Chapter 305 Palace Murder! (Seeking monthly votes)
[At four quarters past noon, Marquis Xiao Yuan of Dingyuan, accompanied by Xiao Jinghong, commander of the Dingyuan Army, went to the Provincial Administration Office to suggest that Liu Hong stabilize grain prices in Shu Prefecture. Their discussion was very pleasant.]
[To refuse an opportunity presented before one has arrived, heard, or witnessed is the mark of a naturally lazy person.]
They had a very pleasant conversation.
Chen Yi glanced at the large golden characters on the light screen and chuckled to himself.
He found it hard to imagine the scene of the old master, Xiao Jinghong, and Liu Hong sitting together, chatting happily.
Using terms like coercion and oppression to describe it would not be an exaggeration.
But Chen Yi, recalling Liu Hong's smiling farewell earlier, couldn't help but mutter to himself:
"The old fox is such a good actor, maybe they really did have a 'pleasant conversation'."
Liu Hong is a very cunning and two-faced person.
It seems he's quite adept at changing his stance depending on the situation.
If it weren't for Old Master Xiao bringing Xiao Jinghong along this time, Liu Hong probably could have found a way to get by.
Now, even if he was unwilling, he had no choice but to take some action to stabilize grain prices in Shuzhou Prefecture.
That's just right...
Xiao Jinghong, unaware of his thoughts, chatted with him casually.
The two got along very well, and even the distance between them grew closer as they passed by.
Chen Yi noticed this, turned to look at Xiao Jinghong, and seeing that her eyes under her half-armor were calm as water, he didn't take it seriously.
"Madam, did you go to the Provincial Administration Office with the Master today to discuss grain prices?"
Xiao Jinghong tilted her head slightly, "Husband, how did you know?"
Chen Yi smiled and said, "I guessed."
"Since the rumors started spreading in Shuzhou City a few days ago, grain prices have risen more than tenfold. If this continues, the people in the city will not be able to afford to eat."
"Given the kindness of the old master and his wife, it's understandable that they couldn't stand it."
Xiao Jinghong nodded, "Grandpa really doesn't want what happened five years ago to happen again."
"Has Governor Liu agreed?"
"Agreed."
"That's good. Now I can give my grand-disciple an explanation."
"Explain?"
Meeting Xiao Jinghong's questioning gaze, Chen Yi then told her about Yuan Liuer selling herself to bury her father.
"If the prices of food and medicine in the city hadn't risen so sharply, she wouldn't have ended up like this."
Xiao Jinghong's eyes flickered slightly. He turned his head to look ahead and said in an enigmatic tone:
“Yuan... Liu’er is a pitiful girl.”
After saying that, she turned and asked, "Does my husband think that Grandpa should go to the Provincial Administration Commission sooner?"
"Madam is overthinking it."
"Even though the old man is seriously ill, he still cares about the people of Shuzhou, which is admirable. How could I say anything bad about him?"
"It's good that my husband thinks this way, now..."
Seeing her hesitant expression, Chen Yi roughly guessed what she wanted to say, so he changed the subject and said:
"I'm getting more and more used to this Shu Prefecture now, and I don't want it to be messed up by others."
“Just like yesterday, that ‘jackal’ suddenly came and kidnapped my older sister, which is very worrying.”
Xiao Jinghong paused upon hearing this, "Does my husband think the guards in the Marquis's mansion... have too low a cultivation level?"
"Do I...?"
"have."
"However, my husband need not worry. Jinghong will arrange for several highly skilled individuals to come and guard the Marquis's residence shortly."
"..."
Chen Yi rolled his eyes inwardly. He had just said it casually and hadn't expected that there would actually be a master guarding the Marquis's residence.
Xie Tingyun and Shen Huatang alone made it very difficult for him to sneak out.
If a few more of the experts Xiao Jinghong mentioned were to arrive, he would likely find it difficult to go out after nightfall in the future.
However, despite his thoughts, Chen Yi could only go along with it and say, "Madam, please make the arrangements..."
There's nothing we can do; circumstances dictate our actions.
With his small arms and legs, he really couldn't outmaneuver Xiao Jinghong.
In no time at all.
The two returned to the Xiao residence together.
However, Xiao Jinghong did not step across the threshold. Meeting Chen Yi's slightly puzzled gaze, she bowed slightly.
"My lord, please forgive me, Jinghong must go now."
Chen Yi was taken aback, looked up at the sky, and asked, "It's not past noon yet, aren't you going to finish your lunch before you leave?"
Xiao Jinghong shook his head slightly, "The border market is nearing completion, and Jinghong will need to guard it for a few more days."
"In addition, the new army in the three towns has been training for a long time, and it is time to test their strength... Please forgive me, my husband."
Chen Yi smiled and waved his hand: "Madam has important matters to attend to, so please go ahead and do your work."
Upon hearing this, a hint of apology flashed in Xiao Jinghong's eyes. "Jinghong has already spoken to Grandpa in advance, so I will only escort my husband this far."
"good……"
After the autumn rain, the sun gradually shines brighter, but there is still a bit of coolness.
But on Xiao Jinghong, it was a glimmer of brilliance.
Chen Yi watched her fly away until she disappeared into the southern horizon before turning back and entering the Marquis's residence.
He was probably happy to have such a high-and-mighty wife.
At least when he wants to slack off, there's another powerful figure in Shuzhou who can keep all the petty scoundrels in check.
"Comfortable..."
...
Chen Yi couldn't help but feel comfortable.
According to his guess, Xiao Jinghong would quietly return from Wushan Trade Market within half a day at most.
The goal was simply to obtain evidence of Liu Hong and his associates' crimes.
Therefore, even if he wanted to go out to do something, he had to be careful about the risk of being discovered by Xiao Jinghong.
Fortunately, he had done everything he needed to do.
Just wait and see.
That afternoon.
The news spread that Old Master Xiao and Xiao Jinghong had joined forces to put pressure on the Provincial Administration Commission.
Although Liu Hong has not yet taken any action to stabilize grain prices, the people in Shuzhou City have begun to feel hopeful.
Consequently, far fewer people went to the East and West markets to buy grain.
This situation is certainly not what the grain stores wanted to see.
They had just bought back the grain from Cui Qingwu yesterday. Each shi (a unit of dry measure) of fine grain cost as much as 14 liang (another unit of dry measure), and the total cost was close to 14 million liang of silver.
If the Provincial Administration Commission were allowed to open the granaries and release grain to stabilize grain prices, they would not only fail to recoup their investment, but also be stuck with nearly a million shi of grain.
Therefore, upon receiving the news, Lin Zhenghong and others, on the advice of Li Sanyuan, the inspector of the Jizhou Merchant Guild, rushed to the Provincial Administration Office.
After receiving news that Liu Hong would only last three days at most, Lin Zhenghong and the others, though unwilling, could only run back to the grain store to think of other countermeasures.
"Even if we lower the price, we still won't be able to sell all the grain in three days."
"What's more, now that word has spread from the government offices, most of the people in the city are planning to just tough it out. We, we..."
A wealthy merchant, dressed in fine clothes and with a large belly, said as if he had lost his parents, "We're probably going to suffer a huge loss this time."
Lin Zhenghong's expression turned even more unpleasant.
Their plans for Shu Prefecture were going smoothly, and they were all making a fortune.
But with the price of fourteen taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure) now so low, all the money has been converted into grain.
If the price of grain falls back to one or two taels of silver, no, even if it only drops by 10%, all of them will lose more than a million taels of silver in total.
This situation, this situation...
Lin Zhenghong's eyes turned red, and he suddenly stood up and stormed off.
"Mr. Lin, where are you going?"
"I'm going to find the culprit!"
The person Lin Zhenghong was looking for was none other than Li Sanyuan.
The idea of being a patrol officer of the Jizhou Merchant Guild, or having witnessed numerous lucrative business deals, now seemed like a joke to him.
When we returned to the Lin residence.
Lin Zhenghong went straight into the backyard, pushed open the wooden door of the side room where Li Sanyuan was to rest, and said angrily:
"You've caused me so much suffering!"
Li Sanyuan was slightly taken aback, and his face immediately turned ugly. "Lord Liu did not grant our request?"
"promise?"
"Today, Lord Xiao and General Jinghong went together. Even if Liu Hong was unwilling, he would not dare to guarantee our safety at this time."
"What did he say?"
"Lord Liu has given us just three more days!"
"Three days later, either the grain merchants will lower their prices on their own initiative, or the government will open its granaries to release grain and stabilize prices!"
Lin Zhenghong was furious. "Are you satisfied now?!"
Li Sanyuan's expression changed slightly, but he didn't care about his attitude and frowned as he pondered a solution.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a better solution.
The key issue is that food costs are too high!
If no one else takes over this batch of grain, they will not only suffer heavy losses, but will also be punished by the trading company.
Then we'll see what happens next...
Li Sanyuan trembled, a hint of fear on his face, and said, "Don't rush, don't be impatient, there are still three days left."
"I...we will definitely find a way."
"way?"
Lin Zhenghong laughed in extreme anger, "What other way can you come up with?"
"Now that the news has spread, people are all waiting for grain prices to drop. Who would be foolish enough to buy grain at this time?"
"purchase?"
Li Sanyuan had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea: "Someone will buy it!"
Lin Zhenghong's angry expression froze for a moment. "Who?"
"Just because Shu Prefecture doesn't have it doesn't mean people outside don't."
Li Sanyuan looked westward, a slight smile appearing on his face: "The Peacock King's Banner group is currently launching a large-scale attack."
"Based on my understanding of them, that bandit army on horseback must have been lightly armed and carried little food."
"If we can sell the grain to them, we can not only recover all our losses, but we may also make a big profit... or even a small profit."
After hearing his words, Lin Zhenghong's anger subsided considerably. "Would King Lando agree to this price?"
Li Sanyuan said with a smile, "Whether he agrees or not, he has to agree."
"In fact, before your father died, he contacted King Lando in private to sell them a batch of weapons, armor and fine iron."
"That's a deal worth hundreds of thousands of taels of gold."
“As long as we combine that batch of ironware with this amount of grain, he will have no choice but to agree.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhenghong pondered for a moment and asked, "Is this feasible?"
"Of course, apart from the trading companies, who else in the entire Great Wei Dynasty would dare to sell them ironware or ingots of fine iron?"
"Then... what should I do?"
"You? You can't do it. This mistake was caused by me, so how can I let you take the risk?"
Li Sanyuan gave a cold smile, "Besides, since Liu Hong is so disrespectful to the business, we don't need to be polite to him either."
Lin Zhenghong was stunned for a moment, "You, you want to do something to Liu Hong..."
Be careful what you say!
"Even if I were stupid, I wouldn't be stupid enough to lay a hand on Liu Hong!"
"That……"
"Do you remember who you saw in the mansion the night your father died?"
"You, you mean... Liu Taofang?"
"It's him."
"Go to the Liu family later and talk to Liu Taofang to make peace. Make sure you get the grain from him."
"The price is the same as Miss Cui's, fourteen taels."
A ruthless glint flashed across Li Sanyuan's face. "Since Liu Hong is so heartless, then don't blame us for being ruthless!"
"The Liu family must have a share of the grain sold to King Lando this time!"
Lin Zhenghong opened his mouth, but seeing the look in his eyes, he didn't dare to say anything more and nodded in agreement.
He was now backed into a corner; he was doomed either way, so he might as well go all out with Li Sanyuan.
Especially after the two separated.
After hearing another rumor circulating outside, Lin Zhenghong became even more determined to drag Liu Hong down with him.
The news was none other than that someone in Linzhuang, outside the east city, was selling grain for one tael of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure).
When the news spread, all the people in the city rushed out of the east gate and headed to Lin Village.
Under such circumstances, even if Lin Zhenghong was weak, he couldn't possibly be too ruthless.
They went straight to the Liu family's house and, while Liu Hong was still at the yamen, found Liu Taofang, who had been confined for many days.
Li Sanyuan also started moving.
Almost immediately after receiving news of someone forcibly lowering the price, he couldn't wait to leave through the west gate and head straight for the Tea Horse Road along the official road.
He's not stupid.
On the contrary, he is very smart.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to climb to the position of Inspector in the Pingzheng Hall of the Jizhou Merchant Guild.
Clearly, they had been outmaneuvered this time.
Although he doesn't know who orchestrated all this, he is absolutely not going to let it go.
"After this, I will definitely send a message to the merchant guild, ordering them to send experts to thoroughly investigate this matter. We will dig three feet into the ground to find that bastard!"
...
On the other side.
Linzhuang.
After disguising himself, Liu Lang was extremely busy and overwhelmed, almost to the point of wanting to drag Boss Chen over and give him a good scolding.
Although he was busy from beginning to end this time, purchasing and transferring grain, and also responsible for guarding it, the whole process went smoothly.
But when it came to this final sales step, he really couldn't understand Mr. Chen's intentions.
"The grain we bought for eight, nine, or ten taels of silver, is now being sold for one tael of silver?"
"Has the boss lost his mind, or is he just burning money?"
Even if Liu Lang was not good at arithmetic, he would know that doing so would definitely result in a huge loss.
It should be noted that the grain he had cost nearly 500,000 taels of silver, approximately 100,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).
If they were all sold at a price of one tael per stone, the loss would be at least 400,000 taels.
So much gleaming silver, even if thrown into water, would still make a splash, but with Boss Chen, it didn't even make a sound.
But Liu Lang could only think about it; he dared not do nothing about it.
Previously, he could hold his head high in front of Chen Yi because of his identity as "Knife Maniac," his cultivation level, and his skill level.
He was completely convinced after that fight that night.
Chen Yi was far superior to him not only in terms of intelligence, but also in terms of martial arts.
Even if he wanted to disobey orders, he had to consider whether he could withstand that shot.
"Damn it, it's not my money, I'm not afraid of anything!"
As Liu Lang hardened his resolve, his attacks became increasingly skillful.
With the help of Xue Duanyun and others, 50,000 shi were sold in just half a day.
Several baskets were filled with loose silver and copper coins.
Even so, many people still came from the prefectural city, and upon hearing that there was no food today, they immediately started making a fuss.
The silence only subsided after Liu Lang announced that there would be another 50,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) tomorrow.
The sky had just begun to darken.
Liu Lang and the others closed the gate of the mansion, but their faces showed no joy as they looked at the silver and copper coins in front of them.
"What do you think the boss is up to?"
Liu Lang snorted, "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
"Anyway, we can't be blamed for the financial loss this time."
Xue Duanyun and the other two looked at each other and shook their heads in unison: "We can't be blamed for this either..."
Four hundred thousand taels of silver! Even if they sold their Tianshan Sect, they couldn't come up with that amount.
...
After nightfall.
After having dinner, Chen Yi sat in the pavilion with Xiao Wuge and Xiao Die to read books and play chess.
Enjoying a leisurely and carefree time.
Chen Yi had naturally heard about what was happening outside the mansion.
But that's exactly the result he wanted.
"The old man took this step at just the right time, not too early or too late."
"With him keeping an eye on things, even if Liu Hong is unwilling, he can't delay for too long."
"But no matter what he does, the news has to be released eventually."
"In this way, Liu Lang can take advantage of the situation and make a move without drawing attention."
Grain prices are bound to plummet!
Thinking about these things, Chen Yi was in a good mood and played chess with Xiao Wuge with a smile.
On the other hand, Xiao Wuge pouted and looked sullen. "Brother-in-law, Second Sister's return is such a big event, why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Why should I notify you?"
“Your second sister has things to do when she comes back, so how can she stay in the manor all the time? Besides, your most important thing right now is to cultivate martial arts, you don’t need to worry about anything else.”
"That's what they say, but I haven't seen my second sister in a long time either."
"I've already seen them on your behalf..."
Xiao Wuge was speechless for a moment, and casually placed a white piece in a corner of the chessboard.
"Palace Killing".
Chen Yi looked at the chessboard where the white pieces were gaining momentum and were subtly surrounding the large black group of stones, and smiled as he placed a black piece.
"Too impatient."
In an instant, the white pieces' encirclement was broken.
With Chen Yi's chess skills, he had already foreseen this move and had set a trap, waiting for Xiao Wuge to make his move at this moment.
Just like the Jizhou trading company.
No matter what they do, they will only face certain death.
Xiao Wuge looked like he was about to cry, and could only stare blankly as Chen Yi calmly picked up one white piece after another.
"No, brother-in-law, this round doesn't count."
"Why not? A gentleman never takes back a move once it's made, haven't you heard that?"
"without……"
Chatting and laughing, as it approached the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), Xiao Die led Xiao Wuge to rest first.
Chen Yi was about to wash up when he heard footsteps coming from outside Chunhe Garden.
"Son-in-law, Manager Wang from Baicaotang has come to visit."
Chen Yi frowned slightly. "Wang Ji? It's so late... Has something happened on the Tea Horse Road?"
"Please let him in."
(End of this chapter)
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