Frost for a Thousand Years

After collecting the last batch of grain and settling the money with the grain merchant, each of the grain collection stalls, which had set up their sheds, received a secret message from the cavalry at the same time.

"What happened?"

"Sir, it's getting a bit cold. Why don't we collect the grain as soon as possible?"

"Yes, the snow is getting heavier."

The people in line began to urge each other on in hushed tones.

They dared not speak too hastily or impatiently, because if the government did not accept their grain now, their large quantity of grain would remain in the snow in the Central Plains.

However, the official did not answer; instead, he took out a board and began writing on it.

Because the board was facing him, the others were quite puzzled, and they all craned their necks to see what instructions were on it.

At the same time, I felt a little flustered.

Why the sudden order...?

"Hang it up," the official in charge of collecting the grain said to the person next to him.

The man picked up the sign and hung it on the notice board.

Everyone finally saw what the higher-ups had said.

"We have enough grain; stop purchasing more grain..."

The grain merchants erupted in anger as soon as the words were spoken.

Panic ensued instantly.

Meanwhile, at other stalls where long lines were waiting to buy grain, fierce arguments also broke out.

"What do you mean by 'there's enough grain, and we've stopped buying more'?"

"Does that mean we're not going to harvest any more grain?"

"No, I came all the way from Qinzhou. I brought so much grain, all my belongings are here. What do you mean by not accepting it?!"

"That's right! Lord Song promised to buy grain from outside Huai County at five times the price. We came here because we trusted him. Why aren't you buying it now!"

"We won't do it! We want to see Lord Song!"

"You must take all the grain!"

Their lives and fortunes are tied up here, and everyone paid more than double the price for the grain, and they even transported it from a great distance. Now they're saying they don't want it anymore; no one could resist.

A burly grain merchant immediately flew into a rage, grabbed an official by the collar, and raised his fist, which was as big as a sandbag: "You're going to take it today, whether you like it or not!"

This is murder.

So the others responded quickly as well.

The official trembled with fear, but the next moment, more than a dozen soldiers carrying halberds jogged over, and the deputy centurion leading them immediately shouted: "How dare you lay a hand on a court official! How audacious!"

You should know that this is the main military settlement for agricultural reclamation.

More than 50,000 troops were stationed within the territory of Huai County.

There are thousands of soldiers here alone.

Those who dare to attack public officials will be taught a lesson about the strength and severity of law enforcement!

"..." When the burly man saw the armored soldiers coming, he immediately cowered and let go of their hands.

The others also dispersed on the spot, not daring to gather together.

The official whose neck had been grabbed changed his expression, spat, and waved his hand, saying, "Beat him!"

The beating began as soon as the order was given.

Moreover, this wasn't just one place; in all the places where trouble broke out, the wealthy and powerful merchants who stood out were suppressed to varying degrees.

Officials and grain merchants mingled warmly together.

Of course, the two sides were vastly different in strength, so it was only natural that the 'people' side would be overwhelmingly in favor of the 'civilians'.

Immediately, the dogs howled in agony.

"The officials are beating people!"

"Song Shi'an is tyrannical and bullies the common people!"

"He has no integrity! Song Shi'an really has no integrity! My grain! He must compensate me for my grain!"

Meanwhile, Song Shi'an, who was in the lobby, was waiting for news.

"Your Highness, Your Excellency," a military clerk rushed in and reported hurriedly, "because of the suspension of grain purchases, many wealthy merchants are dissatisfied, which has led to clashes with officials, and then a fight broke out, causing chaos..."

Wei Wusheng's eyes widened, but seeing that Song Shi'an remained calm, he calmed down a bit and asked, "Are we just going to let them fight like this?"

“That’s definitely not going to work,” Song Shi’an said. “We have to stop it.”

"But don't stop it too quickly."

Wei Wusheng finally understood.

They can just step in and play the good guy when the time comes.

Is this just political posturing?

That is, any sudden public opinion incidents that occur below are all without my authorization, and I am unaware of them.

If I find out, I will deal with it seriously!

If a cruel official isn't cruel enough, how can the benevolence of the governing officials be demonstrated?

But it can't be too cool...

"If you ask me, these people are just unscrupulous merchants who took advantage of the land reclamation to make a fortune. They just wanted to profit from the national crisis. It's disgusting that they made five times their money and then ran away," Xin Yue suddenly blurted out. "Just beat them up, lock them up in jail, and confiscate their grain."

"Hey!" Song Shi'an raised his hand and hurriedly interrupted, "This is no longer Xiliang, and what we're doing isn't a one-off deal."

"Was it a one-off deal in Xiliang?" Wei Wusheng asked curiously.

"What can we do? We don't have the money to buy this grain anymore," Xinyue said.

“People are all about compromise, and things have come to this point,” Song Shi’an said quite calmly. “I think, for them, no matter which way they go, it’s an upward path.”

.........

Those who came to sell grain were not only grain merchants and large households. After all, there were more than 700,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) and nearly 300,000 bags of grain in total. So the vast majority of them were servants, tenants, and some relatives, totaling about 7,000 to 8,000 people.

The imperial army was indeed stronger in combat, but as the fighting dragged on, those respectable people got tired of being beaten and couldn't keep suffering injustice. The enraged people simply confronted the soldiers.

Without the orders of the Prefect and His Highness, the soldiers dared not kill anyone.

It was after they discovered that the grain merchants were using only their hands to beat people that they banded together.

"If you've got the guts, kill us all and steal all this grain!"

"I know what you're planning. When the snow gets too heavy and the grain can't be transported, you're going to steal our grain!"

"I admit defeat at the hands of you Huai County people, but even if I die, locked in a coffin, I will still shout it out: Song Shi'an, I draft—"

"The Lord is here! The Lord is here!"

Just then, a man wearing a linen cloak and a black gauze hat appeared, accompanied by dozens of cavalrymen.

In an instant, everyone turned to look.

Many officials also hurried over to pay their respects.

"What's going on!" Suddenly, Song Shi'an cracked his whip, creating a sonic boom, and shouted, "I heard someone is beating up a grain merchant?!"

"Your Excellency, it's those unruly people..."

"Shut up! Who are the troublemakers? This place is only inhabited by the people of Great Yu!" Song Shi'an immediately declared righteously. "All officers who laid a hand on the grain merchants, and the officials who gave the order, are hereby suspended from their duties!"

Suspension from duty = no punishment.

"Yes!" The leading official could only accept the order.

The other grain merchants and common people cheered for Song Shi'an's decisive and righteous actions, as if they had seen the dawn of a new era.

Song Shi'an then rode his horse directly towards the crowd.

"My lord, it's dangerous over there..."

"Don't treat the common people as enemies; only the Qi bandits are dangerous." Song Shi'an was not afraid at all. "Make way, I need to pass."

"Yes!"

The guards parted to make way for Song Shi'an, who rode alone through the cleared path towards the gathered grain merchants, and called out loudly, "Gentlemen! I do not intend to speak to you from a high place. If I were not on horseback, it would be difficult for you to see me! So please forgive me!"

"Oh, it was so obvious."

Behind him, Wei Wusheng crossed his arms and couldn't help but sigh. "Such high-sounding words might be disgusting to others, but he seems to be righteous," Xin Yue said.

"It's enough that what you're doing is righteous," Wei Wusheng joked. "The process can be a little disgusting, though; all's fair in war."

Similarly, they weren't the only ones who noticed it.

Some shrewd wealthy merchants also stood at a distance, looking at the prefect on horseback with disdain and disgust.

"That kid is really too cunning. I even suspect that he gave the order to beat up the grain merchant."

"Even if he didn't give the order, his appearance as a good guy at this time must have been part of his plan."

"It's disgusting, acting like he didn't cause this."

"They're being too cunning. They're afraid we'll run away, so they even accelerated the grain harvest after the snow..."

"Let's see how this kid continues to humiliate us!"

Apart from a small number of clear-headed people who knew they were finished, most others felt that with Song Shi'an's arrival, they still had a chance.

Therefore, they all tried their best to maintain their hope of negotiating with him.

“My lord, we came here because you promised to buy all the grain from outside Huai County at five times the price. You cannot go back on your word!” someone shouted.

“Okay! I heard you.” Song Shi’an replied earnestly.

"Your Excellency, you must do justice for us!"

"Yes, hurry up and harvest our grain! Otherwise, we really won't be able to survive..."

"Stop arguing, let the Prefect speak, stop the damn arguing!" Seeing the mob starting to chatter, someone stepped forward to maintain order.

"Thank you, sir." Song Shi'an extended his hand to express his gratitude, and then said, "You are all right. I did say that I would buy grain from other places at more than five times the price. This was to prepare for the establishment of military farms. So I spread the news, and it received your strong support. The grain needed for the military farms was quickly gathered!"

"Why didn't you say so sooner that everything was ready!"

"Yup!"

"If we had released the news earlier, we could have left. What are we going to do now!"

"The food supply is sufficient, and this was only determined gradually, because the initial food shortage was indeed severe," Song Shi'an said apologetically. "This is the government's fault, so I promise everyone that we will compensate them for the transportation costs incurred on their journey here!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was in an uproar.

"It wasn't snowing when we came, so it was only a three-day journey. Now it will take at least thirty days to go back... no, we simply can't walk!"

"Can you compensate me based on the transportation fees I paid on the way here?"

"Collect all our grain! Hurry up!"

"Gentlemen, we have enough grain. The government can't take any more." Song Shi'an pressed his hands down and said, "The Huai County government is unable to bear the burden."

"Five times won't do, we need to buy at least three times the price!"

"That's right, let's take a small loss, three times the amount!"

"Triple the profit!"

"Gentlemen, even three times the price is impossible!" Song Shi'an said very seriously. "The problem with the military farms is the lack of food for the people, not that the grain is really worth five times the price. By next autumn harvest, the price of grain will return to its original level. Or even lower!"

"To kill, you must first destroy the spirit."

“They should calm down,” Wei Wusheng said with a slight smile. “High grain prices are just a pipe dream.”

In the cold winter with heavy snow, the hearts of the dogs gradually grew cold as well.

Song Shi'an's malicious remarks were not wrong.

Price is indeed determined by value.

Supply and demand will affect prices.

The reason why food is expensive now is because all the food around Huaijun has been hoarded by sales staff.

But by this time next year, 450,000 people will be cultivating 5 million mu of fertile land.

The grain production alone will reach ten million shi (a unit of dry measure).

That's a size that could revitalize the entire country.

The combined grain hoardings of the rebels in these states don't even amount to a million bushels.

They had nowhere else to go.

"Then we should at least double the grain yield!"

"Yes! We are willing to forgo our travel expenses to support the land reclamation!"

"No need to negotiate, just take it at double the price!"

"Thank you all very much for your support!" Song Shi'an said loudly, "But we already have enough grain for the land reclamation. We no longer need your support!"

He's stopped acting altogether.

The grain merchants were also completely desperate.

Immediately, a wail erupted.

Some people even knelt on the ground, holding their heads and crying loudly.

"Damn it! I bought the grain at three times the price!"

"You beasts! You're all beasts!"

"What do we do now? Are we going to have to sell it at the original price?"

"He must be short of food. He has nearly 500,000 people to feed without eating or drinking. How could that possibly be enough!"

"This is just a bluff; we can't sell it at the original price!"

Song Shi'an was seen through.

But he didn't care.

"Since you are unwilling to return the travel expenses, please find a way to do it yourselves!"

Song Shi'an's cavalrymen quickly surrounded him, escorted him out of the crowd, and after leaving the area, he dismounted swiftly.

"As expected of you." Wei Wusheng, who was waiting for him, admired him more and more. "Now, they have no other choice."

“But Lord Prefect,” the Prefectural Magistrate said hurriedly, looking very concerned. “If they sell the grain to local grain merchants, they can sell it to us for three or four times the price, and they have plenty of money.”

"I already sent Fan Wuji and the others over to say hello."

Song Shi'an remained calm and joked, "They landed at least three or four times the price and made a fortune. If they try to take advantage of me now, I'll raid their homes."

……

Just as the prefectural magistrate had feared, the grain merchants immediately thought of it and quickly sent people to contact the wealthy households in Huai County.

however……

"We asked around, and not a single wealthy family in Huai County dared to accept our grain!"

"That's for sure. They're in Huai County. If they go and try to seize grain from the government now, they'll be running into Song Shi'an all the time. Wouldn't that be suicide?"

"Besides, they've already sold three or four times the amount of grain, and they're already full of food; there's no need for them to be greedy anymore!"

"This Song Shi'an is truly treacherous. He did such a despicable thing, yet his reputation in Huai County doesn't suffer!"

"They're trying to fool us outsiders into thinking we're from the State of Qi!"

The grain merchants, gathered together, were all trembling inside the tents they had set up.

"Now, the grain hasn't been stored yet. If it's left out in the wind and snow for a few more days, it'll probably freeze and become even less valuable."

"The people we brought also have nowhere to stay. If this continues, many of them will freeze to death sooner or later."

"He's trying to force us to sell our grain to him at rock-bottom prices. We can't fall for it. At worst, we'll transfer the grain to merchant ships and pay the ship owners a winter's worth of storage rent..."

"That makes sense. Song Shi'an isn't without food shortages. If he weren't, he wouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics. He's just trying to trick us. As long as we all unite and transfer all the food, we can hold on. As long as this shortage continues, the price of food won't collapse!"

"That's right, then we'll be the ones raising prices on the spot!"

The grain traders' alliance quickly found a solution.

When Song Shi'an dumped shares, they intervened to support the market.

All the major grain traders are here. As long as we work together, we can definitely protect this grain...

Of course, individual investors cannot be associated with cohesion.

"Damn it, some bastard sold the grain to Song Shi'an at the original price!" (End of Chapter)