Liu Dianyi pondered for a moment and said, "Not really. The prefect of Dingzhou wants to use the profits from salt to exchange for grain with us."
The granaries of wealthy prefectures were filled with grain. When natural disasters or man-made calamities struck, the prefect could open the granaries and distribute the grain at a moment's notice, ensuring the livelihood of the people in his prefecture.
But Dingzhou is different. The granaries in Dingzhou are so empty that even rats don't bother with them. If a natural disaster or man-made calamity were to occur, the people of Dingzhou would either be completely wiped out, or at most, they would either lose their lives or become fugitives.
"Of course, the prefect of Dingzhou didn't intend to take advantage of the situation. He will give the extra amount of money as it is."
The reason why merchants were so enthusiastic about salt permits was, of course, because selling salt could bring higher profits.
The Dingzhou merchants were able to participate because of their financial strength and the guarantee from the Dingzhou prefect.
Speaking of this, Liu Dianyi's eyes lit up with a smile: "The prefect of Dingzhou said that he was willing to give half of the profits from the salt permits to the Wen family, but hoped that the Wen family's escort agency could help them buy grain."
The reason why Li Ji Trading Company was able to gain a foothold in the northern desert with its grain prices is that the fiefdom of the King of Chu was in the Jiangnan area, where grain crops could be harvested twice a year, and some could even be harvested three times a year. In addition, the grain output was high, so Li Ji Rice Company's grain inventory was comparable to the entire granary of the northern desert.
As a transit point between the north and the south, Jinzhou's grain prices couldn't compare to those in Jiangnan, but they were certainly cheaper than in Mobei. The fact that Wen's Escort Agency was buying grain from Jinzhou was no secret.
The prefect of Dingzhou was unaware of the relationship between the Wen family and the Wen family business, but he understood after Liu Dianyi revealed his identity. It was then that he had the idea to ask the Wen family escort agency to help him buy grain.
Gu Yuzhi didn't quite understand these things and asked in confusion, "Why didn't you tell the Emperor that Dingzhou had no grain reserves?"
Knowing this, Chief Secretary Xie quickly explained, "After His Majesty took office, he reduced taxes based on the situation in Dingzhou. But as Your Highness knows, last year, the snow disaster in the northern desert was severe. The prefect of Dingzhou opened the granaries to distribute grain as soon as possible, but as soon as the disaster was over, Li's Grain Shop raised prices again."
Gu Yuzhi knew all these things, but he never imagined that they would lead to such serious consequences when put together.
He sat there in a daze, when he heard Chief Secretary Xie say, "The land tax in Dingzhou is already the lowest among all the prefectures, and there's really no way to lower it any further."
The late emperor lived a life of extravagance, and the Ministry of Revenue didn't have much money to begin with. In addition, the Prince of Chu had amassed countless benefits from it, which gave the emperor a major headache.
Therefore, no matter how difficult things were in Dingzhou, the Emperor could not grant too much leniency.
Gu Yuzhi rested his chin on his hands, his mind drifting to the Emperor's brother's frantic state when the Ministry of Revenue was short of funds.
His little face scrunched up like a bun as he wondered if he had asked his elder brother for too much silver before.
Gu Yuzhi suddenly slammed his hand on the table, secretly making up his mind that when Guard Qi was on his way to escort goods to the capital, he would tell his elder brother that he was not short of money now and did not need his elder brother to give him a salary!
He sighed like a little adult, and his previous admiration for the Qizhou prefectural government instantly shifted to the Dingzhou prefect: "So that's why the Dingzhou prefect tried to buy grain on his own?"
"Yes," Liu Dianyi continued. "The prefect of Dingzhou said that they would find a way to pay for the grain themselves, and half of the profits from the salt would be used to secure the official road from Jinzhou to Dingzhou."
As soon as Liu Dianyi said this, Xie Changshi understood that the prefect of Dingzhou must have tried various methods to get rid of Li Ji Grain Store's control, but all of them failed.
As for why they didn't ask the Wen family's escort agency to help with the escort missions before, they were probably afraid that the Wen family would become the second Li family.
Liu Dianyi said, Xie Changshi added, Gu Yuzhi quickly understood the situation in Dingzhou. He sat silently for a while, his mind constantly replaying the words of Xie Changshi and Liu Dianyi. After a long while, he blinked and jumped off the chair.
He quickly stepped forward and patted Liu Dianyi's arm, comforting her as Xu Mama had said, "Liu Dianyi, go back and rest, and have some ginseng tea."
Gu Yuzhi exclaimed in surprise, patting his face lightly with both hands: "How could I forget about the ginseng tea? Chief Secretary Xie, please put all the ginseng tea from the storeroom into Consort Liu's room."
He straightened his chest and patted his little hands vigorously: "I'm very strong now, and I haven't been sick for a long time."
Therefore, he no longer needs ginseng tea or other tonics.
Chief Secretary Xie glanced down at Liu Dianyi and saw that he was stunned. The usually eloquent Liu Dianyi seemed to have his mouth glued shut and could not say a word.
Chief Secretary Xie found it somewhat amusing: "Yes."
After several days of running around and working hard, Liu Dianyi was indeed exhausted. Now that he had explained everything that needed to be explained, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, suppressed the complicated emotions in his heart, and said in a low voice, "Then this subject will take his leave first."
Not long after Liu Dianyi returned to his room, Xie Changshi followed him in with a smile: "How was your trip? Still the same as before?"
Liu Dianyi glanced at Xie Changshi out of the corner of his eye, a slight smile playing on his lips. Unlike in the council hall, Liu Dianyi's face was full of sarcasm, but he did not immediately refute Xie Changshi's words.
Xie Changshi scoffed without any politeness and tossed the ginseng tea over, saying, "I got this from the storeroom. You can have some first."
Seeing Liu Dianyi take the ginseng tea canister, play with it in his hands, his eyes lowered, seemingly lost in thought, he finally said after a while, "His Highness Prince Wen is still young..."
These matters had been discussed many times since they received the mission. Liu Dianyi had never been optimistic about Prince Wen, so as soon as he opened his mouth, Xie Changshi knew what he was going to say next and quickly waved his hand to interrupt.
“I know what you’re going to say. But I’ll stick to what I’ve always said: it’s precisely because His Highness is young that we have more room to guide him. Can’t you see the changes His Highness has undergone in the past year or so?”
It is naturally visible.
It is precisely because we can see it that we are even more worried.
He wearily pinched the bridge of his nose: "I still think that it was a bit too frivolous for the Emperor to listen to the words of a high monk and send the five-year-old Prince Wen to such an important place as the northern desert."
It's not just childish, it's absurd.
He had already tried to persuade the emperor before the imperial edict was issued, but it was clear that he had failed.
Therefore, after arriving in the northern desert, Liu Dianyi's attitude could be described as negative, and coupled with his poor health, he did not participate in many things.
If it weren't for the fact that he was going to Dingzhou this time and there was a severe shortage of manpower in the manor, he wouldn't have gone out in the freezing cold.
Chief Secretary Xie could understand Liu Dianyi's deepest worries, and patted him on the shoulder: "No matter what happens in the future, you should take good care of your health now. I estimate that His Highness will move to Xinliang by the year after next at the latest. When there are a lot of miscellaneous tasks, you won't be able to shirk your responsibilities."
Liu Dianyi's eyes were closed, as if he were asleep, but his expression was no longer as resistant as before.
Knowing that he had agreed, Xie Changshi quietly went out.
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