Jeune Premier ministre, un ermite

Chapitre 28

"Li Jianjun? Li Hongyi? Is he here too? Take me there." This Li Jianjun must be that person.

"Yes," the maid replied, bowing slightly.

After the guards at the gate announced her arrival, Wei Zijun went inside.

The three men stood up when they saw him come in.

"Oh dear, I heard someone made a huge fool of themselves today. Not only did they get drunk, but they also caused a huge scene!" Li Hongyi said with a grin as he looked at Wei Zijun, who had just entered the room.

He's drunk and acting crazy!?

she!?

Wei Zijun broke out in a cold sweat. Could it be that she had done something shameful? After all, she didn't even know how she got into bed.

The three men burst into laughter when they saw her gaping mouth and wide eyes in astonishment.

Their fourth brother is so innocent; they could be fooled like this by such words.

Seeing them laugh, she realized they were just playing a trick on her again, and she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she was easily fooled; it was simply that this was her first time being drunk. She had witnessed her friends' drunken antics before—some crying, some laughing, some pulling people off dancing. So, while she was confident she could maintain her composure even when drunk, having never been before, who could guarantee she wouldn't do something shocking?

He rubbed his still slightly sore forehead, walked over to the group, and said calmly, "Big brother is making fun of his little brother again."

After everyone sat down, Chen Chang ordered someone to bring her a bowl of vegetable porridge and a hangover soup, and asked her to eat it.

While sipping her soup, Wei Zijun asked, "Third Brother, did those grain merchants say anything?"

Chen Chang shook his head. "These people are too shrewd. Even when Shang Zhen went to investigate their background today, he found nothing."

"Elder brothers, second brothers, third brothers, please hear what I have to say. I believe that those businessmen are just businessmen, no matter what their background is. Businessmen only care about maximizing their own interests. Therefore, the key issue is not the businessmen, but the people who are trying to win them over."

"Fourth brother is absolutely right. Could it be that fourth brother has a solution?" Chen Chang asked eagerly.

"It's not exactly a good solution, but it should be enough to get some provisions," Wei Zijun said calmly, then frowned in deep thought as if remembering something.

Upon hearing that there was a solution, the three of them immediately blurted out in unison, "What solution?"

"I heard from my second brother that Qiu Zaifang is in control of this grain supply?" Wei Zijun asked.

“Exactly!” Li Tianqi replied.

"Then I presume Second Brother knows Manager Qiu's intentions?" Wei Zijun asked again.

"He's plotting to rebel! He thinks so easily! But he does control the supplies." Li Tianqi frowned slightly, a hint of worry showing in his handsome, dark eyes.

"Let's just kill that old man! Wouldn't that solve everything?" Chen Chang angrily waved his hand.

“Third Brother is wrong. What’s the use of killing him? Someone will just take his place and contact the grain merchants again.” Wei Zijun said calmly. “Besides, this shouldn’t be a phenomenon only in Lucheng. It should be happening in other places as well.”

"What does Fourth Brother mean..." Li Tianqi pondered her words.

"If Second Brother wants to ascertain Pei Zaifang's intentions, he might as well check whether there is any hoarding of grain in other prefectures and counties. If so, the purpose of Pei Zaifang and his ilk is not just to seize territory and become kings. As the saying goes, an army marches on its stomach. If this phenomenon exists in most areas, then he may be eyeing the entire Dayu."

Li Tianqi looked at Wei Zijun approvingly: "Fourth Brother is absolutely right. I had my doubts, but I thought a mere innkeeper wouldn't be so bold. But your words have truly awakened me from my dream. It's indeed difficult to procure food supplies everywhere these days, which seems to confirm what you said."

“Second Brother, how much can a hotel manager accomplish? He must be acting under orders,” Wei Zijun sighed.

"There must be a treacherous minister in the court. We must investigate carefully when we get back. But fourth brother, is there any way to procure the grain?"

"Second Brother, what is the commodity that merchants are even more eager to acquire than grain these days?" Wei Zijun began to introduce the topic.

“It’s salt and iron!” Li Tianqi replied. “So what?”

"If salt were exchanged for grain, would the merchants be willing to do so?" he asked again.

“I am more than willing,” Li Tianqi replied.

"As far as I know, the capital city of Daxing is a major producer of salt, and the salt for the entire Dayu region is supplied by Jingzhao County. Besides Jingzhao County, the other salt-producing area is Yancheng County, which is occupied by Wei Xing." A confident smile appeared on his lips.

"good."

"Currently, the salt system in Dayu has changed from the open system of the Sui Dynasty to a monopoly by the imperial court. Merchants from all over the country are going to great lengths to exchange for salt permits. My solution is to block the salt trade between Dayu merchants and Yancheng, and then issue an edict to all regions, allowing merchants to exchange grain for salt permits, and instructing them to deliver the grain to the various military garrisons to obtain salt permits locally. In this way, merchants from all over the country will flock to the various military garrisons, and you won't need to send a single soldier to escort them; they will deliver the salt voluntarily."

"Great idea, Fourth Brother, you're really something!" Chen Chang shouted excitedly.

"Furthermore," Wei Zijun continued, "only a portion of the merchants delivering the grain will be involved. Most of the die-hards may have been instigated and are not worried about the source of the grain, so they will remain inactive. If we were to get them all to willingly hand over the grain, it would inevitably cause unrest."

"A turbulent situation?"

"First, taking Lucheng as an advantage, as long as Qiu Zaifang is here, no matter what edict is issued by the court, he will find a way to continue offering conditions to win over the grain merchants. So the only way is to make Qiu Zaifang get into trouble. This requires handing Qiu Zaifang over to the county magistrate or the Ministry of Justice for detention and investigation on a fabricated charge, thus isolating the grain merchants from him. Then the grain merchants will be like a pile of loose sand, each looking for their own way out. Then, have someone spread rumors in the business community that Qiu Zaifang intends to rebel and that all those closely associated with him should be executed. In this way, if anyone tries to contact those grain merchants again, they will not dare to do so. Coupled with the temptation of being able to exchange salt coupons, I'm afraid the grain in the area will be so plentiful that there is nowhere to put it."

"Hahaha, my precious fourth brother, you are truly a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, give me a kiss—'kiss'." Before Chen Chang finished speaking, he leaned forward and hugged Wei Zijun. The word 'kiss' had barely left his lips when his mouth was already on the latter's cheek. After the 'kiss' sound, he even smacked his lips in satisfaction.

Chen Chang's actions were so fast that Wei Zijun hadn't even had time to react before she was molested. Helplessly, she touched her face and decided to continue explaining her scheme. Unexpectedly, when Li Tianqi saw Chen Chang kiss her, he couldn't resist sneaking a kiss himself, while Li Hongyi shamelessly clung to her, kissing her again and again.

Wei Zijun was both ashamed and angry. She covered her face with her arms and struggled to push Li Hongyi away. By the time she finally sat down, her face was flushed.

"I'm not saying anything more!" Wei Zijun said angrily.

[Volume 1, Deer City Chapter: Chapter 26 Offering Advice (Part 2)]

"Fourth brother! We were wrong! Tell us! Second brother will never do it again." Li Tianqi pretended to be repentant, but in his heart he was thinking something else entirely. He'd find another opportunity to kiss her later, hehe, who told her to taste so good, soft, smooth, and fragrant.

"Fourth Brother! What crime should we use to punish Qiu Zaifang?" Chen Chang pretended to have forgotten what had just happened and asked seriously.

Wei Zijun glanced at the culprit, too lazy to argue with them. "If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext. Besides, Qiu Zaifang really does have a murder case on his record." Then she took out the jade pendant from her bosom and gave a brief account of the Duan family's affairs.