Bai Zhantang was furious when he heard Li Jiaqi's words, but he was helpless.

The capital city is not suitable for farming, so most of the grain is transported here by major grain merchants.

If I were to kill the people from the rice shop myself, it would only deter major grain merchants from coming to Lantian County.

If food supplies run out, many people will have to go elsewhere to buy food, which will cause food prices to rise again.

Some ordinary people, seeing the price, gritted their teeth and bought it.

Some people took the money and prepared to go see other places.

Even if it's in the rain, they'd be willing to go to the capital as long as it's cheaper.

Li Jiaqi watched them prepare to leave and said, "If you want to buy, hurry up, the price might not be the same in a while."

Upon hearing this, the people bought even more grain.

Bai Zhantang took the silver that could have bought 100 jin of grain and bought 25 jin of grain instead.

He weighed the bag of rice in his hand and couldn't help but ask, "Manager Li, aren't you afraid that the Marquis will come after you for doing this?"

Li Jiaqi laughed heartily, looking very heroic, but his legs trembled slightly when he heard the name of the Marquis.

"I am naturally somewhat intimidated by the Marquis's reputation, but we have no choice. The capital is experiencing heavy rain, preventing the transport of grain, and our reserves are low. If prices don't rise, what can we do?"

As he spoke, he spread his hands: "After all, labor costs and transportation fees are getting higher and higher. If we don't raise prices, we won't make any money."

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhantang left with a cold expression.

Li Jiaqi watched his retreating figure and sneered.

My Lord!

In the end, he was just an ordinary man.

Does he understand business?

Unless he can conjure up tens of thousands of dan of grain, what can he do with himself?

Li Jiaqi watched the people scrambling to buy grain and felt secretly pleased with himself.

Such scenes are occurring throughout Beijing.

Countless rice merchants are driving up prices, hoping to make a fortune from this heavy rain.

Li Chang'an thought so too.

However, what he wants to earn is not the money of ordinary people.

He, Li, wouldn't even look down on such paltry sums.

It wasn't that he looked down on the meager earnings of ordinary people; in his eyes, everyone in the Ming Dynasty had only a pittance in their pockets.

Li Chang'an, who had unlimited resources, felt that everyone was poor.

The military officers sitting in the hall were among the poorest of the poor.

"Don't tell me you've been generals for so long and don't even own a shop?"

Yang Wenguang lowered his head and dared not utter a sound.

Yue Wumu drank his tea, sip after sip.

Only Xin Qiji, gritting his teeth, spoke up: "My lord, we have no other choice."

“My men all need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. Every day when I open my eyes, it's a huge expense.”

"The imperial court's provisions and salaries are prioritized for the border regions and the palace guards."

“My men are several months behind on their pay; we really have no money left.”

Yang Wenguang opened his mouth, then gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, I have seventy-four taels of silver and five hundred and twenty-nine coins of my own savings. I will go home and get them for you later. I just hope that my wife will not find out."

"Otherwise, I might not be able to save my old life."

Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an couldn't help but roll his eyes.

This is a complete set of coins, and they're listed in great detail, clearly indicating they've been saving up for a long time.

Yue Wumu then said, "You old Yang, I never thought that you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, would also hide money from others."

Xin Qiji angrily retorted, "A few days ago when we went drinking, you said you had no money and asked me to treat you. Now you have seventy-four taels of silver."

Li Chang'an looked at the three people and sighed, "Forget it, there's no hope for you three."

"How about this, you help me find a few shops scattered throughout the capital, and I'll pay to rent them."

"We'll open the shop under your name, and you'll be responsible for the shop's security. We'll split the profits 30/70, how about that?"

Yang Wenguang's eyes lit up when he heard this.

In the Ming Dynasty's officialdom, everyone knows that Marquis Anping is incredibly wealthy.

The soldiers under his command received the highest possible wages and benefits.

Now he wants to lead them in doing business, and they don't even need to put up any money. They only need to contribute some manpower, and the profits can be split 30/70.

Yang Wenguang certainly couldn't refuse such a good opportunity.

Yue Wumu couldn't help but ask, "I wonder what kind of things Your Lordship plans to sell in your shop?"

Li Chang'an looked at the three people and smiled slightly: "Rice, coarse grains, eggs, wooden boards, lard, and grain seeds."

"I can sell almost anything that I have."

When Xin Qiji heard about grain, he paused for a moment, his tone turning somewhat cold: "My lord, now that grain prices in the capital are rising, are you also planning to get a share of the pie?"

Yang Wenguang couldn't help but tug at him, signaling him to shut up.

Now that you finally have a chance to make money, who cares how you make it?

Moreover, other grain merchants have raised their prices, so it's perfectly normal for the Marquis to be envious and want to make a profit.

Li Chang'an looked at him and said, "You've narrowed your perspective."

“What I earn is not the money that the common people have.”

"What I want to earn is the money of the major families in Jiangnan."

"No matter how rich the common people are, can they be as rich as the major families in Jiangnan? Broaden your horizons and stop focusing on the common people's meager wealth, Lord Xin."

Xin Qiji blushed slightly at his words, but then couldn't help but ask, "But, my lord, how do you plan to make money off those aristocratic families?"

Yang Wenguang and Yue Wumu were also somewhat curious.

"The secrets of heaven cannot be revealed. Anyway, find several shops and spread them out, try to have one in various parts of the capital."

"When the time comes, I will naturally arrange for people to go and manage the business. You just need to protect the shop and wait for your share of the profits."

Li Chang'an filled the teacup with water and then gestured that they could leave.

After they left, Zhao Hu came over, cupped his hands and said, "Teacher, the price of grain has doubled again. Should we open a shop first and get started?"

Li Chang'an shook his head: "No rush, no rush, let the bullets fly for a while."

"You can change the recruitment conditions now. Each worker should receive two loads of grain. This way, we can recruit more people and also help those people who cannot afford grain."

"In addition, tell the people brought out from Chengxi Village that they must not contact outsiders now. If those Jiangnan aristocratic families know that I have unlimited food, they will not take the bait."

"Let's make some sacrifices for the people for now and let them buy some high-priced grain first."

"Otherwise, they wouldn't hold a grudge against those grain merchants."

"After all, there are always some people who eat their fill and then curse their mother."

“I’m afraid that if I lower the price of grain, the people will not only not thank me, but will also curse me, making grain worthless.”