Chapter 65 - A Single Thought from the People
Chapter 65: A Single Thought from the People
“What’s going on in front?” Cui Heng got out of the carriage and looked at the people of Lu County in front of him before asking Liu Litao beside him.
“This, this is probably the work of Sun Panshi and the others.” Liu Litao was so angry that his entire body was trembling. He gritted his teeth and said, “Lord, these people are already lawless. Most of these commoners are bewitched by them!”
“There are probably thousands of people here. What great ability!” Cui Heng sneered and said to Hui Shi, “Go over and ask what’s going on.”
“Yes, my Lord!” Hui Shi bowed.
“Those people are probably watching us make a fool of ourselves.” Cui Heng’s gaze swept across the distant Lu County city wall and he said with a smile, “County Governor Liu, get the accompanying soldiers to prepare to distribute grain and salt!”
After he accepted the position of County Governor of Lu County, he kept Liu Litao by his side as the County Governor. This would help him quickly understand the various matters of Lu County, and it would be more convenient for him to collect the seven emotions of all living beings.
“Yes, my Lord!” Liu Litao nodded quickly and praised, “My Lord, you’re really good at predicting things. You’ve long expected this obstacle.”
“Go on.” Cui Heng waved his hand and smiled.
Liu Litao’s old habits did not change. His words did not deviate from flattery. Fortunately, he was quite sincere in his actions. The soldiers behind him were quickly mobilized.
Cui Heng’s entourage to Lu County City was not small.
Apart from Hui Shi, Xu Feng’an, Liu Litao, and Qian Cang, there were also more than ten refugees who had fled from Dachang County to Juhe County.
New officials had to be prepared in advance, especially for a place like Lu County.
In order to earn the hearts of the people and obtain the love of the masses to gather positive emotions, he had to have people who could be used to do things from the beginning.
There were at least a dozen of them.
These former victims of Dachang County were undoubtedly the best choice.
They were absolutely loyal to Cui Heng and even believed that their lives belonged to Cui Heng.
On the other hand, it was also because Cui Heng had brought a lot of supplies to Lu County and needed people to transport them.
It was true that he could use spells to create more supplies after he arrived at Lu County City, but that would be like draining the pond to catch the fish.
He could only harvest their emotions on a large scale once.
After the bowl of water in Juhe County City drowned the 50,000 troops, he did not receive much of the Seven Emotions of Life.
This did not conform to the view of sustainable development.
It would be better to arrange some people and proceed step by step.
… .
As soon as Hui Shi arrived at the entrance of Lu County, more than a dozen commoners immediately surrounded him.
“Officer, you’re the county governor’s man, right? Please let the county governor give us a way out. We can’t even afford food!”
“We beg the County Governor, please don’t raise the price of food. Us commoners can’t afford it. Please give us a way out!”
“And the salt! My family hasn’t had salt for three days. Our child’s body is getting weaker and weaker. It’s a pity that he’s still growing! Boohoo!!”
The more these commoners spoke, the more agitated they became. Some even started to squeeze forward, almost surrounding Hui Shi completely.
Clang!
Hui Shi gently shook the steel saber at his waist and looked around coldly. He shouted, “Everyone, the Governor cares for the world. He loves his people like his own children. Don’t be agitated. He will definitely help you solve your problems!”
Ordinary citizens were afraid of swords. When they saw this scene, they subconsciously took a few steps back.
“How would he solve it? Can he spit out the silver he ate?!”
At this moment, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, “I’ve long heard that the new county governor has conspired with the grain merchants and salt merchants to raise the price by a few times. He will take half of the commission!”
“Who’s spouting nonsense!” Hui Shi shouted angrily. He wanted to go out and check, but he was surrounded by the commoners and could not move at all.
“Sir! Is this true? The governor is taking a commission from the merchants?”
“Sir! Have pity on us! If this continues, we won’t be able to survive!”
“Sir, Sir…”
The voices of countless commoners buzzed in Hui Shi’s ears, making him extremely frustrated. He almost couldn’t help but draw his saber and slash at them.
However, these commoners were not the Huang family of Juhe County. He could not kill as he pleased.
He could only forcefully endure it.
However, Hui Shi was a Qi Condensation Realm martial artist after all. He could use his True Qi to slowly push these people away and return to Cui Heng’s side.
“My lord, the situation is not optimistic.” Hui Shi went over to report and said in a low voice, “Someone has mixed in with these people to sow discord. They said that you are collaborating with the merchants to fight for benefits with the people.”
“Have you found out who it is?” Cui Heng asked.
“I was surrounded by the people and couldn’t investigate.” Hui Shi lowered his head in shame.
“It’s fine.” Cui Heng smiled and said, “Go over again and tell these commoners to come to my place to buy food and salt. They can buy it at half the usual price. Everyone is limited to buying 20 catties of food and 500 grams of salt.
“However, every citizen who comes to collect food and salt has to report the name of a merchant who raised the price of food and salt. At that time, organize some people and record everything.”
“Yes, Sir!” Hui Shi immediately returned.
“Sir, I’ve already discovered that person just now.” Xu Feng’an, who was pretending to be an old scholar, asked curiously, “Why didn’t you let me capture him directly?”
“If we capture him now, we won’t be able to eliminate the roots completely.” Cui Heng chuckled and glanced at the gatehouse on the city wall.
… .
At this moment, in the gatehouse on the city wall of Lu County.
Sun Panshi and Wang Jinsheng were sitting opposite each other and drinking wine, looking at the scene outside mockingly.
“Brother Wang, how do you think County Governor Cui will deal with this ferocious public opinion?”
Sun Panshi drank a cup of good wine and laughed. “This is probably the first time in history that a new county governor has been blocked at the city gate by the commoners! Hahaha!”
“Brother Sun, didn’t you notice the 20-odd carriages brought by the new county governor?” Wang Jinsheng asked instead of answering. He looked outside and chuckled. “I’m afraid there’s a lot of food inside.”
“How is that possible? Could he have moved food from Juhe County to help the people?” Sun Panshi shook his head and said, “Moreover, Juhe County has been poor for a long time. How can there be so much food to transport?”
“When this Governor Cui was in Juhe County, he opened the warehouse to release food to save thousands of refugees.” Wang Jinsheng was still looking outside. “I think this won’t stump him. We should prepare for the next countermeasures.”
“Brother, you’re overthinking…” Sun Panshi still didn’t believe it, but when he saw the changes outside, he suddenly stood up and shouted in extreme shock, “How is this possible? He really brought so much food?!”
“Not only food, but also salt!” Wang Jinsheng’s eyes became slightly dazed. He suddenly laughed and said, “Hahaha, this is more interesting. If it’s too easy to be suppressed, it will make me feel bored.”
“Heh, it’s just a move to bribe the people!” Sun Panshi was still unconvinced and sneered. “After these few days of publicity, the image of the new county governor and merchants working together to compete with the people can no longer be changed!
“Even if he dares to attack those merchants after entering the city, his image in the hearts of the people will not be good. They will only think that he is burning the bridge after crossing it!”
… .
Cui Heng had brought a total of 20 carts of food and five carts of salt.
This food was naturally not enough to sell to these thousands of commoners, so it was first come, first served.
Then, he promised that there would be more and that they could buy them from the county magistrate’s office.
They would also do their best to lower the prices of food, salt, and other commodities.
In this way, the commoners would naturally disperse.
Even if there was someone on the inside manipulating things, it would not have much effect in front of real food and salt.
“Have you recorded all the information about the merchants?” Cui Heng asked Hui Shi.
“Sir, I’ve noted it down.” Hui Shi nodded and said angrily, “A total of thirteen grain merchants and six salt merchants have all increased the price by seven times!”
“Alright!” Cui Heng nodded lightly.
“Sir, although you sold them food at half the price, there are still people who feel that this is a way to bribe people,” Hui Shi said worriedly. “They still feel that you’re in cahoots with those merchants.”
“It’s fine.” Cui Heng waved his hand and did not say anything else. He returned to the carriage. “Let’s enter the city!”
… .
After dealing with the incident at the city gate, Cui Heng successfully became the governor of Lu County.
Sun Panshi and the others were waiting for this new county governor to make a move.
But three days had passed.
There was no news from the County Governor’s Mansion.
He only knew that Cui Heng was arranging for the people around him to hold various positions.
There didn’t seem to be any signs of a fight.
Moreover, food and salt had been continuously transported over from Juhe County over the past three days.
It was still sold to the people at half the price!
It was as if the food and salt there were endless.
This made Sun Panshi and the others so angry that they almost cursed. They could not even use the commoners to cause trouble at the County Governor’s mansion.
He could only curse Cui Heng in his heart, hoping that he would run out of food and salt soon.
More than ten days later, there was still an endless supply of food and salt.
It did not look like it was going to be cut off.
There were even songs praising the new county governor in Lu County.
Sun Panshi and the others could still endure it, but the major grain merchants and salt merchants under them could not hold on any longer.
There was no income for more than half a month. Any businessman would explode.
Hence, the merchants began to buy food from the people at twice the price and sold it at three times the original price.
Grain and salt were indeed important, but greed for wealth was also an integral part of the human heart.
It was inevitable that some people could not help but sell off some of their food and salt.
This caused the overall price of food and salt to remain high despite the constant existence of half-price food and salt.
The citizens quickly began to spontaneously investigate the families who sold food and salt to the merchants.
This caused the grain merchants and salt merchants to quickly increase the purchase price to three times.
As a result, even more people secretly sold their food and salt.
The price quickly increased to five times.
It was almost near the previous seven times price.
At this moment, the food and salt shipments from Juhe County suddenly stopped!
The county magistrate’s office also issued a notice. There was really no more food and salt to be transported.
The price of food and salt instantly soared to 15 times the original price!
Sun Panshi and the others cheered.
The merchants held a banquet to celebrate.
The citizens were furious, but there was nothing they could do.
The entire Lu County City had almost become a powder keg.
It was going to explode at the slightest trigger.
Finally, a large number of citizens could not take it anymore and ran to the county magistrate’s office to complain, hoping that the county governor could punish these illegal merchants.
This time, no one instigated anything. Everyone did it spontaneously, and they only went to ask the governor for help.
Instead of questioning him.
In the past month, the image of the new county governor fighting against all the grain merchants and salt merchants in the city had been established in the hearts of the people.
No one would believe that Cui Heng was in cahoots with those merchants anymore.
Inside the county magistrate’s office.
Cui Heng held a list and said to Hui Shi, who was on standby, “13 grain merchants, six salt merchants, nine medicine halls, 12 ore merchants, seven… You’ve investigated all of these, right?”
“Yes, My Lord. Everything has been investigated,” Hui Shi said respectfully.
“What’s the attitude of the people?” Cui Heng asked again.
“My Lord’s plan is brilliant. The entire city’s citizens sincerely admire you now.” Hui Shi admired Cui Heng’s actions to the extreme. This was what it meant to truly gather the hearts of the people.
If he had raided these merchants’ houses when he first entered the city, he would definitely not have such a united people behind him. He might even have been labeled as a murderer.
“Alright!” Cui Heng nodded and smiled. Now, he has achieved his first goal.
Hence, he immediately slapped the name list on the table and said in a low voice, “Hui Shi, listen up! All the merchants above, search their houses and choose a day for a public trial! If anyone stops you, kill them on the spot!”
The pig had grown fat.
It was time for a slaughter!