When the prices of privately-run and government-run schools are similar, ordinary people can buy them at will.

If privately-run grain shops are cheaper than government-run ones, that would be even better, since government-run grain shops won't lower their prices anyway.

The place Murong Yue went to visit was Chen's Rice Shop.

It's privately run.

There were more people queuing to buy rice than usual.

The price of grain has also dropped slightly since Murong Yue last visited.

She stroked her chin, tilted her head, and pondered, "Why are grain prices low?"

The stability of a base depends on two things: population and food.

The development of a base depends on only one thing: military strength.

She didn't care about anything else; food was what she cared about most.

After thinking for a while without finding a solution, he simply ate and drank his way back to the palace.

That evening, she asked Li Xuanji, "Teacher, why are grain prices so low now?"

Li Xuanji was very pleased, "It's a good thing that Your Majesty cares about grain prices."

"There are two reasons why grain prices are low. One is that after spring, when new grain comes to market in summer and autumn, grain merchants have to sell off the old rice they have hoarded in the spring."

Oh, oh, oh, Murong Yue barely understands this.

After all, nobody likes eating leftovers.

They all like to eat new things.

"The second reason is that the Yue Kingdom will give us 600,000 taels of silver worth of grain."

“Grain merchants are well-informed. If this batch of grain enters the market and the price drops, they will lose money on the grain they hold.”

"Why don't we sell it now?"

Well...

This seems to involve arithmetic, and Murong Yue said she shouldn't make things difficult for herself.

"We still need to stockpile food."

She suffers from food insecurity.

So be it, Qing Kingdom already had a grain stockpiling plan, and His Majesty had said before this year that he wanted to stockpile grain.

The Ministry of Revenue has increased the quantity and speed of grain stockpiling.

The next day, after attending court, Murong Yue first surveyed the court and singled out Jiang Feng, the Minister of Revenue, from among the ministers.

"How's the grain stockpiling going?"

Jiang Feng took a deep breath. He had long been prepared to report to His Majesty and was just waiting for the right moment to present it to him.

Since His Majesty has inquired, it is fitting to present it now.

"Your Majesty, in accordance with your decree, two granaries were opened in the capital before the New Year, and granaries were also added in various prefectures."

"Including the capital city, the twenty-one prefectures of Qing Kingdom have opened a total of sixty-seven new granaries."

"The granaries in the southern states have already been capped."

“Construction is inconvenient in the northern winter, and the grain warehouses converted from old sites have all been completed.”

Murong Yue listened with great satisfaction, nodding repeatedly, "Well done."

"Good, here's a reward!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Jiang Feng, who was already mature and composed, was so happy that his eyebrows twitched, and he immediately knelt down to express his gratitude.

"In addition, the caravans that went to Liao and Yue to purchase grain will be back soon."

These newly built granaries are empty. It's only spring, and the grain isn't ripe yet. To fill these granaries, we have to buy grain from outside.

Purchasing from Qing Kingdom itself is useless; it's just a matter of transferring grain from one hand to the other, since it's all domestic grain.

He arranged for people to collect grain from the Liao and Yue kingdoms.

As for the Yun Kingdom and the Xia Kingdom?

Forget it.

The price-performance ratio is too low.

Of these, the Yue Kingdom received the most grain.

The Yue Kingdom had a mild climate and fertile land, with three harvests a year, resulting in abundant grain.

Moreover, in order to avoid being discovered by the Yue Kingdom, he divided the grain-collecting team into several groups.

According to his estimate, the grain worth five million taels of silver was roughly one-third of the grain consumed by the people of Yue.

By the time the Yue Kingdom officials realized what was happening, all the grain had already been stored in the Qing Kingdom's granaries.

Hahaha!

Thinking of this, Jiang Feng's eyebrows started twitching again.

After hearing her account, Murong Yue's mind went blank, and she remembered two numbers: sixty-seven new granaries and five million taels of silver worth of grain.

I feel very safe.

After court, he would personally select the items to be bestowed upon him from his own storeroom.

She finds useless things increasingly irritating.

She didn't want any of the incomprehensible calligraphy and paintings, the delicate porcelain, or the space-consuming screens anymore.

"Oh, Your Majesty, this is the Empress Dowager's favorite screen."

Ah Hao quickly stopped Murong Yue.

If she had been any later, Murong Yue would have smashed the screen to pieces.

"Oh, then keep it."

What about this one?

"The Emperor Emeritus's favorite Go set was made of Hetian jade and black jade; it was extremely precious."

"Oh, no thanks."

Murong Yue was very generous.

What the Emperor Emeritus likes isn't what my mother likes, so who cares!

After searching for a long time, she suddenly froze, her eyes darting around rapidly. "Okay, let's sell things."

ah?

Selling...selling things?

What to sell?

Where can I buy it?

Ah Hao was completely dumbfounded.

Murong Yue waved her hand and pointed to the things in the private treasury, saying that she didn't want anything except gold, silver, and things her mother liked.

It would be better to switch to grain.

Ah Hao sighed, looking up at his forehead.

She can't make that decision, nor should she; His Majesty's idea is too crazy.

If she were to agree with her, she'd probably lose her head.

If she refused... how could she possibly argue with His Majesty?

"Alright, quickly send someone to fetch reinforcements!" — Li Xuanji

Li Xuanji was in Xuanji Palace, discussing the matter of Yun Kingdom spies with Qi Yuan and Xu Qing, the Minister of Justice. The discussion was more like a tea ceremony.

Upon hearing Ah Hao's plea for help...

Li Xuanji surprisingly showed a slight smile, "You two can discuss this further. I'll go take a look."

After saying that, she walked away in her white robes.

Qi Yuan and Xu Qing stared at the immortal-like figure until Li Xuanji disappeared at the entrance of the main hall.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!