Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Gu Mingyue sat next to her brother.

Holding a small celadon bowl in his hand, he eagerly awaited the meat to cook.

Only after hearing the emperor's praise did she look away.

Now that we have the Cui family's money, our next step should be to continue manipulating grain prices.

Gu Mingli placed the cooked meat into Gu Mingyue's bowl, and then placed a piece of meat into Xiao Ye's white porcelain dish.

He casually replied, "We've tied up the Cui family's fifty million taels, so they're definitely short of cash right now. They should still have a few tens of millions left to buy grain."

Xiao Jue, who was listening nearby, picked up his chopsticks, scooped some meat slices from the pot, and casually remarked:

"The Ministry of Revenue has people planted by the Cui family, and they are currently watching whether the court is prepared to compromise."

Xiao Ye stared at the piece of mutton on the plate, coated with sesame sauce, but didn't touch it.

"Since that's the case, then so be it. Next, I'll put on a show of them being at their wits' end."

The atmosphere at the morning court session the following day was somewhat unpleasant.

On the gilded dragon throne, Xiao Ye looked down at Wang Cong, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who stood with his head bowed.

The emperor was furious, and the officials on both sides dared not even breathe loudly.

A bright yellow folding book was tossed onto the white jade steps.

Xiao Ye's voice was extremely cold.

"Vice Minister Wang."

Wang Cong's court robes were soaked through, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He hunched over, not daring to lift his head.

"Your subject is here."

Xiao Ye looked at him.

"The locust plague in Ji Province has caused a complete crop failure, and the military pay for the 200,000 troops in the northern border is two months behind schedule. I ordered the Ministry of Revenue to procure grain, and what have you submitted?"

Wang Cong swallowed hard and spoke cautiously.

"Your Majesty is wise. The Ministry of Revenue has been working tirelessly to raise funds these past few days."

"But this year, the harvest is poor in various places, and the price of grain in the six prefectures south of the Yangtze River is extremely high. We can no longer buy grain at the prices of previous years."

Xiao Ye showed no intention of listening to his explanation and directly issued a death order.

"I don't care what method you use. The Ministry of Revenue must make up the grain shortage within one month."

"If you can't buy it forty coins, then offer fifty. If you can't even handle this simple task, then your position as Vice Minister of Revenue should be given to someone else."

Wang Cong bowed respectfully, "Your subject obeys the decree."

After the court session ended.

Wang Cong returned to the Ministry of Revenue.

He sat down at his desk with great excitement and wrote a secret letter.

He summoned a trusted servant. He slipped the letter into the servant's hand and whispered his instructions.

"Send it to Lingzhou at top speed. Deliver it personally to the Duke."

Three days later. At the Cui residence in Lingzhou.

Cui Yuan sat in the armchair in his study, holding the secret letter sent by Wang Cong, and sneered disdainfully.

"News from Kyoto. The young emperor lost his temper in court."

"A firm order was given to the Ministry of Revenue to purchase grain at high prices, and to fill the military supply gap as soon as possible."

Cui Ming was overjoyed upon hearing this and put the teacup back on the table.

"Brother, it seems the information we got from the minor nobleman at the Pujitang logistics station is true!"

"The young emperor urgently needs grain, and in large quantities! Our opportunity has arrived for the Cui family."

Cui Yuan's sinister eyes narrowed slightly.

Although the Cui family had spent 50 million taels of silver to buy the commodity city a few days ago, their cash flow was indeed tight.

However, to truly dominate the grain supply, they needed to negotiate with the young emperor and reclaim the Cui family's control over the grain transport system and iron smelting workshops.

The remaining 30 million taels must be poured into the grain market for the final cleanup.

"Pass down the order. Have all the grain stores owned by the Cui family in various regions consume the last batch of loose grain on the market."

Cui Ming stood up. "I'll make the arrangements right away. I guarantee the little emperor won't receive a single grain of food!"

at the same time.

Kyoto, Fujido Logistics Park.

Gu Mingyue sat in the main courtyard's reception room, flipping through the account book at a glance, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.

The Cui family has entered the game.

Pei Yu was a little confused, but he knew that he just needed to follow his employer's instructions.

"Master, the Cui family has been raising their grain purchase price along with us these past few days. They're frantically snapping up grain on the market at a high price of forty wen."

Gu Mingyue chuckled softly.

I glanced at my system panel.

[Current amount of embezzled silver consumed: 20 million taels]

[Task Balance: 80 million taels]

Looks like I need to spend money even faster.

"Pass down the notice: Pujitang will publicly raise its purchase price to eighty cash per dou."

"At the same time, we instructed the logistics stations to secretly sell the loose grain that we had previously acquired for thirty coins to the Cui family for no less than eighty coins."

Pei Yu was completely baffled.

"If we do this, we'll run out of food."

Gu Mingyue placed the teacup on the table.

"No rush, let grain prices soar for a few more days. The focus these next few days is to distribute the Da Yong Min Bao newspaper to all the states through logistics stations."

Pei Yu patted his chest.

"Don't worry, boss. The Minbao newspaper is selling very well in all the states. In the larger state capitals, even 10,000 copies are not enough to meet demand."

"Now, people in every state are talking about the news in the newspapers."

Gu Mingyue nodded.

Now the public opinion front is set up, and we're just waiting for the Cui family to make their appearance.

……

On the other side, in the backyard of the Da Yong Min Newspaper Office.

Gu Mingli sat behind his desk in his office, holding a freshly printed ink sample in his hand.

Song Huaijin, Chen Wangshu, and Lin Zhixing sat to the side, waiting for Master Gu's comments.

Now they have mastered the essence of running a newspaper, and the title, wording, and content of each article are carefully considered.

After carefully reviewing the draft, Gu Mingli picked up a vermilion brush and circled several paragraphs. He then looked up and praised:

"Editor-in-Chief Song, the articles in the last few issues have been very well edited. The core of our newspaper is to let ordinary people see that evildoers are being investigated and punished, to understand that there is hope for the future, and to see that His Majesty is taking steps to solve the country's problems. You have done a great job."

Upon hearing this, Song Huaijin immediately bowed with excitement.

"This is all thanks to your excellent guidance, Lord Gu! Using the pen as a sword to benefit the country and its people, we scholars are duty-bound to do our part!"

Just as the group was preparing to discuss topics for the next issue, they heard a series of light, steady footsteps outside the door.

Yi Shi carried a beautifully crafted rosewood food box, knocked on the door, and came in.

"Young master, this sweet soup from the palace is here to soothe your throat."

Without looking to the side, he walked to the table, gently placed the food box down, lifted the lid, and carefully took out a bowl of still steaming rock sugar pear and white fungus soup.

The stewed white fungus is so tender and translucent that it looks incredibly tempting.

Gu Mingli waved his hand.

"Let's leave it for now. We're in a meeting discussing business right now, I'll drink it later."

"Young master..."

Yi Shi took out a small piece of paper from his pocket and held a pen in his other hand.

A pair of large eyes stared at him intently, as if to say, "I won't leave until you drink."

They were clearly waiting for him to finish drinking so they could return to the palace.

Gu Mingli: "..."

The three editors exchanged glances, and with keen insight, they all stood up, cupped their hands in farewell, and suppressed their laughter as they took their leave.

"Lord Gu, please continue with your work. We'll go ahead and proofread and format the document."