vrcanaries Chapter 133 Situation
Chapter 133 Situation
A mansion in Jiangzhou City.
Inside a large mansion, people were drinking and chatting, various delicacies were served, and the sound of glasses clinking could be heard all the time.
One of the men had a big belly and had drunk a lot of wine. He was shaking his head. Just then, a maid brought a hot dish. As soon as he took a bite, he frowned.
With a crisp sound, the plate fell to the ground and broke into pieces, with the soup flowing out on the ground.
"What kind of meat is this? It tastes terrible."
The servant beside him dared not be negligent. He scolded the maid who was serving the dishes harshly, and then greeted him with a smile.
"Master Zhao, I'll ask the chef to make you your favorite candied pork elbow right away."
The maid squatted on the ground to pick up the debris. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she quietly picked up the meat on the ground and stuffed it into her mouth.
This group of people are the major grain merchants in Jiangzhou City. They gathered here at the invitation of the Wang family.
It is said that the Wang family of Jiangcheng has their main family in the capital, and they have direct access to the imperial court, so they are not afraid of the Jiangzhou prefect at all.
At the same time, the Wang family is currently the largest grain merchant in Jiangzhou City. It is said that most of the government's stored grain in previous years was purchased by the Wang family. It is said that the price is as low as one cent per catty. According to the current market conditions, this is equivalent to free of charge after rounding off.
Everyone raised their glasses and talked loudly.
"The price of grain has reached three taels of silver per pound now. Should we sell some?"
A grain merchant asked cautiously, you know, the price they bought grain at that time was only a few cents per pound, but now it has increased hundreds of times, so they have long been satisfied.
When the head of the Wang family heard this, he ignored the man and just smiled contemptuously.
Why rush? This is just the beginning.
Eighty to ninety percent of the grain reserves in Jiangzhou City are in their hands, so they have the final say on the price.
Everyone is enjoying the good days in the future.
While the rich wine and meat smell, the road with frozen bone.
As food was in short supply in the city, porridge had not been distributed outside the city for two days.
Many people relied on the daily porridge to survive, but for two whole days, the city gates were closed and many people smelled an unusual odor.
Could it be that the people in the city no longer care about their lives?
In just two days, the originally orderly outside the city became chaotic.
When order gets out of control, force will dominate everything.
Seeing that there was no longer any officer or soldier to supervise the city, the heads hanging on the city gate could no longer intimidate the people.
Many people formed small gangs and attacked those who were weaker than them, killing, burning, looting, and committing all kinds of evil.
However, the resources outside the city were limited, and no matter how hard they fought, there was only a limited amount of food.
Gradually, they turned their attention to Jiangzhou.
"Brother Zhou, what do you think, should we also..." A young man in brown linen shorts pointed at the Jiangzhou city gate.
The man he called Brother Zhou was tall and had a stern face.
If Jiang Jiang was present, she might recognize that this man was the one who fled here and whom she met when she returned to Jiangzhou from Weishan County.
Relying on their superior martial arts and brave character, they quickly gained a foothold outside Jiangzhou City.
Zhou Yan looked into the distance at the tightly closed tall city gate, wondering what he was thinking.
"Dad, have some food." A thin little girl came to Zhou Yan holding a small bowl.
His originally stern face melted like an iceberg, and Zhou Yan picked up the little girl.
"Dad is not hungry, eat warmly and be full."
Hearing this, the little girl shook her head and stubbornly handed the spoon to Zhou Yan's mouth.
Zhou Yan had no choice but to eat it in one bite, and the little girl began to eat with satisfaction.
He stroked the girl's dry yellow hair and finally made up his mind.
If they wait another two days, they will only have enough food to last for two days.
If there is still no movement in Jiangzhou after two days, they will have no choice for the sake of their daughter and their family.
A storm is about to come in Jiangzhou City.
Just yesterday, a curfew was imposed in Jiangzhou City. People were not allowed to go out after 11 p.m., otherwise they would be caught by patrolling soldiers and thrown into jail.
The hour of Hai, which is nine o'clock in the evening, is generally the time when most people, unless there is an emergency or a banquet or entertainment, have gone to bed, so it does not have much impact on them.
"What do those big grain merchants say?" The prefect of Jiangzhou sat upright in his seat, with his subordinates who came to report the news to him.
The subordinate wiped the sweat from his forehead and said angrily, "The Wang family is only willing to contribute 500 kilograms of grain, the Liu family is willing to contribute 300 kilograms, and the rest of the families can contribute a total of 800 kilograms, which is only 1,600 kilograms in total."
After hearing the answer, no matter how well-mannered the prefect was, he could not bear it.
He threw the teacup in his hand heavily onto the table, splashing water everywhere, foreshadowing the owner's uneasy mental state at the moment.
The man below was so frightened that he knelt on the ground.
"It's all my fault for being incompetent. I'll go to their homes again tomorrow."
The prefect took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
"The wings are hardened."
Are those people setting prices at will, relying on the fact that they are the only ones with grain, thinking that he wouldn't dare to take action against them?
"Where are the people we sent to other places to buy food?"
The prefect expected that the Wang family would not miss this good opportunity, so he sent people to other places to buy grain some days ago.
But now that a severe drought has come, not only Jiangzhou has been affected, the situation in other places is even worse.
Not long ago, the magistrate of Wushan County fled here. According to him, Wushan County had been occupied by rioters. He led officers and soldiers to resist, but failed to stop the flow of people, and finally had to flee in a hurry.
No one knew whether he had lost his official hat or not, but the official who was reporting to the prefect felt that he might not be able to keep his official hat.
He tremblingly told the prefect that he had not purchased enough food, but was met with silence.
The official quietly raised his head and happened to meet the murderous gaze of the prefect. He suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Sir, sir, the county magistrate of Weishan County came to visit and said he had great news to report."
The visitor was the prefect's most trusted steward, and he was the only one who dared to report news when the prefect was handling official business.
This little episode rescued the official, and he secretly thanked the county magistrate of Weishan County for saving him from the dire straits.
"Great news?" The prefect couldn't imagine what great news was. Recently, he had always heard various kinds of bad news.
The person behind the Wang family is a political enemy of his side in the court.
If a riot broke out in his jurisdiction, or even if someone fled like the magistrate of Wushan County, then those people would definitely use this as an excuse to impeach him, and not only him, but his entire faction would be affected.
Party strife is the most dangerous.
As for the lives of the common people, they are nothing more than bargaining chips for them to threaten others.
The prefect waved his hand weakly and asked the man to go down.
"Bring the county magistrate of Wushan County here. I want to hear what great news he has."