At this time, Nanjing was also in panic due to the drought.

Since last winter, the rain and snow in Nanjing have been extremely sparse, and it has not rained for more than a month after the Chinese New Year. The paddy fields, which should have been abundant at this time, were even more drought and cracked at this time, and it is not suitable for transplanting rice. Even the water level of the Qinhuai River has dropped seriously, which has led to people gradually falling into panic. If there is no food, how should people survive?

The residents of Nanjing are different from the north. Because Nanjing communicates with the north and south, especially the central area of ​​economic development in the south, the huge water system communicates with Huguang and Songtai, becoming a transportation hub for the north and south waterways and a gathering place for various materials. People never have to worry about materials, so there is a saying that "the Jinling House has no three-day storage". Not to mention ordinary people, even the homes of dignitaries do not have much food reserves.

This is nothing in normal times, but once a famine occurs, the problem arises. Many people have no surplus grain at home. In addition, the famine is serious, which leads to the continuous surge in the price of grain. In just one month, the price of grain has increased from one qian and two cents per stone to one qian and two cents per stone. Moreover, this is the price of rice in warehouses. The price of japonica rice has increased to one qian and five cents per stone. Even so, the price of rice is still rising.

Before, because the rice price was cheap, people in Nanjing rarely ate wheat, but now the price of wheat has risen to 5,500 citations per stone. Although the money is no longer valuable at this time, 5,500 citations can be exchanged for one tael of silver.

This situation naturally changed the so-called tradition of the people in Jinling that had no three-day reserves. Many families were rushing to buy white rice in a crazy way. Those who had no money to grab white rice would go to buy buckwheat and barley. Even those dignitaries were no exception. This formed a vicious cycle, leading to the continuous rise in rice prices and wheat prices. The most infuriating thing is that white rice in many places is also mixed with soil and sand, and insufficient supplies.

However, during this period, only one rice shop could be fair and just, and it was a rice shop "Mingfeng Rice Shopping" opened by a boss named Wu Jing. The white rice in this shop is of high quality, full of weight, and is one cent lower than the market price. However, this rice shop has a special rule that makes people helpless.

The rule is that each person buys rice at most only one stone every day, and they don’t sell it at all after exceeding the upper limit. This makes many dignitaries stare at me. They don’t lack money in their hands, and even if they buy hundreds or thousands of stones at a time, there is no problem. However, the restrictions on this rice shop now make them very unhappy to buy it. However, because the rice shop has the best quality, they are reluctant to buy it, so they send people here to buy rice every day. These good rice are only for their families to eat, while the rice bought in other rice shops is only for the servants to eat.

In fact, when he set this rule at the beginning, even Wu Jing was a little confused. He didn't know why Ma Mingfeng did this, but now he finally understood that selling rice in this way not only can it last for a long time, but also allows ordinary people from ordinary families to buy cheap and delicious white rice, making their lives full of hope, and at the same time, it can also suppress prices to a certain extent.

In fact, Wu Jing encountered a lot of trouble just because of the problem of suppressing prices. First, some rice shop owners came over and asked Wu Jing to discuss the issue of jointly raising rice prices. Wu Jing naturally refused such a problem.

Unexpectedly, a group of gangsters came to cause trouble the next day, claiming to collect protection fees.

These gangsters were naturally hired by the bosses of Mixing. They held sticks in their hands and showed off their power and were arrogant.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a few guys came out of the store. These guys were holding sticks in their hands, full of murderous aura, and beat these gangsters up.

These gangsters are just street bullies, and they usually bully honest people. How could they be the elite opponents of the third army? So the situation started to be overwhelmed, and the gangsters were beaten to the point of being blue and swollen, and ran away in a mess.

This is the third brother and his men who showed mercy. Otherwise, these gangsters would have been back and forth.

Among the rice shop owners who hired people to make trouble, Xin Shujie, the owner of Hongda Rice Store, is the main organizer. After sending those gangsters to make trouble, Xin Shujie summoned the owners of other large rice shops and said to the other bosses with a smug look at them: "It's just a Yankee. He dares to be so arrogant and does not take us, the bosses of Jiangnan, seriously. Since this is the case, his rice shop cannot be operated normally. Dear bosses, let's wait for the Yankee to take the initiative to ask for peace from us. I'm ready for today's celebration banquet. When we receive good news from Liu Laoqi and others, we will celebrate..."

At this moment, someone came from outside and panted and said, "Here, come, they are back."

"Oh? I'm back? It's so fast. I didn't expect this Yankee to be so vulnerable. Haha, it seems that we are useless this time." Xin Shujie was extremely proud, and he felt even more satisfied when he looked at the others' complimentary look at him.

But unexpectedly, the person who came said bitterly: "It's indeed fast, I didn't expect that he would be called back so soon."

"Haha, this is called strength. With the strength of Liu Laoqi's group, I can't beat a few guys to the point of being able to beat... Hum? What did you say just now? Was someone beaten back? Did you say it wrong?" Xin Shujie looked at the person coming and asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"That's right, it's true that someone was beaten back." The man still smiled bitterly and pointed out of the door and said, "You'll know if you go and take a look."

Xin Shujie stood up with disbelief and opened the door and saw that the yard was full of gangsters with blue noses and swollen faces, all of whom were dejected, like defeated roosters.

Xin Shujie was immediately angry when he saw this scene and asked with an unhappy look: "What's going on with you?"

The leader Liu Laoqi smiled bitterly and said, "Boss Xin, please forgive us for being incompetent. We were beaten by several friends from Mingfeng Mixing."

"What? Are you beaten by the guy from Mixing?" Xin Shujie was shocked when he heard this. He understood that although his combat power was not very good, ordinary rice shop mates were not enough in front of them. There was such a guy under this Yankee. Is there any difference?

However, Xin Shujie believed that his relationship in the local area was not bad, especially since he could barely reach Ruan Dacheng, so how could he be afraid of a Yankee?

However, Xin Shujie felt that he should be more cautious, so he asked Liu Laoqi: "Are you sure they have not used the power of the government?"

Liu Laoqi thought for a while, and then said with great certainty: "No."
Chapter completed!