Mountain wild man Ziwang and his wife

Chapter 191
The blizzard lasted for ten days, and after ten days, the snow gradually became lighter, and the days of it were still there.

Hengyi Mansion.

Ban Lun, the prefect, has not slept all day and all night.

Desperate.

The blizzard hit, and the traffic in the whole Hengyi Prefecture was interrupted. He was like a deaf-mute, sitting in the magistrate's office and unable to receive news from the counties below.

It is also impossible to send news to the capital.

Just the city of Hengyi Prefecture...dozens of houses have been crushed by the heavy snow, and now hundreds of people have been killed or injured.

There were no pedestrians to be seen on the street, and when the snow was a little lighter, the men sent out to clear the snow would often find a frozen corpse with a shovel.

"My lord, today's statistics are out...the death toll in the prefecture has reached 250 six people..."

Ban Lun rubbed his brows, and said, "Send someone to Xishan Daying for help." There were so many casualties in the city, let alone in the countryside, Ban Lun's heart was so cold.

"My lord, there are people coming from the Xishan Camp."

At this time, someone came to report again.

Ban Lun was overjoyed when he heard the words: "Please come in quickly!"

Soon, a man wrapped in thick fur and fully armed came in. After entering the room, he greeted Ban Lun first, and then took out a letter and a token.

"My lord, this subordinate has been ordered by General Wu, the commander of the left side of the Xishan Camp, to adjust the grain."

Ban Lun checked that the seal was correct, and after filing the documents, he sent people to prepare food.

It just so happened that he wanted to send someone to Xishan Camp for help, so following the people from Xishan Camp was somewhat safe.

After the matter was arranged properly, someone came to report again, and several county magistrates came.

Ban Lun called people up to ask, and they all came up to ask for food.

Ban Lun was very angry. The Changping warehouse in Fucheng had to take care of the people in Fucheng, so he didn't dare to divide it.

"Where's your regular position? Is it a display?"

"Returning to my lord, at the end of this year, the common people are short of food, and the price of food has been high, and the Changping warehouse has long been opened to equalize the price of food.

Nowadays, there is not much grain left in the Changping warehouse. "

"My lord, the Changping warehouse was burned down by a big fire, and we in Antu County had no food left at all, and the people...the people are all out of food!"

Ban Lun was furious: "Nonsense! After the new emperor came to the throne, he implemented a benevolent government, and the tax was reduced by half compared with the previous dynasty. The weather has been good these years. How could the people have no food?"

If you want to say that lack of clothes and quilts will freeze people to death, he believes it, but if you say that the people have no food to eat, he believes it!
"My lord, please calm down. At the end of the year, the Hengchang Grain Bank collected grain at a price of about ten cents higher than the market price. The common people were short-sighted, and many people sold out their grain..."

"What?" Ban Lun couldn't believe his ears.

Selling out the food at home for ten cents of profit?

"Returning to the adults, the common people are short-sighted and only see the immediate profit. They think that after selling the grain, they can use the money to buy it back. After all, there are Changping warehouses, and it is impossible for the yamen to let the price of grain rise.

This is also the kindness of our emperor. Since the beginning of the new dynasty, the price of grain on the market has not increased. Every time the price rises, grain from Changping warehouse will be added to lower the price of grain. Even if there is no grain in Changping warehouse, The imperial court will immediately allocate food from other places to make up for it...

The people thought it was the same this time.

I don't know...

Unexpectedly, successive blizzards..." Successive blizzards made these state capitals like isolated cities!
Nothing will come in!

Ban Lun's whole body is not well.

He had to give food to the military camp, because the food in the official warehouse was prepared for the army.

But what should the people do?
There is only such a small amount of grain in the Changping warehouse of the state capital, and the people of the entire state capital are staring at it. How dare he distribute it?

"Go back and figure out your own way, there is no food in Fucheng!" What can he do?
Make bricks without straw!

Everyone's face immediately turned gray when they heard the words. When they came, they knew that there was little hope, but now they heard the prefect's refusal, and the only sliver of hope in their hearts was lost.

The magistrate said again: "When you go back, immediately collect the evidence of the Hengchang grain store driving up the price of grain and send it to the government, and order all the grain stores to hand over the grain to the yamen.

Although this is already equivalent to five times the price, it is still surprisingly low compared to today's food prices.

"My lord...those grain merchants won't agree." Someone said.

The prefect said irritably: "So let you go back and find a way by yourself. You have to ask the prefect for everything. What do you need?"

"I have pointed out a way for you, each go back and find a way! This government will tell the emperor, and the current situation is both a crisis and an opportunity.

Think it over for yourself!
It's not a big problem to go up one liter if it's done well! "

The magistrate has no choice, there is no food, so is he, and he is also poor.

"Brother is back...Come in and have a bowl of ginger soup." Da He put down his work to meet Da Jiang, helping him to pat the snow off his body.

"How's the situation in the town?" Yin Gui and others came out of the main room, looking at Dajiang one by one.

"A lot of people died. A dozen old people froze to death, and four or five children froze to death. The grain has already risen to two taels of silver a catty."

Hearing this, Yin Gui and the others fell silent.

People also died in the village. The heavy snow collapsed several houses and killed some people. In addition, some old and weak also froze to death one after another.

After a while, several elders from the village came over.

Several people looked very dignified.

"It's okay if the snow doesn't fall, but if it continues to fall, some houses in the village will collapse." A village veteran said.

"The house is still a small matter, the main thing is food."

"Yes, everyone can live in a crowded house, but food is not enough. Food is so expensive nowadays that no one can afford it."

"The mountains are blocked by heavy snow, and food from outside can't come in." The villager who spoke was always full of despair.

They knew that Yin Gui's family was better, but no matter how good they were, where could they go?

There is also a lot of food in their family.

I used to laugh at those few people who exchanged land for grain, but now no one dares to laugh at them. They used to be able to exchange twenty catties of grain for one mu of land, but now they can only exchange five catties of grain for one mu of land.

"I'll figure out a way for the food. I'll go outside and see if I can buy some." Yin Gui said, this is the way he discussed with Yin Tao.

If their own family keeps bringing out food, after the famine is over, the villagers will not thank them for helping them in times of crisis, but will only regret that they took away their land.

But if they just go outside to help buy food back, it will be different.

"Whoever wants food, and how much food they want, they all come to make an IOU first, so I can raise the money first, and then go to the acquaintances in the county to find a way.

There may be no food in the food store nowadays, but there must be some in the rich people's homes. Let's take a look, and you may not be able to buy it.

If you can't buy it, I will return the IOU to everyone. "

"That's the only way to go." A village elder sighed.

"Ah Gui... Thank you for your hard work." Another village elder thanked him sincerely.

(End of this chapter)