Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket-Chapter 549 - 483: Acting on Her Own Authority

Jun Mobai wanted to hold out for a few more days, then let the barbarian army advance a little further in, retreat with the remaining troops to Yangcheng, and by then, using Li Guangpu’s hand, annihilate the barbarian army in one fell swoop.

Only this way, his ’cowardice and incompetence’ won’t arouse the suspicion of his imperial uncle, the emperor.

Su Jingchen was busy setting up traps and defensive works, while also gathering all the blacksmiths in Quanyang City to forge weapons overnight with the over five hundred able-bodied men who’d ’voluntarily’ come over from the cement factory to help resist foreign invaders.

Yu Xiaolian was not idle either. Hearing about the impending battle, more and more refugees poured into the city seeking refuge. Yangcheng suddenly became overcrowded, with heads bustling in every street and alley, everyone’s face filled with anxiety and unease.

With more people, security got messy. Even for a place to shelter from the wind and rain, conflicts could break out. The government officials needed not only to prevent making nail boards and collecting sewage, but also had to spare time to mediate fights.

Yes, mediating fights, they couldn’t arrest everyone. If they jailed people for every trivial matter, the jail would have long been full.

Families with money and carriages mostly fled by carriage, leaving behind mostly those poor people with nowhere else to go, and primarily the older ones.

Some of the elderly were abandoned by their unfilial children, while others stayed voluntarily to avoid burdening their children.

In the first few days, these elderly folks still had some dry food, but soon many began to go hungry. Some finished the small amount of dry food their children left them, others had their food snatched away.

In short, those without any dry food gathered to the county government to seek help.

The county government had some food, but not much was left after the tax grain taken by the Ministry of Revenue.

Despite the scarcity, Su Jingchen decided to provide porridge to these impoverished elderly.

Su Jingchen was busy, Li Wenyuan was busy, the government officials and staff were all busy, even the maids and old women were busy, the task of giving porridge fell on Yu Xiaolian’s shoulders.

Most of the grain in the granary still had husks. In autumn, Su Jingchen only had the officials grind a small part of the grain. Now, wanting to provide porridge every day, the first task was to remove the husks from the grain.

Yu Xiaolian assigned the task of husking to Li Dayan and Wang Dafen and their children.

Because Li Dayan and Wang Dafen had a fallout with their in-laws and had nowhere to go, and due to the shortage of hands, Yu Xiaolian brought them along with Sun Manhong and Mrs. Gao to the county government.

Sun Manhong and her two daughters were in charge of cooking the porridge, Yu Xiaolian, Mrs. Gao, Sun Manyue, and Sun Mansheng were responsible for distributing the porridge.

The porridge was cooked by mixing several types of grains, making it very thin, but Yu Xiaolian provided porridge twice a day, ensuring that the elderly did not go hungry.

Yu Xiaolian would mix in some rice from her space while washing rice, hoping to make the porridge thicker for the people.

"Madam, Shopkeeper Hai has arrived!"

Although things were busy outside, Su Jingchen always kept Cao Gen by Yu Xiaolian’s side without transferring him away.

"Is he looking for me?" Yu Xiaolian asked while pouring the washed rice into the big pot to cook.

"Yes, over there!" Cao Gen pointed with his hand.

Yu Xiaolian shook the water off her hands and walked over, "Shopkeeper Hai, are you looking for me?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Madam Su, may I have a word?" Shopkeeper Hai gestured to the back courtyard of the county government.

Yu Xiaolian invited Shopkeeper Hai into the courtyard. Everyone was busy, and the back courtyard of the county government was empty with not a soul in sight.

Shopkeeper Hai, seeing no one around, took off a bag he was carrying, handing over a stack of silver notes, "Madam, this is your share of the profits from this period, a total of two thousand three hundred taels of silver."

Yu Xiaolian understood that Shopkeeper Hai was planning to leave for safety, giving her the share of the profit just in case.

"Thank you!" Yu Xiaolian accepted the silver notes, knowing that these two thousand plus taels of silver could really assist her significantly. After all, of the five hundred men from the cement factory, how many genuinely wanted to defend the city? Most came for the five taels of silver Yu Xiaolian promised.

Although the silver might not be enough, defending the city was the priority right now. The rest could be figured out after the city was held and the barbarian army repelled.

"Madam, today I and the others from the manor are withdrawing toward the direction of Jinzhou. The Mountain Moon Residence and Piaoxiang Building, as well as the young master’s courtyard, are all empty. Madam can let the people sleeping in the streets temporarily stay inside as needed.

Once the barbarians are driven away, I’ll refurbish and tidy up again,"

Shopkeeper Hai said, handing over a bunch of keys, "Here are the keys to the shops and warehouses. If the county government runs short of grain, Madam can help yourself!"

"Thank you! It’s just... does Zheng Yuanfeng know you are doing this?" After all, Shopkeeper Hai worked for Zheng Yuanfeng, and Yu Xiaolian was worried he might not have the authority.

Shopkeeper Hai smiled back, "This is Yuanye’s intention. I’m just following orders."

Yu Xiaolian nodded, "Please thank Brother Yuanye for me and tell him that should I use anything from the Zheng family’s warehouses, everything will be returned and compensated in full. I won’t let you suffer any losses."

Shopkeeper Hai waved his hand, "Madam Su, all of us in the Zheng family have patriotic hearts. This little help is nothing worth mentioning!"

"Are the Zhao siblings going with you?" After all, Yu Xiaolian promised Mrs. Feng to look after Zhao Ping, so she asked.

Shopkeeper Hai nodded, "Yes, they’re coming along!"

"I promised Zhao Ping’s mother I would take care of him. Since he’s decided to go with you, I ask that Shopkeeper Hai watch over him on the road!"

"Madam, rest assured, I will pay attention to what you’ve entrusted me with.

If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way?"

"Take care on the road!"

"Take care, Madam Su!"

Seeing off Shopkeeper Hai, Yu Xiaolian was delighted while holding a bunch of keys.

She could now openly take out grain from the supermarket under the pretense of the Zheng family’s name.

As for Shopkeeper Hai’s suggestion to let refugees stay, Yu Xiaolian was reluctant. Firstly, Mountain Moon Residence was a teahouse, Piaoxiang Building a tavern, not places that could accommodate many. The Zheng family mansion, though large, was finely decorated, with vases worth several taels of silver each. Letting the impoverished in might mean the Zheng family could end up getting cleaned out.

Despite these people claiming they had nowhere to go, if they swiped Zheng family belongings, they’d flee faster than anyone else.

Although the weather hadn’t truly warmed, it wouldn’t freeze people to death. The streets were crowded during the day, but very few truly slept on the streets at night, as everyone was smart enough to find a warm place to tuck in.

Especially after the evening’s porridge was served, the streets were even quieter. Yu Xiaolian knew many merchants and well-to-do scholar families left through the South Gate today. As soon as these people left, the refugees would simply push doors open and go in to stay.

No one cared about such matters now; everyone had their own trouble to deal with. Some homeowners had left, leaving lookouts or protectors behind.

The Zheng family was no different, as they also left a lookout. Seeing Yu Xiaolian, the old doorkeeper personally led her to the warehouse.

The Zheng family’s warehouse had even more grain than the county government’s, and Yu Xiaolian was truly stunned.