Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"No, absolutely not! You're putting me in a difficult position, I can't agree to that. Let's go now."

"I only reluctantly agreed to accept your grain purchase because of Xiaozhi, but what you're doing is putting me in a very difficult position. I really should have..."

In Wangjia Village, Wang Sheng, a local gentry and village head, looked extremely displeased when he learned that Sun Jingyao had come to collect grain.

However, out of respect for Fa Xiaozhi, it was not appropriate to directly drive him away.

Unexpectedly, Sun Jingyao had a huge appetite and wanted to take over the entire harvest of more than 1,000 mu of land belonging to forty households in Wangjia Village.

I thought you would only take a hundred or so shi (a unit of dry measure), but who would have thought you would actually take them all?

This put Wang Sheng in a difficult position.

If you're allowed to collect it, how will the local gentry explain themselves? They come here every year to buy grain.

If we don't let you accept it, it's disrespecting Fa Xiaozhi. Although the Fa family was stripped of their official qualifications for "committing a crime" back then, even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse, and the powerful families of Dongzhou still have to give him some face.

Moreover, the Legalist family is only lacking officials; it's not that they've declined. In fact, the Legalist family is one of the most powerful and influential families in the entire Eastern Continent, and their influence is immense.

On one hand, there was the reputation of Fa Xiaozhi; on the other hand, there was the despicable face of a local gentry and wealthy man.

Wang Sheng felt as if he were caught in the middle, neither side able to stand up to him, feeling extremely embarrassed and frustrated.

Sun Jingyao immediately noticed Wang Sheng's embarrassment and quickly stepped forward, patting him on the shoulder and saying kindly, "Hey, Village Chief Wang, please help me out!"

I know that in this surrounding area, there's no decision you can't make.

Look, we've come all this way to the Land of Abundance, we can't just leave empty-handed, right?

"Please be lenient with me, then we can be friends from now on."

As he spoke, he skillfully took a ten-tael silver ingot from the servant behind him and silently placed it on the table.

Upon seeing the silver, Wang Sheng immediately grabbed it and tried to stuff it back, saying, "Manager Sun, what are you doing? Take it away, take it away quickly, this won't do."

“Listen to me, this money is not for you, but for your aunt.”

"what?"

"This is my first time here, and I didn't bring any gifts in my haste. So I can only offer this humble gift to express my feelings. Does the village head Wang not allow anyone to present this to your mother?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Sheng immediately stopped making excuses.

He was a very filial son, and since Sun Jingyao was giving a gift to his mother, he had no reason to refuse.

"Oh, Manager Sun, aren't you putting me in a difficult position? The village's grain is all collected by designated large grain merchants. How am I supposed to explain this to them now that you've barged in like this?"

"Wang Lizheng, there's no need to worry. I will take care of this matter and it will absolutely not involve you."

"Since you can get involved with the Legalist school, you must have some connections. However, the villagers are used to having designated local gentry collect rice, so they may not be willing to sell to you."

"You don't need to worry about Wang the village head anymore. I'll talk to the villagers myself and I guarantee we can reach an agreement."

Wang Sheng thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh: "Alright, we still have to give the Legalists face. Since you're already here, we can't let you come for nothing."

"It's still about a month before the rice harvest. In the meantime, you can talk to the villagers yourself; I'll pretend I didn't see anything."

Sun Jingyao immediately cupped his hands and smiled, "Thank you very much, Village Chief Wang, for your kindness. I am truly grateful."

As he spoke, he took the second silver ingot from the servant and placed it on the table with great enthusiasm: "Consider this money as a cup of tea for Wang Lizheng to quench his thirst. Please don't think it's too little."

Wang Lizheng glanced at the two silver ingots on the table and sighed again.

"Alright, go and visit the village. The villagers have it tough, so hopefully you can get them a good price."

Sun Jingyao stood up and cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your understanding, village head. I will definitely pay you a visit after this is done."

After saying that, he left with a group of servants.

With Wang Lizheng dealt with, the rest went much more smoothly.

At first, when the villagers heard that Sun Jingyao had come to collect the summer grain, they all shook their heads and refused.

Although the local gentry and wealthy people did their best to suppress grain prices, making it unprofitable for the villagers.

However, the villagers are still unwilling to trust outsiders.

But when Sun Jingyao offered two shi of grain for one tael of silver, everyone's resolve wavered.

In addition, since Sun Jingyao would bring small gifts such as meat and candy whenever he visited a family, they did not object to his request to collect their grain.

Moreover, one tael of silver yields two shi of grain, which is more than double the profit from selling grain in previous years.

Given that Manager Sun seemed kind and sincere, I decided to do business with him.

And so, Sun Jingyao quickly signed a procurement contract with them, and the matter was settled.

At this moment, merchants from Jiangnan are traveling back and forth in the major grain-producing areas of eastern Sichuan.

In just over ten days, apart from the manors of large landowners, almost all the farmers in the Shudong region who grew crops secretly signed sales contracts with the visitors.

Of course, in order to avoid suspicion, some people also went to buy grain from wealthy landlords.

The result was predictable: the person was kicked out.

Furthermore, the major landowners and established families who primarily dealt in the grain business reached an agreement.

That means no matter what price the grain merchants in Jiangnan offer, we cannot sell them a single grain of rice.

At this moment, under Jiang Chong's deliberate guidance, the prominent merchant families in Shu were extremely resistant to outside merchants.

The grain collection was proceeding in an orderly manner, and the purchase of silk was also underway quietly.

Zhen Yi visited various silk and brocade shops and placed orders ranging from dozens to hundreds of bolts from each shop.

In fact, the official textile workshops were already operating at full capacity and could no longer handle any more orders.

However, the fact that the government is unwilling to accept new orders does not mean that the local authorities are unwilling.

To be honest, the booming business of the weaving workshop has long been the envy of these local merchants who have been in the silk business for many years.

Now that there's finally a chance to make money, nobody wants to miss it.

So, these silk shops secretly signed orders with Zhen Yi and his group behind the backs of the weaving workshops.

Since it's civilian-grade silk brocade, the requirements aren't as high, so the price is naturally much cheaper.

Afterwards, Zhen Yi took out her abacus and did the math, only to find that she had ordered nearly 100,000 bolts of silk.

The owner of the silk shop, having received Zhen Yi's order, naturally had to find a way to contact the silkworm farmers.

When it comes to silkworm farming, silkworm farmers are the ones who have the most to say.

They all said that if the quantity of mulberry leaves can fully meet the demand, then there is no need to say anything else.

In any case, raising silkworms is a very hard job, and there is really no difference between a little more or a little less.

The current decree to "convert rice paddies to mulberry trees" stipulates that the mulberry trees produced can only supply textile workshops, and private purchases are prohibited.

This is practically a plan to keep all the meat broth and bones to myself!

Private silk shops had long been dissatisfied with this.

Driven by profit, those shrewd merchants began to have crooked ideas.

They secretly encouraged the farmers who honestly tilled the land: after the grain harvest, they should seize the opportunity to plant mulberry seedlings and then sell them to easily make a fortune.

The farmers, who toiled in the fields from dawn till dusk, were overjoyed to hear this. They thought: "We can make money, and it doesn't conflict with the normal planting season at all. Why not?"

Almost all the farmers happily agreed, expressing their willingness to plant mulberry seedlings to increase their income...

In early June, when Shen Lang received the latest news from Zhen Yi and others, he couldn't help but smile.

"Everything is ready, except for the east wind."

"Now, we are just waiting for the harvest season to arrive, so that the plan in Sichuan can be successfully implemented."