Upon hearing Yao Guangxiao's words, Zhu Yunwen immediately became interested and said to Yao Guangxiao:
"I wonder if the master has a plan? Master Suwen has the ability to predict the future, so dealing with Zhu Yunwen shouldn't be too difficult for him, right?"
Yao Guangxiao chuckled and said:
"It's not that difficult. We can deal with him with a little cleverness."
Zhu Yunwen hurriedly asked, "What brilliant plan is it? Could you tell me about it?"
Yao Guangxiao nodded and said:
"This matter will naturally require Your Highness's cooperation."
As he spoke, Yao Guangxiao sat up straight, clasped his hands together, and then slowly began to speak:
"The old monk's plan was to make a fuss about the grain that Zhu Yunwen sent Ma Sanbao to bring back from overseas this time."
Wasn't he always very capable? He orchestrated this whole "official coal-buying-at-low-price" scheme to appease the common people. Then he implemented the land reform and land redistribution decree, which offended many nobles and officials across the land.
Now they've brought back sweet potato and potato seeds from overseas. If they're planted on a large scale, they'll probably become a staple food for people in the future.
It should be noted that most people who rely on rice and noodles as their staple food are not getting enough to eat. As a result, many rice and noodle merchants have made a fortune.
This had become a system established over thousands of years, with many noble families and even powerful clans across the land having businesses related to rice and flour. They would certainly be very dissatisfied with the appearance of potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen spoke up:
"Does the master mean to unite the dissatisfaction of the scholar-officials and nobles of the land with Zhu Yunwen, and to devise a way to resist him and deal with him?"
Yao Guangxiao paused for a moment and then said:
"This is a last resort. Before that, are there any other methods we can try? If nothing else works, and we really succeed in planting potatoes and sweet potatoes, then we can still unite with these aristocratic families who have suffered losses to fight against Zhu Yunwen."
"So there are other options right now?"
Zhu Yunwen immediately asked, "So the method the master mentioned is?"
Yao Guangxiao smiled mysteriously and said:
"By tampering with potatoes and sweet potatoes, we can achieve our goal of making both the common people and the noble families hate Zhu Yunwen. The common people love Zhu Yunwen very much, while the noble families hate him very much. We only need to make the common people's goodwill towards Zhu Yunwen disappear and even hate him. That way, we can achieve our goal of making both the common people and the noble families hate him."
Zhu Yunwen was still confused and asked again:
"But Zhu Yunwen did do some things that benefited the people, so how can the people hate him?"
Yao Guangxiao deeply felt that Zhu Yunwen was somewhat difficult to manage, so he could only say again:
"Didn't the monk already say that we should make good use of potatoes and sweet potatoes? Zhu Yunwen has promoted these two things so highly, but what if the final result is very bad? What kind of outcome would that lead to?"
Zhu Yunwen thought carefully for a while, then said to Yao Guangxiao:
"Failure to meet initial expectations will inevitably lead to disappointment among court officials, the people of the land, and even the Emperor himself."
Yao Guangxiao, however, said, "Disappointment alone is not enough. We need to make them feel disgusted with Zhu Yunwen, even hate him, and rebel against him."
Zhu Yunwen's mind went blank for a moment, and he looked at Yao Guangxiao with a puzzled expression.
Yao Guangxiao continued to explain:
"To put it simply, we can help Zhu Yunwen by promoting sweet potatoes and potatoes extensively in the early stages, so that the people will think that sweet potatoes and potatoes are very good things."
At the same time, we joined forces with the powerful families and nobles who controlled grain to tighten the grain supply, temporarily halting sales or selling it at even higher prices.
As a result, people will definitely abandon their existing grains, such as wheat and rice, and devote all their energy to the cultivation of sweet potatoes and potatoes.
This filled them with hope for sweet potatoes and potatoes, but when in the end they couldn't grow anything worthwhile, the people had nothing to eat.
Because they pinned all their hopes on sweet potatoes and potatoes, they neglected other grains and did not plant them.
At the same time, noble families across the land also announced food shortages and sold food at even higher prices. Wouldn't this lead to an even more severe famine?
The root cause of all this was the poor cultivation of sweet potatoes and potatoes, all caused by Zhu Yunwen. Do you think the people of the land wouldn't hate Zhu Yunwen?
At that time, a large number of people across the country would not have enough to eat, and because sweet potatoes and potatoes were being grown, wheat and rice were not being grown for the time being.
Such a situation would leave the people with nothing to eat, causing chaos in the country, and the imperial court would also fall into chaos.
Once this situation has arisen, Zhu Yunwen's responsibility will be immense. Not only will the court and the emperor not tolerate him, but the people of the land will certainly not forgive him.
After hearing this, Zhu Yunwen's face flushed red with excitement.
He looked at Yao Guangxiao and said:
"Master is indeed clever. I never thought of such a method. However, there is a problem. Sweet potatoes and potatoes are said to be easy to grow and have high yields. How can we find a way to make sure he has no harvest?"
Yao Guangxiao: "It's not difficult. As long as we tamper with the potato and sweet potato seeds we bring back, they will be difficult to grow, let alone harvest."
Zhu Yunwen nodded repeatedly, agreeing that this method was indeed good. They tampered with sweet potatoes and potatoes to prevent their cultivation from succeeding. The powerful families raised grain prices or simply stopped selling their grains. The common people, having sweet potatoes and potatoes, neglected to cultivate rice and wheat.
If sweet potatoes and potatoes can't be grown, the people will really have nothing left.
With grain unavailable even to those who wanted to buy it, powerful families could take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune at high prices.
The entire Ming Dynasty will be thrown into chaos as a result, creating a catastrophe.
This calamity was precisely an opportunity. Zhu Yunwen saw it as a chance to turn his life around, while Yao Guangxiao and Zhu Di saw it as an opportunity for them as well.
In any case, everyone who participates in this plan will benefit.
But the world will suffer. If successful, countless people will starve to death because of this evil scheme.
However, these people in power seem to care little about whether the people will starve to death, nor do they seem concerned about how serious the consequences of doing so will be.
They only care about what benefits it can bring them.
This is the selfishness of those in power, the selfishness of those who vie for power and profit.
That's why people say Yao Guangxiao was a bit ruthless. Historically, he was capable of orchestrating the Jingnan Campaign, so he was certainly not a soft-hearted person.
Now they've even devised such a terrifying scheme, using the lives and deaths of the people to bring Zhu Yunwen down from power. Their methods are simply too ruthless!
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