Chapter Seventeen: Bartering with Grain

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Seeing more and more people coming to buy salt, it seemed that all the nobles of the city had arrived.
If he didn’t come up with a plan soon, things would go awry!
“Whose thousand-tael banknote fell?” Lu Mo shouted loudly, and everyone looked down at the ground.
Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed his son and dashed forward fiercely.
Finally, he reached the carriage!
“Give me one thousand jin of refined salt!”
Lu Ben raised the prepared ten thousand tael banknotes, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly.
In an instant, everyone was stunned!
One thousand jin of salt?
How much money would that cost?
“If we talk about the big families of Yingtian Prefecture, it has to be the Lu family!”
“Indeed! The Lu family really has the strength to buy a thousand jin of refined salt at once!”
“Exactly! Others buying a hundred jin is already impressive, but the Lu family can buy a thousand!”
“Incredible, just reselling it later will net tens of thousands of taels…”
Someone in the crowd began flattering him, uttering some complimentary words.
What pleased Lu Mo most was the last comment—making tens of thousands of taels by reselling.
In just one day, the price had doubled; once these foreign merchants left, the refined salt would be continuously consumed.
In the end, only he would have it, so the price would be entirely up to him.
However, while he was calculating in his mind, his son tugged at his sleeve.
He gave a displeased glare, “Spit it out!”
“Dad! The price of salt just went up!”
“Ah?”
Lu Mo finally realized.
The ten thousand taels he had prepared were enough to buy one thousand jin of salt before.
But the refined salt price had just risen to twenty taels per jin.
That meant his money could only buy five hundred jin!
“Shopkeeper Lu sure has guts, asking for a thousand jin right off the bat!”
“If not, people wouldn’t make big money!”
“Shopkeeper Lu, don’t forget to look after our business in the future…”
While Lu Mo was hesitating whether to change the purchase to five hundred jin, the flattering voices around him spoke again.
“Sir, how much do you plan to buy exactly?”

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The embroidered guard on the carriage began to urge again.
Lu Mo steeled himself, “One thousand jin! Didn’t I just say it?”
“Dad! What about the remaining money?”
Although Lu Man Cang, his son, wasn’t as sharp-minded, he knew the amount of money they had.
Without money, how could anyone sell them salt?
If they couldn’t pay, their family would be hugely embarrassed!
Lu Ben’s eyes darted about twice, then said, “Grain—our family are grain merchants! How about we use grain as payment?”
“That’s fine! Of course it is! Our Western Region is arid and most lacking in grain! If we can pay with grain, that’s even better!”
The embroidered guards immediately brightened up.
That was exactly what they hoped to hear!
“Dad! The grain price is about to rise, shouldn’t we act now?” Lu Man Cang worried aloud.
“Grain comes every year, but this refined salt is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity!”
“The government releases grain to stabilize prices, but no one knows how long that will last! Meanwhile, just the rats in the granary take away who knows how much every day! Even if it lasts, it probably won’t sell for ten times the price!”
“Salt doesn’t suffer from pests or spoilage! If we’re lucky, a few months later, we can resell and make twenty thousand taels! Isn’t that better than dealing in grain?”
Lu Mo’s face was full of greed.
“Oh…” Lu Man Cang nodded vaguely.
The embroidered guard on the carriage urged again, “How much grain do you have? Where is it?”
“Right in the eastern city granary! One million jin of rice and one million jin of wheat! Even before the price rise, it was worth eight thousand taels! Now with grain prices doubled, it’s at least sixteen thousand taels…”
Lu Mo waved the banknotes in his hand again, speaking boldly, “Add this ten thousand taels, isn’t buying one thousand jin of salt fair?”
“We Western Region merchants never take advantage of you Central Plains people. Whatever the price, that’s the price! We’ll give you one thousand three hundred jin of refined salt!”
The embroidered guard on the carriage put on an earnest expression and spoke.
“Good!”
Lu Mo immediately agreed.
He took people to the warehouse to deliver grain!
All of this was part of Zhu Xiongying’s plan.
Including those who were stirring up the crowd and those who came on horseback with news—all were disguised embroidered guards!
After Lu Mo left, the grain merchants eyed the dwindling refined salt greedily.
“My family has one million jin of wheat, exchange three hundred jin of refined salt for it!”
“My family has five hundred thousand jin of rice!”
“My family has one million jin of millet…”
The grain merchants spoke boldly, truly providing great entertainment for the commoners outside.
“Oh my goodness, are these rich folks idiots or what! Why buy so much salt?”
“The world of the rich is beyond us! Maybe the rich are hungry; some salt might fill their stomachs!”
“What a pity for all that grain, giving a bargain to those Western merchants! If only it could be put into the national treasury…”
The commoners cursed the grain merchants as fools, yet lamented the grain.
Having had enough excitement, they all dispersed, going home to tell their families!
That night, the carriages in Yingtian Prefecture never stopped moving!
…

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Since Mao Xiang reported the salt sales situation to the embroidered guards, Zhu Yuanzhang’s laughter never ceased.
He immediately put down his affairs and went to the Eastern Palace!
Upon seeing Zhu Xiongying, he embraced him tightly.
He had originally planned to smother him with kisses but was quickly rejected by Zhu Xiongying’s disdain, so he gave up!
“Hahaha! Good boy, you really have it! In just two days, you’ve earned over ten million taels of silver, plus grain worth four to five million taels!”
“Do you know what that means?”
“It’s almost equivalent to half a year’s tax revenue for our Great Ming!”
“You actually made this happen in just two days…!”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s excitement was beyond words.
“Grandfather Emperor, this method can only be used once! More than that won’t work!”
The little fellow stroked old Zhu’s white beard as he spoke.
“Haha! We know. This one time is enough to keep those rich families stable for years!”
This method not only enriched the treasury but also extracted grain from the merchants, preventing price hikes.
At the same time, no one knew it was the government’s doing.
If anyone were to blame, it would be those Western merchants!
“Grandfather Emperor, you came today to give your grandson his share of the profits?”
Zhu Xiongying stretched out his small hand, asking for his cut.
If old Zhu dared to cheat, he would make sure the money returned exactly as it came!
“Haha! You little rascal, you’ve got money on your mind already! Are you obsessed with cash?”
Old Zhu smiled indulgently and gave a look to Yun Qi behind him. A stack of banknotes was immediately handed over.
“Your Highness the Grandson, the funds from other prefectures have not yet arrived. These one million taels are pre-allocated from the imperial treasury by His Majesty. Please count them!”
Yun Qi respectfully presented the banknotes.
After this, he had new respect for the little heir.
Previously he seemed mischievous, but now it was clear he was quite capable!