bookrebus Chapter 272 This time it was an accidental injury
Chapter 272 This time it was an accidental injury
At this moment, Qin Zheng and Wu Xiaoyou had already slipped out through the back door.
But before he had gone far, a special agent caught up with him and reported: "Sir, the grain merchant in the city wants to see you!"
Qin Zheng smiled: "You came really quickly."
Wu Xiaoyou: "Shall we go back? Is Xia Bitu waiting for you?"
Qin Zheng smiled and said, "Forget it, let's give the credit to him."
Wu Xiaoyou was worried: "Can he handle it? Don't let the adults' plan be ruined."
Qin Zheng said, "He knows that these grain merchants are related to the grain crisis in the entire Qinghe area. He knows how to benefit the most and will not ruin his plan! Unless the grain merchants don't give him face..."
Wu Xiaoyou was shocked: "How can a grain merchant not give face to the Prime Minister?"
Qin Zheng smiled bitterly: "The old fox doesn't have a good reputation."
Wu Xiaoyou smiled and said, "That's true. Sir, are the grain merchants here to sell grain?"
Qin Zheng nodded. "We have so much food, and it's free. The rainy season is coming soon, and they've stockpiled so much food. If they can't sell it, are they just going to wait for it to go moldy and be thrown away?"
Su Xiaoman's eyes were bright. "You are truly amazing, sir. So your plan is to corner them and force them into submission? These grain merchants are desperate to sell their grain, so they will definitely sell it to us at a low price."
Qin Zheng nodded: "The old fox will definitely lower the price. At least, we have enough money now. But it would be best if we don't spend a penny."
Wu Xiaoyou was speechless: "How is that possible? They are all profit-seeking profiteers. They would rather throw away the food if it gets moldy than give it to us for free."
Suddenly, he wondered again, "Sir, it should be the Qi family that supports them. Although you killed Qi Daozhong, the Qi family has the King of the Western Territory behind them. Why don't they wait for the King of the Western Territory to rescue them?"
Qin Zheng was very calm: "They are afraid that I will chop off their heads before the King of the West arrives. Besides, asking for help from the King of the West is also like seeking the skin of a tiger. How can the King of the West help them for nothing?
It would be better to ask us directly, even if it means selling the grain to us at a low price, than to suffer huge losses.
If they truly believed in the King of the West and the Qi family, they wouldn't have come today. They came in such a hurry because they wanted to exchange the food for silver and escape immediately."
Wu Xiaoyou understood and was convinced: "Sir, did you know this would happen?"
Qin Zheng nodded: "Only by doing this can we force these grain merchants to submit and solve the Qinghe grain crisis without bloodshed."
Wu Xiaoyou hesitated for a moment and asked, "Those 50,000 dan are sand. If this is exposed, the consequences will be disastrous. Although the victims are afraid of the government, if even the imperial envoy fabricates the information, it will really force them into a corner. Once they riot, it will be difficult to stop. The grain merchants will take advantage of the opportunity to raise the price even higher. Then, the situation will be completely out of control!"
Qin Zheng laughed. "That's not sand, it's actually grain. How could I dig a hole when countless lives are at stake?"
Wu Xiaoyou was shocked: "It's not sand? Where does all this food come from?"
Qin Zheng's eyes were deep. "Hongtong County has too much grain reserves, and we can't openly use it to provide relief to the people affected by natural disasters. After all, if the imperial court knew about it, they would be even more wary and covetous of Hongtong County. So, it's better to take it out when Daqian needs it."
Wu Xiaoyou was surprised: "After receiving the imperial edict, the master notified Hongtong County? How come I didn't know?"
Qin Zheng: "You were busy, so I didn't ask you to do it."
Wu Xiaoyou was happy: "I'm sure it will sell for a good price this time!"
Qin Zheng shook his head: "How can we make money from the disaster victims?"
Wu Xiaoyou chuckled, "But you can earn money from Xia Bitu!"
Qin Zheng smiled happily: "Xiaoyou, you are getting smarter and smarter!"
Seeing the adult's expression, Wu Xiaoyou felt very sympathetic towards Xia Bitu: "My Lord, the grain you deceived Xia Bitu with was fake. In fact, you wanted Xia Bitu to spend money to buy the grain that the grain merchants were eager to sell. After all, he thought your 50,000 dan was sand.
Thus, the grain purchased with his money is equivalent to compensating us for the 50,000 shi. To permanently resolve the food crisis, the Guanxi government must also replenish its own granaries for emergencies. Guanxi must pay this money. If they don't, we will investigate them, confiscate their property, or even exterminate their entire clan. We dared to kill even the Western Border King's brother-in-law, so who wouldn't be afraid? They must have enriched themselves over the years, so they have money!
You're actually making money from the Kansai government, right? But, no matter what, it's the same as making money from Xiabitu. It's just a matter of transferring money from one hand to the other."
Wu Xiaoyou talked excitedly.
Qin Zheng looked at Wu Xiaoyou in surprise: "Xiaoyou, how can you be so smart? You are almost better than me, an adult?"
Wu Xiaoyou proudly shook her black hair and said, "A strong general has no weak soldiers!"
At this time, Xia Bitu was sitting in the court with a gloomy face.
The soldiers from the Prime Minister's Mansion he brought with him were standing on both sides with murderous intent.
Xia Bitu didn't expect that Qin Zheng ran away, but the grain merchant came.
He came just in time, as he was worrying about how to turn Qin Zheng's 50,000 tons of sand into food!
If this were to be exposed, both he and Qin Zheng would be finished.
Qin Zheng had gone too far this time. It was too risky. He had no choice but to step in to clean up the mess, or else he would be in big trouble!
He knew very well what these grain merchants were here for!
He originally thought that his negotiations with these grain merchants would be the same, or even more important than Qin Zheng's. After all, he was the prime minister and the imperial relief envoy, so food matters were under his jurisdiction.
However, these grain merchants actually wanted to talk to Qin Zheng.
They didn't say it explicitly, but just said that they came to see Lord Qin Zhengqin to discuss important matters!
Isn't it obvious that you don't want to talk to him and don't trust him!
The prime minister, a top official of the dynasty, was actually rejected by a group of profit-seeking profiteers. Xia Bitu, who was already furious, almost lost his temper on the spot.
But he knew very well that Qin Zheng was an imperial envoy for investigation and could be a bad person, but he was an imperial envoy for relief and could only be a good person.
Before the grain problem is solved, these grain merchants are the bosses and cannot be offended.
At least as the imperial relief envoy, he dared not offend these profiteers who controlled the lifeline of food!
Xia Bitu was very depressed.
But he could only order people to look for Qin Zheng who had escaped.
Qin Zheng originally wanted to go and see the situation of opening the granary to release grain, but after receiving the message, he had to return with a wry smile.
Wu Xiaoyou couldn't help laughing: "Sir, I think the old fox is going to be pissed off to death."
Qin Zheng was also helpless: "Alas! He's so old, I really don't want to hit him. This time, it was an accidental injury!"
"Haha!" Wu Xiaoyou burst into laughter.