Li Chang'an could still use some methods against other people.
However, Li Chang'an was somewhat helpless when it came to the common people.
At that moment, he realized the importance of universal education.
The right path to salvation is to free the people from ignorance.
Li Chang'an looked at Zhao Hu, who had a worried look on his face, and said, "Forget it, let's find a way to recruit more people first. I have a solution for this flood."
"Yes, teacher!"
Zhao Hu cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, finally feeling relieved.
Having followed the Marquis for so long, he had never doubted Li Chang'an's words.
After all, anything can happen as long as this divine disciple is around.
Last year, when Jiayang Pass was besieged, no one had any confidence that they could rescue the King of Lingnan.
With a mere flick of his wrist, the Marquis could wipe out 140,000 troops.
Therefore, no matter what Li Chang'an does now, Zhao Hu will not be surprised, but will only feel that it is to be expected.
"By the way, teacher, the price of grain in the capital has risen a bit these days because of the rain."
Hearing this, Li Chang'an said with great interest: "The rise in grain prices is because someone is trying to profit from the national crisis."
"That should be it," Chen Da said. "Most of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue come from prominent families in Jiangnan."
"The newly appointed Lord Heshen is the official recommended by the prominent families of Jiangnan this time."
"The main source of grain for the Ming Dynasty was produced in the Jiangnan region."
"I guess they heard about the floods in the capital and wanted to make a quick buck."
Li Chang'an took a sip of tea from his cup and asked, "What is the price of grain in the capital now?"
"Rice is expensive in the capital. Before, coarse grains cost twenty coins a pound, and rice cost eighty coins."
"Now the price of coarse grains has risen to forty coins per pound, and rice has reached one hundred and fifty coins."
"This is yesterday's price. It's estimated that it will rise again today. A lot of people have started to rush to buy food these days."
Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an's lips curled up.
Okay, okay!
He was just worried about not having an excuse to win over the people, but he didn't expect these officials to be so cooperative.
Since he had just arrived in the capital, Li Chang'an was only purchasing rice and other supplies internally and had not yet made them available to the public.
Now that those people are starting to inflate prices, don't blame him for getting involved.
Thinking of this, he immediately said to Zhao Hu, "Inform Lord Zhang and three other generals to come to my residence. There is a big business deal I want to discuss with them."
Seeing the smile on Li Chang'an's face, Chen Da also smiled.
Because he knew that if the Marquis was happy, someone was bound to suffer.
When someone is about to suffer misfortune, that's when his glorious executioner will be brought into play.
When the Marquis needed his help, he would reward him with money, which meant that he was about to make a fortune again.
Chen Da also knew that the reason he was able to thrive was entirely due to his masterful execution techniques.
As long as there is even one corrupt official in this world, Chen Da will not have to worry about being discarded like a hunting dog after the rabbit dies.
In Lantian County, Bai Zhantang carried silver and hurried towards the rice shop, followed by Master Huang Hui of Baozhilin.
The two walked and talked.
"Old Bai, the price of grain is getting more and more outrageous every day. In just three days, it has almost doubled."
"Sigh, that's why our shopkeeper told me to bring more silver so I could buy more grain to have on hand."
Bai Zhantang sighed, then asked, "Master Huang, I heard from our Marquis that this heavy rain will last for the second half of the year, causing the river to overflow and become uncontrollable, eventually flooding the capital. Do you think this is true?"
Upon hearing this, Huang Huifeng paused for a moment: "I don't know, but given this Marquis's character, he shouldn't be lying to us common folk."
"What should we do? There are so many people in Lantian County, and it's the crucial time for spring planting. Even if the rains in the second half of the year don't wash away the crops, there will still be a food shortage."
Bai Zhantang was a little worried, even though with his martial arts skills, he could easily run away to another place.
But where can ordinary people go?
I fear that when the time comes, people will resort to cannibalism again, and the fields will be littered with corpses of the starving.
Huang Huifeng also frowned, looking somewhat helpless.
"If it's going to rain, what can we do? But I heard that the Marquis is recruiting people for disaster relief and flood control. I'll go help in a couple of days and see if this divine disciple can turn the tide."
Bai Zhantang was not optimistic about Li Chang'an. He said, "What good is turning the tide? Floods are not scary. What's scary is food shortages."
"He can't just conjure up tens of thousands of dan of grain out of thin air, can he?"
As they walked and talked, the two arrived at the rice shop, where thousands of people were queuing up to buy grain in the pouring rain.
Just as they were queuing, a gasp of surprise erupted from the crowd.
Bai Zhantang looked up and saw that the price tag for the grain had been taken down, and a shop assistant was putting a new tag on it.
Coarse grains cost eighty coins, and rice costs three hundred coins.
Compared to yesterday, grain prices have doubled again.
Among the crowd, a local resident exclaimed, "Why is it so expensive again?"
"Yeah, the price went up just yesterday, and it's doubled again today. You guys are really ripping people off."
When someone speaks up, a hundred people respond immediately.
Countless people began to protest.
The rice shop's employees, however, remained indifferent.
As the voices of the people grew louder, Li Jiaqi, the manager of the rice shop, stepped forward.
Following him were dozens of burly men, each wielding a weapon, dressed in tight-fitting clothes, with fierce and menacing faces; they were clearly not good people.
As the people looked at the group of burly men, their voices grew softer and softer until they finally lowered their heads and dared not speak.
Li Jiaqi waved his fan, looking at the group of people with a hint of sarcasm on his lips.
He said, "Expensive? How so?"
"The price has remained the same for so many years. Sometimes we should look for the reasons within ourselves."
"When you're making money, are you earning it seriously, working hard to cultivate the land instead of complaining about how expensive things are?"
"If you can't afford it, that's your own problem. You can't blame the rising food prices; you need to look for the reasons within yourselves."
"Instead of shouting and complaining that food is too expensive, if you think it's too expensive, go buy it somewhere else."
Li Jiaqi waved his fan, a hint of arrogance on his face.
The price of grain rose uniformly across all major families.
The price is the same for this group of people no matter where they buy it.
Therefore, he was not worried about these troublemakers at all.
As for the imperial court, he was even less worried.
Without the major families of Jiangnan transporting grain to the capital, the people of the capital would likely starve to death before this heavy rain even ends.
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