kingnovel Chapter 132 Information
Chapter 132 Information
After Jiang Jiang was led into the side room and sat down, a maid immediately brought her a pot of tea and two plates of cakes.
Jiang Jiang picked up a piece of mung bean cake and put it in her mouth. It was sweet and soft. She ate two or three pieces in a row.
Sure enough, the lives of wealthy people will not be affected no matter where they go.
Jiang Jiang waited for a while before Mrs. Zhou finally arrived.
She came in a hurry, her steps were so quick that the gold hairpin on her hair was a little crooked.
Jiang Jiang noticed that she didn't look very well.
After Mrs. Zhou entered the room, she forced a smile and greeted Jiang Jiang.
"Sister Jiang, how come you have time to come here today? I was busy with something urgent here, so I'm late."
Mrs. Zhou sat down and drank two sips of tea before she came to her senses.
Jiang Jiang felt a little embarrassed. She came here suddenly, and it was very nice of her that Mrs. Zhou could come and receive her in person.
"No, no, I just came to visit unexpectedly and disturbed you, madam."
Jiang Jiang knew that she came here mainly to inquire about the food problem in the city, so she asked indirectly:
"Mrs. Zhou, our family has moved into Jiangzhou for more than half a month. Thanks to the care of the Zhou family, we will always remember your kindness."
When Mrs. Zhou heard this, she just smiled faintly and shook her head.
"Don't talk about gratitude or not. Without your family and everyone in Daxi Village, it's unknown whether we can reach Jiangzhou safely. This is not a favor from the Zhou family to you, but a help between us."
Mrs. Zhou sighed. When she heard that Jiang Jiang was coming to visit, she roughly knew what she wanted to do.
There has been a recent food shortage in the city and their restaurant has also run into problems. Li Sheng works in the restaurant and must be well-informed about the news.
That's why she guessed that Jiang Jiang came to visit the Zhou family this time to ask for food relief.
However, the Zhou family's food reserves were running low, so Mrs. Zhou decided to give at most 50 kilograms of food to Jiang Jiang's family.
But what Jiang Jiang said was completely different from what she had imagined.
I saw her lift the cloth on the backpack, revealing the white rice underneath.
"Mrs. Zhou, two days ago, my relative wrote to me, saying that a friend of his who has been sailing overseas for many years just brought a shipload of food from Siam, and asked him to send me two stone of rice through his connections."
As she spoke, Jiang Jiang grabbed a handful of rice, and the white rice slipped through her fingers.
"I heard that Siam has a hot climate and rice can be harvested three times a year. I thought that although this rice is not valuable, it is at least this year's new rice, so I sent some to you, Madam Zhou, to try."
Mrs. Zhou took a look and saw that the full basket of rice weighed at least 50 kilograms. It was definitely not the worthless thing that Jiang Jiang said.
However, what surprised her most was not the basket of rice, but the boatload of grain that Jiang Jiang mentioned.
That's a shipload of food!
Thinking of her brother's grief-stricken expression after hearing the news from the prefect a few days ago, Mrs. Zhou felt that there might be a turning point in this matter.
Mrs. Zhou was so excited that she stood up, walked quickly to Jiang Jiang and grabbed her hand.
"Sister Jiang, is what you said true? Is there really a shipload of food brought back from Siam?"
Jiang Jiang's somewhat embarrassed expression made Mrs. Zhou realize immediately that there might be some unexpected changes.
Jiang Jiang seemed to have a mental struggle for a while before he spoke quietly:
"Mrs. Zhou, please don't let anyone know what I'm telling you. My relative's friend smuggled the grain back. The grain was unloaded in a warehouse at Jiangzhou Wharf. No one else knows about it."
Mrs. Zhou understood immediately without Jiang Jiang saying much.
This shipload of food was not brought back through formal channels, and there are many complications involved.
"Sister Jiang, can you act as a middleman and let our Zhou family take that batch of grain?"
Mrs. Zhou thought about it and asked shamelessly.
She knew that this might be a little unreasonable, but she had no other choice.
All the wealthy families in the city have been hit hard recently, but they have managed to avoid liquidation because of their connections with the government.
Jiang Jiang hesitated a little and asked in a low voice: "Mrs. Zhou, can you tell me what happened?"
Mrs. Zhou sighed, glanced at the maids in the room, and waved her hand to let them go out.
Jiang Jiang perked up, she knew that here came the point.
Mrs. Zhou said, "Last year's harvest was good, and Jiangzhou should have a lot of grain stored. If these grains are stored for a long time, they will become damp and moldy, so many officials will secretly sell the collected official grain to merchants. The previous prefect did this."
“Unexpectedly, there was a severe drought this year. When the new governor ordered the granaries to be opened, he found that there was not a single grain of rice left.”
When talking about this, Mrs. Zhou looked panicked.
In recent days, the prefect was furious and killed many people.
After hearing what Mrs. Zhou said, Jiang Jiang finally understood what was happening in the major restaurants and grain shops in Jiangzhou City in recent days.
Jiangzhou, there is no food!
It can also be said that the Jiangzhou government and people have run out of food!
"But what's the use of this? All the food is gone, so the prefect issued an order to buy up the stored grain from the major grain merchants in the city, but the effect was minimal."
Jiang Jiang pursed her lips and asked like an ordinary woman, "That's the prefect. If he gives an order, shouldn't others listen?"
Mrs. Zhou could only smile bitterly.
"Those big businessmen are only interested in profit, and the relationships behind them are complicated. As long as they are not caught by the prefect, they are not afraid at all."
Jiang Jiang has a deep understanding of this point.
Big businessmen, driven by profits that are hundreds or thousands of times greater, will do it even at the risk of being hanged.
"That is to say, those grain merchants have grain, but they deliberately don't release it in order to drive up prices, allowing refugees and people to starve to death?"
Mrs. Zhou nodded. It was the same in Jiangzhou, not to mention the counties.
Her brother has been racking his brains over this matter recently. If he fails to handle this matter well, let alone making further progress, he is afraid that he will lose his official position.
"Then I will try my best to ask. If it really doesn't work, please don't blame me, Madam Zhou."
"No, no, if you're willing to ask, I'll appreciate it."
When leaving, Mrs. Zhou saw that several pieces of the mung bean cake had been eaten. She suddenly had an idea and asked the kitchen to make several plates of various cakes and pack them for Jiang Jiang to take away.
Carrying a few boxes of pastries, Jiang Jiang was silently thinking about something in his mind.
Originally, she thought that if Jiangzhou ran out of food, their family would need to leave early before the riots.
But if those merchants have grain and just rely on the rarity of the commodity to deliberately monopolize it, then she has a way.