Since September, there has been a shortage of goods in the prosperous Hangzhou, first of all, silk cloth, originally Hangzhou as the main production area of silk, the best silk is only seven or eight taels of silver, which is twice as cheap as the mainland.

However, a large number of gentry were affected, and the supply of raw silk was not at all, and then the various workshops reduced production, and the price of silk exceeded ten taels of silver.

The major silk and satin villages found that silk was out of stock, and instinctively began to hoard Juqi, so that the price of silk and cloth soared, and in less than a month, it broke through to eighteen taels, not to mention twenty taels, even thirty taels may not be able to stop.

Of course, silk is only affordable for the wealthy, and the impact is not great, and another material is even more deadly, that is, salt, which is a necessary thing for ordinary people, without oil, no tea, no sugar, no vinegar, but it is inseparable from salt.

A pot of food that comes out of coolie work requires a lot of salt, and if you eat less, you will have no strength.

But with the price of salt soaring three times, the mother-in-law at home is cautious and reluctant to put a little more, even if she is careful, the salt at home will be eaten up. By the time they arrived at the store, the long queue was dizzying, and a pound of salt had risen to five cents of silver, and one tael of silver and sixteen cents, which was only more than three catties of salt, and the average farmer's monthly income might not be one or two of silver.

At a time when the price of salt has skyrocketed, making people feel miserable, food prices are also rising rapidly.

A stone of rice is usually between one tael and eight cents to two taels, and when it enters the autumn harvest season, the price of grain should have dropped, but today it is completely different, and it has quietly passed three taels of silver.

Last year, you could buy two stones of grain silver, but this year you can only buy one stone, many people hesitated, there is still grain at home, wait for a while. Maybe it can go down.

This is a great thing, and the three-fold jump in grain prices has quickly exceeded five taels of silver. As soon as the price of food rose, everything went up, and the lives of the people were suddenly disrupted.

As the governor of the southeast, Zhang Jing could no longer turn a blind eye, and he immediately brought Li Tianpet and Lu Youheng over. Urgently discuss countermeasures.

Li Tianpet was high-spirited, his eyes were red, and he scolded angrily: "Lord Ministry, this year's wind and rain are smooth, although there are some robbers, but it does not affect the harvest, what should have fallen in price, suddenly skyrocketed, there must be someone behind the ghost." ”

Lu Youheng also said: "That's right. It's those gentry clans, they are driving up prices, they just want to force the governor to stop, and they must not be afraid of them! ”

Zhang Jing raised his eyelids and asked lightly, "What should I do?" ”

"Catch!"

Lu Youheng said decisively: "If you take people and horses, go to all the grain stores, and whoever dares to hoard Juqi will be punished as a general widow." ”

This murderous one. But Zhang Jing is still old, if he really does this. It is tantamount to declaring war on all the gentry, and the consequences are unimaginable. Finding death is not such a way to find it!

"Li Zhongcheng, what do you think?"

Li Tianpet pondered for a while and said, "Governor, the investigation of the case is going well, and it is estimated that the net will be closed in another ten days and half a month." The lowly thought that it would not be difficult to open a warehouse and release grain, and it would not be difficult to survive for a period of time. ”

Zhang Jing asked: "Is there enough grain in Hangzhou?" ”

"This ...... Dugong, there are still 100,000 stone of grain in the warehouse, and there are 180,000 stone of military food, which is not a small number. ”

Zhang Jing squinted his old eyes. Silently calculated, Hangzhou's population of less than one million is enough to eat for a month, besides, he has already ordered that it will be transported from all over the country, and within ten days, it will be delivered one after another.

"Since they want to fight with the old man, then let the horses come over, pass the order, and arrange grain distribution points in the four cities tomorrow to open up the supply, the old man wants to see how capable they are!" Zhang Jing slapped the table, his fighting spirit high.

Li Tianpet and Lu Youheng were greatly encouraged and happily accepted the order. Immediately go down and prepare, and from the next day, open the warehouse and release the grain.

Their actions were all seen in Tang Yi's eyes, and they were funny in their hearts, just with this little power in their hands, they were simply using their mantis arms as a car, and they couldn't do anything they could!

At the sound of the order, the canal ticket number, plus the gentry of Zhejiang, mobilized 1.5 million taels of silver overnight, dispatched personnel, divided into four teams, began to line up from dawn, and after permission to buy grain, they rushed to buy, and in less than a day, they smashed out more than 700,000 taels and bought nearly 200,000 stones.

Li Tianpet and Lu Youheng had to end the grain release early, but in just one day, these two seemed to have experienced a brutal battle, and their lips were blistered.

Crazy, it's crazy!

From the beginning, it was Tang Yi's manpower, and later, it was basically the people of Hangzhou, they carried rice bags, flocked to it, and the team was three or five miles away, no one ever felt that the population of Hangzhou was so large, so crazy! Everyone shouted in their throats, drained their money bags, and impatiently exchanged them for food.

When Li Tianpet and them closed the grain sales point in advance, the crowd erupted into a stormy wave of angry scolding, everyone cried and rushed to other grain stores, in an instant, the price of grain broke through eight taels and one stone, and when it opened again the next day, it had already reached ten taels of silver......

"It's over, it's over!" Li Tianzhong's eyes were blank, he sat on the chair, trembling all over, thinking of yesterday's situation, he still had palpitations, and it would even become a shadow for a lifetime.

No matter what you say, the people have only one voice: "Grain, grain, give us food!" ”

Not only ordinary people, but even the officials of the government have joined the ranks of panic buying, and everyone has lost their minds, become madmen, and become madmen!

"Lord Ministry, we've lost." Li Tianpet muttered, Lu Youheng opened his mouth, and he didn't know what to say, in the face of officials and big households, they could be righteous and strict, and they could be impassioned, but in the face of countless people, they became extremely pale and powerless.

No matter how good the reason is, it can't be eaten!

"How so, how so?" Lu Youheng kept asking himself, and for the first time, the invincibility of the Qing officials he believed in had wavered.

Compared with the depression of his subordinates, Zhang Jing is still firm, the old man is the commander who leads the troops, and no matter how difficult the situation is, he will not see this little trick in his eyes.

"All heads up!" Zhang Jing roared sharply.

Li Tianpet and Lu Youheng looked stunned, hurriedly straightened their chests, and looked at the boss.

"Pass on the order of the Governor, tell Mrs. Wa to prepare three thousand soldiers, and follow the old man to fight the profiteers who hoard Juqi!"

"Your Excellency!" Li Tianpet hurriedly said: "Absolutely not. It will provoke the wrath of the people! ”

Zhang Jing snorted coldly, "They forced the old man, give him a shameless face, how can the old man be polite!" You don't have to be afraid, if something happens, the old man will carry it on his shoulders. ”

is between words. Hurried footsteps sounded outside, and when I looked up, I saw an old woman of about sixty walking in, she was tall, half a head taller than ordinary men, wearing bright armor, carrying two long knives behind her back, majestic and murderous.

"Old lady. What's the matter with you? Zhang Jing knew that Mrs. Wa had always been steady and would not come rashly.

I saw that Mrs. Wa's face was grim, she sat on the chair, picked up the teapot, grunted, drank a pot of tea, and then hugged her fist at Zhang Jing.

"Boss, the old body only wants to ask for one thing. Please tell me the truth. ”

"Please."

"The adults are refreshing, and the old people say that Hangzhou is in the city. The military rations have been sold, and we people are going hungry again? ”

"Nonsense!" Zhang Jing slapped the table and said angrily: "Old lady, don't listen to those people fanning the flames, you were invited by the old man, even if it is to smash the pot and sell iron." As much food is needed, the old man will supply it, and there will be no mistakes. ”

In the face of the sworn assurance, Mrs. Wa did not feel any ease, but sighed: "So to speak. There's still not enough food, right? ”

Zhang Jing was stunned for a while, his words were blocked in his throat, he couldn't speak, and a layer of delicate sweat appeared on his forehead. Above the hall, there was a strange silence, and after a few minutes, Mrs. Wa stood up and said, "The old man believes in the minister, so go back to the camp to appease the big guy, not only the old man's people, but also the father and son of the Peng family will not cause trouble." ”

Walking to the door, Mrs. Wa paused again and added: "The old body can only do this, and I also ask the lord of the ministry to allocate military rations as soon as possible." ”

……

Mrs. Wa walked for a full quarter of an hour before Zhang Jing's clenched fist was released, and a drop of dark red blood appeared in her palm!

The old man had never been so angry, and he really wanted to pull out those who were making troubles and cut off their heads one by one, so as to relieve the anger in his heart. But Zhang Jing also knew that he was a tiger, and the wolf soldiers were his minions, and without the support of the wolf soldiers, he couldn't bite anyone.

Do you really want to admit defeat, the old man is unwilling!

……

At this moment, another guard came to deliver a message, and someone asked to see him.

Not long after, the two old men came together, it was Qian Dehong and Wang Ji, as the two helmsmen of Zhejiang Central School, their status among the gentry was absolutely transcendent, and after seeing Zhang Jing, they were very polite and saluted.

Zhang Jing only owed his body slightly, even if he returned the courtesy, he waved his hand and let Li Tianpet and Lu Youheng go down, leaving only three old men, looking at each other and sitting together.

"The old man estimates, you should be here too!" Zhang Jing was the first to speak: "I really didn't expect that your mind and mind would be muddy waters. ”

Qian Dehong was thin and energetic, he pressed his thighs with both hands and shook his head slightly.

"Banzhou Gong, the people of the southeast have suffered from the Japanese invaders, and you are in charge of the southeast, and we are all happy and inspired, thinking that the suffering of the Japanese invaders is hopefully extinguished. It's just that as soon as the old man came, he made a big move and arrested many people, and the old man didn't dare to agree. ”

Zhang Jing raised his eyelids and sneered: "What, do you still want to teach the old man how to be an official?" ”

These words were powerful, and they choked Qian Dehong at once.

Wang Ji hurriedly smiled: "The old man misunderstood, the so-called palms and backs of hands are meat, now up and down Zhejiang, public opinion is turbulent, the prices of people's vital materials are soaring, the army is panicking, the yamen is on duty, trembling, and no one has the intention to do anything." If this goes on for a long time, I am afraid that if the Japanese do not come, we will collapse ourselves. ”

"Hmph, if you don't break it, you can't stand it, you can't stand it! The old man asked himself, there was nothing wrong. Zhang Jing still said stubbornly.

Qian Dehong sighed and said sincerely: "Banzhou Gong, do you think this will be successful, we have no opinion on investigating the stolen officials, and rectifying the army, and we are willing to help." As the saying goes, slow things are round, can you just separate a little bit and let everyone take a breather? ”

Obviously, Qian Dehong had put his attitude very low, Zhang Jing was still hesitating, and suddenly someone ran in and said a few words in his ear, and the old man's expression immediately changed. (To be continued.) )