"Oh, you said you are so smart, why do you want to be a corrupt official who doesn't care about the lives of the people?" The demon woman Ruonan glared at Zhu Ping'an and said unhappily, "Don't say I don't keep my word, if you have anything to say, hurry up and say it, I will only give you a cup of tea, if it's more than that, the dagger in my hand will not allow it."
"Yes, I am so smart, how could I be a corrupt official who doesn't care about the lives of the people?"
Zhu Ping'an nodded and continued.
"Stop talking nonsense! I hate self-righteous scholars like you the most. Anyway, I'll only give you time for a cup of tea. If you like to talk nonsense, then go ahead. You've wasted your time, but don't blame the dagger in my hand for being impatient and drinking blood." The witch Ruonan sneered and waved the sharp dagger in front of Zhu Ping'an.
"The reason why I raised the grain price is indeed for the 100,000 people in Jingnan. Don't stare, time is precious, just listen to me."
Zhu Ping'an didn't waste any time and started to explain. He had just said a word when he saw the evil woman Ruonan glaring at him and sneering, as if she was going to ridicule him again. So he stretched out a finger, shook it gently in front of the evil woman Ruonan, and said to her.
"If you have to fart, just fart." The evil woman Ruonan sneered.
"The reason why we have to raise the price of grain at this critical moment is that we have to do so for two reasons. The first reason is that the court is unable to provide relief for the flood in Jingnan. In my study, there are copies of the official documents I have sent to Taizhou City since the flood, requesting the court to provide relief. There are a total of twelve letters. Taizhou City sent a reply document two days ago, stating that the court is unable to provide relief for the flood and ordered all counties to actively provide relief on their own. If you don't believe me, go to my study and you will know."
Zhu Pingan explained slowly, with a clear conscience.
"Humph, Taizhou Prefecture ordered you to help yourself, and you raised the price of grain? How can this be called relief? You are clearly taking advantage of the situation, adding fuel to the fire! I know that other counties have followed Taizhou Prefecture's example and arrested profiteers, beheaded them, imprisoned them, and exiled them to the army to reduce grain prices with thundering means. The grain prices in other places have been reduced to 500 coins per stone. Only you, a little official, are going against the trend and issuing a decree in the name of the government to forcibly increase the grain price to 2,500 coins per stone. You are forcing the people to death!"
The evil woman Ruonan glared at Zhu Ping'an with gritted teeth. She became angrier and angrier as she spoke. The veins on the back of her slender hand holding the dagger were exposed. She almost couldn't control her urge to poke Zhu Ping'an with a few transparent holes.
I am so disappointed in you!
I was quite optimistic about this little official at first, but I didn't expect that I was blind. It is easy to draw the skin of a tiger but difficult to draw its bones. You can judge a person by his face but not his heart. This little official turned out to be a maggot in human skin with a black heart!
"That's the second reason why I had no choice." Zhu Ping'an said calmly in response to the gnashing of teeth by the evil woman Ruonan.
"Let me see how you confuse right and wrong." The evil woman Ruonan watched coldly, curling the corner of her mouth with disdain, as if she had seen through Zhu Ping'an, quite similar to the expression of Teacher Fan Wei when he was deceiving people one after another.
"The second reason was to save the people from the shortage of food. Jiangnan was originally the granary of the Ming Dynasty, and more than half of the world's food came from Jiangnan. However, most of Jiangnan was affected by the disaster this time, and the food was destroyed, and the granary became a famine. The remaining food in Jiangnan could not last for ten days or half a month. Only by transporting food from Shandong, Sichuan and other places with relatively rich food to Jiangnan could the millions of people in Jiangnan be saved. The court was unable to provide relief for the time being, and only private grain merchants could transport grain. It costs money for grain merchants to transport grain. The journey is thousands of miles, and the cost of manpower and horses is also high. In addition, there are hired workers and guards, and every day, there is a lot of money. Each of these is a huge expense, and there are risks of being robbed by bandits, mountain bandits, and even disaster victims on the road. In Shandong and other places, the price of grain has risen to 500 coins per stone. If the price of grain is forcibly reduced to 500 coins per stone, or even 400 coins, which grain merchant will risk losing money to transport grain? ! If so, when the grain reserves in Jiangnan are exhausted, millions of people will starve to death! Therefore, I raised the price of grain to 2,500 coins per stone, using the huge profits to induce grain merchants to transport grain to Jingnan, so that the 100,000 hungry people in Jingnan can have a way to survive. "
Zhu Ping'an sighed and re-explained what he had explained to the clerks in the county government office.
After Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, the evil woman Ruonan suddenly became quiet, and the sarcasm in her eyes slowly faded away.
"Then..." Soon, the enchantress Ruonan seemed to have thought of something and said unwillingly.
"Then there is no need for me to raise the price of grain so high, right?" Zhu Ping'an knew at a glance what the witch Ruonan wanted to say, and interrupted her and said it for her.
"Hmph." The demon woman Ruonan snorted, which was considered as her agreement.
"Under the circumstances, the price is not high. In extraordinary times, only huge profits can drive grain merchants to continuously transport grain to Jingnan. Compared with the lives of 100,000 people, is this price expensive?! Jiangnan is relatively rich, not like Shaanxi and Gansu, which are poor and weak. Ordinary people have saved a little over the past few decades, especially in Jingnan. Because I gave advance warnings, the people had time to react, and they all carried gold, silver and other valuables when they fled. In years of famine, what they need is food. Although the price of 2,500 coins per stone is high, they can bear it for a while."
Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and explained slowly.
"It is precisely because of the above two reasons and the actual situation in Jingnan that I raised the grain price. The above three are indispensable. If the court had been able to provide disaster relief and if Jiangnan was not short of grain, I, Zhu Ping'an, would have been the first to chop off the heads of those grain merchants who drove up grain prices and forcefully lowered and stabilized grain prices. If Jingnan had not been relatively wealthy and could afford it, I, Zhu Ping'an, would not have raised grain prices."
Zhu Ping'an sighed helplessly.
The demon woman Ruonan was silent again, this time for a long time. After a long while, she snorted coldly, "Although what you said sounds reasonable. But how do I know if it's just your sophistry?!"
"This is not sophistry, this is the truth! If you don't believe it, just wait for a month. Within a month, all the food in other counties, especially Taizhou Prefecture, will be consumed. There will be no food to sell on the market, and the price of food on the black market will soar. It is not surprising to see three to five thousand coins or even seven to eight thousand coins per stone. Moreover, there will often be no demand for food... Even if you have gold, you can't buy food. Hunger will come, and death will come unexpectedly. The picturesque Jiangnan will become a hell on earth..."
Zhu Pingan closed his eyes and spoke weakly, with tears streaking down his eyes at the end...
"You... a grown man crying, aren't you ashamed?" The evil woman Ruonan was at a loss.
"I'm sorry, I made you laugh... I just couldn't control myself for a moment when I thought about the countless people starving to death and I was powerless to do anything. The people were innocent and I was powerless..." Zhu Pingan took a breath, opened his eyes, looked at the demon woman Ruonan calmly, and said lightly, "I'm done, you can do it now."
After saying that, Zhu Pingan closed his eyes.
In your heart, count 1... ... 2... ... 3... ...
Sure enough, when Zhu Pingan counted to three, he heard the demon girl Ruonan speak, "Hmph, forget it. I'll lend my head to your neck for a month. I'll see if things are as you said. If I find out that you're lying to me, hmph, don't blame me for being ruthless. I'll cut off your head with my own hands."