Chapter 268 Tiger Is Out

Yang Ge was sleeping deeply in the bright and warm spring light outside the inn door. Xiao Huang lay beside the rocking chair and slept soundly with him. His even snores, one large and one small, made Zhao Miao, who was guarding behind the counter, feel particularly at ease.

In the front hall, Xiao Baoqi, who was exhausted from playing mahjong, stretched his neck and glanced at Yang Ge. He suddenly pushed his cards and said dullly: "No more playing, it's not interesting..."

Flea and Rogue followed his gaze and glanced outside the gate, sighing in unison.

Only Shit looked left and right with a blank look on his face.

Xiao Baoqi played mahjong and pondered for a moment, then put down the mahjong and stood up and walked to the counter softly.

Seeing this, all the salty fish stopped playing mahjong in unison and turned their attention to him.

"The second shopkeeper."

Xiao Baoqi walked quietly to the counter, scratched the counter and whispered with a worried look: "It's not a problem if the second master keeps doing this..."

Although Yang Ge used to eat salted fish, he was still very salty. He studied growing and cooking vegetables all day long, and drank wine and played mahjong in his spare time.

Since the death of the old shopkeeper, he has been as if his energy has been drained away from him. He is listless all day long. He has stopped growing vegetables, cooking delicious food, drinking wine, and playing mahjong. He spent all day basking in the sun and sleeping, and the dying old man was more energetic than him...

They felt uncomfortable looking at him like this every day.

"Thanks for caring."

Zhao Miao pursed her lips, smiled and replied softly: "Second brother is very good, he just... hasn't figured out how to live the rest of his life."

Her heart is very close to Yang Ge, and she can already empathize with some of Yang Ge's feelings.

After losing his closest and most important family member again, he has no interest in doing anything, as if everything in the world has suddenly lost its meaning... If there are four seasons in life, he is now in a long cold winter.

She had already thought about it. Even if Yang Ge woke up one day and suddenly said that he wanted to travel around the world, she would follow him.

"real?"

Xiao Baoqi glanced doubtfully at Yang Ge who was sleeping soundly at the door: "If that doesn't work, I'd better ask Leader Yang and Master Li to come back to the inn and play with the second master for a while. Their brothers are easy to talk to. They can talk to the second master, and they are more useful than us... We can handle this matter, and we all have ways to send the news to the ears of Leader Yang and Master Li. "

Zhao Miao smiled and nodded: "I will ask you for help when needed."

She knew that the second brother didn't want to trouble his friends.

I also know that he is trying to heal himself.

At the right time, a feeble and timid voice came from outside the door: "Shopkeeper, can you give me a bowl of cold rice..."

Zhao Miao and Xiao Baoqi both turned to look over and saw a mother and son in rags and sallow complexions standing outside the inn, holding a chipped pottery bowl in their hands and looking at them timidly.

After the two of them glanced at the mother and son, they subconsciously turned to look at Yang Ge on the other side, and saw that Yang Ge, who was sleeping soundly, had opened his eyes at some point and was looking at the mother and son intently.

At this moment, neither of them could tell whether they were happy or sad.

"Sister-in-law, come in and sit down quickly. We run an inn and we have plenty of food..."

Zhao Miao was the first to come to his senses, quickly walked out from behind the counter to meet them, and reached out to hold the mother and son.

Her clean hands made the stained mother subconsciously hug the child in her arms and take a step back.

As if Zhao Miao couldn't see the stains on her body, he stepped forward and took his mother's hand, gently pulling them towards the inn: "Brother Erniu, is there any hot rice in the pot?"

Zhang Erniu's melodious voice came from the backyard: "Second shopkeeper, the rice is still hot..."

Zhao Miao: "Put out two bowls of rice, and then make two bowls of vegetable soup."

Zhang Erniu: "Come on!"

"Shopkeeper, I, I don't have any money..."

"It's okay, it's okay, the sky is huge and the food is the biggest!"

Zhao Miao couldn't help but push the mother and son into the empty table at the door, turned around and walked quickly into the backyard.

Xiao Baoqi turned his head again and glanced at Yang Ge at the door. Seeing that he had closed his eyes again, he let out a breath of relief, walked back to the mahjong table and sat down, rubbing his mahjong to greet the many salted fish. : "Stop looking and keep going!"

After a while, Zhao Miao came out of the backyard with two large bowls of rice and two bowls of vegetable soup: "You guys eat slowly, there is not enough left in the pot, ah..."

When she saw the food, her mother stood up with tears streaming down her face, pressed the child in her arms and knelt down to Zhao Miao: "The shopkeeper is so kind and kind, you saved our lives!"

Zhao Miao hurriedly put down the tray and went to pull the mother and son: "Get up quickly, who is not in trouble..."

"I can't live anymore, I really can't live anymore. As soon as the price of food increases, the rent has increased several times. His father went to the landlord for comment, but he was beaten to death by the landlord, leaving us orphans and widows... "

The sound of mahjong playing gradually subsided in the front hall, and all the salted fish turned their attention to the rocking chair outside the counter in tacit agreement.

In full view of everyone, Yang Ge stood up expressionlessly and walked slowly towards the crying couple.

Seeing this, the flea on the other side got up and trotted to Yang Ge, stopping him: "Second Master, there is no need to dirty your hands for such a small matter. Let the villain do it, and the villain will definitely handle it properly." when!"

"This is no small matter."

Yang Ge smiled faintly, slowly but resolutely pulled Flea away, walked to the square table and sat down, pushed the rice and vegetable soup in front of the little boy who was staring at the food and swallowing hard, and said warmly: "Sister-in-law, you Where are you from? "

My mother wiped away her tears and sobbed and replied: "Sir, we are from Zhangde, and we fled all the way here..."

Yang Ge glanced at Flea.

The flea understood and explained: "It's not far to the north, close to Handan, Hebei."

Yang Ge nodded and continued to ask softly: "Sister-in-law, you eat first, and we'll chat while we eat... How much did the price of food increase there before you two fled the famine?"

Mother took a few mouthfuls of rice, slowly stopped her sobs, and replied vaguely: "Sir, before we fled the famine, the sorghum rice had already reached more than 40 cents a dou, and the millet price had reached more than 50 cents a dou. fight……"

Yang Ge knew what was going on, and said with a smile: "You eat slowly, eat more, and take care of yourself. Our inn knows the boss here. I will ask them to come later to see how to settle you two... Don't be afraid , when you get to Luting, you will find a way to survive. As long as you are diligent, no one will starve to death here! "

When the mother heard this, she was excited and panic-stricken, and hurriedly picked up her son, who was choking and rolling his eyes, and wanted to kneel down to Yang Ge again.

Yang Ge quickly supported the two women and tried to persuade them to sit down and eat in peace.

He turned around and exhaled slowly.

Zhao Miao went up to meet him and said in a low voice with an ugly face: "Second brother, the sorghum and rice in the grain market are thirteen cents per dou and millet nineteen cents per dou, which are a little cheaper than usual..."

Sorghum rice and millet are both coarse grains, especially sorghum rice, which tastes astringent and hard, and its price has always been lower than that of rice and wheat, two fine grains.

"Well, I understand."

Yang Ge nodded slightly and said, "Don't worry about it, I will solve it."

Zhao Miao stared at him, slowly smiled, and nodded heavily.

Yang Ge turned around and walked out of the inn, went back to the rocking chair and lay down, and waved to the embroidered guard spy who was selling pancakes across the street.

Seeing this, the embroidered guard quickly wrapped two cooking cakes in dried lotus leaves and quickly brought them over: "My lord, please try the cooking cakes that have just come out of the pot."

Yang Ge picked up the cooking cake and took a bite. He took out two copper coins with a smile and handed them over: "Go to the right office and ask Fang Ke to come over."

"Why!"

The embroidered guard spy took the copper coins and said, turned around and left quickly.

Yang Ge put the warm cooking cake in his arms, tore it into pieces and put it in his mouth, thinking about this matter in his mind.

The previous short-term food shortage was caused by heavy snow and road closures.

It stands to reason that the grain channels have been cleared long ago, and grain prices should return to normal...

He let out a long breath, knowing in his heart that those tigers, leopards and wolves were using the same tactics they used against the emperor on Yang Ge!

He was thinking about something and tearing the cakes one bite at a time.

Before the two pieces of cooking cakes were finished, Fang Ke, dressed in regular clothes, hurried over.

Previously, he had misjudged the situation and mistakenly thought that the imperial court's tigers, leopards and wolves were going to cause trouble in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Unexpectedly, the rear plan of those tigers, leopards and wolves was not in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but in the southwest. Fang Ke naturally returned without success. .

Perhaps it was not a failure. Since then, there have indeed been no problems with the grain storage channels in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It is difficult to say whether Fang Ke's contribution was involved.

"Sir, are you calling me?"

"Go and bring a stool to sit on..."

"Why!"

Fang Ke turned around and walked into the inn. After saying hello to Zhao Miao and the familiar salted fish, he came out with a stool and sat down next to Yang Ge.

Yang Ge was not polite to him, and went straight to the point: "Do you know about the high food prices in various provinces?"

"this……"

Fang Ke glanced at him with a guilty look, and replied cautiously: "I know a little bit, but the government is already working on adjusting grains to stabilize grain prices..."

Yang Ge: "Since you know, why don't you tell me?"

Fang Ke remained silent.

Yang Ge knew that he didn't want to cause trouble for him, so he asked instead: "Is the rise in food prices in various provinces serious?"

Fang Ke nodded quickly and said: "As far as I know, everything is still under control..."

Yang Ge slowly frowned and pointed at the mother and son in the inn: "Who is under their control?"

Fang Ke took a look at his hand and suddenly realized something in his heart, but he fell silent again.

It's not that he doesn't know how to answer, he just knows that if he says those words, he will definitely get slapped in the face!

Yang Ge continued to ask: "What is the current situation in the court?"

Fang Ke pondered for a long time and said, "It's also difficult for officials!"

After setting the tone, he continued this line of thinking and said: "Those civil and military ministers in the DPRK who were dissatisfied with the New Deal turned a blind eye and depleted the food reserves in Hanjiacang last year."

"Nowadays, millions of civilians in the capital are asking for food, 600,000 imperial troops are asking for food, 600,000 to 700,000 border troops in the north are asking for food, and the 400,000 troops going south to suppress the rebellion are not even getting enough food for a moment. Dare to be late, with such a large grain mobilization, even if all the grain roads in the fourteen provinces are open, it will not be able to make up for the shortfall in a while, let alone those tigers, leopards and jackals that are always causing obstacles for the officials..."

"It's difficult!"

Fang Ke sighed.

This is also the reason why he did not inform Yang Ge about the high food prices in various places. In his opinion, the imperial court was already trying its best to solve the matter. Telling Yang Ge about the matter again would not solve anything except adding trouble to him. question.

Yang Ge narrowed his eyes and sneered: "Just ignore the difficulties? Just let the people of all provinces suffer from the disasters?"

Fang Ke glanced at him and tactfully persuaded: "Sir, you have to eat one bite at a time and do things one step at a time. The emperor has been in power for a short time. It is not easy to achieve this step. You have to give him some time..."

Yang Ge: "I don't deny his desire to do things, and I don't deny his efforts for the people of the world, but Zhao Hong can wait for this kind of thing, but can those people who can't afford to eat wait? If you are not anxious now, do you have to wait until you have to exchange your children for food and nine out of ten houses are empty before you are anxious?"

From the grain prices mentioned by the eldest sister-in-law just now, he has already judged that the court has made efforts to stabilize the grain prices.

Otherwise, the increase in grain prices will definitely not be doubled or tripled...

You know, there is no upper limit to the grain price during the famine season.

The result of a 10% shortage of grain in the world has never been a 10% increase in grain prices, but the grain price will continue to rise until at least 10% of people starve to death!

Yang Ge spoke calmly, without any anger or murderous intent in his tone.

But Fang Ke, who knew him well, began to panic when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "Your Excellency is right. I will go to the capital to see Lord Shen immediately. Please report your intention to the government and ask the court to try to increase the speed of grain transportation and bring down the grain price..."

"Do you think this will work?"

Yang Ge smiled and said: "If they still have a way, will they watch the grain prices in various places soar straight up?"

Fang Ke: "Your Excellency..."

Yang Ge waved his hand to interrupt his dissuasion, and said softly: "I remember that the ceremonial guards of my Lu Tinggong are all in Shangyousuo, right?"

Fang Ke was stunned for two seconds, and for a moment he didn't understand what he was thinking. Asking what he was planning to do, he nodded hesitantly and said, "Your dragon robes and ceremonial guards are indeed in the government office."

Yang Ge said lightly, "Bring them to me, and send another team of brothers to follow me to Beijing."

Fang Ke was shocked: "Sir, we can't do it recklessly. You have finally had a few days of peace. There is no need to get involved in that muddy water!"

"I don't want to get involved in that muddy water either."

Yang Ge slowly closed his eyes and murmured in a low voice, "But there are short-lived people who want to send their heads to the guillotine anyway! What can I do? I can only fulfill their wishes."

Fang Ke: 'Fuck, I'm going to die, die, die...'