On the street, the Red Blood Sword Xiahou Qingyi, as the leader, led the knights in disguise into Yanzhou and heard the discussions of the people around him.
"Marquis Lanling, are you going to enclose the land yourself by raising the price of food?" The heroines were the most shocked.
Even Xiahou Liuyuan, who always admired Liang Xiao, couldn't help but be surprised.
Only Xiahou Qingyi said nothing and winked at Liu Yuan.
Liuyuan understood and immediately went to a noodle stall to ask the stall owner for confirmation.
"Old sir, I heard that Marquis Lanling increased the price of grain in the past two days, and then purchased land on a large scale?"
The stall owner said without raising his head: "Guest, you can look at the wall next to you. There is a notice from Marquis Lanling on it!"
Xiahou Qingyi walked quickly to the announcement, and everyone followed closely behind, taking a closer look.
"Marquis Lanling, you really increased the food supply to eighty cents and one stone..." the heroines sighed.
Xiahou Liuyuan quickly comforted him: "Maybe it's because the food is really not enough. It's not okay if Marquis Lanling doesn't raise the price."
"But, he bought hundreds of thousands of shi of grain from those rice merchants at the price of 60 cents per shi, right? It's enough for the people in the city to last for a while?" A female hero was depressed.
Xiahou Liuyuan had nothing to say.
Facts speak louder than words, and there is nothing she can do to defend Liang Xiao.
Xiahou Qingyi thought for a moment and took out a pen and paper to sketch.
[If you want to blame, it’s also the rice merchants who evacuated Yanzhou after collecting the grain. 】
Only then did everyone remember something and suddenly realized.
"Oh! That's right. A while ago, there were many rice merchants who went door to door to buy grain at very low prices, and then shipped it directly out of Yanzhou! Blame them!"
Xiahou Liuyuan quickly added: "That's right! Moreover, the intensity of the acquisition is unprecedented. The people of Yanzhou don't understand so much. They just paid for it. Who did it..."
"But Marquis Lanling shouldn't increase the price like this. At least he should only sell it for sixty coins and one stone..." A male knight expressed his dissatisfaction.
Xiahou Liuyuan only felt that one head was as big as two.
As knights, they have always done harm to the people.
If this Marquis of Lanling also develops into a dog official who treats the common people...
Xiahou Qingyi looked at everyone with a little more worry in his eyes.
She saw what they were thinking.
Maybe they thought Liang Xiao was good to the people of Lanling, maybe just because Lanling was his town.
Xiahou Liuyuan seemed to understand her worries and comforted her: "Everyone, please be patient. Anyway, after Marquis Lanling came to Yanzhou, Yanzhou has become much more stable than before, isn't it?"
Most of the knights were reasonable people, and they all nodded silently without saying anything more, but they were still confused.
Liang Xiao's behavior went beyond their inherent understanding of the prefect.
At the same time, Liang Xiao was summoning many land merchants in Yanzhou.
In the courtyard of the Taishou Mansion, there were crowds of people.
Hundreds of landowners, big and small, gathered here, frowning and looking at Liang Xiao with a somewhat complicated look.
They didn't know whether they should resent Liang Xiao or thank him.
Soaring food prices is a certainty.
However, the series of impacts brought about by this incident will eventually lead to the loss of Yanzhou's population, leaving it with a vast land and sparsely populated areas.
By then, they would have no one to look for as tenant farmers, and the fields would have to be left there to slowly become deserted.
So, after they got wind of it, they sold their land one after another.
But the prefect of Yanzhou in front of him seemed to be suppressing the price of the land.
At this time, Liang Xiao was drinking tea in the main seat, calm and relaxed.
"One tael per acre, and it's not fertile farmland, it's just mediocre farmland. Do you think the land in Yanzhou is worth this price? There is a lot of land here. You get it from the common people at a price of three to four hundred cents per acre." You got it in your hand, right?"
Everyone felt unhappy when they heard Liang Xiao's question.
Liang Xiao was right, they did enclose the land at the beginning.
Their land was certainly not created out of thin air, and even less was acquired from other landowners.
We are all smart people, so of course we know that we can’t make much money by buying land from each other.
We must take plunder from the poor people!
"Marquis Lanling, the land in Youzhou is priced at this price! If you can't afford it, you don't have to summon so many of us at once!" Duanmu Xian, the landowner selling the land on behalf of the Duanmu family, sneered.
There was a chorus of agreement from below, and the landowners expressed their dissatisfaction one after another.
"The soaring price of food is only temporary. After this year, land prices will come back down!"
"Besides, your lord, isn't it your duty to improve people's livelihood? You can't just sit back and watch Yanzhou lose its population, right?"
Liang Xiao nodded and said: "Of course not."
Looking at the people with joking faces, Liang Xiao added: "I now have one million taels of silver on hand, which is my personal property. In addition, I also proposed to Your Majesty that the government acquires the land in Yanzhou."
"Official acquisition?" Everyone's eyes lit up and they were excited.
In the past, they could buy and sell land from the government, and the price would always be favorable to them.
The reason is that officials from aristocratic families in various places will make it convenient for them.
For example, letting the news out in advance, or accepting their bargaining on behalf of the government.
And they only need to give these officials some "filial piety money."
If the imperial court is preparing to make large-scale acquisitions...
"However, I have something to remind you. I have changed the officials in Yanzhou. There are no officials who can accommodate you."
Liang Xiaoyu shocked everyone and the whole place was in an uproar.
"What are you replacing?" Duanmuxian was the first to express his dissatisfaction.
He is the Yanzhou official who was replaced by Liang Xiao. He was still the chief clerk before, which is a fat job.
After all, Dongye Hongji did not dare to continue to quarrel with the Duanmu family.
As soon as Liang Xiao arrived in Yanzhou, he became white.
"Besides, my personal purchase price is naturally higher than that of the government. Otherwise, wouldn't everyone just sell to the government?"
Everyone looked at the smiling Liang Xiao and wished they could slap him in the face with a shoehorn.
Liang Xiao's words have made it clear.
There's no use going through the back door!
The government can't be more affordable than him, it can only be darker. After all, he represents the Yanzhou government!
"But you only get 800 ren for an acre of fertile land, and you only get 400 ren for a piece of thin land. Isn't that ridiculously low?" Duanmu Xian gritted his teeth.
Qin Baili and others sat behind Liang Xiao, just staring at the group of landlords coldly.
The Duanmu family was a powerful rice merchant in Yanzhou, and they also participated in harvesting grain, and then evacuated Yanzhou.
Therefore, of course they understand that the price of land in Yanzhou will only fall but not rise for a long time, so they are eager to sell it recently.
In one county of Yanzhou, they have 500,000 acres of farmland alone. How astonishing!
Liang Xiao said resolutely: "The most I can offer is this price. You can think about it yourself, or not sell it. Maybe in a month or two, if the price of food rises again, my purchase price will only be lower!"
Many rice merchants said: "Give us some more time to think about it!"
"Excuse me." Liang Xiao saw off the guest with a smile on his face.
After the rice merchant left the prefect's mansion, he found a sea of people outside.
The people gathered in front of the latest announcement, talking and lamenting:
"Why is the price of rice going up again? Ninety cents per stone!!"
