Empress in her second playthrough: Something's not right with this plot!

However, he really couldn't understand how Prime Minister Li came up with the idea of ​​using the national treasury's money to buy grain from the Western Zhou Kingdom.

He had never heard of anyone going to the Great Chu granary to buy grain before.

"Prime Minister Li, has something happened in Guangling Circuit and Huainan Circuit?"

Li Yunsheng thought it over and decided not to tell Lou Jing the truth.

"It won't be long before Wei starts hoarding grain."

I will ensure that he cannot buy grain in the Great Chu, nor even in the Western Zhou.

Lou Jing still didn't quite understand.

"Aren't we currently maintaining good trade relations with Wei? Why are we competing with them for grain—"

Li Yunsheng interrupted his question directly.

"Just do as I say, and I'll take full responsibility if anything goes wrong."

"But even if all seventeen granaries of the Western Zhou Kingdom were empty, there would be no way to store all the grain."

"Buy as much as you can. Just fill up my seventeen granaries with grain from the Western Zhou Dynasty."

Lou Jing nodded repeatedly.

"This humble official understands."

Although he didn't understand why he was doing this, he could tell from Li Xiang's demeanor that something big was going to happen.

He didn't dare ask any more questions, and just did as instructed, and he was sure he wouldn't go wrong.

"Alright, allocate the three million taels of silver for disaster relief in a bit."

One million was delivered to my residence; the rest I will use for disaster relief.

"Your humble servant understands!"

He truly understood what was being said; yes, it was still the familiar Prime Minister Li.

……

Li House.

"Liu Quan, send these letters out."

Liu Quan took the letters; there were six or seven in total.

"Prime Minister, is something important?"

These letters were sent to officials in Jiangnan, Jiannan, Lingnan, Guangling, and Huainan.

Of the ten provinces of the Great Chu, this already accounts for half.

It wouldn't be possible to notify so many people unless it was something very important.

Li Yunsheng hunched over his desk, staring at the map before him.

"Liu Quan, there is a grain store called Fusheng in the capital, which is said to be the largest grain store in the capital."

Liu Quan responded tremblingly.

"Yes."

Li Yunsheng looked up.

"I heard the owner of this shop is surnamed Liu?"

Liu Quan's legs went weak: "Prime Minister..."

"A mere seventh-rank official before the prime minister's gate, you're quite something, managing to run such a huge business behind my back."

"Hehe, it's all thanks to the Prime Minister."

In fact, the stewards in the Prime Minister's mansion with even a little seniority have all made a name for themselves in the capital.

Even outsiders would give these people from the Prime Minister's mansion a wide berth.

Just because they have the character "Li" in their name.

Relying on this connection, some opened pawnshops and others opened silk shops in the capital.

Whether large or small, they have all earned their own business.

He grew up in the Li family mansion and was the head steward, so naturally he owned quite a few properties.

All businesses owned by the Li family outside the family had to pay interest to the family.

However, he opened this grain shop secretly, and it wasn't registered in the household accounts.

Li Yunsheng said calmly.

"I won't pursue the past, and from now on, we'll split it 30/70 as usual."

Liu Quan grinned.

"Thank you, Prime Minister!"

Regardless of whether he felt sorry for him or not, Li Yunsheng continued speaking.

"Don't thank me yet, the Prime Minister has something else for you to do."

"The Prime Minister commands, and I will go through fire and water—"

"Alright, alright, put everything aside for now and fill your granaries to the brim."

In addition, build several more large grain warehouses; store as much grain as possible.

"Prime Minister, stockpiling grain is not a problem."

Immediately afterwards, Liu Quan looked troubled.

"But I don't have enough money to build more granaries to store grain."

"You may withdraw the thirty-seven million taels of silver that were moved from the Empress's treasury."

Liu Quan's breathing became somewhat rapid; he was allowed to withdraw thirty-seven million taels of silver at will.

Seeing his expression, Li Yunsheng gave him a warning.

"Dare to take even a single tael of silver from me, and I'll chop off your claws!"

Liu Quan pulled his hands back.

"Prime Minister, please give me a hint, otherwise I won't be able to relax."

Li Yunsheng got up and walked to his side, speaking earnestly.

"Liu Quan, this time go all out and do it."

By this time next year, the grain will be able to sell for double the price.

"How much you can stockpile is how much you can earn later, understand?"

Liu Quan stood there, unable to recover for a long time.

He sold them at double the price, and the money he made was equivalent to several years' worth of his revenue.

Thirty-seven million taels of silver—this is an enormous deal.

"Prime Minister, if I exchange all 37 million taels for grain, will I be able to sell it all next year?"

This amount is too large; he's afraid it might become a problem...

"What, you don't believe a word I, the Prime Minister, say?"

"I believe you, I believe you, I believe you." Liu Quan's eyes darted around. "Prime Minister, could there be a major disaster near the capital?"

This was the only possibility he could think of: in the event of a major disaster, food prices would double.

Li Yunsheng nodded, his tone somewhat heavy.

"Yes, that was a national catastrophe,"

Liu Quan knelt down with a thud.

"Thank you for the reward, Prime Minister!"

This is a huge business opportunity; even his own grain store can make a fortune.

"Alright, alright, go ahead."

Li Yunsheng turned and walked to the table. On the map, the Western Zhou and the Great Chu bordered each other.

At the same time, the two countries surrounded Wei, and on the other side of Wei was the boundless sea.

If the State of Wei wanted to move north, it only had two options: either the Western Zhou or the Great Chu.

Clearly, the State of Wei chose the State of Chu as its target for northward expansion.

At first, he thought that no one in Wei could see through his intentions, so he pretended to be weak and did not touch Wei's spies.

Because if the State of Wei discovers this, it could easily lead to complications.

However, the assassination attempt at the hunting grounds made him realize that some people in Wei had already guessed his true intentions.

Of course, this commotion also made him aware of Wenren Xu's existence.

Now, the two of them are essentially playing their cards open.

However, by this time the situation was already set, and Wenren Xu understood that it was impossible to stop Shaluo from being sold to Da Chu.

The news that all of Wei's spies in the capital had been exposed was sent back to Wei.

Since the assassination plot against the Empress failed, Wenren Xu will surely come up with other methods.

Caught in this overwhelming trend, both sides can only react to each other's moves and see who can gain the upper hand.

Of course, as the author, he had one more advantage than Wenren Xu: he was able to know what would happen in the future.

Although the plot changed after the argument with the Empress in court.

Many plot points have changed as a result, but some things will never change.

As for why he personally went to Qingzhou for disaster relief...

One reason was that they wanted to keep the disaster relief funds in their own hands; another reason was that Jingming Mountain was located in Qingzhou.

He held a Heaven-Reaching Talisman in his hand, and only by quickly figuring out how to activate it could he feel at ease.