The Female Assistant of Wei Yuyan Shuangfei

The Minister of Revenue Wang Zhi received the imperial order and assembled his troops that day. He led two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and headed straight for Jiangnan West Road.

The drought first caused a shortage of water, and then a shortage of food.

Wang Zhi went to Jiangnan West Road, not only to check the disaster situation, but also to purchase grain in Jiangnan. After all, the 200,000 dan of grain allocated by the Ministry of Revenue was only enough for Jinghu South Road.

After several days of raiding, scattered civilians fleeing famine could be seen on the official road west of Jiangnan. Some could even hide when they saw Wang Zhi's carriage.

According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, if someone left his registered place of residence without a government permit, he would be treated as a vagrant and killed on the spot.

Compared with the tragic situation on the Jiangnan West Road, bandits have already appeared on the Jinghu South Road, occupying the mountains and living in enclosed areas.

The government was now too busy to take care of itself and could not send troops to suppress the rebellion, so it could only leave it alone. This led to the famine on the road to Jinghu and Hunan, where people were almost cannibalizing their own children.

Although Laigu County was also affected, fortunately it was safe all the way from Yizhou to Yongzhou in the north. Although the impact was significant, it did not cause any serious damage.

Xie Shuting sat in a teahouse at the city gate, looking at the merchants coming and going outside the city gate. Her heart sank and she shook her head helplessly.

This is a natural disaster. With the current strength of the Song Dynasty, I am afraid it is still unable to fight against it.

After finishing a cup of tea, Shen Yancheng ran in, looking exhausted. He bowed from a distance and said, "Miss!~"

"Yeah!~"

Xie Shuting nodded slightly, then looked at the shopkeeper and said, "Another pot of tea."

"Master Shen!~"

The shopkeeper served the tea attentively and then left the teahouse.

Now that Miss Xie and Mr. Shen were present, it was inconvenient for him to listen to whatever they were talking about. After all, the more he knew, the faster he would die.

Shen Yancheng drank up the tea thirstily, smacking his lips and said, "Ah! I didn't expect that in just ten days, the drought has become more and more serious."

"How's the market going?" Xie Shuting asked softly.

"The cattle and sheep from the northern region can't come over, and most of them are jade from Dali."

As Shen Yancheng spoke, he stroked his hands and said thoughtfully, "But what we lack most right now is food. This jade is useless and cannot be sold at a high price, so the Chamber of Commerce confiscated it."

"Are those who trade in jade from the people of Song or Dali?"

"Both. But most people in Dali don't want money, they just want food." Shen Yancheng said helplessly.

He was very clear about the current price of grain. If he really exchanged grain for jade, he would be headless before the drought ended.

“Is there a drought in Dali as well?”

Seeing Xie Shuting's bitter and resentful expression, Shen Yancheng hurriedly said, "Miss! I have asked those merchants, and Dali is not short of food, nor has there been any natural disaster."

"So what do they mean?"

"this......"

Shen Yancheng looked around in a dilemma and lowered his voice and said, "I drank with those merchants a few days ago and heard that it seemed that King Jing of Dali was buying grain at a high price. I don't know what they are going to do specifically."

"King Jing of Dali?"

While thinking, Xie Shuting muttered to herself, "What is the other party trying to do by hoarding so much food? In the previous life, there were tens of thousands of casualties in this disaster, but Dali did not take action from beginning to end. Or is there something wrong in this life?"

Little did she know! While Xie Shuting was thinking, Shen Yancheng muttered something inexplicably, which instantly made Xie Shuting alert.

"Master Shen! What did you just say?"

"Ah!~"

Shen Yancheng was startled. Looking at Xie Shuting's solemn expression, he said, "I heard that King Jing of Dali seems to be doing business as well. He buys grain at a high price to make liquor."

Xie Shuting had wanted to brew liquor for a long time, but unfortunately the Song Dynasty was short of grain, so she put the matter on hold.

Thinking that after the promotion of sweet potatoes, the diversification of people's food rations can be put on the agenda. She did not do it for the desire of eating, but to concentrate alcohol.

Wine was popular before the Tang Dynasty, and rice wine was popular in the Song Dynasty. In her impression, this white wine should be a product of the late Song Dynasty.

As she hadn't tasted the liquor yet, Xie Shuting didn't dare to make any conclusions and gave up the idea.

"Master Shen!~"

"Miss, do you have any instructions?" Shen Yancheng responded.

"How much money does Hu Ya have now?"

Shen Yancheng calmed down, made some calculations, and said in a deep voice: "Except for the taxes to be paid and the taxes owed to the Ministry of Revenue, about 90,000 strings of cash can be allocated."

"The county government has 50,000 dan of official grain. These old grains will be sold to your Chamber of Commerce. You can use these old grains to maintain the market and ensure trade."

Shen Yancheng was shocked. He didn't believe that the young lady didn't know how important food was at the moment, so he quickly reminded her, "Young lady! Don't do that!"

"You are also a businessman and you should understand the importance of reputation. The other party can choose to trade in Laigu County, not only with the help of the government but also with your support. This little reputation cannot be destroyed." Xie Shuting said calmly.

Shen Yancheng was very clear about the deep meaning of Xie Shuting's words, but exchanging grain for jade was a losing deal at the moment.

"But Miss, regarding this matter of official grain, I cannot do anything without the master's approval." Shen Yancheng's tone suddenly showed a hint of embarrassment.

Xie Shuting saw it but didn't say much. After all, this matter concerned nine clans, and it was a year of great disaster, so no one dared to commit a crime.

Thinking of this, Xie Shuting said softly: "It's okay, I will explain this to my father. In addition, you can post notices in the household office in the city and collect grain from the people at a price 20% higher than the market price. That's enough."

"Miss! You are..."

Xie Shuting stroked the cup and chuckled, "It is better for the government to store grain among the people than to collect it from them. In order to attract the attention of the people, you will purchase 50,000 dan of grain from the Qingyu Grain Shop in the city and store it in the government treasury."

"Do they have food?" Shen Yancheng couldn't help but ask with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes, I arranged it before. I will let Lian Xi go with you later."

There were only two families coming to Gu County to sell grain, and he knew very well how much grain they had in stock. Unexpectedly, Xie Shuting knew it better than him.

Shen Yancheng hurriedly stroked his hand and said, "I obey your command."

The two discussed for a while, and then Lian Xi took Shen Yancheng to the Qingyu Grain Shop to purchase grain.

Fifty thousand dan of grain is not a small amount, but after Lian Xi's inexplicable suggestion, the shopkeeper immediately understood what he meant and went to make the arrangements.

Naturally, the price has to be 20% higher than the market price. After all, Hsieh Shu-ting is not doing charity, but she will not make money from the national disaster.

New grain was put into the warehouse and old grain was taken out. Shen Yancheng immediately took action and posted notices everywhere in the city, raising the price of grain by 20% and indicating the price limit.

The people spread the news by word of mouth and flocked to the grain shops to buy grain.

Merchants who had originally intended to wait and see began to sell grain in their shops after seeing the notice posted by the government.

They would not miss the opportunity to make money, and at the same time they did not dare to gamble whether Lord Xie would collect grain or sell grain in the future.

In order to protect their own property, the current situation is to sell as much as they can and recover as much as they can.