Chapter 94 The First Wave of Rumors and Crisis...
"Keep buying, buy as much as you can, and deliver it all to the farm for trial planting."
Qi Chengming remained calm and said.
He had a premonition that, with the issuance of the official document, prices would only rise, not fall.
"Yes!" The servant of the Bai family hurriedly responded and left.
The next day, Qi Chengming met the Wang family member in the main hall. The Wang family member was a scion of a prominent family who held a sinecure. The Wang family member was neither servile nor arrogant. He simply offered the gifts on behalf of his brother and family as a token of goodwill before preparing to leave.
Qi Chengming was a little confused. Upon reflection, he realized this might just be the first step in their contact, and they simply wanted to build a good relationship with him.
To say what I'm after... I guess I haven't reached that point yet.
But before leaving, this member of the Wang clan also revealed a crucial piece of information: "Your Highness, the official documents will arrive here in about a month. Please make the necessary preparations."
"Congratulations, Your Highness," the man flattered without batting an eye, a knowing yet smug smile playing on his lips. It was the kind of cryptic, enigmatic shrewdness that aristocratic families excelled at.
Qi Chengming's heart stirred slightly, and a mysterious chuckle appeared on his face. He felt like a villain, but his heart sank as he pondered.
What should we congratulate him on?
With the opening up of minting rights and rising prices, it was a golden opportunity for wealthy families to make money. Did the Wang family scions think he was also thinking the same thing?
Qi Chengming's smile remained unchanged, but it deepened. He suddenly said slowly, "It's only right to reciprocate. I have some novelties here that I'll give to you."
Those discarded glass pieces that failed to be made, kaleidoscopes, golden toilets, fragrant soaps, aromatic sesame oil, pepper that is now priceless, and various kinds of chili peppers that are not available to foreign countries can all be given as gifts.
Despite the small size of the cargo, the eight large ships looked empty after unloading. However, the young master from the aristocratic family was clearly no longer as composed as he had been when he arrived. Before leaving, he tugged at Song Gu's sleeve and asked her questions with reluctance.
"Your Highness, are you planning to sell these things to them?" Xiao Chengzi asked, his hands clasped behind his back, seemingly speculating.
"I think he likes it quite a bit," Qi Chengming admitted slyly, gazing at the distant mountains. It was as if he could see, across the mountains, the extravagant lives of the powerful families in Jiangnan.
These things are expensive and exquisite, and most importantly, they are novel; you can't find them anywhere else. This time they're given away as gifts; next time they should try to find out more from the sidelines.
Qi Chengming will have the caravan fleece them.
Oh no, I shouldn't say "rip them off," it should be a win-win situation. What aristocratic families need are these expensive and novel items to enhance their status, and Qi Chengming also takes the opportunity to do a few big deals, returning the money to the people.
Now, I guess I deserve that person's "congratulations."
From that day on, Qi Chengming began to pay close attention to the changes in his surroundings.
Contrary to common sense, before the officials carrying official documents and traveling by fast horse to various places to promulgate new regulations arrived in Liuzhou, the people of Liuzhou had already witnessed the influence of these documents in the following month.
Mr. Huang, who sells beans and rice at the morning market, noticed that his usual customers were all gone today, and instead, they were gathered in twos and threes at the market entrance, listening intently to what people were saying.
"Old Ma, what are you listening to?" he asked loudly.
"It's a merchant from Guizhou. He said that in their country... copper coins can be recast for a fee! Then one copper coin will become two or three copper coins! After deducting the initial fee, you'll make a fortune for nothing!" Old Ma was already red-faced and trembling with excitement.
He was so poor that he wouldn't buy new clothes even when they were faded from washing, and he never ate shrimp with his rice. Now, a chance to rise to the top suddenly appeared in front of him, which excited Old Ma to no end.
Uncle Huang had walked more roads in the past few decades than the guests he called "Old Ma" had eaten. He immediately felt uneasy and asked in disbelief, "Is there really such a good thing? Why would they give us money like this for no reason?"
Based on his years of experience, businessmen are all cunning; they'll only try every means to squeeze money out of you. Why would they turn around and give you money? There's probably something fishy going on.
"What do you know? This is a new... well, the Emperor himself has agreed to let us increase our money ourselves. I'm not going to say anymore! I have to rush to the bank to withdraw money! It's because our place doesn't have any..." Old Ma waved his hand, not having time to stay and say more. He was afraid that if he went any later, the bank wouldn't exchange the copper coins for him.
Thinking about this, Old Ma was filled with remorse.
A while ago, the city switched to ration coupons, and he enjoyed all the good fortune. He even bought more grain than usual thanks to the discounts, and when he got home, he and his wife and children were able to eat their fill for two meals. He even dreamt of praising the prince. Now... who knows if the prince heard about this all along and has been saving up all his money to make a fortune for himself?
If he had known, he wouldn't have exchanged all his money for coupons!
Old Ma could still tell the difference between having a few full meals and having enough money to eat every day.
"Hey, Old Ma!" Uncle Huang frowned, his lips moving slightly before he stopped calling out. He saw the group of people who had been listening with Old Ma excitedly preparing to go to the money exchange.
"Something bad is going to happen...something really bad is going to happen."
It would be a lie to say he wasn't tempted, but Uncle Huang simply didn't believe in such a windfall. Meeting a kind person like the Prince, willing to ease their burdens, organize them to build houses themselves, and help them make money, was already incredibly lucky.
If what Old Ma said is true, everything else has already done so, but there's been no movement in Liuzhou. So the Guizhou merchants couldn't bear to leave the people of Liuzhou behind, and decided to come and help them get rich... How could the prince possibly ignore this?
Even if this is true, and the prince really did issue the ration coupons just to earn a few copper coins from them, the grain he received in exchange for those coupons is still piled up in his house! That's much more grain than usual! Isn't that a sweet treat?
The prince would never do anything against his conscience!
Uncle Huang only believed what he had seen with his own eyes. He put down his spoon and stubbornly began looking around, trying to find a patrolling imperial guard to quickly tell him about it. Uncle Huang was just a tea and rice vendor; he didn't know anything else. He only knew that the prince was smarter than him and that his thoughts were definitely more comprehensive…
"Take him down!" a sudden, loud shout rang out.
A familiar, slender figure rushed forward with several yamen runners, who pounced on the Guizhou merchant like wolves and pinned him to the ground, including Old Ma and his group. Uncle Huang looked closely and recognized him as none other than Lord Mao, the always smiling man who loved eating meat and bean rice at his stall.
"Dare to disrupt the market and spread rumors! Take him back and lock him up!" Commander Mao shouted sternly, grabbing the Guizhou merchant as if he were a chick, revealing a sinister grin full of murderous intent. "Oh, so you've come to Liuzhou to swindle copper coins?"
"Sir, it has nothing to do with us!" Old Ma was now scared and tried to explain in a trembling voice.
The others panicked too. They hadn't even gone to collect their money yet, and they'd all been caught in the act. They frantically tried to explain themselves and clear their names: "That's right, we haven't done anything yet!" "We're not with him!"
"I'm not planning to arrest you." Commander Mao said irritably, hands on his hips, his gaze sweeping over the group. His voice boomed.
"Weren't you planning to exchange your money for copper coins at the money exchange? Listen carefully, the Prince is afraid you'll be scammed, so he ordered us to spread the word. Once you've heard all this, you can go exchange your money for silver notes and mint coins as you please! However, if you give your name, you'll have to redeem the full amount of the notes before you can use them in Liuzhou. If you don't have the money to redeem them..."
As Mao Zedong spoke these words in a sinister tone, he revealed a smile that was definitely not benevolent, the meaning of which was self-evident.
"Hey, tell me the current market prices in Guizhou honestly, don't try anything funny." Commander Mao gave the merchant another terrifying smile.
He didn't need to threaten them any further, because when he heard that the 'prince' from Liuzhou actually disapproved of their actions, it was clear he was in deep trouble. The Guizhou merchant turned pale with fright, his legs went weak like noodles, and he stammered out everything:
"Four strings of cash for a bushel of rice..."
Before he could say another word, the crowd erupted in uproar.
Uncle Huang, who made rice porridge with beans, was utterly shocked: "Good heavens! How much is a bushel of rice?!"
In Liuzhou, a small voucher with a face value of four copper coins could buy a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice. If a voucher with a face value of four strings of coins were in Liuzhou, it could buy a shi (another unit of dry measure) of rice!
Under pressure from Chairman Mao, the merchant then revealed the prices of other vegetables, meats, fruits, cloth scraps, and firewood, each item sending chills down the spines of the crowd and eliciting gasps of alarm.
"This...it's not just Guizhou that's like this; other places have seen similar price increases over the past few months!"
The Guizhou merchant was trembling so much he was practically clinging to Mao's arm, but fearing the gravity of his crime, he forced a defense. He didn't understand what his arrest for trading in minted coins had to do with the market price.
"Your Highness knows you don't understand, but if you go to merchants or people from other places to mint coins and exchange them for copper coins, the market price will rise just like theirs! You do the math, is it more worthwhile to make money by selling copper coins only once, or to live on this market price from now on! It's because some people are making money off copper coins that everyone has to suffer this loss!"
Chairman Mao raised his voice and continued speaking.
He knew that many people still wouldn't understand. There was no other way; the Imperial Guards, along with the local militia and yamen runners, were all dispatched to maintain order and spread the teachings that Mr. Qin had imparted to them.
They tirelessly promoted the idea, coupled with threats such as "the coupons are so good, those who exchanged for copper coins are not allowed to use coupons anymore" and intimidation that "the government will not accept these new copper coins when paying autumn taxes." This carrot-and-stick approach was enough to barely quell the uproar.
It's impossible to stop ordinary people from secretly seeking out mints to mint coins.
But Mao, who had already calculated the costs, could only shake his head:
'well! '
Some pitfalls you only realize the pain of after you've fallen into them.
Those who have already submitted to the prince have learned to obey unconditionally after experiencing all these events; they know the prince would not harm them. Only those blinded by greed, those driven by petty cleverness, and those who do not trust the prince—let them fill the pit.
"Let's go, take him back!" Commander Mao, seeing that the Guizhou merchant had made himself clear, grabbed him and prepared to take him to the county government office.
Anyway, his job is... to prevent this fervent coin-minting trend from spreading in Liuzhou, that's all.
"What a rip-off! Bah!" Uncle Huang watched as the crowd dispersed, leaving an empty space where no one dared to gather for a long time. He cursed angrily.
Uncle Huang didn't dare to utter the second half of his sentence.
He knew that nothing good could possibly happen to ordinary people like them. Mao's words were a bit hard to understand. Didn't they mean that a group of people wanted to exchange money and they did get the money, but as a result, everyone had to spend a lot of money to buy grain and other things?
It sounds like the government won't accept these new copper coins!
How difficult will life be then?
Uncle Huang didn't even dare to think about it.
Another half month passed, and merchants from other places came to Liuzhou as usual to sell cloth, maltose, candles, and salt.
These itinerant merchants were unlike the big businessmen; they were used to going from street to street, selling their salt secretly—mainly because of smuggled salt.
However, this time, the merchants encountered setbacks in Liuzhou.
Even though he heard about the latest changes and that they could accept the new banknotes, every single person in Liuzhou shook their head when they heard the prices they were quoted.
"No, no!"
"Too expensive!" "In Liuzhou, this could buy a whole jar of salt!"
After half a day of wandering around, the bewildered merchant was actually amused and exasperated.
What's going on?
How come the official salt in Liuzhou is several times cheaper than the smuggled salt he brought?! Isn't he stealing and buying loose salt because smuggled salt is usually cheaper?
—What the hell are you selling this for!
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