Plane Supermarket

Chapter 114

In the west of Linzi City, a young girl is wearing linen clothes and hanging the washed clothes on the hemp rope. Her arms and skirt have patches, her cheeks are slightly sunken, and her dress seems to be empty.

An old woman sat under the eaves, mending a rag in her hand.

She fixed it for a while, and when her eyes couldn't take it anymore, she raised her head and looked at the girl standing not far away.

"Take a break." The old woman sighed, "I don't know when this day will be the head."

The girl stopped what she was doing, paused for a while, and then continued to dry, and said in a flat tone, "Today the food officer is coming to the door."

The old woman hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but said: "It's really not possible. Mother will take you back to your hometown in the countryside. There are fields, so you won't die of hunger no matter what."

After the girl hung up the last dress, she shook her head and said: "If you can't survive in Linzi, what's the use of going back to the countryside? If you really guard the fields, you won't starve to death, and you won't have so many people who have left everything behind." We have rushed to Linzi."

Small and well-to-do people from all over the country rushed to Linzi with their families. They would rather build a grass shed outside the city than stay in their hometown that has been run for generations.

The old woman sighed.

Her husband died early, and the family assets left behind were not considered to be large. Originally, it was not difficult for her to live with her three children.

After all, they still have land and slaves in the countryside. Although they can't support the boys in the family to study with teachers, relying on the output of the fields, it is not difficult to live a good life if they just fill their stomachs.

But now, they have no more food left, and after the crops in the field are taken away by the food officials, there is only enough left over for the slaves to barely survive.

They wanted to sell the slaves too, but no merchant was willing to buy them.

If they don't sell it, they can't just watch them starve to death, and even if they are determined to watch them starve to death, they don't dare, otherwise the slaves will starve to death, and they won't reason with them.

"Maybe the news is true?" The old woman murmured hopefully, "Maybe...you can really get money this time?"

The common people don't believe that they can buy food at a low price, but they hold a little hope, maybe?

The young girl didn't answer, she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would shatter the little hope left by her mother.

In today's Linzi City, if an adult male can still find coolie work, although it is tiring and hard work, he can at least make some money. When he is lucky, the employer can still take care of a meal.

But women can only find jobs such as washing and mending clothes. Such jobs earn even less money. I am afraid that if you work from morning to night, the money and food you earn can only be used to support your stomach. Such jobs are not common every day. , often the female relatives from the entire west of the city went to grab jobs together.

Washing clothes is more tiring than mending. Although the girl has little meat left, she still takes on the heaviest work, and only asks the old woman to mend some clothes that are not difficult to mend.

After drying this batch of clothes, the girl brought in another bucket of dirty clothes.

Where did she do such a job when the family was okay?Even laundry is a maximum of one or two pieces.

But now these clothes are filthy, and there is a smell of sweat and stench, even if they are placed far away, they feel smoky.

But she's used to it now, and she no longer finds the stench intolerable.

In just a few months, her hands have become like old crones, and the skin on them is wrinkled, so ugly that she doesn't even want to look at it.

The poor and busy life has smoothed all the edges and corners of their bodies. Every day, what they think about is whether they can get a job tomorrow, whether they can earn a little money, and whether food prices will rise again.

"The grain officer is here!" Someone hurried past outside, shouting as he ran, "The grain officer is here to collect the grain!"

Those who have food have to pay food, and those who have no food have to pay money. The people are used to it.

But when they heard the news suddenly, they were still terrified, wishing they could hide at this time.

But if hiding is useful, they will not find life difficult.

The young girl pursed her lips, and she went to open the door—anyway, it couldn't be worse, these little people, can they still fight against the emperor?

I don't know how long they waited, but the food officer hadn't come to their door, and they didn't even hear the crying.

In the past, every time the food officer came to the door, the neighbors nearby would cry and shout. I don't know if they want to cry out the grain officer's compassion, or vent it themselves.

The old woman couldn't sew her clothes anymore, and the girl couldn't wash her clothes anymore. They just looked at the door, waiting for the food officer to bring them the bad news. They were stabbed every time they stretched their heads. Let the knife fall sooner.

When you fall, you will be at ease.

Someone is coming!Both the old woman and the girl stood up, and they walked towards the door. Just as they poked their heads to look, they heard a sound before they saw anyone. When the money bag was shaken, it would ring non-stop.

The voice slowly approached them, and there was a smile on the grain officer's familiar and hated face.

Behind the grain officer there are six small soldiers, two by two, carrying a box full of iron money.

Behind them are more than a dozen soldiers, all wearing leather armor and holding long daggers.

Terrified, the old woman grabbed the clothes on her chest, and she leaned back. If it wasn't for her daughter who was quick to support her, she would have fallen to hell.

As soon as the food official came to the door, the old woman immediately knelt down for him, pulled her daughter to kneel together, and cried tearfully, "Master, the family is out of money, really out of money! Really out of money! "

The grain officer has seen such scenes many times during his journey, and he said with a smile, "Old aunt, I am not here today to take money from your pockets, but to give you money!"

"Your Majesty has ordered that this time the harvest will be bought with money."

Grain officer: "A bucket of grain is ten qian."

As soon as the words came out, the old woman stopped crying. She looked at the food officer blankly, with tears on her face, and her mouth slightly opened, which looked a little funny. She murmured: "Could it be that the rumor is real?"

But she was still worried, and asked in a trembling voice: "The price of food..."

She was afraid that a bucket of grain would cost ten renminbi when she received it, and when she used the money to buy grain, it would cost her twenty dollars a bucket.

If so, no matter how much money the food officer gave her, it would be useless.

The grain officer smiled and said: "Your Majesty has already called out to all the grain shops in the city, and the grain shops only sell one cent for a bucket of grain."

"One money?!" The young girl couldn't help but exclaimed.

As far as she could remember, the price of food had never been lowered by five cents. She just heard from her parents when she was young that the country of Chen had also been strong. One money can even buy two buckets. At that time, the people of Chen Guo, even the common people, were very rich.

I don't know how many people from other countries have tried their best to become Chen people.

Her parents said it was her grandfather's grandfather's generation.

Eight lifetimes ago.

But even now, people are still happy to talk about that time.

It's just that people also know that the country of Chen has only been strong for a few short decades, and the country of Chen has been weak and weak for a longer period of time.

In a small country, there is neither a celebrity who is famous all over the world, nor a wise king who can turn the tide.

There are not even famous traitors and corrupt officials, or tyrants and fools.

Everything in Chen country is so mediocre, so mediocre that even the people of Chen country can't tell what is commendable about their country.

After the young girl exclaimed, she looked at the grain officer with expectant eyes.

The food official nodded, and he looked very proud: "This is all wise and wise!"

The old woman and the girl nodded together: "Your Majesty is wise!"

The "no food" in the old woman's mouth also became "a little more", and the mother and daughter went down to the cellar together and took out their only remaining rations - two buckets of yellow rice.

And I still don't know how long it has been stored, and when I opened it, I could even see black bugs crawling out of it.

During this period of time, they depended on the worm-infested yellow rice to feed their families of four.

The food officer sighed leisurely after seeing it clearly.

Along the way, everything he saw and heard was like this.

Although he is a grain official, but the grain official is not well-known in the Chen Kingdom, he can neither go to the court to discuss politics, nor has real power in his hands. When the chief officer above issued an order to collect grain, he would lead people to force the people to take out the grain .

The food officer was not from a family, and he was able to have such a small position, thanks to the shadow of his ancestors, and his father's years of giving gifts to Shangguan, so that he could inherit his father's career.

But he is still a commoner. Although he doesn't live in the west of the city, his family is not rich.

Because he has a very good relationship with his wife, one child after another, he has to take care of his parents, and he has to raise six children, and the family is often short of food. He can understand the suffering of these people, but he can't do anything.

So when he got the news, he was really happy for himself and the people.

After they moved out the grain, the grain officer asked the soldiers behind him to take out the buckets.

The bucket looks like a funnel, but the shape is slightly different. The size of the bucket is different in each country and even in each grain store.

Therefore, there are often grain shops with large buckets to collect grain and small buckets to sell grain.

It's just that this time the king asked the craftsmen to make a batch of identical buckets, and the grain officials can only use this bucket to collect grain.

After a few fights, the soldier consciously opened the wooden box and asked the mother and daughter to go home to find money.

Before leaving, the grain officer told them: "If you want to buy grain, go to the east of the city. There is a strange house there. You will know it when you see it. Grain is sold at the door of the house."

"However, if you want to go today, you'd better go now, otherwise there will be more and more people, and I'm afraid you won't be able to squeeze in."

After the food officer finished speaking, he rushed to the next house immediately.

The mother and daughter were still stunned after the food officer left. They looked at the iron money in the wooden frame dumbly. After taking a deep breath, the young girl said, "I'm going to find my brother! I'll go buy food with them!"

Her two younger brothers are working as coolies for merchants. They earn money by working hard, and they can earn a few dollars a day.

With this money now, the work of the coolies can be put aside for a while, and the most important thing is to buy the food back!Don't go late, if there is no food, then the money will be useless!

The old woman also knew that she would only be delayed if she went, so she closed the door and found a few pieces of cloth to pocket the money before letting her daughter go out through the back door - lest the idlers around see them got the money and block them outside.

Although they didn't dare to rob them openly, several strong men asked them to "borrow money", and they couldn't refuse.

The girl quietly came out from the back door, holding a cloth bag in her arms. The iron money was not light, but she had never felt so strong before. She could even run while holding a heavy money bag. Almost full of sweat.

Fortunately, her two younger brothers were working in the east of the city, and she didn't take long to find them.

When she arrived, the two younger brothers were shirtless, unloading goods for the merchant.

Her two younger brothers are not very old, one is seventeen and the other is fifteen. She is the eldest sister, but her eldest sister is happier than the two younger brothers, because when she was young, the family situation was not so bad. It's been a good few years.

"Erlang! Sanlang!" The girl waved to her brothers, "Come here!"

The younger brothers could only stop, glanced at the eldest sister, and then at the steward standing beside her.

They are now working like temporary workers. They can only get the day's money after they finish their work. If they leave now, the previous labor will be in vain.

But they heard the eldest sister shout again: "Come here quickly! There is something urgent!"

The younger brothers could only put down the goods in their hands and ran towards the eldest sister.

As soon as the little brother rushed over, he asked before he could stand still, "What's the matter?! It's my mother..."

Before he could say anything, the elder sister stuffed the money bag in her bosom to the elder brother, and after stuffing it, she whispered to the younger brothers, "Talk as you walk, let's go!"

When she didn't respond to them, she took the lead and walked ahead. The two brothers looked at each other and could only trot to follow.

On the way to the east of the city, the elder sister told the two younger brothers what happened today.

The more she talked, the brighter the eyes of the two younger brothers became. When she said that they were going to buy food at this time, the two younger brothers walked faster than her. With Xiang's momentum, he wished he could give himself a pair of wings.

There were already many people on the way to the east of the city, and they all seemed to be hiding a cloth bag.

There was a constant sound of iron coins hitting the whole road.

When they finally arrived at their destination, even though they had prepared themselves mentally, they were stunned by the scene in front of them.

Countless people are crowded together, there is almost no place to stay on this road, people are next to each other, there has never been such a scene in Linzi City.

They can't even see what the front looks like.

Fortunately, this scene did not last long.

Soldiers rushed over from the direction of the city. They held spears in their hands and drove the people to line up. The chaotic east of the city finally had order.

Although the three siblings were in a hurry, they didn't dare to squeeze forward, so they could only move forward slowly with the team.

They saw with their own eyes that the people who came back from the front were carrying bulging bags, their eyes became more and more red, because they knew that the things in the bags must be food.

Those who came back with food also had excited smiles on their faces.

Some people even walked back with food on their backs, and said to the children who followed him: "Go home, dad will cook for you!"

"It must fill you up!"

The three siblings could only continue to look forward eagerly.

Finally, there were fewer and fewer people in front, and before the sun was about to set, they finally got in line.

The eldest brother hurriedly put the cloth bag in his arms on the table. They were not even in the mood to look at the novel buildings behind the stall. In their hearts, at this moment, only the word food could touch their hearts.

The stall is not big, just a long table with buckets on it, and behind the table are big bags of grain.

It was full of yellow rice and millet, and there were men and women who distributed food to them. There were quite a few of them, and they didn't even speak to each other.

After opening the cloth bag, the woman who counted the iron money asked them: "Do you want to use up all the money?"

The eldest sister nodded again and again: "I bought it."

Woman: "Too many, can you carry it back?"

The woman said again: "You don't have to worry, grain is sold here all the time, it's not that it won't be sold today."

The woman's voice was a little hoarse, and she had said the same thing countless times, because it was too loud, and she relied on shouting to speak. It is estimated that once today is over, she will not be able to say a word tomorrow.

Eldest sister: "If you can recite it, you will definitely recite it."

The woman also knew that what she said was in vain. She said it so many times, but no one believed her.

Ordinary people feel that they are picking up a bargain, and such a thing as picking up a bargain must not be delayed. It is their own if they occupy it today, and they will not know it tomorrow.

The woman sighed, and said to the man next to her, "180 buckets."

The man silently took the bucket to fill them with food.

In addition to their row, there are three rows of people beside them. In front of them, there is also such a food distributor who counts money and holds grain.

The three brothers and sisters trembled when they heard 180 Dou. They were so excited that they couldn't speak, and they watched the man give them food with concentration.

The man did not smooth the top of the bucket, but took out a small tip and put it in a bag for them.

They had never seen that bag before, but they were not curious at all. After all, no matter how the bag was, it was not as important as food.

Mi Xiang wandered around the noses of everyone, people kept leaving with food on their backs, and people kept joining the queue.

The three siblings waited for a while, and finally got their food.

They didn't talk nonsense, and even forgot to thank them, and helped each other carry the food on their backs.

Before leaving, they thanked the people who distributed the food.

It's just that newcomers have already lined up, and I don't know if the food distributors have heard it.

·

Cao'er doesn't want to talk anymore in her life. She doesn't even have time to rest, she doesn't even have time to go to the toilet. Sarah wants to help change shifts, but her appearance doesn't allow her. Even if she wanted to, Ye Zhou wouldn't let her go out.

These grains were purchased by Ye Zhou in the system. The agricultural and sideline products and daily products in the system, as long as they can be bought in Ye Zhou's plane, are the prices of his plane.

Harvesting grain was Ye Zhou's idea to Chen Hou. He was worried at first that if he sent grain or sold grain at a low price, Chen country's fragile economic ecology would collapse instantly. But if this method is used, Chen Hou Hou Zai gave money to subsidize the people.

Chen Hou gave the people money, and then made up the difference to Ye Zhou. After this, only Chen Hou was injured in the world.

But Chen Hou couldn't afford the money, he even sold the throne, and soon fell in love with this kind of activity of exchanging dead things for money.

He sold almost all the valuable things in the palace, and the princes in various fiefdoms would pay tribute to Marquis Chen every year. Although most of them were just for show, there were always a few valuable things among the many gifts.

Originally, Chen Hou didn't think about touching these things. After all, he rewarded officials and the princes also needed things. In the past, he gave them away from the princes and families, but now he is not going to give them away.

Sell ​​it instead of giving it away!

He sold things to Ye Zhou, bought cheap food from Ye Zhou, and distributed money to the people.

As long as the value of food is stable, the price of many things, including salt and needles, will decrease and stabilize.

This is equivalent to Chen Hou supporting the people of the entire Linzi city by himself.

When Ye Zhou gave Chen Hou this idea, he also reminded Chen Hou that although doing so can temporarily solve the problems of the people, once the food price cannot be stabilized, Linzi will collapse.

If you want to really stabilize, then after the autumn harvest, Chen Hou will not be able to collect land tax and food tax.

The common people have surplus grain in their hands, and they can sell the grain to the grain store by themselves. This matter can only be completely resolved when there is no shortage of grain in the country of Chen.

After thinking about it, Chen Housi finally accepted the proposal. He was also ready to be tough with Zhao Guo and Lu Guo after the autumn harvest.

However, Ye Zhou felt that if Marquis Chen didn't give him food, the possibility of Zhao Guo and Lu Guo making trouble for him was actually not great.

Because after the last battle between Zhao and Lu, although they seemed to have died down on the surface and were unwilling to fight again, there were still many frictions at the border junction.

The granary of Chen Guo was wanted by both Zhao Guo and Lu Guo, and when someone was eyeing him, they would definitely not want to push Chen Guo into each other's arms.

Only when big countries compete with each other can small countries have room to survive.

But this is still a gamble, and it is still a gamble on the luck of the country, so Chen Hou has been working on the matter of plowing and fighting for a while.

The officials Ye Zhou recommended to him have now become Chen Hou's cronies.

Especially the Jiang family scholar, Jiang Jin.

Jiang Jin once talked with Ye Zhouchang, and many of his ideas were influenced by Ye Zhou, and he was different from another scholar, he was not a radical, and he didn't think that Chen Guo's desire to change could be achieved overnight.

He even persuaded Marquis Chen that Chen Guo wants to be strong, ten years is considered short, and being able to be strong in 20 years is considered God's favor.

With this person by Chen Hou's side, Ye Zhou felt at ease.

When Cao'er returned to the supermarket, she was exhausted and crazy, and Chen Shu went to take her place. It was already dark, and the people in Linzi City were not afraid that they could not see the way clearly. They all continued to line up holding torches, watching their posture , As long as it's not their turn, they can even queue until dawn.

The common people can hold on, but the supermarket employees and the soldiers who maintain order are almost unable to hold on.

Ye Zhou could only say to Cao'er: "Take a break and ask your mother to make some sour plum soup for the people outside."

Cao'er nodded, and she said weakly, "Immortal...too tired."

Ye Zhou, who is usually not close to the employees, looked at her grass that was about to fly into the sky in the next second, walked over to her for the first time, patted her on the shoulder, and comforted her: "It's just been a few days, I'll give you rise salary."

Cao'er: "!!!"

She is not tired anymore!