Chapter 589: Worry

Editor: Atlas Studios

In the beginning, there were people who feared that the Harvest Grain Store would not last long, so they always came to line up before the city gate opened before dawn. However, half a month later, they saw that the Harvest Grain Store still opened at the same time each day, selling at the same price and the same quantity. There were now fewer people who were anxious to snap the grains up. This way, more people from far away managed to buy these cheap coarse grains.

The business of the other grain stores in Lin’an City plummeted. Other than those who did not lack money and were unwilling to spend time queuing, most people were willing to queue for a day or two to buy from the Harvest Grain Store.

As the news spread rapidly, even those who lived three to four days away from Lin’an City brought their children to buy the grains here. People from the same villages typically came in large groups. Dressed in ragged clothes, they stood in front of the Harvest Grain Store and looked at the long line eagerly.

As there were always employees maintaining order in front of the shop, no one dared to cut the queue, nor did they dare to buy grains twice in a day. As soon as they arrived, these people were quickly guided to line up at the back.

However, from the looks of it, they would not be able to buy the grains today. That did not deter them though, for they had brought some thin blankets and were prepared to queue for an extended period of time.

Mu Yangling, who was sitting in the carriage, couldn’t help but frown when she saw this. She said, “Why are there still so many people lacking grains when the summer harvest is about to begin?”

Based on the frugal and tolerant nature of the commoners, they would rather remain half-starved while they waited until the grains to mature, than spend money to buy grains.

“Ask Wang Quan. I’m sure he knows. Fourth Madam, look. He wanders around the crowd a few times every day and is so chummy with those people. He can get any news.”

With a pursed-lip smile, Mu Yangling lowered the curtain and said, “Let’s go to the backdoor.”

Mu Yangling entered through the back door, and Wang Quan was quickly called in. When he heard the question, a look of pity flashed across his face. With a bow, he said, “Fourth Madam, you might not know this, but there was a war last year. At the beginning of this year, there was chaos everywhere. Not to mention places three to four days away from Lin’an City, even the farmland outside Lin’an City had not been cultivated in time. The villagers who came today are from the Shaoxing Prefecture. Their entire village fled because of the war, and only returned to the village six months ago because of the Imperial Court’s edict. However, every family has finished up their grains, and the remaining grains at home has been plundered. The local grain prices are too expensive. After hearing that grains here are twice as cheap, they formed a group to come together.”

“In other words, even after the summer harvest, there will still be many people who don’t have any harvest.” Mu Yangling frowned. “Then what will happen in the days to come? Where will they get the money to buy grains?”

Wang Quan lowered his head and said, “I heard that some people are already selling their children.”

Mu Yangling was silent for a moment before saying, “If they come again tomorrow morning, invite them in directly. Since they came from afar, each of them can buy an additional 20 catties of grains, not including the 5,000 catties limit for the day.”

Spring asked curiously, “Why must we wait until tomorrow morning?”

“Fourth Madam is benevolent.” Wang Quan explained as he flattered her. “This way, they can set off after buying the grains. Since it’s already late, if they buy it today, they will definitely have to stay in Lin’an City for another day. It’s not safe for them to stay in the city with so much grain.”

Mu Yangling started to worry about the situation after the summer harvest. She had thought that the situation would be eased after the summer harvest, but now it appeared that if many people did not have summer harvests, Qi Xiuyuan’s plan to distribute the freehold fields to the commoners and diminish the influence of the rich and powerful would fail. Those freehold fields would ultimately fall into the hands of the rich and nobles again.

When Mu Yangling told Qi Haoran about her worries, Qi Haoran rested his head on his hands and said, “Big Brother has been troubled by this recently, but there’s no good solution at all since there’s limited grains in the national treasury. There are only so many people he can save even if he takes out all the grain reserves.”

“If on top of all that there’s corruption, the people will suffer even more,” Mu Yangling said worriedly.

However, Qi Haoran said with a smile, “Don’t worry, no one dares to be corrupted at this time. Big Brother just flew into a rage not long ago because of the exchange of the grains in the reserve. He dismissed many officials. Now, no one dares to offend him.”

When a country was newly established, there was a need to be ruthless. In addition, Qi Xiuyuan had always been unyielding. By now, those cunning people were already quietly following Qi Xiuyuan’s instructions. At the very least, they did not dare to be so corrupted on the surface. Only those brainless idiots dared to be greedy for the country’s grain reserves. Qi Xiuyuan took this opportunity to punish a few as a warning to others.

“Big Brother said that as long as the situation stabilizes until the winter harvest, it will be fine. Most of the south of the Yangtze River can have two harvests a year. As the north is within Big Brother and General Yuan’s sphere of influence, it has never really fallen into chaos. The autumn harvest should be decent, and furthermore they have planted high-yielding corn. There won’t be an issue for at least the following two years.”

“But if the people sell their fields at this time, what will they plant in the autumn?”

Qi Haoran smiled mysteriously and said in a low voice, “Do you think Big Brother is stupid? He had already expected this. When the edict was issued, it was clearly stated that the freehold fields that were distributed could not be sold for ten years. Everyone was focused on looking at the number of freehold fields and did not pay attention to the latter sentence. Before the autumn harvest, the Imperial Court will definitely check it again. At that time, the freehold fields that were sold must be returned to their owners.”

Mu Yangling’s eyes widened. “Then won’t the person who bought the land suffer a huge loss?”

“It’s not a huge loss.” Qi Haoran explained, “When the time comes, the Imperial Court will pay for the redemption and purchase. Since this is the first time, we will only punish both parties with one-third of the selling price. When the time comes, both parties will split it equally. Those who can’t afford to pay can put it on credit until next summer or winter, using grains as collateral. If they commit the mistake a second time, regardless of whether it’s the buyer or the seller, the freehold field will be returned to the Imperial Court. This time round, the Imperial Court will not pay for the redemption or return the money to the seller.”

Therefore, people only had one chance to make mistakes.

“This was privately discussed between Zijin and Brother Rong. Big Brother has agreed. We’re just waiting for an opportunity to check the fields before the autumn plowing. Don’t tell outsiders yet.”

It meant that she could remind her own people.

However, Mu Yangling did not detect the meaning. She nodded repeatedly and said, “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t tell anyone. This method is not bad, for it can curb the trend of land ownership concentration. There’s no need to worry for at least ten years.”

” Initially, Big Brother wanted to order that the freehold fields are never allowed to be traded. However, he thought that there would definitely be many people opposing this decree, so he changed it to ten years. There will definitely be other policies in the future. Oh right, where is your trade caravan? Big Brother is eagerly awaiting the arrival of your trade caravan.”

Mu Yangling said with a smile, “Don’t worry. They sent a letter back saying that they’ll be here in a few days.”

Everyone was watching Mu Yangling’s trade caravan keenly, so everyone saw it the moment her caravan entered the city.

Seeing the 18 carts enter the city in a grandiose manner, the faces of the people who were secretly watching tightened. If the 18 carts were all filled with corn seeds, it meant that even the citizens of the three prefectures near Lin’an City could plant corn from then on.

Several grain stores had no choice but to gather together to discuss. The next day, many grain stores began to sell corn seeds at a high price.

But very few people went to buy it.

This was because everyone was paying attention to the Harvest Grain Store. Over the past month, the Harvest Grain Store had been open for business every day. The assistant shopkeeper had been repeatedly announcing that the Harvest Grain Store would sell seeds of corn, wheat, and other grains this summer. Among them, the corn seeds would only cost 12 copper coins.

When those grain stores put up their corn seeds for sale at the price of half a tael of silver per catty, the commoners merely responded with a chuckle. What a joke. Even if the corn was high in yield, it was not worth anywhere near that price. If not for the Harvest Grain Store, those small and medium landlords who did not have any connections might have paid for it. Now, even those rich people did not go to those grain stores to buy seeds. Instead, they waited for the Harvest Grain Store to lay out the corn seeds for sale.

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