The rooster had crowed four times. Xiao Si, the doorman of the provincial government office, rubbed his sleepy eyes, got up, put on his clothes, and boiled water to wash.
After completing all the processes, he became a lively young man again.
In fact, it is a stretch to describe him as energetic. Because he had not eaten enough for several meals in a row, his face looked a little pale and his spirit was not as high as usual. Before leaving, he still had some complaints in his heart. There were constant rumors in the past few days. From these rumors, he also learned the reasons why the caravan and grain store were closed. If it were not for their governor, the people of Cangzhou would not face the risk of starvation.
Although he thought so in his heart, when he opened the gate of the government office and found a crowd of people standing at the door to seek justice from the prefect, he couldn't help but worry about their prefect.
Some of the people were carrying hoes, some were carrying shoulder poles, and some were simply holding a curved sickle. The various weapons and the same angry expressions made the team look a little scary.
Xiao Si was so scared that he just opened the door and slammed it shut again. People's riots have happened in Cangzhou before. When a person cannot even get the most basic need of filling his stomach, it is understandable that he will do anything.
Seeing the government open and close the door, the people who were still hesitant at first became angry and shouted, "Open the door and hand over the official!"
"Everyone has the right to punish corrupt officials!" There are also scholars who are responsible for criticizing them verbally and in writing.
"… "
Xiao Si stood behind the door, listening to the tide of shouting, his face pale. He swallowed hard, lifted his weak legs, and rushed inside while shouting, "Oh no! The people are causing trouble!"
Such panic-stricken appearance caused some ignorant cleaning servants to shout along. The government office was in a commotion, and it seemed that the government was already in chaos before the people even broke in.
"How disgraceful it is to shout and yell!" The adult in charge of roll call got up very early. He was originally sitting in the office. When he heard the commotion outside, he came out with a stern face and scolded.
Xiao Si seemed to have found his backbone. He immediately stepped forward and said, "Master He, there is a large group of people gathered outside. They are holding sickles and hoes and other things, standing outside and shouting, asking us to... to... "
Lord He was extremely anxious. He even stuttered at this critical moment. He could not help but angrily said, "What do you mean by that? What do the people want?"
Xiao Si said with a sad face: "They want us to hand over the official who made them starve!"
"What?!" Lord He was startled, and immediately thought of what others said when Pei Che gathered them together yesterday. This matter seemed a little unusual, and the people came too quickly. Generally speaking, they would not go against the government unless it was absolutely necessary, and the current situation was not yet a last resort.
"It's true. They are shouting and killing outside now. If no one takes care of this matter, I'm afraid they will come to our door directly!" After Xiao Si finished speaking, his articulation became much clearer, and he expressed all his worries in one go.
Lord He calmed himself down and ordered: "You quickly gather people and go to the back court to notify every household, asking the adults to come quickly. Especially the prefect!" He emphasized that this matter was caused by him, and if he did not show up, it would be difficult to dispel the anger of the people.
"Yes!" Xiao Si replied, and then immediately gathered the servants who were cleaning the house and asked them to go to the back hall to notify them.
One by one, the officials hurried over. Some of them had their official hats not worn properly, and some of them had wrinkled official uniforms. They all had a panicked expression, probably because they were too shocked.
After seeing them, Lord He felt a little relieved, but the person who should have appeared had not shown up yet.
The other adults began to inquire about the news outside. The timid ones had already started thinking of excuses to hide inside and not go out, while the impatient ones could not wait to go out and comfort the people. There were also those who stood aside with frowns on their brows, and no one knew what they were thinking.
Just as they were clamoring to discuss countermeasures, a man in a light crimson official uniform appeared in front of everyone. Unlike the anxious looks of the other adults, Pei Che had a calm expression, as if the people surrounding him were not worth mentioning at all.
"Sir Pei, please come up with a plan quickly. If the people's anger can't be suppressed and causes a riot, all of us in the yamen will be held responsible!" Zhou Xu said unhappily.
"What does it have to do with us? If he hadn't insisted on having his own way..." someone whispered.
Pei Che looked at everyone and said, "I will personally handle this matter. What you are worried about will not happen." His words were sonorous and powerful. He did not retreat or evade, and seemed very responsible.
The impatience in everyone's heart was mostly calmed down. As long as someone was willing to stand up and take responsibility, most people would not take action. Surrounding is one thing, taking action is another.
After Pei Che finished speaking, he turned and walked out the door. Some adults hurriedly followed him, and the remaining small group followed after hesitating for a while.
The heavy door was opened, and the people who were still shouting fell silent when they saw the face that stepped out of the door. They only knew that the prefect was greedy for money and didn't care about the lives of the people. In their hearts, they had already imagined him to be a bloated, bloated, and mean-looking villain. Who was this elegant, handsome, and upright person in front of them
Some people couldn't help but sigh: "You can't judge a person by his appearance!" Who would have thought that someone with such appearance could do such a despicable thing
"Dear fellow villagers, I am here to visit you so early this morning. Is there anything you want to discuss with me? It's cold outside. How about you send a few people into the government office to talk to me in detail, and the rest of you can go home first?" Pei Che's tone was very gentle, as if these people were here to visit, not to cause trouble with weapons in hand.
He was willing to put aside his status and speak to the people in a gentle and soft voice, which calmed down the rising anger of the people a little. However, his proposal was rejected.
"We won't go in, we'll just stand outside and talk!" Who knows what will happen after we go in
Pei Che smiled and said, "Since you all don't want to go in, I won't force you. But if everyone speaks at the same time, it will be hard to hear clearly. Can someone please tell us why everyone came to the government office in such a hurry so early in the morning?"
His glance swept over them, with a hint of doubt in it, which inexplicably made them feel oppressed.
The people below looked at each other, but no one said anything. A young man gritted his teeth and was about to speak, but was pulled by the gray-haired old man next to him. At this juncture, if they had a request, the government might agree, but those who stood up and spoke would inevitably become a thorn in the eyes of the government. How could they live well in the future
After stopping the young man, the old man spoke up himself: "Sir, you are the official of Cangzhou, why don't you give the people of Cangzhou a way to live?" He has lived for so long, and it is enough.
"I'm sorry I can't take responsibility for what you said. May I ask why you said that?" Pei Che said.
The old man said, "There has always been a shortage of farmland in Cangzhou, and local output alone is not enough to feed the local people. Every year, we rely on merchants from outside to buy food and supplies so that everyone can survive. Once you came, you forced the caravans and grain shops to close. How can we ordinary people have enough to eat?" The old man had tears in his eyes. Cangzhou was already a poor place, and encountering a corrupt official made things even worse.
Pei Che did not answer his question directly, but asked: "Father, do you know how much rice costs?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then said, "The price of brown rice is 200 coins per dou. The price of polished rice is 325 coins per dou."
In the Liang Dynasty, one dou was equivalent to 12.5 jin. By this calculation, one jin of brown rice was equivalent to sixteen coins, and one jin of polished rice was twenty-six wen.
"Father, do you know how much rice costs outside of Cangzhou?" Pei Che asked again.
The old man was at a loss. He said, "I have never been out of Cangzhou in my life, and I don't know the price of rice outside. But the people in the caravan said that there are more fields outside, and the price of rice is cheaper than here." In their minds, if it is cheaper, it should be at least eleven or twelve cents per pound, right
"So, was the price of rice this high from the beginning?"
The old man shook his head and said, "Not really. I remember that before, a bushel of rice cost only 75 coins, and less than one tael of silver could buy a bushel of brown rice. Now, two taels of silver are needed to buy a bushel of brown rice."
"This is exactly the reason." Pei Che asked a lot and suddenly said. The people below were very puzzled. This was the reason, what was the reason? Was it because he was greedy for money
"Please explain clearly, sir!"
"I came from Liangjing. Liangjing is located in the north and has a lot of wheaten food. Most of the rice is shipped from the south, so the price is higher, but it's only seven cents per catty, which is the same as the price of fine flour. People in the south generally eat rice, and there are many fields and the yield per mu can reach three hundred and fifty catties. The price of rice is generally only four cents per catty. The caravan comes here from the south, which is much closer than Liangjing, so why is the price so high?" Pei Che has been investigating the price of grain these days. He doesn't need to ask others about this, because there is someone in his family who pays the most attention to the price of grain.
When Jiang Miao was doing business, he dealt with rice and flour every day. He had a good relationship with Shopkeeper Wang, and used to buy rice and flour at the lowest price. In his spare time, Shopkeeper Wang would often discuss the prices of rice and flour in various places with Jiang Miao. He often said that he earned his money through hard work. Indeed, compared with the merchants here, wasn't he earning his money through hard work
There were also people who were good at math. They counted on their fingers according to the numbers given by Pei Che, and couldn't help but shout out in surprise. The price of rice here was four times that of the south! In fact, it was not that the people were unaware of the high price of rice, but the price increase of grain shops was gradual, like boiling a frog in warm water. And because there were abundant mountain products here, they usually used mountain products to offset the price when buying rice, so the price was not so obvious.
Pei Che saw that everyone was lost in thought, and dropped another bombshell. He said, "The price of rice is fine, but do you know how much is one pound of mountain products in Liangjing?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Top quality mushrooms cost 176 coins per pound, mid-quality mushrooms cost 128 coins, and low quality mushrooms cost 80 coins."
Everyone opened their mouths in disbelief. They had never dreamed of such a price. In their area, mountain products were the least valuable and often could not be sold even if they were left to rot. They did not dare to expect to get the price of high-quality products. If they could sell them for medium or low-quality products, it would be better than the current situation where they seemed to be given away for free.
When they came, they wanted to seek justice from the prefect, but now, they want to find those unscrupulous businessmen outside!
(End of this chapter)