Chapter 65

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A few days later.

In the Changning Garrison area, a considerable amount of chaos had already emerged.

Wang Shouzhe would receive letters from Wang Shouyi every one or two days, detailing the events happening in Changning Garrison. The City Guard Office had reached agreements with two Celestial Families, several top-tier Spirit Platforms Families including the Changning Xu Family, and the Qian Family merchant group, and had begun to open granaries to provide relief in the city.

However, the city had a large population of over a hundred thousand, and the daily consumption of grain was astronomical.

A few daring merchants had even colluded to hoard and speculate, selling grain to the city's residents at five to six times the normal price. They were caught red-handed by the City Guard Office, beheaded as a public warning, and their hoarded grain was confiscated and made public property.

There were also rumors that the disaster had spread beyond Longzuo County. As a result, it would be difficult to quickly mobilize grain from outside the county to suppress the grain shortage, leading to a grain crisis even in the large county city.

It was said that the Longzuo County city had a population of over a million. A grain crisis in this city would be a major event, indicating just how dire the overall situation in Longzuo County had become.

Rumors and whispers were rampant. Some said that the Purple Mansion Academy was unable to secure grain from outside. Others claimed that the county city had ordered the subordinate city guards to hand over their grain to ensure the supply for the county city.

The biggest rumor even suggested that Emperor Changlong's lifespan was nearing its end, and the Great Qian Empire was about to fall, with this insect disaster being a sign. This made Wang Shouzhe break out in a cold sweat. Indeed, when the situation becomes chaotic, all sorts of demons and devils come out.

However, those who dared to say that Emperor Changlong was about to die were quickly apprehended by the City Guard Office and executed by dismemberment and displayed at the city gates.

In Wang Shouyi's letters, he only dared to express these matters indirectly. Wang Shouzhe had to hear the details from the messenger who delivered the letters.

In a word,

Chaos!

The Wang family, amidst this chaos, could only maintain a facade of compliance. They paid their taxes and delivered their grain without any reduction. In fact, even if the Wang family wanted to reduce their grain contribution, it would be impossible.

Even though Uncle Wang Dingzhu served as the deputy commander in the Garrison, he absolutely dared not show any favoritism at this critical juncture. The City Guard Office had already sent people to supervise the grain collection process, and no one dared to show favoritism at this moment.

This summer tax, the Wang family had to deliver a significant amount of grain.

One cart after another of grain was loaded onto wagons and transported to the Dingpu Ferry, where City Guard Office officials supervised the weighing and loading onto grain ships.

The three large farms combined had a total of 7,650 acres of good land, with a tax rate of 4 per acre, requiring a total of 3,060 carts of wheat to be paid as land tax. Fortunately, the harvest this year was good, despite the problem of honey insects. It was a season with abundant early rain and good mid-to-late season sunlight, which was very beneficial for wheat ripening.

Therefore, the total wheat harvest from the three farms reached over 26,000 carts, with an average yield of about 3.5 carts per acre, barely qualifying as a bountiful harvest.

After deducting the summer tax, the "insect extermination tax," seed and ox expenses, and the share for tenant farmers, there was still a net profit of about 14,000 to 15,000 carts of grain. Of course, the actual amount of grain was much more.

This was just the income for one season.

Incidentally, the batch of insect extermination powder that the Fourth Elder had been tricked into stockpiling was sold at three times the price during the high price period, making a substantial profit.

This made the Fourth Elder, Wang Xiaozhi, extremely proud, boasting to everyone that he had earned a "large sum" for the family with his exceptional insight, and had made a great contribution.

In addition to the summer tax from the family's wheat fields, the other industries within the farms paid their taxes at the beginning of the year. Since they did not produce grain, they did not need to pay in grain.

Furthermore, there was the tax collection on behalf of the Wang family's jurisdiction.

Because the Wang family's jurisdiction was small, the registered good land in the jurisdiction was only 16,000 acres, all subject to a 5% tax rate. However, the Wang family, considering the self-cultivating farmers in the jurisdiction, who, although suffered less than those outside, still suffered greatly, decided to only collect a 4% tax, with the 1% for the family being offset by copper coins. This time, the Wang family painstakingly collected 6,400 carts of grain, all of which were loaded onto wagons and transported to the Dingpu Ferry, then shipped away by large boats.

Under the protection of the household guards, Wang Shouzhe stood at the bustling Dingpu Ferry, feeling a myriad of emotions. In this era, the income from the hard work of the Xuanwu Family and the free farmers was far less than the income from taxation.

This grain would likely be transported to the garrison city, and some would probably go to "relieve" the higher-level county and state people. After all, the living conditions there were much better than in Ping'an Town.

In a sense, this was a form of irony.

Moreover, the continuous shipment of grain would exacerbate the already grain-scarce situation in Ping'an Town. Especially for those who had invested their savings in purchasing farmland, or spent a fortune sending their children to school, or had just experienced significant expenses such as weddings and funerals, this crisis would be particularly difficult to endure.

Theoretically, the conditions of self-cultivating farmers were not bad, but their consumption levels were much higher than those of tenant farmers, with higher costs for oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, clothing, food, housing, and significant expenses for weddings, funerals, and marriages.

Moreover, most self-cultivating farmers, with a bit of savings, would try to expand their farmland, build houses, and educate their children, which required a lot of money, and most did not have much in savings.

Under normal circumstances, there would be no problem, but this insect disaster came so fiercely and suddenly.

However, even so,

Apart from a few self-cultivating farmers, most could manage to survive until the next harvest. But there were always those who would cause trouble.

Whenever there was a natural disaster or human calamity, there would always be some greedy officials. They would take advantage of the situation to merge and swallow up the people's resources to strengthen themselves.

Wang Shouzhe glanced far away at the continuous stream of tax-paying caravans from the Liu and Zhao families, his eyes narrowing. Previously, he had only estimated their actions based on the Liu and Zhao families' notorious behavior and some rumors.

But as intelligence work progressed, some concrete information gradually reached Wang Shouzhe. He was almost certain that they would make a big move.

......

The Liu family of Ping'an.

In the main hall of the Liu family's main residence, the family head, Liu Shengye, was listening to reports from several clan members, including the young and promising Liu Yongzhou.

His brows furrowed: "What's wrong with the Changning Sun family? They clearly agreed to lend us 15,000 carts of wheat, to be repaid with 30,000 carts of rice after the autumn harvest. Why are they not fulfilling their promise now? Isn't a 100% profit enough for them?"

"The Changning Sun family said they barely managed to save some of their harvest by purchasing insect extermination powder," a clan member in his fifties replied. "They said their losses were too great."

"How much do they need?" Liu Shengye's face darkened. This time, the Liu family suffered significant losses, and if they couldn't make up for it, it would severely weaken their strength.

The clan member's face was also grim: "The Sun family said they don't want us to repay the grain with a double amount. They said that manipulating grain prices is illegal. They prefer a barter system and want to exchange 1,500 acres of good land."

1,500 acres of good land?

Liu Shengye's face turned pale with anger: "Are they crazy? 15,000 carts of grain for 1,500 acres of land?" The Liu family, from the time of their ancestors, had accumulated only a little over 10,000 acres of good land.

This was a seventh of their land, an extremely brutal demand, a multiple of the profit.

"Head of the family, should we just give up?" the clan member said helplessly. "According to our original plan, we could only merge about 2,000 acres of good land. If the Sun family does this, won't we end up with a bad reputation and just help others?"

"We can't give up. This time, the Liu family suffered significant losses," Liu Shengye said with a fierce look. "So, let's go all out and aim for 3,000 acres. Even if we have to mortgage or exchange, we will still make a huge profit."

His elder brother, Liu Shenghao, was at a critical moment in his attempt to reach the Spirit Platform realm, and still needed some resources. Once he reached the Spirit Platform realm, the family would have two Spirit Platform cultivators, and they could compete with the Sun family.

Liu Shengye was always good at economic management and was meticulous, never willing to take a loss. The family had spent the past fifty years accumulating wealth to strengthen the family and to cultivate a second Spirit Platform ancestor.

"Head of the family, such a large move might cause public resentment," the clan member said worriedly. "Moreover, the Wang family, because of the appearance of a Spirit Insect Master, did not suffer from the disaster and must have a lot of surplus grain. They might take advantage of the situation..."

"They won't dare!" Liu Shengye said confidently. "The Liu family and the Zhao family are working together. How can the weak Wang family dare to move a finger? Besides, I've heard that the Wang family has already transported their surplus grain to Donggang, exchanging it for high returns in cultivation resources. It's a wise move. The surplus grain will not be as sought after by the next season."

"How can you be so sure about this?" the clan member asked curiously. "Not every family will need double the amount of insect extermination powder."

"Our family has received information that the Purple Mansion Academy has started to improve the next generation of insect extermination powder. As an apology, the next season's insect extermination powder will be distributed to the affected families at a 10% price."

This information was relatively secret, but in this meeting hall, all were core members of the Liu family, so there was no fear of leaks.

"Since that's the case, we can't miss this opportunity," the clan members agreed. "But the Sun family is too greedy."

Liu Yongzhou, who had been silent, suddenly bowed and said: "Head of the family, uncles, I have a plan that doesn't require us to work with the Sun family. A while ago, my fishing boat rescued a young lady in distress on the river..."

Mentioning this young lady, Liu Yongzhou's eyes gleamed with heat, obsession, and even madness...

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