in2ebook Chapter 437 Rescue Supplies
Chapter 437 Rescue Supplies
Early the next morning, a long line formed in front of the Xingfu Store.
Because one night on the radio, countless people heard the news that the factories and shops belonging to the Independent Column could enjoy a 10% discount if they used RMB.
As the largest store belonging to the Independent Column, Xingfu Store has many stores in almost all areas under its control, even in the areas controlled by the Eighth Route Army.
As a result, countless people excitedly took the border area tickets that they had held for more than ten days, exchanged them for RMB, and then lined up in front of the Xingfu Store.
The management of the Xingfu Stores had already made preparations. In order to prevent looting, two policemen were even stationed at the door of each Xingfu Store.
At nine o'clock in the morning, happiness stores all over the country open at almost the same time.
In order to control the scale, customers take turns to enter the store to shop, and the next wave of customers can only be arranged after the first wave pays and leaves the store.
However, Wang Meng, who was standing in front of the Pingshun Xingfu Store, felt more and more strange. Looking at the long queues of people, he secretly wondered: Logically speaking, the temptation of a 10% discount shouldn't make them so crazy, right? And these people seemed to be buying one commodity, that is, salt!
Although salt is an essential substance for human survival, without salt, people will have no strength.
But these ordinary people buy dozens of bags at a time. Even if they are hoarding goods, there is no need to hoard goods for several years, right? Are they planning to go to the mountains and become savages after buying them?
Wang Meng immediately grabbed an ordinary citizen and asked him:
"Fellow villagers, why did you buy so much salt? Is there something wrong?"
Just as the fellow was about to speak, he was pulled back by a companion next to him.
"Don't say anything you shouldn't say, let's go!"
When the villager heard this, he picked up a large basket of salt and walked quickly out of the city.
"Chief of Staff, we only have two boxes of salt left! What should we do?"
Wang Meng touched his chin. He really didn't dare to make a decision easily before he figured out the situation.
At this time, Jia Gui jumped off the jeep in a hurry.
"Chief of Staff, something big has happened!"
Looking at Jia Gui who was sweating profusely, Wang Meng took a step forward.
"What's wrong? Don't be anxious, speak slowly!"
Jia Gui, gasping for breath, handed the telegram in his hand to Wang Meng.
When Wang Meng saw it, he felt that the doubts in his mind had been resolved.
In the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and the areas controlled by the Independent Column, all the salt in the Xingfu Stores was snapped up! Stocks in various places were in a state of emergency!
Wang Meng held the telegram tightly in his hand. If you told him that this was a coincidence, he would not believe it even if you beat him to death!
"My fellow villagers, didn't the government say that you can buy whatever you want with RMB? But now you can't even buy salt. I think the RMB is almost the same as the legal tender, it's all waste paper!"
The originally orderly queue suddenly became chaotic, with countless people holding RMB trying to rush into the Happiness Store.
"Shopkeeper, please be kind and sell me a bag. I can't live without salt at home! I'll pay double!"
"Shopkeeper, I don't want salt, give me anything you want!"
More and more ordinary people heard the news and came, each holding a stack of RMB, ready to clear out the Happy Store.
The shortage of salt was like a fuse, igniting the powder keg of panic buying in Pingshun!
Seeing more and more people coming, Wang Meng made a prompt decision and ordered all warehouses in various places to open to Happy Stores.
The independent column's convoys, transport planes and troops other than those in preparation for war were all put into the task of transporting supplies and maintaining order.
Fortunately, a year ago, Wang Meng led the independent column to advance to the Chaka Salt Lake, beat up the local lord, gained control of the salt lake, and produced thousands of tons of salt.
They used car transport for nearby areas, airplane transport for far-flung areas, and even airdrops. In short, they tried every possible means to suppress this inexplicable rush of buying.
At the same time, Wang Meng had already sent soldiers to catch up with the two villagers.
The two fellow villagers left the city, turned left and right, climbed up an uninhabited mountain, and then turned into a cave.
"Boss, we bought the salt for you! Shouldn't we be paid for it?"
The middle-aged man in a long gown and a hat took out a wad of banknotes from his pocket and threw it to his fellow villager.
"Take it and go quickly. Remember, don't tell anyone!"
The two fellow villagers looked at the thick stack of banknotes and nodded excitedly, but were dumbfounded when they took a closer look.
"Boss, how can this be legal tender? Shouldn't it be Border Region Notes? If that doesn't work, you can give us dollars!"
The man in the long gown rolled his eyes at his fellow villager and snorted.
"You still want money? I think you peasants are crazy about money! Border Region notes are worthless now, and the RMB will be worthless soon. You exchanged the Border Region notes for RMB, and now you exchange them for legal tender from me. Isn't that a profit? After all, you can still buy some things with legal tender!"
"Boss, you can't say that. Border Region Tickets can be exchanged for gold! You can't even buy a bag of salt with this little French currency. But you said at the beginning that you would buy the salt at the original price and add 20% as a labor fee! Otherwise, you should return the salt to us, and we won't earn the labor fee!"
The man in the long gown pointed at the salt piled up like a small hill behind him, looked at the two of them jokingly, then lifted up his long gown and patted the box gun on his waist.
"You two are dreaming. Have you ever wondered why I have so much salt?"
Seeing that the man in the long gown was obviously bullying, the fellow villager blushed and was ready to argue.
"You are a robber! This is robbery!"
"Get out of here now, or I'll be in a bad mood and just treat you guys to peanuts!"
The two fellow villagers were so frightened that their legs went weak. They sighed helplessly and prepared to swallow the loss.
"Wait, don't even think about reporting to the Independent Column or the police station. I know where both of you live! Li Ergou, Wang Daniu!"
The two fellow villagers knelt down and kowtowed to the man in the long gown, blood oozing from their foreheads.
"Boss, please be kind and let my family go. We wouldn't dare tell anyone even if you gave us a hundred guts!"
"That's good to know, get out of here!"
Li Ergou and Wang Daniu crawled out of the cave, and now they can still blame themselves for their bad luck.
Before they got down the mountain, the two men were caught on the left and right by several strong men, and they flashed into a ravine and disappeared.
"You two are driving up prices, hoarding goods, and disrupting the smooth development of the economy. Do you know your crime?"
"Please spare us, we just want to make some quick money, but we never thought that this is illegal!"