Frost for a Thousand Years

"Five times the price?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Even if Song Shi'an were richer than the national treasury, he still couldn't collect five times the amount of grain!"

When Sun Qiande of Fujun learned of this news, his first thought was—fake news!

If you think about it, you'll realize that this is absolutely impossible.

His food shortage is at least one million shi (a unit of dry measure).

To plug this gap, the price would need to be more than five times higher, meaning it would require the original price of five million shi of grain.

If Song Shi'an can fill this gap, then he is the national treasury.

If the national treasury could easily cover this shortfall, then there would never have been a need for land reclamation.

Not to mention those mere four daughters.

"Second Master, it's true." Knowing that he couldn't believe it, the clerk said with great certainty, "The news has spread far and wide, and even the counties in Qinzhou are sending grain here."

"Has he paid for the grain?" Sun Qian asked.

"Yes, the grain payment for Huai County has been settled," the clerk said. "And some officials who had made agreements with you have also secretly sold their grain at four times the original price."

While the Allied defection was infuriating, Sun Qian also understood a principle: all the world's hustle and bustle is driven by self-interest.

No one can miss the opportunity to make a fortune on the spot and experience an explosive increase in assets.

But the key point is,
"They received the money after paying four times the price?"

"Second Hall, it's a system where money is paid first, then grain is delivered."

“…” Sitting in his seat in astonishment, Sun Qian still didn’t understand. “If he really keeps spending like this, his four thousand gold coins, or any money he gets from somewhere else, should be almost gone.”

I've thought about it a hundred times and I still can't figure it out.

How can he possibly manage such a large undertaking?

Could it be counterfeiting?
This is just for fun.

Just then, an official came in and reported, "Second Hall, four wealthy gentlemen have come to pay their respects, and they are very anxious."

"They've already arrived?" Sun Qian frowned.

"Yes."

"Okay, let them in."

"Yes."

Sun Qian and the registrar looked at each other in bewilderment inside the yamen.

Although he was not the governor, the entire Fu County was under the control of the Sun family of Yangzhou because of the power of his family.

The local wealthy and powerful families know who is truly in charge.

Soon, four wealthy men in silk robes, brocade hats, and sable furs entered and bowed to Sun Qian, saying, "We pay our respects to Young Master Sun."

"Why are you all in such a hurry?" Sun Qian asked, sitting in his seat.

"Sir, didn't you say that the Sun family wanted to buy back our grain?" one of them asked.

“Of course, the Sun family will definitely fulfill their promises,” Sun Qian said.

"Why don't we buy the grain first?" someone whispered.

This question annoyed Sun Qian, who asked, "Do you think the Sun family owes you anything?"

"I wouldn't dare," the man quickly explained. "But we've stockpiled too much grain; it's practically wiped out all our assets. If we wait until the Huai County land reclamation project is finished next year, grain prices will drop, and ours isn't even new rice..."

Several powerful families bought up grain at high prices and held it in their hands, all for the purpose of controlling Song Shi'an's life.

When that happens, he will have no choice but to borrow grain from the powerful families.

The fruits of the land reclamation were thus stolen by him.

But now that Song Shi'an has been able to buy so much grain, the military farming program will not fail.

When that happens, the grain produced by the military farms will amount to hundreds of millions of kilograms, which will directly drive down the grain price across the country. The rice that they bought at twice the price, and which might even be old rice, will be stuck with them.
His value has been cut by more than half!
“Impossible.” Seeing his lack of confidence, Sun Qian said, “He’s just bluffing. There’s no way he could possibly swallow that much grain. Song Shi’an’s money will run out in less than a day!”

These idiots should think about it: does money just appear out of thin air?

“That’s true…” the leader said, glancing at Sun Qian as he spoke, and muttered under his breath, “But we also want some kind of security.”

Undoubtedly, everyone else thought the same thing.

If things collapse and the Sun family simply walks away, what will happen to them?

“Alright.” Anyway, the Sun family wasn’t short of money, and it was just settling the bills of these four wealthy merchants. Sun Qian said, “Wait a moment in the tea room of the main hall, and I will settle the double price of grain for you.”

He had just finished speaking when the rest of the people stood still.

Continue watching him.

His face seemed to show some reluctance.

"What do you mean?" Sun Qian asked impatiently.

"Lord Song said he'd pay us five times the normal price for our grain," one of them said. "We definitely support Sun Ertang and the Sun family more, so we won't sell our grain to him. But grain isn't worth this price anywhere else these days. If you buy it at three times the normal price..."

"Bastard thing!"

Sun Qian flew into a rage, immediately stood up, pointed at the group, and cursed: "You keep talking about loyalty, righteousness, and your unwillingness to compromise with a cruel official like Song Shi'an, but now you're trying to make money off my Sun family!"

This rebuke really put everyone to their own devices.

But the dissatisfaction in my heart was also stirred up.

“We are just businessmen, and businessmen pursue profit,” one of them said righteously. “We will sell it to you, Sun Qian, for three times the price we can sell it for five times. That is our righteousness.”

"What did you call me?" Sun Qian's face darkened instantly at being addressed by his first name. "Guards! Drag him out and beat him!"

"Second Hall! Second Hall!" Seeing that he had gone completely mad, the registrar quickly stopped him and waved to the others, telling them to leave immediately.

“We told him we would sell the grain to the Sun family, but he refused.”

Where the grain is sold is our own business.

"Walk."

The four men, also quite short-tempered, turned around and left in anger.

"Why did they leave? I'm going to beat those bastards to death!" Sun Qian was still upset about the man who called him by his full name, Hong Wen.

"Young master, please calm down," the registrar said with a forced smile. "This is the officialdom, and there's no such thing here."

Although you have a powerful background, in Fu County, you are just a county magistrate, not even a prefect. You are not at the level to arbitrarily beat up local powerful families.

"These people will die by my hand sooner or later."

Sun Qian had just finished speaking when he suddenly paused, then a somewhat suspicious expression appeared on his face: "Or, die at Song Shi'an's hands..."

……

"I knew he couldn't possibly charge three times the amount."

"I came here just to say hello to him, so as to avoid bringing up old grievances later."

"But this time we've probably offended someone terribly..."

"So what if we offended him? This brat didn't even stand up to greet us when we went in. He's such a show-off."

The four men had never expected him to buy back the grain at three times the price, so they stored the grain on the ferry boat in advance.

Right after being rejected by Sun Qian, he took a car straight to the ferry terminal.

At this time, the wind on the river was biting cold.

The four of them stood on the shore like that.

"It's likely to snow in a few days," one person murmured.

Just then, a shop assistant ran over and reported to them: "Sir, we have already inquired through an urgent dispatch. As long as the grain is delivered there, the government will accept it all, no matter what it is. After calculating the value of the grain, they will pay you directly without any delay!"

"Can't we pay first and then transport it later?" one of them asked. "Master, that's how it works for the grain from Huai County. We're from another county, after all, and we've never dealt with the Huai County government before..." the servant said. "Now, we just transport the grain there, and once the accounts are settled, we get paid."

If you go, the price of grain will increase from twice to five times!
Who wouldn't be tempted by this?

Ten consecutive limit-up days in just a few days!
The Allure of Futures Trading

"Have you found out where the Prefect got the money?"

They were still somewhat worried, fearing that the game of musical chairs might end up in their hands and something bad would happen.

They did buy grain in droves, but what about the money?
Where did the money come from?
In response, the servant said, "I heard that it was brought from Sheng'an. My brother who works in the county government said that Lord Song is now incredibly strong and has more money than he can spend."

"Did His Highness the Crown Prince intervene?" Upon hearing this, someone realized, "Could it be that he has objections to the aristocratic families' malicious hoarding of grain at high prices, and is therefore fully supporting Song Shi'an in winning this grain war?"

The Paw Patrol has been dispatched.

"Doesn't that mean that I... and those who maliciously hoarded food will be held accountable in the future?"

"Let's not even talk about liquidation. If the land reclamation is successful, why will the grain still be worth a high price? We'll be stuck with all our money."

"That's like trying to steal a chicken and losing the rice instead!"

"Let's go, to Huai County!"

After discussing it together, everyone decided to transport all the grain.

On this great river, countless sails have already passed by.

They transported the grain downstream along the river.

The same thing happened in Sheng'an; they were sending grain upstream against the river.

Even Qinzhou, where nobles had banded together, ran into trouble. Once the breach was opened, hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain flowed in rapidly.

The reason why people flock to it is that some people have actually made money from it.

Five times the grain price made generations of dog traders rich.

Some families even produced wealthy heiresses.

This refers to a family's assets reaching one thousand gold.

Everyone hoped to get rich by taking advantage of the land reclamation boom...

Meanwhile, in Sheng'an, inside the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.

Ye Changqing, the Crown Prince, and Zhao Yi, all wearing white tiger cloaks, sat together in the courtyard, drinking hot wine and discussing the matter.

"I heard that Huang Tong handed over half of his gold in Beiliang to protect himself," Zhao Yi said. "This should have been sent to Huai County."

“That’s not enough either. They can only scrape together 6,500 gold at most,” the Crown Prince said. “Even if we take into account the Huai County treasury, the support from the Song family, or even a loan, it’s still far from enough, very far from enough.”

"I've also heard that the imperial court has sponsored Huai County with a lot of money," Zhao Yi said.

"No." The Crown Prince shook his head. "I didn't go out."

"Then why is Song Shi'an still creating momentum, with the help of the imperial court...?"

While they were talking, Ye Changqing sat silently.

Suddenly, a snowflake landed on his nose.

A chill ran through him as he slowly raised his head.

"It's snowing..." The Crown Prince also raised his head.

Just then, Ye Changqing stood up, exclaiming excitedly, "A genius! This Song Shi'an is truly a genius!"

Both of them looked at him, completely bewildered.

"I see, I see." Ye Changqing felt ashamed of his own stupidity. "I never even thought of that..."

"What didn't you think of?" Zhao Yi asked anxiously. "How did you come to be a prodigy? Yeah, don't beat around the bush."

Raising his hand and pointing to the sky, Ye Changqing revealed, "Snow, still snow."

.........

Nearly one million shi of grain came from all directions.

Song Shi'an collected 300,000 shi of the grain at three, four, and five times the amount, respectively.

The remaining nearly 700,000 shi of grain were all gathered outside the Jianxing camp, forming a long queue stretching for dozens of miles, waiting to be purchased.

The fleet of boats at Jianxing Ferry stretched for more than ten miles.

But then, the snow came.

A small landlord, guarding several hundred bags of grain, stood anxiously in place, sticking his head out, looking extremely worried.

Already, some people are losing their composure.

"It's snowing now. If we don't harvest our grain soon, we won't be able to go back."

"Why don't we hurry up and leave while the snow isn't too heavy yet?"

"If we stop harvesting grain, we're finished."

"Run now... transporting so much grain here won't cost you any money!"

"Can……"

Just as everyone was discussing and arguing, a worker ran up from the front of the long queue and said, "The government is still collecting grain, and they've even added more people to speed things up!"

"Really?" someone asked.

“It’s true! In just the last hour, three families have already sold their grain, at five times the original price, and they paid immediately.”

"Yes, I saw that Master Qiu's family took 300,000 coins as grain payment."

"Then let's wait a little longer!"

"It shouldn't be more than half a day, it'll be our turn soon."

.........

Inside the main hall of the headquarters, the three people were together, still warming themselves by the fire.

"How much money do you have left?" Wei Wusheng asked.

“One thousand taels of silver, four hundred thousand coins, and six hundred taels of gold,” Song Shi’an said.

"That's a really accurate calculation," Wei Wusheng laughed.

"They should realize it by now, right?" Xin Yue felt that even the dumbest person would have a premonition at this point. "Or haven't they realized it yet?"

“They’re all businessmen, shrewd as shrewd; none of them are inherently stupid,” Song Shi’an said calmly. “But when it comes to greed, who can say for sure?”

“You should know,” Wei Wusheng added, “that we are still paying five times the price for grain. And some people are still getting paid five times the price for the grain.”

The game of musical chairs collapsed.

But every dog ​​who was being targeted felt that things wouldn't fall apart because of him.

“Actually, some people had already left when the snow first started falling,” Song Shi’an said. “But it was only a few caravans that left quietly.”

"Leave quietly?" Xin Yue asked, puzzled.

"It was precisely because he saw through Shi An's plan that he decided to sneak away," Wei Wusheng explained.

"After all, if someone who wants to evacuate causes panic, he won't be able to escape either."

Song Shi'an also reached a tacit understanding with those shrewd retail investors.

"Report!" Just then, San Gou rushed into the camp and loudly reported, "The river has frozen over!"

Upon hearing this news, Wei Wusheng immediately stood up, his expression solemn.

Song Shi'an slowly stood up.

Having orchestrated this scheme for so long, it's time to wrap things up.

"Notify the entire county that there is enough grain; cease all purchases!" (End of Chapter)