…

 

A few days later.

 

In the area of Changning Wei, there have been many chaotic situations.

 

Every one or two days, Wang Shouzhe would receive letters from Wang Shouyi, telling him about what was happening in Changning Wei. The city guard has reached an agreement with two heavenly clans, including several top Lingtai clans such as the Xu clan of Changning, and the Qian Commercial Group, to begin opening warehouses in the city to relieve the disaster.

 

However, the city guard had to deal with a large population of over a hundred thousand people, and the amount of food consumed every day was astronomical.

 

Several daring merchants actually joined forces to hoard and sell food to the people in the city at five or six times the price. They were caught by the city guard and not only executed, but the hoarded food was also confiscated and made public.

 

There were even rumors that because the disaster had spread to other areas of Longzuo Commandery, it was difficult to transfer food to suppress the famine in the city, resulting in a famine in the entire commandery. It was said that Longzuo Commandery was a city with a population of over a million, so a famine in the city was undoubtedly a major event. It was evident that the overall situation in Longzuo Commandery had deteriorated to a certain extent.

 

Now, rumors and gossip were rampant. Some said that the Purple Mansion Academy could not raise enough food outside. Some said that the city had ordered its guards to collect food to ensure the city's food supply.

 

The biggest rumor was that the Changlong Emperor's life was coming to an end, and the Daqian Empire was about to end. This insect disaster was a sign. Wang Shouzhe broke out in a cold sweat. It was true that when the situation was chaotic, all sorts of monsters and ghosts would come out.

 

However, those who dared to say that the Changlong Emperor was about to die were quickly caught by the city guard and hung on the city gate for torture and execution.

 

In Wang Shouyi's letters, he only hinted at the situation, and the messenger who delivered the letters had to be very careful when telling Wang Shouzhe about it.

 

In short, chaos!

 

The Wang clan could only be honest on the surface in the midst of this chaos. They had to pay taxes and provide food. Even if the Wang clan wanted to pay less food, they couldn't do it.

 

Even Wang Dingzu, who served as the deputy commander of the garrison, dared not show any favoritism at such a critical moment. This was because the city guard had sent people down to supervise the progress of food collection, and who would dare to show favoritism at this time?

 

This summer's tax collection required a considerable amount of food from the Wang clan.

 

The grain was transported to the Dingpu Ferry by horse-drawn carts and supervised by the city guard's envoys. The garrison's people were weighed one by one before being loaded onto the grain ships.

 

The three major farms had a total of 7,650 acres of good land on their books, and they collected 3,060 bushels of wheat per acre at a tax rate of four taxes per acre. Fortunately, the overall harvest was good this time, except for the problem of honey bees. This was actually a season with abundant rain in the early stages and good sunshine in the middle and late stages, which was very conducive to the maturation of wheat.

 

Therefore, the total wheat yield of the three major farms was actually over 26,000 bushels, with an average yield of about three and a half bushels per acre, which was barely considered a bumper harvest.

 

Excluding the summer tax, the previous expenditure on insecticide taxes, seed and plow oxen depreciation, and tenant farmers' share, there was still an additional pure profit of 14,500 bushels. Of course, the actual amount of grain was much more than this number.

 

Because the previous expenses, such as insecticide taxes, were all paid with Top Gold, and they would not buy those insecticides again. This was only the income from one season.

 

By the way, the four old masters were previously deceived into hoarding a batch of insecticide, but they sold it at three times the price during the high season and made a lot of money.This made the fourth elder Wang Xiaozhi extremely proud. He boasted to everyone that he had made a "big fortune" for the family with his outstanding vision and had made great contributions.

 

Except for the summer tax on their own farm fields, all other industries within the farm were taxed before the New Year. And because the crops produced were not grains, they did not need to use grain to pay the tax.

 

In addition, they also collected taxes for the territory within the Wang clan's influence.

 

Because the Wang clan's influence was small, there were only 16,000 mu of good farmland registered by the common people within their jurisdiction, and they were all subject to the five-tax system. However, Wang Shouzhe was concerned about the self-cultivating farmers within their jurisdiction. Although their losses were less than those outside, they still suffered greatly.

 

Therefore, they decided to only collect the fourth tax grain, which belonged to the aristocratic tax, and could be offset by large copper coins. This time, the Wang clan worked hard to collect 6,400 dan of grain, all of which were loaded onto carts and transported to the Dingpu Ferry, where they were then taken away by large boats.

 

Under the protection of his family at home, Wang Shouzhe stood at the bustling Dingpu Ferry, feeling deeply moved. Nowadays, the benefits of collecting taxes far exceeded the hard work of the Xuanwu clan and the free farmers who worked hard to farm.

 

These grains were estimated to be transported to the Commandery City as rumors had it, and some of them were probably going to "relieve" the higher-level officials. It should be noted that the living conditions there were much better than those in Ping'an Town.

 

Speaking of which, it was also a kind of irony.

 

Moreover, the transportation of these boatloads of grain would make Ping'an Town, which was already short of grain, even worse off. Especially for many self-cultivating farmers who invested their savings in buying farmland or spent a lot of money sending their children to school, or just went through a major life event such as marriage, death, or marriage, this crisis would be particularly difficult.

 

Self-cultivating farmers theoretically had good living conditions, but their consumption level was much higher than that of ordinary farmers. The cost of oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, clothing, food, housing, transportation, and marriage was also higher.

 

And most self-cultivating farmers, even with a little savings, would try to expand their land, build houses, cultivate their children's reading and learning, and so on. These all consumed a lot of money, and most of them did not have too much savings.

 

Under normal circumstances, this was not a problem, but unexpectedly, this time the insect infestation came so fiercely and suddenly.

 

However, even so.

 

Except for a few self-cultivating farmers, most of them tried to endure until the next season's grain output, even if it was difficult. But among them, some people were causing trouble.

 

Every time there was a natural disaster or man-made calamity, there were always some greedy and powerful people. They took this opportunity to merge and swallow up the wealth of the people, and grow themselves.

 

Wang Shouzhe took a distant look at the caravan of Liu clan and Zhao clan who came to pay taxes continuously, and his eyes narrowed slightly. Previously, he only estimated their actions based on the style of the two wolf-like clans of Liu and Zhao, as well as some rumors that had spread.

 

But with the development of intelligence work, some conclusive intelligence gradually reached Wang Shouzhe's ears. He almost confirmed that the other party would indeed make a big move.

 

…

 

Ping'an Liu clan.

 

In the main hall of the Liu clan's main house, Liu Shengye, the head of the Liu clan, was listening to several waves of reports from his clansmen, including the more outstanding young generation, Liu Yongzhou.

 

His brow furrowed, "What's wrong with the Sun clan of Changning? They clearly promised to lend us 15,000 dan of wheat, and we will still pay back 30,000 dan of rice after the autumn harvest. Why haven't they fulfilled their promise now? Is it not enough to make a profit out of thin air like this?"

 

"The Sun clan of Changning said that they all rushed to buy insecticides, and barely saved some of their production," a clan member in his fifties replied, "They said that the Sun clan suffered too much loss."

 

"How much do they need?" Liu Shengye's face was a little gloomy. This time, the Liu clan suffered too much loss. If they couldn't make up for it, it would be a huge loss.The clan members' faces also looked bad: "The Sun Clan said that they don't want us to pay double the amount of grain, and they also said that manipulating grain prices is illegal. It's better to barter instead, and they want to exchange 1,500 acres of fertile land with us."

 

1,500 acres of fertile land?

 

Liu Shengye's face turned pale and then green, almost fainting: "Have they gone mad? 15,000 dan of grain in exchange for 1,500 acres of land?" Their Liu Clan had accumulated more than 10,000 acres of fertile land over many years since their ancestors.

 

This request accounted for one-seventh of their land, which was extremely ruthless and several times more profitable.

 

"Clan leader, shall we just forget about it?" the clan member said helplessly, "According to our original plan, we could only annex about 2,000 acres of fertile land. Now that the Sun Clan has done this, won't we end up with a bad reputation and still have to make a wedding dress for others?"

 

"We can't let it go. Our Liu Clan has suffered too much this time." Liu Shengye revealed a fierce look in his eyes, "This time, let's go all out and aim to annex 3,000 acres of land. Even if we have to mortgage or borrow money, or exchange with others, we will still make a huge profit."

 

His eldest brother, Liu Shenghao, was at a critical moment in his breakthrough to the Lingtai realm, and there was still a gap in resources. Once he reached the Lingtai realm, they would have two Lingtai masters in the clan, and they would be able to compete with the Sun Clan.

 

Liu Shengye was good at managing finances and always fought for every penny, never willing to suffer a loss. Moreover, the clan had been painstakingly accumulating wealth for the past fifty years. Wasn't the purpose of having a strong family to cultivate a second Lingtai Ancestor?

 

"Clan leader, such a big move may cause resentment among the people, right?" A clan member worriedly said, "Besides, the Wang Clan didn't suffer any disaster this time because they have a Spirit Insect Master, so they must have a lot of surplus grain left. Will they take advantage of this opportunity…"

 

"They wouldn't dare!" Liu Shengye confidently said, "Our Liu Clan is working with the Zhao Clan, how could the weak Wang Clan dare to make a move? Besides, I've heard that the Wang Clan has already transported their surplus grain to the East Port, exchanging it for cultivation resources at a high return. It's a wise move, as the surplus grain in their hands won't be as popular next season."

 

"How can the clan leader be so sure about this?" The clan member asked curiously, "According to this trend, not every family needs to use double the dose of insect repellent."

 

"Our clan leader has already received news that the Purple Mansion Academy has started to improve the next generation of insect repellent. And to express their apologies, they will distribute the next season's insect repellent to the affected families at only 10% of the original price."

 

This news was relatively secret, but everyone in the meeting hall was a core member of the Liu Clan, so there was no fear of leakage.

 

"In that case, we can't miss this opportunity." The clan members expressed their agreement, "It's just that the Sun Clan is too greedy."

 

Liu Yongzhou, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Clan leader, uncles, I have a way that we don't have to cooperate with the Sun Clan. A while ago, my fishing boat saved a young lady who had fallen into trouble by the river…"

 

As soon as he mentioned the young lady, Liu Yongzhou's eyes were filled with uncontrollable passion, obsession, and even fanaticism…

 

…