In the years of famine, the knife in my mother's hand is not bad either

The scout's report reached Shen Qian's ears.

The eunuch Sili Lin Shisan standing by had already lowered his head completely in shame.

If it were before this drought, their granaries would definitely not have so little food.

Although there is a deficit on weekdays, at least forty granaries are full, which makes it convenient for dispatch.

But now a severe drought has broken out and food prices are unprecedentedly high. One kilogram of food can buy twenty kilograms of food before, which means twenty times the profit!

By waiting for a good harvest next year or the year after, they can completely fill the gap in their granaries with the low prices of grain.

At this point, he and the county magistrate could not resist the temptation of merchants, and cooperated openly and secretly to sell grain. As more and more grain was sold, their ambitions also grew.

I never thought that someone would come to inspect the granary along the way.

After hearing this, Shen Qian clapped her hands in the sedan chair:

"Clap clap clap!"

"Well done!"

"Three years as a county magistrate, one hundred thousand taels of silver. How could you, the eunuch, have taken more than a hundred thousand taels just for one drought?"

"Gudong!" After hearing this, the eunuch Lin Shisan swallowed hard.

The knees went weak.

He knelt directly on the ground.

With saliva in his mouth, he tried hard to defend himself:

"Sir Inspector, I admit my mistake!"

"I hope the Inspector General will show leniency!"

There was a cry in the urgent and nervous voice.

Just like Wang You and Wang Liang before.

It's not that I know I'm wrong.

But I'm afraid!

He was afraid that he would use his position as the Inspector to punish him.

"Forget it!" Shen Qian's domineering voice came from the sedan chair and reached the ears of the eunuch Lin Shisan.

Lin Shisan was shocked at first, then he knelt on the ground and thanked him profusely.

With this said, the Inspector General might just save his own life!

Then Shen Qian spoke again:

"The remaining food will not be sold."

“Distribute directly and set up soup kitchens for refugees!”

"I only have one request: Stand the chopsticks in the porridge. If the chopsticks fall, everyone, from the person in charge to the person who carried out the execution, will be beheaded!"

"Opening the warehouse like this can also cover up your illegal grain trafficking. Do you understand?"

At first, the eunuch Lin Shisan was still confused by the order of the Inspector General.

But after hearing what happened next, I admired him even more.

As expected of you, the Inspector General!

With just a simple strategy of opening the granaries and releasing grain, the food shortage in dozens of granaries was directly replenished.

If anyone asks about it, we can just report the loss and say it was eaten by the refugees.

high! It’s really high!

As for...opening the granaries and releasing grain without permission? How can this be considered as opening the granaries and releasing grain without permission? This was ordered by the Inspector General, and if anyone is held accountable, the Inspector General will be held responsible.

He had benefited for nothing before.

Thinking of this, Lin Shisan immediately understood the 'deep meaning' and kowtowed repeatedly to Shen Qian in the carriage to express his gratitude:

"understand!"

"Thank you, Inspector General, for the ingenious plan!"

"I hope the Inspector General will stay in the city for a day. I will give him an explanation."

Shen Qian looked at the bright sky and decided to take a break in the city, letting the villagers replenish their water and have a good rest before continuing on their journey.

"Okay." Shen Qian said:

"I'll leave the temporary shelter and water supply for these villagers around me to you."

"We'll be gone before the sun sets."

Listening to Shen Qian's advice, Lin Shisan nodded repeatedly.

The Inspector even gave him a deadline to accept gifts, so how could he not understand?

"You, go and arrange for the distribution of grain for disaster relief!" Lin Shisan stood up from the ground and quickly began to make arrangements:

"You, go arrange for the Inspector and the other villagers to find shelter and water!"

"Pull some more food and sell it to the neighbors at a 'low price'!"

Having said that, he insisted on a very low price, and the eunuchs who followed his orders naturally understood.

As for why it wasn’t sent?

How much food would be enough for so many people?

Therefore, it is definitely more appropriate to buy at a low price and get the amount of food they want.

Shen Qian was also very satisfied after listening to his arrangements.

If she were to deliver food, even if it was to people from the same village who had accompanied her, she could not guarantee that there would not be trouble.

After all...if something is free, everyone will want to take more and occupy more. This is human nature.

After settling in a temporary place.

The ten scouts and six maids around Shen Qian became busy.

Whether it is feeding livestock or fetching water for irrigation.

No one is idle.

On the contrary, Shen Qian's sons were all idle at this moment.

Sitting together and watching the sun rising high in the sky, I always feel that everything is too unreal.

Wang You then asked a few people:

"The silver plate that man casually gave to my mother that day turned out to be so effective."

"Brother, do you know what the position of the Inspector is?"

Facing Wang You's question, the eldest brother Wang Qingliu frowned slightly.

This Inspector General was obviously not a high-ranking official position in the imperial court, but officials with the word "Inspector General" in their title were at least of the "third rank", which was higher than the fourth rank of provincial governors.

Thinking of this, Wang Qingliu expressed his guess in disbelief:

"I'm afraid it's... from the third rank or above."

When they heard about this grade, none of the brothers had a clear idea of ​​it.

Seeing that they had no reaction, Wang Qingliu began to explain:

"In Daliang, the highest rank is first rank, and the lowest is ninth rank. Even the magistrate of Beiyang County is only seventh rank. The county governor who manages our prefecture is only fifth rank. The frontier governor who governs the three prefectures is fourth rank."

Following Wang Qingliu's explanation, the brothers finally had a clear understanding of the third rank.

They all opened their mouths wide.

"This, this, this... Doesn't that mean that we can walk sideways from now on?" Wang Tianci was so surprised that he couldn't speak clearly.

Wang Qingliu rolled his eyes at Wang Tianci and said unhappily:

"No one would stop you if you wanted to crawl. I think you haven't walked enough."

He is different from his brothers.

My mother doesn't have a clear official position, but she is using this token to do things. If it is exposed, their family cannot afford the cost.

Moreover, even if he settled safely in the southern border, he probably wouldn't be able to take part in the imperial examinations, after all, there were princes and various county magistrates along the way.

Once his identity is traced and revealed, his entry into officialdom will only expose this matter.

His conflicted mood made him very depressed.

Born without ambition? If you can't get into high school, how can you realize your dreams?

Just relying on the money defrauded from the family?

In the end, he would just be a rich man.

......

outside the city.

Big pots were set up one after another.

Countless corns were poured into the pot, and the aroma of the steaming corns filled the air outside the city.

The trapped county magistrate felt heartbroken when he saw the rice being pulled out of the city.

Who will take out this precious food and feed it to these lowly refugees? It's all money!

As he was thinking, he saw some familiar figures.

The figure and attire clearly belong to the Supervisory Department!

Thinking of this, he hurried forward and shouted loudly:

"Step aside!"

"All this grain, all this grain...?" As he spoke, he saw the official warehouse mark on the grain bag. His eyes widened and he roared at the eunuchs:

"Who told you to open the granary and release the grain without permission?"