sjar Chapter 121 The two county magistrates are right
Chapter 121 The two county magistrates are right
The only thing to be thankful for is that the Sihai Chamber of Commerce can always ship in food on a regular basis and sell it at low prices, so he and Prefect Hu only need to take care of the victims.
Just a while ago, the disaster relief food supply ran out, so Ji Yuanda discussed with Governor Hu about borrowing some food from the Sihai Chamber of Commerce. After all, all other chambers of commerce had been "robbed" by the two of them, and they were too embarrassed to rob only the Sihai Chamber of Commerce.
Bai Che agreed readily and told him to go directly to the city gate to receive the food. He also told him that the Chamber of Commerce had received the news and the new disaster relief inspector would be here soon.
Ji Yuanda was half-believing and half-doubting. According to the time calculation, the new disaster relief officials could not arrive so soon. Until he saw two carriages appear next to the Sihai Chamber of Commerce's grain transport team, and the man riding the horse in front was wearing an official uniform.
Who is this? I don't know him!
Soon, Bai Lin walked up to him and saluted, "You are Lord Ji Yuan Da Ji, right? I am Bai Lin, the inspector sent by the emperor to provide disaster relief."
"Oh, Lord Bai, please wait a moment. I will go talk to the grain transport team first. The manager of their Chamber of Commerce has already lent us this batch of grain!"
"No need, Master Ji." Bai Lin waved his hand and said to the leader of the grain transport, "Give the grain to the people brought by Master Ji!"
"Yes!" the leader replied.
Looking at the scene where the grain transport team was continuously handing over grain, Ji Yuanda was dumbfounded: "Master Bai, why did he listen to you?"
Bai Lin chuckled and said, "Master Ji, I will explain it to you slowly later. Let's go see Magistrate Hu first. Also, please arrange a place for my sister to rest."
Ji Yuanda then noticed that there was a beautiful woman following behind Bai Lin. This...bringing women with him to provide disaster relief? Isn't that inappropriate?
So, under Ji Yuanda's worried look, Bai Lin and his companions went to the prefectural government office. As soon as they entered, they were stopped by several county magistrates.
"Master Ji, has the food arrived? I have everything ready, take it away immediately!"
"Master Ji, I was here first, get it for me first!"
"..."
After a while of noise, Ji Yuanda said to Bai Lin with a hint of embarrassment: "Master Bai, you are tired from the journey, go to the backyard to rest first, and when I am done..."
Bai Lin waved his hand: "Master Ji, you don't have to be polite. Business is more important! Let's get down to work!"
Having said that, Bai Lin let Bai Zhaozhao go and rest on his own, and arranged the distribution of food with Ji Yuanda. Especially when he saw that everyone wanted to get more food, Bai Lin patted his chest and assured that a lot of food would be delivered later and there would be no need to fight for it this time.
County Magistrate Zheng asked in astonishment, "What nonsense are you talking about, kid? Just because you say there is one, there is one? I, Zheng, would not eat such a big cake a long time ago!"
Magistrate Qi also echoed, "Young man, go away. Lord Ji, the villages here are very remote. If we don't get more food relief, we will really have to flee from famine. By then, not even the names of the villages will be left!"
Only one county magistrate, Wu, looked at Bai Lin's official uniform and asked, "Who is this gentleman..."
Ji Yuanda then reacted: "Oh, by the way, let me introduce you, this is the new inspector sent by the emperor, he is here to provide disaster relief!"
Everyone:! ! !
County Magistrate Zheng said happily, "I was saying that this gentleman is young and promising. He must have brought a lot of gold, silver and grain to provide disaster relief, right?"
The Magistrate of Qi County also said, "Not only that! This gentleman has said that there will be more food delivered later. I wonder if the gentleman can first tell me the number?"
"..."
Ji Yuanda was embarrassed again. He had already figured out that the grain belonged to the Sihai Chamber of Commerce. This Lord Bai Lin came empty-handed. It was obvious that it was because he did not get money from the Ministry of Revenue. He would make a scene about this when he returned to Beijing!
Then he heard Bai Lin's steady and powerful voice: "There is no gold or silver, but as for food, I will make arrangements with the Sihai Chamber of Commerce. All the food that is shipped in later can be used as disaster relief food, and only a small portion will be left for them to sell."
Everyone:! ! !
Does this work too?
Ji Yuanda didn't expect that the new Lord Bai had the same idea as him. Isn't this the same as not coming?
That’s not right. At least he only “borrowed” a batch of grain, while this Lord Bai “borrowed” all the subsequent grain!
He sighed and said, "That's fine. Lord Bai is still young and doesn't know the seriousness of the matter. I have written an IOU for this batch of grain. Lord Bai, if you can't hold on, Lord Hu and I will go to the Sihai Chamber of Commerce with you to have a talk."
Bai Lin smiled faintly and said, "Don't worry, Master Ji, I didn't write an IOU, I was talking about the purchase!"
Everyone:? ? ?
Ji Yuanda was overjoyed: "Did you get the money from the Ministry of Revenue?"
Bai Lin nodded, took out the IOU and said, "My Lords, please take a look. This is the IOU the Ministry of Revenue gave me. It clearly states that they owe me, Bai Lin, 200,000 taels of disaster relief silver. It's even stamped with the official seal! Many officials saw it at the time, so it's absolutely authentic. All we have to do is give this IOU to the Sihai Chamber of Commerce!"
Everyone looked constipated: ...
Ji Yuanda felt that Bai Lin's eyes revealed a kind of clear stupidity: "Master Bai, this IOU is authentic, but..."
County Magistrate Zheng could not help but say, "Master Bai, the emperor did not choose you to play around! If you can't even get the money, how can you provide disaster relief? With your handsome face? Why would the Sihai Chamber of Commerce lose money to give you food? Are you their grandson?"
Qi County Magistrate also said: "That's right. After all, Mr. Ji was the top scholar three years ago. He still has a reputation. Writing an IOU is also valuable. At worst, he can sell his calligraphy and paintings to pay off the debt. What about you? Are you the top scholar?"
Ji Yuanda felt that this was a bit too much, so he quickly stopped him and said, "Okay, okay, we can discuss these things later. Now let's take the food back to the county first!"
Bai Lin remained calm and said, "The two county magistrates are right."
Everyone:? ? ?
Ji Yuanda: "What is right?"
Bai Lin smiled slightly and said, "I am this year's top scholar, Bai Lin."
Everyone:! ! !
Seeing everyone's surprised eyes, Bai Lin continued, "Sihai Chamber of Commerce is the property of the fourth branch of the Bai family in Linyang County. I am the descendant of the third branch of the Bai family. Although the family has been separated for a long time and I am not a biological grandson, I am still a cousin!"
Everyone:! ! !
It was still County Magistrate Zheng who reacted quickly: "Hahaha, I said that the court would not ignore Yuzhou. Didn't they directly send the grandson of the Chamber of Commerce to provide disaster relief? Lord Bai is really a handsome man and extremely smart! This grain is well bought, well bought!"
Magistrate Qi also said quickly: "Yes, Lord Bai and Lord Ji are both top scholars. If they come to Yuzhou together to provide disaster relief, it will surely be a good story!"
Ji Yuanda: Oh no, the IOU was written in vain!