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Li Shimin stroked his chin. “Wuji, Xuanling, Du Ruhui, analyze this for me. What exactly is Yang Yi up to?”

“This kid inexplicably went to Hangzhou and raised the already high prices even higher. The people of Hangzhou are cursing him to death, and now he’s opening the granaries to release the grain. Such contradictory and bizarre actions, what is going on?”

Changsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, and Fang Xuanling all frowned. For a moment, they couldn’t figure out why Yang Yi was acting so inconsistently.

Li Shimin rubbed his temples. “Forget it, let’s not worry about him. Maybe he’s at his wit’s end this time as well. The predicament in Hangzhou would be difficult for anyone to handle well.”

The next day.

The out-of-town grain merchants gathered at a restaurant in the city.

Yang Yi had already prepared a banquet for them, but no one was in the mood to eat.

Inside the room.

“We greet the Imperial envoy…”

Everyone saluted.

Yang Yi nodded slightly, put down the teacup in his hand, and smiled.

“Please have a seat…”

As everyone sat down, visibly anxious, Yang Yi scanned the room and smiled.

“I know why you are all here and understand your urgency, so I will not beat around the bush,” he said. “I plan to purchase all of your grain… but not at the current market price. Instead, it will be at the old rate of five cents a bucket.”

“What?” At first, everyone was overjoyed to hear that Yang Yi wanted to buy all of their grain, but their faces turned pale when they heard the last part. At five cents per bucket, they would suffer a considerable loss.

One person said with a sad expression, “Imperial Envoy, at five cents, we will be at a loss.”

The others nodded with pained expressions.

Yang Yi showed no sympathy. Although they were not as despicable as the local grain merchants, they were not good people either. They were just unfortunate opportunists.

Yang Yi calmly said, “If you are unwilling, then forget it. I am under no obligation to buy your grain. However… the docking fees at the Hangzhou port don’t seem to be low.”

The faces of the crowd turned grim. Yang Yi had taken their lifeline.

An old man, his face also grim, forced a smile. “Imperial Envoy, how about raising the price a bit more?”

Yang Yi remained unmoved and was about to get up. Frightened, the grain merchants hurriedly stood up as well. If this Imperial envoy left, they would be doomed.

Yang Yi looked at them. “Five cents a bucket, no negotiation. If you think it’s too expensive, you can leave.”

“If you sell to me now, you can barely break even.”

“In a few days, at five cents a bucket, you’ll all be at a loss.”

“Everyone, think carefully…”

After finishing his words, he walked out without hesitation, ignoring the pleas of the crowd. The remaining people were left with pale faces and sighs.

…

Three days later. At the government office.

A small official ran in panting. “Imperial envoy, the grain merchants have agreed…”

Yang Yi smiled faintly, as if everything was under control.

“Send someone to trade with them and buy all their grain. Tomorrow, start selling it at six cents per bucket!”

The small official looked at Yang Yi with admiration and immediately replied, “Yes, sir.”

The next day, the government began selling cheap grain in large quantities. In no time, millions of buckets of cheap grain flooded the Hangzhou market.

Crazy, crazy!

Countless citizens rushed to the market to buy grain like madmen. Their eyes were gleaming with green light. Having been held hostage by high-priced grain for so long, and having eaten poor-quality relief grain for so long, they went mad at the sight of cheap fine rice.

The streets and alleys were filled with overjoyed citizens carrying rice.

In Hangzhou City, a group of local grain merchants gathered together, their faces extremely grim.

“What is going on? How does he have so much grain?”

“I heard that those foreign grain ships have left. It must be the foreign grain merchants who sold it!”

“Scoundrel! Selling at such a low price, he’s trying to ruin us.”

“This is the end. We can’t sell the grain we’ve hoarded.”

“What shall we do? If we sell at a low price now, we’ll lose a fortune.”

“But what else can we do? If we don’t sell, we won’t be able to sell at all later!”

“Sigh, we better sell quickly!”

“…”

They sighed as if the end of the world was coming. Even the calmest among them were drenched in sweat.

This Imperial envoy was too ruthless. He had directly cut off their lifeline and set them all on fire.

The previously boastful fat man now had an angry face drenched in cold sweat. He desperately said,

“This Imperial envoy must have set a trap for us from the moment he arrived in Hangzhou. He’s too ruthless. This Imperial envoy is like a living king of hell. He’ll skin us alive and take all our savings from years of hard work.”

The others were also awakened, suddenly realizing the situation. No wonder the Imperial envoy had raised the grain prices from the beginning; he had been expecting today’s result since that day.

Upon realizing this, everyone showed shocked expressions. For a moment, it felt like a chill ran up their spines to the top of their heads, making their hair stand on end.

It was as if an invisible net had enveloped them from the very beginning, and no matter how they fought, they could only face the despair of losing everything.

This Imperial envoy was truly terrifying. He had calculated their every move.

Now, they were forced to sell at a lower price. If they didn’t sell now, they wouldn’t even be able to sell at six cents a bucket in a while.

The grain prices would only continue to fall, never to rise again!

It was like being forced to jump off a cliff.

Too reckless!

Such a strategy was indeed a supreme and poisonous plan.