Big Ear Thief Selling Straw Sandals

Chapter 112 Human Nature in the Food Price War

With the passage of time, the Xunyang disaster has been treated in time, and most of the victims have been resettled reasonably, but the grain storage in Lujiang County's warehouse is about to bottom out.

Tens of thousands of people eat and drink every day, and no one can stand it.

Zhong Yao, who had no food in his hands, looked sad.

"The food is only enough for three days at most. Don't leak any secrets!"

In the county yamen, all the officials, big and small, couldn't help but feel uneasy. If they run out of food in three days, they will be in big trouble!

Liu Bei knew very well that once there was a shortage of food, 100% of the [-] surrendered slaves and the tens of thousands of people in Xunyang would riot again.

The core of disaster management is the officials who manage the disaster area. They are in the front line of disaster relief and control the life and death of the victims.

Therefore, Liu Bei was not in a hurry, and decided to put the food issue aside to see who would jump out.

"I have reported to the imperial court to transfer rice grain from other places, so you don't need to panic."

Zhong Yao was taken aback, and the official document was sent to the court for at least six or seven days, and the grain was allocated after the discussion and approval, at least half a month later.
Why can't Zhijinwu understand?
But with one word from Zhi Jinwu, everyone's mouths are blocked, and this matter can only wait.

Soon, in Xunyang City, rumors spread everywhere, and rumors of an imminent food shortage were rampant.

Afterwards, the rice shops in the eastern and western cities were crowded with residents waving money.

It doesn't matter what kind of rice or food he has, the real thing is to grab it.

In the blink of an eye, the millet store was sold out, and the large and medium-sized grain stores immediately replaced it with a new price, which increased by [-]%.

However, in the face of surging buyers, medium-sized grain stores were quickly sold out, and in the evening, large-scale rice stores raised their prices again, continuing to rise by [-]%.

In the evening, the price of grain in Xunyang soared to 150 renminbi per catty, and, depending on the situation, the grain price will still rise when the market opens tomorrow.

Zhong Yao was startled three times a day, and he hated the shameless behavior of unscrupulous profiteers raising prices because of the leak of news.

After glancing at Liu Bei, Dong Zhong, and Zhang Xun, Zhong Yao believed that the county government must act decisively to stabilize food prices.

"Zhi Jinwu, tomorrow, when rice merchants purchase goods, they must promise that the price will not exceed one penny, so as to eliminate the panic of residents about food shortages. Those who dare to raise prices should be accused of hoarding!"

Liu Bei nodded, indicating that there is no problem.

Dong Zhong and Zhang Xun looked at each other and immediately agreed.

With the approval of his colleagues, Zhong Yao felt a little relieved, as long as the people can afford food, there will be no troubles.

However, the next day, Zhong Yao suffered a critical attack.

The county government sent [-] catties of grain to the big and small rice shops, and each rice shop did sell it at a price of up to one penny per catty, but within half an hour, all the rice shops were sold out.

This is nothing, but what is annoying is that the vast majority of rice grains fall into the hands of black market bosses, making it difficult for ordinary residents to buy.

There is a price in the white market, but there is no market in the black market, and the price in the black market has reached three pennies per catty.

"Bold! Arrogant!"

No need to ask, it must be the grain dealer who arranged the manpower to buy all the low-priced rice grains and sell them at high prices on the black market.

The clumsy way of blinding one's eyes can't hide it from Zhong Yao at all.

"Zhi Jinwu, these rice merchants are lawless, and they all get into the eyes of money. They are sucking the blood of the victims. If they don't kill them, the people will be angry!"

Dong Zhong glanced at Zhang Xun, and Zhang Xun immediately questioned: "Isn't this inappropriate? Rice merchants sell according to the county government's regulations, so beheading is innocent."

Liu Bei nodded, and said: "Lieutenant Zhang is right, there is no proof, and he must not kill people."

Zhong Yao immediately said: "The price of rice in the black market is extremely high, and they sent people to control it secretly,"

Dong Zhong said: "Zhi Jinwu, it's better to arrest the black market grain sellers first, get a confession and then question the rice merchants."

On the black market, only small shrimps are exposed to the public, and when they are caught layer by layer, the day lily will be cold.

Liu Bei was still in a turmoil, nodded in approval of Dong Zhong's proposal, and let the rice merchant go again.

Zhong Yao was a little discouraged.

"People in Xunyang can't buy rice, if this continues, there will be big trouble!"

Now, Zhong Yao has less than [-] catties of grain to use, and it is estimated that if the distribution continues, it will be gone in less than half a day.

Liu Bei asked: "Yuan Chang thought, how can we turn the situation around?"

Zhong Yao gritted his teeth and said, "I can't sell any more. This little food is all boiled into porridge, which should last for a few more days!"

Liu Bei nodded slightly, and then said: "How about this, keep half of the porridge for cooking, and sell the other half!"

Zhong Yao had no choice but to follow suit.

Dong Zhong and Zhang Xun shook their heads in unison in their hearts.

No matter how hard you cook porridge, it won't last for two days, and the price of food will have to rise.

As of the evening, the grain price in Xunyang had soared to four cents a catty, and it was still rising, and it will definitely break five tomorrow.

That night, the county government sent out concerning news: the 20 catties of grain allocated by Jiujiang County would arrive within three days.

The largest grain merchant in Xunyang City, Liang Xian, is the leader of the black market in Xunyang.

Because there is a secret room in the house, Liang Xian escaped the disaster victims and entered the city, and the loss of assets and money was not large. In the process of post-disaster reconstruction, he received a lot of good land and beautiful houses, and his strength increased greatly.

As the saying goes, people do not fight with officials.

Liang Xian originally had no idea of ​​manipulating food prices, but Zhang Xun approached him and indicated that he could use it to make huge profits.

Zhang Xun was a local dignitary, and Liang Xian had no choice but to follow. Relying on his familiarity with grain management methods, he quickly controlled grain prices.

Knowing that wholesale and retail will no longer be available tomorrow, Liang Xian approached Zhang Xun for advice.

Zhang Xun said with a smile: "How many days can tens of thousands of catties of grain last? Just raise the price, and charge as much as you have in the fields and houses! Don't worry, after the matter is completed, your benefits will be indispensable."

With the guarantee, Liang Xian stepped up to fight each other in the black market to buy and sell, raising the price of food step by step.

At the same time, various news were released to expand the panic awareness of food shortages.

Seeing the high price of food, the residents of Xunyang, who had experienced floods and riots, were so frightened that they chipped in to buy food.

Watching unscrupulous profiteers amassing money wantonly, Zhong Yao could only sigh repeatedly because he couldn't get rid of the thunderous means.

"Yuan Chang, don't sigh, here, let's send out this notice."

After receiving Zhi Jinwu's draft, Zhong Yao felt that it was useless after reading it.

It’s nothing more than serving porridge twice a day. After two days, 20 catties of grain will arrive. The county government will sell the grain at a low price. Residents in Xunyang are asked not to hoard grain blindly.

It's better to have an announcement than to do nothing.

As expected, this innocuous announcement failed to stop the raging rumors, and food prices continued to skyrocket.

Two days later, as expected, Jiujiang transported 20 catties of life-saving food.

The price of grain in Xunyang was already eight cents a catty, Liu Bei ordered the wholesale price to be five cents, and the rice shop was allowed to sell at seven cents.

The first batch of [-] catties of grain entered the market, and the price of grain on the black market was immediately reduced to seven cents, and the momentum of price increase was contained.

Zhang Xun immediately found Dong Zhong: "General Hussars, the critical moment is at hand, how can we do this?"

Dong Zhong collected a lot of land, but it was not enough, so he ordered: "One hundred thousand catties is only 70 yuan, buy as much as you have!"

Zhang Xun boarded the pirate ship and couldn't get on or off, so he had to obey orders to sell pots and sell iron to buy food.

As the grain entered Liang Xian's granary, the grain on the market decreased rapidly, and the price of grain on the black market rebounded rapidly, rising to Bawen again.

Before the market closed at night, the black market grain dealers even arrogantly raised an extra penny: nine pennies per catty.

Zhong Yao's mood was only beautiful for a long time before he was defeated by reality.

On the second day, the remaining [-] catties of grain were sold at a wholesale price of six renminbi, and sold at eight renminbi.

The grain dealers made another move, sweeping the rice shop, and the price of grain broke through the ten-cent mark.

Ten times the usual price, it is obviously not affordable for ordinary people.

Zhong Yao was filled with righteous indignation: "Zhi Jinwu, it has been verified that it is Liang Xian who manipulates the price of food in the black market, hoarding and hoarding, the crime should be executed!"

Liu Bei shook his head, a gentleman deceived him with the right method, Zhong Yao still lacked understanding of human nature, of course, his coping methods were too simple and rude.

Interfering with market competition with power will not solve the fundamental problem, and may even lead to backlash.

Since Liang Xian and his gang think that they are superior in skills, let him seek benevolence and gain benevolence.

"Here, please trouble Yuan Chang to post it."

Second bulletin.

The general idea is that in two days, Jiangxia County will ship 30 catties of grain, and the people of Xunyang should be safe and don't worry.

Finally, he also kindly reminded the public: speculating on food is risky, so don't follow it blindly.

It's this trick again, it doesn't seem to work!

But it was posted anyway.

This time, even Liang Xian couldn't help laughing: Guizhou's donkey, a paper tiger, is poor at holding gold.

Dong Zhong said to Zhang Xun in a vigorous manner: "So what about 30 catties? I bought them all! I want to see how much food Zhijin Wu has left?"

Zhang Xun was a little powerless, all the money was poured in, where did the money come from?

Dong Chong smiled and said nothing, just reassuring him that he will be rich by then.

Liu Bei, Zhong Yao, and Dong Zhong, Zhang Xun, and Liang Xian fought on the price of grain, which made the big and small rice shops make a wave of quick money along the way.

In less than ten days, the Yun Family Rice Shop sold [-] catties of grain and made more than [-] yuan, which made Mrs. Yang envious.

This is still because Liu Mei always sells according to the guide price of the county government, otherwise she can get it on the black market casually, and it will not be a problem to earn twice as much.

After a few days, the relationship between Zhuang Laoli Chao An and Liu Mei has eased a lot, and they can chat for a few words from time to time.

Out of good intentions, Chao An suggested: "Miss Liu, the rice shop costs ten cents a catty, so let's raise the price of your grain too!"

Liu Mei snorted, and said: "People's hearts are not enough, and I, Liu Mei, don't make money!"

Chao An argued: "Old Mrs. Yang across the street has gone to the black market to sell food secretly, and I heard that she made a lot of money."

Liu Mei smiled lightly: "Zhi Jinwu said that speculation is risky! How do you know that if you laugh happily now, you won't cry miserably in the future?"

Chao An was stuck for a while, not knowing how to refute.

　Happy Monday!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)