Xue Yao's sharp judgment impressed the Crown Prince.
He agreed to buy the 50,000 stones of grain because Xue Yao said that the purchase price of Zhejiang merchants was more expensive than this price by 20 cents, and even if it was the bragging of the grain merchants, the actual situation would not be much cheaper, so it should not be a disadvantage to take the 50,000 stones of grain.
Now that Xue Yao had shown his insight, the Crown Prince began to seriously think about what he had said about inflating the price of grain.
Worried that the problem was really as dire as he claimed, the Crown Prince asked Xue Yao to be invited to the study alone to deliberate.
The two of them negotiated several countermeasures against the possible increase in grain prices.
The coping strategy is to attack each one.
According to Xue Yao, there is more than one zheshang collecting grain, which avoids the problem of monopoly.
There are always relatively weak-willed, worried about the grain in the hands of the Zheshang, will take the initiative to give in.
The strategy given by the Prince was to attack the heart.
Wait until the Zhejiang, the major grain line once, if the price is raised too high, pick one of the grain company, often walk around.
By doing so, they deliberately ignored the other grain houses and made them suspect that that house had lowered its prices privately in an attempt to monopolize the business.
As long as the suspicion and competition within the grain merchants were provoked, the one who would profit would be the Crown Prince's side.
Xue Yao was impressed by the Crown Prince's dashing demeanor in winning a thousand miles, and his little fanboy eyes stared brightly at the Crown Prince's upright figure.
As soon as the Crown Prince turned his head, a pair of sleepy phoenix eyes without waves happened to meet Xue Yao's rounded eyes.
Xue Yao hurriedly lowered her gaze, blushing slightly in embarrassment.
The prince thought that this little companion was too stuffy in the study, and personally paced and pushed open the carved wooden window.
Originally intended to immediately depart for Zhejiang, but also thought that if someone really revealed the news that they were in a hurry to buy grain and rice, then they could not appear to be in a hurry, and simply stayed in Jinling City for two days.
The next day, Xue Yao went to each grain store alone to talk to the proprietors, but he was not lucky enough to meet a far-sighted shopkeeper like the first grain store, and the prices offered by the other grain stores were not less than 610 Wen.
It seemed that there was no way to collect bits and pieces of cheap grain, so Xue Yao was relieved to start enjoying the scenery of Jinling.
Originally intended to accompany the sixth prince to go to the Qinhuai River, taste the hometown of the flavor of the snacks, but the sixth prince are "not suited to the soil do not have the strength to go out" reason, shirked.
Though the little brat was pretending to be something like that.
But Xue Yao was crystal clear.
The little cub was blaming himself for being duped.
A total of thirty bags of grain, less than ten taels of silver, not enough for the little prince to chew on for a few days, let the sixth prince blame himself and be ashamed like this.
Xue Yao also accompanied the Sixth Prince in his melancholy.
The situation on that day, he simply couldn't help but dismantle the truth that the Sixth Prince was being pitched, or else this trip to collect grain, he would no longer have any semblance of a voice, and would become a joke in the eyes of the eunuchs who were picking up the grain.
It's really a case of water hitting the dragon king's temple and family members hitting their own family members.
Who let the Sixth Prince run into the gun on his own.
The Crown Prince's master had to discuss the specific implementation details of the disaster relief loan with his own strategists every day, and he also had to be busy comforting his own sixth brother, which was simply exhausting.
I agreed to take Sixth Brother with me to collect the grain so that this little guy, who always likes to be "righteous and generous", would understand that money is not easy to come by.
Wanted the Sixth Prince to see with his own eyes what the common people, running around and laboring for one or two coins looked like.
I didn't expect to let this little guy experience the treachery of the common people first ......
"There are good people and bad people in this world, you must be wary of strangers." The Prince Master relieved, "Breaking a little fortune to eat a lesson is not a bad thing, I have already sent people to track down that old man who sold grain to you, he can't escape the trial of the county court, so don't get hurt over this."
"I didn't hurt my spirit." The Sixth Prince nervously looked up at his elder brother, "Brother, don't arrest that old man, he's so old, came from out of town, pushed such a heavy cart just to cheat me out of ten taels of silver, I think he's already desperate."
The Prince froze, and his gaze became helpless but softened.
This sixth brother always touched the warmest and softest part of his heart.
The Prince asked, "You don't blame the old man?"
The Sixth Prince shook his head.
"So who are you getting mad at these days?"
"I'm not having a tantrum, big brother, I'm just waterlogged."
The Prince stared at him with a penetrating gaze and didn't say anything.
The sixth prince had to bow his head and admit it, "Say it, brother don't laugh at me, I am angry at myself, I always feel that I have studied for so many years in vain, even the old man who farms the land can fool me. What right does a stupid thing like me have to be clothed and fed, the heavens have favored me too much, I don t deserve ...... it."
"Why do you have such odd ideas?" The Crown Prince frowned and lectured, "Is acquiring literary and military tactics for the purpose of going out and cheating a few taels of silver to be arrested and taken to the government! You brat ......"
Seeing that the Sixth Prince lowered his head in shame, Xue Yao, who was silent on the side, hurriedly stepped forward and pleaded with his eyes for the Crown Prince to stop blaming the Sixth Prince.
"Hey!" The crown prince was also afraid that the heavy words would make his brother feel bad, and with a fling of his sleeve, he went out with his hands in the air.
The Sixth Prince and Xue Yao were the only ones left in the east wing, along with two serving eunuchs.
"Your Highness." Xue Yao looked steadily at this little cub's sad little face.
"I'm just not very comfortable in my body," Sixth Prince lowered his head, "Ah Yao, go play on the street by yourself, don't worry about me."
"I have no intention of minding you." Xue Yao looked at him coldly with an expressionless face and spoke, "It's just that I can't hold back some words, can I ask you a few questions, Your Highness?"
The Sixth Prince froze and looked up at him suspiciously, "You speak."
Xue Yao spoke with a cold face, "How on earth did you fall for such a simple trick?"
The Sixth Prince froze and his face instantly turned red.
I didn't expect Xue Yao to be so unforgiving.
Xue Yao continued to speak with a cold face, "A carload of rice can't earn more than a few cents, and if it's really shipped from abroad, do you know how much the carriage fee would be?"
The sixth prince was embarrassed, his eyes averted and answered in a small voice, "I don t know ...... in the palace, no one told me this."
Xue Yao gave a disdainful smile and mocked, "Even if you don't have access to these things at all, you can't trust the common people so easily, how many good things are there in Da Qi's people?"
The two eunuchs on the side heard their faces turn green with fear.
Is this young companion crazy? No matter how good the Sixth Prince's temper is, he can't talk to him like this!
The Sixth Prince really knit his brows and looked at Xue Yao with a huffy face, "You can't say that, there are many good people in Da Qi, that old man was just a coincidence that happened to be bumped into by me, you can't deny the character of the common people in the whole world because of a coincidence."
Xue Yao nodded indifferently, "That means this time you were cheated was just a fluke, and you'll still trust the people in the future? What if you get cheated again? I think it's better for you to return to the palace immediately, lest you cause trouble for His Highness the Crown Prince."
For the first time, the Sixth Prince's gaze was stern and angry, he steeply stood up and said angrily, "I will still trust the common people, but I learned from my mistakes, I didn't understand before, I came out to practice just to know this, I will be more cautious in the future, and I won't cause any trouble for you!"
There was a silence.
Xue Yao's cold face suddenly softened, and she laughed out at Nuan Bao, speaking softly: "You're finally willing to argue for yourself for once? This is not it? You understand the reasoning in your heart, the sin is not on you ah, the fault is that treacherous farmers, you suffer from inexperience, now know, not good?"
Xue Yao took a deep breath and continued, "Why do you want to punish yourself with other people's mistakes? You are really heartbreaking. If a Bodhisattva-hearted person like you is not favored by the heavens, is it possible to let that pitiful and treacherous farmer be in a high position and cause harm to all beings?"
There was a silence.
The Sixth Prince's angry face gradually stretched out as he stared at Xue Yao in dismay.
Xue Yao stepped forward and looked at Baby Nuan and spoke in a low voice, ''Whoever makes a mistake, whoever bears it. You can't blame yourself for other people's mistakes. That treacherous farmer pitting people should be arrested and put in jail, he's not the only one who has worked hard in this world, and no one else has compromised the interests of others to satisfy themselves like he has."
"Meeting bad people is not your fault." Xue Yao stared fixedly at the Sixth Prince and spoke in a low voice with a more resolute attitude, "Your mother consort's perennial depression is also not your fault, absolutely not. Your Highness, you have already done well enough."
Out of nowhere, a mist of water floated in the Sixth Prince's eyes.
The autumn leaves outside the window were swept up by the wind in a rustle, and danced in mid-air with the warm sunlight.
"Thank you, Ah Yao." The Sixth Prince smiled, only his normally bright smiling eyes were hazy with water, and through a layer of fog, the gentle smile of Xue Yao in the pupils of his eyes were blurred by tears.
Sixth Prince's short fifteen years of life, as if always waiting for this "not your fault".
Finally, he waited.
Xue Yao raised her hand and was just about to help Warm Baby wipe the tear stains from the corner of her eyes when an alert suddenly came to her mind: [Lu Qian's sense of security is reduced by 1].
"Oh!" Xue Yao retracted his hand in a panic.
"What's wrong with you?" The Sixth Prince cocked his head in confusion.
"It's ...... fine." Xue Yao had a hard time saying it.
And what's wrong with this little fat kid!
Did ...... the courtesans not give milk on time during this time?
*
Followed the Crown Prince to Hangzhou, but the grain ship had not yet followed.
It was also Xue Yao's idea to appear even more careless if the rush to collect grain had already leaked out.
It was the day after disembarkation that we officially went to the food bank to explore the area.
This time, it was still Xue Yao and the eunuch who traveled with him, and the Crown Prince had to wait for the final pat on the back for delivery.
No different from the trip to Jinling, the group first picked a medium-sized grain store to inquire about prices.
Hearing that there was a big business to talk about, the fellow immediately invited the shopkeeper out.
Eunuch Liu was still in his usual sophisticated attitude, "Our old man wants to ship a batch of grain to the north, and after hearing our local friends praising the credibility of your grain store, I came to pay my respects, wanting to talk to the shopkeeper about a big deal."
Xue Yao thought of many possibilities, this group of Zhejiang merchants might put up a show of disinterest and deliberately quote a very high price.
Still, the reality was beyond his expectations.
"Big business? How much grain do you need?" The shopkeeper's attitude was very humble, using the not too skillful northern dialect, honestly confessed: "What a coincidence, some time ago there are Beijing merchants to collect grain here, now the stock of grain are all set out, the stock is only enough to sell to next year, our grain store is afraid that this year can not talk about other big business, we can only look forward to your patronage next year."
Eunuch Liu's face changed and he turned his head towards Xue Yao in surprise.
Xue Yao met his eyes with the same surprised look.
"There are other capital merchants buying grain?" Xue Yao asked.
The shopkeeper replied truthfully, "That's right, specifically, I'm not sure, that guest listened to the accent, like a merchant from the capital."
"How much grain did they collect?" Eunuch Liu asked sharply.
The shopkeeper smiled, this belongs to the privacy of the guests, it is inconvenient to disclose, can only answer: "The two Beijing merchants are anxious to collect a large amount of grain, not only patronized our grain store, some grain store owners also sent people to Jiangsu to collect a batch of grain, supply to the two merchants."
Eunuch Liu went white all of a sudden.
The situation was not at all what he had expected!
If this group of Zhejiang merchants want to store grain not to come out and inflate the price of grain, then it is okay.
If all the food is taken by others, it will be over!
Last year, many areas suffered natural disasters, Henan, Hunan and Guangdong areas of the harvest were collected by the Ministry of the household, only Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas have a surplus, which would be bad if it was also collected, then it would be bad!
"You just said that the grain was ordered by the Beijing merchant, which means that the merchant has not yet delivered the full amount with you?" Eunuch Liu panicked and directly pursued the question.
"Oh ......" the shopkeeper smiled politely again, because the business has been negotiated, the customer also paid a deposit, the specific details of this transaction, he will have to keep it secret for the client, it is inconvenient to talk more, only vaguely said, "It has been handed over a Part of it, just the cargo ship has not yet arrived."
Xue Yao felt that things were completely different from what he had imagined, and that he couldn't afford to disorganize himself at this time, he had to go back and renegotiate first.
However, Eunuch Liu was impatient.
Fearing that the Emperor's errand will be smashed in his own hands, with beads of sweat on his head, Eunuch Liu gritted his teeth and said to the shopkeeper: "What cargo ship has not arrived? I think he is not enough cash, want to take possession of the goods first! Our master has brought all the silver to Hangzhou to collect grain, you say, what price do you give them?"
"Oh." The shopkeeper laughed and didn't hide it, making a gesture to, "Six hundred and ninety Wen a stone."
Eunuch Liu froze, "They bought top quality grain and rice?"
The shopkeeper returned, "It's lower middle class."
"Joke!" Eunuch Liu was so angry that his mouth twisted and he slapped the table, "Purchasing a large quantity of medium rice, you sell it at a price higher than the market price? Do you think we are fools!"
The shopkeeper also stood up and said, "Objective rest, this deal is really unexpected, our grain store's stock is really not enough, if there is still a need next year, welcome to patronize."
"You ......" Eunuch Liu was about to taunt, but was stopped by Xue Yao.
Xue Yao whispered in his ear and reminded, "Go back first Eunuch, this matter is by no means simple, we have to find out before we can take action, the more this happens, the less we can disorganize ourselves."
Thinking that he couldn't even look at the upper-middle grain of 570 wen in Jinling, and now the Zhejiang merchant actually raised the price by more than 100 wen, Eunuch Liu's face instantly turned into a pig's liver color, and he didn't have the face to argue with Xue Yao anymore.