For the people of Beijing, these past few days have undoubtedly been a difficult time.
Grain prices are soaring, and the price changes every day. Often, the money that can buy a pound of grain in the morning can only buy half a pound in the afternoon.
Moreover, as grain prices rise, the prices of other things also increase accordingly.
As if overnight, everything in the capital city went up in price, except for wages.
Emperor Jianyuan sat in the palace, listening to the news outside, his expression unchanged.
He's completely relaxed now, his mindset has completely let go.
With Li Chang'an around anyway, he had nothing to worry about.
This was the situation in the Ming Dynasty before this divine disciple arrived.
Now that the immortal disciple has arrived, things can't remain the same, can they?
That immortal disciple, didn't he come for nothing?
Moreover, he had no better solution to this situation.
Corrupt officials are killed every year, yet new corrupt officials emerge every year.
Merchants colluded with powerful families, so he could only kill a few who were pushed out to lead the charge, to make an example of them and prevent prices from rising too ridiculously.
Moreover, after the killing, the people of the world might not necessarily remember his good deeds; on the contrary, under the instigation of certain individuals, they might say that he was incompetent and foolish.
Every time he heard this, he would fly into a rage and couldn't sleep for days and nights.
Now, if anyone says he's incompetent and foolish, he doesn't care at all; in fact, he might even find it amusing.
Yes, I am incompetent, so what?
Am I proud? Am I arrogant?
Emperor Jianyuan has stopped holding court sessions and neglecting state affairs, focusing instead on accompanying the empress during her pregnancy.
With rising grain prices and the flooding, he entrusted Li Chang'an with full responsibility.
Other political affairs were left to Zhang Jiadi and Yin Wei to handle; those that they could not resolve, were then handed over to me.
If you can't handle something yourself, just send someone to consult Li Chang'an.
Emperor Jianyuan also came to terms with it, realizing that professional matters should be left to professionals.
Is this what professionalism looks like?
Why worry unnecessarily?
With Emperor Jianyuan's mindset calmed down, Chen Fenghuo and Lin Linfa also had some free time.
"Hey Lao Lin, can you stop researching your fireworks all day long, like a little kid?"
Looking at the bamboo tube in front of him, Steward Chen couldn't help but speak.
Lin Linfa, however, did not take his words to heart. He continued to bite the bamboo tube, put a steel ball inside, and finally lit the fuse.
As the fuse burned to its end, the bamboo tube exploded with a bang, leaving his face blackened with soot.
"Chief Steward Chen, you don't understand this, do you? This is called 'investigating things.' I discovered that if you compress the gunpowder in fireworks into a small piece and put a steel ball inside, it can be sprayed out."
"The power of these steel balls is comparable to a Grandmaster's palm strike."
Chen Fenghuo picked up the bamboo tube filled with gunpowder from the ground, glanced at it, and then sneered.
"How could this tiny gadget compare to the skill that someone has diligently studied for ten or twenty years?"
"If it really had that kind of power, then why would people in the world still practice martial arts? After practicing martial arts for more than ten years, it would be no match for a broken pipe."
Lin Linfa saw that he didn't believe him and didn't bother to explain.
He planned to take this thing over and ask about it a few days later, after Li Chang'an finished his work.
Let's see if this divine disciple can help improve it so that the gunpowder won't explode so easily.
In Lantian County, countless people waited outside grocery stores for them to open for business.
The sign that the grain was sold out was still stuck at the entrance and had not been taken down.
All the people saw this sign, but they still hoped that they could buy low-priced grain today.
Even if there are no whole grains, rice will do. In the past, rice was cheaper than whole grains in other places.
Although some people in the team already had enough food, they still wanted to stock up on more.
Because everyone is saying that in a few days, food supplies might not be able to get in, and the capital will run out of food.
Under such rumors, everyone was filled with anxiety and wished they could give up all their possessions to exchange for food.
Others are waiting for grain prices to rise further so they can sell at a higher price and make a profit.
Those who intend to make money are often the ones who blame Li Chang'an for restricting grain purchases.
When the time came, the grocery store door opened precisely on time, and the store was full of goods, except for coarse grains and rice.
This made many waiting people sigh inwardly.
Fortunately, porridge was still being distributed at the entrance of the grocery store.
In addition, we added a few more vats today and cooked more vegetable porridge for them.
Those who couldn't buy food lined up, received a bowl of porridge, and left.
Looking at the departing villagers, Zhao Hu couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, why didn't you bring out some grain today?"
Li Chang'an closed his eyes and sat on the recliner to rest: "Don't rush anything. As long as we continue to distribute porridge and recruit workers, those people who are really so poor that they have nowhere else to turn will not starve to death."
"If there's nothing to eat, can you come and work? Even if you don't work, you'll still get a bowl of porridge. What's there to be afraid of?"
"Let the bullets fly a little longer, otherwise those rice merchants won't take the bait."
As soon as Li Chang'an finished speaking, Chen Da walked over.
"My lord, we have already discussed it with the two dukes. If anyone comes to ask, they will say that they sold the grain to you."
"Good, well done. At noon, release another 10,000 dan of rice and 10,000 dan of coarse grains, and the price will remain the same as yesterday."
Li Chang'an sat up, waved his hand, and countless grains of rice were piled up in the warehouse.
Then he waved to the other side, where countless coarse grains were piled up again.
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