"His Royal Highness, this move is really wonderful!"
"His Royal Highness, I will issue an appeal soon. In the next few days, we will gather enough grain merchants for them to compete for election."
"Your Highness, I have benefited a lot from your teachings today!"
…
The officials said one after another, and Lin Fan said in a deep voice: "You go and gather people first. This is the first grain merchant election. I will be here in person. From now on, you can just do what I did this time."
"Yes! Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
All the officials said one after another.
At this time, noble families from all over the country were waiting to see the court's joke.
"Haha! This time, His Highness the Crown Prince is in big trouble. The third prince, Zhu Cijiong, killed three aristocratic families and took away their property. This has affected the interests of the nobles of the world's aristocratic families!"
"In this move, Ni Yuanlu actually followed suit. Humph! It is impossible for the prince to deal with the third prince, but it is still very simple to deal with Ni Yuanlu!"
"Once Ni Yuanlu is dealt with, the prince's majesty will definitely be damaged. In the future, if he wants to do something outrageous, it will not be that simple!"
"I have already received news about this matter. Officials from various departments of the imperial court have entered the palace to see His Majesty. Most likely to ask for His Majesty's decree to deal with Ni Yuanlu. I estimate that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince may have to take back his duties of supervising the country."
"Haha! This dog prince, even if he dies, let alone being taken away from his position as supervisor of the country, he still deserves it!"
…
The aristocratic family hated Lin Fan to the core.
Since Lin Fan took charge of the country, he has promulgated many laws and done many things. Although he did not directly confront the nobles of his family, it caused them great losses.
Just talking about the elimination of the honorary title of literati, which directly resulted in the aristocratic family’s means of reducing land taxes by most of them!
If they pay taxes again, they will have to pay several times the previous tax amount. This is a huge headache for them, but there is nothing they can do about it.
"Hmph! The Zhang family, the Li family, and the Wang family are the three largest grain merchants in Chizhou Prefecture. Just because they bought grain from the imperial granary, their families were confiscated and exterminated. How can we people do business in the future?"
"Yes! We are people who buy and sell food. Now the court does not allow us to buy or sell it. How can we still live?"
"It's too much! It's really too much. Let's confront the prince. If he doesn't admit his mistake and doesn't deal with Ni Yuanlu, we won't sell food to the court!"
"Haha! The soldiers in the military camp cannot live without food for a day. I want to see how long the imperial court's existing granary can last!"
The grain merchants of the Ming Dynasty gathered together to discuss how to deal with Lin Fan.
"Master Li from the Ministry of Revenue is familiar with me. According to what he said, there is not much food in the imperial granary. However, Ni Yuanlu has made up for it by 300 tons, which can sustain it for a while."
"Haha! It's only 300 tons. Even if all the granaries in the three provinces of Jiangnan are replenished by him in this way, what will happen?
If they offend us, they will never see food again!"
"I propose that we raise the price of the food we are selling now. Even if ordinary people want to buy it, the price will be ten times higher!"
"Hmph! I still don't believe it. We people can't deal with a little prince?"
The grain merchants all thought they could manipulate Lin Fan at will, but what they didn't know was that doing so would only bring them closer to death.
"Sir! The imperial court has issued a notice, saying that the imperial court's military supplies for the next two years will be divided into ten orders, and all those who want to receive this order will go to the capital to campaign!"
"Once the election begins, the imperial court will sign a contract with him. After the contract is signed, he will not find anyone else to participate in military supplies orders!"
A servant hurried in.
"kindness?
What does it mean?"
"Go directly to the election! Does this prince want to openly oppose us?
Doesn’t he know that a large amount of food is here with us, and others can’t take his order?”
"Haha! I understand. This prince wants to force us to run for election. Otherwise, the order will be given to others. However, he overlooked one thing, that is, others cannot accept it!"
"That's right! No one can take his order except us. No matter how many there are, let's raise the price of food first. When the time comes for the election, we will raise the price and see who dares to compete with us!
"
When the grain merchants heard the news, not only did they not panic at all, but they were even more proud.
In the prince's residence, officials came to report.
"Your Highness, the price of food in the city has skyrocketed in the past few days. It is much higher than the price when you were in Xi'an City. The common people can hardly afford it!"
An official said solemnly.
"kindness?
These people are really going too far. Even if they don’t sell grain to the imperial court, they dare to raise the price of grain. If this is the case, then open warehouses to release grain!"
"At the same time, all the grain shops in the city were sealed for them, as well as the grain shops in various parts of the Ming Dynasty! Aren't they going to sell them at a high price?
This prince makes them unable to sell even a grain of grain!"
Lin Fan said coldly.
"Your Highness, will this cause panic?"
the official asked.
"causing panic?
Your suggestion is a good one. Now go to the Ministry of Revenue and ask the officials from the Ministry of Revenue to start checking their account books after sealing those people's grain shops!"
"When will the account books be checked clearly? When will they be allowed to sell food again? Also, they are not allowed to participate in the bidding for military supplies orders this time!"
Lin Fan said coldly.
The more these people tried to oppose the imperial court, the less he could take a step back and had to beat them all to death with one blow.
"Yes! Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
The official hurriedly retreated and told the officials of the Ministry of Revenue.
Although Ni Yuanlu was not in the capital, these officials were not fools. They all knew that His Highness the Crown Prince was collaborating with Ni Yuanlu inside and outside to completely defeat those noble families.
They immediately closed down those people's shops because the price of food was too high, and they wanted to check their account books. For a moment, these noble families were stunned!
"This! Is this prince crazy?
If our grain is not allowed to be sold, what will the people eat?"
"No! When the prince was in Xi'an, he purchased a large amount of grain from overseas and kept it in reserve. This time it seems that he has taken it all out!"
"Hiss! This dog prince is really ruthless! This is a rhythm that will drive us to death!"
"The officials from the Ministry of Accounts are pressing harder and harder to check our accounts. They are serious about checking our accounts. If there is anything wrong, they will be taken directly to the Ministry of Accounts and interrogated strictly. If this continues, we will all be punished."