During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Ji Liao served as the prefect of the new city. This year, the new city suffered a drought, the harvest was sharply reduced, and many people stopped eating, but the relief grain from the imperial court was delayed, which made Ji Liao anxious.

Ji Liao summoned the grain store owners several times, wanting to credit them with some food to help the victims, but these bosses were so rich and heartless that they refused to give him even a tael of food. He couldn't force them to open a warehouse to release food, which really made him anxious.

That night, Ji Liao was thinking hard about disaster relief when a gust of wind blew in from the window, and the candle flickered before it went out. The room was suddenly dark, with only cold moonlight pouring in through the window paper. He hurriedly took out the fire fold and made a spark, but saw that the candle had burned out, leaving only a few drops of wax on the candlestick. He had an idea and couldn't help but exclaim, "I have it!"

The next morning, Ji Liao asked the servants to inform the owners of the grain store, and then went to the county yamen for discussion. The bosses were already tired of this, so they came leisurely, and had already made up their minds that they would not credit one or two grains.

Although they were just grain shop owners, they all had backstage. If Ji Liao dared to be tough, he would be unlucky.

Seeing that the owners of the grain store were all here, Ji Liao said, "I invited all the bosses over to sell something. The grain store owners did not expect Ji Liao to mention the grain on credit, but said they wanted to sell something. For a while, they did not know what medicine he was selling in the gourd, and looked at each other. Liu Liangfeng, the owner of Liangfeng Grain Store, was the head of these grain store owners, and everyone looked at his eyes and acted, so they all looked at him at that time. Liu Liangfeng asked unhurriedly, "What is the lord trying to sell?"

Ji Liao said confidently, "I want to sell out."

The bosses all suspected that something was wrong with their ears and heard it wrong. After looking at each other, they looked at Ji Liao in confusion. Liu Liangfeng opened his mouth: "We didn't hear clearly, what is the Lord trying to sell?"

Ji Liao repeated heavily: "This official is going to sell out!"

Liu Liangfeng asked, "What light?"

Ji Liao said: "Well, light is light. Daylight, moonlight, starlight, candlelight, firelight, I can sell it. You can tell me what you are willing to buy, and the price can be negotiated."

The few grain store owners laughed unconsciously when they heard this. It seems that the governor of the county is crazy about money, and he has nothing of value to sell, so he actually thought of selling it. Whether it is sunlight, moonlight, starlight, candlelight, we just don't buy it, can you still withhold it? This is clearly trying to corrupt money. Liu Liangfeng said: "Although we have some money, we have earned it hard, not from the strong wind. Those Lord Guangguang should keep it, we won't buy it."

Ji Liao asked them, "Have you decided not to buy it?"

Several grain store owners nodded vigorously.

Ji Liao said word by word, "Since you don't buy my light, you are not allowed to sell my light in the future. If I find you selling it secretly, I will not forgive you. If you find it once, you will be fined fifty taels of silver. Do you have any objections?"

The owners of the grain store all laughed secretly and nodded again and again, saying there was no objection. Ji Liao was afraid that they would go back to their words, so he wrote down the document, and both parties signed and signed.

Soon, the story of the old man sold out in the county spread in the market, and people could only give him a review of "poor and crazy".

One day, Liu Liangfeng was drinking tea in the backyard when suddenly, a young man ran over in a panic and said, "Master, it's not good, the county government office is here to collect the money with us!" Liu Liangfeng was so angry that he put the tea bowl on the table and said loudly, "Let's go and see! Whoever dares to break ground on the head of King Yan, I will pull him into the grave first!" He ran to the front hall with the young man and saw several county government officials waiting for him there. He couldn't help but say angrily, "What are you doing?"

One of the officers clasped his fists and saluted Liu Liangfeng, saying calmly, "Boss Liu, we are here to ask you for a fine on the orders of the county princess." Liu Liangfeng was stunned and asked, "What fine?" The officer said, "You all promised the county princess that it would not be sold out, but your young man just said that it was sold out. As agreed, you will be fined fifty taels of silver."

Liu Liangfeng remembered this stubble and turned to ask the young man what was going on. The young man said blankly that there were many people buying grain in the grain store today, but Liu Liangfeng explained that they were only allowed to sell 1,000 catties of grain every day, and they were not allowed to sell more. After selling 1,000 catties of grain, the people behind him were still clamoring to buy it, so he had to tell those people that it was sold out today and no longer sold, and then the servants came in to collect the cash with him.

Only then did Liu Liangfeng understand that he had been tricked by Ji Liao. But it was written in black and white, and he couldn't go back on it. He had no choice but to give the soldiers fifty taels of silver, and then instruct the guys not to say "sold out."

The next afternoon, Liu Liangfeng was drinking tea in the backyard when the young man ran in again and shouted anxiously, "Master, take a look, we can't control it anymore!" Liu Liangfeng hurriedly asked him what was going on.

The man said that there were still many people in the grain store today who wanted to buy grain, and the thousand catties of grain ordered by the boss had long been sold out, but the man was afraid of being fined, so he didn't dare to say it, and he didn't know what to say. Those who bought grain refused to leave, and are still yelling in the front hall. Liu Liangfeng said angrily, "You are stupid! Don't say it's sold out, just say it's sold out, don't you have it!"

At this time, someone on the wall smiled, and he hurriedly turned his head to look and saw Ji Liao lying on the wall. He asked, "Master District, what's the matter with you lying on the wall of my house?" Ji Liao smiled and said, "If you don't lie on the wall, how can you know that you are sold out behind your back? Boss Liu, you did say that you are sold out just now, so you won't deny it, right? Quick, bring the penalty silver."

Liu Liangfeng was stunned, and he remembered that he had indeed said "sold out" just now. Ji Liao heard this, of course, he couldn't deny it, but he really wanted to take out fifty taels of silver. He really hurts it. He can't wait to slap himself in the mouth. Ji Liao put away the silver and said with a halfsmile, "Don't say the word'sold out 'in the future, otherwise the white money will be gone if you say it's gone." After that, Ji Liao left two soldiers to stare at Liu Liangfeng, and he took people to other grain stores to collect silver.

The more Liu Liangfeng thought about it, the angrier he became. This wrong sentence made Ji Liao to be fined fifty taels of silver, which was too wrong. He thought that the owners of the grain store were in the same situation as him, so he planned to go to them to discuss it.

As soon as they were halfway there, they met the owners of the grain store. It turned out that they were just as unlucky as Liu Liangfeng. Within two days, Ji Liao was fined ten taels of silver. They were distressed, and they were here to discuss countermeasures with him. Liu Liangfeng said: "This'sold out 'is our mantra. We have said it for half a lifetime, how can we change it if we say we change it, and if we don't pay attention, we will let Ji Liao fine fifty taels of silver. It's a loss. We have to go to him and argue this. We mean that we sold out the grain, but we didn't sell his light. Can he punish us?"

Several grain store owners said "yes" in unison, and then went to the county yamen in a menacing manner.

Liu Liangfeng and the others had just arrived at the county yamen when a group of children suddenly ran out from everywhere to surround them and kowtow to thank them. The grain store owners were stunned. Ji Liao came over and said that these fines had all bought grain to make porridge and saved the lives of these children. Children should thank them. The good deeds of the bosses will be rewarded. I hope the bosses will continue to do good deeds and help the poor people survive for a few days, and when the court's disaster relief money comes down, it will be returned to them immediately.

The grain shop owners were wearing high hats, and they couldn't take them off even if they wanted to, so they had to nod and respond. Although Ji Liao was no longer fined silver, he donated hundreds of catties of grain every day, which was what they personally deserved.

A few days later, the imperial court's disaster relief silver was allocated, and Ji Liao really returned the fine silver to the grain shop owners, which was a lot of money, and it became a good talk for a while. In the year of the disaster, no one starved to death in Xincheng County, and no one went out to beg for food and became a refugee.