Chapter 136 Conspiracy
Chapter 136 Conspiracy
The small pavilion of Yue Mansion.
"Then continue to raise food prices."
Jiang He said, "Raise the grain price by 180 wen, and spend most of the grain money allocated by the court at once. This must be done with great fanfare."
Old Man Yue put down the teacup in his hand and said nothing.
“Continue to raise food prices?”
The middle-aged man seemed to be thinking about something. He was not a stupid person and at this moment he was carefully comprehending the deep meaning of it.
"The price of grain has increased, the situation is unprecedented, merchants are chasing profits, grain merchants from all over the country have been stockpiling goods in the autumn, and now is the time when the warehouses are full." Thinking of this, the middle-aged man couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Are you so sure, the grain merchants will definitely rush here?"
"Not a few." Jiang He could not give an absolute answer, but it was a fact that the government bought grain at high prices. Word of it spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Friendly merchants became rich, and more grain merchants naturally could not tolerate it. Even if they knew there was a problem, many grain merchants would take the initiative to invest, just like the stock market rumors he heard in modern times.
The middle-aged man turned his head, and Old Man Yue lowered his eyes in thought, then slowly nodded after a moment.
"In my opinion, it is generally reasonable."
The middle-aged man stood up and paced, muttering to himself.
"The grain merchants have gathered. There is enough grain, but how can I get the grain out of their hands? Some of these merchants are the money bags of the important figures in the court. I am no match for them."
Old Man Yue just smiled it off. This was a hint to him, but unfortunately his energy was now focused on how to overthrow Prime Minister Yan, and he didn't want to waste his energy on getting into other troubles.
"When there is oversupply, grain prices will fall. This is a basic law, but it is up to God to decide. Grain merchants may form an alliance to maintain grain prices for their own benefit. This requires you to secretly act. As long as one grain merchant fails to keep his promise and the news spreads, the others will be caught in a dilemma. As the price keeps going down, the price will only go down. Whoever escapes this trap first will suffer the least loss, or even make a profit. If grain prices are normal or even low, there will be room for easing the chaos caused by refugees."
After Jiang He finished speaking, he left time for the other party to consider. This method was nothing more than a bank run, but the target was the market. From the moment the bank run occurred, there was no strong external interference and it was basically a foregone conclusion. Just like facing a wild beast, the grain traders only needed to run faster than their companions.
The middle-aged man frowned and thought deeply. He felt that the phrase "oversupply" alone was very interesting, concise and profound.
"Master, if they are united and become as close as brothers..."
"Then you just die." Jiang He said coldly.
Old Man Yue shook his head and laughed. If he couldn't even identify one enemy, he'd better not be the mayor of the capital, otherwise he would be beheaded sooner or later.
The middle-aged man knew he had said something out of turn, but he sat back down as if nothing had happened. Even if he was secretly ridiculed, what he needed most now was a solution, not the so-called face. He was willing to ask thoroughly for this, after all, one wrong step could lead to a complete loss, and it was a matter of life and death for his career.
"Master, what if the grain merchants want to leave?"
"The journey is long and transportation is inconvenient. They have already missed the winter harvest season by the time they return, so it's too late."
"What if the court officials insist that I let them go?"
"Refugees gather, bandits run rampant, and you use the banner of doing good for them. If you don't allow it, the public opinion will boil over for you."
"If the grain merchants are determined to maintain the grain prices and delay the process, the refugees will be crying out for food and can't wait even a moment."
"The food you bought before was sold out at a low price, leaving an empty city."
The middle-aged man asked questions repeatedly, all of which were responses from the perspective of a grain merchant.
Jiang He answered patiently until his face turned completely cold.
After ten questions and ten answers, Old Man Yue glanced at the maid, who brought paper and pen. One of the literary men's hobbies is to compile anecdotes and pass them down to later generations. Whenever later generations mention them, they seem to feel proud of it.
The tea was cold, and the middle-aged man was thirsty. He didn't care that the tea had lost its taste, and drank it all in one gulp. "I will repay you for your advice today."
Jiang He remained silent, gathering strength secretly.
Old Man Yue said, "Go back and prepare. We will set off for Beijing in three days."
The middle-aged man remained polite. After handing over the sword tactics, he hurriedly said goodbye and left, preparing to go back to prepare countermeasures. Quelling the riot of millions of refugees would be a great achievement in any case.
Jiang He dispersed the force in his palm.
Old Man Yue waved his hand, and the maid took the zither and left. He said with a smile: "I thought you were just not a reckless man, but I didn't expect you could really come up with a solution. We court officials are pragmatic, so I have always had some prejudice against the classics."
"The troubled times have arrived. Old friend Yan's philosophy is no longer suitable for this world. No matter how you whitewash it, it will be useless. I invited you here this time to discuss something. You and the Yan family are not on good terms. You must know that even if the Yan family dies, as long as Prime Minister Yan is not overthrown, everything will be in vain. As a military commander, you must first capture the leader of the thief."
"Let me ask you something first. Was the soldier who died in the North City Military Prefecture that day really a barbarian?"
Jiang He's expression remained unchanged; both parties had reached a consensus on their goals.
"No."
Old Man Yue smiled even more. "Then do you know that Daqian Taizu is from our Yizhou? In the chaotic times of the previous dynasty, Daqian Taizu was as powerful as nature, and his cultivation reached the level of a great master of Qi training. He was accompanied by a Qilin, and the four characters "Xianxuan Changqing" were naturally engraved on his abdomen."
"There are only two people in this world who can defeat Prime Minister Yan. One is the emperor, and the other is the Lord of Donghai City. People like the leader of the Demon Cult, the Demon King of Nanshan, and the Lord of Daxue Mountain are still a little bit behind."
"After all, my old friend will never die a violent death. The chief eunuch will protect him to the death to uphold the imperial power. The Taoist leader Wu Dou relies on the country's fortune to maintain his life, and he will not allow outsiders to kill the Prime Minister.
"If we want to overthrow him, we can only rely on the power of His Majesty."
"If you want to borrow power, you must first attract His Majesty's attention. If you want to overthrow him, you must set the stage."
Jiang He said: "Qilin."
Old Man Yue nodded: "You hit the nail on the head. You are very perceptive."
The two talked in the pavilion.
In the distance, a maid holding a zither was keeping watch on the surroundings. It was estimated that even the Prime Minister would not have thought that in a corner of Daqian, a young military commander and an old man who had lost his power were plotting how to overthrow him. No one would look favorably upon such an alliance if it were to be spread.
For a full hour, there was noise coming from the outside world.
Jiang He stood up and left the pavilion, leaving nine aphid blood stones on the table, which were carefully put into Old Man Yue's clothes.
Outside Yue Mansion, two mountain guards wearing conical hats and covered in black clothes arrived.
The old madman fled for some unknown reason. Two mountain guards came to the unconscious warrior, grabbed one of his arms each, and then pulled him violently. In full view of everyone, a miserable female voice was heard.
A ghostly spirit visible to the naked eye was pulled out.
The mountain guard waved his sleeves and the ghost disappeared. After the two men finished their business, they left immediately without stopping for a moment.
Many of the onlookers exclaimed in surprise. Thanks to the Jianjiang River that runs across Yizhou, this was the first time they had seen a real ghost.
Jiang He, who had been watching the whole process, mounted his horse and reined in to head towards the city's northern Dusi Mansion. Regardless of the conspiracy or the ghosts, they were just interludes. His top priority now was to suppress the bandits.
(End of this chapter)