Chapter 1074: Chapter 910: What Is He After?

Before an hour had passed, the steward hurriedly rushed in to report.

"Master! A servant just came to report that the area in front of the government office corner door is now surrounded by citizens with no way in or out." The steward’s heart pounded like a drum, his face full of worry.

"What’s going on? What do they want to do?" Ju Haoming asked with a slight surprise, but an ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.

"They’re all buying rice!" the steward said through gritted teeth.

Ju Haoming suddenly stood up from his chair, "We can’t wait any longer!"

He thought for a while, then stood behind the desk and picked up a pen.

For a moment, the area in front of the Yingnan Prefecture Government corner door was bustling, some people holding rice bags, others holding winnowing baskets, forming a long queue at the entrance.

"Everyone line up properly, don’t push, each household is limited to buying two catties of brown rice."

A government official hollered in front of the government office corner door, scooped up half a liter of brown rice, and put it into the cloth bag of the person.

Beside him, another government official held a household register, verifying household by household, then registering them.

"Come, come, ten copper coins!" The official extended his hand, took ten copper coins from a citizen, briefly looked at them, and tossed them into the wooden box behind him.

Gu Chengyu watched the scene from afar, and when he saw a few people in the crowd peering around without any tools to buy rice, his eyebrows raised slightly, it was close!

It’s close!

"Sir, how many more days do we have to keep this up?" Ming Mo looked at the long line of people, worried to the point of his hair turning white.

Looking at the gentleman beside him, who still had a satisfied smile, feeling quite cheerful. He couldn’t help but feel his veins bulge; why wasn’t the gentleman anxious at all?

"At least five more days!" Gu Chengyu held up three fingers, shaking the folding fan in his hand.

Ming Mo instantly pulled a long face, "Won’t the granary be half empty by then?"

Gu Chengyu nodded heavily, "Yes! Anyway, they are all old and rotten grains, we’ve done a good deed."

Then, Gu Chengyu flicked his sleeves happily, he was tired! Going to sleep!

Ming Mo’s face was full of helplessness, doing a good deed? Is this doing a good deed? Messing it up could lead to beheading!

Watching the back of the gentleman leaving, Ming Mo could only sigh, touching his own head. Thankfully, his head was solidly on his shoulders!

"Master, something is wrong!"

A follower rushed to the outer study, where Xia Mingqun was happily conversing with a richly dressed gentleman. Seeing the follower not only burst in but also making a fuss, Xia Mingqun’s face sank.

"Why are you shouting, can’t you see I have a distinguished guest here? How can you be so unruly?"

Xia Mingqun glared at the follower who had barged into the study, loudly reprimanding him.

These unruly things, he was in the middle of business negotiations, and they burst in like this, it was simply outrageous.

The follower was startled by his master’s roar, and upon seeing there was a distinguished guest in the study, he couldn’t help but inwardly curse.

Wasn’t it his master who said that any news regarding the Lord Imperial Envoy should be reported to him immediately?

He even said there was no need to notify, regardless of the time, it must be reported immediately.

The follower felt wronged, but dared not show it on his face.

"What’s the matter?" Xia Mingqun suppressed his anger and asked deeply.

"Master! The front of the government office is surrounded by many citizens, they are all buying rice!"

"Buying rice? What rice? Where did the rice come from?" Xia Mingqun’s expression stiffened, then he frowned.

He had just returned to the mansion today, unaware of Gu Chengyu’s previous actions.

"Sir! That Lord Imperial Envoy brought in a significant amount of grain from other states, not only providing disaster victims with advance wages but also selling them grain. Even the city folk are flocking to buy rice at the government office’s corner door. The Lord Imperial Envoy said that from today onwards, citizens can buy rice at the government office’s corner door, but each household is limited to a pound."

"What? How much is he selling for per pound?" Xia Mingqun widened his eyes, gasping.

"Ten copper coins!" The follower stated a number that shocked and left Xia Mingqun in despair.

"Ten copper coins?" Xia Mingqun asked through gritted teeth, incredulously.

"Is it rice grain?" He asked unwillingly, then stared at the follower, hoping to hear the answer he wanted.

"It’s brown rice!"

"Insane, absolutely insane! Ten copper coins, isn’t that a huge loss?" Xia Mingqun thought Gu Chengyu was simply crazy, what was he plotting?

Just for political achievements? Yet Gu Chengyu had just been promoted not long ago, even if he handled disaster relief perfectly, he couldn’t possibly be promoted again in short order, why was he so painstakingly diligent?

Among the court officials, few are so meticulous, everyone knows to leave some room for maneuver, for future meetings? Being sensible and keeping a low profile is what officials usually do, why does Gu Chengyu have to be different?

Does Gu Chengyu intend to completely offend the Xia Family? Just wait! Gu Chengyu, this time the grudge is huge.

Even collecting rice grains costs thirty copper coins per liter nowadays, and Gu Chengyu’s still sold the de-hulled brown rice for only ten copper coins.

He didn’t believe the rice grain prices hadn’t risen in nearby states, was Gu Chengyu losing money just to gain popularity? No, Gu Chengyu wasn’t losing! 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Because he was squandering the silver donated by their merchants as he pleased.

The hateful thing was, the Xia Family had contributed more than half of the silver. In other words, Gu Chengyu was using the silver the Xia Family contributed just to make things difficult for them.

The other gentleman in the room also wore a very unpleasant expression upon hearing this, "Xia Clan Leader, what do you intend to do with this grain? Do you want it or not? If you don’t plan to, I’ll sell it to someone else."

This person was somewhat anxious, fearing Xia Mingqun might renege on buying the grain.

This was five thousand shi! He had traveled to many places for this grain, gathering so much.

Fearing Xia Mingqun might renege, the man was filled with apprehension.

Xia Mingqun turned to glance at the man, suddenly hesitating in his heart.

Gu Chengyu sold the rice so cheaply, if he bought the grain at the previously agreed price, wouldn’t it mean losing everything?

After all, Gu Chengyu’s brown rice sold for only ten copper coins a pound, if he sold it for more, who would buy his grain?

But if he didn’t sell for more, he’d make a loss. He regretted earlier buying rice grains at a higher price, how much silver would he lose then? He had bought twenty thousand shi.

Thinking about this, Xia Mingqun suddenly panicked inside.

The man seeing Xia Mingqun’s obvious hesitation, his mind spun, immediately said, "Xia Clan Leader, I think Gu Chengyu’s actions are very questionable! You see, they’d surely only go to nearby states, but could those states procure so much cheap grain? If they buy a lot, wouldn’t the price go up?"

Hearing this, Xia Mingqun nodded, indeed that was the logic. Merchants prioritize profit, who cares if it’s sold to disaster victims? They just want to make silver.