Like Lu Yan, the prefect of Jianlan City was also so anxious that he jumped to his feet, but there was no way, Song Hengyuan's secret decree had already made it very clear, and all the things made them listen to Song Chen and Su Miao. Although the www.biquge.info didn't know what kind of medicine Song Chen's gourd was going to sell, they had to wait patiently for the arrangement.

The number of people who went to dig the roots of the grass also went from the sporadic number when Lu Yan went to find Song Chen, and after a few days, it slowly developed to the point that all the people were dispatched, which is not to say that every family has reached the time of running out of ammunition and food, but people have a kind of rush to follow the herd, and when they see other people's families digging, if they don't go to their own homes, things will be quickly dug up by others, so how can they fall behind?

And Song Chen and the others have been watching, not only have no measures come out, but there were originally two open grain shops in the city, but later they closed down.

Rumors in the city that the food in the Feng'an grain store is running out of food are getting stronger and stronger. The rumor is very reasonable: the stock of grain in Feng'an Grain Store was originally collected and shipped to Snow Country, and only a part of it was not shipped later, so although they also sold it in limited quantities, because there were too many people who wanted to buy grain, and they regularly made soup kitchens, they consumed it very quickly, and it was already very good to survive until now.

If it was in the past, whenever there were any rumors, soon Feng'an Grain Store would have relevant notices posted to create the face of the rumor, but this time, no matter what the rumors outside, the grain store did not respond at all. The people who went to buy grain asked the men in the grain store, and they were all tight-lipped and secretive. As a result, people have believed the rumors 90 percent.

Kuai Yong, they have long since withdrawn from the city.

In addition to the dozen or so long-term workers in the Zhuangzi who stayed behind to take care of the crops, Kuai Yong and they were all sent out, and they went down to some villages, especially the counties near the main city of Lily of the Valley.

Song Chen's guess was not wrong, those grain merchants had been pressing for a long time, and seeing that the situation was becoming more and more favorable to them, they couldn't help it for a long time. On the third day since the Feng'an grain shop began to close the remaining family, the people sent out by Song Chen had already discovered that some people had begun to spread the news in the counties and villages outside the city.

"Good news! Good news! Bian Kang recognized that the person he saw who was trying to attract the attention of the villagers was the second shopkeeper in the Zengjia grain shop, and the latter began to announce the purpose of his trip after seeing someone surrounding him, "The five families in the city, Wanshi Grain Shop, Zeng Family Grain Shop, Sihai Grain Shop, Wanquan Grain Shop, and Xile Grain Shop, have finally transferred grain from other places!" As for the price of grain, it is still the twenty-six wen a pound of rice after they closed down......"

"Oh......" When the villagers heard this, they were no longer interested, and they scattered and prepared to leave. They thought that these people had come to tell some good news, but that was what it was. Twenty-six cents, if they still have cash in their hands, why wait until now to buy these high-priced grains? I went to Feng'an Grain Store to buy it a long time ago!

"Don't worry! Don't worry! The second shopkeeper of the Zeng family's grain shop seemed to be called Chen Liang, and he didn't seem surprised when he saw everyone's reaction, but seemed to have been prepared to keep people, "Don't worry, everyone! There is a compromise in this matter! ”

When everyone heard this, they really stopped, is there a compromise? As long as it's not asking for money! They'll listen! Anyway, I don't need money to listen to it.

Chen Liang saw that he had kept people, but he was not so anxious: "Since the flood, our owner has also done his best for the livelihood of the people——"

"That's fake! Who doesn't know that you have doubled the price of food, and it will cost us the lives of our people! Someone shouted.

"You don't know. The reason why our grain store raised the price was also a decision made out of necessity. Chen Liang looked very embarrassed with a bitter face, "At the beginning of the flood, our owner realized that the grain store was not enough to support the situation that the entire city was used. So I was looking for food in the field early in the morning...... After several hard work, I found it, but the purchase price demanded by the other party was almost twice as much as before! If we don't raise the price of the grain store, then there will be no cash to buy that batch of grain back! Moreover, when the price was raised, the rich and noble families in the city bought a lot, and we were using their money to buy food for you! Although it is still sold for 26 yuan now, this price is lower than the price of the acquisition! Now our owner is doing a completely loss-making business! ”

There was silence around the "......", this passage was a bit winding, it seemed that he was really thinking about the people, but why did he always feel that something was wrong!

"In that case, why don't you raise the price of grain when you sell it to large families?" Bian Kang couldn't listen anymore, "In this case, can't you make more money and sell it to us at a lower price?" Isn't the Feng'an grain shop also going to transfer grain in other places, but people haven't raised the price! ”

When everyone heard it, yes!

"Shame on you! Speaking of which, we didn't think it through enough. Chen Liang had a smile on his face.

"It's useless to say anything now!" Some people are impatient, and if they have this spare time to listen to this person idle here, it is better to go to the field and rummage it again, maybe they can turn it out and find something to eat, "Don't say twenty-six wen, it's thirteen wen, ten wen, we don't have the money to buy it!" ”

Other people who were a little dizzy by Chen Liang's words heard it, yes! What's the point of discussing this? It's not a lot of money, and they can't afford to sell it right now: "What kind of compromise is there?" Say it quickly! ”

Chen Liang wiped the sweat that didn't exist on his forehead: "Don't worry! That's the case, what about your situation, our owner has also considered it, and everyone is indeed in some difficulties for the time being. However, although there is no cash in everyone's hands, everyone still has land! ”

"......" Chen Liang said this, although he did not directly explain that he wanted everyone to use the land to exchange food, but everyone present understood what he meant.

"Aren't you farting?" The lack of food for many days has affected people's mood a lot, and their patience has also lost a lot, "We only have this little land left in our hands, if we change the land for food, this is temporarily food, but after eating this bit of food, we are not the same starvation?" ”

"That's right!"

"You profiteers, you are uneasy and kind!"

"As long as people live, there is hope, right?" Now that Chen Liang has already said his words, he no longer cares about his superficial face, "You might as well think about it!" We don't intend to take advantage of you, in terms of the land price before the flood, one acre of the finest fertile land is only twelve taels of silver, plus the grain you have sown, we will give you thirteen taels! At this price, one acre of land can receive 500 catties of grain! That's more than enough for you to eat! ”

"As for what this big brother is worried about, there will be no land to plant after the land is exchanged, so you don't have to worry about it!" Chen Liang looked confident, obviously everything had been planned, "After changing the land, everyone has two ways out: one is to go into the city to find some work to do, and the other is that everyone can also take the land that originally belonged to each family back to plant!" Just pay us 50% of the rent! ”

"Fifty percent?" The glimmer of hope that everyone had ignited because of Chen Liang's words was quickly extinguished, "The imperial court only collects two percent of the tax, and you have to collect fifty percent?" ”

"That's right! Maybe by the time of the season, we'll have 40 percent of the harvest. But after this season, the imperial court will collect 20% of the tax again, and after giving you another 50%, we only have 30% left! In that case, will there not be enough to eat from now on? Even if he can barely survive, won't this day return to the difficult period when the emperor first succeeded to the throne? Besides, at that time, no matter how difficult it was, they still had land in their hands, and their hearts were steady, if their farmers didn't even have land, what hope did they have for the future?

"There's no way around it!" Chen Liang spread his hands, and the image of a smiling face had been put away, "After all, our food is not for nothing, and we have to spend money to buy it, right?" And for the sake of kindness, our owner didn't expect to take advantage of the fire to rob, so you can't say anything about this land price, right? ”

Everyone wanted to leave, but when they thought of the hunger that had been empty for days, they felt that it was difficult to take a step. Someone has a horizontal heart: change it! The shopkeeper is not entirely wrong, if there is no ration, I am afraid that they will not be able to wait for the grain to be harvested and will starve to death! With food in hand, even if you can foresee that you may not be able to eat enough in the future, it is at least much better than the current situation, right?

"You can not decide this matter for a while......" Chen Liang saw everyone's hesitation and intent, he took retreat as advance, and accepted it when he saw it, "That's it!" You may wish to go home and think about it carefully, and also discuss it with the people at home. Don't worry, it will take time for us to inform the villages, and in three days, we will arrange for people to come again, and if you have already thought about it, you can bring the title deed, and you can weigh the grain on the spot and take it home! ”

put the words down, and Chen Liang Shi Shiran left. And the people at the scene stayed where they were anyway, asking each other and discussing each other's ideas. Bian Kang mingled in the crowd and listened to a rough idea.

Of course, there are some people who insist on not changing, but most of them are hesitant. Some people also decided to change it on the spot: "Change!" In order to survive, I can't care so much! ”

Bian Kang looked at the sad and emaciated faces around him, and was anxious, so he immediately rushed back to Zhuangzi and reported what he saw to the two masters.

He knew that the masters should have a way to deal with this matter, otherwise they would not have sent so many people outside to inquire about the movement. People outside Zhuangzi may not know, in fact, including him, he doesn't know how much grain is still stored in the granary in Zhuangzi, but from the food that has not been reduced in Zhuangzi, he can guess that the rumors in the city must be untrue!

Soon after Bian Kang returned, the other people who had gone out also returned to Zhuangzi, and what they saw was similar to Bian Kang's, and they all asked the farmers to make a decision in three days.

After Song Chen listened, he called Liufu over and gave him some words, and then left Zhuangzi with Su Miao and quietly entered the city.

They went directly into Lu Yan's study in the mansion. Lu Yan was writing something at the desk, and when Song Chen and Su Miao arrived, he didn't notice it, and said that Su Miao greeted him loudly: "What is the prefect busy with?" ”

Lu Yan's hand shook, and when he looked up, he saw that it was the two of them, and there was no surprise on his face, he was no longer surprised by Song Chen and Su Miao's elusiveness, anyway, they had no malicious intentions. Both of these are people who know how to measure, and if it weren't for the inconvenience, they wouldn't come without telling them.

"Has Governor Lu received any news?" Song Chen looked at the calm Lu Yan, "Today, several grain shops led by Wan's grain shop sent a lot of people down to the village, announcing that they have grain in their hands again, and if they don't have cash, they can use the land to exchange for grain——"

"What?" Lu Yan stood up, his face shocked, he also sent people to pay attention to the movements in the city, but he didn't expect them to go directly to the village, "Land is the foundation of farmers, if the land is gone, how will these farmers live in the future?" ”

Song Chen repeated the plan of those grain shops, and he looked at Lu Yan: "There is one thing that I don't quite understand. With the financial resources of these grain merchants, if they had to buy land before, it would have been an easy matter. But why did they make such a big detour and ask for the land in the hands of these farmers? ”

"If it's just about making money, that's not reasonable." Su Miao thought for a while and said, "Although the land can be rented to farmers, they can get fifty percent of the rent, but if they buy farmland from other places, they can also hire long-term and short-term workers to help, so that after a season, the harvest can be far more than fifty percent!" ”

It's not easy. Despite their rhetoric, they came up with a high-sounding justification for the previous price increases. But Song Chen knew that in fact, there was absolutely no case of buying grain from other places at a high price. It had been a few months since the grain had been transported into Lily of the Valley City in small batches, so if there was such a valid reason, why be so sneaky? And judging by their behavior, they don't look like people who can do a good thing by using the high profits from the previous high price to make up the difference for the farmers!