honor me as god

Chapter 518
During the period when Ma Ban was suspended, it was not easy both in her heart and in her life.

Needless to say, he was just a civil affairs officer in a small town before, and later when Lord Lanxian Heqi, the "Left Hand of the King", visited the people, he was appreciated for his outstanding governance ability and was promoted to be the food officer of Danyu City .

He originally wanted to flex his muscles and seek blessings for the people after he was promoted, but he was suspended by Ge Mai not long after he took office, and it was an unreasonable suspension, which made it uncomfortable for anyone.

The same is true in life, he is usually strict with himself, and he is a clean and honest official. Whether he used to work in the town or was later promoted to Danyu City, he has never been greedy for a single coin or grain. Moreover, all kinds of gifts from the nobles were rejected, and they were thrown out of the door face to face.

The salary of a food officer is not high. This job is mainly because there is a lot of lucrative money in the dark. For a clean and honest official like Ma Ban, without lucrative money, the monthly salary is only enough for daily living expenses, so you have to tighten your pants Belt life.

Fortunately, he was suspended, his salary was gone, and he had no savings. In order to make a living, he had to go out and look for a job like a commoner.

Fortunately, Ma Ban is not the kind of second-generation ancestor who relies on the family, but has worked hard from the grassroots. He has excellent personal abilities. Whether it is fast abacus and mental arithmetic, precise observation ability, or grasp of market conditions, he has a skill .

No, on the second day after he was suspended, he found a job as a cashier in the Danyu City Chamber of Commerce. The salary was not as high as when he was a food officer, but fortunately, all board and lodging was included, which relieved him of his urgent needs.

After working in the accountant of the Chamber of Commerce for half a month, Ma Ban has gradually become familiar with the work here.

At this time, he was keeping accounts of the goods, recording each transaction according to the trade list, and calculating the income and expenditure.

While writing on the manuscript, the pen in Ma Ban's hand suddenly stopped, he stared at the waybill in his hand, and greeted others: "Come and see this, where did you buy this batch of grain? "

The accountant steward came over, glanced at it, and said, "It was bought in the market."

"Which city's market?" Ma Ban asked.

The steward shrugged: "Which city can I choose? Danyu City."

Ma Ban frowned and looked at the purchase list, muttering: "This is wrong. How did you buy this food? How did it exceed the average price by so much?"

The steward sighed and complained: "Who knows. Grain prices have been rising every day recently. In the past, a catty of wheat cost only 3 iron moons, but now there are no seven or eight. I went to the market this morning to see Seeing that a grain store listed the price of 7 iron moons per catty, it’s really a hell.”

Ma Ban's brows were locked together, and her fists were clenched unconsciously: "Such an exaggerated price increase is either due to someone maliciously manipulating the market, or there is a problem with the food supply, resulting in a shortage of supply and rising prices."

"Wangcheng brought in a million tons of relief grain before, and the eight granaries were full, enough to feed the 600 million people in Danyu City for half a year. Why didn't the grain officials release grain to stabilize the market?!"

The steward patted Ma Ban on the shoulder: "Leave these alone, the higher-ups naturally have plans. Now Danyu Plain is going to replant blood essence grass. It's not a bad thing for us to buy some grain in advance. The grain stocked in the warehouse has already Enough to feed the entire chamber of commerce for half a year."

Ma Ban's expression was ugly, and he said in a deep voice: "The Chamber of Commerce has strong assets and can buy a lot of food. But the common people buy and eat now. If the price of food continues to rise like this, what do you ask them to do?"

"This is not something we can manage. We are just doing business. First, learn how to make money and treasure, and second, learn to plan ahead. That's all. What do you care about other people?" The manager smiled angrily, and his tone was also serious Get up, "Do your job well, especially count the fireworks we purchased from suppliers."

"In a few days it will be the "Dragon and Fire Festival". All these fireworks must be handed over to the governor's residence. There must be no omissions, understand? "

"Food prices have risen like this, and you still want to set off fireworks? It's ridiculous!" Ma Ban slammed the ledger on the table and strode away, "I quit this job, I'm going to the market to see what is going on. what happened."

"Huh? You man! Come and leave as soon as you say you want? Do you think we are a toilet?!" The steward said harsh words on his mouth, but in fact there was nothing he could do. Civilian work has no binding force, let alone What's more, the other party is still a poor man with no family. If he really quit his job, what can you do with him?
Seeing that he couldn't get Ma Ban back, the steward was helpless, so he could only shout angrily: "You haven't worked for a full month, and we won't pay you the previous salary! You don't even want to come to us to find a job in the future!"

Ma Ban didn't even look back, and strode away.

After leaving the Chamber of Commerce, Ma Ban rushed to the market as soon as possible. It was as lively as ever, full of people and heavy traffic.

However, the atmosphere in the market is more impetuous than ever, especially at the entrance of the food store, which has already been crowded with civilians, complaining one by one:

"Yesterday it was 5 iron moons per catty, but now it costs 7. Why are you so unscrupulous?!"

"You deliberately took advantage of the gap between the two harvest seasons, taking advantage of the lack of surplus grain in everyone's hands, and driving up grain prices here, right? I'm going to the court to sue you for disturbing the market!"

"Let's unite! In the future, we will collectively boycott this grain store. We will not buy grain from his family, let the wheat rot in their hands, and give these black merchants a long memory!"

Facing the accusations from the customers, the person in charge of the food store was also very helpless, explaining: "Everyone, it's really not that we deliberately drove up the price of food. The price of food in the whole city is going up. Even if we don't raise it, we will soon be sold by our colleagues." It's sold out. The market is like this, everyone is out to make a living, so we can't be forced to operate at a loss, right?"

As soon as the person in charge said this, the civilians immediately became even more angry, accusing these profiteers of colluding and deliberately collaborating to deceive people, which made the person in charge sweat profusely, and it was difficult for them to argue.

When the two sides were arguing, Ma Ban squeezed out from the crowd, opened the grain tank, grabbed a handful of wheat, and put it in front of his nose to smell.

The person in charge thought that this person was here to steal food, so he hurried forward to stop him: "What are you doing?! Touch our things without paying, be careful, I will report to the Public Security Bureau and arrest you!"

Ma Ban didn't bother to stop him, and after sniffing, he sprinkled every grain of wheat back into the tank, and said with a frown, "This is the leftover grain from the last harvest."

The person in charge said confidently: "Yes, it's all the surplus grain from before. What's the matter? The next harvest season hasn't arrived yet. Where can I sell new grain?"

Ma Ban followed up and asked: "The fresh grain that was transported from Wangcheng to Danyu City a few days ago, was not put into the market by the Executive Mansion?"

The person in charge laughed and said, "What a fart! It's all stored in the eight major granaries, and not a single grain of wheat has been taken out. If there is such wheat as a control and the market is abundant, is it necessary for us to sell grain at such a high price?"

The eight granaries were locked tightly, and no grain was put in. Hearing the news, Ma Ban couldn't help but lose his eyes and muttered to himself, "Gomei Lin Gengsen, what are you guys trying to do?"

(End of this chapter)