The winter of the fourth year of the Son of Heaven seems to have passed faster than in previous years.

Perhaps because of the plan, the entire court was busy reviewing the data of fields, households, and mouths submitted by the locality;

Or maybe it's because after the Great Chaoyi, the whole of Chang'an was shrouded in the worry of 'boiling food prices'.

- Except for the court Yuji, who was busy with auditing, and the county and county officials, who were anxiously waiting for the results, almost everyone's attention was focused on the price of grain in Guanzhong.

According to the practice of previous years, the grain price in Guanzhong is based on the rice price in Chang'an City.

For example, in the first year of the Son of Heaven, in late spring and February, the rice shops in the two cities of Chang'an took the lead in playing the price of '55 yuan of rice stone';

Subsequently, all localities in Guanzhong followed up and set the price of grain at between 47 and 52 yuan per stone.

The situation was similar the year before and last year - the price of grain fluctuated between 50 and 60 yuan in Chang'an, and between 45 and 55 yuan in various parts of Guanzhong.

And this year is undoubtedly a very special year.

——After the autumn harvest last year, Tianziqi handed over the matter of stabilizing grain prices in Guanzhong to Liu Sheng, the ninth son of the emperor.

In autumn and September, Gongzi Shengda opened a granary and sold 20 million stone of grain at a low price, and by October this winter, Taicang had been 'sold short'.

At the same time that Taicang was 'sold out', Shaofu transferred 9 million stone grain from official warehouses in Guanzhong;

In the winter of November, the 9 million stone grain was also bought by the Guanzhong grain merchants who followed up.

Later, in winter and December, the first month of spring, the coldest two months of the year, Chang'an City fell into a short silence.

Soon, the time came to spring and February.

The grain that Shaofu bought from Shu County and Hanzhong finally arrived in Shanglincang in the western suburbs of Chang'an.

Almost everyone's attention was focused on Shanglin Cang, the seven million stone grains that had just been transported back.

- Almost everyone is sure: these seven million stone grains are the last hole card of Gongzi's victory!

As long as this last hole card is played, the price of grain in Guanzhong will be completely out of the control of Gongzi Sheng!

At that time, the price of grain will be completely determined by the grain merchants who hold the grain in their hands and the princes who will work together to 'buy' the whole of Taicang······

For a time, the people in Chang'an City were panicked, and there were many discussions inside and outside the government and the opposition.

Everyone vaguely perceives that the grain price in Guanzhong this year may be completely out of control.

If Tianzi Qi doesn't do something and doesn't stop Gongzi Sheng from 'messing around' like this again, then Guanzhong, the basic plate that the first emperor has accumulated for more than 20 years, will be completely in chaos.

In the beginning, it was just a street discussion;

Later, some people began to enter the palace at night and secretly meet the Son of Heaven.

Later, the government and the opposition were even more panicked, and they began to appear impeachment against Gongzi Sheng!

Although the content of the impeachment is all innocuous topics such as 'living in the palace beyond the rules', it undoubtedly makes Chang'an City, which is already nervous, more and more tense the heartstrings.

All of them.

Everyone in Chang'an City, with a nervous mood, gathered all their attention in the two cities of Chang'an, the rice shops that have not yet opened.

That is, at this delicate juncture of panic, the grain merchants who should have been busy transporting grain and preparing to open their businesses gathered in Anlingyi.

Different from the uneasiness and worry written on everyone's faces in Chang'an City, the faces of these grain merchants were filled with happiness, brilliance, and even excited smiles without exception······

·

Anneung-eup, Du Fu.

The pot-bellied merchants, at the invitation of the Anling Du clan, gathered here;

Smoke wafted from the incense burner, and the sweet smell of burning spices made the smile as sweet as honey come to everyone's face.

It was clearly spring and February, when the river was still frozen, but everyone in the guest hall was red by the heat emitted by the stove.

Accompanied by the gentle and elegant sound of Sesheng, one after another graceful figures writhed in front of everyone;

A light veil slipped from the creamy and tender body, causing everyone to let out a burst of soft snorts.

After a song, a dance.

The dancers, who were originally well-dressed, had only a few pieces of fabric left on their bodies to cover their shame.

But after the music died down, they didn't retreat.

Instead, he stepped on a knee-high cigarette, lowered his head shyly, and put his hands on his chest, like a fairy who had been 'stolen' from his clothes, and fell into the arms of a nobleman······

"That son-in-law wins, that's all he can do, right?"

"-Thinking that scattering tens of millions of stones of grain can stump us?"

"Hey!"

"Right now, the grain that Shaofu can transfer has been sold by Gongzi Sheng;"

"When spring begins, there is no food in his hands, and seeing his son-in-law win, how can he 'stabilize grain prices'!"

Holding the geisha in his arms, the charming and spring-eyed maiko, the merchant enjoyed it up and down, and did not forget to say the same thing.

Hearing this, everyone laughed, and their hands habitually wandered away from the beauty in their arms, but their eyes also looked at the head of the Anling Du family who summoned everyone here.

"What does Du Gong think?"

"That Gongzi wins, but is there any other way to stabilize the price of food in Guanzhong?"

Although he was asking a question, there was no trace of concern on the face of the person who asked the question.

The people who followed the prestige to the top were even more playful on their faces.

It's as if this question is not asking the head of the Du family, but giving the head of the Du family a chance to make fun of Gongzi Sheng.

- Everyone will be full of anticipation, playfulness, and even banter, and sprinkle their eyes on the head of the Du family.

Feeling the gazes of everyone looking at him, and the expressions when they looked at him, there was already some expectation, but the head of the Du family only smiled gently.

He pretended to be suspicious and lowered his head for a moment of 'thinking', then shook his head again and raised his head with a wry smile and looked at the person who asked the question.

"I'm an Anling Du, and I've never done a grain business, and I don't know the key to this."

"-Perhaps, I'm stupid."

"I just want to break my head, and I really don't know the current situation, how can I save my ······ if my son wins"

seemed to be a humble remark, but it caused everyone in the hall to laugh, and a few people laughed back and forth, almost lying between the seats with the beauty in their arms.

Infected by this cheerful atmosphere, the head of the Wei family's Su clan also laughed for a while, and then took over the conversation.

"Stabilizing food prices depends on grain."

"As long as Gongzi Sheng has grain in his hand and continues to sprinkle it into the market at a low price, then the price of this grain will definitely not rise."

"—After all, those farmers are not fools;"

"If you can buy cheap grain from Gongzisheng, you will naturally not buy high-priced grain from us."

···

"If the farmers don't buy our grain, we can't sell the grain in our hands, and the granary needs to be maintained and guarded."

"After a long time, we can't afford such a big loss."

"In the end, I can only follow Gongzi to win and sell grain at a low price."

"-Even if you can't make money, you can at least reduce the consumption of stored food, so that you can stop the loss······"

As soon as these words came out, everyone at the banquet was only excited for a while, and you and I began to 'point' Liu Shenglai.

"Isn't it~"

"But if Gongzi Sheng can calm down, wait until the beginning of spring to open Taicang, there are tens of millions of stone grain to be lowered, and we can't raise the price of grain too high."

"—yes, yes!"

"——20 million in Taicang, followed by 9 million in Guanzhong and 7 million in Hanzhong, Shu County;"

"——These 36 million stone grains, even if we want to eat them, it will take a while."

"yes~"

"Childe wins, it's still too young······

A flurry of conversations also made the already pleasant atmosphere more and more enthusiastic.

With fine wine in hand, beautiful women snuggled in their arms, and in their brains, it is a beautiful scene of the future of the clan······

For a while, the picture that was originally normal gradually became unsightly.

"Come~Take a sip~"

"Eh~"

"Little Beauty~"

···

Looking at the somewhat unsightly picture in front of him, the head of the Du family only smiled and lowered his head.

After a while, he cast that gentle gaze on the man who seemed to be a little 'restrained' not far from his side.

"This time, thank you Wuyan Gong?"

"If it weren't for the help of the saltless princess, the nine million stone grains that Gongzi Sheng transferred from the granaries of various places would not be able to eat it no matter what······"

With a gentle and kind word, he raised his head with a smile and bowed his hand to the head of the Du family.

And the rest of the people in the guest hall also stopped their 'movements' one after another, and with an obviously stiff smile, they looked at Wuyanji, who was sitting next to the head of the Du family.

"We worked desperately and risked the wrath of the court to earn these dozens of times the profit;"

"It's good for him to have no salt: if he lies at home and pays a sum of money, he will have ten times the profit?"

"-Even if something happens back, it can't be traced to his Wuyan clan!"

"Humph!"

The people don't know anything about their own belly, and they don't know anything about it.

Even if you know, you will most likely laugh it off.

- The money business earns the interest on the mortgage and the money of the 'cub';

Defy?

If you have the ability, you can also put money away!

Hey!

Is this usury really anyone's play?

"Duke Du, you're welcome."

"I have no salt, and what I have always done is this business: borrow money from people, and then recover the principal and interest."

"——The money lent to the princes, what the princes take to do something, I have no salt, and I will never interfere."

"What the princes have done has nothing to do with my Wuyan clan."

"As long as the principal and interest can be repaid on time, this transaction can be regarded as a ······"

As soon as Wuyanji's words came out, everyone in the hall looked at Wuyanji's gaze, and they only became more and more strange.

——For the saltless taboo, with the loan 'risk-free' to earn a small half of the profit, everyone has a lot of complaints in their hearts;

At this moment, seeing that Wuyanji said this obvious thing that he wanted to clear up the relationship, everyone became more and more dissatisfied in their hearts.

It's just that because of the head of the Du family, even if everyone has the heart to scold, they also have some concerns about 'not being able to dominate the guests'.

As a result, everyone threw their angry eyes on the head of the Du family, as if they wanted the head of the Du family to scold this insatiable Wuyan family for everyone!

Choked by the blunt words of Wuyanji, the head of the Du family was obviously a little unbearable, and his smile suddenly stiffened.

But after all, it has been a wealthy businessman who has been up and down in officialdom for many years, and even 'came from behind', and has established a foothold in Guanzhong, and is used to seeing the world.

Regarding the alienation in and out of Wuyan's taboo words, even though the head of the Du family was angry in his heart, he still smiled gently.

"Saltless Gong, what are you worried about?"

"Could it be that the Duke of Wuyan, like the Changling Tian clan, is used to making money at his fingertips, so he has become timid and timid like a mouse?"

As soon as these words came out, I saw that Wuyan Ji changed slightly, and a touch of anger suddenly surged on his face!

As for the people in the guest hall, they were obviously unwilling to be with Wuyan Ji anymore, and they did not hide the resentment in their eyes, and glared at Wuyan Ji angrily.

This time, from a big point of view, the businessmen in Guanzhong can barely be regarded as complicit.

At least on the point of 'eating the cheap grain of Shaofu, completely achieving a monopoly on the grain in Guanzhong, and using this to grasp the pricing power', the merchant group in Guanzhong has indeed achieved the same hatred and hatred.

But now that the dawn of victory has appeared, the seemingly unbreakable alliance of interests of the businessmen has begun to loosen.

-- On the point of monopolizing grain, the merchants in Guanzhong have the same interests.

However, after this goal is achieved, the unanimous interests also diverge because of the distribution of interests.

Just like at this moment, the businessmen gathered in the Anling Du Mansion, except for Wu Yanji, everyone has invested heavily in this matter.

- After the autumn harvest last year, the merchants each took out a huge amount of money to buy grain from the farmers;

After that, it was the huge storage cost input that ensured that the purchased grain could be properly stored.

Later, the people who had almost squeezed out the cash flow after the grain purchase and subsequent grain storage after the autumn harvest gritted their teeth and scraped together enough money to buy the cheap grain in Liu Sheng's hands.

Maybe some people give more money, some people give less, some people have more food, some people have less food;

But at the very least, everyone contributed money and effort, and paid for the money to buy food and the cost of storing it.

At the same time, it takes a lot of risk.

What about salt-free taboos?

After the autumn harvest, everyone ran in the fields, bought grain from farmers, and lay down and slept at home without salt;

When the grain was bought, everyone was busy repairing the granary, calling for people, and storing the grain in the warehouse.

In the end, everyone wanted to buy cheap grain, but there was no money in their hands, so Wuyan Ji stood up and borrowed a sum of money from everyone.

Next, we must plan the layout, sell grain in various parts of Guanzhong, and earn back the investment in the early stage with profits little by little;

In this process, Wuyanji will still lie down and sleep at home.

After everyone worked tirelessly for more than half a year, they sold the food in their hands stone by stone, and finally recovered the tribute and interest invested in it;

As a result, the money was not yet hot, and he woke up without salt;

As soon as you stretch out your hand, you will have to repay ten times the amount of the loan with interest······

"Why?!"

"-You have no salt, why do you charge ten times the interest!"

"We contributed money, people, and efforts together, and finally ate the grain in Guanzhong, and then we had to sell grain everywhere to recover the investment!"

"You don't have to do anything without salt, just by virtue of the money you give us, you have to take ten times the profit?"

"Humph!!"

The long silence was broken by a businessman's resentful rebuke.

In the guest hall, the originally relaxed and pleasant atmosphere suddenly became weird with this resentful roar.

On the throne, the head of the Du family barely maintained a polite smile, looking at Wu Yanji's gaze, but it gradually brought a little coldness;

And the others, when they looked at Wu Yanji, they all had a bitter and hateful look······

"Since you have made your words clear, then I will not be polite with you."

"—This time, it's up to you to do it."

"It is you who want to hoard the grain in the customs and raise the price of goods in order to make huge profits."

"From the beginning to the end, I have never had the idea of meddling in the grain business."

Under the gaze of everyone's 'common hatred', Wuyanji finally got up slowly, and the smile on his face was also removed.

In the temperament, there is also a sudden strength that makes people palpitate.

"I have no salt clan, and since the day I moved into Guanzhong, what I have been doing has always been a money business."

"——Giving out the money and recovering the principal and interest is the way for my Wuyan clan to make profits."

"As for the interest, whether it is three times or five times, it is all negotiated."

"It is this tenfold benefit, and it is also the one who came to the door together, begged bitterly, and used a private seal on the money deed, and pressed his hand to poke it."

···

"I have no salt clan, how can I force you to borrow this tenfold profit???"

"-Without the money I lent you without the saltless clan, you guys, can you eat the nine million stone parity grain?!"

"When you borrowed money, you were so gentle that you even hated to kneel down in front of me and beg me to borrow money from you."

"How?"

"The money has been borrowed, and the matter is done, so you have to turn your face and deny people???"

Speaking in a cold tone, Wu Yanji couldn't help but slowly turn sideways, and his gloomy gaze swept over everyone in the room.

In the end, it still fell on the head of the Du family, who also lost the smile on his face.

"This time, the Changling Tian clan will not interfere, it is indeed a good opportunity for you."

"But you should also think about it: will the money that even the Changlingtian clan dare not make will burn your hands······"

"—As for the money I have lent you, you may not pay it back;"

"I just want to remind you: You are not the first person to borrow money from my Wuyan clan at ten times the profit."

"Last year, Zhou Yafu, the prime minister of the dynasty, borrowed a thousand gold from my Wuyan clan as military expenses for counterinsurgency."

"In the end, what Prime Minister Zhou Cheng sent back to my Wuyan clan was 10,000 gold with interest······

Finally dropping such a sentence, Wuyanji finally sneered and walked towards the door.

When he reached the threshold, he stopped again, and turned his head slightly with a cold expression.

"Guys, you can try."

"——Try your own strength, is it more powerful than the prime minister of Zhou Dynasty."

"Try my Wuyan clan, can I give what I want from Prime Minister Zhou, but I can't help you······"

(End of chapter)