Pressure may scare and crush a person, but when it comes to those with strong minds, it can also be transformed into motivation.

Under the pressure, Li Ling developed a strong fighting spirit. With his own identity and ability, he didn't believe that he could not break this game. He would make a breakthrough for himself, Yue'er Qingxiao, and the people of Yangzhou!

If you have a certain determination, your mind will be clear.

The current situation seems to be an unsolvable knot, but in fact it is not the case. After all, it is nothing more than that, the prefect, who has no money or food, cannot allow the people of Yangzhou to live a prosperous and stable life, and cannot collect all the taxes that should be paid to the court.

But this does not mean that the whole Yangzhou prefecture has no money and food. The money and food in the hands of Lu Xie’s two families alone are enough to meet these needs. Therefore, the problem falls back to how to make them willingly take out silver and food, but they must take care of their dignity and not ruin their reputation.

Long-term thinking not only made Li Ling's thoughts mess up, but instead made his mind clearer and clearer - isn't it just to make money? Compared with other people in this era, I, Li Ling, may not be able to compare with other abilities, but in terms of ways and means to make money, I am really much better than you!

At the beginning, I was able to open up the situation with newspapers in Beijing. Today, in Yangzhou, I could also use other faster methods to accumulate money and food. With the various rights and industries I have on hand now, the simplest and most suitable ones are those official fields!

As my mind became active, other ideas continued to emerge. As my eyes glanced, many documents on my desk, copybooks and scrolls on the shelves, and even the letters I received during this period became props that I could use.

At this moment, a light shone in Li Ling's eyes, and confidence suddenly rose. There was no problem that could bother him. This situation would be broken!

...

Although he had only slept in the middle of the night, Li Ling, who woke up at dawn, was still energetic and full of fighting spirit. He immediately rushed to the front yamen and called Chu Lian, who had arrived at the yamen for a long time, and gave the order: "Prime Minister Chu Tong, go and prepare a batch of invitations quickly. I will send them to every wealthy family in Yangzhou City today."

"Sir, do you still want to ask for money and food from them? I'm afraid..." Chu Lian was shocked and wanted to dissuade him with some concern. It would be fine once, but now he still wants to quarrel from the rich people for the second time. Isn't he afraid of attracting everyone's resentment?

Li Ling smiled, "No, you would have misunderstood. This time, I didn't ask them to take out money and food for nothing. I will exchange things with them so that they can give me the money and food willingly."

"This... how is this possible?" Chu Lian looked disbelief. None of his family's money was blown by the strong wind, so how could he rush to send money to the yamen? Moreover, now the government office is poor and there are no things that can get them to pay for purchases.

"This time, didn't we let the people open up dozens of hectares of official fields on the spot? What I want to sell is these official fields!"

"Uh, sir, the official land is owned by the official family after all, so it is probably inappropriate to sell it like this? Also, they may not be able to like this little land. If they like it, they will not really spend much money to buy it. It is not enough for the millions of taels of silver." Chu Lian still didn't have much confidence, but felt that the Lord of the Mansion was a little too optimistic this time.

But Li Ling insisted on his opinion: "Just do what I want. In addition, you have to write it clearly on the invitation. The official land sale I want to conduct this time is an auction, and the higher the price will be. In this way, this auction will be held in the government office and the inn, and then the sign will be re-printed." As soon as it touched the business, Li Ling's mind became extremely flexible. The inn has just been repaired recently, and no customers have come to the door.

Seeing that the adults had made a decision, Chu Lian had no choice but to follow the orders, and then bowed his head and said that he was, then went out to write an invitation to send it to all households in the city.

In the next two days, invitations were sent to the homes of wealthy families in the city. The only difference from the last time was that this invitation was sent to Lu Xie’s two families and handed over to their heads.

When the wealthy families received another invitation from the government office, their first reaction was a little annoyed. Even Liang Ronggui, who was the first to express his support for the government office, complained: "What's this? The prefect really thinks that our money is for nothing? After one, I want to come again for the second time and take all our money so that we can't eat as much as ordinary people to be content with it?"

He complained that the content on the invitation still needs to be read. After seeing this, he appreciated the difference: "The auction of official fields is the highest? This time I don't want us to pay for money and food for free... If this is true, I can go and have a look. I believe that with his dignified prefect, I can't do anything to deceive us and other common people!"

The same thoughts arose in the hearts of other wealthy families who have seen the invitation. They either made their own decisions or discussed with each other, but in the end, they still responded to the invitation this time.

When the auction began three days later, dozens of wealthy businessmen and gentry from Yangzhou City came from all sides by car and gathered at this renovated inn.

As the carriages and horses of Lu Xie and his two families slowly drove from a distance, the rich families who were still hesitant were even more sure that with these two great men here, the prefect would not use any means to force them. After all, the consequences were not something he could afford.

The two luxurious carriages were almost at the gate of the inn at the same time as they agreed. Then Xie Wenruo and Lu Xu got out of the car one after another. When everyone came forward to greet him, the two met and bowed to each other with a smile: "Uncle Lu Shi, I haven't seen you old for a while. Are you still healthy recently?" In terms of identity, Xie Wenruo, who is also the head of the family, is a generation lower than Lu Xu, so he is quite polite at this time.

Lu Xu coughed twice before laughing again, "I'm old, but I can't breathe. I heard that our prefect suddenly came here and came to join in the fun."

"Although our prefect is young, we still have the ability. I believe that this auction today will definitely not be simple..."

"Well, I think so too..." Lu Xu nodded with a smile, then glanced at everyone around him and pointed his hand, "It's so inconvenient for you and I to speak here, and they are blocking the way. Let's go in and sit down and say."

"Shiwang first." Xie Wenruo made another gesture of invitation respectfully. After Lu Xu took a step, he followed him half a step behind. Behind him, there were those rich families who wanted to talk to the two heads of the family but did not have the courage. Compared with these two, they were far from seeing their wealth or status, so they naturally did not dare to go hand in hand with them.

After entering the inn, several friends came forward to lead the way and led them to the hall in the middle to sit. As soon as they entered the hall, everyone was attracted by the long and wider banner at the top.

After a closer look, I saw a line of words written on it: "The First Official Field Auction Conference of Yangzhou Prefecture". Some sharp-eyed people also saw a wooden hammer on the table, and they didn't know what it was used for.

In addition to this long table, there are also many tables and chairs under it, and there are snacks and tea on it. It is also considered as a hospitality ceremony. What is more considerate is that each table has cards and people have their names written, so that people can sit down according to their names. For example, Lu Xie and the others are at the front, and the brothers Liang Ronggui and Liang Rongfa are next to them.

When they saw this seat arrangement, the two brothers suddenly looked happy. It was obviously the care of the prefect. Thinking about it, it was impossible for them to be so close to the two heads of Lu Xie, the two heads of the family. Now, when they sit together, wouldn’t there be a chance to get close to and talk?

After each of them sat down, the others also understood the purpose of the arrangement of the prefect Li. While sighing, they also regretted their hesitation. If they had known this, they would have jumped out to support it earlier that day.

"Haha, this Prefect Li is quite interesting. Uncle Lu Shi, you are older than me, and you must be more knowledgeable. I wonder if you have ever seen such an auction?" Xie Wenruo sat down and asked Lu Xu beside him with a smile.

Lu Xu was also watching from side to side, stroking his beard and smiling, shaking his head gently: "I haven't even heard of it."

"Then do you think this matter is reliable? Can these official fields be sold at a good price?"

"It's hard to say. According to the truth, even if these official fields are newly developed, they are more fertile than elsewhere, but they are not much higher than the market price. Even if you give him five taels per acre, you will only cost a few thousand taels of silver."

"Yes, my nephew is also deeply confused. What is he selling in this gourd?" Xie Wenruo also looked puzzled.

Liang Ronggui, who was standing beside him, finally couldn't help it and smiled apologized: "The two masters, I think that since the prefect made this arrangement, it must have his profound meaning. I believe that there are other benefits in addition to this official land, such as taxation, salt and iron, etc...."

This made Lu Xushen nodded with consent: "It's right, I have a similar view. What kind of business are you doing and what's your name?"

This question made Liang Ronggui excited and he quickly replied: "The little Liang Ronggui runs a grain and oil business in the city. Liang Ji is our brother's industry, with four companies in total." If he really can get along with the Lu family, he will be developed.

"No, not bad." Lu Xu smiled and said nothing more. He really wouldn't take such a small businessman to heart.

But others didn't see this. Seeing that Liang Ronggui was able to get in touch with a big shot like Lu Xu, he was so jealous. So some people regretted it even more, and some people began to try to lean on it and talk to the two heads of Lu Xie, but they were just plain reactions and ignored them...

And just as everyone was talking casually and guessing the intention of the government office, they shouted: "Master Li is here-"
Chapter completed!