Li Yi stood there in a daze and asked helplessly,"Lord Ma, do you want me to buy it for you? Or do you want me to help you rob it?”
Ma Zhiyao raised his head and put on a rogue look, saying,""This humble servant is just a small official in the Ministry of Works. I don't even have an official rank. I only care about the needs of the report. As for what to do, that's your business.”
Li Yi smiled bitterly and stretched out his hand." Alright then. Lord Ma, give me the money to buy the seeds first." I'll go buy it for you personally."
Ma Zhiyao was secretly happy. He reached out and took out a money bag from his pocket. He handed it to Li Yi and instructed,"Your Excellency, this is all the money the Ministry of Works has. If those merchants raise the price again, this humble servant really won't be able to take out a single cent.”
Li Yi shook the money bag in his hand and frowned slightly. He opened the money bag and took a look. He said hesitantly,"Lord Ma, this amount doesn't seem right!”
"What do you mean, sir?" Ma Zhiyao asked solemnly. Could it be that I, Ma Zhiyao, am greedy? At the end of the year, the Ministry of Works had 1,123 taels of silver left. The Taihe Prefecture Inspectorate borrowed 120 taels of silver in the name of repairing the relay station. On the eighth day of the first month, the Empress Dowager's birthday was celebrated by the people, and she gave 351 taels of silver to the ceremonial officer. On the tenth day of the second month, the emperor wanted to rebuild Chang'e Palace and ordered the counties to hang 480 taels of silver. A few days ago, the yamen gave out porridge and took away 161 taels of silver…"
"That's right. There should only be 11 taels of silver left." But this is…"
"Exactly twenty taels of silver! The extra money was my salary for this month and the money I borrowed from the neighbors. Originally, I had an agreement with the Shang family to sell three picul seeds to me for twenty taels of silver.”
"That's not right, Lord Ma. As far as I know, your neighbors are also some poor people." Now that Pingjin had been sealed off for three months, the money in the hands of the people had already been used to buy high-priced grain. Who could lend money to you?”
Ma Zhiyao blushed and said awkwardly,""This money wasn't lent to me by my neighbors. I pawned it as my own property in exchange. I, Ma Zhiyao, have been an official for decades. I have never taken a single cent from the imperial court.”
Li Yi smiled slyly and said,"Then let me see the pawn ticket."”
" You... You... Master doesn't trust me. Good, good..." Ma Zhiyao was so angry that his entire body trembled. He took out another pawn ticket from his pocket and fiercely slapped it into Li Yi's hand.
"If you want to see it, then look. If I, Ma Zhiyao, was really greedy, why would I take out the money and let you know?”
Li Yi looked at the pawn ticket and said indifferently,"If the decree to open the city hasn't come in another ten days, I'm afraid we'll have to delay farming. In three days, it will be the fifteenth. I will personally go to Taihe Prefecture to inquire about the Imperial Court's intentions so that we can make early preparations.
"Leave the matter of the seeds to me, Lord Ma. Within three days, I, Li Yi, will definitely give you three stones of seeds and let you plant all the cultivable land in Pingjin City.
However, I'll have to trouble you to calculate for the next three days. Once the ban on the city is lifted, I want the people to finish farming as soon as possible. I know exactly how much seeds, farming tools, cattle, and other farming materials I need.”
"Yes, Your Excellency, this humble servant will obey!" Seeing that Li Yi had already agreed, Ma Zhiyao decided to stop while he was ahead. He immediately turned around and retreated.
Li Yi saw that he had walked far away, so he brought Li Mu, Du Qingshan, and Li Xiang 'er to the study and closed the doors and windows.
"Young Master, this matter isn't simple!" Li Mu said worriedly. Yesterday, Young Master had just released food to relieve the disaster. Today, those merchants had joined forces and refused to sell Lord Ma's seeds. It seemed that they were here for Lord Ma!”
Li Yi picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea."They're coming for me! I asked Hu He to take away the prisoners in the prison and use the excuse that the prisoners escaped to put the officials of Pingjin under house arrest and capture the lawless people. He had deliberately caused Ping Jin to be in chaos, so he could take the opportunity to do something to the granary. Even if the officials didn't understand at first, they would know that I was the one who was behind it when they realized that the granary was short of food. However, without evidence, he could only suffer in silence.
They were not willing to suffer losses. Those businesses that had seeds in their hands, which one of them did not have some relationship with the officials of Peace Gold? It was very likely that those businesses were the private property of some officials. They were just looking for someone to help manage them.
They refused to sell Lord Ma's seeds because they wanted me to understand that Ping Jin was not something that I, Li Yi, could cover the sky with one hand. Secondly, they were certain that Lord Ma didn't have any seeds, so he would definitely come to find me. I couldn't do anything to Lord Ma, so they could give me a difficult question and watch the show. These were all trivial matters. The worst thing was that Lord Ma did not have any seeds. If he missed the farming time, all the land in Pingjin would be wasted. At that time, even if the city had seeds, it would be too late. Next year, there would definitely be a food shortage in Pingjin. The next food shortage would not be caused by the imperial court sealing the city, but by Li Yi's dereliction of duty. I've given out food once, but I can't give it out a second time. At that time, the Li family would still have to face two choices. Otherwise, they would be slaughtered and their entire family would be punished. Or they would leave Pingjin and rebel. No matter what the result was, they had won because the Li family had collapsed.”
Li Mu nodded and said," Sir, you understand. They are deliberately making things difficult for us. I'm afraid that no matter how much money we pay, we won't be able to buy seeds in Ping Jin."”
Li Yi put down the teacup and looked at Li Mu meaningfully."Since I'm the one personally taking action, of course I won't spend money to buy it from them.”
Du Qingshan stepped forward and said,"Let this subordinate bring a group of people to rob him. Let's see who dares to make things difficult for Young Master."”
Li Mu shook his head like a rattle-drum and said,"No, no, who said that Young Master privately releasing food to relieve the disaster is already a big crime. However, it was still understandable and a righteous act. However, we can't force them to buy and sell, nor can we snatch the business. At that time, those merchants would jointly report it, and then the inspectors would submit two impeachment memorials. The young master would be passive and would have no way to defend himself.”
"This won't do, that won't do either. What should we do then?" Du Qingshan said angrily.”
Li Yi thought for a moment and suddenly asked,"Uncle Li, I asked you to investigate Little Dog's background. How's it going?"”
"Young Master, I've already checked this morning. His parents are foreigners who moved to Pingjin. They used to farm for a living. When he was ten years old, the street where his family lived suddenly became flooded. His parents were burned to death, leaving him alone without any relatives. He usually relied on stealing chickens and dogs to make a living, but he was still a righteous person. A few days ago, his neighbor's family almost starved to death. It was he who gave them a handful of rice so that they could survive the disaster relief.”
"Alright, Xiang 'er, go and call him over. I've thought of a way. Since they're unwilling to sell, then we'll snatch them openly and secretly. We won't spend a single cent and take all the seeds in their hands.”
Xiang 'er quickly went out to call for the little dog. The few of them discussed everything in the room.
Du Qingshan's eyes widened as he listened. He stared at Li Yi without blinking.
"What's wrong, Uncle Du?" Li Yi asked curiously. Is there something wrong?" The novel network didn't jump.
"Young Master, you've changed," Du Qingshan said seriously.”
"How am I different?" The novel network didn't jump.
"In the past, Young Master was like Lord Ma, a good person with a one-track mind. Young Master was full of tricks now. How did Young Master come up with these strange ideas? He was too ruthless.”
Xiang 'er couldn't help but laugh.
Li Mu held back his laughter and coughed twice."Brother Du, Young Master is very resourceful.”
"Yes, yes, he's resourceful!" Du Qingshan knew that his words were wrong, so he quickly changed his words awkwardly.
"It doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches a mouse, it's a good cat. This time, we are determined to get these big rats. You all go and prepare. Xiang 'er, stay for a while."
Li Xiang 'er waited for everyone to go out before she came to Li Yi's side. She imitated Du Qingshan's appearance and tone and said,"In the past, Young Master was like Lord Ma, a good person with a one-track mind. Now, Young Master was full of tricks. How did Young Master come up with these strange ideas? He was too ruthless, too ruthless.”
Li Yi smiled and rolled his eyes at her, saying,"Stop fooling around. This is nine taels of silver and a pawn ticket. Go and redeem Lord Ma's pawned items. Then, he sent the things and money to the Ma Manor and personally handed them to Madam Ma. Just tell them that I've settled the seed issue and that Ping Jin is in a lot of trouble now.”
"Young Master, that Lord Ma is as troublesome as Hu He." Li Xiang 'er pouted unhappily. He always came looking for trouble. Why do you care about him?"
"Lord Ma is a bit stubborn, but he is a good official. Ever since he took office in Ping Jin, he has done everything himself and solved many problems for me. If it wasn't for Lord Ma, how could Pingjin not need to increase the tax on the people's grain and be able to put the tax grain into the warehouse on time?
He doesn't do things to others. He doesn't deliberately make things difficult for me. This extra silver must be all he had in his family. He had to pawn his favorite Puxi inkstone. If this stubborn old man took out all his money to buy seeds, what would the Ma family eat? I can't just watch the family of a good official starve while those bad officials who only know how to oppress the people become delicacies!
This Lord Ma! I have to manage it, but I can't let him know yet. Otherwise, he will have a lot of excuses to give me a headache.”
"Young Master, why didn't Madam Ma tell you about this?" Xiang 'er asked in confusion.”The novel network didn't jump.
"I've met Madam Ma once. She's intelligent. She naturally understands what I mean. I won't let Lord Ma know.“
Xiang 'er responded and walked out of the room. Li Yi tidied up his documents and walked out of the study.
The tender grass in the courtyard was green, and the quiet fragrance of the grass was refreshing. There was also a tree of pink flowers that covered the branches, fresh and elegant, forming a picture of pink flowers and green leaves.
In the winding corridor behind the tree, Ouyang Bo sat alone with his sword in his arms, deep in thought.
Li Yi walked to his side and asked curiously,"Ouyang, is there something on your mind?"
Ouyang Bo stood up and bowed.""Daren is going out, and Official Supervisor Li instructed me to protect Daren and not leave.”
"I'm not afraid of thieves stealing, but I'm afraid of thieves thinking about me. If they want to kill me, it's impossible to guard against them.”
After this transmigration, Tang Xiaoyu was very indifferent to life and death. He had already earned one more day to live. If she was unlucky, it was her fate. However, she felt a little reluctant to part with her mother now.
"Don't worry, my lord. I, Ouyang Bo, don't dare to say that no one in the martial arts world can defeat me. However, I can still guarantee your safety.”
Li Yi heard Ouyang Bo's arrogant tone and asked curiously,"I wonder what kind of martial arts Ouyang is practicing? Was it more powerful than the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, One Finger Meditation, Nine Yin White Bone Claw, and Taiji Fist?”The novel network didn't jump.
Ouyang Bo looked at Li Yi with his mouth agape. He did not know where he had heard of these strange martial arts. If he had never heard of them before, there was naturally no comparison. This made him, a young hero of the pugilistic world, not know how to answer for a moment.
Chapter 14 A Plan
Chapter 14: The Secret Plan Was Played by * Members. For more chapters, please go to the website: ..
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