A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance; you have two choices."

"First, donate 5,000 shi to Wangbei Camp, and sell the remaining grain at a reduced price, with the price capped at 1.5 times."

"Secondly, I will shut down your shops and confiscate all your grain, and then charge you with price gouging, disturbing public order, and treason."

Zhao Daxuan's words made Leng Wushuang blush, and he stared coldly at Zhao Daxuan.

"Lord Zhao, if you do this, my brother will definitely pursue the matter to the end!"

Zhao Daxuan did not reply, but continued talking to himself.

"I'll count to ten, and if you still don't choose, I'll choose for you."

"ten!"

"Nine!"

……

"one!"

Leng Wushuang was so angry that the veins on her forehead bulged, her eyes blazed with fury, and she clenched her fists.

Seeing that Leng Wushuang remained unresponsive, Zhao Daxuan sneered.

"Very well, since that's the case, I'll choose the second option for you: arrest the person and confiscate their property. You're welcome!"

"Zhao Fubao, arrest the men immediately! Move the grain!"

Zhao Fubao grinned maliciously and led his men to pounce on Leng Wushuang, pinning him to the ground and tying him up tightly.

Zhao Daxuan ignored Leng Wushuang's wails and walked out of the grain store, looking at the crowd of onlookers outside.

"Now that the border is in grave danger and refugees are everywhere, these grain merchants not only show no concern for the national crisis, but instead hoard grain, drive up prices, bleed the people dry, and erode the very foundation of the Great Xia!"

"From today onwards, grain prices throughout the city will be under military control! Price increases are not allowed to exceed one and a half times. Anyone who dares to arbitrarily raise prices or hoard grain will be like Fuyuan Grain Store—all their grain will be confiscated!"

At this time, Zhao Fubao and his men were already carrying grain out of the warehouse behind the grain store.

The faces of the grain shop clerks in the crowd changed drastically. They turned around, squeezed out of the crowd, and ran towards their own grain shops.

The other ordinary people immediately showed joy and shouted loudly.

"Your Excellency is mighty!"

Zhao Daxuan watched the group of workers turn and leave, knowing they were going back to spread the news. A while after they left, Zhao Daxuan called Zhao Fubao over.

"Take your men to the grain market and go door-to-door to inform everyone of what I just said, and tell them to carry it out immediately!"

"We'll have someone come and check every day for the next few days. If anyone raises prices arbitrarily, we won't let them off easily."

"Finally, get them all to donate some grain and tell them it's a good thing that benefits the country and its people."

Zhao Fubao nodded. "What if someone refuses to donate or donates too little?"

Zhao Daxuan sneered, "It's a fact that they inflated grain prices and disturbed public order a few days ago. You should talk to them properly; I believe they won't refuse."

"Don't forget, I have the authority to act first and report later in wartime. Anyone who dares to disobey me can be taken down directly!"

With Zhao Daxuan's words, Zhao Fubao immediately felt confident and patted his chest to guarantee that he would complete the task. He then led a team of a hundred people to notify each household.

The shop assistant from Wang's Grain Shop rushed back into the store and found the shopkeeper, panting.

"Shopkeeper, something terrible has happened! The soldiers just gave an order that the price of grain must not exceed one and a half times the fair price, otherwise they will arrest people, shut down the shop, and confiscate the grain!"

The shopkeeper sneered, "How dare they! Aren't they afraid we'll unite against them?"

The man looked worried.

"Manager, they really dared to do that! Fuyuan Grain Store has been shut down, and even the manager and owner have been arrested!"

The shopkeeper's eyes widened, and he slammed his fist on the table, his face filled with shock and anger. "Who are they, daring to do this!"

"The leader is none other than Zhao Daxuan, the Commandant of the Wangbei Camp!"

Upon hearing the waiter's reply, the shopkeeper swayed and almost lost his balance.

"It's that god of death!"

In recent days, Zhao Daxuan's name has spread widely in Zhenbei City, and many people have already heard of his fame and achievements.

Therefore, when the shopkeeper heard that the leader of the group of soldiers was Zhao Daxuan, he knew that this time it would be difficult to end the situation easily.

He quickly instructed his assistant to inform the boss behind him, then sat blankly on the stool, pondering how to deal with the situation.

Suddenly, a shadow blocked the light in front of the shopkeeper. When the shopkeeper looked up, he froze.

A group of officers and soldiers stood before them, led by Zhao Fubao, who had been following behind Zhao Daxuan earlier.

The owner of Wang's Grain Shop quickly put on a smile, pretending to be unaware even though he knew perfectly well what was going on.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

Zhao Fubao walked around the grain shop. This Wang's Grain Shop was a small shop in the grain market, much smaller than Fuyuan Grain Shop.

But even a mosquito bite is still meat, Zhao Fubao turned to look at the manager of Wang's Grain Shop and spoke in a cold voice.

"Two things: if you fail to do these, arrest people, shut down shops, and confiscate grain!"

"First, starting today, grain prices shall not exceed one and a half times the fair price."

"Secondly, we will donate 200 shi of grain to help Zhenbeicheng overcome its current difficulties."

What was bound to happen finally happened. The first price reduction had already broken the shopkeeper's heart, and the second demand for grain donations was like a sharp knife piercing his heart.

The owner of Wang's Grain Shop, with a bitter face, bowed and begged.

"Sir, as you can see, my grain shop is nowhere near the top in the grain market. Two hundred shi is far too much. How about fifty shi?"

Zhao Fubao looked at the pretentious shopkeeper and gave a cold smile.

If he hadn't already visited several grain shops of similar size and learned about their operations, he would have been completely fooled by the shopkeeper's superb acting skills.

Zhao Fubao didn't bother with any more words. He waved his hand and gave a cold shout.

"Brothers, shut down the shop and arrest them!"

The owner of Wang's Grain Shop widened his eyes instantly, then knelt down with a thud, hugging Zhao Fubao's leg and bursting into tears.

"Sir, I'll donate! I'll donate! Please don't close the shop!"

Zhao Fubao had anticipated this, so he shoved the shopkeeper aside and snorted coldly.

"Hmph! Then hurry up and take it out!"

Upon hearing this, the owner of Wang's Grain Shop breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the snot off his face with his sleeve.

"Yes, yes, sir, please wait a moment!"

He then led his men to the warehouse and began moving grain. At this point, he didn't care about the financial pain; although two hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) was a significant loss, it was still better than having his shop shut down and people arrested.

After several carts were filled with two hundred bushels of grain, Zhao Fubao had the grain shop's clerk push the grain and follow them to the grain market gate.

Zhao Daxuan had been waiting with his men at the entrance of the grain market for a long time. When he saw Zhao Fubao and his group return, Zhao Daxuan asked them questions.

"How is it?"

"Sir, this is the last batch. Every shop in the entire grain market has donated grain, without exception, totaling 15,000 shi!"

Zhao Daxuan looked at the truckloads of grain piled up like mountains in front of the grain market gate and nodded in satisfaction.

Fifteen thousand shi (a unit of dry measure) is enough to feed thirty thousand refugees for three months and enough to feed five thousand soldiers for a whole year.

"Well done, didn't you encounter any obstacles?"

Zhao Fubao grinned.

"At first it was a little difficult, but as soon as I pulled out my long sword, they all ran away in a panic, and it became much smoother afterward."

Zhao Daxuan laughed loudly, "These people are just so shameless, they only listen to us when we use knives and guns."

He then pulled over a nearby warhorse, mounted it, and said, "Now that we've gathered the provisions, let's head back!"

Zhao Fubao then arranged for his soldiers to lead a group of grain shop workers to push the grain toward the Wangbei Village camp outside the city.

"My lord, we have confiscated all 8,000 shi of grain from Fuyuan Grain Store and arrested Leng Wuye's cousin. I'm afraid this matter cannot be left unresolved."

Looking at the owner and manager of Fuyuan Grain Store, who were dejected and ashen-faced in the queue, Zhao Fubao quietly reminded Zhao Daxuan.

"It's alright, we're in the right, what's there to be afraid of!"

Zhao Daxuan sat upright on his horse, watching the Wangbei Village camp getting closer and closer, paying no attention to Zhao Fubao's words.

Suddenly, Zhao Daxuan's ears twitched, and he turned to look behind him, only to see a troop of 500 cavalrymen galloping towards him.

Two hundred paces after the cavalry approached, a familiar voice suddenly boomed out, filled with barely suppressed rage.

"Zhao Daxuan! Stop right there!"