She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Chapter 440 Testing each other

When Zhao Yi returned to the grain shop, the manager greeted him: "Master, the government has sent us a message. They say that from today onwards, the price of grain sold to the people will be thirty copper coins per catty."

Zhao Yi's eyes flashed with a chilling coldness. The government had not controlled grain prices, allowing grain shops to set their own prices. Now, someone had been sent to strictly order the price of grain to be thirty copper coins per pound.

The price was double that of other grain shops.

This shows that Feng Zhihuan was testing him.

They wanted to use this to trick him into revealing his identity.

Seeing that Zhao Yi did not respond, the shopkeeper said tremblingly, "The official also said... that the people are suffering, and there are many more beggars in the city, not to mention other places, where there are probably even more people who can't afford to eat. But the government has no money to provide relief, so it can only ask all the grain shops to raise their prices and collect more taxes to help the refugees."

Zhao Yi already had a plan in mind: "Act according to the official documents."

The shopkeeper opened his mouth, wanting to say that the prefect was a corrupt official who didn't care about the lives of the people at all. Any extra taxes collected would just go into the prefect's pocket.

Most importantly, with grain prices so high, there's a fear that even more people will go hungry.

On second thought, the government had already issued a document, and if he didn't comply, he probably wouldn't be able to get away with it.

The words that were about to come out were swallowed back down: "I will write the price on the sign and hang it at the door right away."

Zhao Yi nodded slightly, signaling the shopkeeper to take care of it.

The shopkeeper wrote the sign and hung it at the entrance.

Zhao Yi stood at the entrance of the grain shop, staring intently at the prices on the sign.

After a while, he looked away, got into the carriage, and left.

The shopkeeper stood at the door, watching the carriage leave, and let out a long sigh.

They had thought that the grain shop's business would decline sharply and that it would be subjected to insults and vandalism by the people.

To his surprise, the number of people coming to buy grain actually increased.

The shopkeeper asked curiously, "The price of grain has doubled, why are you still buying more?"

The people buying grain said, "Before, the price of grain here was only a few coins per pound. Later, due to the grain shortage, the price rose to fifteen coins per pound. The price of grain is too high. We only buy enough grain to eat each day, hoping that the government will send grain over. When there is no shortage of grain, the price will naturally come down."

"We waited and waited until your grain store returned with the grain, thinking the price would come down, but it's gone up again. We're afraid of running out of grain, which is why you've raised the price. What will we do if we don't buy more grain to stock up and then can't buy any more later?"

"That's right. Food is expensive, but it's still better than not having any food at all."

The shopkeeper's mood turned somber, and he said no more.

The soldiers, hidden in the shadows, watched as the customers in the grain shop bought their food in an orderly fashion, without a single one causing trouble, and they couldn't help but feel puzzled.

After the grain shop closed, the soldier immediately returned to the prefectural governor's office and reported to Feng Zhihuan: "Sir, the grain shop raised the price of grain to thirty wen per catty in accordance with the document. Strangely, the people did not make a fuss and all bought grain in a very orderly manner."

Feng Zhihuan frowned, unable to fathom Zhao Yi's thoughts.

It turned out that he suspected Zhao Yi's identity was unusual and even suspected that he was connected with the Prince of Guangling, so he deliberately raised the price of grain and collected more taxes to test him.

If the other party truly has connections, they will certainly be dissatisfied with the official documents issued by the government.

But the other party actually did it.

Could it be that Zhao Yi is actually a merchant?

Businessmen make huge profits.

For them, official documents are more beneficial than harmful, so they naturally have no complaints.

Feng Zhihuan waved his hand: "Keep a closer eye on things."

The soldier replied, "Yes, sir."

-

In the following days, all the grain in Zhao Yi's grain shop was sold out.

Not only that, but news also got out.

In Yongqing County, grain was selling for thirty coins per catty, and demand exceeded supply.

Well-informed merchants were eager to get involved and began procuring grain to sell in Yongqing County.

Feng Zhihuan was somewhat surprised to hear this rumor.

Before he could think further, someone came to report: "Sir, something terrible has happened! All the soldiers guarding the beggar have been killed."