Chapter 240: The Conflict Among the Grain Stores (I)

“I appreciate your help for my husband…”

The friend stepped to the side to avoid Meng Zhan’s concubine’s bow.

Judging from the gossip he had heard earlier, he had a sense that the name of the Meng’s wasn’t as filled with glory as it seemed.

Saying that the concubine’s son was the son of the wife’s was absolutely outrageous and disobeyed public morals. He had never heard about anything like that before.

He didn’t want to get near any of the mess at all.

“Meng County Chief will need some quiet time to rest after this. It will be absolutely not okay for him to get angry again; it would ruin his body.”

The doctor hadn’t even stepped out of the Meng’s mansion when he was recalled in a hurry. He rewrote a prescription and urged them to watch him over and over again.

The friend took the chance and said goodbye to them. He was afraid he was going to overhear some explosive scandals if he stayed any longer.

The Meng’s were mourning Meng Liang’s death. Everyone, including the Meng’s military, was given the order to put on the funeral white cloth.

What Meng Zhan did encountered obstructions naturally. He was scolded by the Meng’s elders.

Who was Meng Liang? A mere twenty-year-old “wife’s son.”

He was a wife’s son to public knowledge. But some of the elders in the Meng’s who had heard rumors never stopped questioning Meng Liang’s identity. They always wondered whether or not he was the real wife’s son. The Meng’s were never so short of people that Meng Liang was the only option; they had more than enough candidates to carry on the Meng’s name.

A so-called “wife’s son” was dead, but the whole Meng’s military had to grieve him. Who did he think he was? Even the emperor of the Dongqing Dynasty might not be treated like that the day he passed away.

What was more important was that they were at a critical time because the civil turmoil in Cang Prefecture was growing more and more nasty and out of control. Mobsters were everywhere.

The Meng’s military was a necessary power to handle such a matter. How could they waste their time on some stupid watch over for a kid?

If they traced back of the origin of the civil turmoil, Meng Liang was the person responsible for it. If it wasn’t for him acting too much like an a**hole that made public anger seethe, nobody would have put the Meng’s in such a dilemma.

It was not entirely bad for Meng Liang to be dead. His identity was questionable and he was never good for the family, anyway.

If it wasn’t for Meng Zhan spoiling Meng Liang without limits––where he would give Meng Liang whatever he asked for, even it was the moon or the stars––and for him giving a cold shoulder to the genuine wife’s son, the elders in the Meng’s couldn’t have cared less about Meng Liang. He was just a sheer dumba**. No matter how hard they worked to support him, him being alive was a waste of air and him being dead was a waste of a piece of land.

But Meng Zhan seemed like he had his mind made up and he wasn’t going to back down.

The confrontation lasted for a while and there were several voices coming out from inside the Meng’s military. The secret of the civil turmoil they had put a lot of effort into keeping somehow leaked to the masses. The citizens near the county smelled the news and they started to get anxious and worried about their own safety. “The Meng’s are truly committing sins.”

A wagon, plainly decorated, was parked on a mountain road. A guy in blue sitting in the wagon lifted the curtains. He stuck his head out of the window and saw the citizens in chaos. They were all dressed shabbily and they seemed sallow and emaciated. The scene reminded him a turbulent time. He couldn’t stop sighing and he put his hand down.

This guy was apparently the friend of Meng Zhan who had paid him a visit earlier.

“Laoye, are we heading to the Capital or…?” One of the members of the entourage had a shaky voice, full of concern and tension. There was only eleven of them, including the guy in blue, sitting in the wagon. With such a small amount of people, if they happened to encounter to a large group of mobsters, they would have difficulties keeping the guy in the wagon safe. The longer they lingered, the more dangerous it was.

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The guy sitting in the wagon remained silent for a bit before he made up his mind. “No, let us head to Langye!” He had some doubts that he felt an urgent need to verify with his young friend.

The entourage didn’t question his decision; he responded with a yes and took off. The wagon disappeared into the winding mountain roads.

“Master Yuanjing, look at what kind of students you have…”

He had an illusion that someone was complaining to him. Because of the conflicts in the the Meng’s military, the suppressing of the bandits became looser and the severe civil turmoil was growing in intensity.

Hejian County, which was only half month trip away from Meng County, took the first hit.

Jiang Pengji came home after a patrol of the streets. The information she collected recently didn’t impress her at all. The viewers felt the cold aura around her on the other side of the screen. The playful bullet screens were only half as much as they used to be.

“The grain price is already the eight times more than it was before. And even so, the supply of grain is still barely caught up with the demand.” Xu Ke jumped off the wagon in a rush and he strode hastily into Jiang Pengji’s study room. He sat on his heels in front her. “Langjun, now is the time.”

It would basically be impossible for them to increase the price when the grain price was out of their hands. What they would be facing was a group boycott from every grain store in Hejian County. The ones behind the grain business were gentry clans. It was formidable to stand against one or two gentry clans, but not when they unified.

“No rush…” Jian Pengji had no expression and it seemed that she was pondering something. Her reaction was on the verge of driving Xu Ke crazy. He could barely say a word. It wasn’t the perfect time to play it cool. “I’m asking you––have you found any refugees who have fled in the counties near us?”

“There is nothing near Hejian County, but there is a number of refugees in Zisang County…”

Zisang County wasn’t far away from Hejian, but it was closer to Meng County, Cang Prefecture. It wouldn’t be hard to believe that Zisang had the first group of refugees.

“Okay.” Jiang Pengji banged her palm on the table and said to Xu Ke, “Tell our grain stores to spread out advertisements all over Hejian County. Make sure every single citizen knows that three grain stores are going to buy a tremendous quantity of cheap grain.”

“Advertisement?” Xu Ke was confused. “What is that?”

“A way to make announcements over a wide area. We can hire several dozen young kids, or even gangsters, who are familiar with the county. We pay them with some money for shouting the news.”

Xu Ke’s eyes beamed. He truly wanted to give his master a like for the brilliant idea if it wasn’t for the inappropriate circumstances.

The majority of the citizens in the current era were illiterate, which meant that even if they posted an announcement on the gate it wouldn’t work. Most people would still be ignorant about the news.

If the young kids or the gangsters shouted the news around, however, it would be more efficient and the range of the advertising would be wider than simply posting the announcement somewhere.

The key was that it wouldn’t cost them much.

“I’m on it.” Xu Ke bowed to Jiang Pengji, quickly stood up, and prepared to head out.

“Hold up!” Jiang Pengji yelled at him all of a sudden, stopping him from leaving. “Before you get your hands on this, I need you to find out which grain store has the cheapest price at the moment. The price we set will always be twenty percent lower than the lowest!”

Xu Ke was stunned. “We are not going to set a normal price?”

Jiang Pengji sneered at him. “We only need to be a bit nicer than those black-hearted businessmen. We will then be considered the kind people. Do you understand?”

Xu Ke was still confused. It was nothing like what he had imagined before.

“Don’t worry. This price is not going to stay that way for very long,” Jiang Pengji said. “Our price will only be twenty percent short. If they want to compete with us, they will have to decline their prices, and then we can decrease another twenty percent…”

She never expected that when everyone’s prices would increase, but she kept hers low as usual. She didn’t want her stores to be smashed for something that would get her the ultimate hatred.