Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 404 Increasing the Pressure Layer by Layer
"Haha, you two bosses are too kind." The man surnamed Liu, probably the warehouse manager, put his arm around the youngest girl and said, "The grain will be distributed again tomorrow, and as you all know, this time the grain... has caused a lot of anger in the army."

“Not bad.” Another warehouse clerk, with a weasel-like face and a striking resemblance to the General of the Granary, nodded in agreement. “If they’re out there indulging in debauchery, won’t they be inviting trouble?”

"That makes sense, better safe than sorry!" The two bosses gave a thumbs up and then asked, "Is everything ready?"

"It's ready." Warehouse Chief Liu nodded and said, "The three thousand shi are all piled up in the outer warehouse. We'll open it first thing tomorrow morning."

"Will they all be distributed tomorrow?"

“That’s right. Tomorrow, there will be rations for three army commanders, a total of three thousand men, three thousand shi.” Warehouse Chief Liu held up three fingers and said, “You eighteen grain merchants, the three thousand shi that were newly delivered, will all be distributed tomorrow.”

"I understand." The man with the mustache suddenly realized, "Once that batch of 'old goods' is distributed tomorrow, the warehouse will only have new grain left. That way, when the new commander takes office, even if the subordinates complain, we won't be afraid..."

“That’s right.” Warehouse Chief Liu nodded and sighed, “I heard from Military Advisor Ma that the imperial court has appointed a new commander, and our good days are over. So we have to hurry up and clear out the old stock in the warehouse to avoid getting into trouble.”

"The wolf in the east mountain eats meat, but the wolf in the west mountain doesn't eat shit either," said the round-faced merchant. "At most, they'll tighten their belts when they first arrive, but after a while, things will be the same again, won't they?"

“That makes sense, but we’ll have to behave ourselves for a while,” Chief Liu nodded.

"After tomorrow, the warehouse will be full of new rice. We won't be afraid even if the Heavenly King himself comes," the other warehouse officials laughed.

"So, are we still getting more old stock today?" the man with the mustache asked, puzzled.

“As Military Advisor Ma said, ‘People are sick, not poor, but unequal.’ The amount of old rice is not enough, and we are afraid that the people below will feel unbalanced, so we asked you to send another batch, so that everyone can get old rice…” said Warehouse Chief Liu.

"They just want to make one last big profit!" an old soldier next to him bluntly said, "Aren't we the same?"

"Hehe, indeed." The two merchants nodded and continued to enthusiastically urge each other to drink.

The treasury officials had to get up early the next day, and the banquet ended early as well.

The merchants took their leave, but the young lady stayed behind, helping the "Master Ku"s back to their rooms to rest.

Ren Yuan patiently waited for them to finish their business. The room was filled with the sounds of snoring. Only then did he use the Forget-River Reflection on Liu Kuzhang to make him come with him.

Liu Kuzhang obediently sat up, put on his clothes, and said to the girl next to him, "The higher-ups asked me to do something temporarily. Tell them tomorrow morning to open the granary and distribute the grain on time. They don't need to wait for me."

"Oh..." the girl responded, then turned over and continued to sleep soundly.

As soon as Liu, the warehouse manager, came out of the night watch room, Ren Yuan picked him up and they disappeared into the vast night.

~~
After capturing the suspect, Ren Yuan left Hefei and rushed to Xia Cai overnight.

By the time he arrived at General Anxi's camp and asked Chen Zhao to wake Commander Chen, it was already past midnight.

Chen Qingzhi, dressed in his robes, interrogated the two demons and one person at night. Upon hearing that the military advisor had dared to distribute 100% stale rice as rations, he flew into a rage, slamming his fist on the table and demanding, "Your greed has its limits! Aren't you afraid of inciting a mutiny and being torn apart alive by the soldiers?"

"Isn't this the last time we're going to do it?" With Zu'an standing to the side, Liu Kuzhang couldn't tell a lie, so he could only say it as it was:
"Actually, the instructions Ma Canjun received were to distribute 50/50 of the old and 50/50 grain. But the higher-ups would take all the benefits, leaving him only a small portion. Naturally, Ma Canjun was unwilling, so he instructed us to distribute 70% of the old grain and 30% of the new grain, giving him an extra 20% of the old grain so he could make a profit." "But the benefits he gives you are too little, so you have to keep increasing the amount?" Chen Qingzhi laughed angrily.

“Yes. We also added 20%. But later we found that the 10% new rice mixed in didn’t make any difference, so we just fermented it all into old rice.” Warehouse Manager Liu said, “Actually, those unscrupulous merchants aren’t honest either. We want three-year-old rice, no more than five years old. That way, the grain will just taste bad, but it won’t affect its edibility.”

"But they somehow managed to get a large quantity of ten-year-old rice and sold it to us as high-quality rice," Warehouse Manager Liu continued. "They've absolutely no conscience."

"Pfft..." The generals present couldn't hold back their laughter. It was the first time they had ever heard of Chen Mi using inferior materials.

"Because you also pushed the price too low for them," Ren Yuan said calmly. "If it doesn't satisfy their appetite, of course they'll use the even cheaper Old Chen instead, to ensure they can also make a fortune."

"Yes." Chief Liu nodded and said, "We know that they are sending gifts and treating us to meals just to get us to turn a blind eye."

"Are you just turning a blind eye? You're practically blind!" Chen Qingzhi grabbed a handful of the old grain that Ren Yuan had brought back. The rice husks had turned bluish-black, and when he squeezed them, they crumbled into powder, which was actually the excrement of rice weevils.

"You dare feed your soldiers this stuff that even chickens wouldn't eat? Aren't you afraid they'll eat you up?!"

"I never expected those damned grain merchants to send such old rice..." Only then did Warehouse Manager Liu realize he was scared.

"You reap what you sow!" Chen Qingzhi snorted angrily, grabbed the handful of dried rice, and stormed off to find Yuan Shu.

~~
Yuan Shu was utterly shocked to see the disgusting rotten grain in Chen Qingzhi's hands.

"Where did they find this kind of old grain? Even poor people wouldn't have it."

"Of course, ordinary people never have enough grain to eat, so how could they store old grain? Let alone grain that's ten or eight years old or older." Chen Qingzhi nodded and said, "Only in the granaries of landlords and wealthy people, under the condition of improper storage, would there be such antique grains!"

“This can no longer be called grain,” Yuan Shu sighed.

“That’s right. Those grain merchants hardly spent any money to get this batch of old grain. They exchanged two shi for one shi of new grain, so they actually made the most money!” Chen Qingzhi said coldly. “This has always been the way officials and merchants collude. The little bit that officials pocket is far less than the damage they cause!”

“Yes, everyone thinks it’s just adding more weight, but in the end it’s heavier than Mount Tai.” Yuan Shu said with a bitter face, “And you and I, brothers, are about to be crushed by Mount Tai.”

“That’s right.” Chen Qingzhi nodded emphatically. “According to Ren Yuan’s report, the soldiers in Hefei are in uproar. Tomorrow, no, today, the soldiers may mutini!”

"That's absolutely unacceptable!" Yuan Shu said, his face turning ashen. "If there's a mutiny, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"Yes." Chen Qingzhi said in a deep voice, "This subordinate requests permission to immediately lead an elite cavalry force to Hefei to quell the situation!"

"Go quickly, go quickly." Yuan Shu nodded hurriedly when he heard that he wanted to take the initiative to settle the matter. He then took his staff and handed it to him with both hands, saying, "Go ahead and do it. I will take full responsibility."

"Yes!" Chen Qingzhi accepted the gift with both hands and immediately turned and left the tent.

In the camp, two thousand elite cavalrymen in white robes were already fully prepared and were rushing towards Hefei City, closely following Chen Qingzhi!

(End of this chapter)