Chapter 223 Food shortage in the city

Qiao Ran was also very happy. The larger ones of these linoleum cloths could be used to cover a window.

She wants these cloth ends not only to make moisture-proof mats, but also to use them when making tents.

Without the help of the store clerk, these thirty or so men loaded the dozens of bundles of linoleum cloth onto the carriage.

They drove three carriages and five carts into the city, and those who went to buy grain took away one carriage and two carts.

Of the two remaining carriages, one belonged to the Qiao family and the other belonged to the village.

So many linoleum sheets that they filled a carriage and a cart.

Looking at the empty car, Qiao Ran said: "Uncle Qian and the others didn't bring much silver taels when they went to buy food. They probably can't buy much food. We still have about 400 taels left here. Let's buy some more food and go back!"

Naturally, everyone responded.

Food! The most indispensable thing on the road to escape.

Originally, everyone didn't have much food left, so they kept eating sparingly after leaving the mountain, fearing that they would have no money to buy anything after eating.

Unexpectedly, I now have so much money to buy food.

So the group asked for directions again and arrived at Miji Grain Store, the largest grain store in Shuimen County.

I heard from passers-by that the owner of this grain shop is named Mi, so it is called Miji Grain Shop, which sounds nice and is easy to remember.

When Qiao Ran and the others turned a corner and were about to arrive at the entrance of the grain store, they saw that the entrance of the "Miji Grain Store" was surrounded by people who wanted to buy grain. They were looking excited and shouting about something. The people were noisy. .

Qiao Ran stood on the carriage shaft and looked around. She saw a dozen waiters at the entrance of Miji Grain Store pushing the crowd back. A man who looked like a shopkeeper stood on a bench and pressed down with his hands. pressure.

The noisy noise finally stopped slowly. The shopkeeper bowed his hands and apologized:

"Everyone, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's not that our shop has a bad intention to raise prices. This is really a last resort! Have you all seen the refugees outside the city? Several state capitals have suffered from severe drought this year. This food Naturally, there is a huge shortage.”

"Our grain store originally didn't store much food. In order to respond to the county magistrate's call, our Miji Grain Store actively donated food and materials. We gave porridge at the stall at the gate of the city every day. The food stored in it was getting less and less day by day. , but we can’t buy enough grain from outside, and what we can buy, the price has skyrocketed. Our shop can’t do a loss-making business, right?”

"You can go to other grain stores and ask. Which grain store has not increased its prices now? The price increase of our Miji is not as high as others. It is really the lowest price. Don't complain, if you want to buy it, buy it quickly. , if you continue to complain, the remaining grain will be bought by others, and you will just wait to cry!"

After everyone heard this, they began to shout dissatisfiedly again.

A burly man with an ugly scar on his face asked loudly and loudly: "Shopkeeper Qin, the price of food has increased so much all of a sudden. Why are we poor people who can only do menial work every day to earn money to buy food?" How can the people live? Doesn’t this mean that we will be starved of food? How can we work hard without food to eat? Everyone has to beg for food!"

Shopkeeper Qin had a sad face and kept bowing to the burly man:

"Yes, yes, you are right. The price of food has increased so much all of a sudden. I know it is difficult for everyone to accept it, but there is nothing we can do about it! To be honest, our food store does not have much food in stock. The owner originally didn’t want to sell it and wanted to keep it for his own consumption. However, there were so many people waiting to buy grain in front of the grain store every day. The owner couldn’t bear it, so he decided to sell all the remaining grain. No. After the food is eaten, our boss is planning to close the door and go back to Luoyang Mansion! If you don’t hurry up and buy it, you will really run out of food!"

When everyone heard this, they were immediately angry and anxious.

If the grain store is really closed, where can they buy grain?

But the price of food is really outrageous. It was only fifteen cents two days ago, but now it has risen to twenty-five cents.

Compared with the usual price of only ten cents, it has more than doubled. How can ordinary people who live a tight life these days accept it?

Many people clamored for a price reduction. Shopkeeper Qin shook his head repeatedly and said that he was not the owner and could not make the decision. Moreover, the owner had no choice. If the price continued to be reduced, the owner would suffer a huge loss.

There was a lot of noise, and for some reason, someone pointed the finger at the refugees outside the city and said dissatisfiedly:

"It's all those refugees who are causing the trouble! If it hadn't been for them, the county magistrate wouldn't have ordered food donations for porridge, and there wouldn't be a shortage of food in the city, and food prices wouldn't have risen so fast."

"Yes! It's all their fault! The food prices were quite good last month, and it's all their fault! We people in Shuimen County have no food to eat, but those refugees can actually eat hot porridge for free. It's really unreasonable! We Go and destroy the porridge stall! We have no food to eat, and neither can those shameless refugee beggars!"

"Let's go! Drive away those beggars, and we won't have to worry about not being able to buy food!"

Qiao Ran looked closely and saw several people in the crowd inciting the crowd with righteous indignation.

Among them was the burly scarred man from before.

Most people just frowned after hearing these words, feeling that this was a bit excessive.

"Isn't this bad? People have no choice but to flee from famine. If their hometown hadn't been hit by a natural disaster and they really couldn't survive, who would be willing to leave their hometown and drag their families with them to escape from famine? It's not easy for everyone, we..."

A man hesitated and was interrupted before he finished speaking. The man's tone was very arrogant.

"You're talking lightly! Do you still have food in your family? Why are you here to grab food from us? My family doesn't have a grain of rice, and the whole family is eagerly waiting for the rice to be cooked! But with just such a small amount of money, all Even if I bring it to buy food, I can't even buy a few meals. No! I'm going to the city gate to tell those refugees to get out! Let those rich men donate all the food to us. After all, we are also fellow villagers in the same city! Rather than being cheap If you don’t care about those foreigners, why not help us fellow villagers!”

"Yes! Yes! Drive away the foreigners! We want to eat! We want food!"

"Drive away the outsiders! We want food!"

"Drive away the outsiders! We want food!"

Under the instigation of those few people, more and more people were gradually incited.

Almost half of the people were shouting and were about to go outside the city gate to drive away the foreigners who had fled here.

Some refugees who came to the city to buy food were so frightened when they heard what these people said, they quickly slipped out of the crowd and quickly went outside the city to report the news.

Those people were shouting, and the crowd became more and more angry. Even many city residents passing by were infected and joined in shouting slogans.

When most of the people were aroused, the scarred man and those few people led a large group of people and strode towards the city gate while shouting slogans, and people continued to join them along the way.