coobybook Chapter 291: Speechless County Magistrate Chen
Chapter 291: Speechless County Magistrate Chen
The appearance of Mr. Lin made Ding Xiangrong breathe a sigh of relief. It was just as Nan Zhi had expected.
One wanted to sell, and the other wanted to buy, and things went smoothly. One hand handed over the money and the other hand handed over the food. When they parted, the two had become as close as half-brothers.
As soon as Mr. Lin left, Ding Xiangrong returned to the Xu family and reported the good news to Shen Nanzhi. Shen Nanzhi said calmly, "They can definitely eat 10,000 to 20,000 kilograms a day. I will send a message to them tomorrow and ask them to send 50,000 kilograms to speed up the progress."
They can wait, but the victims cannot. Fortunately, there is food donated by Shen Nanzhi, otherwise the porridge distribution center would have run out of food.
County Magistrate Chen had been busy with disaster relief. He hurried back to see his son, and when he learned that he was fine, he thought that Mrs. Chen was making a fuss out of nothing, and he couldn't find him at all.
Mrs. Chen's last bit of hope was gone. From now on, she would only care about her son. It didn't matter whether he was dead or alive.
When Xu Saifei came to visit, Mrs. Chen and she hit it off immediately. The two of them complained about County Magistrate Chen together. Mrs. Chen had someone to confide in, so she didn't think it was a big deal. She almost died, so what face did she have to save?
Shen Desheng came with Xu Saifei and helped Mrs. Chen to make the kang. The child couldn't stand the cold, which made Mrs. Chen very grateful.
Xu Saifei is the only daughter of the Xu family. Mr. Xu was worried that his stepmother would abuse the child, so he did not remarry. Xu Saifei also helped out in the family restaurant. She was more cheerful and lively than the other ladies in the inner house. She was going to inherit the restaurant and set up her own business in the future.
Mrs. Chen envied her personality very much. She lived happily without so many rules and constraints.
As for the Xu family members who dared to seize the family property, with the help of Madam Chen, County Magistrate Chen would at least listen to her and help Xu Saifei to seek justice. The Xu family members were also bullies at home, and since Xu Saifei had a relationship with the county magistrate, they all backed down.
The two quickly became friends, and Xu Saifei even had dinner in the back house of the county government office before returning.
Shen Desheng escorted her back. When the beggars and refugees on the road saw the rich family's carriage, they swarmed up to ask for food, and the coachman could not keep going.
Shen Desheng held a long stick in his hand, and pushed the people away with his brothers, shouting: "Whoever dares to come forward, be careful or I will smash their heads!
Don’t think I won’t take action because you are too many. So many people die in the county every day, I don’t need a few of you. Come and try if you don’t agree!”
Shen Desheng had killed bandits before and had seen the world with Shen Nanzhi, so he was not afraid of these disaster victims and beggars.
Seeing that he was not someone to be trifled with, the beggars had no choice but to disperse. Xu Saifei opened the car window and looked at Shen Desheng's tall and brave back, feeling very safe.
Shen Desheng escorted her back to the Xu family, all the way to the inner house, and watched her go in before leaving to meet Shen Nanzhi.
With so many victims, it is not a good idea to just sit there and create trouble. County Magistrate Chen is kind-hearted, but he lacks the means. Such a fatherly official is suitable for peaceful times, but he cannot control the situation in years of disaster.
Shen Nanzhi had no choice but to look for him again, and found him in the porridge shed. The county magistrate was personally serving porridge to the victims. The child and the old man looked so pitiful that they begged him for an extra spoonful. The officer standing next to him looked embarrassed and was hesitant to speak.
Shen Nanzhi was also speechless. Since it was a porridge distribution, there should be a fixed amount. If you give more to these people, there will be none for the people behind. This is just looking for trouble.
It depends on where the kindness is used. Sometimes, those nice-to-you people with no principles can be quite annoying.
"Master Chen, are you free? Let's chat."
This is a big money sponsor, County Magistrate Chen dare not offend him, "Yes, how did Young Master Yang find this place?"
"I have to find you somewhere else. How can you, a county magistrate, do such a job? Just let your subordinates do it. If you do this, they will feel that they can't do it well and feel uneasy. It's good for everyone to do their job."
County Magistrate Chen invited her to sit down and chat in the shabby house, where there was at least a sheltered place. "I saw that they made too little porridge, and I couldn't bear it, so I came here by myself."
Shen Nanzhi couldn't help but roll his eyes again. He was really a goody-goody.
"There is a fixed amount of porridge available. It's better to have less than to let people starve to death. I came to you today to give you some suggestions on disaster relief."
"Mr. Yang, please speak."
"There are too many refugees in the county, which has seriously affected the order of the county. If they are not controlled, they will become bolder and dare to rob the rich, or even commit crimes. The whole county will be in chaos. You should focus your energy on this, instead of worrying about the problem of whether there is more porridge or less porridge.
The officers have done a lot of work, and they know the most appropriate amount of porridge for each person. You have to trust them, otherwise who will dare to work hard in the future?"
County Magistrate Chen's heart skipped a beat: "How dare those disaster victims? They have porridge to eat and a house to live in. I was reluctant to use the charcoal fire and gave it to them. Why are they still causing trouble?"
"Eating porridge won't make you full. Human desires are endless. Who wants to eat porridge when you can eat meat?
You let them live here, but you don't control their actions. If they have something in their stomachs, they will be more motivated to cause trouble.
To be honest, I was almost robbed. If you don't believe me, change into some luxurious clothes and see if you can keep me."
It’s not that County Magistrate Chen doesn’t believe it, he just doesn’t want to admit that these problems are beyond his scope of handling.
"Then what should I do?"
"We use work-for-relief, and let them work. Every winter, they clean the river, build bridges and pave roads. There is so much work waiting to be done. Anyone who can move should go to work."
"That's one way. I just thought it was too cold to work, so I didn't ask them to go to work."
"Do as much as you can. It's better than doing nothing and causing trouble. Have you paid attention to the grain merchants?"
County Magistrate Chen said confidently, "Young Master Yang is trying to boost grain prices, so I'm not worried about it."
Shen Nanzhi didn't even want to roll his eyes, but wanted to curse, who is the county magistrate?
She understood that an incompetent honest official is worse than a capable corrupt official, and County Magistrate Chen is really not suitable to be the head of a county.
"Master Chen, some things also require your cooperation. At least you can learn a little bit. If there is such a thing again, you won't be helpless if you just copy it, right?"
County Magistrate Chen was ashamed and said, "Yes, Master Yang is right. I will go back to the county office and keep an eye on it now."
Shen Nanzhi left with a lot of anger. What a bad teammate. Next time, he would look at people's personalities first when choosing them. An incompetent general can lead to the death of the whole army.
Mr. Jin is better than him. He personally keeps an eye on Ding Xiangrong. When he learns that Ding Xiangrong has delivered another 50,000 kilograms of grain, he becomes a little restless. Is he determined to fight him to the end?
Mr. Lin was also dumbfounded. He said yesterday that there was no more grain. This was the only batch of grain. How come there was so much again?
"President Jin, do you still want to accept it?"
"Yes, but you must find out his details. How much food has been delivered?"
"Ok."
Fifty thousand jin of grain, according to the current wholesale price, is seventy cents per jin, and it is sold at eighty cents. Except for a few wealthy families, ordinary people really cannot afford it.
Although 50,000 catties of grain cost 3,500 taels of silver, the Chamber of Commerce could afford it. Even if it needed another 50,000 catties, it would not be a big deal. A steady supply of 50,000 catties would not be enough to buy them even with mountains of gold and silver.
Mr. Lin invited Ding Xiangrong to drink and tested his bottom line, "How much grain does your boss have?"
"Not much, just a few hundred thousand kilograms. Mr. Lin is a good man. I'll treat you to a meal. Our boss praised me for my ability to get things done. I will be promoted to a senior manager when I go back. Let's cooperate often in the future."
"It's hundreds of thousands of kilograms. To be honest, our Chamber of Commerce can't handle such a large amount. Tell me the truth so that I can report to the higher-ups."
"Four hundred thousand jin, the boss will find more carriages to transport it, and it will be delivered as soon as possible."
Mr. Lin calculated the bill and thought that he could eat 400,000 kilograms. He said, "You bring all of them here and I'll eat them all. We are still good brothers. We can't have more, otherwise the higher-ups won't be so easy to deal with."
"Okay, I can't let Brother Lin make things difficult for you. I will arrange for the food to be delivered as soon as possible."
Mr. Lin breathed a sigh of relief. He hoped that after this meal, there would be no more trouble.
Mr. Jin thought the same thing. He could afford four hundred thousand kilograms and do business in an orderly manner. He didn't want to get blood on his hands. There was also the son of the prefect in the county town, so he didn't want to create any more trouble.
If things really get out of hand, even the Marquis' Mansion won't be able to protect itself.
He knows his own business. The name of the Marquis' Mansion sounds good, but if he really encounters trouble, the Marquis' Mansion will definitely not take the blame. He has maintained the relationship with money over the years.
But he didn't know that although Ding Xiangrong's 400,000 kilograms of grain were gone, other families had them. Shen Nanzhi had already sent a letter to Zhao County about the grain. The price of grain here is high, so people should come quickly.
Grain merchants in other counties will also hear the news, and then countless grains will pour in.
She did not hide her secrets and spread the pattern of the sled. It was not something that required much technical skills. A sled could transport more than a horse-drawn carriage. If the snow was compacted, it could carry twice as much cargo.
Mr. Jin only had Zhao County in mind, but Shen Nanzhi's plan involved all the grain merchants in the surrounding area, so he was destined to suffer heavy losses.
She didn't know what would happen in the future, but now she had sold less than 500,000 kilograms of high-priced grain, which was definitely a high price. In this wave alone, she made more than 30,000 taels of silver.
She earned back the money she spent on all the grain she donated, plus the 11,000 taels of silver that Mr. Jin spent on buying medicine, she almost made 50,000 taels of silver from him alone.
For a grain merchant in a county town, it is almost half of his fortune.
After Ding Xiangrong delivered 400,000 kilograms of grain and received the silver, Shen Nanzhi let him return to his hometown. He was no longer required to participate in the subsequent plans. This was also to protect his safety, lest Master Jin would become desperate and attack him.
Ding Xiangrong didn't want to leave, as he was still thinking about Xu Saifei. They were engaged, and if he left and Xu Saifei turned around and followed someone else, wouldn't he be cuckolded?
Seeing his tangled face, Shen Nanzhi understood his thoughts and said speechlessly, "Don't you dislike Miss Xu and disapprove of this marriage? Why, you can't bear to let her go?"