I have a city in another world

Qi Laosan found Tang Zhen and reported his recent work progress and informed him of the problems he encountered.

The dyeing workshop is still under construction, but in everyone's eyes, the importance of this building is gradually decreasing.

Some people also realized that the dyeing factory under construction might just be a cover.

The investors of the dyeing factory may have other purposes.

The officials in the yamen knew the matter best and had long since determined that Tang Zhen was not really going to open a dyeing factory.

How could a normal dyeing factory owner detain two monks and force them to move bricks and build a house for him?

Nor would he spend a large amount of gold and silver to entertain the people of the entire city every day.

Although there are only more than a thousand people in Green Water City today, a meal still consumes a lot of food.

I heard that such a banquet will last for a month, which is exciting to think about.

Some people still have doubts because Green Water City’s food reserves cannot sustain it for a month.

Under normal circumstances, the city’s food reserves can last for more than ten days, and food and supplies must be obtained from the outside world.

But since the storm appeared, the trade routes have been completely cut off, and food and daily necessities from outside cannot be delivered in at all.

Many residents are worried about rising food prices or that they won’t be able to buy food even if they have money.

No one expected that the dyeing factory owner would take the initiative to host a banquet for the entire city and solve the problems faced by the residents.

A month's food consumption is a considerable expense. For poor families, the money saved can do a lot of things.

Not to mention the food at the banquet, which was all meat and other unhealthy dishes, which ordinary poor families had no chance to eat.

Tang Zhen's free banquet really saved many lives.

At this time, some people suspected that the strange storm outside the city should be related to Tang Zhen.

He first controlled the sandstorm, blockaded Green Water City, and cut off all connections with the outside world.

Then a banquet was held for the entire city so that the people would have something to eat and their lives would not be affected by the city lockdown.

The key to the problem is, what is Tang Zhen's purpose in doing this? Is it out of compassion, or is he trying to please the people of the whole city?

No matter which one it is, it feels a bit outrageous and does not fit the cold and indifferent nature of practitioners.

Nowadays, the people in the city, including the officials in the yamen, are happy and worried at the same time. They eat delicious food and are grateful to Tang Zhen, but they are also confused about his motives.

There is no free lunch in the world, especially in this world. When many people are so poor that they can't even afford to eat, Tang Zhen's approach is indeed thought-provoking.

In fact, many residents think that if they have to pay a price to enjoy delicious food, they can accept it.

I just hope the price is lower so that ordinary people can afford it.

However, there are some guys who spread rumors secretly for various reasons.

They said that the food in the city would not last for a month. After a while, when there was no food left in Green Water City, the residents who had been fattened by eating meat would be thrown into the pot.

At that time, a group of demons would appear and taste the broth made by the people in the city.

The story was so detailed and convincing that many people were frightened and started asking around.

When Qi Lao San learned about this, he was so angry that he shook all over, and immediately took people to trace the source.

Green Water City has a sparse population, and Qi Lao San has been very popular recently, so the people being questioned dared not hide anything.

It didn't take long before the source of the rumor was found. They turned out to be two ruffians.

They were caught while stealing wine and meat, beaten and thrown into a cell, and missed the time for the wine and meat to be distributed.

The prison did not detain the two thugs because it would waste prison meals and the penniless thugs simply could not afford the food money.

The officials in the yamen were familiar with the ruffian, and they let him go at the suggestion of the officials from the prefecture.

The officials from the provincial government wanted to use the ruffians to embarrass Tang Zhen and retaliate against him for sealing off the city.

If the city had not been blocked, they would have returned to Hanhai Prefecture long ago. How could they have been trapped in Green Water City?

The provincial officials did not dare to cause trouble to Tang Zhen openly, but they dared to do bad things in secret.

The two thugs who were used as guns became more and more angry after they were released from prison. After thinking for a while, they began to spread rumors secretly.

They racked their brains to come up with the rumor that they would fatten up all the residents of the city and then feed them to the monsters as meat. When Qi Lao San brought his men over, the two thugs were about to go out and continue to spread the rumor secretly.

After finding out the details, everyone started beating the two thugs up again, making sure they wouldn't be able to get out of bed for half a month.

To prevent them from spreading rumors again, causing panic among the people in the city and causing Tang Zhen’s kindness to be misunderstood by the city residents.

After resolving the matter, Qi Lao San went to find Tang Zhen and told him about the various problems he was facing.

After two days of consecutive banquets, Qi Lao San discovered that he had money in his pocket but couldn't spend it.

The supplies in Green Water City are indeed quite scarce, and there is nothing good at all.

If it were eaten again, all the sheep in the city would be eaten.

Qi Laosan wanted to buy a few more camels, but the boss of the transport team refused to allow it. He could get rid of the sick and injured camels, but he still needed to use the good camels to make money by transporting goods.

This is the root of the family, and it cannot be cut off in his hands no matter what.

Qi Laosan went from house to house again, trying to buy a batch of chickens and ducks, but the residents in the city didn't want to sell at all.

For the poor, eggs laid by chickens and ducks are extremely important and are a long-term source of high-quality food.

Not only can you eat it yourself, you can also sell it for money, which is also an important source of income.

Qi Laosan's price was very fair, but the residents were unwilling to sell. After working for half a day, the chickens and ducks they collected were not enough for the people of the whole city to enjoy.

For the first time in his life, Qi Laosan was worried about not having enough money to spend, which made him feel depressed and ridiculous.

If you move to a prosperous state capital, the sources of food are diverse and there are more choices.

But in Green Water City, Qi Lao San was really stumped and could only seek solutions from Tang Zhen.

Seeing Qi Lao San's cautious, self-blaming yet embarrassed look, Tang Zhen just smiled slightly.

He told Qi Laosan that he didn't need to worry too much and that he could go fishing in the lake outside the city tomorrow.

Remember to bring more people, more fishing nets, or more fishing tools such as harpoons.

The fish that cannot be eaten must be distributed to the people in the city to prevent them from becoming rotten due to lack of processing.

The lake outside the city does produce fish and shrimp, but the number is decreasing year by year.

The water area has also been shrinking, now only one-tenth of what it was a few decades ago, and even the water birds that inhabited it have disappeared.

It is difficult to raise big fish in shallow water, so there are fewer and fewer fish and shrimp.

Tang Zhen's advice cheered up Qi Lao San, who turned around and left after expressing his gratitude.

Qi Lao San had no doubt about Tang Zhen's methods.

Tang Zhen asked to go fishing and bring a lot of people and fishing gear, which means there will definitely be a lot of fish and shrimps.

Others may not believe it, but Qi Laosan knows that it is not impossible.

His grandfather and father were actually fishermen. Later, as the number of fish and shrimps became less and less, they had to change their careers and do other jobs.

When he was young, his father once told him that the lake outside the city was actually connected to an underground river.

It is said that this underground river is connected to an underground lake, which is home to countless fish and shrimps.

There was a severe drought one year and all the water in the lake dried up, revealing a series of honeycomb channels connecting to the underground river.

At that time, there were some brave guys who tied ropes and went underground, exploring along the underground river.

I don’t know how long I walked, but I finally saw the mysterious underground lake, which was so large that it seemed boundless.

The water is clear and there are countless fish and shrimps in it, all of them are extremely plump.

There seemed to be a huge creature, about seventy or eighty meters long, flashing by in the distance.

After the news spread, many residents of Green Water City tried to go fishing, but a torrential rain suddenly came.

The dried-up lake was filled with water again, and the underground caves were covered and swallowed up by the lake water. No one could go to the underground lake anymore.

Some people say that there is actually a real dragon hidden in the underground lake. Because it is afraid that the people will disturb it, it creates clouds and rain to fill the lake.

(End of this chapter)