Natural disaster at the beginning: I will lead the system to build a safe zone

Even though the order in the county was temporarily stable and there was still grain in the granary, the county magistrate had no intention of opening the granary to release grain to help the people.

For him, it was a great mercy to provide these untouchables with a safe place to live. The food was all his, and no one else could even think about it.

Not only that, the county magistrate was afraid of running out of money, so in the face of such a natural disaster, the taxes he collected did not decrease but increased, causing the people to suffer terribly.

But the people here were not forced into a desperate situation like the Changping Town before, and they would not unite to resist the government. In addition, the military strength of the county was naturally different from that of the town, so the county magistrate could continue to exploit these ordinary people without fear.

"Dad, the price of grain has gone up again today!" This is an ordinary family living in the county town. Their family has established a firm foothold in the county town by relying on their family-inherited bricklaying skills. They have lived here for many years. Because they are craftsmen, the family conditions are pretty good.

But everyone's life is hard now, who has the spare money and energy to build a house? So their family has almost cut off their income. Only those who had their houses damaged by skyfire asked them to repair their houses and they made some money.

But only a few people are willing to pay them to renovate their houses. In order to save money, many families either just live in the house as is, or do some simple repairs themselves.

Although their family has savings, it is quite worrying to keep using the savings without any income. What's more, the price of grain in the county is rising every day.

"These unscrupulous businessmen are really heartless. The prices of brown rice and coarse flour have now risen to the same level as refined grains. Why don't they just go and grab them?" The old man, whom the man called dad, cursed as he puffed on his pipe with a frown.

The young man was also very dissatisfied with the increase in grain prices, but he had no choice: "According to those who sell grain, there have been too many natural disasters recently, and grain production has already decreased. Now the county magistrate has closed the county town, and they can't go out to buy grain. They said that they estimate that they will have to sell it for a few more days, and they dare not continue to sell it."

The old man was shocked when he heard this: "What? Then we will be out of food. Will we be able to survive?"

Most people in the county town make a living by working or doing business here. The fields are almost all concentrated in the surrounding villages, and farming also depends on the villagers in those villages.

But now the county magistrate has directly closed the county town. It seems that the chaos outside has been put an end to it, but in fact it has also blocked the livelihood of the people in the county. After all, they all rely on buying grain to make a living, and they can't stand the rising grain prices. If those grain merchants really stop selling grain, how can they survive?

The young man continued, "There are already long queues at the grain shops now. Most of them are people who heard that they were going to close and rushed to buy grain."

"Then what are you still doing here? Hurry up and use the money to buy food. If they really stop selling it, you're going to let our whole family starve to death!" The old man slapped his son.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'll go right away!" The young man turned around, went back to the house, got his purse and rushed to the grain store.

This situation also happens in many homes in the county.

There are three relatively large grain merchants in the county. Some other small grain merchants closed their shops early and kept the grain for their own consumption. Only the three large grain merchants, Chen, Wang and Qian, are still selling grain.

But the most conscientious one among them is Chen’s Grain Store, and the people subconsciously give priority to Chen’s Grain Store.

But if the business was so good in the past, the Chen family would probably be very happy, but now facing this situation, they are also a little melancholy.

"Master, our grain shop is surrounded by people who come to buy grain. People in our hometown are quarreling over buying more grain!"

At the Chen Mansion, the housekeeper hurried to the study to find Chen Huairen and report.

"What's going on? Why are so many people suddenly coming to buy food?" Chen Huairen asked in confusion after hearing the report and put down his teacup.

"It is said that the Wang and Qian families spread the rumor that the grain shops would be closed in three days. The people were afraid that they would not be able to buy grain, so they are all scrambling to stock up on grain. The Wang and Qian families did not expect that after the rumor spread, so many people would come to buy grain. They were afraid that there would not be enough grain, so they closed the grain shops in advance. So now all the people have come to our grain shop." The housekeeper told Chen Huairen the information he had learned one by one.

After hearing this, Chen Huairen fell silent. Although the Chen family grain shop had not yet announced the closure of the shop, Chen Huairen had already had this intention.

Even though the Chen family is kind, they cannot completely ignore themselves when it comes to survival. Currently, the county has more outflow than inflow, and they cannot go out to buy grain. The grain sold in the shop now is all the Chen family's previous grain reserves.

The stored grain will eventually run out. The world is not going well, and he has to consider his family more, so he decided not to sell the grain that he had originally decided to sell for a while.

But he didn't expect that the Wang and Qian families were more straightforward than him and actually closed the grain shop directly. If the two families stopped selling the grain shop, his Chen family alone would not be able to supply so many people in the county.

Moreover, because their Chen family has always been trustworthy in doing business and has a good reputation among the people, the people give priority to the Chen family when buying grain. He also does not want to suddenly close the shop and ruin his reputation.

But in the current situation, the Chen family is under a lot of pressure.

The housekeeper obviously knew about the Chen family's situation. He had long ago advised the master to stop selling grain, but the master was as kind as his name suggested. He felt that if they did not sell grain, more people would not be able to survive.

Therefore, among all grain merchants, Chen’s Grain Shop was the last to raise prices.

But now, they really can't do this anymore. There are so many people outside. If they continue to sell, they will starve!

"Master, why don't we stop selling grain? There is not enough grain in the granary." The housekeeper advised earnestly.

Chen Huairen pondered for a while, and finally sighed: "Well, tell the manager of the grain shop that each person can only buy one bushel of grain, and close the shop when they are sold out."

This meant that the granary would no longer be replenished. When the butler saw that the master had finally agreed, he was overjoyed and went to convey the message.

But when the people who came to buy grain heard the news, they were furious:

"What? Each person is limited to one bucket, and this bucket is only enough to last for a few days!"

"Everyone says the Chen family is kind, but I don't think so. Not only is the food so expensive, but now they're also imposing purchase restrictions!"

"What should we do now? All other grain merchants in the county have closed down, and Chen's grain store has also limited purchases. What are we going to eat?"

In front of the Chen family grain shop, even though the manager patiently explained that the Chen family's own grain stocks were running out, they could only sell out the grain in the shop and close the shop, and the purchase limit was also to give every citizen who lined up a chance to buy.

Some people could understand and had already rushed home to have everyone in their family line up to buy food, trying to stock up on more food. But some people still felt that these merchants were black-hearted and deliberately refused to sell them food to make money from their hard-earned money, and they all cursed at the door of the shop.

But no matter what, closing the shop after selling all the grain is a foregone conclusion.