Chapter 618: Stuck in the Neck
Linyao City, as the capital of Xiangyi Prefecture, has grown exponentially in prosperity under the influence of Shen Wansheng's official carriage strategy.
Due to the locust plague in Qiping Prefecture, many people in Qiping Prefecture fled to Xiangyi Prefecture early. Ninety-nine percent of the refugees followed the crowd to those densely populated big cities.
Linyao City, as the capital of Xiangyi Prefecture, naturally attracted a large number of refugees.
As the acting prefect, Xu Laosan has an extremely heavy burden on his shoulders.
A large number of refugees poured into the provincial capital. If their food problem was not solved, they would be extremely hungry and might do anything.
Xu Laosan mobilized the government officials and the soldiers of the city's garrison to go to the streets to maintain order.
But even so, it is still a bit stretched and short of manpower.
Of course, the problem of insufficient manpower to maintain order is relatively minor. The most important thing is that food is a big problem.
Originally, the affordable rice from the Xu family rice shop pushed down the grain prices in the city, and the late spring cold did not affect the grain prices.
However, with the influx of a large number of refugees, the food gap increased sharply.
"Sir, the granary is almost empty. If no food comes in within half a month, we will run out of food!"
Hu Yong, the granary manager of Xiangyi Prefecture, came to Xu Laosan almost every day to talk about it.
Xu Laosan now feels a headache whenever he sees Hu Yong.
But he couldn't help but see her, because the food shortage period would change every day. Today it was half a month, and tomorrow there might only be ten days left.
Because refugees enter Linyao City every day.
Old Third Xu was truly worried. Even though they had contacted the grain merchants in Jiangcheng Prefecture during the late spring cold snap, as news of the locust plague in Qiping Prefecture spread, the grain merchants who supplied Old Third Xu and his group began to raise their prices.
By now, Xu Laosan had started using Fubao's dowry to buy grain.
But even if they accepted the price increases demanded by those unscrupulous grain merchants, they still could not get enough grain because the price of grain was rising every moment.
Every day you delay means you earn more money.
Even if these grain merchants knew that it was Mr. Xu who was buying the grain, they didn't care.
After returning to the backyard from the prefectural office, Xu Laosan found Fubao in a depressed mood. He felt that he needed luck now, luck that could allow him to obtain a large amount of food at once.
After all, this food is not only used to help disaster victims, but also to supply military rations in Jingbian City.
"Third brother, I think you need to change your thinking!"
After listening to his third brother telling about his experiences, Fubao became happy.
"What kind of thinking do you want to change?"
Xu Laosan really couldn't think of a solution. These days, he'd been suffering from sleepless nights. If this continued, he felt he might be aging prematurely.
"It's hard to buy food with silver, so why don't we use silver and use something else?"
"Think about it, here in Xiangyi Prefecture, if there are any things that are in short supply, we can barter for them!"
"Little sister, you may not know that there is nothing particularly popular in Xiangyi Prefecture!"
Why didn't Xu Laosan think of using this method to threaten those grain merchants who were obsessed with money? But the problem is that Xiangyi Prefecture really has nothing to offer.
"Third brother, you are so stupid!"
Fu Bao looked at his third brother speechlessly, "If a businessman wants to make money, he needs to sell his goods all over the world."
"We in Xiangyi Prefecture don't have anything in short supply, but our roads and river transportation are all in our hands!"
"Besides that, our family can also influence Longxi Mansion, Donglin Mansion, and Qifeng Mansion."
"I don't need to tell you what to do next, right?"
"Oh, by the way, there's also Second Uncle's Changshan Mansion!"
"Aren't those grain merchants obsessed with money? Then let them sleep with their grain!"
Stuck in the neck!
It has been said since ancient times that the people do not fight against the officials.
The reason why people don’t fight against officials is because officials have power, and with power they can do whatever they want.
"Little sister, you are really Third Brother's blessing!"
After hearing what Fubao said, Xu Laosan instantly became energetic.
However, after the excitement, Xu Lao San became depressed again and said, "Little sister, your idea is good, but the problem is, we don't have time to do it slowly!"
"Why don't you have time?"
Fu Bao smiled faintly, "Third Brother, just have someone tell those grain merchants that if they make you unhappy, you will make their lives miserable. Tell them that unless they stop doing business in the future, this account will be settled sooner or later."
"We now control four prefectures, and in the future, we may control more places."
"Businessmen are profit-driven, and they will know how to choose."
As long as these businessmen are not fools, they should understand what it means that the people should not fight against the officials.
This time, they may be able to make money, but they will probably be very afraid of making money but not spending it.
"Little sister, you're right, I'm being pedantic!"
Xu Laosan took a deep breath and recalled his previous communication with the grain merchants' spokespersons. He felt that he was not domineering enough.
The spokesmen of these grain merchants, relying on the life-saving grain in their hands, thought they had a golden ticket to immunity from death, and each of them acted very courageously in front of him.
"Little sister, tell mom that I won't be back for dinner tonight!"
After Xu Laosan finished speaking, he hurried back to the prefectural government office and asked someone to invite the representatives of the grain merchants. He wanted to treat these people to a meal.
Since he is shameless even when I give him face, then don't blame him for being ruthless.
…
When Xu Lao San invited people to dinner with murderous intent, Fu Bao ran to find his mother, Old Lady Xu, to tell her about his third brother's stupid behavior.
As a result, when Fubao found his mother, he saw that his beautiful master was also there.
"Mother! Master!"
"What are you talking about?"
Fubao jumped over and snuggled into Old Lady Xu's arms.
"Nothing to say, just talking!"
Old Mrs. Xu raised her hand and touched Fubao's head, smiling slightly.
"Xiao Fubao, Master is leaving!"
"As for you, you have to practice hard in the future, okay?"
After Old Lady Xu spoke, Lu Mudan spoke with a smile.
"Master, where are you going?"
"Well, you'll understand when you grow up!"
Lu Mudan didn't say much.
Fubao really wanted to ask for clarification, but when she looked at her mother and beautiful master, it seemed that they had no intention of telling her about this matter.
Fubao also planned to go back and give his mother a good hard time to find out what had happened.
Before she had a chance to ask questions, she heard the howling of the little white wolf in the backyard.
The voice was rapid and very shrill.
Hearing the little white wolf's shrill howl, Fubao took his short legs and rushed to the backyard as fast as he could.
(End of this chapter)
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