The grain merchants in Jingnan were in a frenzy and transported all their grain stocks to the grain shops, where they sold the grain to the people of the entire county at a price of 2,500 wen per dan.
After half a day, the grain merchant's hands were shaking from collecting money, and his hands were cramping from counting the money.
In order to make more money, the grain merchants took out all their savings and borrowed a lot of money from relatives and friends, using all of it as capital. They also mobilized all the manpower they could to purchase grain in Bashu, Shandong and even farther places, and transported it to Jingnan for sale.
Some grain merchants who were smart and bold, such as Manager Tai, even borrowed thousands of taels of silver from loan sharks and used them all as capital. The interest of loan sharks compounded, and the monthly interest was only 5 cents. We used loan sharks as capital, purchased grain and resold it, which would be several times the profit, so why not borrow
The grain merchants were caught up in a festive revelry, while the people of Jingnan were seething with resentment and cursing loudly!
Oh my God!
The natural disaster and floods haven't gone away yet, and now there is a man-made disaster! Our Jingnan is really plagued by disasters!
At first, I thought that Zhu was a good person, but I didn't expect that at the end, when he was about to be promoted, his true colors were exposed! It is true that all crows are evil. No, this dog official is the most evil in the world! Compared with him, the previous dog county magistrates are nothing!
I just feel sorry for the people of Jingnan!
Ever since the official document on grain prices was announced, every citizen of Jingnan has been cursing Zhu Ping'an, and they have cursed him until their mouths are dry!
Because the price of grain was too high, more than twice that of other counties. One stone of grain cost 2,500 coins, and one catty of grain cost 17 coins. The people of Jingnan were reluctant to eat rice and steamed buns, so they had to eat porridge with their families.
When the people of Jingnan used their savings to buy food, they all cursed Zhu Ping'an with gnashing teeth.
Some people wanted to save money and go to Taiping County or other neighboring counties to buy grain, but the price of grain in Taiping County and other counties was much higher than that in Jingnan, but there was no demand. The grain shops either had no grain or sold grain in limited quantities. By the time they arrived, the limited grain in the grain shops had been sold out. They worked hard to travel to several counties but could not buy any grain at all. They had to go back to Jingnan to buy grain, endure exploitation by grain merchants, and buy grain at a price far higher than that in other counties.
The people of Jingnan are boiling with resentment! Like oil boiling over a raging fire!
After hearing this, the clerks were also furious! Especially Liu Fuzi, the head of the household department, Zhang Tongsheng, the head of the personnel department, Han Cheng, the head of the criminal department, and Liu Laotou, the head of the etiquette department.
Not long after Zhu Ping'an posted the official document setting grain prices, the three men came together to resign from Zhu Ping'an.
"Ahem, my Lord, I am old now. I have been tormented these past few days and my body can no longer bear it. I can no longer help you. I have come to bid you farewell and return home."
Old Liu, the clerk in the etiquette room, bowed to Zhu Ping'an and said expressionlessly that he wanted to retire and return home.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an could not help but smile bitterly. Although Old Man Liu was old, he was only fifty-eight years old. How could he retire and return home? Moreover, Old Man Liu's eyesight and ears were not blurry, and his body was stronger than that of a young man. He was well-known in the county government for being in good health.
After Old Man Liu resigned, Mr. Liu, the household clerk, also resigned to Zhu Ping'an. "Your Excellency, I am here to resign as well. I have received news from home that my wife is ill and my son is not yet an adult. I want to go back to take care of my wife. Please allow me to do so."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Pingan was speechless.
Old Liu resigned on the grounds of old age, and Master Liu resigned on the grounds that his wife was ill.
What about you
Zhu Ping'an turned his attention to Han Cheng, the clerk in the criminal department, and Zhang Tongsheng, the clerk in the civil department.
"Your Excellency, I am here to resign. Thank you for your care during my time in the county office. However, there are three kinds of unfilial behavior, and the worst is to have no offspring. I am already over 40 years old and have no son. My parents have urged me to resign several times, especially my father threatened to die yesterday. I have no choice but to do so. Please allow me to go home and work hard with my wife."
Han Cheng, the warden of the criminal department, clasped his fists and said to Zhu Ping'an.
Zhu Pingan was completely speechless. The first two reasons for resigning were more or less reasonable, but your reason was too... Your home is only a few miles away from the county town. You work in the county government office, and it only takes a cup of tea to ride home every day. It doesn't affect your and your wife's "hard work"...
Zhu Pingan looked at the last clerk, Zhang Tongsheng. As expected, Zhang Tongsheng also cupped his hands and said sarcastically, "County Master, I am here to resign as well. To be honest, I am a glutton. I love to eat wild vegetables on the mountain behind the village. If I don't eat them for a day, I will feel uncomfortable and weak. Recently, floods have been raging and food prices are high. Villagers can't afford to eat, so they have to dig wild vegetables to fill their stomachs. I heard that the villagers have almost dug up all the wild vegetables on the mountain behind. Zhang can't live without the wild vegetables on the mountain behind. I need wild vegetables to save my life, so I came to resign from you and go home to grab wild vegetables on the mountain behind."
Ahem... your excuse is really strong...
I can’t live without the wild vegetables in the mountains behind my hometown, so I quit my job and went home to dig wild vegetables…
You should learn from Zhang Jiying!
The autumn wind blows and leaves fly, the perch in Wujiang River are plump. I have not returned home for three thousand miles, and I can't help but look up to the sky and feel sad.
Zhu Ping'an looked at Zhang Tongsheng speechlessly, and Zhang Tongsheng looked back at Zhu Ping'an without backing down.
"Okay, everyone, don't rack your brains to find these excuses. I know why you resigned. Isn't it because of the official document I issued that set the price of grain in Jingnan at 2,500 wen per stone?"
After hearing the reasons why Old Man Liu and the others resigned, Zhu Ping'an said to them with a helpless look on his face.
"Humph, since the county lord has made it clear, we won't hide it. Besides, there are grain merchants of all sizes in the county who come to see the county lord one after another and offer gifts of thanks to the county lord. The county lord accepts all of them! The county lord is pursuing personal gain without caring about the lives of the people! It's really disappointing!"
Old Man Liu, Zhang Tongsheng and others snorted and said to Zhu Pingan with indignation.
"When the county lord invited us to the yamen to help, we accepted his invitation and came to the yamen to assist him in handling official business because he was honest and served the people wholeheartedly. He was well-known and respected by the people. All along, the county lord's actions have never disappointed us. We often privately rejoice that we accepted his invitation and felt that our original decision was absolutely correct! But we didn't expect that the county lord had changed. No, maybe this is the real county lord, and we were blind and didn't see his true face! People with different ideals cannot make plans together! We are not talented, but we don't want to help the tyrant and harm our fellow villagers in Jingnan!"
Old Man Liu, Zhang Tongsheng and others spoke with great indignation and insisted on saying goodbye to Zhu Ping'an.