At Heshen's residence, the heads of various prominent families in Jiangnan, as well as some nobles and dukes, were gathered together.
Nearly half of the court officials also came to the He residence; they were all beneficiaries of the heavy rain.
"Lord He, why have you summoned me here in the middle of the day? Is there something you need?"
Duke Zhang Liang, holding a cup of tea, took a sip, and then spat it out.
"Damn it, I'm used to drinking Marquis Anping's iced tea, and I'm not used to this tea at all."
Heshen looked at this notorious playboy in the capital with a hint of disdain in his eyes: "Duke Zhang, you really don't care about news from the outside world at all."
"The Marquis of Anping in Lantian County has now opened a shop and started selling grain from his granary, and the price is only half of ours."
Upon hearing this, the crowd began to discuss it amongst themselves.
Duke Zhang Liang, with a gloomy expression, put down his teacup: "This is outrageous!"
The others felt a little flustered when they heard the name Marquis Anping.
To be honest, the name of this immortal disciple is now more frightening than that of Emperor Jianyuan.
Duke Yang Guofu of E also looked furious: "We have no grudge against this immortal's disciple. We just want to make some money. Why are you making things so difficult for us?"
When the other dukes spoke, they echoed, "Yes, this Marquis Anping is abusing his power."
Some people asked with concern, "But the Marquis of Anping's methods are mysterious and unpredictable, what can we do?"
"Everyone, don't be afraid."
Heshen waved his hand: "Although Marquis Anping is a disciple of a deity, the shortage of food is not something he can handle alone."
"What good are his extraordinary abilities? The grain is still in our hands. He can't just come and steal it."
"Even if he comes to seize it, what can he do as long as we don't transport all the grain to the capital at once?"
Hearing this, Zhang Liang thought it made some sense, but then he thought again and asked, "What if they can conjure up food?"
He Shen burst into laughter upon hearing this, which drew strange looks from the crowd.
"Why is Lord He laughing so loudly?"
“I laugh at Marquis Anping for his lack of wisdom and Li Chang’an for his lack of strategy. If he were truly a god, why would he restrict the amount each person could buy and even state how much grain he had?”
Heshen shook his head and sighed, "Just now when I went to the Marquis's residence, I saw the shop workers saying that there were only 10,000 dan of rice and 10,000 dan of coarse grains available today, limiting the amount each person could buy. Isn't this giving us away?"
"It's obvious he doesn't have much food on hand, otherwise why would he go to all this trouble?"
"A mere 20,000 dan of grain, what kind of trouble could it cause in the capital city with a population of three million?"
"Besides, he's selling it at half price, which is cheap for us."
"Oh, do you have a brilliant plan, sir?"
Yang Guofu asked, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He wanted to know why this newly appointed Minister of Revenue was so confident in dealing with Li Chang'an.
Heshen lowered his head and said in a low voice, "There is no brilliant plan, it's just a little trick."
“He’s selling it at half price, so I’ll send someone over to buy it. I’ll buy as much grain as he has.”
"In this way, we not only don't have to provide grain, but we can also directly take his grain and sell it, saving labor and transportation costs."
"How much money could a mere 20,000 dan of grain be?"
Everyone suddenly realized what Heshen meant when they heard his words.
The price of rice is now 800 coins per pound, and coarse grains are 400 coins per pound.
Ten thousand dan of rice and ten thousand dan of coarse grains, sold at half price, would only amount to six hundred thousand taels of silver.
In the past few days, they have earned more than enough money to buy all this grain.
To reassure them, Heshen waved his hand and said, "You don't need to pay for this. One of us, Heshen or someone else, can manage it all."
Other rice merchants were unhappy with these words.
They could make a 50% profit just by reselling it; how could they possibly let it go?
So everyone present started scrambling to allocate the 20,000 dan of grain and decide who should buy it.
Heshen looked at them and a smile crept onto his face.
Without spending a single penny, he managed to have this group of people ruin Li Chang'an's plans, and he didn't even have to offend this divine disciple.
This is practically like Qin Shi Huang eating Sichuan peppercorns—he's completely exhausted.
After the assignments were made, everyone said goodbye and left to arrange manpower and purchase food.
Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang walked together, while the others kept a distance from them.
After all, the difference in status cannot be measured by money.
"Next up is Marquis Anping, Duke Yang, what do you think?"
Zhang Liang picked up a flower, crushed the petals little by little, and asked.
His face showed neither joy nor sorrow, revealing no emotion whatsoever, leaving Yang Guofu somewhat puzzled.
"How do you see it? Go home and see. Anyway, we don't have to spend any money. We just need to put our names on it and we can get a share of the money. Why not?"
"But Duke Yang, don't you think we're wrong to do this?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Guofu laughed heartily: "Duke Xun, this world is neither black nor white, but rather a delicate shade of gray."
"Do right and wrong matter? Stance is the most important thing. Everyone has their own place. It is dangerous to lose sight of yourself, Lord Zhang."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liang lowered his head, his eyes turning cold.
"Yes, stance is the most important thing. I hope this heavy rain will bring some surprises. Lord Yang, I'll take my leave now."
Yang Guofu also cupped his hands in greeting to him. The two men boarded their carriages, one heading east and the other west, and the two carriages went their separate ways.
Inside the carriage, both men were thinking about what they had just said, a hint of sarcasm playing on their lips.
Zhang Liang: Stance, Duke Yang, your stance is probably a dead end!
Yang Guofu: Surprise! Once the rain stops, I'll give you, Lord Zhang, a surprise!
Half an hour later, at the entrance of the Marquis of Anping's residence.
Yang Guofu stared at Zhang Liang in disbelief.
"Old Zhang, why the hell are you here instead of going home?"
"You have the nerve to talk to me like that? You came here too."
After they finished speaking, they both pointed at each other and laughed.
"Very well, I never imagined that you, Duke Zhang, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, would be this kind of person."
Zhang Liang also spoke up, saying, "Sigh, there's an old Chinese saying, 'Those who understand the times are heroes,' and I've always regarded that saying as an ancestral precept."
"They're just a bunch of merchants. No matter how rich they are, can they outmaneuver those in power?"
"No matter how much money you make, you're just a fattened pig. Marquis Anping is not like our Emperor."
"If they're unhappy, they can just flip the table. A few powerful families are nothing."
Thinking of Heshen and the others, Zhang Liang's face twisted into a ferocious expression.
How dare a few lowly peasants, reeking of money, compare themselves to a century-old family?
They want to drag me down with them? Do these bastards even deserve it?
They should be a perfect match!
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