frightfiction Chapter 304 Dog Officer
Chapter 304 Dog Officer
It was not until almost noon that Chuntao, Tangshuang, Ah Qi and the guards who had gone out with them came back and gathered in the main hall in the backyard.
Jing Chunxi and Xiaoman first repeated what they had heard to everyone, and none of them looked surprised.
Tang Shuang and Chun Tao actually bought five pounds of food in their baskets. Tang Shuang bought rice and brown rice. The rice cost eighteen cents per pound, and the brown rice cost fourteen cents.
Chuntao bought white flour and corn flour. White flour cost 22 wen per pound, and corn flour cost 8 wen.
Sugar Frosting said, "The two aunts following me are very talkative. They said that when the flood first started last year, rice was a bit expensive, but since April this year, the price of grain has dropped. The price of rice and brown rice is only about four or five cents more per pound than before the flood, which is still good."
Chun Tao said something similar, but she added: "A woman behind me said that the further you go towards Jiujiang County, the more expensive the rice will be.
Because the further you go, the more checkpoints there are, and they are specifically for checking food.
The government has a fixed amount of food that can be transported to Jiujiang County every day. Except for the people in the yamen who eat it themselves, the rest of the food is sold to the people at a high price. This is a business that only their yamen can do.
It's impossible for merchants to bring food there."
"How could this happen? Are we still going to buy food?" Tang Shuang was shocked. She was a simple-minded person. When the lady asked her to find out the price of food, she just followed her instructions and didn't think of asking about other things.
Ezhou is not short of food. If the food brought here is sold at a high price, it will still be a loss considering the cost of this trip. Although Jing Chunxi is not short of that little bit of silver, he has no plans to sell it immediately.
This way of selling would be worse than giving porridge to the victims in Jiujiang County, but she didn't say that.
The government sells grain at high prices, so how could it allow anyone to do charity on its territory?
Jing Chunxi looked at Ah Qi and the guard beside him.
Ah Qi waited until everyone had finished speaking before he said, “I just walked around the market, but didn’t stay there. Instead, I went out to look at tea and porcelain.
According to the shopkeeper, the price has not dropped but has actually increased a lot."
After saying this, Ah Qi paused and looked at Jing Chunxi.
Jing Chunxi was gloomy. She thought it was wrong. Tao Jin wouldn't write her a secret letter for no reason, and certainly wouldn't lie to her. But why were the prices of tea and porcelain rising instead of falling? Could Tao Jin's information be wrong?
Ah Qi saw the young lady's expression and continued, "Ah Qi pretended to buy two cakes of tea from the shopkeeper and tricked him into telling her more. He said that Jian'an and Jiujiang counties both had high tea production, and that their main source of supply came from there.
Since the flood last year, all the caravans transporting tea and ceramics have been stuck. It's the same reason as transporting grain here. The checkpoints over there are specifically guarded for tea and ceramics.
Even if you bribe them with money, you can’t get through.”
Everyone's mouths dropped open, and Jing Chunxi suddenly realized, "I know what's going on."
The information provided by Tao Jin was absolutely correct. Tea and ceramics must be very cheap in Jiujiang County and Jian'an County because they were firmly controlled by the government.
Seeing Jing Chunxi understood immediately, Ah Qi didn't intend to explain to the others. He continued, "Later, I saw some old men playing chess and walking their birds by the river not far away, and some women playing with their children, so I went to chat with them."
After a pause, he took a sip of tea and continued, "Further ahead, the territory belonging to Ezhou is only thirty or forty miles, but starting from the border of Jiujiang County, all the way to Xunyang City, there is a checkpoint every twenty or thirty miles, all set up by the Jiujiang County government.
They said the focus of the inspection was on the people and goods entering, and that no grain, not even grain seeds, could be brought in.
Jing Chunxi: "How could this be? With so many checkpoints, the officials and servants in the government office don't eat? It's impossible for the rich and powerful not to eat!"
The others nodded in agreement.
Ah Qi added, "The officials and dignitaries inside still need to eat, but the food can only be transported by caravans designated by the government. The price of food has increased several times. At first, one tael of silver could buy ten or so kilograms, but later on, you couldn't even buy seven or eight kilograms.
The common people simply couldn't afford to eat, and the high-ranking officials had money, so some of them used their connections to flee. The common people, who couldn't afford to eat and couldn't escape, could only wait to die."
"Are these corrupt officials forcing the people to starve to death in the city? Or are they trying to force people to rebel?"
When Frost thought about the feeling of being hungry in the past, she clenched her fists in anger and wished she could beat all those crooked officials to death.
After listening to Tang Shuang's words and looking at the indignant expressions on everyone's faces, Ah Qi continued, "They are now forcing the people to spit out all the tea and porcelain they have, and to exchange them for the minimum amount of food."
"Dog officer!"
This time, Jing Chunxi slammed his hand directly on the table, causing the tea on the table to shake and spill out.
The others weren't surprised either. Jiu Yue said sullenly, "They should have rebelled!"
Xiao Man was in a low mood and said, "The vegetable seller said that many people died in Jiujiang County. I'm afraid it wasn't from the plague. I've never heard of a plague lasting two years. If that were the case, the people would have died long ago. The official wouldn't have slept peacefully and would have abandoned the city long ago."