Chapter 282 Affordable Food
Lv Songli invested 10,000 dan of grain in five counties and towns, which was like a drop of water falling into an oil pan, causing an uproar.
Everyone took their household registration books and lined up in the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Grain and Oil Store in the town and county.
Nowadays, people have more than ten people in one household registration book, unlike in later generations, when a single family has four or five people. Therefore, even if each person is limited to buying three kilograms and a maximum of thirty-six kilograms, many people have bought enough grain.
The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Grain and Oil Store sold affordable grain for the first time. Wu Ren personally took charge and started selling at noon and worked until the evening.
Those who bought grain came out of the grain store with dozens of kilograms of grain, and went home with their families, talking and laughing while protecting the grain.
Wu Ren saw that there was not much grain left in the grain tank, and there were still many people queuing outside. After thinking for a while, he went out and counted the five people in front of him. He came to the sixth person and said, "Uncle, the grain is almost sold out. Don't queue up behind you. Go home."
Some people who came late and didn't buy anything were already anxious. When they heard Wu Ren's words, they couldn't stand it.
"Why is it sold out? I haven't bought it yet." The old man who spoke was very self-blaming. He blamed himself for walking too slowly.
Some people with poor tolerance cried, "Yes, my family is almost out of food, so I hope to buy some cheap food to take back."
Some people begged Wu Ren, "Young man, can you ask the store to add some more grain?" They had seen that this was a conscientious merchant. The grain they sold was all good grain. The next door was 15 cents a pound.
The shopkeeper next door came out to check four or five times this afternoon, and he was fuming.
Wu Ren also noticed this scene, but Wu Ren was not afraid of him. What background did their Liaodong Chamber of Commerce have?
Besides, on the issue of grain prices, Lord Lu also asked Guo Chunsheng to talk to the grain merchants, asking them not to set the price so high, to make it cheaper, and to occasionally release some special price grain for the poor people. But these profiteers cried and shouted that they were not making money. If they really wanted to lower the price, they would rather close the store.
This forced his master to try hard to find a way to get grain for Liaodong County outside.
Facing the hopeful eyes of the people, Wu Ren could only smile bitterly and bow, "Dear uncles and aunts, the grain quota of the small store is really used up today."
This 10,000 shi of grain, 1.2 million jin, the master said that they should release it in three times.
Today is the first day of the release of affordable grain. Houcheng has invested 1,000 shi, which is 120,000 jin, and the other four counties have invested a little less, which is 70,000 jin.
He is now in Gaoxian County. The entire Gaoxian County has eight townships. , each town has a store of theirs, and each store is only allocated less than 10,000 kilograms of grain.
All sold out in one afternoon, and their shop assistants were all exhausted.
Wu Ren's words made those who had not bought grain yet in the present uproar.
Wu Ren hurriedly said, "Listen to me, everyone. If you don't buy it today, you can come tomorrow. Tomorrow it will still be sold at noon."
Someone immediately asked him, "Then brother, can you close your store and we stay?" They have to continue queuing, otherwise if they go back, they will not be able to catch up tomorrow. What should they do?
Wu Ren thought for a while and said, "How about this, I will have someone register you in the queue and give you a serial number. When you come tomorrow, you can queue up according to the serial number, okay?"
Some people think his method is okay, and some people think it is safer to stay in the queue.
The grain was indeed sold out very quickly, and the shop assistants of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Gaoxian County Grain and Oil Branch were busy doing the finishing work and preparing for proofing.
The people who had lined up before did not leave. Today's grain was sold out, so they were no longer anxious. Instead, they had the leisure to chat. The last two people who carried grain out were a pair of brothers. They were stopped by people from the same village.
"Uncle Zhang, have you split up the households?" Otherwise, you couldn't buy so much grain. The two bags of grain must have weighed more than 36 kilograms.
"Yes, we split up the households. Food is the most important thing."
"There are 21 people in our Zhang family. If we don't split up the households, we can only buy 30 kilograms of grain, which is not enough to eat."
The Zhang brothers replied separately. After they finished replying, they saw that the sky was gradually getting darker, so they hurriedly said goodbye to the villagers.
The split up of the Zhang family made many people present think about it. In addition, there were so many people who didn't buy grain today, which aggravated their anxiety. They also wanted to split up the households.
This scene fell into Wu Ren's eyes. He laughed secretly. The master's trick was really good. The split up of households could not be forced, but still had to be induced.
The next afternoon, Wu Ren noticed that there were still many people queuing to buy grain.
On the third day, even people from other counties came to line up. However, according to regulations, the grain invested in Gaoxian County can only be purchased by the people of Gaoxian County first.
Wu Ren has been in charge of this store for three consecutive days. He has a young face and smiles at everyone. His friendly appearance makes people feel very good.
The uncles and aunts, feeling familiar with him, can't help but get close to him.
"Manager Wu, who opened this Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Grain and Oil Store, and who is the owner?"
"Yes, I haven't heard of this grain and oil store before."
"Our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce is a new business." Seeing that they were still confused, Wu Ren continued to explain, "In fact, it is similar to the Ji family business. Have you heard of the Ji family business?"
"I have heard of it."
Wu Ren continued, "Our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce was specially approved by the county governor, specializing in high-quality and low-priced goods."
The old man who spoke nodded, "For example, the grain you sold this time is very good and cheap."
"Haha, thank you for the compliment, old man. In the future, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce will handle more types of items, so stay tuned."
"Yes, otherwise the price of food would be so high that people would die."
"Yes, this food is good, but the purchase is restricted. There is too little that can be purchased, and many people cannot buy it."
Wu Ren smiled. In fact, they calculated the purchase limit. In the past three days, they could basically buy food for 5,000 households, covering 80% of the population.
"There is no way. The entire Liaodong County is short of food. In fact, it is not just Liaodong County. There is a flood in the south. There is a food shortage everywhere."
An old man with a mustache next to him shrugged and said, "Just laugh at the fact that you still have such affordable food in Gaoxian County. We don't have it in Liaotuan County yet."
The young man next to him immediately said, "We don't even have one in Xinshui County."
The people in Gaoxian County were stunned when they heard this. They thought that every county and town had cheap food for sale.
Then they started talking about it.
"Don't you have any in Liaotui County?"
"Don't you even have a chance to study in the county?"
"No, no!" the young man replied.
God knows, when they learned that the nearby Wulu County and Liaoyang County had cheap food for sale, but they didn't have it in Xiandu County, they almost burst into tears. Who knows the feeling of grievance?
"How could this be?"
The old man with a moustache said in a plain voice, "Houcheng has put in the most affordable food this time. People in Houcheng are limited to buying five kilograms per person, and they have basically bought it. Others such as Wangping, Wuyou, Gao Xian, Liaoyang and other counties and towns have limited purchases to three kilograms per person, and most people have bought it.”
"Shopkeeper Wu, what's going on?"
Wu Ren was not in a hurry to explain. When the old man with the mustache finished speaking and the others came to ask him, he said, "Everyone, please be quiet. I will explain to everyone."
"First of all, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce operates independently. We will cooperate with some government policy controls when convenient and appropriate, but we are not subject to government control."
"Secondly, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce did not obtain much food this time and was unable to cover the eighteen counties of Liaodong County. Please forgive me for this."
"Then, Houcheng is where the new county governor's office is, and Wangping, Wulu, and Liaoyang counties are bordering the Xianbei grassland. A lot of food was robbed last year. The people in these counties are living too hard. Not to mention , They are still working to build roads. "More policies to benefit the people are needed to appease and attract people who have left their homes to return.
"The last reason is because of the crime of holding a jade. We have too many bandit nests in Liaodong County. Once the grain is divided, no one is sure which village will be sighted and then be killed by the bandits. Therefore, the distribution range of affordable grain , tentatively designated as the counties and towns where these bandits have been eradicated.”
"No, what about Gaoxian County? It doesn't border Xianbei." Someone raised doubts.
"Gaoxian County is able to get affordable grain because it happens to be evenly distributed. It can only be said that it is very lucky. Moreover, Gaoxian County is already assisting the army in suppressing bandits."
After Wu Ren's words spread, the people of Houcheng were very proud. Other counties, such as Wang Pingping, are also proud of you, while people in the other thirteen counties have a bitter taste in their mouths.
They can also serve as corvees to build roads or support the army in fighting bandits. They are guaranteed to be obedient.
Lord Sheriff, the owner of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce, you can't favor one over the other.
Wu Ren finally reassured, "But please don't worry, our boss is already doing its best to purchase food. In the future, the other fifteen counties will also have affordable food for sale. Please be patient and wait."
After saying that, he wanted to go back to the store, but was stopped by the aunt next to him, "Shopkeeper Wu, will all the good things from your Liaodong Chamber of Commerce be limited to purchase like this time?"
"Yes, there will be a limit to the purchase of household registration books, and there is a limit for each household registration book."
As soon as he finished speaking, another lady grabbed him and said, "Shopkeeper Wu, are you still hiring people in your store? My eldest son is tall and strong. He can help you carry the goods." Can you enter? This store is so good. Not to mention the wages, I can tell you in advance that they will have good stuff for sale in the future.
"We are recruiting. But auntie, our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce will be strict in recruiting people. Basically, they all need to be literate. The specific recruitment requirements will be posted, so everyone just pay attention."
Many of the current members of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce are recruited from Tianshui Village, the original team.
The aunt let go after hearing his words.
When they were talking, everyone else was listening carefully and took Wu Ren's words to heart. Some people were happy and some were worried when they heard Wu Ren say that they needed to recruit people who could read. But without exception, everyone is somewhat aware of the importance of reading and literacy.