Soon, news of the rumors spreading in Hekou County reached Zhu Yunwen's ears.
After learning about the various rumors circulating among the people, Zhu Yunwen immediately realized that something was amiss.
They say that some ponds dried up overnight, revealing stones with inexplicable inscriptions, and that some temples had spirits appearing to foretell a drought.
They say that various omens are appearing in different places, and some fortune tellers are intentionally or unintentionally hinting that a drought will occur in the future.
Upon learning of these circumstances, Zhu Yunwen immediately concluded that it was man-made.
As a time traveler, he was all too familiar with these methods of creating panic, spreading rumors, and exaggerating.
Even before Zhu Yunwen transmigrated, when he was a child, he vaguely remembered that the adults in his family seemed to have heard some rumors and went to steal bag after bag of salt.
We've been eating this salt for many years, and we still haven't run out of it, yet there's never been a salt shortage.
Later, there were incidents of hoarding rice, and even later, there were incidents of hoarding medicine.
However, those people hoarded a lot of rice and medicine, but found that there was still no shortage of rice and medicine.
They simply bought some at a high price during the period when the rumors were circulating, which only allowed businessmen to make a fortune, but did nothing of real benefit.
This is enough to show that rumors are truly a matter of opinion.
Some people did believe it.
Some people are simply unaware and blindly follow the trend.
Some people just don't believe in it, but it seems wrong for them not to buy it if everyone else is buying it.
In short, once this situation occurs, it seems very difficult to resolve. Even if people come forward and present various evidence to prove that it is a rumor, it still cannot stop many people from making large-scale purchases just in case.
Once someone makes a purchase, it creates a sense of urgency among others, prompting them to buy as well.
This situation is unsolvable, somewhat like a calculated scheme. Many people know what's going on, yet they can't avoid it or extricate themselves from the plan.
In the main hall of the county government office, the magistrate looked at Zhu Yunwen and said:
"Your Highness, what should we do? We know that this so-called drought is completely unfounded, and even many people know that."
But the atmosphere they created was so convincing that many people, even knowing it was fake, still went to buy the grain. Now, those selling grain have doubled their prices.
If this continues, Old Sun will use this situation to sell off the large amount of grain he has hoarded at double the price. This is simply using the most despicable means to bleed the people dry.
In the end, it was the common people who suffered the losses, yet Old Sun made them pay exorbitant prices for his grain, allowing him to make a fortune. It's utterly despicable.
Zhu Yunwen also knew that the situation was not good. He did not expect that this old man Sun would directly use the trick of spreading rumors to clear out his inventory.
It turns out that Old Sun wanted to prevent the birth of sweet potato and potato seeds. If the seeds could not be successfully planted, the people would still have to rely on ordinary grains.
Most people will still struggle to get enough to eat and wear, so the grain he possesses will become a permanent asset that he can sell at any time to earn money and ensure a life of plenty for the rest of his life or even several generations to come.
But now, Old Sun also realizes that it is unlikely to stop the implementation of the policy on sweet potato and potato seeds.
He had already found himself in a passive position, so he took a risky approach and prepared to sell all the grain he had in his possession.
They converted the grain into money in advance, and that's how they fabricated this rumor.
The rumors have now reached such a point that regardless of whether they are true or not, and no matter how many people believe them, there will definitely be many people buying grain, even at exorbitant prices.
As the county magistrate said, this situation indeed meant that the common people were paying the price for Old Man Sun's greed.
Sun Lao was also unscrupulous, manipulating the people at will, and even severely humiliating Zhu Yunwen.
If he succeeds, then all the gentry and landlords in other places will use the same method to create a non-existent famine, making the local people pay for their past greed.
That would definitely cause an unnecessary upheaval for the entire Ming Dynasty.
Making ordinary people pay the price for these landlords and gentry is absolutely unacceptable.
Therefore, Zhu Yunwen must stop this now, otherwise gentry and landlords all over the country will follow suit.
Seeing that Zhu Yunwen remained silent, the magistrate anxiously inquired:
"Your Highness, how should we resolve this situation? Should I go out and post notices immediately?"
Explain to the people of the world, and tell them not to believe in this so-called benevolent disaster that is about to occur.
Or should we openly declare that this is nothing more than a conspiracy by the gentry and landlords?
Zhu Yunwen shook his head and said:
"It's no use. No matter how you explain it, someone will definitely buy food just in case. As long as someone buys it, it will become a vicious cycle. The more you explain, the more confused it will become."
The magistrate said anxiously:
"What should we do? Are we just going to let them fool the people and swindle their money like this? Isn't this just profiting from human suffering?"
Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath and said:
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