Chapter 119: The First Disaster Relief (Part 3)
Crisis, crisis. Threats are opportunities.
For Huo Chong, who obediently obeyed orders and stayed at home, participating in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as an ordinary citizen, this was something he had seen and discussed many times on the Internet.
This is true for China as a whole. Because all countries outside China are shrouded in the coronavirus, China, which has solved the coronavirus, has opportunities. Even cheap textiles that had long gone to India have to come to China, which has resumed normal production and life, to seek sources of goods because of India's shutdown.
Therefore, only when the threat is resolved can opportunities come, and this opportunity must be based on the misfortune of others. Under the influence of this drought, which is neither big nor small, the intelligence department of the Zhongfu platform has collected more and more "crisis reports".
Even if the harvest was not a total loss, the farmers did not have enough food to last until next year. The farmers, who were in deep crisis of survival, had to start selling their belongings. The landlords and gentry, who had no pressure to survive, picked and chose and bought some of the things that barely caught their eye at very low prices.
When the report was submitted, each branch asked whether to purchase it. It can be seen that the price really made people in each branch think about it. Huo Chong had never encountered such a thing before, and initially only considered disaster relief. However, he did not know that before disaster relief, ordinary people would not go directly to seek help, but rely on selling their belongings at a low price to survive.
Huo Chong immediately summoned the headquarters staff, and told them the contents of the report with a stern face, and then shouted: "When do you think you can take advantage of me?"
If it was something else, this group of people would immediately say "inappropriate" and closely unite around Huo Chong and obey his orders. Unexpectedly, this time everyone remained silent. Judging from their expressions, they should think that there is nothing inappropriate about this. They even feel that it is appropriate to do so.
Huo Chong, who originally wanted to communicate, was so angry that he dared not to communicate anymore and shouted loudly: "Now you go down with my order in person. Tell our people that anyone can buy it, but our people can't buy it!"
"Sir, why do you do this? Those people want to sell..."
Huo Chong slammed the table angrily and shouted, "You are just trying to take advantage of others! If you want to take advantage of others, don't say that they want to sell it!"
No one in the headquarters said anything. A group of young people pouted and looked at each other. Without waiting for them to say anything, Huo Chong continued to ask, "We have already judged that there will be a disaster. What is the strategy we have decided?"
"Disaster relief." Qian Qing answered quickly.
"Since we are going to provide disaster relief, we are taking advantage of others first. Do you really think we are all fools?! We have all suffered , think about ourselves, and then think about others. Now as long as we take advantage of others a little, they will remember it! They are not stupid! If you don't understand, keep asking until you understand. If you understand, go down immediately and tell all places not to do such things. If the people below don't understand, hold a meeting until you understand! Do you understand?"
Many people bowed their heads in the face of Huo Chong's stormy roar. Qian Qing herself would definitely not buy it, and she had no chance to buy it. She asked, "Sir, what should I do if I have already bought it?"
This is a good reminder. Huo Chong thought about it and replied: "Everyone who has bought something should be returned by you and the heads of the counties. If you can't get the money back, just give it up. Be sure to tell them that our Zhongfu platform will not take advantage of you during the disaster. If you are short of money, come to work for us and we will give you food!"
After saying that, Huo Chong emphasized again, "Remember this clearly and tell everyone below that no one is allowed to take advantage of the disaster!"
The Zhongfu platform, which was originally planned to start operations in November, took action under Huo Chong's strict orders and urging, and the staff sent to the headquarters kept sending back news. There was indeed a lot of dissatisfaction in the local area, but the overall situation was still under control.
However, the life of the rural people is really hard. The members who have joined the platform are better off, but in the areas where the platform has not yet been reached, the rural people are really miserable.
Huo Chong urged all places to take out the potatoes, sweet potatoes and other starchy items in storage, and not to store them until the next harvest. All maltose processing factories were open all day, and the increased lighting expenses were all approved. They worked overtime to produce maltose foods to increase supply.
This busy work lasted half a month. Just when Huo Chong was distressed and used the two recent fires in the maltose factory caused by poor lighting control as examples to emphasize safety in production, a report came from outside that Master Changxin had arrived.
As soon as Huo Chong met Master Chang Xin, Master Chang Xin introduced several people to Huo Chong. As soon as the introduction was finished, the people came forward and knelt down. Huo Chong was so shocked that he quickly called for people to help them up. Several people had tears in their eyes , "Master Huo, your people not only bought our belongings at a high price this time, but also gave us food to eat. The villagers asked us to kowtow to Master Huo."
After saying that, several people were about to kneel again. Huo Chong quickly stopped them again, "Don't do this, everyone! Don't do this! We have all suffered a disaster, we have to get through it! Don't mention those things, we, the Zhongfu Association, are not bad people. Everyone, do what you can do now. We can't do too much, so just do our best."
After the villagers' representatives calmed down, Master Changxin said, "Mr. Huo, I came here to talk to you about something else."
"Oh?" Huo Chong looked at Master Changxin's serious expression and asked everyone to leave.
"I heard that Mr. Huo had a conflict with the Tianli Sect?" asked Master Changxin.
"Conflict?" Huo Chong didn't understand what this meant.
Master Changxin looked at Huo Chong's expression and said slowly, "I heard that Mr. Huo's men had a fight with the men of Master Liu of the Dui Clan. They were captured by Master Liu's men."
Huo Chong suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the person he sent to see Patriarch Liu had no news. He sent someone to check, but there was no reply. Unable to hold back his anger, Huo Chong stood up with murderous intent in his heart. Patriarch Liu had offended Huo Chong greatly before, and that account had not been settled yet. Now something like this has happened again. It seems that there is no way for both parties to settle it peacefully?
"When I heard about this, I was shocked and sent someone to see Master Liu. I asked him not to embarrass Mr. Huo's men. I also asked Master Liu to meet with Mr. Huo. At this time, I also heard that some gentry were very dissatisfied with Mr. Huo."
Huo Chong had to suppress his anger temporarily. It was not easy to be a good person. If Huo Chong did not take advantage of the disaster to buy the things that the poor had to sell, there would be many people who wanted to take the opportunity to buy. In contrast, Huo Chong, the "good man", had the taste of building bridges and paving roads without leaving any corpses. One less enemy, even if it was a bunch of people like the Tianli Sect, was not a bad thing.
