Chapter 382 Gambler's Mentality (Minor Repair)
After suffering a heart attack, Lu Yilian also asked Feng Ting to take three thousand soldiers and go with him to the governor's mansion.
The governor's office is in Changli, and Yi County is right next to Changli.
There were nearly 10,000 of them rushing along the road, making a huge noise and was very scary. Many villages could not help but close their doors and windows when they passed by.
They soon arrived at the governor's mansion, and the two groups of people were standing on both sides, clearly separated.
When Shi Tao came out of the mansion and saw this scene, his veins throbbing, especially the fact that Lu Desheng actually came with 6,000 people. This implicit deterrence made him very uncomfortable.
"What's the matter?" Shi Tao asked.
The Governor's Mansion had recently become the center of rumors and had become quite uneasy. To quell the rumors, he had even sent soldiers to arrest someone, but to be honest, his second daughter's reputation had been completely ruined after this incident.
Unfortunately, his men hadn't tracked down the source of the rumor. But he had a vague feeling that it was most likely Lu Desheng's doing. This was because the dirty water had been thrown at both the Shi and Lu families, and his second daughter had been severely affected. Qin Liu, one of the parties involved, wasn't mentioned at all in the rumors; he was so well protected that it was hard not to suspect him.
"Lord Governor——"
"Master Shi——"
Lu Desheng and Lu Yiliang spoke at the same time.
"I'll speak first!"
"Why should I let you speak first?"
Lu Desheng and Lu Yiliang refused to give in to each other.
Shi Tao rubbed his forehead and called out, "Lu Desheng, you speak." He felt at this moment that no matter what Lu Yiliang and he had planned, it would probably fail.
Lu Yiliang felt wronged.
Lu Desheng glanced at him proudly and said, "Sir Governor, the situation is like this. Our Liaodong Chamber of Commerce has brought back a batch of grain from the south and hired some people to escort it north."
"When they passed through Liaoxi County, Lord Lu actually ordered them to be detained. First, he said there was something fishy about their people, and then he said there was something fishy about their food. I asked him for evidence, but he couldn't produce any. He said you were the one who ordered this, but I don't believe it, so I came here to ask you for confirmation."
Shi Tao looked at the six thousand officers and soldiers plus the guards, then looked at the three scholars with southern features following Lu Desheng, and gritted his teeth secretly.
Are you asking me this? You're clearly threatening me!
Lu Yiliang looked at Shi Tao expectantly.
Shi Tao ignored Lu Yiliang's expectant look and tried to calmly reply, "No."
Lu Yiliang couldn't believe it.
Shi Tao was annoyed to death by this time.
Lu Yiliang, this idiot, what else is he asking?
Lu Desheng's move was to intimidate him. If they could not produce evidence and continued to detain his people, he would make a fuss.
As the governor of Pingzhou, his most important responsibility was to maintain the stability of Pingzhou. If Liaodong and Liaoxi counties came to blows, he would undoubtedly face the emperor's censure, which was the last thing he wanted to see.
Moreover, Lu Yiliang's move was not only to seize the grain brought back by the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce, but also to collect more head tax in the coming year.
But as the governor of Pingzhou, he was in charge of the province's grain tax. Grain? The autumn harvest had just passed, and he had plenty. Poll tax? It made no difference to him whether the disaster victims in the south paid taxes in Liaoxi or Liaodong County.
Upon hearing this, Lu Desheng patted his chest exaggeratedly and said, "I told you, Lord Shi is not the kind of person who can't tell right from wrong, don't you think?" The last sentence was directed at the six thousand people behind him.
Hearing his question, six thousand people shouted in unison, "Yes!"
In an instant, Shi Tao's face became so gloomy that water seemed to drip out of it.
At this time, Lu Desheng said to Lu Yiliang earnestly, "Lord Lu, you've caused all this trouble yourself. Don't always use the name of the Governor as an excuse. To be honest, the Governor's bad reputation is all your fault. The Governor's reputation has been completely ruined by people like you."
Lu Yilian vomited blood, but he had to take the blame thrown at him by the governor.
"My fault, I misheard."
Lu Desheng turned to Shi Tao and said, "Master Shi, you too, should not be too indulgent to your subordinates. They are prone to being deceived."
This scene, which was like scolding a grandson, made some people with low sense of humor couldn't help laughing, but they tried hard to hold it back.
Shi Tao had been enduring it again and again, but this time he really couldn't bear it anymore, "Okay, if there's nothing else, you can go back!" After that, he flicked his sleeves and went back to the mansion. The door of the governor's mansion was slowly closed in front of Lu Desheng, Lu Yilian and others.
Xuchang
Che Jiu Ming asked someone to carry the 800,000 taels borrowed from Liu's Bank back to the Grain Merchants Association.
At present, the entire grain merchants' association has spent all its cash, and it all depends on him next.
He knew that some people were afraid to invest money and work with him because they were pessimistic about the future. Che Jiuming felt that these people would definitely regret it.
For the next five days, he continued to eat the food released by Luoyang and Runan. But he had a premonition that the enemy was at the end of its strength.
During these five days, Luoyang and Runan released a total of 167,000 dan, of which Luoyang released 95,000 dan and Runan released 62,000 dan. Especially on the fifth day, only 17,000 dan were left.
On the sixth day, he kept a close eye on Luoyang. He kept watching until their daily selling time had passed, but he saw no movement. Then, in the afternoon, there was still no movement from Luoyang! The same was true for Runan.
Che Jiuming knew he had won the bet! But he was still cautious and waited another day, but still no grain was sold in the two places.
"President, we won! There's no more food in Luoyang and Runan!"
"Yes, we won!"
"It was a narrow victory!"
"Indeed, it was too close. We almost lost. It was only thanks to the 800,000 taels that the president took out later."
On the eighth day, Che Jiuming directly raised the price of one dou of grain to two hundred and eighty wen. He wanted to make back all his previous losses and the interest he had paid on borrowing the eight hundred thousand taels!
As grain prices soared, the people of Nanyang began to curse Che Jiuming and the Grain Merchants Association for profiting from the misfortune of others. Some even resorted to secretly throwing feces at the entrance of the Grain Merchants Association in the middle of the night.
Che Jiu Ming didn't care at all. These people could curse him as much as they wanted. No matter how loudly they cursed, they still had to pay real money to buy food from him, right?
Grain, which cost two hundred and eighty wen a dou, was gradually being sold in Nanyang.
Luoyang
Liu Xiaohuai: "Master, the other party has taken the bait." In the past few days, they have sold all 200,000 dan of grain to the other party at a high price.
Ji Wuyin shook his head, "Not only did he take the bait, he was also courting death." Raising the price of grain at this time is simply like he thinks he is not dying fast enough.
"Che Jiuming has lost his mind."
After being instructed by his masters, Liu Xiaohuai learned that there was a reason why Nanyang's grain price of 260 wen per dou was so high. This price was high enough to maximize profits without attracting a large number of grain merchants from other places. Now Che Jiuming took the initiative to disrupt this balance.
"It's just a gambler's mentality." Ji Wuyin said with a smile, "Next we have to help him promote it well."
"Yes." Liu Xiaohuai suddenly thought of something and said to Ji Wuyin, "Ru'nan is following closely." The other party is following their pace in Luoyang closely.
Ji Wuyin: "Don't worry about him."
They should focus on their own goals now. As for Xie Zhan and others, as long as they don't do anything bad, they don't need to pay too much attention to them to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Madam Qin Liu also meant the same thing. Sometimes Ji Wuyin felt that Madam Qin Liu was incredibly rational despite her young age. Many people, regardless of gender, would feel resentful if their ex-fiancé took advantage of them in her current position and timeframe.
But she won't. She knows how to prioritize and always knows what she is doing and what her goal is. She will not be confused by the wrong path.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
