Zhangdefu, Haiyang County.

On East and West Street in the county town, a brand new store opened its door in the morning light, and several young and agile clerks were cleaning the street in front of the door with brooms and watering cans.

There were already many people with hungry faces gathered around, looking expectantly at the two flags erected outside the store.

On the left is written: "The price of rice today is twelve cents per catty."

On the right it says: "New rice is on sale, children and old people are innocent."

The news that a new rice shop has appeared in the city and will sell rice at affordable prices starting from today has spread everywhere. Since yesterday, it has swept through the entire Haiyang County like a storm, and has even spread to the villages and towns below.

In normal years, the price of rice in Daliang is about one tael of silver and one stone, that is, a pound of rice costs eight cents. The specific conditions in different places vary, and the price of rice will fluctuate slightly, but the gap will not be too large.

In previous years, the price of rice in Qinzhou was about ten cents per pound. Although the price of this new rice store was slightly higher, the people in and outside the city were so surprised that they couldn't believe it.

Two months ago, the price of rice in Qinzhou had soared to 28 cents per catty, and a month ago it reached a terrifying 62 cents per catty!

Ordinary people simply cannot afford such rice prices, and many are about to sell off their ancestral lands and even their children and daughters.

Han Gongduan, who participated in the political affairs of the East Government, came to Qinzhou in the name of imperial envoy and chopped off the heads of more than a dozen grain merchants in order to suppress the terrifying rice prices. However, before the people could be happy for a few days, those rice shops were selling out.

After that, the food stores closed down one after another.

With all this happening, people all over Qinzhou are undoubtedly in dire straits.

When this new rice store appeared, the people of Haiyang County looked at the rice prices on the signboard as if they were from another world, and were shocked and full of doubts.

As time went by, there were more and more people outside the rice store. Even a group of strong young men came out to maintain order, so that people buying rice formed three long queues.

Everyone looked at these waiters curiously. They all spoke standard Kyoto Mandarin, had strong postures and firm eyes, and always had a gentle smile on their faces that made people feel close to each other.

They couldn't help but wonder who was behind this rice shop.

At two quarters of the hour, three cannons were fired, and the rice store officially started selling grain.

The people moved forward excitedly, but the people in front were pushed away with great force, and they could only hear a burst of curses coming from behind.

"Get away! A bunch of blind mud-legged people!"

"Hurry up and make way for me, or I'll chop off both of your legs!"

"You want to die, don't you? What are you looking at!"

The common people all looked sideways, and saw seven or eight muscular men with big muscles, round waists, and fierce looks squeezing in from behind. These people are famous green-skinned scoundrels in the city. How can ordinary people dare to provoke them? Even if they resist in their hearts, they can only give in.

front position.

The leader had a pair of triangular eyes, and his face looked even more fierce and ferocious. He walked into the rice shop carefree, stared at the middle-aged shopkeeper who looked slightly elegant, and said sarcastically: "Your rice

The price is twelve cents?”

The middle-aged shopkeeper pointed to the door.

The strong man thought he was referring to the signboard outside. He waved his hand impatiently and said harshly: "No matter how much food you have, twelve cents a pound, I want it all!"

This person's voice was extremely loud, and many people outside could hear it clearly. They couldn't help but look pale, and some even had red circles under their eyes. In fact, in the past six months, especially in the past two months, there have been no grain merchants in Qinzhou trying to sell grain at a fair price.

, but they simply couldn't hold on.

Either someone is buying grain with malicious intent, or various accidents occur in their own rice stores and warehouses.

Hearing the words of the strong man, the nearby people suddenly knew that their hopes all night were nothing, and despair began to spread.

Inside the rice store, the middle-aged shopkeeper looked at the strong man with an indifferent expression and said calmly: "Want to buy food? Go outside and queue up."

"Say it again? Do you believe that I smashed this shabby shop like yours? Son of a bitch, do you know who I am?" The strong man was furious.

"Are you threatening me?" The middle-aged shopkeeper's face remained calm.

He looked at the guys next to him and sighed: "He is actually threatening me."

The guys burst out laughing.

The shopkeeper then turned to look at the corner behind him and said loudly: "That hero, someone is threatening me."

The strong man saw that he didn't take him seriously at all, and he immediately became angry. Of course he knew that if he dared to open a local rice shop at this time, he must have some background, but people like him were just like going home when they entered the government prison.

You've got enough money from above, but you're still worried that you won't be able to deal with this group of merchants?

"You fucking son of a bitch!"

The strong man cursed angrily and greeted the shopkeeper with a pair of huge slaps.

The seemingly frail shopkeeper remained motionless, with a bit of a sneer on his face.

A bright light suddenly appeared behind the shopkeeper, and then the strong man's body seemed to be suddenly frozen, because the tip of an autumn sword was pressed against his throat.

The man holding the sword was a middle-aged man with a plain appearance, who looked like an old farmer most common in the countryside, but he stared at the strong man as if he were looking at a prey that could not escape death.

The strong man did not dare to express his dignity, and his expressions of nervousness and fear appeared at the same time.

The other green-skinned men wanted to slip away, but were beaten to the ground by the guys outside with sticks. They were beaten until they cried for their fathers and mothers, and the people couldn't help but cheer loudly.

At the signal of the shopkeeper, the farmer-like swordsman forced the strong man to retreat outside the gate. Countless people craned their necks to look, and saw the shopkeeper pointing to the plaque on the door and saying to the strong man: "Open your dog eyes and see clearly.

!”

The strong man blushed and roared: "Kill me if you can! See if the Tiger Gang will let you leave Haiyang County alive!"

The shopkeeper clicked his tongue and said in wonder: "The Tiger Gang, right? It seems you are really stupid. I will tell you now, the three characters on this plaque are called Xiangyun Hao, which is the first-class Zhongshan Marquis of Daliang and the commander-in-chief of the Peking Army's Peking Camp.

Lord Pei’s property!”

The strong man suddenly changed color, his legs softened and he knelt down.

The people around him suddenly fell silent.

The shopkeeper said sternly: "Send them to the cavalry station outside the city, and then tell the leading sentry and ask him to take action immediately to wipe out all the green-skinned scoundrels inside and outside the city!"

"yes!"

The guys came forward to escort the green men, and one of them laughed and said: "My Marquis cut off tens of thousands of heads of beasts like you in Lingzhou last year. I didn't expect that there are still idiots seeking death."

Several timid young men were so frightened that they peed their pants.

The incident was settled easily. The middle-aged shopkeeper looked at the astonished people with a smile and said gently: "Everyone, please come."

The rules of the rice store are simple but strict. Each person can buy up to ten kilograms of grain, and a family of five can buy fifty kilograms. They can buy again after ten days.

One pound of grain per person per day is difficult to eat in this era of lack of oil and water, but for the vast majority of hungry people in Qinzhou, this is the best result.

There are many people who want to lie about buying more Dingkou, but when the shopkeeper takes out the transcript of Cao Huang's book from the county government office, those people can only admit that they are unlucky, because there is a rule in the rice store that anyone who lies about the quantity can only

Purchase five kilograms of grain.

Everyone who buys food must put their fingerprints on the copybook where their name is.

From morning to night, there is an endless flow of people here in Midian, and other places are also very lively.

The Tiger Gang, which had been causing trouble for many years in Haiyang County, was easily eliminated by a hundred elite cavalry. The adults who usually protected them did not dare to say a word this time.

Some people have bought food, but many others have not or are on their way here.

Those who bought the grain made up their minds to erect a memorial tablet to the Marquis of Zhongshan when they returned home, and would only patronize Xiangyunhao's business in the future.

The remaining people did not have the anxiety and panic of the previous days. They waited patiently. Many people even did not go home at all and simply spent the night on the East and West Streets. Anyway, it is summer now, so there is no need to wait.

I'm worried that it will freeze out.

After a busy day, the shopkeeper of the Haiyang branch of Xiangyun Hao could finally take a breath. He raised his hand and tapped his legs. He looked at the silent farmer next to him and asked curiously: "Lao Jiang, it is said that you used to live in the grass.

You are extremely famous. Some people say that you are a swordsman. How could you think of helping the Marquis?"

When Lao Jiang heard this, he was startled. He remembered that he had been betrayed by a life-and-death friend. He became disheartened and entered the Shouyang Mountain Mine as a guard. In three years, he married a wife and had children. He also bought a house and farmland in the north of Luliu Village.

, although life is not as exciting as before, it is unexpectedly stable and happy.

He thought of the miners in the Shouyang Mountain Mine who were laughing and laughing every day, and the common people who were crying after buying food today. He couldn't help but muttered to the shopkeeper: "Compared to Mr. Hou, am I a shit swordsman?

"

The shopkeeper laughed heartily. This time he was entrusted with an important task to go south. He was under great pressure. Only now did he relax. He shook his head and said, "That's all. I still need to write a summary file for Mr. Wang, so I won't bullshit you."

Lao Jiang was too lazy to pay attention to him. When he walked out of the rice store, a kite turned over and climbed onto the roof. He sat on the ridge of the roof, looking at the lights of thousands of houses in the city that were originally ordinary, and gradually felt a fierce sword intention in his heart that exceeded the limits of his previous realm.

There are always some nonsense in this world, such as good people don't live long and misfortunes stay for thousands of years.

For example, if people don't do it for themselves, heaven and earth will destroy them.

Lao Jiang has always acted as he pleased, but he felt that he should do something.

The more Pei is a good man, a good man must live longer.
Chapter completed!