Gu Yuzhi scratched his head, feeling that Guard Qi was acting a bit strange, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong with him no matter how hard he tried.
Qi, the guard, wiped his face, no longer daring to be clever. He seized the opportunity to step forward and said, "Your Highness, all the merchants of the Mobei Merchant Guild have successfully signed contracts with the Huizhou Grain Merchants. From now on, none of the prefectures in Mobei will need to buy expensive grain."
He held up one finger and gestured: "Manager Mu and the others have discussed it, and thanks to the support of Huizhou Grain Bank, the price of grain in Mobei should drop by 10%."
With the guidance of Manager Wen, Gu Yuzhi naturally knew how rare it was for grain prices to drop by 10%.
His small mouth was slightly open, his face full of disbelief. After a while, he blinked his big eyes and said, "Guard Qi, Guard Qi, are you talking about the price of all grains?"
If it's 10%, then the people can save a lot of money when buying grain!
Guard Qi nodded and said, "This is the average grain price. For some high-yield grains, the price has dropped by more than 10%, while the price of fine grains does not fluctuate much."
That's really impressive!
Gu Yuzhi's face lit up with joy, but then he frowned and said, "But, but even if there are few people in Mobei, there are still many, many people. Can the Huizhou Grain Store provide us with so much grain?"
He had heard Manager Wen mention before that several prefectures in the Jiangnan region were under the control of Prince Chu. The numerous grain shops in those prefectures supplied Li's Trading Company, which allowed Li's Trading Company to suppress other grain shops.
If Huizhou Grain Stores were to run out of supplies even for one day, wouldn't the people of Mobei be starving?
Thinking about all this, Gu Yuzhi's face scrunched up like a bun, and he clenched his little fists tightly. This won't do.
As Teacher Shu once said, nothing is as good as what I have, no one else does.
Therefore, Xinliang still needs to speed up the pace of land reclamation, and strive to not only achieve self-sufficiency in Xinliang this year, but also provide some support to other prefectures.
He was setting himself a small goal when he heard Guard Qi chuckle and say, "Your Highness, have you forgotten Governor He?"
Gu Yuzhi scratched his head, puzzled, and asked, "What does this have to do with Governor He?"
Guard Qi chuckled, keeping him in suspense and refusing to speak, only urging Gu Yuzhi to think it over again, which made Gu Yuzhi stomp his foot and huff in frustration.
After a moment of contemplation, Xie Changshi had a sudden thought and said softly, "Could it be that Governor He has brought grain merchants from Lingnan?"
As Guard Qi was enjoying watching His Highness pestering him, he suddenly heard someone mention Lingnan. His smile froze on his face, and he slowly turned to look at Chief Secretary Xie in disbelief.
"Chief Secretary Xie, you..."
Chief Secretary Xie sighed deeply. He finally understood why the young prince had ignored Guard Qi before!
With that obnoxious attitude, he wouldn't even want to bother with him.
As expected, Gu Yuzhi's attention was quickly drawn to the words "Lingnan" in Xie Changshi's name.
He jumped up suddenly: "Yes, yes. In Lingnan, the grain is also harvested twice a year."
As Teacher Shu said, Lingnan is sparsely populated, just like the northern desert, because there are many insects and ants. However, the soil and climate there are more suitable for planting than in the northern desert, and crops can be harvested twice a year, or even three times a year!
Three harvests a year!
On the same piece of land, the grain yield in Lingnan can be three or four times that in Mobei!
Gu Yuzhi pouted, indicating that he was really envious!
Chief Secretary Xie nodded and said, "Your Highness is right. If it weren't for the fact that there are too many insects in Lingnan, the title of the granary of the whole country in Jiangnan would probably have to be given to Lingnan."
Gu Yuzhi's big eyes darted around, and he covered his mouth, chuckling to himself, "I should suggest to my brother that we exile all those criminals to Lingnan so they can clear wasteland and grow crops..."
Governor He has already made the arrangements. Doesn't the increased grain production in Lingnan mean that the northern deserts can buy a little more grain?
If more grain is stockpiled in the northern desert, the chances of the people going hungry will be slightly smaller...
Gu Yuzhi straightened his small frame, and the more he thought about it, the better he felt the idea was: "Anyway, the iron mines in Mobei have already collapsed..."
He suddenly shut his mouth, his eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, Xinliang is still short of people. We should talk to the Emperor and exile those who were implicated to Xinliang."
After a few years of land reclamation in Xinliang, you can become a citizen of Xinliang after your military service ends!
Seeing him smile one moment and frown the next, Chief Secretary Xie couldn't help but shake his head.
Once again ignored, Guard Qi glanced back and forth between Chief Secretary Xie and Gu Yuzhi, muttering, "Those who are good at reading are all cunning."
It immediately drew all of the young prince's attention away.
He hasn't finished explaining his situation yet!
Qi, feeling wronged, hurriedly said before Xie Changshi could speak, "Your Highness, Your Highness, Xie Changshi is right. Governor He has connected with grain merchants in Lingnan, and not just one!"
“We have signed contracts with them, agreeing to purchase grain once a month.”
Including Xinliang, there are now a total of six prefectures in the northern desert. The prefectures north of Changzhou are not short of food at present, but the situation in the other prefectures is not so good.
Fortunately, the grain purchase trip to Jinzhou went exceptionally smoothly, greatly alleviating the grain shortage situation in several other prefectures.
Thinking of this, Guard Qi no longer cared about competing for favor with Chief Secretary Xie, and said with a heavy expression: "Your Highness, on my way back, I took a detour into Qingzhou. The situation in Qingzhou is the same as what Prefect Huang said, the people are living in misery."
Speaking of Qingzhou, Gu Yuzhi's face fell: "Tell me quickly, what's going on in Qingzhou!"
“Winter is already hard to endure. The people of Qingzhou are almost naked, most of their houses have collapsed, and they can only huddle together for warmth. If Huang Yanzhang had not been appointed as the prefect this winter, I'm afraid many people in Qingzhou would have died.”
Not only were grain prices high in Qingzhou, but the former prefect of Qingzhou also privately increased various exorbitant taxes and levies, forcing the people to sell their property in order to survive. Later, some people even sold their children.
It wasn't that some common people wanted to flee, but how could ordinary people possibly stand against a prefectural governor...
Moreover, the wealthy merchants of Qingzhou colluded with the prefect, even going so far as to offer rewards for reporting such activities.
The people were encouraged to monitor each other. If anyone around them showed any sign of wanting to leave, they could report it and receive a bag of coarse grains.
For a time, whistleblowing was rampant in Qingzhou. People didn't care whether their neighbors of several decades had any intention of leaving or not, they would report them directly, and the prefect wouldn't bother to investigate anyway!
Gu Yuzhi's face turned pale, as if she were listening to an opera, and she couldn't react for a long time.
He never imagined that such a thing would actually happen to someone he knew!
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