Chapter 306: Rare Goods (Part 1)
Pan Ying said, "Second Master Ye collects 5,000 shi every year."
Five thousand stones.
When Ye Heng was a fourth-rank official, his annual salary did not exceed three hundred dan.
After returning to Qingzhou, he had to collect so much every year. Where did he get the appetite and money?
Pan Ying explained, "Master Ye said that Qingzhou is located in a remote area, and after paying the rent for the crops, there is still a lot of grain left. If we sell it ourselves, it will be time-consuming and laborious, and not cost-effective. It just so happens that he knows a grain merchant who does this business, so he comes every year to take the rice away and gives a higher price."
Ye Chutang almost wanted to laugh.
She didn't know that her second uncle had such ability to build bridges.
Instead of being an official, he started studying this kind of business.
Although Ye Heng's performance in officialdom in his early years was mediocre, he was able to do well thanks to his elder brother Ye Zheng.
Needless to say, in the following years, he rose rapidly to prominence. The connections in the capital alone were enough for him to live a worry-free life. Why did he have to worry about this business worth several thousand dan now?
Five thousand shi, if you think it is a lot, is not enough for a big grain merchant to make a special trip, but if you think it is a little, it is indeed the harvest of many farmers.
There are few people in Qingzhou, only about 30,000, so each household is allocated more arable land.
Most farmers have a total annual harvest of no more than 100 dan, which is their entire source of income.
This is also the reason why Pan Ying came to the door in person. It is estimated that there are many farmers behind him who are anxiously waiting to exchange their grain for money.
He has good relationships with people, is well-connected, and is an official of some kind, so he can have a say with the Ye family, so that's why they chose him.
Seeing Ye Chutang lost in thought and not replying for a long time, Pan Ying became more and more uneasy.
He gritted his teeth and asked bravely, "Second Miss, Mr. Ye's men haven't come this year. Is...something wrong?"
Ye Chutang pulled himself out of his thoughts, and seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding slightly.
"There is indeed some trouble with my second uncle."
Pan Ying's heart sank.
Then, Ye Chutang continued, "My second uncle was confiscated and exiled to Tongbei because of selling official positions and corruption."
This short sentence was like a thunderclap in Pan Ying's ears.
"What!?"
Pan Ying opened his eyes wide in shock.
Even Ye Zheng was only demoted when he got into trouble a few years ago. Everyone was quite saddened when they heard the news, and they only sighed that serving the king is like serving a tiger.
But this time Ye Heng’s situation is completely different!
He has committed a serious crime!
His property was confiscated and he was exiled. I'm afraid there will be no chance of turning things around in this life!
Pan Ying couldn't help but look at Ye Jingyan and Ye Yunfeng again, and subconsciously said: "Then, then you——"
Aren’t they a family?
Ye Heng has fallen into such a situation, then his siblings...
Ye Yunfeng sneered: "We have already been with them--"
"Your Majesty has mercy on us." Ye Jingyan glanced at Ye Yunfeng and interrupted him. "They only punished my second uncle severely and confiscated all his property, but they didn't implicate anyone else, and the women in the mansion weren't enslaved. As for us... After all, we haven't lived with my second uncle for a long time, so we weren't implicated."
Ye Yunfeng secretly clenched his fists and swallowed the words in his throat.
And Ye Jingyan's words were very convincing to Pan Ying.
——The two brothers Ye Zheng and Ye Heng have already started their own families, and their elders passed away long ago, so it really doesn’t make sense for them to be considered a family.
If even Ye Heng's wife and daughter were not affected, then Ye Chutang and the others would be even less involved.
Pan Ying was shocked for a moment and paced back and forth anxiously.
"T-How could this happen?"
So what should we do with the rice that was harvested earlier?
Ye Chutang looked at his anxious expression and thought quietly.
These were just innocent ordinary people who did not understand the intrigues and struggles in the capital. They only knew that if something happened to Ye Heng, they were afraid that the fruits of their year's hard work would be lost.
Those who are in urgent need of exchanging money probably don’t know what to do.
Pan Ying was worried and looked at Ye Chutang several times, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
The reason why he asked Ye Jingyan and his brother to invite Ye Chutang was because he thought that since she was the person in charge of the Ye family now, she might be able to make the final decision on the matter.
But now it seems that Ye Chutang and the others clearly don’t know what Ye Heng has done, so how can they talk about this matter anymore?
They couldn't ask Ye Chutang to clean up the mess, right? That would be too unreasonable.
But if it keeps dragging on like this, then...
Ye Chutang glanced at Ye Yunfeng, and Ye Yunfeng immediately went to close the door tactfully.
"Brother Pan, don't worry. This is a serious matter. Let's think of a solution together."
Ye Chutang raised his hand and invited Pan Ying to sit down and have some tea.
Pan Ying looked at her, and seeing the calm and relaxed expression of the woman in front of him, the anxiety in his heart subsided unconsciously.
He then realized that he was indeed very thirsty after talking for so long. He quickly drank two sips of tea and asked anxiously:
"Miss Ye Er's words mean... are you willing to help with this?"
There was unconcealable hope in his eyes.
In his opinion, all members of the Ye family are extremely powerful. Since the two brothers Ye Jingyan respect Ye Chutang so much, she must be no ordinary person either.
Maybe she really can find a way!
Ye Chutang paused and asked, "You just said that the grain merchant who comes to collect grain every year is a friend of my second uncle. Do you know him?"
Pan Ying nodded repeatedly: "I recognize it!"
"Then you might be able to contact the other party?"
Pan Ying's expression froze, and he shook his head guiltily: "This... This can't be... Every August after the rice is harvested, they will come over. There is no need to wait. After taking the things away, they will not stay for too long and will leave quickly."
This is normal. Time is very tight when harvesting grain. After they finish here, they have to go to the next place.
In the past few years, no one worried about this, so no one thought about having too much contact with the other party. Unexpectedly, when Ye Heng got into trouble, those people didn't come anymore.
They couldn't contact each other, so they could only place their hopes on Ye Heng, so they came to him.
result--
Ye Chutang lowered his eyes slightly and gently moved the tea leaves with the tea lid.
This matter is strange in itself.
When Ye Heng got into trouble, no one else was implicated, but the grain merchants he had connected with also disappeared.
If you say that Ye Heng has no involvement in this, I'm afraid no one will believe it.
What Ye Chutang cares more about is actually——
"Then do you know where the food is sent every year?"
Pan Ying was stunned and looked confused.
"We just sold them and never asked where they sold them to."
This is normal.
The imperial court did not prohibit the sale of grain among the people. Some grain merchants would purchase large quantities of grain in years when grain prices were cheap, hoard them, and then sell them at high prices when the harvest was poor and grain was scarce.
As long as farmers can sell their products at a good price, their hard work for a year will not be in vain. Why should they care where other people’s business is done?
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