Chapter 213 People’s Livelihood
Chen Gu was worried that there would be accidents during oil extraction, but the Shanxi merchants did not have these concerns. After all, coal mining could also lead to accidents and deaths.

"Talking about oil, that's good!" Chen Gu nodded and said with a smile: "Qi Zhongxian, please rest assured that my Huaxia Department's equal distribution of land is actually just to give the people a bite to eat, and it is not targeting anyone.

In fact, how much money can you dig out from the fields?

A pound of rice was worth no more than ten copper coins, and after a year's hard work on an acre of good paddy field, the most you could earn was one or two taels of silver.

Even if you have thousands of acres of fertile land, you can only make a little money. It is far worse than doing some small business.

Our Hua Xia Department supports doing business. As long as it is reasonable and legal, we will protect the interests of merchants. In particular, if someone comes to Sichuan to open various workshops, our Hua Xia Department will give certain support.

You guys take your time to talk, I won’t bother you anymore!”

After expressing his attitude to Qiao Quanyi, Chen Gu got up and left, so as to avoid the two of them being restrained by him staying there. The two of them got up and wanted to see Chen Gu off, and they didn't stop until they saw him off to the gate.

When he came out, the Forestry and Mining Department actually bought oranges for Chen Kui. They bought a lot of them, about a hundred pounds, and pushed them in one or two wheelbarrows.

Chen Ju frowned and said, "This is a bit too much. How much is it? Push the wheelbarrow to the government office to collect it yourself!"

“It doesn’t cost any money. There’s a shop on Baixiang Street that specializes in selling fruits. They knew that the leader’s wife liked to eat oranges, so they gave it to the leader specially, for free.

The shop owner was a shrewd guy. At first I thought I was getting a good deal, but as soon as I left with the oranges, he started shouting that even his leader's wife loved to eat his oranges.

In just a short while, we actually sold several thousand kilograms of fruit, and he actually got the upper hand!" The old man at the door said a little embarrassedly.

Chen Gu couldn't help but be speechless. He didn't expect that he would be used for advertisement. However, this kind of thing was not a big deal. After all, it was just selling a few more fruits.

"All right, then push the wheelbarrow to the government office and tell the shopkeeper that he is not allowed to use Madam's name tomorrow and that his shop must be run honestly. If he damages Madam's reputation, he will not be forgiven."

"Leader Hongen, it's a great blessing for the shopkeeper to let him use your wife's name for half a day. He would never dare to do anything reckless even if he had a hundred courageous leopards. Don't worry, Leader!" The old man at the door said quickly.

Chen Gu nodded, then left with his entourage. After thinking for a while, Chen Gu did not enter other departments, so as to avoid people thinking that he was out for inspection.

Although Chongqing experienced two wars in succession, the market quickly regained its prosperity because the two wars had little impact on ordinary people.

The first time Han Yuanxiao cooperated with the troops of Jiangjin County to capture Chongqing, it did not take much effort. After all, the Han family had been operating in Chongqing for nearly a hundred years, and their tentacles had long penetrated into the army, and it could even be said that they were deeply rooted.

Therefore, Han Yuanxiao encountered little resistance when he took over Chongqing, and he did not launch a purge of officials and wealthy families in the city afterwards, but allowed them to leave freely.

The second time Fu Cha Mingliang led his troops, he did not even enter the city.

Therefore, Chongqing basically did not suffer any losses. On the contrary, after the equal distribution of land, ordinary people had hope in their lives and the market became more prosperous.

After all, Chen Gou played the role of a mountain tiger in Chongqing. All kinds of city foxes and rats were afraid that Chen Gou would notice them, so they tried their best to hide themselves, let alone come out to harass the people.

This made the usually cautious people bolder, and they were no longer afraid of being bullied when doing small business, which further increased the prosperity of the market. However, everything has its pros and cons. Too many people doing small business seemed to be a bit troublesome, and the streets seemed congested.

Chen Gu thought for a moment and said to a guard next to him, "Go and see if our senior official is free. If there is nothing urgent, ask him to go shopping with me."

After a while, Bai Yunqing hurried over.

At this time, Chen Gu was working at a small stall selling fried dry noodles.

Chongqing fried noodles are not made by boiling or steaming the noodles and then frying them. Instead, the noodles are cut into small sections and fried before being boiled. The noodles cooked in this way not only have a burnt aroma, but are also very chewy.

Moreover, after it is cooked, it will not clump even if it is stewed in the pot for a long time. It can be kept in the hot pot and sold from street to street for a long time.

A pound of noodles with some starch can be cooked into about ten bowls, and it’s a very big bowl, filled to the brim to look like a lot.

Chen Gu asked and found out that it was only two cents per bowl, so he bought a bowl for everyone.

While eating, he saw the guards bringing Bai Yunqing over, so he said to Bai Yunqing: "The fried noodles taste pretty good. There's a lot of foot bath in it. It's sour and spicy, appetizing, filling and warming. Eat a bowl first. By the way, pay for it!"

Seeing that Chen Gu had just started eating, and that his slurping was quite tempting, Bai Yunqing looked at the stall again and saw that it was quite busy, and there was a bucket for washing dishes next to it, so he took out ten coins to pay the bill and said, "Then, ma'am, please scoop me a bowl!"

Chen Gu looked at Bai Yunqing, then at the woman selling fried noodles, and said with a smile: "You may have called her wrong. She might actually be your sister!"

The woman selling fried noodles blushed but dared not say a word. After all, the people in front of her looked either rich or noble.

Although everyone in Chongqing seems to have become more friendly now, the street thugs of the past are gone, and officials no longer bully people at will, the common people still instinctively do not want to offend these nobles.

Bai Yunqing smiled and said to the woman selling fried noodles, "I am 42 years old this year. I wonder how old this lady is?"

"I dare not, I dare not, I am thirty-six years old!" the woman selling fried noodles said quickly.

Bai Yunqing nodded and said, "It is true that I was rude. I apologize to the female shopkeeper here!"

Bai Yunqing's gift was more of a compensation to Chen Gu than to the woman.

Bai Yunqing is not incapable of being friendly. He doesn't know why Chen Gu asked him to go shopping, but it's always right to behave better.

Chen Gu put down the bowl and said with a smile: "The fried noodles taste good, but you can't eat too much, otherwise it will delay the main meal. How much profit can the shopkeeper make from selling fried noodles in a day?"

"What kind of profit can we make from that? It's just enough to break even, with some soup left over for the family to have an extra bite to eat." The woman sighed.

"It's good to have one more bite to eat!" Chen Gu said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)