A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 404: Should good people be pointed at with guns?

"correct."

Wang Yufeng said with great certainty:
“Brother-in-law, we have to lower the price, and even lower it than the grain stores in Tokyo.”

“We sold a lot of grain at low prices, and they didn’t even have a chance to sell it; they were stuck with it all.”

"If we don't harden our resolve, and they sell at too low a price, we'll be stuck with nothing."

Wang Yufeng's words left Liu Congde with a conflicted expression.

Although he hated these cunning and dishonest merchants, he had sworn on the last time they met that he would never lower the price.

Now they're not only lowering prices, they're also planning to secretly sell them to outsiders, with me covering for them.

This behavior is utterly shameful.

"I can not be reconciled."

Liu Congde uttered four words:
"At worst, I'll go to the Empress Dowager and ask her to order the purchase of our grain."

"Brother-in-law, I think this is inappropriate."

"What's wrong?"

Liu Congde also agreed with Song Xuan, saying that at worst the imperial court would bail him out, and he certainly wouldn't lose money.

Wang Yufeng shook his head repeatedly:
"The price of grain has already come down, and we still have to go to the Empress Dowager to exploit our relationship. How many coins will those officials in the court agree to give us?"

"They will definitely try their best to drive down the price, so it would be better to just lower the price and sell it directly to the people."

"In that case, we will have both used up the Empress Dowager's kindness and gained little benefit. It's not worth it."

Wang Yufeng believed that if his side donated grain to the court before the court issued a policy of opening granaries and distributing grain, it might bring honor to the Empress Dowager.

Those of them, as in-laws, weren't just doing foolish things.

Now that grain prices have fallen, to do this is utterly disgraceful to the Empress Dowager.

Our family doesn't lack the money to buy food.

Wang Yufeng was unwilling to waste the favor he had earned with the eldest aunt.

He could tell from how the Empress Dowager handled the cases of Ma Jiliang and Wang Qixiong.

If the Empress Dowager's relatives and in-laws want to live well in the days to come, they must abide by the law.

Who knows if they went too far in the past and now want to curb their power?
After all, the favor of Heaven is unpredictable!
Liu Congde is now facing a double predicament: after the government distributed grain, a large amount of the grain he purchased is now unsaleable.

Now they're transporting them away; even the cart and horse convoy is carrying these strange stones.

They simply don't give them any use.

The grain is now going to rot in Tokyo because it can't be transported out.

Who caused Song Xuan to physically disrupt the transportation of the four rivers?
The main dilemma was that Liu Congde felt the Empress Dowager's attitude was ambiguous and directly implemented the distribution of grain.

My brother-in-law's words make sense.

Liu Congde stared at Wang Yufeng: "If I force the cart and horse guild to transport grain for me, do you think they will?"

Wang Yufeng understood what his brother-in-law meant: would it offend Song Xuan?
As for Zhong Lijin, they didn't take her seriously at all.

"I'm afraid that will be the case."

Wang Yufeng was somewhat uncertain, and the best course of action for now was to lower the price of grain and sell it.

"Brother-in-law, let's lower the price and sell it first."

Liu Congde didn't have a good solution, so he simply gave the order.

"Straight bitch!"

He first cursed several times, then said viciously:

"Since these grain merchants in Dongjingcheng say one thing and do another, then don't blame me, Liu Congde, for being ruthless. Today, I'm not doing this for money, but just to vent my anger!"

"Brother-in-law, don't get agitated, I have a plan."

Wang Yufeng quickly stopped him.

What's your plan?

"Luring the enemy into a trap."

Wang Yufeng's face also showed a ruthless expression.

Since we can't make any money, we might as well help Scholar Song and restore his reputation, which will be a great favor to him.

Let's lower our prices by fifty coins compared to those grain merchants, and then we'll continue to lower our prices once they follow suit.

They will definitely sell their grain at a lower price than we do.

Enticing them to continue following suit.

We'll go all in then, driving the price down even lower than the grain prices in Tokyo before.

They either rot in their hands or sell them at a price lower than ours.

Anyway, we're not in this line of work.

Only in this way can we vent the anger that has been building up inside us.

Upon hearing his brother-in-law's ruthless tactic, Liu Congde's face broke into a smug smile:

"Okay, let's do it!"

As a result, the grain prices in Tokyo, which used to change every day, were alarming to watch.

But today, grain prices are changing three times a day, making people laugh so hard they almost crooked.

With the government's relief grain, who would still buy these expensive grains?

They'd love to receive all the free food.

Song Xuan remained busy stamping documents and issuing certificates to them.

The city of Tokyo has so much grain stored up now; as long as it's not burned, it's more than enough.

He's still waiting to buy at the bottom!
"My lord, the grain prices displayed by the grain merchants on the street have changed three times a day."

After taking a stroll in the streets, the registrar Zheng Wenhuan returned to report.

"All the grain merchants have lowered their prices?" Song Xuan rubbed his wrist.

"Yes, including the Liu family."

"That's good." Song Xuan leaned back slightly, resting for a while.
"This is only a small drop. Let's wait until they can buy a bushel for a hundred coins before we talk about it."

Zheng Wenhuan was startled. The standard for the imperial court to provide relief to the poor during the bitter cold and heavy snow of winter each year was to give them twenty coins a day to meet their basic survival needs.

Normally, grain prices in Tokyo are higher than in other places. If they drop to this level, the people of Tokyo will probably be able to have a good New Year.

"Here."

After he left, Song Xuan threw his county magistrate's seal to Zhao Zhen and asked him to stamp it for him.

Political ethics aptly states that one should not entrust one's reputation and position to others.

The weapon and its name in Song Xuan's possession were given to him by Zhao Zhen. Now, if he were to give the weapon to Zhao Zhen to play with, that would be going against the natural order.

But Zhao Zhen kept saying thank you, and he excitedly took it to get the stamp.

This is unlike using his Imperial Seal, which doesn't allow for any real involvement; it's just a stamping machine.

This kind of job allows Zhao Zhen to directly experience power.

Once he stamps the document, the people outside can take the slip and go to collect their grain.

After Zhao Zhen finished covering the entire stack of papers, he raised his head with great satisfaction:
"Twelfth Brother, your method is finally working!"

Song Xuan stood at the door, watching the busy people outside, and seeing some commoners being called by name and expressing their gratitude profusely. A slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Yes."

Song Xuan stood with his hands behind his back: "Unfortunately, this tactic probably won't be useful in Tokyo anytime soon. If the children of these grain merchants continue to take over, they'll probably learn a lesson."

"Once the four rivers in Tokyo are repaired, we can work on repairing the Yellow River later. This approach is quite good even if we don't need to do it."

Zhao Zhen didn't have many feelings; he was just extremely excited.

Zhao Zhen watched as Song Xuan laid out his plan, guiding his prey step by step until he finally saw the prey.

At least I felt like I was involved; waving flags and shouting slogans is a form of participation!

"However, Sixth Brother, there is no need to worry. Perhaps there are still places in the Song Dynasty that do not know that Your Majesty has ascended the throne. So this method can be used again in remote areas and may also be effective."

Song Xuan then laughed out loud again.

Many people today suffer from severe information cocoons.

Not to mention that many places were isolated from news throughout history.

Many people can use this information cocoon to make money and gain other benefits.

Some people were unaware that Zhao Zhen had ascended the throne, but others acknowledged it.

Although there seem to be many scholars throughout the Song Dynasty, the largest number actually resides in the capital city of Bianjing (Kaifeng).

In many places, the people don't even know who the county magistrate is, let alone the emperor.

"It's not easy for others to replicate Twelfth Brother's method."

Zhao Zhen was pleased to see that the problem had been solved.
"I'm afraid it will be a poor imitation."

"Hahaha."

Song Xuan was also somewhat smug.

At least this example allowed the imperial court to formally establish the work-for-relief method sooner.

Otherwise, it would take many more years, depending entirely on individual performance.

The grain merchants and others gathered again; they had all received news that Liu Congde had started dumping shares.

"President, should we lower the price too?"

Even if prices are lowered, people will come to watch, but they won't actually buy anything.

The ones I buy don't smell as good as the ones for white-collar workers.
Even if it's old grain, it's still free.

The president, You Hui, also looked very unpleasant. He had originally planned to deceive Liu Congde and wait for him to find out and question him so that he could explain things properly.

But Liu Congde followed the rules this time, not even sending anyone to question him, which really puzzled You Hui.

Liu Congde has always been arrogant and domineering, so why is he being so law-abiding?

He personally went to the cart companies, hoping they would secretly allocate some of their transport capacity to transport grain outwards, thus mitigating the losses.

However, the guild leader flatly refused, saying that the master had already instructed that the strange stones and other goods destined for the capital must be transported to Zhongli Tongpan.

It is permissible to allow entry but not exit; otherwise, without water transport to bring goods into Tokyo, chaos will inevitably ensue sooner or later.

You Hui now suspects that this was a scheme orchestrated by Master Song in advance, designed to lure them into transporting grain into the capital and then cut off their escape route.

"President, please say something."

Seeing that You Hui was in a daze, the others quickly woke him up.

"I suspect that this was a deliberate scheme by Master Song to trap us."

"how is this possible?"

Many grain merchants did not believe You Hui's words.

After all, since Master Song did not stop them from selling grain at high prices, he was cursed by the people of Dongjing City for quite some time.

Can we blame him for not being able to sell the grain now?
If anyone is to blame, it's Liu Congde, the maternal relative of the Empress Dowager. If it weren't for his interference, the price of private grain entering the capital city would have been entirely determined by them.

Everyone said that the chairman had lost his mind. How could this matter be blamed on Master Song? We were the ones who had truly become heartless bastards.

For the sake of the tea merchants in the capital, Lord Song was willing to offend Ma Jiliang, and even beat him in court.

It should be noted that no one in the entire court dared to stand up and refute Ma Jiliang.

Only Master Song's actions demonstrate that, having collected taxes, he was willing to protect these merchants.

Furthermore, by using their power and influence to persuade Zhongli Jin, the prefectural magistrate of Kaifeng, to back down and help them transport grain into the city, how could they possibly scheme against them?

The crowd was buzzing with discussion, but the general consensus was that Master Song was a good man and would never scheme against them.

After hearing this, You Hui also began to have doubts, after all, the thought had just flashed through his mind.

If so many people have this opinion now, then perhaps they are overthinking it.

"It's mainly Liu Congde's fault; he bullies people by abusing his power."

"Yes."

"It's all his fault."

Everyone gritted their teeth at the mention of Liu Congde, as he had ruined their money-making opportunities. Song Xuan, however, had no direct conflict of interest with them.

Can we blame that on Master Song?

Now everyone's grain is hard to sell. After discussing it until midnight, they decided to continue lowering prices tomorrow, and lower them drastically. It remains to be seen whether Liu Congde dares to follow suit.

Once grain prices show any sign of declining, they start to spiral out of control. Everyone is racing against each other, and you can't stop them from falling just because you don't want them to.

Zhong Lijin, the prefectural magistrate of Kaifeng, was overjoyed to learn of the drop in grain prices.

Previously, Song Xuan not only did not restrict the rise in grain prices, but also encouraged them.

Now these grain merchants and Liu Congde have abandoned him and started lowering prices directly.

If Liu Congde wanted to transport grain away to sell at a high price, then I would have a chance to help him in his time of need!
Zhong Lijin was worried about not finding a suitable opportunity to establish a close relationship with Liu Congde.

But it's only the first day, so he probably hasn't felt the pinch yet.

Therefore, Zhong Lijin decided to wait until Liu Congde had paid more compensation before he could take action and achieve better results.

So Zhongli Jin went to sleep with a satisfied smile. He wanted to profit from this and become the Prefect of Kaifeng sooner.

For three consecutive days, the price of grain in Tokyo fluctuated wildly, as if a fight had broken out between them.

Upon hearing the report, Liu Congde angrily said, "Fine, they dare to challenge me."

"Then let's fight to the bitter end!"

Wang Yufeng quickly advised, "Brother-in-law, let's be patient for a couple more days. They haven't followed us enough yet."

Liu Congde clenched his fists; there was no way the two sides could sit down and make peace now.

Unless the food market in Tokyo can recover.

However, for the time being, the imperial court's decision to release all the imperial guards' granaries to provide disaster relief is too bold and something that none of them had anticipated.

Now, even if they want to sell it, there's no one willing to take it.

Now everyone understands that the later you buy, the more food you can get.

Inside the Prime Minister's office in the Imperial Palace.

Wang Zeng watched as the price of grain in the capital city of Tokyo changed from three times a day to ten times a day, plummeting straight down and showing no signs of bottoming out.

Of course, it didn't return to the original price either.

But this is also a good omen.

"The rapid drop in grain prices has truly exceeded my expectations."

In particular, Wang Zeng felt that Liu Congde was also lowering prices to compete with Liu Congde, which he thought was abnormal.

Liu Congde and Song Xuan joined forces, seemingly bringing these grain merchants under their control.

Lü Yijian was also recalling his interactions with the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager did not show any signs of being confident of victory.

Previously, grain prices had been rising more and more sharply, and Song Xuan, this clever man, not only did not stop it, but instead fueled the flames.

This reveals something is amiss, but it could also be attributed to his relatively short tenure in office and lack of understanding of the intricacies of the system.

However, even after Song Xuan mediated the transportation business and helped Liu Congde and the other grain merchants transport all the grain into the city, they hadn't been able to celebrate for more than three days.

The Empress Dowager suddenly announced the opening of the granaries to distribute grain.

Moreover, it was the imperial guards' granary.

This reveals a conspiracy that was planned long ago, inside and out.

Each step was meticulously planned and executed; it was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"Lord Wang, do you think Song Xuan orchestrated this whole thing?"

Upon hearing Lü Yijian's question, both Zhangs immediately looked at him.

They couldn't understand how Song Xuan could be the mastermind behind this.
Wang Zeng also felt this way, especially since the Empress Dowager's judgment on Wang Qixiong was too swift and decisive.

It is said that the top scholar of the Song Dynasty even asked the Empress Dowager to leave everyone else behind so that they could have a private conversation.

Whether this conversation was planned in secret to prevent outsiders from knowing and to avoid leaks is unknown!

"That's possible."

Wang Zeng also had his doubts.

This was done by Song Xuan, but there is no concrete evidence.

Song Xuan never revealed it to anyone, nor did he even submit a memorial to the emperor.

When the Empress Dowager opened the granaries and distributed grain in the name of the government, it was a direct order.

After all, it was Song Xuan's suggestion to use the grain from the local militia for disaster relief.

However, none of them would mention the matter of the Imperial Guard's granaries.

However, Song Xuan was a bold man, and it was inevitable that he would directly use the imperial guards' food supplies.

In particular, Song Xuan had previously mobilized the Imperial Guards to borrow money from temples, but to this day, the loans have not been repaid and have become a series of dead debts.

With this groundwork laid, even if grain was distributed, the Imperial Guards would have nothing to say.

"How could it be that he orchestrated it all?"

Zhang Shixun looked puzzled:
“The people of Tokyo have been cursing him not only to his face, but also behind his back. As for the court officials, many of them have submitted memorials to impeach him.”

"That's the strangest thing!"

Lu Yijian concluded definitively, "How did Song Xuan handle injustices in the past?"

"Back when he was still a top scholar in the imperial examination, he dared to stand up for his classmate Han Qi and insult Chen Yaozuo, the prefect of Kaifeng."

"Later, in front of all the civil and military officials, he beat up Ma Jiliang, a relative by marriage of the Empress Dowager, and directly sentenced Wang Qixiong, a relative by marriage of the Empress Dowager, to death."

"A few days ago, so many people, from top to bottom, were insulting and impeaching him, Song Twelve, but he acted as if he didn't hear them and just kept busy with his slacking-off contest."

That's Song Xuan's reputation; he really dares to do things.

But when he was wronged, he didn't argue back, letting the insults fester on him. Everyone should have realized the problem long ago.

But no one thought about it carefully; they were all swept up in their emotions and seized the opportunity to curse him.

"So this is the most abnormal thing about Song Twelve!"

Zhang Zhibai stroked his beard, a look of doubt in his eyes.

He felt that after so many years in officialdom, he could still discern some potential and ideas in these younger generations.

But when facing Song Xuan, Zhang Zhibai realized that he really couldn't see through him.

The thoughts in this young man's mind are quite different from those of other scholars.

"So it seems that this whole scheme that fooled everyone was the work of Song Xuan alone!"

Wang Zeng didn't know much about Song Xuan, who was now the prime minister and had a lot of government affairs to deal with every day.

Officials like Song Xuan only need to work half a day, but Wang Zeng and others have to work for a long time, and even have to work overtime.

Moreover, Wang Zeng had no children, unlike Lü Yijian and others who could enjoy family life and even hear some gossip from their sons.

Therefore, Wang Zeng's information cocoon is even more severe.

"There was also the Empress Dowager's permission and Liu Congde's cooperation."

Lu Yijian added that even if Song Xuan's method was very good, it would all be in vain if the Empress Dowager did not listen to him.

The prime ministers could only analyze it from this perspective; of course, they didn't know that Liu Congde had been excluded.

Wang Zeng knew that Liu E was politically astute; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to eliminate the forces of Kou Zhun and Ding Wei one after another while maintaining the balance of power in the court.

In the first imperial examination after the emperor ascended the throne, Song Xiang and other newly appointed scholars were promoted by the Empress Dowager.

Because of the incident during the palace examination, Song Xuan's title of top scholar was chosen by the emperor himself, leaving no opportunity for the Empress Dowager.

Wang Zeng never expected that the Empress Dowager would trust Song Xuan so much, allowing him to act freely. Could Song Xuan have also become part of the "Empress Dowager's faction"?
Of course, Wang Zeng didn't openly express his true feelings; he glanced at Lü Yijian:

"Tanf, now that things have come to this, the price of grain in Tokyo is likely to plummet."

"With further funding from the imperial court, the Imperial Guards' granaries should be full as well."

Lu Yijian stroked his beard and smiled: "By the time we realize this, it will be too late."

"I'm afraid that Song Zhuangyuan is busy making money by organizing the fish-catching competition, and his purpose is to use the money he earns to buy this batch of grain."

"I heard that this batch of grain is extremely large, enough to fill the granaries vacated by the Imperial Guards and the Garrison Army, and there would still be some left over."

"So, it turns out we were all tricked by him without anyone noticing?"

That's the current situation.

Song Xuan reported directly to the Empress Dowager, so they had no way of knowing.

"Song Zhuangyuan did all this ultimately to provide relief to the disaster victims." Zhang Shixun also looked proud.
"If this matter were in our hands, it would be extremely difficult to handle as brilliantly as Scholar Song!"

"Hahaha."

"Yes."

Lü Yijian echoed this sentiment with great emotion, wondering why he wasn't his own son-in-law.
After all, he was the first to pay attention to this promising talent through his cousin's letter.

Surprisingly, Cao Cao, that military man, managed to overtake him, getting lucky out of nowhere.

A few days ago, Song Xuan wrote a poem called "Breaking the Formation" for Cao Liyong, which made Cao Liyong very proud.

Before you've exchanged more than a few words with him, he'll start bringing up this poem and asking you to critique it.

After all, he was a martial artist and didn't know much about this kind of thing.

Lu Yijian didn't even bother to expose him, and could only roll his eyes at Cao Yong.

Unfortunately, these brutes were shameless enough to pretend they didn't see it and continue talking.

Wang Zeng didn't say much.

The lack of money and food has always been a heavy burden on their shoulders.

Therefore, he also urged the collection of taxes as soon as possible in areas that were not affected by the disaster.

Now it seems we can slow down.

"Alright, since grain prices haven't bottomed out yet, let's wait and see."

Wang Zeng picked up the memorial again: "We were all kept in the dark."

The prime ministers didn't say much.

Since Song Xuan reported this matter to the Empress Dowager alone, even excluding those around her, it's likely that he did so privately.

Their secrecy measures were so effective that many people in Tokyo still haven't realized what's going on.

Everyone became a drummer.

Grain prices kept falling, and finally Liu Congde showed his true colors by drastically lowering them, breaking the record for the lowest grain price.

As soon as the news came out, the entire city of Tokyo was in an uproar, with everyone coming to see if it was true.
After all, the government was still sending grain out, and many people were still watching and waiting. In addition, many busybodies went to check out the shops of other grain merchants to see if they dared to follow suit.
Liu Congde chuckled.

He just wants to make money, to make more money.

But that doesn't mean the Liu family is broke or can't afford to pay compensation!
He has been accumulating wealth since his father's generation.

Liu Congde's drastic price cuts, which directly caused a market crash, infuriated grain merchants like You Hui, who were powerless to do anything about it.

They simply don't care about the regulations of your industry, and there's nothing you can do about it.

If we make them keep lowering the price, they'll make it impossible for people to sell.

Either keep following, or you'll lose everything.

Larger grain traders are fine, but the real problem is some weaker grain traders who have taken out high-interest loans and become overly leveraged.

They lost everything in one fell swoop.

"President, what should we do?"

"Even if all the people of Tokyo went to buy it, Liu Congde's grain could still be sold for a long time, unless we buy it all from them."

"Acquisition?"

Previously, everyone had spent most of their money on buying grain, and even if Liu Congde lowered the price, it would be difficult to raise enough money to buy it.

Not to mention, whether Liu Congde would even sell it to them was another matter entirely!

"No, we should find an opportunity to talk about it."

You Hui felt that if things continued like this, everyone would lose everything, which would be too difficult.

At this moment, Song Xuan took Zhao Zhen directly to Fanlou to find Liu Congde.

Liu Congde was surprised that Song Xuan had brought the official with him. He thought the official was there to collect the dividends from Fanlou last month, so he took the account books directly.

"There's no rush."

Song Xuan looked at Liu Congde:
"Prefect Liu, you've driven the price of grain up to 500 cash per shi (a unit of dry measure). Isn't that a losing proposition?"

Before the heavy rain, a bushel of grain in Tokyo cost at least 800 coins.

“I’ve lost this time, I accept the loss, but I absolutely cannot let those grain merchants profit.”

Liu Congde's face was filled with anger:

"They dared to deceive me with such underhanded tricks! I'll show them what I'm capable of!"

"I've been fed up with these grain merchants raising prices at will for a long time."

Zhao Zhen chimed in, "Cousin, sell me half of the grain you have."

When Liu Congde saw Zhao Zhen call him "cousin," he quickly waved his hand.

"Your Majesty, I absolutely dare not agree."

"Why sell this grain? If the officials want it, I'll just give it to them."

Liu Congde displayed remarkable composure.

He's not expecting to make a lot of money from grain anymore; the only losses he's in this time are the money spent on buying and transporting the grain.

As for whether taxes need to be paid for transporting goods along the route?
Think beautiful.

The Liu family never pays taxes elsewhere.

This amount of money is nothing compared to his wealth.

Now that the government wants him, no matter how arrogant Liu Congde is in front of others, he still understands the ways of the world.

Although the order to open the granaries was issued in the name of the emperor, Liu Congde knew that it was the Empress Dowager's will.

Zhao Zhen shook his head slightly; he still wanted to pay.
"This is inappropriate."

"Your Majesty, what's wrong with this?"

Liu Congde felt that he had vented his anger and also gained a favor from the emperor, which was extremely worthwhile.

"Your Majesty need not worry. Even if I didn't make any money this time, it won't be long before I can make money at the auction with Scholar Song."

Liu Congde said with a grin:

"Scholar Song, you'd better bring those auctioneers from Wuyou Cave out of jail and make them do some work."

"Easy to say."

Song Xuan didn't waste any words:

"The other grain merchants haven't followed your price down yet. I'd like to buy their grain as reserve grain for the third phase of the project."

"them?"

Liu Congde chuckled:
“They either sell at this price or at a lower price than me, otherwise they can forget about selling.”

"In another half month or so, government grain will begin to arrive in Tokyo, and they will just have to let it rot in their hands."

Song Xuan picked up his tea to cover his embarrassment; it seemed that Xiao Liu now harbored a deep-seated resentment towards the grain merchants in Tokyo.

What he wants is for both sides to compete and create a good effect.

The two sides must never reconcile.

If everyone works together and stubbornly lets things fester in their hands, Song Xuan won't have many options left.

Fortunately, these grain merchants started a price war first, and Liu Congde responded.

After a back-and-forth of probing, Liu Congde has now gone all in, effectively trapping the grain merchants here.

"Prefect Liu, how about this, we'll find a way to buy all the grain from those grain merchants at a low price."

"I wonder if Scholar Song has any methods?"

"Wait."

"Wait?" Liu Congde looked puzzled.

Song Xuan put down his teacup:
"I never imagined that Prefect Liu would have such a do-or-die courage. Merchants are profit-driven; they'll probably come knocking on your door to negotiate."

"Okay."

Liu Congde was pleased to receive Song Xuan's praise, but the thought that those grain merchants still dared to come looking for him made him slam his fist on the table in anger.

"They tricked me first, and now that they've suffered a little loss, they want to make peace? No way!"

"Then you just wait."

Song Xuan said quite calmly:

“Since Prefect Liu has given most of the grain to the government, when they come to you for advice, you can simply disagree and then lower the grain price again.”

"Lower it again?"

Liu Congde felt that Song Xuan was more ruthless.

He couldn't wait to see how embarrassed those people would look.

"Yes, I will personally drive down the price and buy their grain."

Song Xuan snapped his fingers: "My goal is to make them pay at least half of what they owe."

"Very well, then I will do my best to cooperate with Scholar Song to make this happen."

Liu Congde is now enjoying the spectacle and doesn't mind making things worse.

Zhao Zhen's opinion of Liu Congde changed slightly after this incident, which shows that he was not a stubborn person.

Just then, Liu Congde heard the shopkeeper report that Zhong Lijin, the prefectural magistrate of Kaifeng, requested an audience and was in the main hall.

Liu Congde nodded, then heard, "Shall we go?"

“I am not familiar with Scholar Song; I only met him once at the new wharf.”

Liu Congde asked them to sit behind a screen to the side, and he didn't know what Zhong Lijin had come for.

Especially with the officials present, Liu Congde absolutely cannot let them think that he is colluding with officials from Kaifeng Prefecture.

Besides, there was no collusion between them, so he shouldn't take the blame.

Zhong Lijin must have been furious when he heard that Liu Congde was about to drive down grain prices, which is why he came over at a leisurely pace.

The two exchanged greetings, and Zhong Lijin handed Liu Congde a small stone:

"This fell from a strange rock; it has a peculiar shape. Prefect Liu may examine it."

Liu Congde took it, but he couldn't understand it. This thing didn't feel as good as jade.

Who plays with stones for no reason?
However, because of the grain transport issue, Zhongli Jin agreed to compromise, and Liu Congde placed the stone on the table:

"I wonder what business Judge Zhong has with me?"

Zhongli Jin was too lazy to correct the fact that his surname was Zhongli:
"I've heard that Prefect Liu's grain is now selling for five hundred cash per shi?"

"What, are you here to laugh at me?"

"No, no, no," Zhongli Jin said, feigning a sigh.

“That day I saw that Prefect Liu had purchased grain, and it was really good grain. I feel bad that he lost all of it.”

"Therefore, if Prefect Liu has any need to transport the grain, I am willing to temporarily allow the cart and horse company to transport the grain for Prefect Liu."

Liu Congde looked at Zhong Lijin's affected manner, especially the many relics that had appeared between his eyebrows.

It suddenly became pitted and uneven, which was really bad, and made people feel trypophobia after looking at it for a long time.

He glanced behind the screen: "Can Magistrate Zhongli mobilize carriages and horses?"

"With the money in hand, everything is negotiable. We're friends, after all. How can I stand idly by when a friend is in trouble?"

Zhongli Jin thought that his timely help would surely achieve excellent results.

Hearing Liu Congde ask this question, he immediately gave a definite answer.

"Besides, what right do they have to refuse?"

Zhong Lijin didn't think these rickshaw pullers had any bargaining power with him.

"I appreciate Zhongli Tongpan's kindness."

Liu Congde waved his hand slightly: "It's not about money anymore."

He noticed that these people all seemed to think they "couldn't afford" to lose money.

When Fan Zhongyan pressed him about the Yellow River project, Liu Congde consulted Song Xuan and promptly returned the 100,000 strings of cash.

Who says I, Liu Congde, can't afford to pay compensation?

With a solid financial foundation, they have no fear of being unable to afford losses.

Now they all think this way, which means they look down on me from the bottom of their hearts.

"Oh?"

Zhong Lijin didn't understand; he had heard that Liu Congde was a miser!
He even dared to embezzle the royal family's precious Phoebe zhennan wood; he was truly audacious and reckless.

If someone loves money so much, how can they say they don't care?

Young man, so stubborn!

"Prefect Liu, don't be discouraged. If we can recover some of the money, that's better than losing everything."

"What does it mean to lose everything!"

Liu Congde was immediately struck where it hurt, and he angrily threw the stone on the ground:

"Get out of here."

"Prefect Liu, I'm here to help you."

"roll."

Zhong Lijin was taken aback by Liu Congde's anger.

"I really want to help you out of this predicament."

"I don't need it."

Liu Congde glared at him angrily, wanting Zhong Lijin, that eyesore, to disappear from his sight immediately.

Zhong Lijin truly did not expect that his good intentions would be so ingratitude. He, the dignified Vice Prefect of Kaifeng and the future Prefect of Kaifeng, was so humiliated by him.

Just wait for me.

Zhong Lijin didn't dare to utter a single harsh word and could only leave with her fists clenched.

Song Xuan and Zhao Zhen, who were behind the screen, exchanged glances and understood what Zhong Lijin was up to.

There are indeed fools who want to sabotage their plans.

Do you think the carriage and horse shop will listen to you?

Naive.

After everyone left, Song Xuan emerged from behind the screen:

“Prefect Liu, there’s no need to get so angry. Just take it out on You Hui later, and keep this attitude.”

Liu Congde was somewhat amused and exasperated: "What's he doing here?"

"Obviously, I just want to give you some weird stones."

"You're a jerk."

Liu Congde couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Who likes those broken stones?"

Do you really think that by saying a few words you can draw power from stones and become an immortal or a Buddha?
If that were true, Taihu stones would have disappeared without a trace long ago.

Even Qin Shi Huang could not obtain the elixir of immortality, so how could ordinary people have such an ability?
"He doesn't even know what I like when he gives me gifts, and he still chooses gifts according to his own preferences. What an idiot."

Liu Congde uttered a blunt curse.

Song Xuan clicked his tongue twice. The aesthetics of the Song Dynasty literati were quite traditional, and being pretentious was also part of it.

It's perfectly normal to judge others by your own standards.

Song Xuan walked to the window. The weather was getting colder and colder, and the fishing competition was coming to an end.

He watched as Zhong Lijin also left in a huff, but dared not utter a word.

Liu Congde's arrogance is not without reason.

Song Xuan guessed that Zhong Lijin's attempt to curry favor with Liu Congde must have some unspeakable secret.

Perhaps it's because I'm too eager to improve.

Only after Zhong Lijin left did Song Xuan turn his gaze away.

Could that person be You Hui, the head of the grain trade association? He's pacing back and forth outside, perhaps thinking of making peace with Liu Congde?
If you make peace, that's unacceptable.

"Prefect Liu, come and take a look."

Song Xuan pointed outside: "The Emperor and I will be able to watch a good show again soon."

Upon hearing this, Liu Congde walked over, looked down, and confirmed it was You Hui: "He really dares to come."

"How could I not come for the money?"

Song Xuan strolled around a few more times:
"The reason I'm hesitating now is because I'm thinking of a more suitable explanation."

"Scholar Song is right. This kind of businessman is two-faced, making money through dishonest means. Now he's trying to trick me into falling for his tricks."

Liu Congde was still furious: "He's dreaming!"

Zhao Zhen didn't say much. He believed that his twelfth brother still held authority when it came to stirring up trouble.

Unsurprisingly, You Hui was also scolded by Liu Congde.

When You Hui saw that Liu Congde not only refused to communicate but also wanted to continue lowering the price, he truly felt like the sky was falling.

Is this an attempt to wipe them out completely?

You Hui thought long and hard, and didn't sleep all night. The only thing he could do now was to ask Song Xuan for help.

Because he firmly believes that someone who has helped you once is very likely to help you a second time.

When You Hui went to the county government early in the morning, he found that Song Xuan had not yet started his shift, which made him even more worried. Liu Congde really kept his word, and the price of grain had dropped again.

Some people went to buy, but others were still waiting for grain prices to continue to fall, hoping to save more money by buying later.

The price of grain that Liu Congde is selling now is halved compared to before the price increase.

How are they supposed to sell these things?

They had planned to hoard goods and profit from the national crisis, but now they're all stuck with them.

It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that Song Xuan returned from the fish-catching competition. He then wandered around the streets for a while, and after noticing that grain prices had fallen, he returned to the county government office.

Before he could go inside, Qi Lecheng reported on the matter of the grain merchant coming to see him early that morning.

Song Xuan nodded. He was about to start preparing for the dredging, and now was a good time to buy grain.

"Master Song".

You Hui bowed deeply, pleading, "I hope you can lend a hand and save us grain merchants."

Song Xuan did not ask him to dispense with the formalities, but simply said:

"You didn't think of me when you were making money, but you think of me when you're losing money. What's wrong with that?"

"Does this good man like me deserve to be used by you?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare." You Hui didn't even dare to raise his head: "I only want to beg for a way to live!"

(End of this chapter)