The two of them hurried back to the mansion and reported the situation to the Crown Prince.
"It's these crooked merchants who set us up!" Eunuch Liu kept wiping the sweat on his forehead and neck with a handkerchief, and said to the Crown Prince with a sharp voice: "Your Highness has mobilized this batch of grain, in addition to lending money to the affected counties in Shanxi to provide relief, there is still half of the surplus, which is enough for a year's turnover of the newly established warehouse. In addition to you, who else would suddenly mobilize so much grain? It must be a fake show orchestrated by those treacherous merchants!"
"What's even more ridiculous is that they said that the Beijing merchants are willing to take 700 wen a stone, to collect medium grain, more expensive than the market price, who has more money to burn their hands not!"
"They want to knock us down hard?" The Crown Prince looked to Xue Yao.
"In my opinion, this matter may not be orchestrated by Zheshang." Xue Yao nodded and replied, "According to the previous assumption, someone leaked the news of His Highness the Crown Prince's emergency grain collection, even if Zheshang had the guts to make a fortune, they should have made preparations earlier and purchased grain at a low price from Jinling City in batches.
And the actual situation, is that overnight, Zhejiang merchants regardless of cost, from the Jinling City counterparts to buy a large amount of grain, if only to inflate the price of grain, do so, the risk is too great."
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes slightly, "Do you mean that there are indeed so-called Beijing merchants who rushed ahead of me and negotiated a deal with them before they were allowed to raise grain at any cost?"
"Exactly this intention." Xue Yao analyzed, "Today, I heard that grain storekeeper say that the Beijing merchant's price for collecting grain is six hundred and ninety Wen per stone, and only such a price can make the Zhejiang merchants transfer grain from their counterparts at the sky-high price of five hundred and ninety Wen at all costs. Without such a bottom line, it is unlikely that these Zheshang merchants would dare to take such a big risk."
Eunuch Liu was unimpressed and frowned as he argued, "What can't these crooked merchants do for profit? Which fool is willing to spend 690 Wen to collect grain in bulk? This group of grain merchants in Zhejiang are in collusion and have emptied out all the grain in Jinling City just so that we can offer a price higher than six hundred and ninety Wen to grab this batch of grain with the Beijing merchants that they have programmed!"
Xue Yao ignored him, still looking at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince asked Xue Yao, "What other signs are there to prove that there really is that one Beijing merchant who came to Zhejiang to collect grain at sky-high prices before us."
Still, the Crown Prince was able to get to the point, and Xue Yao immediately replied, "It's the attitude of the owner of that grain store, the way he talked business with us - he didn't put up a fight, he didn't keep his appetite up, he wasn't condescending, and he was calm and collected. This is not the kind of behavior that would be expected from an unscrupulous businessman who has a bunch of goods in his hand and is trying to lure people into a trap by all means."
"This just goes to show that he is the most treacherous of treacherous merchants." Eunuch Liu said unconvincingly, "He can fool you, but he can't fool us!"
Xue Yao arched his hand and said to the Crown Prince: "The matter is so important that my personal judgment alone will naturally not be convincing, so I hope that Your Highness will condescend to go to the grain store and inquire about it yourself."
"Good, then let's assume for a moment that there really is such a Beijing merchant who is willing to spend a price higher than the bulk sale and collect grain in large quantities." Prince said, "Zhejiang grain merchants aren't afraid that things are out of the ordinary in which there are frauds? You just said that the Beijing merchants only paid a deposit, Zhejiang grain merchants are not worried about the other side of the change of heart? That Beijing merchants will not be Jinling grain merchants sent, specializing in deceiving them to Jinling high price collection of grain trust?"
Xue Yao honestly replied, "I have no way of guessing this, but from the awe that that shopkeeper had for the Beijing merchants, I'm afraid that the other party is also someone with status. Perhaps there is something coming from it that puts these Zheshang merchants in the right place in their hearts."
The Prince was lost in thought.
Eunuch Liu reminded in a low voice, "Why don't we stay put and wear him out first. No matter what Beijing merchant he is, even if he has more power, he can't casually afford a million taels of silver."
"The problem is that we can't afford to spend it now." The Crown Prince exhaled a deep breath, "Half a month later, the peasants in most of the affected counties will be borrowing from landlords and rich merchants, and the effect of the new law trial will be minimal."
Eunuch Liu said nervously, "How about, in the name of the imperial court's disaster relief, we ask the Zhejiang merchants to put off their other business and sell the rice and grain to us at a thin profit."
"Do you want the new law to be reduced to a laughing stock?" One of the Crown Prince's strategists stepped forward to argue, "During the trial period of the new law, we have to prove to the Emperor that we don't need to exert pressure in the name of the imperial court, and we don't impede the free trade of the people, but only rely on the advantages of easy transportation and thin profits to benefit the people and at the same time, fill up the national treasury."
The Prince was deep in thought.
Immediately the people in the hall held their breath and waited for orders.
"All retire, summon Xu Liang Zhang Qing to meet me." After saying this, the Crown Prince turned around and paced to the coffee table to sit down.
After Xue Yao went out, he thought to himself that Xu Zhang and the two of them were the first class guards of the Crown Prince, the masterful masterful masterful masterful kind.
The two should have been summoned for some kind of secret probing torture mission or something like that.
The Prince may be trying to find out the true identity of the so-called "Beijing merchant".
*
In the palace schoolyard.
The Fifth Prince drilled dozens of rounds with the Sword Art Instructor, both arms and outer thighs were swollen by the cane in the Instructor's hand, but the long sword in his own hand didn't touch the Instructor's leather armor for a second.
The Fifth Prince was so tired that he couldn't lift his arms up, and turned his head to copy the Seventh Prince who was playing chess in the teepee and shouted, "Old Seventh, you come up and pass a few moves."
"Not on." The Seventh Prince had never given much face to Fifth Brother.
"Eh!" The Fifth Prince turned around and walked over in a rage, teaching his younger brother, "You kids know how to be lazy all day long, you don't understand the fun of practicing martial arts, look at your brother me, sweating like a pig, fighting with Instructor Li for dozens of rounds, no winners and losers, it's just so enjoyable!"
The Seventh Prince let out a light laugh, "I haven't seen my brother win, I've seen my brother unilaterally take a beating all the time."
"Nonsense!" The Fifth Prince was unconvinced, "You've been staring at the chessboard, when did you watch us compete with swords?"
The Seventh Prince dropped a black stone, "Listening."
"Can you still hear who lost and who won by listening?"
"Rattan whipping sound, and sword touch leather sound, different." The seventh prince sat here for half an hour, light heard the fifth brother was whipped, really have no face to watch the battle, can only let the eunuchs to fetch the chess board over.
The Fifth Prince immediately held back his red face.
Old Seven, the little fat cub, always gave him, his older brother, a fright every now and then.
Unlike the other children, Old Seven can seem dumber and less human than his peers much of the time, yet he can show insight into certain special things that stand out.
The fifth prince in order to find back the dignity of being a brother, eagerly explains: "In the end, Instructor Li is a great general origin, on the strength and reaction speed, although I can be slightly better, the experience is far worse than him, every move before striking, can be predicted by him, but also need to be more practical combat accumulation. You look at you again, never participate in the practice, every time big brother inspection only temporary clasp, sooner or later to eat a big loss, hurry to stand up, go up to the head of the instructor over a couple of moves, up experience."
"The roasted leg of lamb is almost ready." The dish the Seventh Prince had ordered was about to be served, and training was impossible to train.
"Eat after practicing!" Without saying a word, the Fifth Prince grabbed the Seventh Prince's wrist.
The Seventh Prince looked up at Fifth Brother and immediately deflated, bending over to cover his lower abdomen, "Ouch!"
"The Imperial Doctor's ointment doesn't even give you a sticker anymore, and you're still pretending! Do you still want to pretend to be sick for the rest of your life with this injury?" The Fifth Prince was eager to let the Seventh Brother taste the power of the Instructor so that he could save face, and without any further ado, he dragged his brother towards the drill ground and pulled him.
Thus, Instructor Li once again faced off with the Seventh Prince after three months.
Li head of the young prince is a headache, because the seventh prince is not like the fifth prince "real sword is dry", the chubby seventh prince likes to "play dirty".
Specifically, the Seventh Prince didn't like to meet battles head on, always swaying and flashing around, wearing out people's patience, and then coldly shading them, not following common sense.
And don't look at the seventh prince looks quite white and solid, but the body method is surprisingly light, is the most flexible fat person that Instructor Li has ever met in his life!
So before this crossing, Instructor Lee said hello -
"Your Highness, let's compare swords in a serious manner, when we really go to the battlefield, there are stray arrows and enemy waving chaotic swords everywhere, there is no such a big field for you to dodge around, and you can't opportunistically try to get away with it."
The Seventh Prince's pair of shallow pupils narrowed slightly, staring at the Head Teacher with a smile on his face, "If Master can dodge your sword, he can naturally dodge stray vectors and machetes as well."
Instructor Li was obviously dissatisfied with the young prince's arrogance, and because of his status, he could not pour cold water on it, but could only retort, "Your Highness is a manly man, why do you always prefer to retreat for advancement?"
The Seventh Prince laughed out the tips of his two small tiger teeth, squinting down to stare at his sword as he replied in a low voice, "The way you guys threw yourselves into the net was particularly amusing."
"What did you say?" The instructor didn't hear.
The Seventh Prince suddenly raised his eyes, "Let the horse come over, no hiding this time, Your Highness's roasted leg of lamb can't get cold."
With this sentence, Instructor Li heard it clearly, and his fighting spirit as a military general was aroused, and he shouted "Look at the move!"
The Head Teacher shook his rattan and attacked towards the Seventh Prince!
The tip of the Seventh Prince's left ear trembled slightly, and a pair of glazed light pupils showed slight doubt.
That feeling was even clearer when you were up close and personal with the godfather's strike.
The air currents around the instructor's body were surging.
Ever since his lower abdominal wound had healed, the Seventh Prince had noticed that his surroundings weren't quite the same.
It was as if everything around him would slow down when he was fully focused on a particular spot.
Even the fluttering wings of flying insects were slow.
The Seventh Prince could feel the air currents brought up by the vibrations of the wings, and through the changes in the air currents, he could easily determine the trajectory of the flying insects' movements.
No need to see with your eyes.
At the moment, staring intently at the Head Teacher, the Seventh Prince could feel the invisible air currents driven around him-
The cane was stabbing toward his left shoulder, and the airflow from the godfather's wrist and ankle was slamming in the opposite direction.
It's a false move. He's going to attack the right side.
The instructor made a false move, and with a twist of his wrist he attacked the Emperor's right shoulder.
Unexpectedly, the unresponsive little prince actually did not dodge to the right, but instead dodged to the left, as if he had seen his move set in advance.
How is this possible!
The head teacher was just about to close his stance when his right hand holding the rattan suddenly sank, his wrist was grabbed by the young prince and yanked forward with surprising force!
"Bang--"
Suddenly being slapped heavily on his right shoulder, the instructor's entire body tumbled sideways and fell to the ground, and when he came back to his senses and raised his eyes, he saw his cane, being carried upside down in his hand.
Slowly looking up along the cane, the Seventh Prince lowered his head and stared at him expressionlessly.
"Sir is slower than before." The Seventh Prince was a little disappointed.
Instructor Lee: ".................."
It's obvious that you kids don't follow the rules!
With the dignity of a military general, Instructor Li wants a rematch.
However, the Seventh Prince had already smelled the aroma of roasted leg of lamb and returned the rattan, darting away from the drill ground.
The Fifth Prince's heart was simply crumbling.
I don't know if this Instructor had received favors from Princess Shi Shi, and every time he faced Old Seven, he let go of the water.
In the past, at least the eagle had to catch chickens, chasing for a while before releasing the water, but today, the head of the teaching staff was actually knocked down by Laoqi in one move!
Where does that leave his fifth brother's dignity!
Turning his head to see the chubby Chitti--
The Seventh Prince pulled out a dagger from his pocket and had already begun to cut the leg of the goat.
That Dagger ......
"Isn't this the dagger that big brother gave us?" The Fifth Prince stormed out, "How could you use this dagger to cut mutton!"
The Seventh Prince cut the mutton while raising his eyes to look at Fifth Brother, "Master also uses it to cut beef."
"Not even for beef!" The Fifth Prince angrily pointed at the dagger, "This is the long knife of the front generals who handily slayed the head of the Japanese invaders, and after the blade was rolled up, it was split and recast into seven daggers, so how can it be used to cut mutton? Its blade represents the majesty of Daqi's iron cavalry, and its tip is issuing a majestic warning to the Japanese invaders advancing along the coast!"
The Seventh Prince looked at the dagger and asked in surprise, "It still speaks human language?"
"It's not that!" The Fifth Prince grabbed the dagger, picked up the Ge towel on the table, and carefully wiped off the oil stains on the blade, "Big Brother gave this dagger to us to send Big Brother's love for us."
"Who would give a favorite person a dagger?" The Seventh Prince began to tear the lamb with his bare hands.
"What's wrong with the dagger?" The Fifth Prince slanted his brother a disgruntled glance, "What else would you want to give?"
The Seventh Prince's pair of peach blossom eyes squinted and smiled as he spoke in a gentle whisper, "Rabbit."
He raised his eyes and smiled condescendingly at Fifth Brother, "Master pulled out a pure white rabbit, timid and not fast enough to run, Yao Yao likes it."
The Fifth Prince blinked, remembered something, and asked, "You mean the silly white rabbit that Ah Yao sent to the dining room?"
The Seventh Prince's hand tearing the mutton lurched, the smile on his face disappeared, and slowly, shocked, he raised his eyes to the Fifth Prince!
"How ...... what's going on?" The Fifth Prince suddenly felt a strong murderous aura.
**
It's been two days and the Prince is still telling everyone to stay put.
Sixth Prince knows that his brother met a big trouble, all day long to let the second Prince divination fortune telling, counting Zheshang when to be willing to reduce the price.
The Second Prince said that counting more would not work, and the Sixth Prince could only go to Xue Yao for small talk to alleviate his anxiety.
The two talked about that fall hunt before they left the capital.
The Sixth Prince said, "Before I left, Seventh Brother also gave me a gray rabbit, I asked my aunt to help me keep it well, I don't know if it has grown fat now."
Xue Yao's heart thumped as he vainly tried, "The rabbit that His Highness the Seventh Prince sent you? You ...... you didn't roast it and eat it?"
"How can you eat a rabbit sent by seventh brother!" The Sixth Prince seriously retorted, "That was Seventh Brother's intention, he only sends rabbits to those close to him, even Second Brother didn't receive one. If I eat the rabbit sent by my brother, what kind of elder brother am I!"
Xue Yao blanched, "......"
Doesn't the little chubby cub dig up rabbits for food!
[Warning: Land dive security reduced by 5.]
The author has something to say:
Xue Yao: Brother Prince, please help me send a message to the Imperial Catering Room to save me and Rabbit's life!