The Empress' Livestream - Chapter 223
Chapter 223: A Natural Profiteer
Since they had already cut to the chase, it helped to pull the father and son’s relationship tighter.
They didn’t have to keep secrets from each other on some items.
Liu She went quiet for a while after he heard Jiang Pengji’s plan and said in a low voice, “I know about Meng Zhan. He is the extreme kind of narcissist, with a big ego. If you hold Meng Liang as hostage in exchange for grain, he wouldn’t just give you the exact amount you ask for––he might give you extra.”
“You think there is no trap in here? For instance, he could mix fake rice with the real to mess around with us––or he could set up an ambush with the dispatch team.”
Jiang Pengji was confused. She now believed that Meng Zhen was abnormal compared to average people.
Liu She shook his head. “2,000 dans of grain is an enormous amount of money to any civilian––even to the gentry clan members––but it is just a drop in the ocean for the Meng’s. The family has an abundant financial foundation. It is an unimaginable load of their possession since they took the control of Cang Prefecture hundreds of years ago.”
Liu She continued while Jiang Pengji was pondering, “Cang Prefecture is a place with a cast territory and a large population. Don’t mention the Meng’s in the previous dynasty––just in the last several decades the Meng’s have entrenched in Cang Prefecture and they have ever since Dongqing was founded. The annual corruption of money and grain will be enough to sponsor an army of a strong hundred thousand.”
Therefore, Meng Zhen couldn’t care less about the 2,000 dans of the grain.
According to the knowledge of Meng Zhan, Liu She bet that he might give them an additional thousand dans of grain to make it three thousand dans just out of generosity.
“The chance that Meng Zhen messes around with the grain is almost zero if you use Meng Hun’s name to claim Meng Liang as hostage. It’s very likely that he will send the finest and the freshest grain.” It suddenly dawned on Jiang Pengji after she heard Liu She’s idea.
“So what you meant is… Meng Zhen is not going to tamper with the grain? But instead, he will send the grain to declare that he has done everything he could to make it up to Meng Hun? But Meng Hun is just a hypocrite who sold his wife and daughter for quick cash.”
“That’s right. There is an eighty or ninety percent chance he will do something despicable like that based on my knowledge of him. He is an expert on doing something gross like that, after all.”
People who knew someone the best could often be their worst enemy.
Liu She cut off all connections with Meng Zhen, and so did the two families. But it was inevitable for them to have private conflicts. Liu She knew well enough about him.
Meng Zhan was a snooty narcissist and he wouldn’t interact with low class people like Meng Hun. He wouldn’t waste his time and make his hands dirty.
Jiang Pengji snickered. “If it is true, then he is really rotten. If Meng Liang was still alive, and the Meng’s traded him safely with 2,000 dans or a bit more of grain, Meng Hun would be guaranteed to be ridiculed and fall into disrepute.”
However, Meng Liang was already dead and she would teach him a lesson if the Meng’s planned to disgust her in such a way. She hadn’t expected, however, hat the Meng’s were that filthy rich to make her jealous about their possessions.
“I should have asked for some thirty or fifty thousand dans of grain if I had known about their wealth. He is probably laughing at me for asking only 2,000 dans.” Jiang Pengji was unpleasant and added, “They wouldn’t even blink for a couple ten thousand dans of grain because of how generous he is.”
Liu She almost choked on his own saliva. His daughter must have been a bandit member in her last life. “2,000 dans is already more than enough. You would not be able to handle it if there was more.” Liu She said deeply, “And don’t take the Meng’s for suckers. They don’t care about this tiny amount of money, but it doesn’t mean that they will keep their sanity if you push their buttons hard.”
2,000 and 20,000 was not the same thing.
The more wit, the less courage. It was perfect to use as a description of Jiang Pengji from what Liu She saw. Who would pick on the Meng’s for no reason?
She didn’t just pick on the Meng’s, but she killed Meng Liang and took Meng Hun, the one person who had beef with the Meng’s.
What kind of grudge did she have against the Meng’s? Recalling what Gu Min had once said to him, he somehow understood why. It was her destiny to be a lifelong enemy of the Meng’s.
Jiang Pengji came up with a question. “So if 2,000 dans of grain is just a piece of cake for the Meng’s, does it mean the same to the other gentry clans?”
Liu She wasn’t sure why she brought that up. He asked, “Why are you asking?”
She said, “My strategy is to suppress the boosting grain price with this 2,000 dans of grain temporarily… You should know that there is a limited number of people who have a clue about what happened in Meng County, Cang Prefecture for now. I’m afraid that Hejian County will take the hit as well when the news finally spreads.”
It was only half month trip from Hejian County to Meng County in Cang Prefecture. Once the news of civil commotion in Meng County arrived, the civilians of Hejian County would get panicky and it would be normal to see an increase of the grain price.
“It’s almost certain that Hejian County will be affected. The 2,000 dans of grain will easily bring you triple or more interest. By taking this chance, however, just consider that it cost you nothing to obtain the grain from the Meng’s. It is way too little if you want to use it to manipulate the grain price, though.”
After all, Liu She belonged to the current era and he was at the position of County Chief of Hu County. He oversaw the future more accurately than both Xu Ke and Jiang Pengji.
It’s not enough?
Jiang Pengji was slightly shocked by the fact. One dan equalled fifty kilograms. One hundred catties was more sufficient to feed––more like stuff––a family of four for around forty or fifty days. Frugal families could last longer if they matched other food with the grain.
Hejian County was a small town with only twenty to thirty thousand civilians, not including the gentry clans.
Most of the civilians had leftover grain saved from last year, but 2,000 dans of grain wouldn’t be enough to balance the grain price…?
Liu She was aware of Jiang Pengji’s miscalculation after he took a while to think.
“Most of the civilians take action to follow blindly only from hearsay.” Liu She expounded the details to her. “The reason why I mentioned that 2,000 dans of grain will not be enough is because those well-off families with some savings sometimes buy off yearly or more amounts of grain at once. According to your calculations, you counted on the basis of the monthly or two week amount. 2,000 dans is for sure enough for your calculation.”
Liu She sighed and said, “You know, the food crisis would slacken until the harvest season if every single civilian purchased one or two months’ equivalent of grain. Even with the turmoil in Meng County, Cang Prefecture becoming more turbulent, it wouldn’t influence our civilians that much. Unfortunately, the civilians don’t think about that.”
It was an easy case for Jiang Pengji to make a bundle with the 2,000 dans of grain, but it was still a scarcity even with 10,000 dans if the purpose was to suppress the price.
Jiang Pengji knitted her brows and tried to contemplate his theory.
She regained her surety after being embarrassed. She didn’t find it unacceptable that her plan was vetoed by Liu She. He definitely knew better about the current era than her. As a person who was born local, Liu She had more abundant life experience and a wiser insight than her.
“What about a purchase limit?”
“Purchase limit?”
Jiang Pengji paused for a second and explained to him, “The first several days when the rumor strikes us, the civilians must be on tenterhooks, which is going to cause looting. So our grain store brings five hundred or a thousand dans of grain to create a false impression that we have plenty of grain storage to settle people down. After that, we limit the purchase down to a hundred dans per day and restrain the weight of how much a purchaser can buy. That should be enough for us to stall for a month.”
Jiang Pengji couldn’t find any reason to question the method, and she would like to listen to Liu She’s opinion.
“What do you think of it, father?”
Liu She was speechless…
His daughter was a natural profiteer!
