At this time, although the team of the independent detachment became more and more strong, the materials became more scarce.

Moreover, as the Japanese army's blockade of the surrounding areas of the base area intensified, the supplies of the people in the vicinity also became extremely scarce. After several purchases, the supplies that could be provided by the villages near the base area have been basically exhausted. As a last resort, Zhao Shixun had to let the old immortal take some of the soldiers and go to a farther village to purchase the living materials needed by the soldiers.

……

At noon one day a year ago, after Zhao Shixun finished patrolling the training of the soldiers, he came to the back kitchen when he had nothing to do, wanting to see what everyone was eating today.

Pushing open the back door of the cooking class compound, Zhao Shixun said hello to several soldiers in the courtyard, and then walked straight into the room.

"Boss, what are you eating today?"

Seeing the old man sharpening the kitchen knife on the side, Zhao Shixun walked over with a smile and flipped in a few bamboo baskets beside him.

Since the last serious injury, my body has not recovered well. Zhao Shixun originally wanted to let him retire and go home, but this old boy couldn't let go of his uncle Shunzi, so he insisted on staying in the army.

In desperation, considering that his age was almost the same as that of the old immortal, Zhao Shixun gave up the idea of letting him continue to lead the troops, and instead asked him to be responsible for cooperating with the old immortal and taking charge of the logistics work together. As for the position of his deputy company commander, Zhao Shixun listened to Zhou Yu's opinion and asked Chen Lei, a veteran who had just returned from injury, to temporarily take over.

Hearing Zhao Shixun's voice, the old man hurriedly got up and said hello to Zhao Shixun.

"Detachment leader, today is the same as yesterday, wheat bran nest head with radish soup."

"Huh? How is it still a wheat bran nest? ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Shixun subconsciously touched his stomach.

Although the wheat bran nest is okay with a full stomach, this thing is not easy to digest and has no nutrition, not to mention, and the stool is dry after eating too much, to put it bluntly, it is a ...... of the eyes.

In the past few days, the most painful thing for Zhao Shixun every morning is to go to the thatched house.

"Didn't you give money to buy coarse grains, why is it still a wheat bran nest, where did all this money go?"

Seeing that the captain was angry, the old man quickly wiped the water stains on his hands, and then walked to the corner and opened a bag.

"Detachment leader, it's not that I don't want to do anything else, it's really difficult for a good woman to cook without rice. You see, a lot of the food we buy now is wheat bran, so we can only eat this ....... ”

Hearing this, he walked to the corner of the wall and untied two or three sacks, Zhao Shixun grabbed a handful of wheat bran and touched it, and his face became more and more ugly.

"Boss, go and get the old immortal back, and let him go to the headquarters to see me immediately!"

The words were closed, and Zhao Shixun immediately left the cooking class angrily.

……

Half an hour later, Zhao Shixun, who was studying the latest movements of the Japanese army with He Zhendong, looked at the old immortal who had just come over, and then asked with a cold face:

"Old immortal, I remember that I gave you all the funds of the whole detachment, so that you could buy more rice, flour, grain and oil before the year, and give the soldiers a good year. But if you look at what you've bought, is this food? ”

took out a handful of wheat bran from his pocket and put it on the table, Zhao Shixun clicked heavily on the table a few times, looking very unhappy.

Hearing this, he looked at the angry Zhao Shixun, but the old immortal didn't say anything in a hurry, but turned his head and whispered a few words to a guard, asking him to find someone immediately.

After doing this, the old immortal took out his pipe and gently knocked the ash on the corner of the table.

"Detachment leader, let me tell you the truth, it's not easy for us to buy this thing now.

Do you know that the surplus food of the people near the base area has long been bought up by us? ”

"Of course I know this, but I remember that you didn't take someone out on a long trip a few days ago, how did you buy these broken things?"

Hearing this, the old immortal pursed his lips and subconsciously looked at He Zhendong not far away.

"Head ......, there's something I've always wanted to tell you."

"What's the matter?"

"I found a problem when I went out this time, that is, the villagers near the county town obviously have surplus grain at home, but they are unwilling to sell it to us."

"What! Ordinary people don't want to sell our things? ”

Hearing the report of the old immortal, Zhao Shixun frowned, and immediately got up and walked over with a puzzled face.

"I remember that there are a lot of people around us who join our Eighth Route Army, how can they not be willing to sell us supplies?

Old immortal, are you giving too low a price? ”

Hearing this, the old immortal, who was lighting a pipe with a match, stopped what he was doing, looked at the other party and patted his chest.

"Detachment leader, you have no conscience when you say this. Although I am immortal, I usually deduct and search, but when I trade with the people, I have always bought it according to the market price plus 10%, and I have never lowered the price. ”

"Oh? So why are the people still reluctant to sell...... Are you using silver dollars? ”

What do you say...... In addition to the border area ticket given by our column, it can be used in the column station, which is simply waste paper, how can I use that thing to fool the people. ”

"......, then I don't understand, why can't this silver dollar be bought?"

Looking at the old immortal, Zhao Shixun slowly walked in front of him, and he really couldn't figure out what was wrong. It is true that paper money in troubled times is worthless, but this silver dollar is hard currency, how can it not be bought?

And the old immortal opened his mouth to say something, but after pondering for a while, he still patted his head and said:

"Ge Laozi ......, my brain really can't explain it to you. It just so happened that Zhou Yu's father came, let him explain to you what's going on. ”

Speaking of which, the old immortal went out and called Zhou Yu's father in.

For Zhou Yu's father, Zhao Shixun has always been very respectful. This enlightened landlord not only sent his son to the Eighth Route Army, but also provided his house and yard to the independent detachment free of charge, which greatly helped the development of the independent detachment.

Seeing Zhou Lao enter the house, Zhao Shixun hurriedly took the initiative to greet him.

"Uncle Zhou, did you help us buy supplies again?"

Hearing Zhao Shixun's concerned inquiry, Zhou Yu's father touched his weathered old face and smiled indifferently.

"Hehe...... anyway, it's also the time for farming, and my old man stays and stays, just going out for activities."

……

took a sip of the tea handed by the guards, the old man wiped the tea from the corner of his mouth, and then looked at Zhao Shixun and said:

"Captain Zhao, what Brother Wu said is right, we have been running around this village for dozens of miles in the past few days, and we are almost touching the edge of the county seat as farthest, but we really can't buy anything."

"Oh?! How so, is it because the common people are not willing to help us? ”

Seeing Zhao Shixun say this, Zhou Laohan hurriedly shook his head, and then patted his heart and said:

"Captain Zhao, rest assured, although our people are poor, they are definitely willing to help the Eighth Route Army fight devils."

Speaking of this, Zhou Laohan suddenly thought of something, then rummaged through his pocket, and carefully took out a silver dollar and a green banknote.

Handing these two things to Zhao Shixun, he stroked his beard and said seriously:

"The problem lies with these two things."

……

"This is a devil's military ticket, right?"

Taking the green banknote and looking at it, Zhao Shixun looked at Zhou Laohan and said.

"Yes, it's a military ticket issued by a devil, the denomination is not large, and we ordinary people also call it this thing."

Speaking of this, the old man pointed to the military ticket in Zhao Shixun's hand and continued:

"Don't hide it from Captain Zhao, some time ago, the devil posted notices everywhere in the county, asking the people to exchange the silver tickets and silver dollars in their hands for equivalent Japanese military tickets for daily transactions.

Not only that, but if ordinary people go to some money houses controlled by devils to withdraw money or sell things and goods, they can only get this kind of vegetable money. And now in the county, whether the people are doing business or receiving wages, most of them basically use this kind of vegetable money. ”

Speaking of this, the old man picked up the silver dollar again and said:

"Although it is said that silver dollars can still be used, because of the intimidation of devils, many things that can be bought with silver dollars are no longer available. Especially in the county town, silver dollars cannot even be bought in public, and can only be traded secretly and privately.

This time, because there are very few things that Dayang can buy, this makes the silver dollar in our hands worthless. ”

Speaking of this, Zhou Laohan picked up the silver dollar and rubbed it.

"Because of this, the common people are not willing to accept our silver dollars at all. Because if they were to go into the city to buy something, the silver dollars would be discounted when they were exchanged for military tickets. And if they take the grain and livestock to the county seat to sell, they can get more military tickets to buy other things.......

As you know, most of the common people are barely able to eat from small families and businesses, and they can't afford to exchange silver dollars at all. So, they ....... ”

Speaking of this, Zhou Laohan also sighed.

"To tell the truth, if you want to say that this troubled world has to be real money, but the power of the devil is too great now, so the big landlords and big merchants are not willing to offend the devil, that is, they acquiesce in the use of this kind of vegetable money. And it's not useless, you can buy things like kerosene, liquor, Japanese herbs, and tobacco cotton cloth in Japanese trading houses.

So, we people really need this stuff sometimes. ”

……

Hearing this, Zhao Shixun finally understood the reason. He was actually no stranger to the military tickets of the Japanese in the occupied areas, but he never imagined that this thing would one day directly threaten the survival of the base area.

After bowing his head and pondering for a while, Zhao Shixun suddenly raised his head and asked.

"Uncle Zhou, is there no place to buy supplies for this silver dollar?"

Stunned for a moment when he heard this, Zhou Laohan stroked his beard, thought about it for a while, looked at Zhao Shixun and said:

"There's a place where it should still work!"

"Where?"

"The black market in the county."

…… To be continued, thank you for your support.

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(End of chapter)