Li Ye's expression did not change at all. He kept smiling and listened carefully.
After the price was quoted, the governor secretly looked at Li Ye's expression.
I felt relieved only after confirming that she was not angry.
He immediately said with a smile: "Your Highness, the price of grain has been calculated!
This is the price we have to pay to get grain merchants to take the risk of shipping grain here.”
Li Ye nodded in agreement. "Then, assuming the price is five times higher, how much food can be delivered in a month?"
The grain merchant originally thought that he was a cruel person, but he didn't expect that Li Ye would raise the price of grain five times as soon as he opened his mouth.
I felt immense contempt in my heart.
What prince, what ruling for the people, they are all lies and empty words.
"If we can deliver it at this price, we can guarantee that we can deliver at least 100,000 tons of food per month."
The largest grain merchant was filled with excitement and made a guarantee immediately.
"One hundred thousand dan of grain is too little, we must continue to supply more.
There must be 500,000 dan of grain within a month.
Not only should the people have enough food to eat, but they should also be allowed to build river embankments.
This prince has made a promise to his father, the emperor, that not only will disaster relief be completed as quickly as possible, but the riverbank will also be repaired."
Li Ye was extremely dissatisfied with the efficiency of the grain merchants and directly raised the price for them five times.
Such a large quantity shocked not only all the grain merchants but also the officials present.
Based on the price they quoted, it would cost at least 7 million taels of silver.
Excessive overspending will definitely attract the attention of the court.
There is too much money embezzled, and it is useless even if you don’t have a life to spend it.
The Governor-General hastened to persuade him: "Your Highness, I understand your feelings for the people.
But even the imperial court couldn't come up with so much silver in a short time.
It is better to import less food in the early stage.
There are so many disaster victims that we cannot feed them all. It is enough if they can just eat 30% full every day to avoid starvation.
Even if the workers only eat until they are 70% or 80% full, they can still build the riverbank."
Li Ye shook his head and said, "What this prince wants to do must be done well.
Of course, the imperial court could not allocate so much money.
But these disaster-stricken people may not be completely without money.
Raise the price and take back all the silver from the people.
You can't have money in your hands and still rely on the government's disaster relief funds, right?"
Li Ye paused here and looked carefully at the official's face.
Of course, they were all very confused after hearing this.
Li Ye straightened his chest and explained their doubts: "All grain merchants have increased the price of grain by seven times, and this prince has accepted this double amount of money for other purposes.
As for the other 10%, it is not easy for you officials to contribute your manpower and effort, so this can be considered your hard-earned money.
You will know from now on that anyone who works for this prince will never be treated unfairly."
All the officials were suddenly shocked. They didn't expect that Li Yexin was even more greedy than them.
Raising the price of grain sevenfold is simply sky-high. How can the people survive?
But when I heard that Li Ye wanted to take 20%, I understood why he did that.
It turns out that the purpose of disaster relief is not to help the victims, but to make money.
The words have been made so clear.
Almost all officials have completely let down their guard.
Li Ye makes money from them, so what is there to worry about?
But they think Li Ye is a greedy fool who has no common sense.
If the price of food were to quadruple, they would be able to make a fortune.
They even dared to raise the price to seven times and sell it to the people.
He is simply asking for his own death.
But so what?
This is the prince's order. Even if the higher-ups investigate, it has nothing to do with them.
It’s just that all officials obey the orders of the prince.
Li Ye was completely treated as a sucker.
In order to clear himself of responsibility, the Governor carefully confirmed again: "Will you sell it at such a high price?
Otherwise, it’s better to be careful!”
"What's the big deal about spending a little more money? Saving your life is the most important thing!
The emperor’s order to me is to provide relief to the victims as soon as possible.
But if we want to transport the food as quickly as possible, we can only raise the price.
Just do as I say.
In addition to immediately using all the government's stored grain to provide relief to the victims.
All major grain traders must raise prices immediately starting today!
Anyone who dares to sell at a lower price will be spared by this prince."
All the officials were delighted after hearing Li Ye's words.
Just by transporting the food, you can make several times the profit.
Whether grain merchants or officials, they can make a fortune.
"Since Your Highness has said so much, I will do my best to obey you." The governor said with a happy face.
"By the way, after selling the grain, this prince's commission must be sent to me, and no one can deduct it privately.
If I find out, I won't let you off easily!"
Li Ye's face changed and he gave instructions to everyone.
He even used a threatening tone.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will not give you a penny less."
"Your Highness has treated us so kindly, and we will certainly repay you sincerely. How could we possibly withhold your money?"
"Your Highness will definitely return with a great reward this time, bringing back a large sum of money."
Both officials and grain merchants expressed their attitudes.
They all regarded Li Ye as their own and their supporter.
As long as Li Ye doesn't fall, they can all get rich.
Moreover, being able to be with a prince will allow him to do business easily in Dayuan in the future.
Li Ye pretended to be very happy and laughed out loud towards the sky.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
"Remember this, everyone. If you follow this prince, I guarantee you will have endless wealth and glory."
Officials and major grain merchants all flattered Li Ye and praised him so much that he almost didn't know which way was which.
Li Ye did this to reassure them.
He placed the one million taels of silver sent by his subordinate businesses directly in the lobby of the Governor's Mansion.
First of all, it shows their attitude that they can make money immediately by transporting food.
At the same time, all grain merchants and officials no longer had to worry about anything.
By the end of the banquet, Li Ye was already drunk and almost unconscious.
When leaving, he still reminded everyone to prepare food as soon as possible.
Wait for Lin Yue and Xiao Cui to take Li Ye away.
The officials and grain merchants, who were already drunk, immediately became energetic.
A major grain merchant was so excited that his face flushed: "I originally thought that when the prince came, he would try every possible way to squeeze our money and grain for disaster relief.
I didn't expect him to be so greedy, he's just here to get rich."
"Governor, do you think this is a reliable plan? Should we follow the orders of His Royal Highness the Prince and immediately dispatch food from all over the country?"
"Prince Yu has already left the money at the Governor's Office and has also ordered an increase in grain prices.
What else do you have to worry about?
The government’s food reserves were not much to begin with, and they would all be eaten up in less than five days.
Distribute all the food at once so that these disaster victims can have a few full meals first.
By the time a large amount of food was delivered, they were almost starving and could not hold on any longer.
Not only did they have to use all the money to buy food, but they could also exchange it for disaster relief funds allocated by the court.
No matter how you look at it, we won't suffer any loss!"
The Governor replied happily.
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