Linyi City, as the capital city of Xiangyi Prefecture, under the influence of Shen Wansheng's official carriage strategy, its prosperity increased exponentially.
Due to the locust plague in Qiping Prefecture, many people in Qiping Prefecture fled to the borders of Xiangyi Prefecture early. Ninety-nine percent of those who fled would follow the crowds to densely populated big cities.
Linyi City, as the capital city of Xiangyi Prefecture, naturally saw a large influx of fleeing people.
As acting magistrate, Xu Laosan has an unusually heavy burden on his shoulders.
A large number of fleeing people poured into the city. If the food problem of these people cannot be solved, these people will be extremely hungry and will do anything.
The officials of the government office and the soldiers of the town army were all mobilized by Xu Laosan to take to the streets to maintain order.
But even so, it is still a bit stretched and lacks manpower.
Of course, the problem of insufficient manpower to maintain order is relatively minor. The most important thing is that food is a big problem.
Originally, the cheap rice from the Xu Family Rice and Grain Shop suppressed the price of food in Fucheng, and did not let the late spring cold affect the price of food.
However, with the influx of refugees, the food gap has increased sharply.
"Sir, the food in the granary is almost at its bottom. If no food comes in within half a month, we will run out of food!"
Hu Yong, the head of the grain depot of the Xiangyi Prefecture Yamen, came to Xu Laosan almost every day to talk about it.
Xu Laosan felt dizzy when he saw Hu Yong in the present tense.
But he couldn't help but see each other, because this time of food shortage would change every day. Today we say half a month, but tomorrow there may only be ten days left.
Because, refugees enter Linyao City every day.
Xu Laosan was really worried, even though they had contacted the grain merchants in Jiangcheng Mansion as early as the cold spring. But as news of the locust plague spread in Qiping Mansion, the grain merchants who supplied Mr. Xu and the others began to raise their prices.
By now, Xu Laosan has begun to use Fubao's dowry money to buy food.
But even if they accepted the price increase demands of those unscrupulous grain merchants, they still could not get enough grain because the price of grain was rising every moment.
If you delay for one day, you will earn one more day of money.
Even if these grain merchants knew that it was Mr. Xu who was buying grain, they would ignore it.
After returning to the backyard from the magistrate's office, Xu Laosan found Fubao depressedly. He felt that he needed luck now, luck that would allow him to get a large amount of food at once.
After all, this food is not only used to relieve the victims, but also to supply military rations in Jingbian City.
"Third brother, I think you need to change your mind!"
After listening to his third brother talk about his experiences, Fubao felt happy.
"What other ideas?"
Xu Laosan really couldn't think of a way. These days, he has been suffering from insomnia all night long. If he continues like this, he feels that he may be prematurely aging.
"It's hard to buy food with money, so let's not use money, but use other things!"
"Think about it, if there is something that is in short supply here in Xiangyi Prefecture, we can barter for it!"
"Little sister, you may not know that there is nothing particularly in demand in our Xiangyi Mansion!"
How come Xu Laosan never thought of using this method to blackmail those grain merchants who fell into the eyes of money, but the problem is that Xiangyi Prefecture really doesn't have anything that can be used.
"Third brother, you are so stupid!"
Fubao looked at his third brother speechlessly, "If a businessman wants to make money, he needs to sell his goods all over the world."
"It is true that we in Xiangyi Prefecture do not have anything in short supply, but our roads and river transportation are all in our hands!"
"In addition, our family can affect Longxi Mansion, Donglin Mansion, and Qifeng Mansion."
"You don't need me to tell you what to do next, right?"
"Oh, by the way, there is also the second uncle's Changshan Mansion!"
"Aren't those grain merchants interested in money? Then let's let them sleep with their grain!"
Stuck in the neck!
It has been said since ancient times that the people do not fight with the officials.
The reason why the people do not fight against the officials is because the officials have the power in their hands, and with the power, they can do whatever they want.
"Little sister, you are really a blessing to Third Brother!"
When Xu Laosan heard what Fubao said, he became energetic instantly.
However, after being excited, Xu Laosan became depressed again and said: "Little sister, your method is good, but the problem is that we don't have time to do it slowly!"
"Why don't you have time?"
Fubao smiled slightly, "Third brother, just ask someone to tell those grain merchants that if they make you unhappy, you will make it difficult for them. Tell them that unless they don't do business in the future, the debt will be settled sooner or later. "
"Now we control the four provinces, and we may control more places in the future."
"Businessmen pursue profits, and they will know how to choose."
As long as these businessmen are not fools, they should understand what it means for the people not to fight against the officials.
This time, they may be able to make money, but they should be very afraid of having their lives to make money and not their lives to spend money.
"Little sister, you are right, I am pedantic!"
Xu Laosan took a deep breath and recalled his previous communications with the grain merchants' spokespersons. He felt that he was not overbearing enough.
And the spokesmen of these grain dealers, holding life-saving grains in their hands, thought that they had won the gold medal to avoid death, and each one of them behaved unusually backbone in front of him.
"Little sister, tell your mother, I won't come back for dinner tonight!"
After Xu Laosan finished speaking, he hurriedly returned to the magistrate's office and asked people to invite the spokespersons of those grain merchants. He wanted to treat these people to dinner.
Since he is shameless, don't blame him for being ruthless.
…
When Xu Laosan invited people to dinner with murderous intent, Fu Bao ran to his mother, Mrs. Xu, to tell her mother about his third brother's stupidity.
As a result, when Fu Bao found his mother, he saw that his beautiful master was also there.
"Mother! Master!"
"What are you talking about?"
Fu Bao jumped closer and crawled into Mrs. Xu's arms.
"I didn't say anything, I just talked!"
Mrs. Xu raised her hand and touched Fu Bao's head, smiling slightly.
"Xiao Fubao, master is leaving!"
"And you, you have to practice hard in the future, you know?"
After Mrs. Xu spoke, Lu Mudan spoke with a smile.
"Master, where are you going?"
"Well, when you grow up, you will naturally know it!"
Lu Mudan didn't say much.
Fu Bao wanted to ask clearly, but when she looked at her own mother and beautiful master, it seemed that neither of them planned to tell her about this matter.
Fu Bao also planned to go back and give his own mother a hard time and ask what happened.
As a result, before she had a chance to ask questions, she heard the howling of the little white wolf in the backyard.
The voice was urgent and very sad.
Hearing the shrill howl of the little white wolf, Fu Bao rushed towards the backyard as fast as he could on his short legs. (End of chapter)