sjar Chapter 137: Food War, Winning
Chapter 137: Food War, Winning
Emperor Hui looked at his ministers kneeling on the ground and said, "I heard that you all wrote memorials overnight. Please hand them over. Don't waste your hard work."
With a wave of his hand, Beggar Sheng led his men to collect the petitions one by one.
Who would dare to show the memorial now? The memorial written that night with all my talent and imagination was destined to become historical garbage.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t take it out, Leng Luo has already memorized the names of all the ministers kneeling down.
There is no sudden disaster in this world, but the words cause and effect are never absent.
Emperor Hui then said something that shocked Duke Cheng'en: "Western Xia disregarded the diplomatic relations between our two countries and openly invaded our Daqian during a natural disaster. We must write to all the countries on the mainland to condemn and punish this unjust act."
If this military rumor were to be exposed, Emperor Hui would make a desperate bet on Daqian and join hands with Western Xia to declare open war on the Wei family. It would be a situation of life and death, and the entire Wei family and the prince would not have a good ending.
Duke Cheng En immediately knelt down in fear and replied, "Your Majesty, I am an old minister who eats the salary of the emperor and should be loyal to the emperor. It is the unshirkable responsibility of the Wei army to defend the border against foreign enemies. I will immediately write a letter to An Yuan, asking him to do everything possible to stop Xixia from leaving the Daqian border."
Emperor Hui was still unable to eliminate the power of the Wei family in one fell swoop. Seeing that he was showing weakness, he said, "In this case, Duke Cheng'en is sorry for the trouble."
A border military incident was resolved just like that.
After the court session, Duke Cheng'en, who was so upset, felt so angry that his blood pressure rose and he felt a little dizzy.
"Your Majesty caught us off guard, how insidious!"
Duke Cheng'en looked very unhappy. Wu Chaohui contacted and bought 40 dan of grain, and Duke Cheng'en's mansion also paid 500 million strings of cash.
He had already sent people to investigate, and it was confirmed that His Majesty had indeed hidden 10 shi of grain in the imperial farm on the outskirts of Kyoto.
"What should we do? He has 20 shi of grain on hand!" Wu Zhaohui felt that the capital city must never sell any more grain.
"Ship it to the Grand Canal. We'll try it out near Wancheng first. We'll sell as many as we can. If we can't sell anything, report it to the Grand Canal project."
No matter what, these 40 shi of grain cannot be left alone, and someone must be found to pay for it.
The steward of the Prince's Mansion said sternly, "If you use the funds of the Grand Canal project, you must keep good accounts and make sure who has passed through the account is clear."
Lord Cheng En nodded and said, "This account will definitely be checked, and it will be checked many times. You must make a clear and accurate false account."
Wu Zhaohui discussed with them until late at night and left secretly through a small door.
40 shi of grain were transported to Zhongzhou overnight by horse-drawn carriages and boats, and Wu Chaohui personally followed the carriage.
First, find a way to sell it to the public. If the common people cannot digest so much grain, then throw it to the Grand Canal project and let the court take it.
Wu Chaohui no longer has any way out.
500 million strings of cash, basically all the cash that could be moved in the family.
Wu Chaohui first returned to his ancestral home in Wancheng to discuss the current situation with his clansmen.
At the end of November, Wu Chaohui's grain was transported to Zhongzhou, Wancheng and other places.
When the goods were unloading, the local rice shop had not been open for some time.
However, the common people still had some food in their hands because of the disturbance caused by Dongqin before the disaster, so they did not starve.
However, those people in the city who rely on buying rice to survive are having trouble making ends meet.
He was anxious to find grain merchants everywhere.
Wu Chaohui put up a sign in the rice shop announcing that rice would be available for sale in three days. It immediately caused a sensation, and those who wanted to buy rice were ready to rush in.
When all the rice was delivered to the rice shops and they opened for business, the common people were furious when they saw the price of 450 Wen!
450 coins? You don't intend to let me live, do you?
However, there are still many rich people. If you can’t afford it, just sit back and take a rest!
Wu Chaohui asked for help from the Cheng'en Mansion and sent soldiers to maintain order. Even though the common people cursed, they could only watch the rich buy grain.
Less than an hour after the food was put on sale, someone was heard shouting, "Don't buy it, there is cheaper food in the suburbs."
A fast horse came from a distance and shouted: "A rice shop has opened in the suburbs, 150 coins!"
Ah, 150 cents?
"real or fake?"
"Of course it's true. I bought a thousand kilograms."
"He's so cheap, will he not have much food?"
"There are so many. It's a huge warehouse!"
Aaaaa, if you don’t take advantage of an opportunity, you’re a fool.
They all ran away in a swarm. The first few who paid the silver directly returned the grain and shouted to Wu Zhaohui's shopkeeper: "Give me back, I don't want to buy it!"
What a familiar suburban rice shop!
What a familiar 150 words!
Is it 100 wen tomorrow? 50 wen the day after tomorrow?
After listening to the report from his servant, Wu Chaohui immediately rode his horse to the rice shop in the suburbs.
When he saw the familiar "Imperial City Division" people outside the rice shop, his eyes went dark.
They are being watched by His Majesty!
No wonder those people challenged him without any scruples.
Who dares to go against the Crown Prince and Duke Cheng'en's Mansion?
Only His Majesty, and he knew very well that although His Majesty and the Cheng'en Mansion seemed to be in harmony on the surface, the two had been playing games all the time.
Those young men sold the grain very quickly, and rice bags were carried out like water.
They weighed the goods while shouting, collected bills and issued numbers by sliding the iron chain, and the operation was so smooth.
Wu Zhaohui knew it was over.
He didn't have the courage to watch any further, so he had someone drag him back to his ancestral home, where he sat there in silence.
In Wancheng, at the locations of Wu Chaohui's several major grain depots, that group of people could be seen, all competing with him.
After ten consecutive days of selling, all 20 shi of rice were sold out.
From 150 wen, to 100 wen, 50 wen, 20 wen, and finally it was said that there were about 5 dan of rice mixed with rice chaff. Rich people did not rush to buy it, only poor people went to buy it, and it was only sold at 8 wen per jin, and all of them were weighed high.
Food prices have been brought down completely across the country!
The news quickly reached the court, and when Emperor Hui heard that it was the "Imperial City Department" that was protecting the competitor, he said nothing and glanced at Leng Luo.
Leng Luo raised his eyelids just for a moment and then drooped them immediately.
The emperor and his subjects understood each other tacitly: I/I did not send anyone!
At noon that day, Yuanyuan received a letter with only one line of words on it: Earned more than 1850 million silver coins, total cost more than 130 million silver coins, 1720 million silver coins in deposit, and 10 shi of surplus grain.
"Miss, we won!" Yuanyuan's eyes sparkled with excitement.
Xie Zhaozhao burned the note in the brazier and said, "Dongqin, thank you for your hard work..."
In early December, Wu Chaohui, who was sniped and had no way out, transported all the food to the Grand Canal project site and the Zhongzhou disaster area.
The first snow in the capital city fell heavily.
At the hour of Mao, all the court officials still wore their court robes and sat in sedan chairs as they walked towards the palace, step by step, making crunching sounds on the snow.
Duke Cheng'en was the first to report to the court: Due to the earthquake in Zhongzhou, coupled with floods and plagues, and the recent heavy snow and ice, the construction of the Grand Canal was particularly difficult.
In order to meet the demand for food for migrant workers, the purchase price increased from the original 16 wen/jin (market price 3-4 wen, quoted price 8 wen, plus another 8 wen for transportation and loss fees) to 600 wen/jin due to changes in various factors.
The various warmth and transportation conditions for the migrant workers must be improved, otherwise the construction of the Grand Canal will have to be suspended.
For a large project like this, once work is stopped, the losses will be huge, and even all the previous work will be wasted.
Emperor Hui listened to a series of incredible financial figures and suddenly laughed.
"Lord Cheng'en, you are old and the news is no longer effective!"
"Lord Liu, please read the secret report you received today to Lord Cheng'en."