Mind reading, the emperor saw my fist hard

Chapter 298 Food Price Increase

The shopkeeper wiped the sweat off his forehead and said to the big man, "Grandpa is not from the county, you don't know, the price of grain has risen since half a month ago, the price has tripled, originally two stone of rice only cost one tael of silver, now two stone of rice cost three taels of silver, it's only early winter now, it hasn't snowed yet, if it snows the price will rise even more sharply, at least five taels of silver per stone."

"I'm not a big grain merchant, I'm a local. I really want to make money, but I'm a local. If I make this much money, my fellow villagers will point fingers at me and scold me. So I didn't raise the price. But last night, the grain merchant Zhang from the county town sent someone to tell me to raise the price together, otherwise there will be a fire."

At this point, the shopkeeper's face became even more bitter: "I am just a small boss, and the Zhang family's shops are all over Daqian. I heard that the owner is an imperial merchant. If I don't obey, maybe one night, my whole family will be gone."

"What! Food prices have gone up." The burly man was stunned for a moment.

He really didn't know that the price of food had increased. His family was relatively wealthy, and the food they bought once was enough to last for a month. This time, he went into a random grain shop when he entered the city, but he got furious when he asked about the price.

He hit the guy on impulse. Now when he heard that all prices had increased, he realized he had hit the wrong guy and quickly bent down to help the guy up.

The guy was so scared that he stood up from the ground, "Grandpa, I can do it myself! I can do it myself."

The big man scratched his head at this time: "Don't you have that grain that produces 1,000 kilograms per mu? Why is the price of grain still rising?"

Xu Jinyu was also confused.

[Yes, didn’t we say that the harvest was good? Why is the price of food still rising? Food should be depreciating. ]

The shopkeeper gave a bitter laugh and said, "How can we ordinary people know this? The big shots have deep thoughts. The only thing we can do is to obey them."

Xu Jinyu did not notice that Ren Changfeng, who was standing in the front, had a pale face and his hands and feet were trembling slightly. As a man who had been an official for decades, he could see through the tricks played by these grain merchants at a glance.

He was shaking all over because he was angry!

Bastards! A bunch of bastards!

With the prosperity about to come, with Daqian about to become the most powerful country among the Three Kingdoms, with the hope of Daqian unifying the world, they actually... actually played this trick again.

At this time, Princess Wuyang couldn't help it, so she walked up to the shopkeeper and asked, "Shopkeeper, is it only in Lantu County that the price of grain has increased, or has it increased in other counties as well?"

This question hits the nail on the head. If the price increases in Blueprint County alone, then people can go to other counties to buy food. People have plenty of energy anyway.

The worst that can happen is that you just have to spend a little more effort and buy it somewhere else, as long as you can save a little money.

The people around looked at the shopkeeper anxiously, hoping that he could give them better news.

The shopkeeper sighed and said, "I don't know how much more, but I know that the grain prices in Linshui County and Qingyu County have also increased. They are even more excessive than the grain prices in our county. Four taels of silver for two stone of rice. The people are still holding on, waiting for the grain price to drop, but I don't think it will drop."

"Unless the government officials intervene, it is impossible to lower the price."

"I'm going home now."

The owner of the grain shop simply turned around and closed his shop and stopped doing business.

Leaving people on the street at a loss.

Suddenly someone shouted: "Hurry up and buy food. If the price goes up, we really can't afford it."

"Wow!"

The people on the street dispersed and all ran towards the grain store.

Only Xu Jinyu and his group were left standing there motionless.

[I remember that in ancient times, grain prices usually rose because of famine or war, but I haven't heard of a war in Daqian, let alone a famine. Why? Could it be that these grain merchants are simply crazy and want to make a fortune and then send their families to heaven?]

Ren Changfeng sighed and said to the three confused young men, "Let's go back to the carriage and I'll explain it to you in detail."

The group returned to the carriage, and the good mood they had just had was gone.

As soon as Ren Changfeng sat firmly, Xu Jinyu couldn't wait to ask: "Master Ren, these grain merchants are raising prices at will. Isn't this forcing the people to sell their children? And where do these grain merchants get the courage? Didn't you say that the county governor of Blueprint County is a good person? Why didn't he stop it?"

The series of questions gave Ren Changfeng a headache.

However, Ren Changfeng still explained to the three people in front of him one by one: "As for the grain merchants, the government will not investigate unless the people report it, because only the common people will suffer losses, and those rich families will not be harmed at all, and they may even make a fortune from it."

"The county magistrate doesn't care about this matter, either because he is powerless. You just heard that it was the Zhang family that raised the price. The Zhang family is one of the largest grain merchants in Daqian. There is someone behind them, and the county magistrate can do nothing about it. Although I don't know who is behind the Zhang family, he is at least a third-rank official, otherwise he wouldn't have let an imperial merchant join him."

"Another possibility is that the county magistrate and the grain merchants are in collusion."

Ren Changfeng gritted his teeth and said, "I will go to see the county magistrate of Lantu County in a while. For the sake of an angel like me, he has to take care of this matter even if he doesn't care."

"Just because the grain merchants have backers, they don't care!"

Princess Wuyang's voice unconsciously became sharp.

Ren Changfeng's face twisted for a moment. How could he manage it? He thought about how he was young and hot-headed back then, and he didn't know how to turn around. He almost got himself killed after managing it once. If he didn't have an uncle in the court, he would have almost died that time.

Princess Wuyang thinks too highly of the officials of Daqian.

There are not so many honest officials who are willing to stand up for the people.

[Looking at Lord Ren's expression, he has also been cheated by grain merchants before. Let me see. ]

Ren Changfeng simply leaned against the carriage and asked someone to speak for him, saving him the trouble of talking.

[Sure enough, I said my premonition was not wrong. Lord Ren was also a county magistrate and dealt with grain merchants. He dealt with them very thoroughly, beheading them directly without waiting for the autumn.]

[It was satisfying at the time. The man who was beheaded also had a backer. Someone in the court directly impeached Ren Changfeng for competing with the people for profits, seizing the property of a grain merchant for himself, and killing the grain merchant's entire family.]

[But the truth is that Ren Changfeng had beheaded the grain merchant and distributed his property to the people whose families had been ruined by the grain merchant. The distance was too far and communication was inconvenient. The official who impeached Lord Ren spoke with tears in his eyes, and the emperor believed him. He was furious and did not intend to let Lord Ren write a memorial to refute it. He wanted to strip Lord Ren of his official uniform.]