In the side hall of the county government office, Zhu Yunwen sat at the head of the table. The local gentry and landlords, upon arriving, all bowed to Zhu Yunwen, the grandson of the emperor.
Zhu Yunwen smiled and stood up, gesturing for everyone to sit down and not to stand on ceremony.
Old Master Sun smiled, but his gaze toward Zhu Yunwen was meaningful.
He always felt that although Zhu Yunwen seemed to have gained some advantage in this confrontation, Sun Lao believed that Zhu Yunwen had ultimately lost.
So at this moment he was very proud, feeling that he had achieved a great victory.
Zhu Yunwen, however, was foolish enough to invite them to dinner to discuss how to deal with the upcoming famine.
The thought of it made Old Sun laugh. Most of the other local gentry and landlords also understood that the so-called drought was nothing more than a scheme by Old Sun.
Of course, they and Old Sun are on the same boat.
Therefore, they will never let this matter be exposed, because it would benefit them.
They also control a large amount of grain. If such public opinion emerges and people buy large quantities of grain, they will also benefit. Therefore, they are naturally on the same side as Elder Sun.
Therefore, the way they looked at Zhu Yunwen at this moment was filled with mockery and a hint of contempt.
The key point is that they are unaware that Zhu Yunwen has everything under control.
After everyone was seated, Zhu Yunwen pretended to know nothing and said:
"I've invited you all here today to discuss an important matter. As you've probably all heard, there's been a lot of talk lately about a drought in Hekou County."
Old Sun immediately laughed, thinking to himself: How could I not know about this? It was all a fabricated story I made up.
Zhu Yunwen continued speaking:
"Through the county government's investigation over this period of time, we have to believe this. After all, the weather has been unusually hot this year, and many streams and rivers have indeed dried up."
Especially in our Hekou County, many ponds dried up overnight, which shows that the weather is indeed abnormal and there is a high possibility that a drought will occur.
In addition, the gods also gave omens, revealing some hints that a drought would occur. Many capable Taoist priests and monks in the countryside also expressed that a drought would happen.
This suggests that the drought is very likely real.
Seeing Zhu Yunwen speaking these words in a serious tone, Old Sun lowered his head and almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He is now certain that Zhu Yunwen is a fool; all the things he created actually fooled Zhu Yunwen.
This made Old Master Sun feel that Zhu Yunwen's intelligence was so low that it was worrying.
He even doubted whether the various rumors about Zhu Yunwen in the past were true.
Could this be some kind of publicity stunt deliberately created to enhance Zhu Yunwen's reputation?
That is indeed very likely.
At this point, Zhu Yunwen continued:
"I take this matter very seriously, which is why I invited you all here to discuss how to deal with the drought that may occur next."
After Zhu Yunwen finished speaking, he looked at the gentry and landlords.
Old Sun and the others exchanged glances, each suppressing their smugness and laughter. Then Old Sun spoke:
"Your Highness, we gentry and landlords are also very concerned about the high probability of a drought."
That's why we're doing our best to sell our grain. The price might be a bit high, but that's understandable, since it's a rare commodity.
Moreover, as you can see from the current situation, we cannot control the price of grain. The market price is what it is; if it rises, there's nothing we can do but follow suit.
Although we've raised prices, the people can still afford it. I think that if they spend their money to buy food, they can weather this disaster.”
Actually, what Old Sun said is complete nonsense. For many ordinary people, it's true that if they spend money to buy food, they can get through even if a disaster strikes.
However, this inevitably makes the price of grain too high.
In addition, many rural people have almost no money left after a year, so how could they possibly afford to buy it?
He said that simply to justify selling the grain at a high price.
At the same time, it also prevented Zhu Yunwen from asking him to lower the price!
Zhu Yunwen did not refute him, but instead used his words as an opportunity to continue:
"That's right. Many people can afford to buy grain, even if the price is a bit high. But there are still some people who can't afford to buy grain, and that's where the government's assistance comes in."
So I decided to call you all here to hold a food donation event.
"Let the local gentry, landlords, and wealthy people, or those with grain, donate some money and grain to prepare for the potential drought and famine that may follow."
Upon hearing this, Old Sun frowned. At this moment, he thought he had understood Zhu Yunwen's purpose.
It is believed that Zhu Yunwen probably wanted these local gentry and landlords to donate money voluntarily.
Clearly, they were unwilling to do this, but they couldn't say it outright.
Old Sun sneered inwardly, thinking that Zhu Yunwen was still too naive. Did he think that by calling everyone up and having them discuss donating grain, he could deal with the non-existent famine they had created?
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