Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 503 Crazy Chen Ce

Chen Ce looked at the grain merchants with a gloomy expression, then took a sip of tea and smiled, "Send 10,000 dan of grain to the government office. There are two options. The first is to wait until the snow stops and the roads are clear. The government will transfer grain from Jinan and return the 10,000 dan of grain to you."

"The second option is to pay one tael of silver for one stone, and the government will spend ten thousand taels of silver to buy your grain."

Li Bushi listened to Chen Ce's words with an embarrassed look on his face, and said, "Sir, the price of grain is rising now, and food is already in short supply. Even if we tighten our belts, I'm afraid we can only get together 500 shi at most... We really don't have that much grain!"

Chen Ce said indifferently: "I'm not discussing with you, I'm ordering you, do you understand?"

Li Bushi said hurriedly: "If I had so much grain, I would be willing to serve the court... Let alone one dan of grain for one tael of silver, in the face of national crisis, I would be willing to give one dan of grain for five hundred coins!"

"To be honest, sir, I really don't have that much food. Please understand."

Chen Ce said with an "oh" sound, "So it seems that I have indeed made things difficult for you?"

"Okay, just gather as much as you can."

"As ordered!"

After he left, Chen Ce sat on the armchair with his eyes closed and thought for a long time.

Prefect Zhao stood aside cautiously. He felt that Chen Ce was still too young. These businessmen were all experienced people. Even if you were an official, you could not command them.

"Sir... they clearly have grain, but selling it to the government is the most uneconomical business."

"I know, they don't want to release the grain." Chen Ce said.

If it weren't for the fact that now is a critical period for implementing currency reform, Chen Ce would not be polite to this group of black-hearted businessmen. He would directly send troops to surround their homes, or capture people and threaten them to release the grain.

But using violence now will not solve the problem. Instead, it will further stimulate conflicts between officials and businessmen and damage the country's credibility.

As a result, monetary reform policies may not be successfully promoted in the future.

That's why Chen Ce didn't choose to use the most extreme means.

Prefect Zhao asked, "Sir, can we follow the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who implemented the policy of calculating and reporting the amount of silk?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "If we really do that, the merchants in the world will probably be more afraid of the government. What credibility will the government have in the eyes of merchants in the future?"

The food shortage can only be solved slowly.

Chen Ce had no intention of letting go of the group of businessmen headed by Li Bushi. If he did not make an example of them, these bastards who were profiting from the country's misfortune would probably become more common in the future.

In Chen Ce's eyes, Li Bushi was already a dead man the moment he rejected him, but not now.

Prefect Zhao said worriedly, "Then... what should we do? In a few days, if there is not enough food coming into the Qingzhou market, once the grain price soars to the point where the people cannot afford it, the whole Qingzhou Prefecture will be in chaos."

"Please understand, sir. I have not ignored the lives of the people. It's just that a skilled cook cannot cook without rice!"

"Those grain merchants just now were sure that the government would not dare to touch them at will, so they were so fearless."

It is the government's duty and responsibility to provide relief to the nation in distress, not theirs. Whether they provide relief or not is at most a moral issue, and has nothing to do with the law. Although they have evil hearts, they have not violated the law!

"How much grain is left in Qingzhou's warehouse?"

Chen Ce suddenly asked.

Prefect Zhao said, "Your Excellency, there are less than 5,000 dan left."

This amount of grain, if placed in the huge Qingzhou market, would not make any waves at all. Chen Ce made a prompt decision: "Release all of it, and sell it in the market in the name of the government at a price of one stone and three ounces."

hiss!
When Prefect Zhao heard Chen Ce's words, he thought Chen Ce was crazy and hurriedly advised him, "Sir, you can't do this! You can't do this!"

"If we release grain at such a high price, the people will overwhelm the Qingzhou government office!"

The small amount of grain available in the market now is only about 1.2 dan. You are raising the price to 1.3 dan. Aren't you even more unscrupulous than the merchants? !
If that time really comes, won’t the people of Qingzhou Prefecture destroy the Qingzhou Prefecture government office alive?
Chen Ce said without question: "Do as I say!"

"Let's start releasing the grain today."

"This……"

"Go!"

Prefect Zhao said helplessly: "As you command!"

……

On the afternoon of the second day of the Chinese New Year, large quantities of grain flooded into the market and the prices were ridiculously high.

Li Bushi and other merchants from Qingzhou Prefecture looked at the grain prices in the market in astonishment, thinking that the Qingzhou government had gone crazy!
Are they really not afraid of being impeached in Beijing? Your government is taking the lead in making money from the national crisis. If the court knows about it, I'm afraid the entire Qingzhou government will have to carry out a major purge!

Who is that young man? Is he here to make money?
This kind of thing is actually very common in local areas. Most of the imperial envoys sent by the court are related to the emperor, just like the local princes in the past. They do evil things in the local area. Although many censors will impeach them, the emperor is generally tolerant and pardons them and has never really held them accountable.

The young man who came to Qingzhou this time must be a relative of the imperial court, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have done such a crazy thing.

Is he planning to make some money and leave Qingzhou, and then hand over all the mess to Qingzhou Prefecture?

"Mr. Li, do you think that young man is crazy? He asked us for food, but he sold it to us at such a high price... How much money does he want to make?"

The merchants in Qingzhou Prefecture were all puzzled and started discussing the matter with Li Bushi.

To be honest, Li Bushi had no idea what Chen Ce was doing. This was really crazy!
But no matter what, since the government has taken the lead, don't blame these businessmen for being heartless.

"Release the food!"

This price is within their acceptable range. With three taels of silver for one stone, they can make a lot of money!
No matter what the young imperial envoy wants to do, they just follow him. As long as they can make money, that's all!

In fact, not only the group of businessmen headed by Li Bushi did not understand Chen Ce, but even the officials of the entire Qingzhou Prefecture were shocked by Chen Ce's actions.

Almost all the officials of Qingzhou Prefecture came to find Chen Ce, begging him not to harm the people of Qingzhou.

However, ever since these people entered Qingzhou Prefecture, Chen Ce had the Jinyiwei's Black Internal Factory and the Eastern Factory detain them.

Prefect Zhao was really a little afraid of Chen Ce. This guy was too cruel. So many officials could be imprisoned at will, but he had the power to execute first and report later, which was specially granted by the emperor.

He could kill any official of Qingzhou Prefecture at any time and anywhere, so Zhao Siming did not dare to disobey Chen Ce's wishes. However, he still could not help but persuade Chen Ce: "Sir...if we do this and that, once the court holds us accountable, none of us will be able to bear it!"

Chen Ce glanced at him indifferently and said, "Do you have a better solution?"

Zhao Siming shook his head and said, "I am ashamed of this."

Chen Ce said: "Then don't say anything more. I don't have much time to stay in Qingzhou. I will leave once this crisis is resolved."

Zhao Siming: Solve? What crisis are you solving? It's you who is creating the crisis!

(End of this chapter)