The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

After the court session, Pei Ju approached him: "Minister Chen, the Ministry of Revenue has collected a list of disaster victims. I'm afraid your Ministry of Works will have to hire people to help you with this."

"Are there many?" Chen Huai'an asked.

"Not many, just over two thousand," Pei Ju replied.

Chen Huai'an was speechless. Two thousand people and you call that not many?

You should know that the standard they set was one where they couldn't survive.

Isn't that enough?

"Let's recruit by household. If there's only one household, we'll recruit one person from that household," Chen Huai'an pondered. "The wages we pay aren't high, but at least we'll provide three meals a day. The people we hire can definitely support their families with their wages."

"Two thousand people, including many elderly, weak, women and children, it's impossible to hire them all."

Pei Ju nodded and said, "Minister Chen, you can decide for yourself. I'm only responsible for providing the list and the funds."

As he spoke, he said quietly, "After all, I still need to find someone to raise grain prices, so I'll be busy for a while."

Chen Huai'an smiled and said, "Minister Pei, do you think this is a difficult task?"

"Otherwise what?" Pei Ju said irritably, "If we drive up grain prices like this, attracting countless grain merchants to come here with their grain, and then seal off the city in one fell swoop... I'm not saying this is just dumping the market, it's flipping the table."

"The moment the lockdown order is issued, everyone will realize that this is a conspiracy. At that time, as the mastermind, I'll be lucky if I don't get condemned to death."

Pei Ju sighed.

He is too old and is about to die.

I thought I could get away safely, but I never expected to encounter such a severe drought and then run into Chen Huai'an, that heartless bastard.

His reputation is probably in jeopardy.

Chen Huai'an countered, "Has Minister Pei considered that only the grain merchants and their backers are criticizing you?"

"Don't worry about what they write about you or what they say about you. At least the people are saved, aren't they?"

"The greater the drought, the more people you will save, and correspondingly, the greater your merit will be."

"The historians will certainly record the criticisms directed at you, but will they record your motives for doing this, and how many people you saved?"

Pei Ju paused for a moment upon hearing this, then said blankly, "Of course I'll remember."

"So do you think people will pity the grain merchants who profited from the national crisis, or the poor people at the bottom? Will future generations praise your unparalleled strategy, or say that you are extremely ruthless?" Chen Huai'an said with a smile.

"..."

Pei Ju remained silent for a while, then suddenly chuckled softly: "There should be great scholars to debate the classics for me."

"That's right." Chen Huai'an said earnestly, "Why do you care what others say about you? Does their criticism matter? I don't have any other hobbies, I just like to speak the truth."

"Minister Pei, forgive my bluntness, but at your age, shouldn't you care about what future generations will say? Isn't it enough for everyone to realize that what you did was right?"

"...That makes sense." Pei Ju thought about it and agreed.

Pei Ju used to only want to retire peacefully and not get involved in any trouble. He felt that Chen Huai'an's scheming only brought him criticism and did nothing good, and was completely a bad thing.

In retrospect, if this matter succeeds, it will be my greatest achievement before I retire.

It's not a bad thing, but a good thing.

Chen Huai'an laughed and said, "Minister Pei, once this matter is over, you can retire and return to your hometown. The credit will go to you, and the position will be mine. It's a win-win situation for everyone, isn't that wonderful?"

Pei Ju: "..."

That's what they say... but it sounds so strange.

"..."

"Prices have gone up again! Grain prices have gone up once more!"

On the afternoon of the day the court assembly ended, Chang'an City was instantly in an uproar because grain prices had begun to rise rapidly since that morning.

The price had risen from 400 coins in the morning to 420 coins in the afternoon, an increase of 20 coins in one day, which caused panic among all the people in Chang'an.

Subsequently, officials from the Ministry of Works and the Imperial Workshops, carrying lists provided by the Ministry of Revenue, hired servants throughout the city.

These people were already struggling to survive, and when they heard that the imperial court was hiring them to reclaim wasteland in the Guanzhong region, most of them readily agreed.

In the following days, grain prices did recover somewhat due to this incident. However, as news of droughts in Shandong and other regions spread, and with Chen Huai'an, the Ministry of Revenue, Li Shimin, and others deliberately colluding with grain merchants to inflate prices, grain prices soared again.

Grain prices are rising at an incredible rate!

"teacher!"

Wang Bai ran back excitedly: "The price of grain outside has reached 430 wen, and it's still rising."

Chen Huai'an's eyes flickered slightly, knowing that this price was originally the final price in the first year of Zhenguan. He calmly said, "Spread the news far and wide."

"Closely monitor the movements of major grain traders from other regions."

"Furthermore, now that you've set this precedent, do it properly. If the major grain merchants in Chang'an hesitate, immediately raise the price, and I'll have the Ministry of Revenue cooperate with you!"

"Yes, sir!" Wang Bai respectfully withdrew.

Chen Huai'an said to Shen He, who was standing next to him, "Find someone to spread rumors that the imperial court is short of food and is going to carry out large-scale construction projects. Spread the word that food prices will rise further."

"I understand, sir." Shen He nodded and left.

After the two men left, Li Chengqian hesitated and asked, "Sir, how high do you think grain prices will eventually rise?"

"To what extent?" Chen Huai'an sneered, "To a extent you can't even imagine."

"What's four hundred and thirty coins? This is just the beginning."

Li Chengqian swallowed hard, his heart pounding with fear.

Four hundred and thirty, and this is just the beginning?

You should know that the price of grain used to be only around one hundred coins.

In the following days, grain prices in Chang'an soared like a runaway horse.

Four hundred and fifty coins, four hundred and sixty coins, four hundred and eighty coins... In just five days, it broke through the five hundred coin mark.

Rumors were already circulating widely. Some said the drought in Guanzhong would last for another six months, others said Shandong and Henan had no harvest, and even Luoyang, the eastern capital, was experiencing a food shortage. Still others solemnly claimed that the imperial court was still undertaking large-scale construction projects, reclaiming wasteland and building water conservancy projects.

Unfortunately, all of this was true. Once everyone inquired and confirmed it, grain prices rose even faster!

Finally, the imperial court issued a major announcement.

Li Shimin seemed to be forced to compromise under pressure from his officials, and ordered the purchase of grain at high prices so that it could be used to provide relief to the people in the future.

Overnight, notices from the government offering high prices to buy grain were posted all over the streets and alleys.

This made everyone realize that the previous rumors were true; the imperial court really did have money but no grain, and the scale of this drought was enormous.

In an instant, all the grain merchants who heard the news were filled with jubilation.

"..."