Situations like the one in Tuba Village occurred in various places in the Wei State. Because most of the people planted sweet potatoes and corn, and everyone had several acres of land for farming, there was still a lot of surplus grain this year even after paying taxes.
Except for villages like Tuba Village, which wanted to save food for emergencies due to the war, the people in other parts of Wei State basically could not consume so much food at home, so many people were willing to sell their excess food to the court.
When the merchants in Wei State saw that the yields of sweet potatoes and corn grown by the people were so high, they began to panic. Some merchants were originally in the business of hoarding grain. Although many things happened this year that caused many unscrupulous merchants to leave Wei State, there were still many merchants who remained in Wei State.
In particular, the opening of the Royal Yuya Villa has attracted countless other merchants from the Shengwu Continent to come to Wei State to do business. Of course, among these merchants there are also many who are engaged in grain business.
After the bumper harvest of sweet potatoes and corn, these merchants realized that Wei would no longer face food shortages for a period of time, and that hoarding grain would no longer be profitable. Some merchants began to slowly sell some of their stored grain to reduce their losses.
However, not everyone supported Wei. Seeing the low price of grain in Wei, some merchants considered reselling it to neighboring states. Furthermore, sweet potato and corn yields were so high that if they could bring the seeds and cultivation methods of these two crops to other countries, they would surely receive a large reward. They might even be granted nobility status and enjoy endless wealth and glory for their contribution of such high-yield grain.
These merchants had only dreamed of a good thing, but how could the current Wei Kingdom easily let them succeed? Since the Wei court dared to distribute such high-yield grain to the people for cultivation, it had long anticipated such a situation and had already deployed strict regulatory measures to prevent the outflow of grain.
In addition, the Wei State had originally planned to launch a war to unify the Shengwu Continent after it had a large amount of grain. Now the Wei State has entered a state of full preparation for war, and the important border areas have already strengthened their vigilance. Not to mention the convoys transporting grain, even the convoys that the court uses to sell refined salt to other countries must go through layers of inspections, and any suspicious behavior will be detained and interrogated by the border generals.
Of course, many people felt that Wei's actions were abnormal. In addition, Wei had now reorganized its warriors for use by the court. The successful construction of the railway had greatly improved the transportation capacity of troops and materials. In addition, the people in Wei now also had great trust and support for the Wei court. Now there were basically no unfavorable factors in Wei.
With such a stable domestic environment, coupled with the invasion of the Xiongnu and Gan Kingdom last year, the current Wei State, as long as the emperor is not a tyrant, will be ready to launch a retaliatory offensive against the Xiongnu and Gan Kingdom.
Of course, merchants are basically pursuing profits. Just like when the Wei State suffered floods in the Nine Provinces of Hedong and the Xiongnu invasion, many merchants in the Wei State left the Wei State and went to other countries to protect the interests of their families.
It is also impossible for the merchants from other countries in Wei State to give up their immediate interests and return to their own countries to inform them of the news, risking severe punishment from the Wei court just for a guess in their hearts.
In Kaifeng City, after sensing the changes in the Wei court, several merchants from other countries on the Shengwu Continent gathered in a restaurant in the Royal Yuya Villa to discuss matters.
When everyone arrived, the businessman who organized the exchange meeting was the first to speak: "You are all merchants from various countries on the Shengwu Continent. I believe everyone has their own speculations about the actions taken by the Wei State. I also think everyone has their own ideas. I organized everyone to hold this meeting here to see what everyone thinks. If anyone has a good idea, we can discuss it together to see if we can find a foolproof plan that can both protect our interests and cope with the changes in the Wei State."
The other merchants looked at the businessman from Gan State who was talking so eloquently and complained in their hearts that all the merchants who came here were smart people. Since you, Cui Yuan, have gathered everyone to the Royal Yuya Villa for discussions, do these merchants who came here dare to say anything that is detrimental to the Wei State?
If any merchant dared to say anything unfavorable to the State of Wei, he would not be able to leave the villa alive today. When the other party said anything unfavorable to the State of Wei, the man in front of him would immediately change his attitude and hand the merchant over to the Wei court in exchange for a reward.
Cui Yuan seemed to see through everyone's thoughts. He smiled slightly and said in a gentle tone, "Don't worry, everyone. We are all businessmen and our interests are our top priority. We are discussing business matters here. Even if something inappropriate is said, it will be kept within the scope of the discussion and will not be leaked."
No one believed Cui Yuan's assurance at all. If everyone was so naive to believe his words, then they would not be able to make their family business flourish.
At this time, an old man stepped forward and said, "Brother Cui Yuan, please stop keeping us in suspense. Since we have accepted your invitation and come here, we will naturally not do anything harmful to the State of Wei. There is no need to tempt us here. We are not fools and we cannot become your token of allegiance to the Wei court."
Cui Yuan, having his thoughts exposed by the old man, gave an awkward smile and continued, "Since Mr. Zhao is so forthright, I'll be frank. I'm sure you've all seen that Wei State planted a new type of grain this year, resulting in an unprecedented harvest. The court not only exempted some local taxes but also assigned personnel to teach grain storage and purchased surplus grain from the people at a 'fair price.' This move not only won the hearts of the people of Wei but also enabled the court to secure a large amount of grain. But have you ever considered the purpose of the Wei court collecting such a large amount of new grain?"
What Cui Yuan said was something that everyone knew, but no one talked about it openly. After all, everyone was from other countries on the Shengwu Continent, and now they were doing business in Wei. In a few months, everyone bought items from Wei's Royal Yuya Villa and sold them back to their own country, making a lot of money.
Now the originally peaceful business environment is about to collapse, and they will have to make their own choice whether to continue to stay in Wei and become a member of Wei, or to risk being executed by Wei and return to their country with the silver they have earned.
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