Chapter 62 Contradictions
In front of the Jizhou government office, people who wanted to buy grain lined up from early morning until nightfall, and even at curfew, many people still had not purchased any grain.

If Wang An had not come forward in person to guarantee that the granaries would be opened for sale of grain the next day, the people would not even be willing to leave.

After all, the price of the affordable grain sold by the government is only two-thirds of the market price. Although Chen He, the chief clerk of the government office, has repeatedly assured that affordable grain will become the norm, the people will always become more suspicious in difficult living conditions.

If one could buy two dan of cheap grain, he would never be willing to buy only one dan, even if one dan of grain was enough for the whole family and there was even some left over.

But fortunately, so far, most of the people who are eligible to buy affordable grain are the bandits and their families who have surrendered from Yueya Mountain.

Although these returnees were bandits in their past, most of them were short of money due to the exploitation by bandits. It was already quite difficult for them to scrape together one or two taels of silver. Not many people could buy a full two-stone share at one time.

This resulted in that after a day of panic buying, when Chen He reported the grain reserves to Wang An, there were still nearly 4,000 shi of rice and beans in the granary.

"At present, it seems that those who are eligible to purchase grain have almost bought it. It is estimated that if we sell another 1,000 shi of grain sporadically, we will be able to meet the needs of the employees. In this way, we will still have 3,000 shi left for emergencies."

After a busy day, Chen He did not look tired at all. Instead, he held the account book and reported to Wang An excitedly.

Wang An also had a smile on his face. Today he took some time to go to the gate of the government office and take a look. The people who bought food were all as happy as if it were New Year.

This also made everyone in the government office, including Wang An, feel happy from the bottom of their hearts.

As the saying goes, when a governor governs a place, the people under his rule are like his own children.

Is there any parent in this world who would not feel happy when seeing their children living well?
The parent official is the parent official...that's it.

The next day, just as Chen He had expected, not many people had money left to buy food, and most of them were returnees.

Although there were some people in the city who were eligible to buy grain, they were only a few dozen scattered people, and most of them just helped out in the government office by cooking and cleaning.

This resulted in that after the returnees made their purchases, there were not many people left to buy grain, which also made many people very jealous of the returnees.

At this time, there were several returnees who were short of money yesterday and could not buy food. After returning yesterday, they scraped together one or two taels of silver.

Today, I arrived at the government office with trepidation, and found that just as Wang An had promised, the warehouse was still open for supply of affordable grain. I immediately bought some grain happily and took it back.

However, when they were walking on the street, the people of Baicheng on both sides were looking at them and pointing.

At first they were just talking in low voices, but later they seemed to have no scruples and started talking loudly.

"It's good enough that a bunch of bandits who robbed and looted were not beheaded, but why is the government still selling them grain at a low price?"

"It's really unfair. Is it true that killing people and setting fires will earn you a gold belt, but repairing bridges and roads will leave no corpses?"

"Good citizens like me are not eligible to buy affordable food, but these bandits are. Isn't that strange?"

Some returned people were indignant when they heard this and could not help but retort: ​​"The prince said that anyone who works for the government is eligible to buy it!"

"We can buy affordable food, but it's all in exchange for our labor!"

"Even if it's the low-priced grain, we've paid for it with silver, it's not like we're eating and drinking for free?" "You're just jealous, if you want to buy the low-priced grain, go work on the construction site!"

"Ha ha……"

The returnees' unyielding counterattack immediately caused the two groups to become hostile.

First, a small number of indigenous people confronted the returnees, and then people from both sides heard about the conflict and gathered from all directions and outside the city.

You call me a bandit, and I call you a jealous person!
The native residents of Baicheng still remember that on the day of the translation of the vassal state, the Yueya Mountain bandit leader Guoshanhu led his bandits to attack Baicheng, causing many casualties at that time. Now, when they confronted each other, they all held kitchen knives and rolling pins and looked aggressive.

The returnees from Yueya Mountain also felt full of grievances. When they went to the city to buy rice and vegetables, they had to endure the glares and curses from the indigenous people.

Now, they were being pointed at and even publicly ridiculed for the qualification to purchase grain that they had earned through their own work. When they saw the other party taking up their weapons, they immediately rushed over with hoes and shovels to confront them.

Fortunately, the main street in front of the city gate was directly connected to the government office. Chen He, who was presiding over Mai Niang, saw it at a glance, and immediately sent someone to inform Wan An, and then hurried over with several yamen runners.

However, both groups were very angry and no matter how much Chen He talked, neither group would give in.

Instead, they grabbed Chen He and started to file complaints, demanding that Chen He stand up and seek justice.

It is said that the bandits in Crescent Moon Mountain are evil and have no right to eat affordable food, so that they will not rob the people of Baicheng after they have eaten their fill.

It is said that the people of Baicheng are bullying others by taking advantage of their power. They do not go to the construction site to work, but instead envy the prince's kindness.

The two sides were getting more and more excited, and it seemed that a conflict was about to break out.

This scene attracted merchants on both sides of the street to come out to watch the excitement, waiting with great interest to see how the government would handle it.

Most of those who had the financial resources to open shops and do business in Jizhou were branches of foreign businesses in Baicheng, including several grain shops headed by Lu Guancheng.

Lu Guancheng was seen standing at the door of his own grain shop, sitting on a chair brought by the clerk, eating melon seeds and laughing happily.

"Haha, Wang An, this idiot, thought he had done a good deed, but he didn't know that human nature is selfish. When one side gets the benefit, the other side will be jealous and ruthless. What's more, these peasants are the most stupid. They can only be jealous of others without thinking about why."

The waiter behind him said jokingly, "When the government sells food at a fair price, it should give priority to the people of Baicheng. But this Prince Xin gave priority to selling to the bandits of Crescent Moon Mountain. No wonder the neighbors are indignant."

Lu Guancheng turned around and sneered, "You are also a person who only sees the dog eating shit but never sees the dog being beaten!"

"Wang An wants to use these low-class people to build the city wall, so it's only natural that he should give them some benefits, just like if I sleep with your wife, shouldn't I pay you for it?"

"What's more, these refugees from Crescent Moon Mountain are originally a group of lawless bandits. If we don't feed them well, they will run away sooner or later."

"And these people in Baicheng want to take advantage of the government without doing anything. How can such a good thing happen in the world?"

The clerk heard this and a trace of resentment flashed across his face, but he quickly suppressed it and agreed, "What the shopkeeper said is very true, but the price difference of five cents per stone is no wonder that the neighbors are jealous. Even I feel a little unbalanced."

(End of this chapter)