Upon hearing this, Heshen only wanted to grab a knife and stab those two dukes to death right now.
I'm not afraid of god-like opponents, but I'm afraid of pig-like teammates.
They had already driven Marquis Anping to the brink of despair, and now they're pulling this stunt.
He held the teapot and gulped down several mouthfuls of tea to suppress his resentment.
"It's alright, it's alright. Marquis Anping is even using money to buy grain, so it seems he really has none left, otherwise he wouldn't have acted like this."
Heshen kept reassuring himself that Li Chang'an had run out of food, and that he should just wait a little longer.
Then he instructed, "Pass down the word, have someone buy back all that grain immediately, don't leave a single grain for those unruly people."
Several officials asked hesitantly, "Sir, why don't we just let him sell it? Why do we have to buy it ourselves?"
Heshen looked at these civil officials with disappointment, saying they only knew how to talk about war on paper all day long and were of no use whatsoever.
"The reason we can raise prices is because people have been short of grain, and other grain merchants have seen the opportunity to hoard it."
“If Marquis Anping keeps selling grain like this, and the people have grain in their hands, who will still buy grain?”
"If no one buys, other grain merchants will get restless and start lowering prices. In that case, the grain will return to its original price."
"Then how are we supposed to make money?"
Heshen looked at the heavy rain outside the door, his eyes somewhat cold.
"This disciple of the immortals wants to drag us down with low-priced grain. Once someone can't hold on any longer and starts selling grain at a lower price, we'll lose everything."
A young official scratched the back of his head and asked, "But didn't we agree to raise grain prices together? As long as everyone keeps prices in check, isn't that enough?"
Looking at him, Heshen shook his head, feeling that he was surrounded by a bunch of useless people.
There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
The major families in Jiangnan gathered together because there was something to be gained from it.
At other times, they all talk about benevolence and morality, but behind the scenes they wish they could kill the whole family.
As soon as someone can't hold on any longer and senses something is wrong, they release a large amount of grain, and others will flock to it. At that time, the price of grain will plummet like water bursting its banks.
With Li Chang'an interfering, all the grain merchants will likely lose everything.
Zhao Hu stood in the grocery store maintaining order. As the teacher had predicted, the afternoon's grain was all bought up in an organized and premeditated manner as soon as it came out.
If it weren't for the purchase restrictions, ordinary people probably wouldn't be able to buy any food at all.
Now, the recruitment lines are getting longer and longer, and many ordinary people who can't make a living are coming to the military camp to find a way to eat.
They didn't expect the Marquis to pay them any wages; they just wanted three meals a day so they wouldn't starve.
After all, the rain has been falling continuously, making it impossible to farm. Last year's grain harvest is almost gone, and there's no way to go up the mountain to cut firewood or gather herbs.
Having exhausted all other options, they had no choice but to try their luck here.
As the heavy rains continued, life became increasingly difficult for the people of Beijing.
Rising prices and incessant heavy rain prevented them from going out to work, leaving them without a source of income.
The entire capital city came to a standstill; taverns, brothels, markets, and all other businesses were forced to close.
The Anping Marquis's residence, which was constantly recruiting workers, stood out from the crowd.
“Master, we have recruited 23,000 people, most of whom are the elderly, children, women and children. There are less than 10,000 young and middle-aged people. What do you think we should do?”
Holding the roster, Su Xiao asked, "Moreover, most of the people who come in are elderly, weak, or women, and we no longer have the ability to assign them jobs. Some of them don't even know what kind of work they are supposed to do."
Li Chang'an stood on the desk, writing and drawing on the paper. The winding lines were so convoluted that they made one's head spin.
"Tsk tsk, they've already hired so many people? I thought it would be at least next month before they could hire more."
“The elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled are also a problem. Xiao Ping’an, let me test you. If you were in charge, how would you handle these people?”
"Hmm~" Su Xiao lowered her head and thought for a moment: "Arrange for them to do some light work, such as sewing, cooking, and cleaning, and then pay them half of their wages."
Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an tapped her head: "Smart."
“However, Master felt that this was not good either. We are all the same people. If they take half the money, they will harbor resentment over time.”
"In this way, the children are arranged to study, and the elderly are assigned easy jobs."
“Respecting the elderly and caring for the young is a traditional virtue, and no one dares to say anything about it, after all, we stand on the moral high ground.”
"As for the women, we arranged normal work for them, such as quarrying stones, digging soil and carrying bricks, and treated them as normal people."
Su Xiao opened her mouth and couldn't help but ask, "Isn't this too hard? These are all heavy tasks."
Li Chang'an let out a breath and said slowly, "There's nothing we can do. In a while, the power of this heavy rain will become apparent, and many places are already showing signs of disaster."
"We will soon be facing tens of thousands of disaster victims, so we need to speed up the construction of houses."
"Now, Master, I can only try to use women like men and men like cattle and horses."
"When you assign work to those people, make a point of picking out a few of the best workers, give them extra pay, and promote them."
"The most important thing is to keep people promoting them, saying that women are just as capable as men, and that women can also stand tall and proud."
"Let others see that they have gained respect, money, and power because of their hard work."
"Let others take them as role models and be proud of them."
Li Chang'an looked at the white paper on the table and laughed: "In the end, they not only didn't feel that the work was too tiring, but they also thanked us."
"Thank you, and we respect them."
"Others will also work harder because of this."
"At that time, without us saying anything, they will put on the reins themselves and become like cattle and horses, competing to see who can do more work."
"And we only need to give them some verbal rewards, and they will be grateful and even help us by supervising others to do their work."
Upon hearing these words, Su Xiao envisioned countless people eagerly doing their jobs without needing a whip.
At that moment, she realized that there was still so much for her to learn.
My little bit of cleverness is probably just child's play in my master's eyes.
"Master, how are you so amazing?"
Hearing his disciple's praise, Li Chang'an gave a wry smile: "Because Master, I've been bullied before, so I know how to do it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
