Li Wenhao took dozens of soldiers to the street and walked towards the craftsman camp. Not far away, Lieutenant Liao of the Hou Mansion, sweating profusely, chased after him with several officials.
"Master Marquis, something big has happened!" Wei Liao ran forward panting, without taking a breath, and said anxiously: "Since this morning, there has been a rush to buy food in all the major grain stores in the city. It has only been half a day now.
The price has already tripled, and public dissatisfaction is boiling. If we don’t find a way to stop it, we might lead to a civil unrest!”
"Let's go, take me to have a look!" After hearing this, Li Wenhao's face turned cold instantly. The war was imminent, and there must be no chaos in the city at this time: "Wei Liao, find out who is driving up the price of food. There must be someone behind this matter.
Someone is causing trouble."
"I have found some clues, but the background is relatively large and needs to be confirmed!" Wei Liao rode on a wildebeest and spoke with some hesitation.
Li Wenhao turned to look at him and said solemnly: "But it doesn't matter, you don't have to worry about anyone or any force in front of me."
"The people who are rushing to buy food are all Dayou merchants. It is very likely that the Seven Tribes and Eight Surnames are behind this!" Wei Liao gritted his teeth and continued: "In the past few years, the price of food has skyrocketed in the Central Plains, and Dayou merchants have begun to appear.
Merchants purchased grain at high prices in Langya Kingdom, which aroused dissatisfaction among slave owners.
Later, King Lao Langya captured several Dayou merchants and killed them as a warning to others, and the situation was calmed down. Although there are still Dayou merchants who are purchasing privately, the scale is much smaller and will not cause market turmoil!"
"Seven tribes and eight surnames, these bastards again!" Li Wenhao was angry and urged his horse forward: "Do they think that the sword of old King Langya can kill people, but my sword, Li Wenhao's, cannot kill people!"
"Master Marquis, now Langya is a county of Dayou Dynasty, and you are the Marquis of Dayou Dynasty. Can't you kill these Dayou merchants?" Wei Liao was startled when he heard this and chased after him.
People say it's scary. If Li Wenhao massacred the merchants of Dayou Dynasty who purchased grain, and the news spread back to the Central Plains, wouldn't he be scolded to death by the people of Dayou Dynasty?
"You are wrong. I am first the leader of the Fire Crow Army, the guardian of the people of Langya, and finally the Marquis of the Great You Dynasty!"
Li Wenhao replied coldly. He thought clearly that the eighteen counties of Dayou Dynasty were all short of food. How could Langya, a small person, afford it? He himself was still short of food.
Besides, how can these merchants of seven tribes and eight surnames collect grain and sell it to the people at a fair price? They must either make money at a high price or supply their respective armies.
He, Li Wenhao, is out of his mind and there is no way he can sell food to them!
The Royal Grain Store on West Street is the largest grain store in the royal city. It used to belong to the Langya royal family, but is now a grain store affiliated to the Huaxia Trading Company of the Fire Crow Army. It is also an important target for this rush to buy grain.
When Li Wenhao and his party arrived, the entire street was already tightly blocked, full of heads, and there were constant noises and curses.
"These damn Dayou merchants are starting to rush to buy food again. Aren't they afraid of being beheaded?"
"The fear of beheading was in the past. Now that Langya has become a county in the Dayou Dynasty, these Dayou merchants no longer have any scruples!"
"Hey, I thought Langya Hou Renyi and us people could live a good life, but I didn't expect it would be worse than before. How can we afford such expensive food?"
"Damn it!" Li Wenhao's face was so gloomy that his face was dripping with tears as he listened to the people's comments: "I have ordered that from today on, private transactions in grain are prohibited. According to household registration, each person is limited to purchasing three days of affordable rations at a time. Anyone who disobeys the order will be executed.
!”
"Obey the order!" The soldiers under his command suddenly accepted the order, separated out several people, and rode to various grain stores in the city: "The Marquis has an order. From today onwards, private transactions in grain are prohibited. According to household registration, each person is limited to three purchases at a time.
Food rations are priced at a daily price, and anyone who disobeys the order will be killed!"
"Master Hou, it's Master Hou who is here!"
"Master Marquis, make the decision for us, these Dayou profiteers are so abominable!"
"Kill them and cut down all these profiteers!"
When the people heard the order and found Li Wenhao, they all gathered around him, shouting, and the crowd was furious.
"People of Langya, I, Li Wenhao, promise you that I will never make you unable to afford food. Now go home and take out your household registration certificates and queue up to buy affordable food. If anyone is found to be cheating or making repeated purchases, he will be severely punished!" Li Wenhao
Simply, ride on the scale horse and speak directly to the people.
"Master Hou is benevolent and righteous!"
"With these words from the Marquis, we can rest assured!"
"Master Hou, we are refugees from other places. What should we do if we don't have household registration?"
"Those who do not have household registration can apply for temporary household registration at the Yamen of the City Lord's Mansion!" Wei Liao stepped forward to answer some specific questions, and soon many of the people who were crowding at the entrance of the grain store dispersed.
"Langya Hou, the people in the Central Plains are crying for food. You don't let us buy food. How can you bear it!"
"Yes, you are the Marquis of our Dayou Dynasty. You should think about our Dayou people. How can you starve to death for the sake of these people from the Western Regions!"
"Sell food, sell food. If you don't sell food, we will go to Kyoto City, file a complaint, and let His Majesty make the decision for us!"
Seeing the people disperse, Dayou merchants rushing to buy food rushed up and stopped Li Wenhao and his party. Everyone was blushing and making a lot of noise.
"Master Marquis, we are purchasing grain for the people of the Central Plains. If you do this, you will not be afraid of losing your reputation and being cast aside by everyone in the world. Even your Majesty will not be able to spare you!" Zhang Guchun, the shopkeeper of Zhangjia Wangcheng, came out as a representative.
Zhang Gulin, the shopkeeper of Daha City, was his younger brother, and he hated Li Wenhao to the core. He was the one responsible for this panic buying food crisis.
"The purpose of purchasing grain at high prices is for the people of the Central Plains. It's a joke. When did you seven tribes and eight surnames ever care about the lives of the people!"
Li Wenhao's tone was low and his expression was very disdainful: "Since you said it was for the people of the Central Plains, fine, I will help you!
Come, collect all the food that these people have bought, sort it out, and send it to Tuke City to give to the refugees from the Central Plains. This is a little bit of kindness from the seven tribes and eight surnames to the people!"
"Li Wenhao, you..." Zhang Guchun's face turned purple with anger when he heard this.
He had originally planned that if Li Wenhao didn't stop them, they would make a fortune and even get family awards. Once he stopped them, he could spread rumors and ruin Li Wenhao's reputation.
So regardless of whether Li Wenhao stopped him or not, he was sure to win. But he didn't expect that Li Wenhao would come up with such a move. He would be beaten with nothing, and would suffer heavy losses.
"Come here, seal Zhang's trading company and kill everyone in half at three quarters of noon!" Li Wenhao gave another order before Zhang Guchun came to his senses.
What a joke, whoever dares to cause trouble to Li Wenhao will not die!
"Crash." Two soldiers stepped in and knocked Zhang Guchun to the ground.
"Li Wenhao, you can't kill me because I buy food for the people of the Central Plains!" Zhang Guchun was so frightened that he was sweating profusely, struggling and yelling at the top of his lungs.