Qin Bo originally thought that with Feng Mingwen's endorsement, there would be no big problems in this business, but he did not expect that Li Yi would look troubled.

 This made his heart thump.

Li Yi only heard a "tsk" sound, sighed again, and then said:

 “Alas, Mr. Qin is too late!”

Qin Bo quickly asked:

 “What does Mr. Li mean by this?”

Li Yi looked at Qin Bo and asked:

“Qinjun, do you know what the current grain price is at the Nanxiang Exchange?”

“I just arrived in Hanzhong, how do I know about it?”

 Li Yi raised three fingers.

Qin Bo was shocked: "Three hundred dollars?!"

Li Yi nodded.

 “Why is it so expensive?”

Three hundred coins are naturally not the Daquan fifty coins of the Wu State, nor the straight hundred coins of the Han State, but a real five baht coins.

 In fact, caravans traveling between Han and Wu would in many cases prefer to receive Han's hundreds of coins rather than Wu's Daquan fifty.

The reason is also very simple. In recent years, the Han Dynasty has stopped minting hundreds of coins, and the value is real.

But the Great Spring Fifty in Wu State were becoming more and more abundant and thinner. They even contained a large amount of iron, and the quality was extremely poor.

 At the Nanxiang Exchange, five baht is the only price standard for various bulk materials.

 All experienced traders who resell various materials know that there was a rumor circulating in the market a few years ago:

 That is, when there is no war, the food price shall not exceed 200 yuan.

 Because after two hundred yuan, some people may starve.

 After three hundred coins, real famine will begin.

 Of course, there have been changes in the past two years.

 Grain prices seem to be higher than in previous years, often floating around 1,780 yuan, and sometimes reaching 199 yuan.

This does not mean that the Han people are hungry. On the contrary, many people have much more food in their homes in recent years than they did a dozen years ago.

 Why do food prices rise?

  First, because the imperial court guaranteed the price of grain and protected the people's enthusiasm for growing grain.

The second reason is that more and more copper mines are being developed in Nanzhong.

 But no matter what, if the price of food reaches 300 yuan, it is already a bad signal.

If the local grain price in central Shu is already as high as 300 yuan, then plus the cost of transporting it to Jingzhou, the cost will probably be more than 400 yuan.

Thinking of this, Qin Bo's face turned ugly.

 The woolen material monopoly is planned to be available in the year after next;

  To monopolize brown sugar, we must find new sources of sugar cane, and the supply of grain is the prerequisite.

 In this case, wouldn’t the three great achievements in hand have to fly away?

The reason why I came out this time is precisely because everyone in the imperial court regards the school office as a thorn in their side. If I can't produce results in time and consolidate my position in His Majesty's heart, who knows what will happen next?

“Li Jun, I heard that the price of food in Shu has never been high, so why did it suddenly rise so much?”

Qin Bo asked anxiously.

If Feng Mingwen hadn't been in Liangzhou, Qin Bo would have suspected that Xiao Wenhe was playing tricks on him, or wanted to take the opportunity to raise the price.

"To be honest with Mr. Qin, these days, people from the north and west want to buy a large amount of grain to store for the winter, so the price of grain has increased a lot."

"North? That's not Wei..." Halfway through, he felt something was wrong. How could the Han people sell grain to Wei thieves?

 And to the west?

Li Yi coughed: "It's the Qiang and Hu. Qin Jun, you don't know something. I, the Han Dynasty, regard Han and Yi as the same. In recent years, many Hu and Yi have benefited a lot from following us, and they are very prosperous."

“So I have a lot of good things on hand. Hu Yi, who is not good at farming, is about to survive the winter, so he has to quickly replace the cattle and sheep he has raised for a year with grain..."

When Qin Bo heard this, his eyes widened immediately.

 There is such a thing?

 How did Hanzhong get up?

 Where did the name Nanzhong Ghost King come from?

 You think I really don’t know?

 I just came back from Liangzhou, do you know how to cut it?

 Do you know how much a two-legged animal is worth over there?

 Now you tell me that the Han and barbarians are all the same and the barbarians are prosperous, but they can still speculate on grain prices?

　　　 Enter your mother!

It’s just that Qin Bo saw that there was no trace of deception on Li Yi’s face, and that such matters could be found out by just asking around, and there was no way to hide them.

This made him a little more suspicious: Could it really be such a coincidence?

Li Yi felt very sure in his heart.

 That's right, the rise in food prices this time does have the shadow of the Xinghan Hui behind it.

 But White Glove is definitely the leader of Hu Yi.

With King Feng Gui’s appeal in Longyou, the military capital of Yinping, he wanted to bring a few Huyi tribes over to wipe his butt, and some came up to lick him.

What’s up?

Hu Yi are not Han people?

 Can’t buy food?

 As long as the government does not take action, Xinghanhui will be the largest banker in the grain trade.

Those who sell grain wish for the best to rise every day!

When Qin Bo came to Hanzhong, the most he could do was visit Nanxiang to see the rumored place where ghosts were dancing.

He doesn’t even know the trading rules of the exchange, so how can he know how many twists and turns there are in this place where ghosts are dancing?

Seeing Qin Bo's appearance, Li Yi also looked a little ashamed, as if he was ashamed of not being able to fulfill his brother's request.

 I saw him comforting and saying:

“In my brother’s letter, I said that Lord Qin was interested in finding financial resources to replenish his treasury, and he devoted himself to sharing the worries of the Lord. I also admire him very much.”

After a pause, he continued, "There will be no way to solve this food issue for a while, but the Yihui has been watching over it for Mr. Qin. If the price drops, the Yihui will immediately send someone to notify Mr. Qin."

Qin Bo has some waning intentions:

I'm afraid something will happen to the school office by then...

 Unless we can find another credit to help the school government survive this crisis.

“The so-called money and food, there is nothing we can do about food now, but there is a way to save money…”

“Oh!” Qin Bo perked up, “Please Li Jun teach me!”

 “Qin Jun, please follow me.”

Li Yi took Qin Bo to the door of a room and told the servants guarding there:

 “Light all the lamps in the house.”

 Then he led Qin Bo into the house, and Li Yi ordered his servants to close all the doors and windows.

 “Please take a look, Mr. Qin.”

"This this……"

But I saw the candles in the house were bright, with rows of flames dancing on the nine lamps. The red and yellow flames were shining brightly, making the room brighter than the outside.

Even though Qin Bo has been in and out of the palace all year round, he has never seen so many candles lit at the same time.

 In other words, even the emperor would not burn so many candles at one time.

 Because candles, as tributes, are very precious.

 Qin Bo swallowed hard, his eyes were blurred.

 “Please take a look, Mr. Qin.”

Li Yi opened a box, which was neatly arranged, all filled with candles.

 He took out one and handed it to Qin Bo, "Qin Jun, touch it. Is it round?"
To be continued...