Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

"You, Liu Ji, still owe me money and haven't paid it back yet. What kind of distinguished guest are you?"

The courtyard gate opened, and a beautiful woman dressed in a light blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) walked out, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Liu Ji chuckled awkwardly, "It's not me who came to find you, it's my husband."

Xiao He's fair face froze for a moment: "You...when did you get married? How come I didn't know?"

Liu Ji turned his head and winked his big, fluffy eyes at Bai Su: "Just now."

Bai Su's lips twitched: "Don't listen to her nonsense, I just asked her to help me find the way."

Xiao He then noticed that, besides Liu Ji, there were two other people standing outside the door.

A young man in white robes was elegant and refined, with an extraordinary air about him; one could tell at a glance that he came from an extraordinary background.

The valiant woman beside her was dressed in a smart, tailored robe, and her deep eyes seemed to have emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood. The way she glanced at her sent a chill down the spine of the woman.

Who are these two people?

Wang Jian took out a scroll with a black bird pattern from his pocket and tossed it over: "We came from Xianyang. The purpose of our visit is to understand the local situation."

Xiao He took the scroll, lowered his eyes to look at it, and after seeing the contents and the seal in the corner that read "By the mandate of Heaven, may your life be long and prosperous," he understood.

She felt a chill run down her spine and quickly bowed, saying, "This humble official greets you, Young Master, General."

"Young...Young Master?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Liu Ji's large, almond-shaped eyes.

She never imagined that this seemingly easy-going and approachable young man was actually the Junior Imperial Censor of Xianyang, a very important figure who could directly enter the palace to meet the First Emperor.

I thought I had just latched onto a powerful patron, but it turns out he's a pillar of strength.

After all, she was just a minor official, the head of the Sishui Pavilion, a nobody compared to Bai Su, a powerful figure from the capital who stirred up the political storm.

They're worlds apart, like heaven and earth.

If I could latch onto this powerful figure, wouldn't my luck be completely turned around?!

Thinking of this, her gaze toward Bai Su suddenly became ardent.

Chapter 124 One part grain goes out, three parts grain comes in

Inside the spacious room, reports were laid out on the desk, and the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood.

A few calligraphy and paintings hung on the white walls, and the room was furnished very simply.

Bai Su casually picked up a report, looked at its contents, and frowned slightly: "Is the situation in Pei County very bad lately?"

Xiao He stood respectfully to the side, hearing Bai Su ask this question.

A bitter smile appeared on her fair face: "The situation is not just bad, the grain in the granary can't hold any longer. May I ask, Young Master Bai, how long will it take for the disaster relief grain to arrive?"

After a moment of contemplation, Bai Su said, "His Majesty has ordered the construction of wooden oxen and flowing horses specifically for transporting grain. The efficiency is several times faster than before. If nothing unexpected happens, it should take about ten days."

Xiao He's beautiful brows furrowed slightly: "Ten days? Sigh... It really is a matter of timing and fate."

Bai Su was taken aback: "What's wrong? Has Pei County already fallen behind in less than ten days?"

Xiao He bit his lip lightly and said, "Young master, you may not know this, but the grain in Pei County was originally enough to sustain us. However, a large number of refugees from the surrounding areas have gathered in Pei County, and many of them are fake refugees, which has caused the consumption of grain to increase sharply."

"The grain that was originally enough to last for more than half a month has now been reduced to less than three or four days' worth. I'm afraid it won't last until the grain is delivered."

After hearing her words, the entire room fell into a somber atmosphere.

Even Wang Jian, a veteran of countless battles, had a thin layer of cold sweat on her fair forehead; the situation was worse than she had anticipated.

She frowned and said, "Should I send troops over to arrest all those fake refugees?"

Xiao He shook his head slightly: "The matter of fake refugees is secondary. The most troublesome problem now is where to find a few more days' worth of food to last until the disaster relief food from Guanzhong arrives."

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

Clearly, the situation has reached a dead end, and there is nothing that can be done.

After all, it was impossible to transport disaster relief grain from Guanzhong in a short period of time; the only thing they could rely on was the local area.

However, the floods ravaged the land, swallowing up vast tracts of fertile fields, and the price of grain in the market skyrocketed more than tenfold. Not to mention whether people could afford to buy it, even if they had the money, there was no grain available for purchase in the market.

Wang Jian scratched his head and couldn't help but pluck out a strand of his black hair: "This grain can't just appear out of thin air, can it?"

Bai Su seemed to have thought of something after hearing what she said.

He stroked his chin and said, "It's not impossible."

They all looked at Bai Su with astonishment.

Especially Xiao He, who was already overwhelmed with trouble, seemed to have grasped at a lifeline with his clear black and white eyes: "Could it be... that the young master knows the magic of conjuring food out of thin air?"

Bai Su smiled wryly and said, "How could I, a mere mortal, understand any mysterious magic?"

Xiao He was taken aback: "Then, young master, you mean..."

Bai Su rubbed his nose and said, "Although I don't know any magic like turning beans into soldiers, it's not difficult to double the grain in the granary to meet an emergency."

Xiao He asked with a suspicious look, "What is the young master's plan?"

After pondering for a long time, Bai Su said, "I just read the report you wrote and found that after the flood, a large number of merchants and gentry took the opportunity to buy up grain in large quantities, intending to make a fortune. You should summon them all to me."

Xiao He tentatively asked, "Young master, do you perhaps want to buy grain from them? I advise you not to even think about it. Those profit-driven fellows are all hiding their grain very well."

"Moreover, they are deeply entrenched and have connections with various factions, making it almost impossible to buy grain from them."

Bai Su smiled and said, "No, I'm not buying grain, I'm selling grain. Don't we still have three or four days' worth of rations? Let's sell them to them. They want to monopolize the grain and then sell it at a high price. They certainly won't refuse our proposal."

"Young...Young Master, have you gone mad? We already don't have enough food, and you still want to sell it? Aren't you just heading down a dead end?!" Xiao He stared blankly at Bai Su, as if he had seen a madman.

Even Wang Jian, who had dealt with Bai Su for many years, was full of doubt at this moment, unable to guess what Bai Su was up to.

Bai Su smiled slightly: "This is precisely for disaster relief. After stabilizing the situation for ten days, I will make them return the food they are currently consuming, with interest, double the amount. Now you just need to follow my instructions and summon them."

"Watch how I can generate three parts grain from one part grain expenditure."

Seeing that Bai Su had said so, Xiao He said nothing more, and could only bow and retreat, and do as instructed.

As for Liu Ji...

She blinked her big, almond-shaped eyes and looked at Bai Su with great interest, wanting to see what Bai Su was going to do.

......

.......

After a long while, in the hall.

Seated among the dozen or so figures dressed in brocade robes were prominent local figures, including many wealthy and powerful men.

Bai Su walked over and said, "I'm sorry to have bothered you all so late."

"No, no, I wouldn't dare."

"It is our honor to meet you, sir!"

"..."

Although these people were summoned directly, they were quite perceptive in their dealings with others. They all wore smiles, chatted and laughed, and showed no signs of anger.

Bai Su nodded secretly. Although these people were not of high status, how many of them were simple-minded and wealthy merchants?

He smiled and said, "Please don't be shy, everyone. Please sit down."

After saying that, he walked directly to the head seat.

The people around her took their seats, all of them sitting up straight and quietly watching Bai Su.

Bai Su smiled and said, "I've heard that you're all buying up grain at high prices?"

The people looked at each other in bewilderment. One of the thin old men chuckled and said, "Why do you say that, sir? Our family is also close to running out of food. We are only buying food now so that we have something to eat."

"Yeah yeah."

"..."

Bai Su smiled and said, "There's no need for you to be nervous. I don't mean to blame you. After all, you paid for these things, so why would I blame you? I just see that you are so short of food, so I wanted to cooperate with you."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces were filled with confusion.

One of the overweight men cautiously asked, "May I ask what Your Excellency means...?"

"I happen to have a batch of grain that I'd like to sell to you all, but with prices more than ten times higher than before, it would be too much of a burden for you to buy it. So how about we barter instead..."

Bai Su took a deep breath and said with a serious expression, "For example... five catties of bran can be exchanged for one catty of rations."

Upon hearing this, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared at Bai Su in disbelief.

You have to understand, this bran is the feed for livestock. Using livestock feed to exchange for human rations is simply unbelievable.

One of the gaunt old men tentatively asked, "May I ask if what you say is true, young master?"

Bai Su nodded and said, "Of course it's true. The flood has spread so far that there's no time to treat the injured. Instead of wasting time here, we should sell all the remaining grain to you and exchange it for livestock feed to support the army of the court."

The group looked at each other, thought about it carefully, and found that Bai Su's words made a lot of sense.

After all, it used to take at least a month to transport grain from Guanzhong, but now the local granaries can't hold out for that long. Rather than waiting to die, it's wiser to withdraw in time.

Wouldn't they make a huge profit in that case?

The grain these animals eat is worth very little, but grain is a hard currency, and its price skyrockets as the number of refugees increases.

It seemed like a sure-fire way to make money.

Thinking of this, they excitedly volunteered, "Sir, I have five thousand catties of bran here."

"I have eight thousand catties."

"I have 20,000 jin..."

"..."

In the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the food that was originally enough for only three days suddenly turned into bran for nearly half a month.

As dusk approached.

The crowd dispersed.