The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

On the first day of the opening of the Song Dynasty Grain Contract Trading Center on the shore of West Lake, the scene was not as bustling as the Lin family head had expected.

Ordinary people were wary of this kind of invisible and intangible "paper trade" and watched from the sidelines. Although the established grain merchants were itching to get involved, they were all shrewd and held their cash, none of them wanting to be the first to act.

The head of the Lin family sat imposingly on the second floor of the teahouse across the street, glancing at the desolate scene of the trading center with hardly any customers, his face full of undisguised mockery.

"Master, the trading center has been open for almost two hours, and not even a fly has managed to get in. Should we... really not go in and check it out?" The butler leaned forward cautiously, probing the question.

The Lin family head picked up the celadon teacup on the table, slowly blew away the foam, and sneered, "What's the panic? That Jiang Lin is full of bad ideas, more tricks than the top courtesan in the brothel. Who knows what deadly weapon is hidden in those few pieces of paper? Stay calm, let those small merchants wade through the water first, we'll just watch the show."

As they were talking, the wooden stairs creaked underfoot as the head of the Wang family rushed into the private room, panting.

"Brother Lin! This is going to kill you!" The head of the Wang family didn't even bother with formalities, collapsing onto the armchair next to him. He grabbed the purple clay teapot from the table, not caring about the heat, and gulped down a large mouthful.

The head of the Lin family shifted his body in disgust: "Is the sky falling? Look at you making a fool of yourself."

"It's worse than the sky falling! That mad dog Su Shi is starting to bite people again!" The head of the Wang family wiped the tea stains from his mouth, his voice trembling. "The prefectural government just sent out yamen runners everywhere, posting golden proclamations all over the streets! They said there's a severe drought in Jiangnan, and to prevent people from hoarding and speculating, the prefectural government has forcibly set a price cap on grain; a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice can only be sold for a maximum of 150 wen!"

The Lin family head abruptly stood up, his face as black as the bottom of a pot: "One hundred and fifty coins? Why doesn't Su Shi just rob us! They're already being sold for three hundred coins on the black market. Does he think he can force us to spit out all the meat we've eaten just by talking?"

The head of the Wang family, his face contorted in a grimace, slapped his thighs repeatedly: "This isn't over yet! The proclamation clearly states in black and white that anyone who dares to secretly raise prices or outwardly comply while secretly disobeying will be punished as an accomplice to treason, their granary will be sealed off by the government, and there will be absolutely no leniency!"

The Lin family patriarch paced furiously around the room, his anger rising to his head. He hadn't even settled the score for being humiliated in the provincial examinations, and now they were trying to cut off his livelihood. Did they really think the powerful families of Jiangnan were pushovers?

"Brother Lin, what should we do?" The Wang family head was completely at a loss.

The Lin family patriarch stopped in his tracks and slammed his hand on the table: "Doesn't Su Shi like to impose price controls? Fine! Let's cut off his supply line from the ground. Notify all major grain merchants on Jiangnan Road to cease operations immediately! Not a single grain of rice is allowed to be sold!"

The head of the Wang family gasped in shock: "A strike? What will the people eat? What if this incites a popular uprising..."

"What I want is a popular uprising!" The Lin family head sneered repeatedly. "Once those peasants are starving and storm the prefectural government office, let's see how many heads Su Shi will have left! This Jiangnan region, in the end, still belongs to our aristocratic family!"

Patriarch Wang suddenly understood, and gave a thumbs-up: "Brilliant! I'll go contact the other family heads right away!"

In less than half a day, grain stores of all sizes in Hangzhou uniformly hung up "Sold Out" signs and locked their doors.

The people, clutching their copper coins, ran themselves ragged, but couldn't buy a single grain of rice. Panic, like a plague, instantly swept through the entire city.

Black market grain prices skyrocketed, from 300 wen to 500 wen per dou (a unit of dry measure), and even then, grain was still extremely scarce.

……

In the back hall of the prefectural government office, Su Shi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, his footsteps making a loud clattering sound on the floor.

"Headmaster! Look at this terrible idea you came up with!" Su Shi pointed at Jiang Lin, who was slumped comfortably in his armchair, and said with great distress, "You told me to issue a price control notice, and now look what's happened! The grain merchants have gone on strike! The crowds outside are about to crush the stone lions of the government office!"

Jiang Lin lazily lifted his eyelids, slowly scraping the lid off his teacup: "Zizhan, you're a prefect, after all. You should have a broader perspective. What's the rush over such a trivial matter?"

Su Shi's eyes widened like saucers: "This is a trivial matter? The people depend on food for survival! If this continues, it will surely force a popular uprising!"

Jiang Lin slammed his teacup on the table, stood up, and patted Su Shi on the shoulder: "Don't worry, the Jing Shi Academy's canteen has already set up ten large pots of porridge outside to serve it, no one will starve. As for those old fogies closing down the market, that suits me perfectly."

Su Shi was bewildered: "So, I've done as you wished?"

"No problem." Jiang Lin straightened his cuffs, his tone exuding absolute control. "If grain prices don't skyrocket, how can our 'wheat contract' stand out? They're hoarding grain, trying to force the government to back down. Little do they know, they're just scrambling to pick the best spot for themselves."

Jiang Lin turned his head to look at Li Gefei, who was as quiet as a chicken, and asked, "Gefei, how's the platter coming along?"

Li Gefei quickly stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with fervor: "Reporting to the Headmaster, everything is proceeding according to plan. The initial price for the first batch of wheat grains has been driven up from two hundred wen to three hundred wen per dou. Furthermore, it has been announced that the academy urgently needs one hundred thousand shi, first come, first served!"

Su Shi was furious: "Three hundred coins? The price of grain outside is already five hundred coins! You expect to buy three months' worth of grain for three hundred coins? Who would be crazy to sell to you like that?"

Jiang Lin laughed in exasperation: "Zizhan, you have political acumen, but your financial common sense is practically zero. That five hundred wen on the market is all a bubble inflated by panic. Those shrewd grain merchants know better than anyone that when the autumn harvest comes in three months, grain prices will definitely be halved. If we throw down three hundred wen now to lock in future prices, in their eyes, that's like a living saint handing over money."

Jiang Lin paced to the eaves, gazing at the rolling dark clouds on the horizon, his voice dropping to icy cold: "They're clinging to their current holdings simply out of insatiable greed, waiting for the peak. Well, I'll personally paint them a colossal pie in the sky. I'll make them like sharks smelling blood, emptying their pockets and trapping them firmly in my grasp!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Duoduo rolled into the back room like a ball of flesh, covered in sweat.

"Headmaster! Prefect!" Qian Duoduo was so excited his legs were shaking. "Those bastards have taken the bait! That old man from the Lin family has led all the powerful clans to the trading center, claiming he'll swallow our 100,000 shi of wheat contract in one gulp!"

Jiang Lin dusted off non-existent dust from his clothes and strolled out leisurely: "Come on, Zizhan, I'll show you around. Today, I'm going to give these nouveau riche from Jiangnan a thorough lesson in modern financial 'dimensional reduction'."