The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 495 - 484: Misuse of Public Resources

Chapter 495: Chapter 484: Misuse of Public Resources

Indeed, several bailiffs were collecting grain in Jiangding Village, and Yang Heshu, as the County Magistrate of Luojiang County, though he didn’t bring many servants, had many at his disposal.

Since the office was closed for the festival anyway, he quite straightforwardly misused public resources, taking out a portion of the reward money and directly expropriating the bailiffs in the County Governmental Office.

Even the chief clerks and secretaries of the county were pulled out by him to go down to the countryside to collect grain.

As for where the County Governmental Office got so much money, of course, it was because he had paid in advance.

Indeed, the grain was purchased in the name of the County Governmental Office, because, as the County Magistrate of Luojiang County, according to the imperial law, he couldn’t conduct such business within Luojiang County.

Of course, if he randomly chose a servant and conducted business under his name, that wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, many officials operated this way.

So when the chief clerks and country gentry saw Yang Heshu breaking out large sums of money for them to purchase grain, they thought Yang Heshu was misusing public resources.

The chief clerks gladly lent a hand without any complaints because, according to the customs of officialdom, not only do the onlookers get a share, but the participants get an even bigger share.

Didn’t they see the County Magistrate taking out reward money upfront?

When someone offered a higher grain price, the villagers weren’t fools and naturally sold their grain to the County Governmental Office.

The grain merchants waiting in each large village to purchase grain were dumbfounded. This... wasn’t this competing with the people for profit?

Even the former County Magistrate Fu, who had been in Luojiang County for many years, didn’t have such a domineering attitude; he never directly competed with them for grain.

Know that even when County Magistrate Fu was greedy for money, at most, he only dared to suggest partnership.

The local grain merchants of Luojiang County were all stunned.

Then they couldn’t help but become angry. However, this was their own County Magistrate, so naturally, they couldn’t tear off their faces without saying a word. So several grain merchants got together privately to discuss, and they decided to invite Yang Heshu to a meal.

Of course, before that, they needed to sound out the Assistant County Magistrate and the chief clerk of the county.

But as they probed, the County Magistrate himself came looking for them.

Yang Heshu expressed earnestly that he wasn’t trying to compete with the people for profit; he just didn’t want low grain prices to hurt the people. If they insisted on buying at a low price, then the grain they sold should also be reduced in price accordingly.

Yang Heshu said, "There is no reason to buy grain cheaply from the farmers and then sell it at high prices."

The grain merchants: "...Sir, isn’t trading all about buying low and selling high? There’s nothing wrong with us buying low and selling high."

Yang Heshu’s smiling face sank, and he said, "There’s nothing wrong with buying low and selling high, but if it’s too low or too high, that’s a problem."

He continued, "I can’t manage other places, but within the jurisdiction of my county, I will not allow such things to happen."

The grain merchants: ...

In the end, the two parties parted in discord.

Although Yang Heshu was the County Magistrate, he had just arrived and had been in office for only half a year. In this half a year, apart from the credit cattle incident, he hadn’t done anything outrageous, and he was still very young.

Even though he was an official, people subconsciously thought that a young fellow with no hair on his lips couldn’t handle affairs reliably.

Thus, his influence in Luojiang County truly couldn’t compare to that of County Magistrate Fu when he first arrived.

The grain merchants didn’t take Yang Heshu seriously. After discussing at home, they also sent people down to collect grain. After a round of collecting, they found it very difficult to buy grain at a price below eight wen.

Because Yang Heshu, petty as he was, got so irritated by them, that upon returning to the County Governmental Office, he called the Land Officers from various villages and asked them to beat gongs and drums to notify the villagers that the County Governmental Office was buying grain, offering ten wen per dou for grain, and fifteen wen per dou for wheat.

Not all Land Officers would listen to Yang Heshu, after all, some of them had good relationships with the grain merchants.

Some might even be related by blood or marriage or were simply their own kin.

But if one village wasn’t informed, the neighboring village would beat gongs and drums, and soon the word would spread. So in no more than two days, the news spread to every village in Luojiang County, even remote places like Qili Village, not to mention other areas.

Thus, the grain merchants found it even more difficult to purchase grain.

They weren’t in a hurry and waited for a few days, only to find that Yang Heshu had recalled half of the staff to collect taxes while the other half continued purchasing grain outside.

Moreover, this time Yang Heshu spent money to hire quite a few people, and those were the ruffians who used to collect protection fees all over the county town.

Nobody knew when they had started listening to Yang Heshu, but now they were directly hired to guard, carry, and transport grain.

The grain merchants: ...

Watching the County Governmental Office about to finish collecting the excess grain from the villages for the year, they couldn’t stand idly by any longer and began purchasing as well.

Once one family took action, the others could only hurriedly join in, raising the price immediately to ten wen per dou.

But for some reason, the villagers still didn’t like selling grain to the merchants; they preferred to sell to the County Governmental Office.

Having no choice, the grain merchants gritted their teeth and raised the grain price by another wen, just one wen more than the County Governmental Office was offering.

Only then did some villagers start selling their grain to them.

Yang Heshu watched, grinning, and said to the farmers who still insisted on selling their grain to him, "How can you not make money when it is offered? You should also take the grain and sell it to them. If they dare lower the price, just turn back and sell to me. That one wen more per dou isn’t insignificant."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly pulled their grain to the grain merchants’ collection points to queue up.

The merchants, of course, wouldn’t suffer losses on one hand. On the other hand, they raised the price in the grain shops by five wen per dou.

Yang Heshu, infuriated upon hearing this, said to Wantian, "See, I told you they were profiteers. The procurement price increased by only two wen, but the shops raised the selling price by five wen. And every grain shop from the county seat to the townships raised prices in unison... They seem confident that the county won’t be able to do anything to them."

"Young Master, what can you do to them?"

"I can’t," Yang Heshu sneered, "The county will not mix private grievances with public affairs, nor misuse public resources."

The chief clerk, going back and forth with the ledger book, couldn’t help but pause his steps, thinking to himself: You’ve already had us help you purchase grain. Isn’t that misusing public resources?

"Sir," the chief clerk pretended not to hear the conversation between the master and servant, going inside with the ledger, said, "This is the ledger for the grain purchase."

Yang Heshu opened it and took a look, nodding in approval, "Very good. Have someone clean out the small house on the side of the County Governmental Office, open a small door on the wall facing the street, and spread the word. The County Governmental Office is selling grain, twelve wen per dou for grain, and eighteen wen per dou for wheat, with a daily limit of one dou per person."

The chief clerk’s eyes widened.

Yang Heshu continued, "Pick a few veteran clerks to oversee it personally. There’s no one in the county town they don’t recognize. Remember, anyone who has bought once within a day is not allowed to buy again."

The only thought in the chief clerk’s mind was that County Magistrate Yang truly had strong backing. Not only could he misuse public resources to have everyone purchase grain for him, but he even used the County Governmental Office’s building and personnel to sell grain for him!

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