Under Liu He's repeated questioning, Wei Xiao finally stood up and told the truth.

Since Liu He left, the news that Cao Cao was about to go south spread throughout Jingzhou.

Knowing that there was going to be a war, the people were panicked one by one, but there was a group of people who seemed to wish that Cao Cao would come over quickly, and that was the rich merchants of Jiangxia City.

What is the most important thing to fight a war? Grain, of course.

As long as the prefectures and counties affected by the war are affected, the price of grain will skyrocket immediately, and the wealthy merchants of Jiangxia City have long seen this opportunity and hoarded a large amount of grain in their respective granaries.

With their hoarding of grain, there was hardly any new grain for sale in the market, and the original stocks were also snapped up overnight.

At one time, in the market of Jiangxia City, it can be said that there is not a grain of grain in sight, and the people stand at the door of the store selling grain with their pockets every day, hoping that the sign that is sold out today can be picked off as soon as possible.

As the nominal lord of Jiangxia City, Liu Qi, who has always loved the people like a son, stood up in time, and under his mediation, the wealthy merchants decided to give the former prince of Jingzhou a face, take out a little grain to sell, and alleviate the crisis in Jiangxia City.

But the grain they took out was so small that every day as soon as the grain shop opened, it was sold out in less than a stick of incense.

The more they did this, the stronger the desire of the people to loot.

As soon as the next day opened, all the people in the first few stores bought all their shares of the day, and now that they know that food is scarce, who doesn't want to buy more in case they need it?

In desperation, Liu Qi had no choice but to mediate again and stipulate a limit per person, but this only eased a little, but the overall supply still could not meet the needs of the people in Jiangxia City.

Looking at Jiangxia City, where the people once lived and worked in peace and contentment, suddenly became like this, Liu Qi did not have the idea of opening an official warehouse.

But after thinking about it for a long time, I still couldn't take this step.

One is that it is wartime, Cao Cao's army does not know when it will come to the city, if there is no food, the soldiers will not be able to fight hungry, and this Jiangxia city may not be able to hold it for a day.

The second is that he and Liu He have already made an agreement, since Pang Tong sent Liu Cong back to him, this Jiangxia City is actually Liu He's, and the city lord is not there, how can he open a warehouse and release grain without authorization?

Regarding this unexpected grain hoarding incident, the people of Tianji Camp wanted to solve it when Liu He came back, but whether it was Pang Tong, who was full of ghost ideas, or Qian Zhuan, who was full of business experience, they were all at a loss, and they never came up with a solution.

This really fulfills that sentence, no treachery, no business.

These wealthy merchants in Jiangxia City not only took advantage of the war to hoard grain, but also colluded with each other, and I heard that they had already agreed on the timing and price of selling grain.

If they had followed their plan, I am afraid that the people of Jiangxia City would have starved to death before the day they sold their grain.

This gang of profiteers also made careful arrangements for this, and hid all the grain in a secret place, and they did not leave a grain of grain in their granary on weekdays.

The intention of this is obvious, that is, for fear that the people will not have food, they will rush up and loot their granaries.

In the current situation, there is really no way to deal with these profiteers.

Good words persuade each other, but they only listen to the wind.

If you use force and you can't find a place for them to hide their food, you can't cut off their heads because they don't sell their own food, right?

Back in Jiangxia City, Liu He rushed into the conference hall, and after discussing with everyone for two or three hours, there was still no progress.

According to the latest information, not only will the problem of feeding the people not be solved, but even the supply of military rations will probably be affected.

Now around Jiangxia City, there is almost no grain of grain, and once a war with Cao Cao starts, the military rations will be tight.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Hua Chi, who had already freshened up and slept beautifully, came to the conference hall.

After a long journey, Liu He was already sleepy, but when he saw Hua Chi coming in, his eyes lit up.

How to say that the Hua family is also in the wine business, as long as the wine is made, it is inseparable from the grain, although the Hua family has always been in charge of the flower master, you can be exposed to it since childhood, maybe Hua Chi can have a good way.

Sure enough, after learning about the whole thing, Hua Chi patted his chest and said that this matter was wrapped up in him, and he must let those people open a warehouse and sell grain within fifteen days.

Liu He pondered for a long time, but still shook his head, fifteen days is too long, I'm afraid that the people of Jiangxia City won't be able to hold on for that long.

Hua Chi thought for a while and asked, "How long can the military rations in the city last?" ”

This kind of thing, as the former Jiangxia City Lord, Liu Qi knows best, "About half a year." ”

"How long will it be able to supply the people of the city with these rations?" Hua Chi continued to ask.

Liu Qi estimated in his heart and said cautiously: "One month, there should be no problem." ”

Hua Chi was overjoyed when he heard this, "Okay, then I only need ten days." ”

Liu He stood up, slowly walked to Hua Chi's side, and said with a smile: "Little Huahua, can you do it in five days?" ”

Hua Chi greeted him with the same smile, "At least eight days." ”

Liu He's face sank, "Seven days!" ”

Hua Chi sighed helplessly, "Deal." ”

Without further ado, Hua Chi immediately set off to prepare, and after everyone dispersed, Liu He did not go to rest, and after a simple freshening, he went out.

The matter of hoarding grain is very important, although he is very confident in Hua Chi, but before that, he still wants to personally go and meet those rich merchants and gentlemen in Jiangxia City.

This kind of thing, naturally, you can't take people like Qin Nuxia and Chen Mo who do it if they don't agree with each other, Wei Xiao and Qian Zhuan, who know how to observe words and feelings, and can speak well, are naturally the best candidates.

Qian Zhuan led Liu He to the most famous teahouse in Jiangxia City, while Wei Xiao had already taken the first step to invite those rich businessmen to drink tea.

Although the owner of the teahouse didn't know Liu He, he had already practiced the ability to see people as soon as he entered the door, and the boss saw that this well-dressed young man was by no means an ordinary person.

"This son, please inside, the second floor is our private room, very clean, and the scenery is good. The first floor is a scattered seat, so if you like to be busy, you can sit here. ”

The owner of the teahouse is not a loss, he is not sure of Liu He's identity in his heart, in case this boy is shy, with his words, even if he sits on the first floor, it will not hurt face.

"My son-in-law is going up to the third floor, it's all covered." Qian Zhuan put a large ingot of silver into the hands of the teahouse owner.