Inside the Prince Jing's residence, Wang Xiuxiu was reviewing the account books of merchant caravans from various regions.
Besides the trade caravans, which required her attention, she also focused on the commercial trends across the country.
"The Yuezhou caravan's profits have decreased by 30% this month?" She pointed to a number in the ledger, her brows furrowing slightly.
The steward bowed and said, "Sir, grain prices in Yuezhou have skyrocketed, increasing the cost of transporting grain for caravans and naturally reducing their profits."
Wang Xiuxiu put down the account book, lost in thought: "Has the imperial court reported the severe drought in the north?"
"I haven't heard of that. It's just that grain prices have suddenly skyrocketed in the Yuezhou area, supposedly because of a landslide at Qingyan Gorge that disrupted the canal transport..."
Lu Jingze happened to step into the study at that moment and overheard the conversation, immediately becoming alert: "Qingyan Gorge landslide? I just received a report from the Ministry of Works yesterday that there are no abnormalities in water conservancy across the country."
Wang Xiuxiu and Lu Jingze exchanged a glance, and both realized at the same time that something was wrong.
"Immediately send men to Yuezhou to investigate," Lu Jingze ordered his guards in a deep voice. "Don't alert the local officials; I need to know the truth."
Two days later, the spy brought back the news.
A landslide occurred at Qingyan Gorge, disrupting the canal transport.
Even more frightening is that the grain stored in the Yuezhou official granary has vanished, and the prefect is preparing to open the granary and release the grain the next day!
"This is a trap." Wang Xiuxiu clenched her fists. "Someone wants to plunge Yuezhou into a famine and incite a popular uprising!"
"If the official granaries in Yuezhou are opened tomorrow and it is discovered that there is no grain to distribute, the people will surely riot."
Lu Jingze nodded: "I will immediately mobilize the troops stationed in the capital region to escort the relief grain ships to Yuezhou."
"It's too late," Wang Xiuxiu shook her head. "Military troop movements are too conspicuous, and the repairs to Qingyan Gorge will take at least half a month."
A decisive glint flashed in Wang Xiuxiu's eyes. "Use the royal caravan."
"A caravan?"
"Royal caravans have special privileges and can bypass checkpoints."
Wang Xiuxiu had already spread out a map. "Stop releasing grain for now. We have six large granaries in the Jianghuai region. We can transfer grain overnight, traveling day and night by land from Yingzhou. We still have a chance to stabilize the situation."
Lu Jingze gazed at Wang Xiuxiu, his eyes full of admiration: "I will immediately go to the palace to request an imperial decree, and dispatch elite troops disguised as caravan guards to ensure absolute safety."
The two quickly split up and went their separate ways.
Wang Xiuxiu personally wrote letters to merchants in various places, using her official seal to allocate grain.
Lu Jingze selected his most loyal guards to escort the grain convoy.
At 11:45 AM, three caravans most skilled in land transportation received orders to depart from different prefectures and counties, loaded with grain, and take different routes to Yuezhou.
This was Wang Xiuxiu's plan—even if the mastermind behind it noticed, they wouldn't be able to intercept all the grain convoys at the same time in a short period of time.
---
At the mountain villa outside Yuezhou City, Zhou Yun'an was listening to Xiao Cheng's report.
"Master, the official granary is empty, and the keys have been returned. Opening the granary tomorrow will surely cause a huge uproar." Xiao Cheng said with excitement.
Just then, a man in black rushed in, shouting, "Report! The prefect of Yuezhou has ordered a temporary halt to the distribution of grain!"
When did this happen?
"Just now, the prefect of Yuezhou personally led people to collect and requisition grain from all the grain shops in the city. Stalls have now been set up in front of the government office for the people of the city to buy and sell."
"Don't panic. If the grain can't be transported in, no matter how much we seize, it will still be insufficient to meet the demand. First, send out all our spies."
Just two days after the order was issued, Xiao Cheng reported that several caravans were rushing to Yuezhou overnight.
Zhou Yun'an frowned: "A caravan? Which one?"
"The operation was well-organized, and they were operating under the guise of a royal caravan."
Zhou Yun'an's teacup suddenly stopped in mid-air, a hint of alertness flashing in his eyes: "A royal caravan? Lu Jingze and Wang Xiuxiu acted quickly."
He put down his teacup, quickly stood up, and said, "Send men to intercept them immediately; don't let a single one escape!"
"It's already been arranged, but..." Xiao Cheng hesitated, "There are too many caravans, both by land and water, and they're quite scattered. I'm afraid..."
“Wang Xiuxiu can’t mobilize much grain. Most of these caravans are just a smokescreen. Even if the entire Yuezhou Prefecture were to gather its resources, it would still take some time to fully repair Qingyan Gorge. Yuezhou can’t wait that long. The actual grain transport teams must be coming overland over the mountains. Have people check and stop each caravan on the land route.”
"yes!"
Just as Zhou Yun'an's men were obstructing the land caravans, a fleet of merchant ships sailed unimpeded, gradually approaching Yuezhou by water.
Xiao Cheng was in a real bind when he received the news.
“My lord, our men have checked each of these caravans one by one, and the grain carried by each caravan is not enough for disaster relief.”
Zhou Yun'an's expression changed drastically, and he slammed his fist on the table, standing up abruptly: "We've fallen for their trap! They're using a feint attack!"
He strode towards the map. "The real grain must be hidden in that most inconspicuous caravan! Send someone to investigate Qingyan Gorge!"
After a long while, Xiao Cheng returned with the news.
"My lord, a large number of grain ships have appeared in the direction of Qingyan Gorge, claiming to be providing disaster relief under the guise of the imperial court, and escorted by government troops!"
Zhou Yun'an's pupils constricted—Lu Jingze and Wang Xiuxiu not only saw through his plan, but also split into two groups. One group used a caravan to attract attention by land, while the other group was escorted by soldiers to transport the grain directly to Yuezhou!
"What a clever tactic of feigning one step while secretly advancing another." Zhou Yun'an laughed instead of getting angry. "Wang Xiuxiu, I underestimated you."
Xiao Cheng asked anxiously, "Master, what do we do now? Should we mobilize men to ambush the caravan at Qingyan Gorge?"
"No need. The caravan has already arrived. Wang Xiuxiu wouldn't be foolish enough to prevent the Yuezhou prefect from sending reinforcements."
A ruthless glint flashed in Zhou Yun'an's eyes. "Immediately send a message to Registrar Zhang, instructing him to incite the people and force the Prefect to open the granaries!"
Zhou Yun'an sneered, "The granaries are empty. I'd like to see if this readily available grain can appease the people!"
Xiao Cheng suddenly realized: "Master is brilliant! This way, as long as Qingyan Gorge isn't repaired, no matter how much grain is produced, the people in the city won't be able to get their hands on it!"
However, what Zhou Yun'an didn't know was that Wang Xiuxiu had already anticipated this move.
Her people in Yuezhou were spreading another message—that unscrupulous merchants were colluding with corrupt officials to hoard goods and speculate on prices, and that the imperial court had already discovered this and had specially sent an imperial envoy to investigate secretly for a long time. Today, they were going to wipe out these parasites of the country in one fell swoop!
The following morning, the prefect of Yuezhou, under pressure from the "threat of the mob," opened the granaries ahead of schedule. Just as the people were about to riot upon seeing the empty granaries, the grain from the royal caravan that had come by land arrived.
Zhou Yun'an didn't have many men under his command. In order to preserve his strength, his original plan was to find the main grain transport caravans and then gather his men to deliver a heavy blow.
The caravans that arrived first did not carry much grain, which was not enough to shake the situation in Yuezhou. Therefore, Xiao Cheng did not order them to be stopped.
Little did anyone know that this gave Wang Xiuxiu an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
The people were so impressed by the prefect's impassioned speech that they refrained from any further excessive actions.
At the same time, the prefect of Yuezhou, accompanied by several representatives of the people, personally visited Qingyan Gorge.
On the gorge, the crowd saw dozens of relief ships loaded with grain.
Now that the city had enough food to save lives, and with the food from Qingyan Gorge, the people were finally able to relax completely.
The prefect of Yuezhou took the opportunity to encourage the people of the city to repair Qingyan Gorge.
The enthusiasm of the people was unprecedented. In just a few dozen days, not only was Qingyan Gorge repaired, but even the price of grain in the city gradually stabilized.
The grain relief ships on the canal entered the city with gongs, and the officers and soldiers immediately arrested several large grain merchants who were hoarding grain and Zhang, the registrar.
Even more ingeniously, Wang Xiuxiu arranged for someone to loudly read out the "Imperial Envoy's" proclamation at the scene, exposing a conspiracy by someone to deliberately create a famine in an attempt to incite a popular uprising.
The people's anger immediately turned against those unscrupulous merchants and corrupt officials, while they were grateful to the imperial court.
Zhou Yun'an, who witnessed all of this from a high-rise building in the distance, had a gloomy expression.
His carefully laid plan was thus thwarted by Wang Xiuxiu and Lu Jingze working together.
"Master..." Xiao Cheng's voice trembled.
Zhou Yun'an raised his hand to stop him from speaking, "It's not your fault, I was tricked too. It seems this game... is more interesting than I imagined."
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