Qingyuan Town was not the affected area, but the price of rice kept increasing. A lot of refugees escaped and came to the town to save their lives, but what is the difference? They cannot afford the foods, they get hungry.
Meng Nan frowned and asked: "How many stone meter of rice you can buy for 1 silver coin before?"
Bai Zhi replied: "Some people say that, when the harvest is good, they can buy 4 stone meter of white rice or 5 stone meter of brown rice for 1 silver coin. After the harvest season, the price will increase. Before the refugees came in the town, I was able to buy 3 stone meter of rice for 1 silver coin. But now, you can only buy a bucket of rice for 1 silver coin."
Meng Nan has no knowledge about the unit of measurement of rice. What stone meter? What bucket? He has no idea at all. However, just by hearing Bai Zhi's tone. Obviously, those stone meter was a lot more than a bucket.
Jin Shiwei's said with an embarrassed face: "Zhi'er, actually, every time the sun will rise, there will be many people complaining about the price of rice. They said they cannot afford to buy rice anymore. The pot of rice in their house has long been emptied."
“We reported this matter to Gu Daren, he promised that he will look into it, but in the end, he didn't do anything. When I sent someone to inquire about the price hike, I learned that the rice shops belonged to Gu Daren's relatives. These relatives rely on their relationship to Gu Daren. They unscrupulous increase the price of rice because they know that even if people complain, nothing will change."
Bai Zhi sneered: " “These foxes and tiger, they treating human beings like dogs. This thing, if Gu Daren didn't give his permission, his relative will not dare to be arrogant like this."
Meng Nan stayed silent, but he understood it inside his heart. It’s just, he has no self-concern.
Bai Zhi opened her mouth and asked: “The victims came to Qingyuan Town. I don’t believe that Gu Daren will not report it to the palace court. Normally, the palace court has allocated funds for disaster reliefs, right?”
Meng Nan nodded his head: “Yes, the court had sent grains, but when they were about to enter the town, they met the mountain bandits. Nothing was left behind."
Bai Zhi sneered: “There is no such clever thing in this world. The capital was a thousand miles away from Qingyuan Town, but they didn't encounter a problem. However, when they were about to enter the town, they were robbed by the mountain bandits? Where did all those mountain bandits come from? Do the original mountain bandits all die?"
Meng Nan frowned and asked: “What do you mean by this? Can you make it clear?”
Bai Zhi said: “I think I made it clear enough. Although the mountain bandits are hateful, they only robbed caravans and ordinary people. Have you ever heard mountain bandits robbed the government officials? Did Gu Daren send people to fight all those bandits? Did they catch at least one or two bandits?"
Jin Shiwei, who was sitting on the side, suddenly slapped his thigh and said "Zhi'er you open my eyes ah. After the mountain bandits robbed the food reliefs, Gongzi sent me outside the town to look into it. Aside from the marks of carriage's wheels, there were no signs of fighting, nor trace of blood at all. I was suspicious at that time, but there was no evidence or witnesses. On the way back, I passed by the military station, there were many people wearing ordinary clothes with a knife on their waist. I didn't see what they were doing there, but when I look closely, there was a man wearing the capital military uniform. It was hanging outside his ordinary clothes. It’s just, I didn't pay too much care about it at that time."
Thanks for reading, likes, and comments.
TL’s Request: This site run on ads, so please kindly turn off your ad blocker or add this site to your whitelist to support my translation, if you can.
No spoilers, please!