C432 The Night of the Boss Mi (2/2)
”How is this a few hundred people? Isn't this already over a thousand people?” The front door and back door are full, and this is not my house? Aren't all the shops on the street surrounded? ”
This was a commercial street, the Boss Mi's grain store, the neighboring silks, and the foreign goods store right next to it … Almost all the shops associated with the daily life of the people could be found on this street.
Countless of commoners were holding empty bags as they stood outside the door, blocking the way. All of them lowered their voices and said, ”Open the door, we want to buy things, open the door …”
This scene was too strange. Normally, with over a thousand people surrounding the shop, they shouldn't have been so restrained, but they also knew that the French warships on the sea couldn't be disturbed. Although their hearts were filled with anger, their words and actions were abnormally restrained.
The purposely suppressed sound was similar to the sound of the waves at the foot of a mountain. Although it was faint, one could still feel the oppressive force from it.
The Boss Mi could no longer be considered as a pure merchant. On the night of his battle with the Japanese, he had followed Xiao Letian and fought alongside the hero.
It was from that night onwards that all the small-time merchants of Boss Mi were swept away. Business was grand, honesty was good and love to learn. The various words that Xiao Letian wrote had already reached the state of fanatical worship.
With the honor of fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Prime Minister, he had successfully built a close relationship with the Letian Firm. In just a year, he had become the biggest grain merchant in the Naha Harbor, and he had even received orders for army provisions.
This type of merchant had a very broad horizon. Just by looking at the scene today, he already understood most of what was going on.
”This damn war only lasted for four days, and the people could no longer endure it. They wanted to live, they wanted to eat, and the strong sense of insecurity made them subconsciously want to stock up their goods. This kind of thinking is undeniable, it can be said that this is the wisdom accumulated over thousands of years by humans …”
At this time, Second Manager also caught up, panting he said, ”What do you mean stupid? Boss, quickly think of a way, not only is there 5000 stones and white rice in the shop, there is even 50,000 silver coins hidden inside? ”If we get robbed, all our business will be wasted …”
”Didn't you report it? Shouli City doesn't care about the new army? ” Boss Mi asked.
”Aiya, my boss, don't you know how many yamen runners the Shouli City's Board of Justice has? Just that small amount of manpower to save the entire city's wounded was not enough. There was no way for anyone to rescue them … ”As for the new army, I heard from acquaintances that …”
The Second Manager whispered into Boss Mi's ear and said, ”They said that there's something strange on the sea tonight, and now all the troops are at the checkpoint. It seems like there's a ship of unknown origin in the sea …”
With a ”pa” sound, Boss Mi slapped his thigh. He knew that tonight was going to be bad, the new army and the Ministry of Justice would not be able to send anyone over, but the current situation was already unbearable, and his shop's door was about to be smashed open.
”Do we really have to open the door and place rice inside? This won't do, there's also more than half of the military rations that we have ordered. If we delay the new army's food, even if we have ten heads, it won't be enough to cut them off! ”
Just as Boss Mi was hesitating, there was a loud noise in front of them. It turned out that a thick piece of door board had been broken by the people who had lost their patience.
”Stop!” Boss Mi let out a loud yell as he rushed out of the alley. He jumped onto a pile of wooden boxes and arrogantly shouted, ”Don't smash it … I am Mi Fei, Boss Mi... I am the owner of the grain store... I promise you, I'll sell you rice! ”
The crowd instantly quieted down. Boss Mi took a deep breath to calm his nerves and said, ”Fellow villagers, I can sell you rice, but please understand, I can only sell you half a litre each …”
The crowd that had just quieted down was once again enraged. ”Bullsh * t …” Who can eat half a litre of rice? You evil merchant, you just want to hoard a treasure to make a fortune... ”Ignore him, smash open the grain store, and snatch the rice!”
The crowd immediately became restless. Boss Mi was so scared that his face became pale. He shouted while jumping, ”Stop!” Whoever dares to snatch the rice will kill me first... Half of it was military rations, and the rest were rice for the new army. Is your conscience broken? ”He dares to snatch the grain to protect our new army …”
His words was like a cold wind blowing through the crowd. Everyone was stunned, the new army of the Prime Minister was the pillar of support for the entire population of the Ryukyu.
Now that the military rations were right in front of them, the kind citizens subconsciously retreated. Stealing from the profiteers was one thing, but stealing from the military rations was another.
After a short period of silence, the crowd began to whisper to each other, most of them looked like they wanted to retreat, but just when Boss Mi felt more at ease, a low voice suddenly came from the corner of the crowd.
”Hey …” My fellow villagers, we have to live. Right now, the life and death of the Prime Minister is uncertain, and the new army has suffered a great number of casualties due to the French.
”If you don't leave some food for my parents, do you want them to starve to death?” I don't care if the new army or not, we're going to live... The villagers are continuing to snatch the food! ”