Chapter 165: Chaos

"Because Meng Yifan and that group of rebels occupied Luolong County, the Prefect of Dongchuan Prefecture issued an order to blockade Luolong County, preventing merchant caravans from transporting grain here."

"As long as we drive that group of rebels away, we will have affordable grain to eat."

"The government represents justice; we must follow the government and expel the rebels led by Meng Yifan."

I do not know when it started, but similar remarks began appearing in the streets and alleys of Luolong County.

The common people are easily led; faced with sky-high grain prices and the risk of going hungry, they easily blamed the lack of grain on Meng Yifan's rebellion, which had caused the blockade by Dongchuan Prefecture.

"Don't talk nonsense there! Lord Meng is a good official who acts for the people. He punishes evil and promotes good, and he has done many good things for us. When Lv Dazhi was the County Magistrate before, he never cared whether we lived or died."

"Exactly, Lord Meng is a good man. He provides relief to refugees and sets up porridge stations outside the city, saving many people's lives. I will not allow you to speak ill of him behind his back."

Justice resides in the hearts of the people; many commoners firmly stood on Meng Yifan's side, speaking well of him.

"Hey! We don't deny that Lord Meng is a good man and a good official, but we are now facing a cruel reality: the government has blockaded Luolong County, no grain is coming in, and we are all going to go hungry."

"That's right, my family's grain will last at most two more days. By then, our whole family will have to go outside the city to collect porridge."

"Lord Meng is a good official, and we are willing to support him, but we also need to eat."

"Let's go, let's go! Grain prices are too high. Today we'll also act as refugees and go outside the city to collect a bowl of porridge. It is said that Lord Meng is benevolent; the hot porridge he provides for refugees is thick enough that a chopstick won't fall over in it, and it doesn't seep through a towel. Eating one bowl can keep you from feeling hungry for most of the day. Let's hurry, or there won't be any porridge left."

Many commoners who had not managed to buy grain moved at the news, all rushing toward the porridge-dispensing station outside the city, wanting to collect a bowl of porridge so they could save the grain at home.

The grain at the porridge station Meng Yifan set up outside the city was limited, and the porridge cooked was calculated in advance, basically just enough for each refugee outside the city to have one bowl.

Now that several thousand commoners from inside the city were also pouring out to drink porridge, it immediately resulted in there not being enough porridge for the refugees.

When the refugees saw that something was wrong—that people from inside the city were coming to snatch their porridge—they realized that if the line continued like this, by the time it was their turn, the porridge would be gone, and many would surely go hungry. They shouted one after another, "Get lost! This is porridge Lord Meng prepared for us; you cannot eat it."

The commoners from inside the city also roared, "Bullshit! We are the subjects under Lord Meng's rule. Why should you refugees who fled here get to eat porridge while we, the local commoners, cannot?"

"Go back into the city! This is our grain," the refugees shouted.

The commoners from inside the city were not to be outdone and shouted angrily, "Get out of Luolong County! This is our Luolong County's grain. Why should you refugees who fled here get to eat first?"

The refugees and the commoners from inside the city accused each other; it started with verbal abuse, then they began pushing each other, and finally, it escalated into a brawl.

At the moment of crisis, Meng Dayong led his soldiers and arrived in time, separating the city residents from the refugees outside. Even so, over a dozen people had already been beaten until their heads were bleeding; if Meng Dayong and his men had arrived a moment later, there might have been fatalities.

For a time, both inside and outside Luolong County were in chaos, with rumors flying everywhere, and all sorts of things being said.

Many subjects who had initially decided to pledge loyalty to Meng Yifan no longer identified with Meng Yifan's rule at this moment because they could not buy grain.

Grain prices in the city skyrocketed tenfold overnight. Meng Yifan received the news immediately. When he heard that the commoners from inside the city and the refugees outside were fighting over porridge and that it had led to conflict and brawls, Meng Yifan pondered for a moment and knew that there must be a mastermind behind these events.

"Bastards, this move by the Three Great Gangs really hit my weak spot." Two days ago, Meng Yifan was still wondering why they hadn't resisted when he arranged for bailiffs to clean up the thugs and hooligans on the streets. It didn't seem like the style of the Three Great Gangs. He hadn't expected them to be driving up grain prices to force the commoners to oppose Meng Yifan's rule.

Meng Yifan checked his Game Panel; it turned out that over twenty thousand people had become his subjects, and he could use the County Magistrate Seal to draw upon these people's Spiritual Power to fight.

But now, after only half a day, the number of subjects loyal to him had plummeted, leaving only over ten thousand.

If the problem of the commoners not being able to buy grain could not be solved, the remaining ten thousand-plus subjects would surely decrease again.

Meng Yifan did not blame the commoners; putting himself in their shoes, if he had no grain to eat, he would also curse the officials.

"Damn it, these grandsons don't dare fight us head-on, so they use underhanded tricks. Brother Meng, just give the order, and I'll take men to raid those grain shops right now," said Meng Qingshan.

"Gather the men; we are going to collect grain." Meng Yifan knew that raiding grain shops would not solve the fundamental problem, but since things had reached this point, he would first collect the grain from the shops.

Meng Yifan led two hundred soldiers and headed straight for the various grain shops in the city, intending to forcibly seize the grain inside.

But to his surprise, the shopkeepers of these grain shops seemed to have been prepared for the soldiers' arrival.

They did not resist and cooperated by opening their doors, but to Meng Yifan's disappointment, there were only two or three bags of grain left in the shops.

Such a small amount of grain was a drop in the bucket for all the commoners in the city and was not enough to eat at all.

"Shopkeeper Tang, where is the grain?" Meng Yifan asked.

The short, fat Shopkeeper Tang was still somewhat fearful of Meng Yifan, who was known for killing without blinking. He sighed helplessly and said, "Lord Meng, our little shop really only has this little bit of grain. If you don't believe me, have your men come in and search. If there is any other grain, you can just cut off my head."

Meng Yifan was so angry his teeth itched. He now understood that during those three days when the Three Great Gangs had laid low, they must have quietly moved all the grain away.

Now, raising the grain price tenfold was meant to use grain prices to challenge Meng Yifan. It had to be said that this move was indeed very effective, leaving Meng Yifan somewhat overwhelmed.

"Shopkeeper Tang, let's speak plainly. Please tell me, where did they hide the grain?" Meng Yifan asked.

"Lord Meng, I am just a shopkeeper of a grain shop, someone who works for others. I really don't know where the grain went," said Shopkeeper Tang.

Meng Yifan nodded. He knew it was useless to ask Shopkeeper Tang. If he wanted answers, he would have to go directly to the three gang leaders and have a face-to-face confrontation to clarify exactly what they wanted to do.