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

On that day, after finding out the exact price of rice at the market, Yi Wancheng and other local big players turned ashen-faced.

As expected, the rice prices of the major foreign grain merchants were all 20 wen per dou, with the most expensive Yong Sheng Trading Company charging only 25 wen.

This is newly harvested rice that just hit the market this year, yet it's selling for less than old rice!

Such a large-scale run on the bank must have greatly shocked these wealthy households in Sichuan.

Seeing their own shops deserted while others were bustling with customers, a strange sense of frustration arose in their hearts.

Why is this happening?

Even if they wanted to seize market share, they couldn't possibly be losing money to this extent, could they?

What exactly are they after?

Yi Wancheng had considered countermeasures, such as taking this opportunity to eat all the grain in their rice shop.

However, the rice shops seemed to have anticipated this move. Customers who wanted to buy discounted rice had to show proof of local household registration, and each person could only buy a maximum of two bushels of rice, based on the number of people on the household registration.

Moreover, there is a daily limit on the amount of this special-priced rice, some are a thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), some are a few hundred shi, and once they are sold out, the store closes, completely eliminating the possibility of large-scale reselling.

Therefore, Yi Dacheng's idea of ​​buying up large quantities of grain failed before it could even be implemented.

Now that things have come to this point, the problems facing us are even greater.

If, as previously agreed, the grain supply were to be released in conjunction with the price reduction, many of the rice merchants present would likely lose so much that they wouldn't even have enough to cover their funeral expenses.

Of course, with grain prices already at this level, there's no need to release grain from storage.

It would be better not to follow suit, otherwise the grain stored in the warehouse would probably not be able to be sold at all, and in the end, Li Ye would forcibly take away most of it, resulting in the same outcome of losing everything.

Yi Wancheng couldn't understand what these outside businesses were up to, and why they would spend so much money on this.

Were all those merchants great philanthropists, doing good deeds for the people of Sichuan?

Yi Wancheng, who was well aware of the nature of businessmen, would never believe that such a saint existed in the world. Even if he did, he would never believe that such a saint existed among merchants who were driven by profit.

Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, the butler delivered an invitation.

"Master, Zhen Yi, the owner and manager of Jiangnan Yongfeng Trading Company, invites you to a banquet at Songhelou Restaurant at noon tomorrow."

Yi Wancheng frowned, took the invitation, glanced at it, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Master, are we going or not? The Zhen family's servants outside are waiting for our reply."

“Go ahead.” Yi Wancheng opened his eyes. “I was just about to ask them what they’re planning.”

……

In the most luxurious private room on the top floor of Songhelou, Zhen Yi stood by the window early, waiting for the distinguished guest to arrive.

The table was already set with twelve cold dishes, six meat and six vegetarian, all of which were specialties of Sichuan. There were also two jugs of chilled premium grape wine from the Guanzhong region, each bottle worth ten taels of gold.

Two first-class female musicians from Sichuan, whose appearance fee is three hundred taels of silver, were gently playing the guzheng behind the beaded curtain in the inner room. The beautiful melody echoed throughout the corner of the private room, leaving people with a lingering aftertaste.

Fifteen minutes before the appointed time, Yi Wancheng finally arrived.

"Master Yi, I've heard so much about you. It's great to finally meet you."

Zhen Yi greeted him with a broad smile and took the initiative to bow.

"Manager Zhen, I am very familiar with your name. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Yi Wancheng had already suppressed his anxiety and unease and politely contacted Zhen Yi.

Zhen Yi immediately pulled up a chair and gestured for him to join in: "Master Yi, today I, an outsider, am taking advantage of your situation and inviting you to grace me with your presence. I hope you won't mind."

Yi Wancheng replied with a smile, "Manager Zhen's character makes me feel rather uneasy. Actually, I should be the one inviting you."

After saying that, he sat down.

"Shopkeeper, the customer has arrived, you can serve the food now!"

After calling out to the servant guarding the door, Zhen Yi sat down opposite Yi Wancheng, picked up a pot of tea, and personally poured him a cup.

"Master Yi, this is a new tea that just came on the market this year. I heard that you are also a connoisseur of tea, so I had my shopkeeper from Jiangnan deliver it to Sichuan overnight, just to invite you to taste it. Please."

"it is good."

Yi Wancheng didn't stand on ceremony and directly picked up the teacup, brought it to his nose, and smelled it.

His eyes lit up immediately, and he took a small sip.

"Excellent tea, truly excellent tea. If I'm not mistaken, this is the Emperor Phoenix Marrow from the finest Longjing tea. The entire Jiangnan tea estate only produces a little over ten catties a year."

A single ounce of tea is worth three thousand taels of silver. I have tried to buy it many times, spending ten times the price, but to no avail. I never imagined that today I would be so fortunate to have Manager Zhen's help.

"As expected of Patriarch Yi, you have a good eye for tea. This is the Emperor Phoenix Marrow from the finest Longjing tea. Since Patriarch Yi likes it, I will have someone prepare half a catty for you to take back later."

"This is far too valuable, isn't it?"

“Patriarch Yi, you are being too modest. With your current wealth, what good things can’t you buy? All you want is something special, so please don’t refuse.”

"Very well, Manager Zhen, you are too kind. I will accept your offer without hesitation."

The two chatted happily, as if they were not business rivals at all.

Soon, one local specialty dish after another was placed on the table amidst their casual conversation.

Both men were extremely wealthy and had seen all kinds of food. They only tasted the food briefly before putting down their chopsticks.

After a few drinks, Zhen Yi brought up the serious matter: "Master Yi, I imagine you and the merchants of Shu have all had a tough time these days, haven't you?"

Yi Wancheng sighed softly: "Manager Zhen, give me a straight answer. What do you want in order for you to stop? Do you really want to force us merchants from Sichuan to starve?"

Zhen Yi poured him a glass of wine and said slowly, "Patriarch Yi, now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you anymore. This time, the target is not your Shu merchants and aristocratic families, but the Shu King's Mansion."

Yi Wancheng frowned: "You are people of the Duke of Zhenguo?"

"Yes." Zhen Yi readily admitted, "As for whose person the Duke of Zhenguo is, I think it's unnecessary to state it. In short, Patriarch Yi, I invited you today only on behalf of the Duke of Zhenguo to say a few words to you."

"When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact." I think you understand what that means. So, are you on the side of the Duke of Zhenguo, or on the side of Wanfanye?

It's already quite obvious which side is most advantageous to you and how to choose.

Yi Wancheng lowered his head and pondered for a moment before asking, "What does the Duke of Zhenguo want me to do?"

"It's very simple. As long as the Yi family head can persuade grain merchants to sell their stockpiled grain to us, then you will be one of the Duke of Zhenguo's men."

"This... I'm afraid it will be very difficult..."

Yi Wancheng frowned. Selling grain to Shen Lang was too risky for him, and more importantly, there was no profit to be made.

Zhen Yi immediately saw through Yi Wancheng's thoughts and said with a smile, "Patriarch Yi, you only know that the Duke of Zhenguo is a skilled warrior..."

Little did they know that the earliest group of people who pledged allegiance to the Duke of Zhenguo were now all rolling in money; to put it bluntly, they were all incredibly wealthy.

His Majesty's personal treasury is already overflowing since he met the Duke of Zhenguo. Now, if one is willing to serve the Duke of Zhenguo...

I guarantee that your family's wealth will double within three years!

Yi Wancheng's eyes lit up, but he still hesitated.

"Manager Zhen, please allow me a few days to think it over carefully."

"Alright, I won't force you, but you'd better think it over quickly, because I'm afraid the Duke of Zhenguo might lose patience."