SFS Chapter 108 Digging a hole
Chapter 108 Digging a hole
Chapter 108 Digging a Hole
Hanshan County, at the entrance of the county government office.
Today is the day the votes are counted, and people are flocking to the polls to find out the results.
In this referendum in Hanshan County, a total of 25 people voted. Ultimately, 20 people supported the grain monopoly, while 5 voted against it. Wang Wenzhou did not cheat; if the result had been different, he certainly would have cheated.
Wang Wenzhou waved his hand, signaling the people to be quiet, and said, "The voting results have been announced. From today onwards, apart from grain dealers, no one in Hanshan County is allowed to privately transport grain. Anyone who violates this rule will have all illegal gains confiscated."
"Wang Qingtian is mighty!"
"That unscrupulous merchant deserves to die!"
The people were outraged, as many had suffered greatly from the high grain prices of recent days.
"Hmph!" Ma Deyun snorted coldly. They had tried their best to encourage the people to vote against it, but the majority of the people did not stand on their side. Ma Deyun was very helpless. Tens of thousands of shi of grain were stuck in their hands. What should they do?
Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, "I hereby announce a few things. First, the price of grain in the grain market will be one tael of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure). Second, in order to encourage farmers to grow grain, starting from today, the purchase price of all grain produced in Hanshan will be double that of previous years. Third, the Hanshan County Tax Police Camp is officially established, and the Tax Police Camp will be mainly responsible for cracking down on those unscrupulous merchants who smuggle grain."
In reality, one tael of silver per shi of grain was already double the price of previous years. For every shi of grain sold, the grain merchants could earn four or five qian of silver. Although the price of grain was higher than in previous years, the people were still overjoyed and supported it because yesterday it was still four taels of silver per shi of grain. As for raising the grain purchase price, it was entirely Wang Wenzhou's attempt to win over the hearts and minds of the people.
Including refugees from outside the city, Hanshan County now has a population of over 40. The amount of grain produced locally in Hanshan is simply a drop in the ocean. Grain must be mainly purchased from other places. Wang Wenzhou established the tax police battalion precisely to allow grain merchants to monopolize the grain trade, so that anyone who wanted to buy cheap grain from other places for their own use would be considered to be smuggling.
Ma Deyun didn't want to listen anymore and hurriedly went to discuss countermeasures with his friends. Tens of thousands of shi of grain—if sold yesterday, they could have earned hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Now, they couldn't even sell it at the original price!
When Ma Deyun returned to Chunfeng Pavilion and told his friends the news, everyone looked worried.
“Brother Wang, what do you think we should do about this? Why don’t you report him?” Ma Deyun asked.
Wang Wenhua thought for a moment, shook his head slightly, and said, "The people of Hanshan support the grain monopoly. Even if I impeach Sha Xiaowu, it will be of no use."
Yang Shan took a sip of tea, pondered for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed excitedly, "Let's continue harvesting grain!"
Ma Deyun frowned and asked doubtfully, "Still accepting? Wouldn't that mean losing everything?"
Yang Shan said with a smile, "We basically control the grain supply in the counties near Hanshan. Although Wang Wenzhou has joined forces with Li Jinshui and others to establish a grain store, the store's grain supply is limited. As long as we buy up all their grain, Wang Wenzhou will come begging us to sell him more!"
Sun Feng said, "But Wang Shazi has explicitly forbidden private grain trading! What if he uses this as an excuse to shut us down?"
"Haha..." Yang Shan laughed and said, "Wang Wenzhou means that the sale of grain is not allowed. We buy grain to eat, we just want to buy more grain to leave for our descendants. What can he do about it?"
"Brilliant! Brother Yang, what a brilliant plan!" Ma Deyun looked at Wang Wenhua and asked, "Brother Wang, do you think this method is feasible?"
"Haha!" Wang Wenhua laughed, "That's settled then! I'll put up another 100,000 taels of silver! You can contribute whatever silver you have. I don't believe that once we've collected all their grain, that silly little Wu won't be begging us to sell him! At that time, we'll offer 10 taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), take it or leave it!"
Ma Deyun nodded and said, "I need to go home and ask my father how much silver he can provide."
Yang Shan and the others also had to go home and ask their father for permission first, as they did not yet have control over the family finances.
"Sigh..." Lin Qing sighed. He had run out of money and retrieved the "stolen money" he had hidden in the county town. Since he didn't need to leave the town, he could easily launder the dirty money by directly purchasing grain.
Just as the four talented scholars were preparing to go home, a servant from Ma Deyun's household rushed in to report, saying, "Young master, something terrible has happened!"
"What happened?" Ma Deyun asked.
"Our grain convoy was hijacked by a group of people calling themselves the tax police. They not only seized the grain, but also detained us and the convoy. I am extremely grateful for their help, and that's why they let me come back to report," the man said in a panic.
"Haha..." Wang Wenhua laughed, "Silly Xiao Wu moved very quickly! It seems he was prepared all along. It's alright, anyway, this is the last batch of grain, and it's not much, only 10,000 shi. Let him confiscate it if he doesn't want it. Brother Ma, go and get everyone out of here first. We still need manpower to buy grain."
"Don't worry, Brother Wang, I'll take care of it right away," Ma Deyun replied.
That day, several grain purchasing points suddenly appeared in front of the Hanshan Grain Stores. The Four Talented Scholars continued to charge an extra 1 qian of silver per shi of grain, just as before.
Upon learning this, the people rushed to queue up to buy grain, and in no time, long queues formed in front of several grain stores.
Upon seeing this, Li Jinshui immediately went to report to Wang Wenzhou.
"Haha..." Wang Wenzhou laughed loudly, "Since these idiots are courting death, we don't mind continuing to dig the pit. Sell! Why not sell? We'll sell as much as they can buy! At worst, we'll go to Nanjing to buy more grain. With Old Wang's connections, as long as we don't empty the Nanjing granaries, buying some grain will be easy. Besides, we can earn 4 qian of silver per shi of grain, why not?"
"Godfather is a man of great talent and ambition, I admire him!" Li Jinshui flattered him again.
Wang Wenzhou laughed and said, "It's alright, you should go now. Your godmother is waiting for me to go see her clothes!"
"Damn it!" Wang Wenzhou curled his lip. "Goddesses are all fucking crazy! One wedding dress, and she's changed it every day for two days straight! Luckily, her brother Sheng Lei owns Ting'ermei Clothing, with a bunch of tailors working for him. Making a few clothes doesn't cost much. Otherwise, the clothes she's changed these past two days could bankrupt an average family."
Seeing that Wang Wenzhou did not object to selling grain, Li Jinshui left Zuihualou and went straight to Chunfengge.
"Hey, who's this?" Ma Deyun laughed loudly. "What's going on today? What brings Master Li here?"
Li Jinshui cupped his hands in greeting and said with a smile, "Young Master Ma is too kind. I heard that Young Master Ma is still collecting grain?"
"Hmm?" Ma Deyun frowned. Li Jinshui's visit was not friendly!
"What's wrong? What instructions does Master Li have? Did Wang Shazi send you?" Ma Deyun asked.
“Young Master Ma, this is not right of you! Lord Wang, Lord Wang Qingtian, is wholeheartedly devoted to the people. How can you be disrespectful to Lord Wang?” Li Jinshui complained.