Lonely non-good minister

Chapter 305 This Will Offend People

Mu Wantang was not stage-frightened, she only left the address of her shop, and she refused to reveal a word about the location of her cotton fields.

She is very aware of the words 'people's hearts are sinister'. Before all the cotton is harvested and put into storage, it is too easy to be tampered with. The northwest is dry and rainless, and a fire can destroy all her hard work. Be careful. Always right.

When she finished dealing with the eager merchants and came out of Mingtang, she was relieved. Seeing Song Yuan waiting for her in the corridor, her heart warmed and she went over immediately.

"You didn't disclose where your cotton fields are, did you?" Song Yuan asked anxiously, "That can't be said."

Mu Wantang smiled playfully: "Does Your Highness think I'm that stupid?"

Song Yuan breathed a sigh of relief: "It's fine if you don't say anything, I'm still worried that you are not careful enough."

"Does Your Highness think the base price of six taels of silver is expensive?" Mu Wantang sat down, knowing that Song Yuan despised the high price, so she asked this on purpose.

Song Yuan became serious: "Of course, six taels of silver is a huge expense for ordinary people. They are reluctant to spend half a year to make a cotton coat to keep out the cold. Cotton is a good thing to keep out the cold, and those who need it the most It is the poor people, but this thing has just appeared, and the price will not drop until the rich enjoy it enough, and there is no way to do it.”

"Your Highness is so considerate of the common people, don't you worry about offending people?" Mu Wantang was a little worried: "Your Highness invited merchants from Zhangye to mention this matter, and deliberately revealed the reserve price through my mouth. Those who want to raise the price of cotton will make a lot of money." How can the person with the pen let it go?"

Song Yuan looked at her: "Are they short of one or two winter clothes? Are they short of this money? It's just a lack of greed, and they want to suck the blood of the people to death. As a parent official, I don't care who cares." ? If you offend someone, you will offend others, and what they did didn't necessarily leave me with a way out."

Mu Wantang was silent. Although she didn't understand Song Yuan's sincerity and passion, she knew that it was for the good of the people, and she only hoped that the people could understand this painstaking effort.

Song Yuan's actions quickly spread, and the merchants in Zhangye exploded. There were several caravans that left the northwest to collect grain that night. I was afraid that they would be late, and the nearby stored grain would be bought by other people. .

The next day, Cheng Hui also brought the officials to the yamen. His eyes were dark blue and his complexion was haggard. He looked like he had stayed up all night. When he saw Song Yuan, he said, "My lord, the officials and others have discussed overnight. All the grain shops in Zhangye have stockpiled grain, and now the news of grain shortage in the northwest has been brought to the other three counties by the caravan."

"Yesterday, I also met the merchants in Zhangye and quoted them the base price of cotton to prevent the price of cotton from being inflated. I intended to set a limit for the price of cotton, but I heard that cotton is also divided into grades. How to set the price , we have to wait until the harvest to find out." Song Yuan saw that his spirit was really bad, so he asked someone to bring him a cup of strong tea: "If these merchants can bring back the grain within half a month after the autumn harvest, the situation will be greatly improved." It won't be too bad."

Cheng Hui poured a cup of tea into his stomach, and then said: "The officials are worried that they will be attacked on the way."

His worry was exactly what Song Yuan was worried about. If, as the county magistrate Chen Bingzhen said, there were princes among those who tried to control the price of cotton to make huge profits, then they would definitely intervene in the transportation of grain by merchants.

Song Yuan has already understood all their plans. First, the merchants led by the rich and powerful raised the price of cotton to scare away ordinary merchants with extremely high prices, and then prevented grain from entering the Northwest, causing a shortage of grain in the Northwest. In this way, the panic of the people suppressed cotton. price, so that they can buy at a low price and then sell at a high price. This handover will bring immeasurable profits.

In the two steps, she has fully understood the false increase in the price of cotton. I am afraid that the price will not be raised, but once the grain cannot enter the Northwest, the result will be the same. Therefore, the most critical step is to let the grain enter the Northwest smoothly.

Song Yuan pondered carefully. To get grain into the Northwest, not only had to pass through layers of checkpoints, but also beware of the "elusive" Xiongnu scattered riders. Whether this road can go smoothly depends on the thoughts of the generals stationed along the way.

"My lord, at the end of every month, all the generals in the Northwest will go to the Zhangye camp to report on their duties. The officials will have the final say, it will be the day after tomorrow." Cheng Hui's eyes showed hope: "If they can nod their heads in agreement, this obstacle will be resolved."

Even he knew that these generals were not innocent. Song Yuan guessed that his elder brothers must have done many similar things in the northwest.

If there are no enticing benefits, how could they be willing to stay here?
"I see, let me think about it." She didn't have the capital to negotiate at all. If she went to negotiate with them rashly, she would only get frustrated.

After Cheng Hui left, Song Yuan thought for a long time alone. Just in case, she carefully wrote down the situation in Northwest China and her own guesses. A well-behaved memorial and a letter from home were written by a trusted guard. Take it with you and send it to Jingzhao in person.

Since she and Song Chun and Song Run are grasshoppers on the same rope, they can't hide these things from them. Let me tell you in advance, even if they are really tricked, at least they know that they can save their lives.

She didn't sleep peacefully at night. Even in her sleep, these calculation traps always popped up again and again, making her toss and turn between waking and deep sleep. I was tortured and sweated all over.

"Your Highness." Wei Yan came in with a lamp to wake her up: "Mr. An is here."

Song Yuan sat up immediately, looked at the dark sky outside, hurriedly put on his clothes and shoes, and came out. An Zhoushi was also helped in by the guards. Seeing Song Yuan, he was very excited, and the smile on his face was about to disappear. Can't stop.

"Congratulations, Your Highness, you have become a prince now." An Zhou could not close his mouth from ear to ear. Song Yuan's status was different from the past, which made him very happy.

Song Yuan hurriedly supported him, smiled and didn't know how to respond to this sentence, so he had to help him into the room first: "It's so late that I should let my husband rest first, but I really have something important to ask my husband."

"It's okay, I know His Highness is in a hurry, and I can't sleep right now." An Zhoushi sat down when he entered the room, and the guard filled the hot tea with the bamboo tube he brought, and leaned the thin bamboo tube inside, It is convenient to drink water when you are on the boat.

Song Yuan waited for him to drink the water before he said, "Sir, you have been in the cotton field for several months in the northwest?"

"Yes, I immediately set off with my people after I received His Highness's letter. As before, I found a remote place to grow cotton. I took the children I had been teaching and went to observe the cotton fields in many places. . ” An Zhoushi enjoyed farming and farming, and he had a smile on his face when he talked about it.

"Based on Mr.'s understanding, how is the cotton harvest this year?" This is what Song Yuan is most concerned about.

An Zhoushi laughed loudly: "In my estimation, it will definitely not be less than 50 catties, which is conservative."

　Since Chapter 298, the data calculation error part has been changed, thank you for your correction.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)