t be finished tomorrow!”
The yamen servant who spoke before was a little embarrassed when he was scolded by "Prince Wang'er". He forced himself to defend himself and said: "But it's dinner time, and the brothers are also hungry. Wang, you have to give in." Brothers, please fill your stomachs first. How can you have the strength to work when you are hungry?"
Hearing what he said, the other government officials also turned their attention to the Wang Tou'er. Apparently they all wanted to rest and eat. Seeing this, the Wang Tou'er pondered for a moment and then said:
"Okay! This trip is over. Let's go back to eat first. After we finish eating, we can continue our work!"
"Okay~!"
The officials were greatly encouraged after hearing this, and their tired bodies seemed to be full of strength again, and their forward speed suddenly accelerated by three points!
"The food transport team is here! The food transport team is here~!"
When this grain transport team arrived at Gujiangfang, they were about to turn south. At this time, a group of people, men and women, old and young, suddenly rushed out from the opposite lane. When the food team appeared, these people became excited instantly and swarmed towards them.
"The governor didn't lie to us! He really opened the warehouse to release grain!"
"Master! Can you sell me five dou of this grain first? You have to transport it to the grain store anyway, so you might as well sell it to us now!"
"That's right! Sir, please sell us some food first! Our family only has one day's worth of food left, and it's almost impossible to open the pot~!"
This group of common people swarmed forward and immediately surrounded more than a dozen grain trucks. The county government officials were all on alert as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
By the way, if these people in front of them were not unarmed, the government officials would have thought that they were bandits coming to steal food!
The "Wang Tou'er" expression tightened, and he put his right hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist. He looked at the surging and excited people, and shouted in a deep voice: "This is the grain that was escorted to the major grain stores in the city on the order of the Governor. If you want to buy grain, please wait at the major grain stores. Our duty is to transport these grains to the grain stores in pounds!"
"Waiting at the grain store? No way! Master Jun! Several batches of grain were waiting at Yongliang Grain Store, Chen's Grain Store, and Changfu Grain Store before, but they were all sold out after a while! We simply bought them Not enough!"
"Yes, yes! At two o'clock in the city, there are people outside all the major stores. We who are at the back have no chance to buy food!"
"Master Jun, just do it! Sell me some food! I heard that Taiyuan City will be closed for more than a month. If you don't sell me some food, all seven of my family will starve to death!" "
"Yes! Master Jun! Just sell the grain to us! Save yourself the trouble of having to go to the grain store!"
The common people talked to each other, and the "Prince's Head" soon understood the reason why these people came to block the "grain transport team". It turned out that the notice "opening warehouses and releasing grain" issued by the governor's office in the morning, and Without stabilizing the people's hearts, the people in the city still set off a food buying craze.
This led to the fact that the grains shipped to the grain stores were snatched up by the people who came to buy them before they were "heated". And those people who did not grab the first few batches of grains at the grain stores were sold out. "Find another way" and choose to come here to block the grain transport team!
"How is it possible? Today, each grain store received at least one or two hundred shi of grain from the official warehouse. Yongliang Grain Store received no less than 400 shi. Such a large amount of grain cannot be sold in the usual seven or eight days. It’s over, how could it be possible that everything was sold out in just a short time~?”
After hearing what the people said, Wang Tou'er said in disbelief.
A strong man loudly replied: "How is this impossible? If you don't believe it, Mr. Wang, just go to the major grain stores and have a look. Now every grain store is surrounded by people. As soon as the food arrives, it doesn't matter." In two quarters of an hour, they will all be robbed! We went a little late and we couldn’t see the food at all!”
Wang Tou'er frowned and said, "But didn't the notice on the governor's office say that each household can only buy a maximum of five buckets of rice? Could it be that the people in the entire Taiyuan City are rushing to buy food?"
A middle-aged aunt with a plump figure said at this time: "Oh! The government said that each household can only buy five buckets of rice, but in fact, there are only as many people as the number of people who can come out of any house! That grain store owner only cares about When collecting money, how can we have time to care whether they belong to the same household? Some large households send out dozens of servants and maids. When it is our turn, where will there be food? I heard that Taiyuan City will be closed for more than a month. , Ouch, how can we live like this! Mr. Wang, please show your kindness and sell us some food?"
Although the government has proposed a "purchase restriction" measure, this era is not the information age after all, and citizens' information networking cannot be achieved. If you want to strictly implement the policy of "limiting the purchase of five buckets of rice per household", the government's chief register must be present, and according to the household registration List to verify whether the people buying food are from the same household!
But firstly, this kind of verification process is too troublesome. Secondly, the government’s main focus is on opening warehouses to release grain and maintaining public security, and they really don’t have the energy to do this. Thirdly, this purchase restriction policy itself is a bit complicated for this era. It is unreasonable, especially for a large family. There are hundreds of servants and maids in a large family, and there are many direct and collateral members of the family. If you expect such a large family to buy only five buckets of rice per household, it is completely unreasonable. It’s unrealistic. Maybe people consume more food than this every day!
It's just that Wang Tou'er doesn't understand. These people keep saying that Taiyuan City will be closed for more than a month. Where did they get the news
Just as Mr. Wang was about to ask this question, from behind the crowd, a man with a sly eyebrow raised his voice and shouted:
"What nonsense are you talking about? This is obviously a collusion between the government and grain merchants, and they want to use the closure of the city to drive up grain prices! We cannot allow this grain to be transported to grain stores, otherwise we will have to starve to death~!"
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