Chapter 1640: Work Stopped

Looking at it again at dawn, only broken tiles and ruined walls remained.

Needless to say, the grain inside was reduced to ashes.

All, gone, finished! There were seven granaries supplying Tianshui City, three large and four small. This kiln granary was the largest one! It was said that at its peak, it could supply the commoners in the southern district of Tianshui City for more than two months.

Besides price stabilization, it also undertook transport and transit tasks. Every autumn and winter, even a portion of military grain had to be transferred from there.

Such an important large granary was burned, and burned to the ground, immediately triggering the King of Yao's thunderous rage! The kiln granary had complete defensive arrays, one to prevent intrusion, two to prevent rats and ants, and three to prevent fire! How could it suddenly suffer a major fire?

The kiln granary was actually a warehouse complex consisting of twenty-four warehouses, scattered like stars, not all close together. Who had the ability to burn all twenty-four large and small warehouses in one night?

It is said that if you have grain in your hands, you won't panic in your heart. The King of Yao's panic was no small matter; he ordered the arrest and interrogation of the officials in charge overnight.

But the officials in charge of the kiln granary were all dead, one principal and two deputies, along with more than twenty clerks below, all gone with the warehouse.

Burned, dead, so there was no proof.

Who had such ability? The fire at the kiln granary reddened the entire sky south of the city and burned until the next morning, witnessed by countless people.

This news spread like it had wings, spreading throughout the city in just two days.

There was no need for others to fan the flames; the speed of the rumors was fiercer than the fire at the kiln granary.

Grain prices soared like rockets, shooting up to the sky, and could no longer be suppressed.

Grain was already expensive, and everyone watched as the kiln granary burned to nothing, so—

Where is the grain?

Does Tianshui City still have grain? Can I still buy grain?

The panic spreading throughout the city fueled grain prices, and countless people rushed into shops and firms to grab grain, taking as much as they could! No more queuing.

Both the rich and the poor rushed into the shops along with the crowd, fearing that if they were a second late, they would end up empty-handed. At this time, it wasn't about money anymore.

The shop assistants and the guards hired at high prices tried to stop them, but couldn't withstand two rounds before being trampled underfoot! In just one morning of grain-grabbing chaos, more than three hundred people were killed or injured. Besides fighting for grain, more than half were trampled to death.

Subsequently, multiple robberies broke out in the south of Tianshui City.

If you didn't have money, you could only rob others;

Some saw their neighbors get grain from the grain shop, and regardless of whether it was bought or robbed, they would just rob them.

For a time, robbery was rampant. The district government offices in Tianshui City received more than three hundred reports in one morning, busy as spinning tops.

Since its establishment, Tianshui City had rarely seen such crazy, naked criminal acts, except for the occasional refugee riot.

It was as if the night of the Emperor's Flowing Nectar had arrived early.

The Yao Court urgently transported a batch of public grain to the market and ordered all street districts to post notices and have people explain that the granaries were full, asking everyone not to panic-buy.

It was useless.

Tianshui City had been short of grain for quite some time, and now that panic was accelerating, it couldn't be solved by a few peace notices or grain shops supplying a few more hu of grain.

Everyone was asking: Where is the grain? Into which bottomless pit did the grain produced every year in such a large country go? Just at this time, the Tianshui eastern expansion project issued another announcement: to welcome the arrival of the Emperor's Flowing Nectar, manage construction well, and avoid accidents, the project would be partially stopped, wages settled, and personnel dismissed starting today.

Translated into plain language: Work stopped, no more people needed, everyone get out, don't hang around here eating idle food!

With a "buzz," the mentality of the laborers inside and outside the city exploded.

Over the past few months, the Tianshui eastern expansion super-project had absorbed tens of thousands of strong laborers and provided meals for tens of thousands. After the autumn harvest, the land around Tianshui City was idle, so not only refugees but also surrounding commoners and farm workers flocked here, wanting to earn an extra ration in winter.

Now that this project said it wouldn't continue, where were these tens of thousands of people supposed to sell their labor to earn money to eat? The surrounding areas inside and outside Tianshui City couldn't provide so many jobs at all!

The power of this announcement was no less than the kiln granary fire!

Although there was no long-term contract relationship between the Tianshui eastern expansion project and the vast number of laborers, hunger is a major matter and reasoning is a minor one. Angry laborers rushed into the construction site where they usually worked to cause trouble, but the army was already waiting there, repelling several waves of riots and arresting the ringleaders.

Just when they were both angry and desperate, more than a dozen foremen and accountants brought out tables and sat down, waiting for them to collect their daily wages.

What surprised everyone even more was that the construction site actually distributed five meals of rations to each person.

If you dare to cause trouble, you get no money, no grain, and a severe beating.

Do you want money and grain, or do you want another beating?

"The grain at the site has all been moved out, not a single grain of rice left in the granary! If you don't believe it, go see for yourself in a while. To scrape together this batch of grain, Lord You and Island Master He have done their best. Take it and go."

Things had reached this point, and the laborers calmed down. Seeing the bright guns and halberds of the army opposite, they knew that continuing to cause trouble wouldn't bring any benefits, so they took the money and grain, signed their names, and turned to leave.

A major riot was nipped in the bud.

When this was reported to the King of Yao, he breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time scolded You Rongzhi.

How could he stop work and drive people away at this critical juncture! You Rongzhi felt somewhat aggrieved, but could only mumble in agreement.

Wasn't stopping the project his own decision! You Rongzhi went to the palace in the morning to ask the Monarch for a decision. The King of Yao thought about it and decided to keep five teams to continue working, and disperse the rest of the laborers on the spot.

No way, the Royal Court couldn't afford to feed so many big eaters.

The influence of the Emperor's Flowing Nectar on humans and living beings would last for quite a long time, and the Tianshui eastern expansion project would resume work at the earliest half a month after the eruption. Since it had to stop anyway, it was better to take this opportunity to disperse the people early, saving money and grain.

You Rongzhi got this instruction and naturally had to execute it.

Who knew that the kiln granary would catch fire immediately after!

At that time, how could the King of Yao remember the project? He couldn't remember, so could he expect his subordinates to be flexible?

When everyone in the city was worried about hunger and their rice bowls, the Tianshui eastern expansion project suddenly stopped work and drove people away; wasn't that just looking for trouble?

And in He Lingchuan's view, this was a manifestation of the lack of coordination in a country's government decrees, where officials only handled their own affairs, doing their own work, lacking communication with each other.

Only burying their heads in their own duties, without considering the overall situation and consequences.

The King of Yao was somewhat fortunate. Fortunately, fortunately, the trend of refugee riots hadn't yet taken shape before it was stopped.

When Qingyang heard this news in court, she couldn't help but laugh, which the King of Yao took as gloating. ===== CHAPTER 1641 =====