"You're here."
Feng Yuan stood up and said anxiously, "The price of grain has risen to 135 coins per dou."
"Don't worry, sir. This is only the first day."
"I'm so anxious because it's the first day. If this continues, I'm afraid the price will go up to an outrageous level, right?"
Song Chi said calmly, "The Han family is manipulating this, and the prefect is cooperating...I don't know how much power and resources are needed to accomplish this."
He then turned to Secretary Yuan and asked, "Have grain prices increased?"
“It’s gone up!”
Secretary Yuan said, "Ji County is a wealthy place, and the people in the city are not short of food for the time being. However, due to the soaring grain prices, they are panicking and scrambling to stockpile food... The most important thing right now is the price of seeds!"
Song Chi nodded.
As food prices rise, the corresponding seed prices will inevitably rise as well.
It happened that spring plowing was approaching, and the people needed to buy seeds for farming, but due to the soaring prices of grain seeds, they simply could not afford them. If they missed the season, they would have no harvest for the whole year. For ordinary people, this was definitely a huge disaster!
Song Chi clenched his fists. These people would do anything to deal with Feng Yuan!
The emperor attached great importance to agriculture, and spring plowing was an important performance evaluation for local officials. Because of the disaster in Youzhou, the performance evaluation of Ning'an Prefecture, which was an important tax-paying place, was even more important.
All the pressure from the superiors will eventually fall on the county magistrate.
Soaring food prices have delayed spring plowing.
With these two performance results, the prefect Zhou Zhengan can directly arrest Feng Yuan and bring him to justice.
He and County Magistrate Feng share the same fate. If County Magistrate Feng falls, they will be the ones to deal with!
And... what made Song Chi angry was that they didn't care about the lives of ordinary people at all!
Thinking of this, Song Chi said coldly: "I have a way to stabilize the price of grain, and I have to make them pay the price..."
Feng Yuan was overjoyed and asked anxiously, "What do you have in mind?"
"I……"
"Bang!"
Song Chi was about to speak when the door of the classroom was pushed open.
Zhou Zhengan strode in with big strides, his face solemn and full of majesty, followed by Dong Weimin, who looked like a smug villain.
"Feng Yuan, do you still want to be the magistrate? The price of grain and seeds has skyrocketed. The people can't eat and can't afford to buy seeds. It's only February now. If this continues, in a few months, Ji County will be full of refugees..."
He started swearing as soon as he entered the room, not even giving me a chance to talk back, and then asked, "Tell me, what's your solution?"
Feng Yuan remained silent. He knew that Zhou Zhengan was behind this matter, and if he spoke up rashly, he would easily be criticized.
Even if there is a way, you can't say it to his face.
"As a superior official, I cannot stand by and watch Ji County suffer. I will allocate 5,000 taels of silver from the treasury... This is the greatest help I can give you!"
Song Chi's expression changed slightly.
Five thousand taels of silver may sound like a lot, but it is just a drop in the bucket for Ji County.
Zhou Zhengan came here to shut them up so that he could deal with all parties in the future. As a superior, he had already provided disaster relief, not just ignored it.
"Thank you, sir." Feng Yuan bowed and clasped his fists, and could only swallow his broken teeth.
"Don't you have a mentor?"
Zhou Zhengan's eyes fell on Song Chi. "Your reputation as a legal advisor has been quite high recently. The disturbances you've stirred up in the county government office have even overshadowed you. You've been called the behind-the-scenes magistrate..."
This statement seemed provocative, but Feng Yuan remained unmoved.
"If you can't think of a solution, let him think of one. Your master is talented in both civil and military affairs. He even shone brightly at the female commander's homecoming banquet."
Song Chi couldn't stand the sarcastic words, so he said directly: "I will help you stabilize the grain prices."
"good!"
Zhou Zhengan said calmly, "That's what I want you to say. Food prices are skyrocketing, and the people are suffering. I'll give you seven days to do this. If food prices remain the same after seven days..."
He looked at Feng Yuan and said, "Then you should quit your job as county magistrate!"
"This isn't a bargain, it's an ultimatum!"
Zhou Zhengan had a stern expression. This was the real purpose of his coming, and Dong Weimin, who followed behind him, was a villain who had succeeded.
Seven days is not enough to stabilize the grain prices. After seven days, Feng Yuan will be dismissed from his post for poor governance. He will then take over temporarily, turn the tide, and naturally become the county magistrate!
Then, he will also take Song Chi's life!
Zhou Zhengan left immediately after he finished speaking.
The situation is dire, and now there's a deadline. Feng Yuan said in a low voice, "The Han family and Governor Zhou are behind this. They must be hiding something very deep. It's impossible to uncover it in seven days. Natural disasters can be cured, but man-made disasters are hard to heal..."
"I arrived in Ji County determined to die, but I didn't expect the time would be so short. The enemy is incredibly cunning and ruthless... If I'm dismissed, they'll definitely attack you. But don't worry, you're too talented to die in such a short time. I'll write to my teacher, asking him to protect you no matter what."
Feng Yuan has prepared for the worst.
"Your Excellency is too kind. Didn't I say there was a way to deal with it?"
"really?"
Feng Yuan asked, "The only way to stabilize grain prices is to make them stop, but how is that possible?"
"No."
Song Chi said calmly: "Besides this, there is another way..."
"What is it?"
A rare smile of surprise appeared on Feng Yuan's stern face, but this smile was uglier than crying. It turned out that Lord Feng was not suitable for laughing.
"Post a notice now, announcing that the county government will purchase grain in seven days at a high price of 300 wen per dou... and dispatch additional personnel to spread this notice to the surrounding areas of Ji County and Ning'an."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Yuan's expression froze for a moment.
Secretary Yuan, who had been listening the entire time, said in surprise, "Chief Song... your method isn't right, is it?"
"What's wrong?"
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