Liaozhai Great Sage

Chapter 176 Grain Merchant
After beheading the City God, Li Xiuyuan was not happy in his heart.

The disaster in the city has just subsided, and there is still a lot to do.

Today is the busiest day.

The temporarily recruited strong men of the disaster victims are not easy to use, they need to be supervised, and there are so many disaster victims, it is inevitable that there will be some people who take the opportunity to cause chaos.

Wang Ping, Zhu Yu, Ning Caichen, and a few other scholars were already a bit reluctant to manage their affairs, and they couldn't control the scene. They were traditional scholars, with some virtues of traditional scholars, and some vices and tempers of traditional scholars.

So this requires Li Xiuyuan to mediate and direct everything.

"Boss, some people don't want us to carry the corpses of their relatives and insist on blocking them. What should we do about this?" A temporarily assigned manager rushed over and asked.

Li Xiuyuan immediately said: "Anyone who dares to stop them will drive them away immediately. I said that now is not the time to claim the corpses. The weather is hot now, and the most feared thing is the disease. You don't want to see the plague rampant in the city."

"Understood, little one understands." Cold sweat broke out on the steward's forehead.

"However, you can't be unkind. You can ask the relatives of the corpse to accompany you outside the city to bury them. Remember, corpses are not allowed inside the city," Li Xiuyuan said.

The steward responded and left quickly.

This person is also a person who understands the seriousness of the matter, and also understands how terrible it would be if the plague broke out in the city.

The plague is particularly terrifying in any era. In the ancient plague outbreak, tens of thousands died, and 10,000+ people were not a problem.

Even many wars in history that determined the ownership of the country will be changed by a plague.

Therefore, Li Xiuyuan must control the epidemic well, otherwise the plague will really break out here, and it is estimated that more people will die than those affected by the disaster.

"Mr. Li, it's not good. The shopkeepers of several rice shops in the city want us to ask for rice money, but how can we give them money now?" Ning Caichen ran over panting

"Where is the manager of the rice store?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

Ning Caichen immediately said, "It's over there, it's coming here."

Li Xiuyuan looked along, but saw that several middle-aged shopkeepers who were also affected by the disaster came towards here.

"Mr. Li." The shopkeepers saluted out of respect.

Li Xiuyuan returned a salute, and before he could open his mouth, a shopkeeper opened his mouth and said: "Mr. Li, as a scholar, organized manpower to appease the people and rescue people after the catastrophe. I admire you very much. The state has state laws, and the family has family rules. Even if Mr. Li is helping people in disasters, he can't do the robbery and forcibly take away the grain from several rice shops like me."

"That's right, the whole city is short of food now, Mr. Li sent people to forcefully open the granaries of several of our grain shops. How much did this cost us? Mr. Li, please give us an explanation today."

"We must give us an explanation. The grain in our several granaries can be sold for at least one hundred thousand silver."

A few shopkeepers spoke to each other one by one.

Some people spoke politely, while others clamored for compensation.

Li Xiuyuan took a look, with a calm face, and signaled the shopkeepers to calm down: "Several shopkeepers, please be safe and don't be impatient. After the current catastrophe, they are doing food relief to save lives. It is helpless to force the granaries of the shopkeepers. The understanding of the shopkeepers, how about this, the shopkeepers will give me a period of grace, and after three months, how much food the shopkeepers lost, I will compensate at half price, how about it?"

"What? Compensation at half price, you are too little, Mr. Li, I know you are the son of the Li family in Guobei County. A few years ago, I went to your Guobei County to collect grain. Your Li family has been rich for three generations. , Your generation is already the fourth generation, and everyone says that your Li family is bold and generous, why is Mr. Li so cheap to buy our life-saving food?" A shopkeeper jumped out immediately and said indignantly.

Li Xiuyuan said calmly: "It's true that my Li family is rich, but I'm not being taken advantage of. Your food has been soaked in water. Now it's hot. If I don't take your food, your food will completely rot in ten days. I can Buying at half price is already very benevolent. I really think that I have read too much, and I can’t even start my own business? If it weren’t for the special situation right now, the roads are flooded and the roads are rough and difficult, I really think I care about your water-soaked food .”

"But our grain can save lives now. Your half price is unreasonable, and it is still half the price of grain on weekdays." Another grain merchant said.

A cold light flashed in Li Xiuyuan's eyes; "Are you trying to take the opportunity to raise prices and make the country rich?"

The shopkeepers were suddenly at a loss for words, their eyes dodged, and they didn't dare to look at each other. Although they had this idea in their hearts, how dare they say it clearly.

To say this, the victims here probably tore themselves to shreds.

"If there is nothing wrong, everyone should leave. If there are other grains in the granary, I will still buy them at half price. Don't wait until the grains are broken and then come to me. I don't want them at that time, but If you dare to stop me from getting food, then don't blame me for being ruthless." After Li Xiuyuan finished speaking, he gave the merchants another look.

"No, dare not, since Mr. Li said so, then follow Mr. Li's instructions. There are still a few granaries in the city, and I will take Mr. Li's subordinates to get them."

Faced with Li Xiuyuan's dominance, the shopkeepers did not dare to reveal their greed, so they could only accept this not bad result.

At least half price compensation is better than nothing.

"That's great." Li Xiuyuan nodded, indicating that they could leave.

But there was a grain merchant who was not convinced and said: "Mr. Li, others respect you, but I don't. I am the biggest grain merchant in the city. If I don't agree with you to collect grain, it depends on where you go to raise grain. Half price is like buying food." My family's food, dreaming, unless you buy it at five levels above the market price, otherwise I will never agree."

After speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left angrily.

Li Xiuyuan frowned, and ordered several men who worked on the job: "Help me tie him up. This man is a grain merchant in the city. He sits on the ground and raises prices. We are not allowed to fetch grain. He wants to starve us to death. You can figure it out. "

"Boss, what's the matter?" Several men who were affected by the disaster were furious, immediately picked up sticks, and Brick rushed towards the grain merchant.

The grain merchant turned pale with fright, and was soon surrounded and beaten by several strong men, who uttered screams.

"This is an extraordinary moment. The disaster victims are all over the place, and several grain merchants have died. Who will pursue it? Now the court doesn't care about it." Li Xiuyuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance and muttering to himself.

The shopkeepers next to them trembled and broke out in cold sweat.

Does this son of the Li family really dare to kill someone?
He is a scholar.

"It's almost enough. Let's talk about you. Put down the brick. It's a bluestone brick. It will kill people. It's fine to hit here. Later, tie him up and watch him. Let him stay here for a few days." Here." Li Xiuyuan said.

"Yes, Master."

Li Xiuyuan nodded, then looked at the shopkeepers and said, "Hey, why are you looking so ugly, are you sick?"

"No, it's okay, we won't disturb Mr. Li's disaster relief, next time, we will disturb you next time."

Several shopkeepers touched the cold sweat on their foreheads, not daring to stay for long, and left in a hurry.

Before leaving, he took a look at the grain merchant, only to see that his head was bleeding and he was lying on the ground crying. Although he didn't die, he lost half his life.

Heart secretly happy.

Fortunately, I left some leeway just now, otherwise I'm afraid I will end up in the same way.

After they left, Ning Caichen walked over and said in a low voice, "Mr. Li, isn't this a little too ruthless? After all, we robbed them of food."

"In an emergency, in an emergency, we must not be weak in front of these grain merchants. We need to shake the mountain and shake the tiger. If they keep the grain, the people will starve to death. Once they are hungry, the people in the city can do anything."

Li Xiuyuan said in a deep voice: "Fortunately, some of the storekeepers have business contacts with my Li family. It's not too much to sell my Li family's face, otherwise I would cut their hearts off."

When Ning Caichen heard the words, he immediately bowed and saluted: "Mr. Li fights for the people, and Xiaosheng is ashamed."

Although he couldn't be as decisive as Li Xiuyuan, he understood Li Xiuyuan's approach. At this moment, Li Xiuyuan's approach was the most correct.

If it were the disaster relief minister of the imperial court, I'm afraid that a few grain merchants would be beheaded, and it was definitely not just talk.

"You don't need to be polite. There are still things you need to do right now. Go quickly. Remember, this is not for me, Li Xiuyuan, but for the morality in your heart, and to live up to the sages who have studied hard for more than ten years. Book." Li Xiuyuan said.

"Xiaosheng understands." Ning Caichen said seriously, and strode away immediately.

Li Xiuyuan didn't say much, and continued to command, dealing with all kinds of troublesome things.

At this time, some scholars who worked with Li Xiuyuan began to completely convince him, and felt that Li Xiuyuan's previous words were not bragging.

It is indeed him who can do disaster relief and rescue people, dispatch in the middle, and direct affairs.

All the scholars here, ranging from scholars to local merchants and patriarchs, dare not say that they can take over Li Xiuyuan's position and handle everything properly.

If it were someone else who stood up, it would take less than half an hour for chaos to arise.

"There are not enough boards to carry the corpses, and uninhabited houses can be demolished."

"The supply of clean water and rice porridge here cannot be stopped, and the people who fled outside the city will come back one after another."

"There are people in the city who borrow money to make money, and they are tied up with the criminals."

Li Xiuyuan stood outside the Town God's Temple with a tall and straight figure, standing here like a big mountain. If he does not fall, the victims will not be in chaos, and everything will be in order.

The victims who came in and out also felt inexplicably at ease when they saw Li Xiuyuan.

At this moment, he is like a Dinghai magic needle, rooted in Guobei City.

However, this means that the front is relatively busy. In the evening, when all kinds of things are on the right track and all kinds of troublesome things have been resolved, Li Xiuyuan gradually relaxes. He is not as busy as before, so he can take time off take a break.

(End of this chapter)