The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

"Lord Liu, Lord Liu, the price of charcoal has now risen to ten taels per load."

While Magistrate Liu was trying to find a solution to the charcoal problem, a yamen runner rushed in and told him the latest news from the market.

Magistrate Liu's eyes widened.

Ten taels per load.

Good heavens, what's the difference between this and robbery?
No, there is a difference; at least they gave us a load of charcoal.

Who can afford a load of charcoal for ten taels of silver?
Due to the sudden drop in temperature, the charcoal in the county government office was insufficient, and it had to be used sparingly each day. As a result, the entire county government office was only burning one basin of charcoal. One basin of charcoal was not enough to ward off the cold, and the entire county government office could not feel a trace of warmth. Even so, Magistrate Liu was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

He had already imagined the scene of refugees storming the county government office.

His incompetence lies in failing to mobilize more charcoal and control charcoal prices.

He had originally planned to gather charcoal from Ningcheng, but Ningcheng itself was now in dire straits.

Not to mention Ningcheng, even the entire northern region of Dasheng is struggling to source coal.

In winter, with the extreme cold, who would have extra charcoal to send to Pingchuan?
Just as Magistrate Liu was at his wits' end, Tong Huaqiong requested an audience outside the county government office.

Magistrate Liu originally did not want to meet her, as he did not think Tong Huaqiong could solve any problems at this time.

But Tong Huaqiong was, after all, a local lady, and had a close relationship with his mother, so she waved her hand and invited him in.

Tong Huaqiong walked in without beating around the bush and said directly, "Lord Liu, you must be worried about the charcoal, that's exactly what I've come for."

Lord Liu became excited as soon as he heard the word "charcoal".

Aunt Tong arrived just in time.

However, he quickly calmed down; how much charcoal could Aunt Tong possibly have?

"Aunt Tong, do you have any charcoal? How much?" Magistrate Liu asked.

Tong Huaqiong said, "I have 200,000 jin."

To dispel Magistrate Liu's suspicion that she was maliciously hoarding charcoal, she explained, "I had some spare money and didn't know what to do with it. Just this summer, I met a charcoal merchant selling off his stock, saying that due to the recent mild winters, charcoal prices were low and he was going to switch to another business. I figured charcoal wouldn't spoil, so I hoarded it."

At this point, Magistrate Liu did not connect Tong Huaqiong with the malicious hoarding of charcoal.

He felt that Tong Huaqiong was the guardian deity of his career.

Two hundred thousand catties of charcoal!
Where could he possibly gather 200,000 catties of charcoal at this point?

These 200,000 jin of charcoal are enough to save the people of Ningcheng from the cold.

Magistrate Liu felt that Tong Huaqiong's 200,000 jin of charcoal was a timely help to the people of Pingchuan.

This sense of righteousness is indeed in line with Aunt Tong's style.

Magistrate Liu said, "Excellent, excellent! Aunt Tong not only saved me, but also the people of the entire city."

Magistrate Liu then flattered Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong stared intently at Magistrate Liu's burning gaze and discussed the distribution of the charcoal. The 200,000 catties of charcoal could not be distributed only to Pingchuan County, but also to various towns and villages.

Moreover, towns and villages need charcoal more than county towns.

Because those who can live in Pingchuan County are not necessarily rich, but they are certainly much better off than those living in the countryside.

Many residents of the county had already bought charcoal at the beginning of winter. The current rush to buy charcoal is mostly driven by rural people who couldn't find it in their towns and came to the county to try their luck. A large number of people are also being misled by rumors that the extreme cold will continue until May of next year, and they want to hoard more charcoal. "Lord Liu," Tong Huaqiong said to Magistrate Liu, "the whole city is saying that the cold winter will last until May. I think someone is deliberately spreading rumors to create panic and dump their charcoal at high prices. Although this winter is colder than usual, I think it can't go against the seasons. This extreme cold will only last until spring at most. To quell the panic, we should also spread the word that anyone spreading rumors about the extreme cold lasting until May is a profiteering merchant."

Magistrate Liu agreed with Tong Huaqiong's statement.

In this situation, rumors are more damaging than the cold itself.

For example, some people believed the rumor that the cold weather would last until May of the following year, so they ran out of their homes to buy charcoal everywhere. They would die of hypothermia from constantly running around in the extreme cold.

Rumors, if repeated long enough, can become the truth, plunging the entire city into panic.

Magistrate Liu wasn't unaware that someone was deliberately spreading the rumors; the main problem was that he was so preoccupied with dealing with this cold front that he didn't have time to think about the intricacies of the situation.

Now that Tong Huaqiong has a solution, Magistrate Liu's intelligence kicks in, and he immediately sets out to investigate who spread the rumors.

Tong Huaqiong left the county government office and went straight to Jufulai.

Jufulai released some of the charcoal embers.

The news of selling charcoal would surely attract the attention of the entire city, but fortunately, Tong Huaqiong had already anticipated this day and had prepared the rules for selling charcoal.

Gu Baishuang and the shopkeeper were on high alert at Jufulai, waiting for Tong Huaqiong's order to start selling.

To avoid chaos in the carbon purchase process, Tong Huaqiong specifically borrowed yamen runners from Magistrate Liu to maintain order.

The entire city was outraged when the Zheng family raised the price of charcoal to ten taels of silver per load.

Many ordinary people flocked to the county government office demanding an explanation, asking Magistrate Liu to control carbon prices and bring the charcoal vendors who sold them at inflated prices to justice.

Faced with the most dreaded scene, Magistrate Liu calmly stepped forward, first offering some reassurance, and then informing everyone that the owner of Jufulai had brought in charcoal from various places.

Before he could finish speaking, a huge crowd rushed towards Jufulai.

Magistrate Liu was alarmed and quickly dispatched another security team to Jufulai.

Jufulai is selling charcoal, and the price per dan (a unit of weight) is controlled at thirty-five wen, which is only five wen more expensive than last year.

The word spread like wildfire, and everyone crowded into Xiangjufulai.

The crowds were even larger than when Jufulai opened.

With so many people buying charcoal, Tong Huaqiong was worried about a stampede.

Without hesitation, they sought help from Lian Hengruo to distribute the charcoal fire to the Lian family's shop and the Peach Blossom Dessert branch in the county town, thus diverting people away from the area.

Otherwise, with so many people crowding at the entrance of Jufulai waiting to buy charcoal, how long would the queue take?
I'm afraid that if we don't manage to buy charcoal, the people at the door will freeze into popsicles.

Not only Pingchuan County adopted a diversion strategy, but Yanguan Town also adopted the same strategy.

Tong Huaqiong distributed the charcoal from Yanguan Town to Taohua Dessert Shop and Master Huang's shop.

Because Tong Huaqiong's 200,000 jin of goods reassured Magistrate Liu, the official began to systematically arrange disaster prevention and control work without anxiety.

Magistrate Liu was very thoughtful. He immediately ordered sheds to be set up in front of charcoal shops like Jufulai to block the wind, and had ginger soup and other hot soups prepared and brought over. This way, people waiting to buy charcoal wouldn't have to endure the wind and heat.

In addition, Magistrate Liu also rallied wealthy households in the county to donate charcoal to poor people who could not afford charcoal, and set up soup kitchens to prevent some homeless people from freezing or starving to death.

Tong Huaqiong felt that Magistrate Liu had already done a commendable job by reaching this level. (End of Chapter)