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Chapter 357 The aristocratic families have come to return the grain?!
"It's not about selling grain; he wants to redistribute resources in his hands..."

"How dare he?"

On the cloud-shrouded cliffs of the Heavenly Academy, the five hall masters, having received the message, couldn't help but look towards the bustling Wulu Trading Company in the city.

In fact, they only understood what Ji You was planning to do after receiving a message from the Mountain and Sea Pavilion.

As one of the immortals who also receive offerings from the people, apart from the unmoved Zuo Qiuyang and the secluded You Yingqiu, the other three palace masters all had solemn and ambiguous expressions.

As for the elders of the Elders' Hall, their gazes had already sharpened.

"He went too far in this matter. As a disciple of my Heavenly Academy, it is my responsibility to stop him."

Lu Fengchuan, the master of the Wuyu Palace, looked at Zuo Qiuyang, the acting sect leader, from the cliff, and spoke earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Qiuyang spoke softly: "Sometimes change is not entirely a misfortune without any blessing. Ji You suppressed all the immortal manors in Fengzhou back then, but those immortal manor disciples did not starve to death, did they?"

"Does Senior Brother think Ji You did the right thing?"

“I am not on his side. I am just taking over my junior sister’s position. The decision I made represents her opinion, so naturally I need to take it a closer look.”

The higher-ups of Lingjian Mountain also had their brows furrowed in the same way.

At that time, Yan Jingxiang, the peak master of Xuanjian Peak, and his younger brother Yan Jingrui stood in front of the peak master's hall, both unable to help but gaze at the majestic cloud-top palace.

In fact, after reading the message from Shan Hai Ge, Yan Jingxiang immediately took Yan Jingrui up the mountain.

However, his daughter did not receive them; she only met Yan Chuan, the guardian of the palace.

According to Yan Chuan, the appraiser is currently in a critical period of seclusion and is not receiving visitors.

So they returned to the main hall of the peak and, taking advantage of the high vantage point of Xuanjian Peak, looked at the caravans in Nanfeng City across the way, which were constantly distributing porridge.

The tax system, which has been in place for thousands of years, ensured the transcendent status of cultivators and allowed them to live a carefree life without engaging in production, free from the burdens of worldly affairs.

However, if this matter were to be rewritten, it would likely have a tremendous impact.

The people of Qingyun Tianxia can receive grain and provisions from Fengzhou through their labor, and do not have to rely on local grain production to survive.

However, with 80% of Kyushu's total grain production taken away, it means there will never be enough to feed the people again.

Even though powerful families could still threaten the common people and seize the grain they needed to settle down, things were no longer as natural as they used to be.

Most importantly, during the ten years of this land lease, no one could have imagined what Ji You would do next.

It should be noted that from the time he entered the Heavenly Academy to the time he made a significant impact on this world, only five short years had passed.

More importantly, once the grain production is concentrated in his hands, he can win over other powerful families and even immortal sects through offerings. Whether the profits are split 50/50 or 70/30, he has plenty of ways to rewrite the entire world's landscape and scatter the Nine Provinces.

There is already open and covert competition between aristocratic families and immortal sects, which naturally leads to their fragmentation into different territories.

If they can obtain the tax revenue from Ji You, they will definitely take this opportunity to uphold this rule, use the pretext of justice to expand and grow stronger, and suppress all sides.

From the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty to the emergence of the Immortal Sect, and then to the calamities committed by a thousand-year-old aristocratic family, such things have long been commonplace.

Indeed, regardless of the method, this is a plan that requires a long time span, but it was already a formidable undertaking from the very beginning, enough to make anyone who heard about it turn pale.

"Peak Master!"

"?"

As Yan Jingxiang was gazing at his daughter's main hall, a disciple from the peak hurried over, the sword at his waist jingling as he walked.

Upon seeing the man approach, Yan Jingxiang turned around and said, "Speak."

"Reporting to Peak Master, a messenger from outside the sect has reported that the Mountain and Sea Pavilion, the Chen Clan Immortal Clan, and the Dao Seeking Sect have all dispatched a large number of elders and disciples down the mountain."

"Then let's wait and see."

Yan Jingxiang spoke softly, exchanging a glance with his younger brother, Yan Jingrui.

The reason they weren't in a hurry was because they knew that even if Spirit Sword Mountain and Heavenly Academy remained unmoved, the other three immortal sects wouldn't sit idly by.

At the same time, members of the three major immortal sects flocked to their respective prefectures and counties, and jointly issued an imperial edict to the families under their jurisdiction, ordering them to stop the various prefectures from using the people to plunder the Wulu Trading Company.

Meanwhile, the imperial edict also stipulated that the noble families under the emperor should immediately distribute the collected grain to the refugees in sufficient quantities, keep only what they needed, pay them according to the grain price, and return the rest immediately.

They would not allow Ji You to accomplish this, so they were determined to retrieve the fish scale books that had been signed.

However, after the human race's calamity, all six major immortal sects except for the Pill Sect suffered heavy losses. Not knowing the stance of the Heavenly Book Academy and the Spirit Sword Mountain, they did not want to take risks, so their attitude was undeniably mild.

This is their sincerity, and also a test.

However, their sincerity was intended to elicit the same sincerity from the other party.

The sudden arrival of the three imperial edicts caught many aristocratic families off guard.

Because Ji You had run out of options, and his own granary was almost overflowing, it was the perfect opportunity to completely crush him. They didn't understand why the Immortal Sect would suddenly issue an imperial decree.

If it were the Heavenly Academy, that would be one thing, but the fact that it was the Mountain and Sea Pavilion, the Dao Seeking Sect, and the Chen Clan that demanded the return of grain makes this even more incomprehensible.

"Elder Shang, Ji You has run out of options, why return the grain?!"

"Just do what I tell you to do, and remember to be humble!"

"?"

Although many aristocratic families did not understand why they made this decision, they noticed that the expressions of these immortal sect visitors were very anxious.

More importantly, they discovered that all the grain carts that the Immortal Sect had brought up the mountain had also been brought down, and some of them were even fully loaded with magical artifacts and elixirs.

Despite his hesitation, the pressure from the Immortal Sect was very real.

Gradually, some powerful families began to order a halt to grain purchases, and at the same time, they started to put the grain that had been unloaded from the carts and loaded into the granaries back into sacks.

At this moment, under the gloomy sky, a fast horse was galloping from Qingzhou all the way to Fengzhou.

At the beginning of winter, the weather was already quite cold. As the horse galloped at full speed, the cold wind felt like a knife cutting into the face, but the fast horse showed no sign of slowing down.

After a day and a night of non-stop riding, the fast horse finally arrived at Fengzhou City.

Then, a man jumped off his horse and hurriedly entered Ji Village.

This man was a shop assistant in Qingzhou, but he was not in charge of distributing grain at the Wulu Trading Company; instead, he was responsible for observation.

Ji You's plans have a huge impact on Qingyun Tianxia, ​​but he is stationed in Fengzhou alone and cannot oversee all six prefectures. Therefore, he arranged for spies to observe the movements of all parties before the matter began.

Huchihuchi——

The days of riding at breakneck speed had left the man exhausted; even his breathing sounded weary.

But he didn't slow down and continued running through the courtyard, where he met Qiu Zhong when he entered the second courtyard.

"Uncle Qiu."

"what happened?"

"I want to see my employer."

Qiu Zhong became more serious, and then led him to the main hall of the second courtyard.

As the temperature plummeted, fires were lit in all the rooms, big and small, in Jizhai, including the main hall in the second courtyard.

As Qiu Zhong lifted the curtain, a warm breath immediately wafted over.

The shop assistant entered the front hall, cupped his hands in greeting to Ji You, and said, "Master, the grain from the sixth warehouse has just arrived. Those aristocratic families have suddenly stopped their operations. In addition, a large number of elders and disciples from the Immortal Sect have come down the mountain and entered the city."

"It seems we've been discovered, even faster than I expected."

Ji You frowned and looked at Qiu Zhong: "Send a message to all the shopkeepers and employees who went to rent land to quickly send the remaining fish scale registers back to Fengzhou."

Qiu Zhong cupped his hands in greeting: "I'll go right away."

"and many more."

"Is there anything else you need, young master?"

Tell them to be careful.

Old Qiu nodded, then stepped outside.

Meanwhile, Cao Jingsong and the others who were gathered on the other two sides of the stove couldn't help but stare at it.

In fact, they didn't know what Ji You was up to at first. It wasn't until those contracts and fish scale books were brought back that they understood his scheme, and their hearts trembled for several days.

This isn't just sucking blood, it's practically skinning people alive.

Rewriting the tax system of Qingyun Tianxia was something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.

They only realized later that they seemed to be witnessing history.

Wen Zhengxin, Ding Yao, Zhuo Wanqiu, and the Lu sisters, in particular, were all in a state of utter confusion.

There are countless geniuses and noble young men in the world. They have seen countless elegant and dignified people, but this is the first time they have seen someone who can overturn the world with a wave of his hand. Their feet in the boots couldn't help but curl up.

"..."

"Is the distribution of grain and porridge in Fengzhou still not over?"

"No, several more truckloads of grain arrived a few days ago, and we've only distributed about 20% of it so far. It's still early days."

"I never expected that Fengzhou's grain production would be so terrifying..."

"What use is more? There are millions of powerful families in the world. How could they not swallow up any amount of grain?"

In the Taiping Tower in Shengjing City, countless cultivators, holding teacups, leaned on the railing and gazed into the distance at the city center, discussing amongst themselves.

They continued to focus on Ji You's "helpless struggle" scenes, and even after watching for a month, they were still enjoying it, even more so than when they celebrated the New Year.

Fang Jincheng, in particular, had already imagined many dramatic scenes, such as Ji You's pale face, Ji You's incompetence in shouting to the heavens, and Ji You's regret, and he couldn't stop smiling every day.

In his view, this scene was undoubtedly the most satisfying, and it even made his Dao heart a little clearer.

Zhao Yunyue, who was also leaning against the railing, couldn't help but speak up when she saw this: "Actually, if he could curb his arrogance and bow his head to the aristocratic families to admit his mistake, there might still be room for things to be resolved."

"Lower your head?"

"After such a long period of grain distribution, most of the needs of the aristocratic families have been met. What remains is just to suppress Ji You's arrogance. The goal is to let Ji You know his true worth."

In fact, what Zhao Yunyue said was correct; the grain collected by the aristocratic families was indeed almost enough.

But they still showed no intention of stopping, which, to put it bluntly, was to teach Ji You a lesson.

Therefore, as long as Ji You can stand up and admit his mistake and bow his head to all the immortals, even if he cannot end this predicament that is like being stuck in a quagmire, he will not be exploited so cruelly.

But until now, Ji You has not shown up, let alone bowed his head to admit his mistakes and ask those powerful families to show leniency.

Looking at the bustling shops, Zhao Yunyue couldn't help but mutter, "To stubbornly refuse to bow down for the sake of face, wouldn't that make them a laughingstock? How foolish." Fang Jincheng pouted upon hearing this, "Of course he won't bow down, otherwise how can he stand out from the crowd?"

"Brother Fang's mouth is truly sharp." Several young noblemen from other aristocratic families couldn't help but chuckle after hearing this.

"Isn't what I said the truth?"

"That's true, but since we're from the same sect, this remark sounds like kicking someone when they're down."

"Fellow disciples? He thought he was invincible and even wanted to exploit the aristocratic families. Now that he has suffered such a huge setback, I wonder if he still has the face to return to Tianshu Academy."

Fang Jincheng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and clicked his tongue: "Although the events of the past month have been quite exciting, it's a real pity that we can't see him admit his mistakes. To be honest, I'd really like to see his expression now."

Upon seeing this, one of the young masters of the Zeng family turned his head and said, "Brother Fang, you're trying to kill me by destroying my spirit."

As everyone was chatting, someone suddenly fixed their gaze on the screen and uttered a questioning sound, drawing everyone's attention.

So everyone stopped chatting and looked down again.

After the first group of people finished receiving their food, there were not many more people following, and the once congested street quickly became less crowded.

Especially in front of the Wulu Merchant House, whose threshold had long been worn down by crowds, the number of people queuing to receive food began to decrease.

From noon to nearly 3 PM, within a short period of one hour, Yong'an and Changsheng Streets were completely deserted.

The cultivators in the teahouses and taverns, who were used to the bustling crowds, suddenly felt uncomfortable. Some even wondered what the street was really like.

Fang Jincheng frowned deeply: "Where is he?"

"It seems that the powerful families have stopped, and no more commoners are coming to the city to beg for food."

On the stairs, a series of footsteps sounded as two men and two women, dressed in the immortal robes of the Heavenly Academy's headmaster, walked up into the restaurant.

Fang Jincheng looked over and recognized the four people among them.

They were all fifth-year students in the outer academy of the Heavenly Academy, and they were once Ji You's classmates. The man in the lead was named Xue Li, who entered the academy at the initial stage of the Condensation Realm and was not very famous.

However, he has made solid progress in his cultivation and has now entered the Profound Realm.

The woman to his left was at the initial stage of the Condensation Realm.

Fang Jincheng usually wouldn't bother remembering the names of people with such low cultivation levels and outer court status, but he remembered this woman's name very clearly.

It wasn't for any other reason than the fact that rumors had been circulating in the courtyard that she had once been Ji You's fiancée.

The ancient families joined forces to commit atrocities, causing heavy losses to the immortal sect families. Countless disciples of the Hall of Affairs also died or were injured. As a result, a large number of the outer academy students who left the academy after five years entered the Hall of Affairs, including these four.

Xue Li walked up to the pavilion and spoke softly to them: "I just came from the west gate of the city. There are no more commoners coming this way on the official road outside the city, and the carriages of the noble families that used to fill the threshing ground in the south city are gone."

"Is this true?"

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

Upon hearing this, the disciples of the Heavenly Academy's inner court and the scions of noble families exchanged puzzled glances.

The change in the situation was so sudden that they were caught off guard and didn't understand what had happened.

Only Zhao Yunyue pondered for a while before softly speaking: "It seems he has bowed his head and admitted his mistake."

"How did the princess find out?" Fang Jincheng frowned.

"As I just said, the aristocratic families' food needs have been largely met. What remains is simply suppression. The only possibility for them to stop at this point is that Ji You has already bowed his head and admitted his mistake."

"I haven't heard any news."

"He must have admitted his mistake in private to save face. Did you really think he would crawl on his knees all the way down the street like you imagined?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd chuckled but couldn't help feeling disappointed, regretting that they hadn't seen Ji You bow his head.

In addition to that, they also harbored a great deal of disdain.

There have been rumors that Ji You looks down on the Immortal Sect and despises the aristocratic families, but what has been the result?

When faced with truly unbearable pressure, wouldn't he still be just like any other person, timid and retreating? Nothing special.

Zhao Yunyue and the others sneered, losing their interest.

Fang Ruoyao was also looking in the direction of the Wulu Trading Company, her eyes blinking slightly.

Although Ji You's status and position were worlds apart from hers, in her eyes, the two of them were still the most suitable.

Because they all came from Yuyang County, the impoverished Fengzhou, and were among the few cultivators in the Heavenly Academy without any background.

This shared identity and origin made her feel that the two of them were different from others.

In her opinion, Ji You should have focused on building relationships with prominent families and cultivating connections, instead of having such thoughts, which led to her having to back down and admit defeat.

However, she can no longer speak to Ji You, so she cannot give him a clear and wise warning.

However, to their surprise, the matter did not end there.

At 3:45 PM, as the city's inhabitants gradually poured out of the city, countless fully loaded carriages appeared on the four official roads connecting Shengjing to the outside world, and entered the city with a rumbling sound of wheels.

Upon seeing this, everyone's attention was instantly drawn back to the carriages that were constantly entering the city.

Those who were driving the carriage were all scions of prominent families from all over Zhongzhou, and they were not unfamiliar to the people in the teahouses and taverns.

For the past month, they had been in the city collecting grain for the families they represented, and had made several appearances, which had already been noted by others.

What's puzzling is that they had previously been transporting the grain out of the city, but today they were driving horse-drawn carts and bringing the grain back.

Up in the restaurant, Fang Jincheng, Zhao Yunyue, and the others returned to their original positions, while others who had been paying attention to this matter for a long time also went up to the terrace.

As they watched, some people's eyes began to widen.

As the carriage entered the city, the grain that the Zhongzhou aristocratic families had previously tried every means to seize was now being returned to the entrance of the Wulu Trading Company, bag by bag.

"They're returning the grain?!"

Zhao Yunyue looked stunned, and everyone else looked incredulous as well.

Since entering the city with the commoners, the Wulu Trading Company has been almost completely ruined in the past month and is on the verge of collapse.

As the starving refugees disappeared from outside the city, everyone concluded that Ji You had made a mistake. But they never imagined that in the end, it would be those aristocratic families who would bow their heads.

How is this going?

Everyone upstairs was frowning deeply, completely unaware of what had happened.

In the following days, carriages continued to arrive without stopping, causing congestion on Yong'an and Changsheng Streets once again.

The only difference is that the congestion in the past was due to a large number of people, but now the congestion is due to the food being plentiful.

Most importantly, what was delivered was not only food, but also some magical artifacts, treasured spiritual tea and wine, and other valuable items.

In addition, members of various immortal sects, such as the Mountain and Sea Pavilion, the Chen Clan, and the Dao Seeking Sect, have repeatedly flocked here and entered the Immortal Supervisory Bureau.

For three consecutive days, the situation in Shengjing developed in an extremely bizarre manner, leaving many scions of noble families bewildered.

Watching this scene unfold one after another, Zhao Yunyue was completely baffled. When she tried to ask someone for advice, she discovered that her father had already left the capital.

It wasn't until the fourth day that her father returned.

"Where has Father gone?"

"I was sent by the immortals to take a stroll in the countryside," King Chong replied, taking off his winter coat.

"Does Father know about what has happened in Shengjing recently?" Zhao Yunyue pressed.

"You mean, the aristocratic families returned all the grain?"

"Father knows about this, but do you know the reason?"

Prince Chong sat down and poured himself a cup of tea: "Ji You has gone mad."

A hint of doubt flickered in Zhao Yunyue's eyes: "What does this mean?"

"When the powerful families were forcing the people to sign labor contracts and seize the grain of Fengzhou, Ji You sent people to sign contracts for all the farmland in the six prefectures and divide it into two parts."

"arable land?"

After drinking his tea, King Chong looked out the window at the biting wind: "What he wants is not money, nor is he helpless against the exploitation by the aristocratic families. He has not made a move because he has joined forces with the seven great immortal sects and the Great Xia to establish the Xia Law and Immortal Rules, and to deprive the entire world of its taxes."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Yunyue's mind went blank for a moment, her red lips parted slightly for a long time, and her eyes widened.

As a descendant of the royal family, she was well aware that one of the original Xia laws and regulations was that the Great Xia, which governed the production of all its people, had the responsibility to support the immortals' cultivation with the tax amount set a thousand years ago.

In other words, what needs to be offered to the Immortal Sect has always been the Great Xia.

However, after signing the labor contract with ten thousand people and renting farmland in Kyushu, their future production had nothing to do with the Great Xia anymore.

In other words, the people who have broken away from the Great Xia Dynasty are no longer obligated to pay tribute to the Immortal Sect...

As night fell, wisps of smoke rose from Ji Village in Fengzhou Prefecture.

Ji You was sitting by the stove, looking at the messages sent by merchants from all over the country.

He already knew that the aristocratic families had returned the grain and paid for it according to the price, and he also knew that some of the relief grain distributed earlier had gradually reached the people.

At the same time, he also received a letter from the Elders' Pavilion of the Heavenly Book Academy.

The only words written above are: Stop.

Other letters came from Chai Ze, the master of the Hall of Longevity, and Lü Fengchuan, the master of the Hall of Desirelessness. They were saying that he had crossed the line, but as long as he returned the Fish Scale Book with the signed contract, everyone could pretend that nothing had happened.

The letters, one after another, were filled with advice and comfort, leaving Cao Jingsong and the others speechless.

They had stayed at the Heavenly Academy for a long time and always thought that the Hall Masters were insurmountable mountains. Who would have thought that one day they would write a letter to plead with a disciple who had no family background.

"Ji You, this matter is of great importance. Since it has already been known to all parties, perhaps we should stop it for now."

After pondering for a long time, Cao Jingsong looked at Ji You and said, "Even if you act in accordance with the Xia Law Immortal Rules, even if you obtain the Fish Scale Book with the signed contract, given the Immortal Sect's tendency to turn their backs on people, they will not recognize it in the end."

Ji You tossed the letter aside: "This opportunity is too rare to let go like this. We must take the first step before we can talk about the future."

In fact, his plan was not as radical as the Immortal Sect had imagined, nor did he intend to cut all taxes at once.

Perhaps after next autumn's harvest, he will still give out enough shares to keep those immortal sects and aristocratic families in check, and then divide them by unequal shares, allowing things to proceed slowly over the next ten years to reduce resistance.

But no matter how the Immortal Sect feels or how strong their reaction is, he has to take this step.

Only after taking this first step can there be two or three more steps to follow.

(End of this chapter)