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After some investigation, they did get some shocking news, but it was exactly the opposite of what they had imagined - the magic workshops in major cities are planning to give those workers who work the night shift a midnight snack to reward them for their hard work!
The next day, the parliament directly threw out a total of more than 5,000 tons of wheat in major cities across the kingdom, which stunned all the caravans that wanted to buy the wheat!
"This is impossible! Where do they get so much food?" Marquis Mortan grabbed the collar of the reporting attendant and roared angrily!
Held and other earls of the empire no longer had the determined and strategic look they had in the past few days. Their eyes were red and they could not believe this fact.
In the past month, they have bought up enough food to feed three million people for most of the year. The rest of the wealthy merchants who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune have bought no less than them. How could those wizards possibly come up with another 5,000 tons of wheat in one go?
"Lord Mortan, what should we do now?" Viscount Sk said in panic. In order to support Mortan's plan to wipe out the entire family, he had given everything he had!
"Otherwise, shall we sell the food now?" Earl Bell suddenly suggested.
Bell's suggestion undoubtedly made all the nobles very excited. Now the price of one kilogram of wheat is as high as five hundred copper coins. If they can sell all the grain they have purchased before, everyone present will be rich enough to rival a country!
"Idiot! Do you think we can still sell our wheat now?" Marquis Mortan slammed the conference table and roared angrily.
Not to mention the market price of five hundred copper coins per kilogram, even if the price was reduced to one hundred copper coins, no one would even look at it!
Marquis Mortain did not know what passing the parcel meant, but he was very clear that the parliament provided the poor with three meals a day, resulting in that now in the market, except for those who collected the grain, no one would buy a grain of wheat at such a high price!
The other businessmen are not fools. In the current unclear situation, who would dare to continue purchasing grain?
The fact that 5,000 tons of grain were released by the parliament in the morning and have been piled up until now without being sold at all is enough to prove this!
If they release large amounts of grain again, the price of wheat will collapse instantly, causing a large-scale run on the bank, and even making the wheat in their hands worthless!
Bell was also panicked and said quickly, "But aren't those wizards collecting food? We can sell all the food to them!"
Mortan looked at Bell coldly, then turned to look at the servant who was lying on the ground and trembling slightly. "You tell me!"
"As of last night, the price of wheat purchased by the parliament is... one copper coin for ten kilograms!" the servant said cautiously.
Upon hearing this news, Bell almost fainted.
Are you kidding me? One copper coin for ten kilograms?
This means that the wheat he had spent all his family fortune on, at a cost of a full 100,000 imperial gold coins, was now worth over a million imperial gold coins, and the wizards actually wanted to buy it back for a mere 200 gold coins!
This is crazy!
"No, I remember Viscount Sk said a few days ago that the price they should pay for wheat should be twenty coppers per kilogram!" Bell shouted hysterically.
If it was twenty coppers, he would lose most of his fortune, but it was still barely acceptable.
Under the cannibalistic gaze of Count Bell, the attendant stammered as he explained that the price of grain purchased by the parliament was decreasing almost every day, from 20 coppers per kilogram to 15 coppers, then 10 coppers, 5 coppers, 2 coppers...
And last night the price had already dropped to the lowest point in the kingdom's history, one copper coin for ten kilograms!
Viscount Sk and other nobles simply could not accept this ridiculous price, which meant that their existing assets would instantly shrink to one five thousandth of the previous amount!
Bell roared even more hoarsely.
"This is a naked provocation, it's war!"
"Where is their granary? I'm going to send people there right away to burn all of those wizards' food!"
The nobles present were all filled with rage, and looked ready to overthrow the kingdom.
"Burn shit!" Held cursed angrily, pouring cold water on everyone.
Five thousand tons of food are scattered across more than 40 cities in the kingdom. Not only are they heavily guarded, but there are also numerous wizards in each town. What will they use to burn?
Do you really think wizards can't use magic to put out fires?
In fact, not only can they conjure large amounts of water out of thin air, they can even summon torrential rain and lightning with ease!
Thinking of the scene a year ago when someone in the royal capital summoned the wind and rain with a wave of his hand and sent down terrifying thunder, Held felt an unspeakable fear in his heart. He couldn't help but regret why he had listened to Mortan's words and fought against those wizards who mastered terrible magic.
Bell, Sk and others looked at Mortan with increasingly unfriendly eyes.
The latter obviously noticed the increasingly subtle atmosphere on the field, and immediately spoke in a cold voice.
"Don't forget, everyone. We are all tied together now. My death will do you no good!"
"Now we only have one solution!"
At this point, Marquis Mortan paused for a moment, then opened his mouth and squeezed out these words almost through his teeth. "That means continue...buying food!"
As long as they can buy up all the wheat from the parliament, the initiative will be back on their side!
"I don't believe that those wizards have an endless supply of food!" Marquis Mortan's loud voice echoed throughout the castle. "Can they use magic to conjure wheat out of thin air?"
The wizards had only occupied the southern and central regions of the kingdom for a little over a year. Even if they had started cultivating the land since then, how much food could they have grown?
Mortan firmly believed that these 5,000 tons of wheat must be the last stock of the parliament, and they were releasing it all at once just to scare them!
The news about the workshop must have been released deliberately to throw them into disarray!
After all, he had never heard of such a midnight snack. How could those wizards suddenly be so kind as to allow the laborers to have another meal when food was scarce?
This must be deliberately designed to confuse them!
After Mortan's analysis, Bell and others seemed to have grasped the last straw. Whether they were willing to believe it or not, it must be true!
But soon everyone realized another problem.
Five thousand tons of grain would cost a full two hundred and fifty thousand imperial gold coins at the current price!
This is going to cost them their lives!
Nowadays, everyone's property has either been mortgaged or spent entirely on purchasing grain. Where can they find so much money?
Thinking of this, Held and others began to back off.
Mortan knew that if he didn't set an example, the noble alliance would fall apart today, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Mortgage my manor, I should be able to get 20,000 imperial gold coins!"
"Everyone, now is a matter of life and death!" "Think about it, as long as we can overcome this hurdle, the food in our hands can be exchanged for countless wealth, but if we fail, the accumulation of several generations of the family will be burned to ashes..."
With Mortan's encouragement, the nobles present reluctantly liquidated their remaining properties. After all, if they took a step back now, they would fall into an abyss, but if they took a step forward, they might be able to own everything!
They had to take this gamble!
About half an hour later, more than forty nobles struggled to collect the 250,000 gold coins using land deeds. Mortan immediately ordered his trusted confidants to take an airship to major cities in the kingdom to buy all 5,000 tons of grain!
After paying the little property they had, no noble left the secret room. All of them were anxiously waiting for news.
I waited for an hour before a guard came in from outside the door.
"What's going on? Is the capital in chaos?" Held and others immediately surrounded him and asked impatiently.
However, Mortan understood that it was only an hour, and the confidants he sent to various parts of the kingdom to purchase grain should still be on the way.
It is also possible that the wizards can no longer hold on and are planning to negotiate with them...
The guard who came in to report did not answer the questions, but handed over a newspaper with a trembling wrist. "Lord Mortan, this is today's [Magic Daily]..."
Looking at the fearful expression on the guard's face, Mortan felt a little uneasy and snatched the [Magic Daily] from the other party's hand and began to read it.
After seeing the conspicuous and specially enlarged title on the homepage, Mortan's pupils shrank slightly, and the blood in his body surged uncontrollably. He was so angry that he fainted on the spot.
"Lord Mortan..."
The nobles present were immediately horrified. Bell immediately snatched the [Magic Daily] and after glancing at it, he felt a chill running up his spine and shouted in fear.
"Quick, send someone to bring back all the people who bought the grain!"
……
Five minutes ago, in the city of kerosene, inside the newly built wizard academy.
Ivina took out about ten kilograms of wheat from the wooden box where it was stored, packed it in sturdy coarse cloth, and was ready to go out.
"Are you going to the granary to sell wheat again?" Monroe, who was performing his daily prayers in the living room, suddenly opened his eyes and stopped the girl who was about to go out.
"Yes, those wizards lowered the food price again yesterday. I think this may have some deeper meaning." Ivana replied calmly.
"Deeper meaning? Perhaps the parliament is short of funds?" Monroe sneered.
Thanks to Ivana's secret investigation, he also 'understood' the reasons why those wizards were able to persist in the food war until now!
The parliament is working to buy back all the meager food reserves of the poor at extremely low prices in order to support the fight against the food war and maintain basic decency!
But this is just a temporary measure after all, and it won’t last long!
Monroe even thought that today would be the day when the true colors of those wizards would be revealed, and the five thousand tons of wheat should be the last stock.
Ivana pursed her lips. She had a different idea from Monroe, but she had no intention of arguing. After taking the ten kilograms of wheat, she went out.
No one stopped her or questioned her along the way. After all, it was not her first day to sell grain, and there were more than just the two of them who had been buying and selling wheat during this period.
Many wizards saw this as an opportunity to make a fortune, but they did not have enough space to store wheat and grain, and their financial resources could not compete with those wealthy merchants and nobles, so they could only buy low and sell high to make a profit.
When Ivina arrived at the granary, there was a long line. Although the price of wheat purchased by the parliament was lowered every day, the number of people coming to sell grain increased instead of decreased!
This also surprised Ivana. You know, the wizards' purchase price and the market price are a full five thousand times higher!
That is to say, if ten kilograms of wheat are sold to the parliament, you can only get one copper coin, but if you are willing to sell it to major grain merchants, it will be worth a full fifty silver coins!
After remaining silent for nearly a month, Ivana finally couldn't help but ask.
After hearing the girl's question, the townspeople who were waiting in front of the granary looked at Ivana with great envy. When the girl was about to ask again, Susan, who was holding a little old grain wrapped in tattered clothes, sighed and spoke.
"You have never experienced famine, have you, Master Wizard?"
Chapter 458 Ivana: Creating Food from the Void, That is Something Only God Can Do
Susan's sudden question stumped Ivana.
She had been in the North for two years, the most desolate area in the empire. Naturally, she had seen famine and even participated in the church's food relief operations, but she had never experienced that feeling personally...
Susan sighed and said without waiting for Ivana to answer. "Eleven years ago, the western part of the empire suffered a huge reduction in grain production due to wars. Then, the nobles and wealthy businessmen started to buy up large quantities of grain, just like today. Although it was not as terrible as this time, it was still not something we could afford..."
At that time, she and her husband were living in the slums, earning a meager income by doing odd jobs such as carrying goods. After deducting the gang's deductions, they could not even earn a silver coin a month. With soaring food prices, they could not buy a few pieces of black bread even if they spent all their savings.
"Then the Church and the Empire didn't intervene or rescue?" Ivana frowned and asked in confusion, but soon realized the inappropriateness of her words and quickly corrected herself.
"I mean, don't the bishops always say God has mercy on the world?"
"How can those high-ranking bishops care about us..." A dark-skinned middle-aged man shook his head in self-mockery.
Eleven years ago, precious materials like kerosene had not yet been discovered, and this city was not as important as it is now. It was just an ordinary small town in the western border, and they were the most inconspicuous poor people in the city.
The empire did distribute some relief food, but it was mostly taken away by the local nobles and wealthy merchants along the way, and the remaining food never reached them.