County …… County Zun, we have also come to resign …….”
While old man Liu and the others were resigning to Zhu Pingan with indignation, two more recently recruited errand boys, both of whom were young and strong men who had been meritorious in the fight against the Japanese, similarly came to resign to Zhu Pingan.
“County Honour, even the illiterate errand boys are ashamed to be in your company, don’t you feel ashamed?”
Old Man Liu and the others grunted and swept Zhu Pingan with slanted eyes, their words both indignant and sarcastic.
Zhu Pingan smiled bitterly and rubbed his brain, since the start of the continuous rain in Jingnan, for the past month, Zhu Pingan had been working early in the morning and late at night, working overtime and staying up all night every day, and had yet to take a proper rest for a day, and now he was sluggish and tired.
“Well, this is my fault, I was in a hurry to get things done, I failed to consult the people in advance before the decree was introduced, which caused everyone to misunderstand. How about this, please ask all of the xuxu officials and servants in the county office to gather in the lobby, and I will unify and explain it for everyone. Afterwards, if you all still decide to resign, I will not stop you.”
After rubbing his brain, Zhu Pingan picked himself up and said bitterly to Old Man Liu and the others who had come to resign.
“Misunderstanding? Hmph, we will see how County Honour turns black and white upside down. Just don’t forget what you just said. After the hall has explained, we will resign again, and I hope that county honours will be quick to release us.”
Old man Liu and the others snorted coldly, how much they used to trust Zhu Pingan, how deep their preconceptions towards him were now.
Soon, all of the xuxu officials and servants who were currently working at the county office were summoned inside the county office lobby.
Zhu Pingan stood in the hall and scanned the crowd, taking in the micro-expressions of all the officials and servants below the hall.
“Gentlemen, I know that since the announcement of the official document defining the ‘Jingnan Grain Price of 2,500 Won per Stone’ in the morning, you all have had a lot of opinions about me. I believe that you have not privately cursed me as a dog official, a corrupt official, and a treacherous official ……Without hiding it from you all, there are already many people who want to draw a line with me as a corrupt, dog official, and traitorous official, and have submitted their resignations to me.”
After Zhu Pingan waited for everyone to come together, he pulled the corner of his mouth and said to the crowd with a self-deprecating smile.
“County Duke, please also take back your order, the highest grain price in other places is only 1,350 Wen per stone, you define the grain price in Jingnan as 2,500 Wen per hour, isn’t this forcing our people in Jingnan to the brink of extinction?!”
“County Honour, we can’t read or write, but we can tell the difference between good and bad. County honourable set our Jingnan grain price so high, make black hearted money from it, I don’t have the face to do the job under county honourable, otherwise go back, the village people will poke my backbone mile ……”
“The county honourable, do you know how the people outside scold you, everyone scolded you are black hearted maggot …….”
“The county respect, you are going to drive our Jingnan father and mother to extinction ah, each catty of grain 17 Wen, which in the pre-flood are enough to buy a catty of meat. With grain prices so expensive, people can’t afford to eat, they can only drink congee.”
“Prefectural Governor, we were on duty today and saw with our own eyes that the grain merchants in our county came one after another to give you gifts of thanks, and I heard that you didn’t reject any of them. County Duke, you’ve changed, you’re no longer the same Qing Tian Daoliang in our hearts who pleads for the people and has a clean slate.”
……
The crowd of Xuyun officials and servants under the hall had a lot of opinions, and for a while there was chaos under the hall, like a food market.
“Gentlemen, this is my fault, I was in a hurry to get things done, I failed to consult the people in advance before the decree was introduced, which caused everyone to misunderstand.”Zhu Pingan pulled the corner of his mouth and smiled bitterly, saying to the crowd.
“Misunderstanding? Oh, County Eunuch you said we misunderstood? Can it be that you, County Eunuch, have inflated the price of grain in my Jingnan, pricing it at 2,500 Wen per stone, or is it for the sake of disaster relief, for the sake of the people of my Jingnan?”
A cold laugh rang out from the hall.
“Yes, indeed.”Zhu Pingan nodded with a serious face.
“Huh?”
“Heh ……Who believes that?!”
As soon as Zhu Pingan’s words fell, a roaring sneer rang out from the hall.
“I believe!”
“I believe!”
“I believe our Duke!”
In the midst of a burst of ridicule from the crowd, Liu Mu, Liu Dazhu, Liu Dahammer and the other five stood up and replied decisively, their voices were loud and their gazes were firm, they did not have an ounce of doubt in Zhu Pingan’s words.
What? How could there be people who still believe in Prefecture Zun’s bullshit?
When the crowd heard this, they were first stunned for a moment, after seeing that it was Liu Mu, Liu Dazhou and the others who spoke, they were not surprised and sneered, ”You guys are the County Honour’s cronies, and you’ve gained enough benefits by following Zhu Pingan, so of course you believe it. Hehe, not to mention the county honourable said that he raised the price of grain is for disaster relief, is the county honourable said that the sun came out of the west, you are also surely eyes without blinking said that this day the sun rose in the west! Hmph, this time the county governor received black hearted money, you may also follow a share of the soup!”
“What nonsense!”Liu Dazhou and the others glared at them, “County Honour is not that kind of person!”
The crowd returned them with a cold smile.
“Alright, all of you listen to me.”Zhu Pingan waved his hand, controlling the situation that was about to get out of control.
“Gentlemen, do you think it’s the silver that’s important or your lives?”Zhu Pingan asked the crowd.
“Is there any need to ask, of course it’s life that’s important. Money is something outside the body, silver can never be earned, and those who earn more or less have their own way of living, but there is only one life.”The crowd returned without thinking.
“Just the county respect this problem, and you raise the price of grain has anything to do with it! You don’t need to be sophomoric anymore. Now that the flood has not yet receded and the people have already suffered heavy losses, for everyone, of course, the lower the grain price, the better for everyone. If grain prices are low, everyone can still afford to buy and eat. With the price of food rising from 400 Wen to 1,350 Wen per kilogram before the disaster, the people are already suffering, and now that you have raised the price of food to 2,500 Wen, the ordinary people cannot even afford to eat, and they can only have congee for their families. The common people whose families are poor can’t even afford to drink congee, so they can only wait to starve to death.”
“Prefectural Governor, in order to control the lowering of grain prices, the Prefecture chopped off the heads of two unscrupulous merchants on the street, and in order to control the lowering of grain prices, Linhai County, Taiping County, and other counties, they all arrested several unscrupulous merchants who were jacking up the price of grain and sent them to prison! Relying on this thunderous tactic, the grain prices in the Prefecture and other counties have come down and stabilised at around 500 Wen per stone. The government is now using thunderous means to lower grain prices everywhere! For your own selfish interests, you have gone backwards and defined our grain prices in Jingnan as 2,500 wen per stone in an official document. If you are doing this for the sake of disaster relief and for the good of the people of Jingnan, then the world is upside down and the heavens are blind! We have nothing to say but to excuse ourselves!”
The crowd felt that Zhu Pingan’s question of which was more important, silver or life, was nothing more than strong words and confusion.
