Pick up a princess to be your wife

"The front lines need military rations. Has the higher-ups told Lord Yu what method to use to collect them?" Zhou Wanfu asked.

"The fighting has already broken out at Yao Pass. If Yao Pass is breached, Lingnan will be awash in blood. At this critical juncture, how can the higher-ups possibly care what methods I use to requisition grain? Do you even have grain or not?" Lord Yu said irritably.

Zhou Wanfu's eyes darted around, and he said, "I do have that much grain, but..."

"But what? You're not willing to hand it over?" Lord Yu's face turned cold.

"Sir, please listen to me first. Since the higher authorities haven't specified what methods to use for requisitioning grain, why don't you requisition grain from the people in the city?" Zhou Wanfu asked with a smile.

"Besides you, which family in the city has any surplus grain?" Lord Yu asked.

"My lord," Zhou Wanfu suggested, "how about this? I'll open the granary and sell grain tomorrow. Once I've sold several hundred thousand catties, you can then order the requisition of grain. We'll split the profits in half. That way, we'll have both grain and money."

Lord Yu narrowed his eyes, then stroked his beard and shook his head.

"Wanfu, you really have a way with things. I'll leave the matter of selling and requisitioning grain to you. I'll get the grain to Yaoguan in three days at most. Now is a time of crisis, and we both have to contribute our share to the Great Yan," Lord Yu said with a smile.

“No problem, I’ll take care of everything,” Zhou Wanfu agreed.

"Oh, these glass earrings are of good quality." Lord Yu noticed the earrings on the tea table and his eyes lit up.

"If you like it, please take it."

"Why are you so embarrassed?"

“I am a crude man, and my wives and concubines are all country women. I have no need for such exquisite items. Please take them, sir.”

Zhou Wanfu was extremely unwilling, but he didn't show it on his face. He picked up the earring and stuffed it into Yu Daren's hand without hesitation.

"Thanks, you'll definitely get your share of the benefits once it's done."

After Lord Yu finished speaking, he got up and left.

"Father, this magistrate is really something. He just came over and casually said a few words, and it's worth 200,000 catties."

"There's nothing we can do. We have to rely on him, father and son. Besides, we won't lose out if we use my method to collect grain."

“Father is right.”

"Starting tomorrow, we will open the granaries to sell grain. You should stop running around and help manage the business. Sell it all as soon as possible and collect the grain promptly."

"I know dad."

……

The next day.

Li Mu delivered the goods to Li Ertie as agreed.

“My house was vandalized by Zhou Wanfu yesterday. Could you make some simple furniture and send it to my house, Brother Ertie?” Li Mu asked.

"That's easy. Just say what you need."

"Tables and chairs, kitchen counter, bed board."

"It's no big deal, leave it to me."

Li Ertie readily agreed.

Making some simple and functional furniture is just a matter of a few hammer blows and doesn't cost much.

"By the way, Brother Ertie, I've been targeted by Zhou Wanfu lately. Do you have any ideas on how to win him over?" Li Mu asked.

"Hey!"

Li Ertie let out a heavy sigh.

"To be honest, back in my day when I was a bandit, I had about a thousand men under my command. If you had asked back then, I could have wiped out Zhou Wanfu with a single word," Li Ertie said.

"You were really a bandit?" Li Mu asked.

"How could it be fake? The leader of the largest mountain stronghold in Lingnan Road—Black Wind Stronghold—is none other than your brother Er Tie!" Li Er Tie gave himself a thumbs up.

"Now?" Li Mu asked.

“Things are different now. I only have about ten men under my command. Zhou Wanfu, on the other hand, relies on his connections in the county government and has over a hundred thugs, all of whom are armed with knives. Compared to him, I'm worlds apart,” Li Ertie said.

Li Mu sighed inwardly.

Li Ertie patted Li Mu on the shoulder and said, "You've been targeted by Zhou Wanfu, and I really can't do anything about it. Even if I'm not afraid of death and dare to go head-to-head with him, I have about ten brothers under my command and twenty or thirty laborers in the workshop, all of whom depend on me for their livelihood. I can't abandon these dozens of people even if I don't care about myself."

“I understand that Brother Ertie is in trouble.”

"I'll have someone deliver the wooden tools you requested this afternoon. That's all I can do for you. Well, take care of yourself."

"Thank you very much, Brother Ertie."

That day, all ten or so rice and grain shops in the city opened for business.

In order to control the price of rice, Zhou Wanfu previously stipulated that only a small amount could be sold each day, creating the illusion of a rice shortage.

There are bandits everywhere outside the city, and this year only Zhou Wanfu's family has a harvest.

He had about a hundred henchmen with swords at his disposal, but this also reduced his harvest by at least 50% this year.

His current food supply is not entirely from the fields.

Seeing that this year was bound to be a famine, he purchased hundreds of thousands of catties of grain from Jiangnan Road in advance.

At that time, the price of grain was only ten coins per pound.

But he never expected that the prosperous Great Yan Dynasty would be on the verge of collapse in just three months.

The price of grain changed every day, increasing a hundredfold.

Zhou Wanfu is the only one in the city who can still sell grain.

The tens of thousands of people in the city all depend on food to survive.

Even if the price is high, we have to grit our teeth and buy it, otherwise we'll starve to death.

So when the people in the city saw that the rice shops had brought out mountains of grain to sell, they spread the word far and wide.

Before long, long queues formed in front of every shop.

"Boss, the rice shop is selling grain. They say this is the last time they'll sell grain before the New Year. Should we stock up?" Li Ertie's subordinate asked him.

"Yes, my family is indeed running low on food. What about you?" Li Ertie asked.

"My family only has two kilograms of rice and five kilograms of wheat left, not enough to get through the winter."

"My family has run out of rice, and we've been eating wheat lately."

"My family is the same; we've run out of rice a long time ago."

“I’ve made quite a bit of money these past few days. Go to the accounting office and get all the money. Buy plenty of rice, everyone gets a share. You’ve been following me, Li Ertie, so I can’t let you go hungry this winter,” Li Ertie said.

"Thank you, boss!"

"Following the boss, you can have enough to eat!"

"Let's go right now!"

……

Li Ertie usually spends a lot of money, and his woodworking business also supports so many people. So he doesn't have much money left over.

Li Ertie bought over 300 jin of rice, kept some for himself, and distributed the rest among his dozen or so brothers.

The crowd thanked Li Ertie profusely, almost to the point of kowtowing.

Li Ertie had some simple furniture made and delivered to Li Mu's doorstep.

Those who had bought the grain thought they could survive the winter with what they had.

But none of them knew that this was a conspiracy orchestrated by Zhou Wanfu.