Chapter 31: Madame Wen Qing (Part 2)

  After saying a few words, only the sound of wooden shoes was heard, and the curtain was lifted. Cui Wenchang appeared in front of everyone again. At this time, Cui Wenchang had already taken off his outer cloak and veil, wearing a dark blue long skirt, with a dark red cloak outside, and his cloud-like hair was already tied up, coiled into a beautiful bun, with a jade pin across it, looking elegant and refined, with arched eyebrows and embroidered eyes, and a hint of red on her lips. She was indeed an extremely beautiful woman, but between the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, there was a hint of fatigue, which made her look even more lovely.

  Although in terms of appearance, Wen Qing is slightly inferior to Li Yinghong, but she has a more mature demeanor, so it's not unreasonable for her to be ranked above Li Yinghong. However, after a few years, when Li Yinghong grows up and matures, she will surpass Wen Qing.

  Everyone bowed again, and Li Mu introduced the others to Lin Wenqing. Actually, people like Li Yinghong, Zhao Xuan, Du Yi, etc., had met Lin Wenqing before, but only Gao Yuan was truly meeting Lin Wenqing for the first time.

  However, when Li Mu introduced Gao Yuan, a strange light also flashed in Lin Wenqing's eyes, and he said: "May I ask the general, is this Mr. Gao the one who descended with the meteor?"

  Li Mu nodded and said: "It was him, this time he greatly defeated the Qin army, his merit is the greatest."

  Lin Wenqing then bowed and said, "Your great name is already well-known in Handan, and Ta Bu has divined three times, all of which were auspicious signs. Therefore, you are able to descend upon my humble abode, making my thatched cottage radiant with splendor, which is also a blessing for me."

  Gao Yuan smiled wryly, it seemed that he couldn't shake off the reputation of being a celestial general descending to the mortal world. However, he also came to understand that in this era, not only emperors had extraordinary appearances, but also some widely recognized sages like Jiang Taigong, Confucius, Laozi, and Sun Wu, who were all said to have had extraordinary appearances when they were born. Therefore, Gao Yuan felt a little more at ease, thinking that the reputation of being a celestial general wouldn't bring him too much trouble. He hurriedly returned the courtesy to Lin Wenqing, saying: "Madam is overpraising me, in fact I'm just an ordinary person, and it's only by chance that I came here, not because I'm some kind of celestial general descending to the world."

  Mr. Lin Wenqing smiled slightly and said, "You're being too modest, sir."

  Then Jian Wenqing immediately ordered a banquet to be set up and invited Li Mu and his entourage.

  After three rounds of wine, Li Mu said: "Wen Qing, you have been living in Handan for a long time, do you know why the Zhao state government has not made an effort to relieve the disaster victims?"

  Lin Wenqing let out a soft sigh and said, "As early as three months ago, refugees had already appeared. Although the number of people was not large at that time, some people had advised the king to buy more grain to prepare for disaster relief. However, the prime minister dismissed it as an exaggeration. As a result, nothing was done. More than a month ago, the number of refugees had reached tens of thousands, and many estates outside the city were attacked by refugees. Therefore, many officials again advised the king to open the granary to relieve the people. However, the prime minister advised the king that since the Qin army was pressing the border and Handan was in danger, the grain in the warehouse should be reserved for the needs of the Qin army when it besieged the city, and could not be distributed to relieve the people. Therefore, the king did not issue an order, but instead ordered the closure of all roads leading to Handan, strictly prohibiting refugees from entering the suburbs of Handan. As a result, there were many battles between the troops and the refugees, resulting in thousands of casualties among the refugees. Wenqing really couldn't bear to look at it, so he cooked porridge every day to relieve the disaster, which finally stabilized the situation."

  Gao Yuan listened and also admired this beautiful widow, unexpectedly she was not only good at business but also had a kind heart that sympathized with the heavens and pitied the people, compared to those wealthy but unkind and profit-seeking merchants, she was much better.

  As soon as Lin Wenqing finished speaking, Li Yinghong said with hatred: "It's Guo Kai again. This guy is really too despicable. This time when I return to Handan, if I see him, I must teach him a good lesson."

  Li Mu slightly furrowed his brow and said, "Ying Hong, don't speak nonsense."

  Lin Wenqing said, "Ying Hongyu didn't speak nonsense. In fact, the refugees are already fed up with Guo Kai. Many of them have made a small paper man, written Guo Kai's name on it, and cursed him to die early."

  Li Mu sighed and said: "Wen Qing, it's indeed hard on you. During this period of time, you've been cooking porridge to help the people, I'm afraid your losses won't be small."

  "These years, with the support of General Wang, my business has been doing relatively well, and I have managed to save some money. However, wealth is just a material thing, and even if I lose some of it, as long as I can save people's lives, it's not a big deal. The problem is that this year's drought has greatly reduced the yield of my estate, and now there's not much grain left. But the number of refugees keeps increasing - when I first started providing porridge for them, there were only tens of thousands, but now there are over 100,000, and it will probably keep growing. Unfortunately, other merchants in Handan city are taking advantage of the situation to hoard grain and drive up prices. Originally, a stone of millet would cost around 70-100 coins, but now it's risen to over 500 coins, and I'm afraid it will continue to rise. Even if I were to spend all my wealth, it would be hard to sustain this for much longer."

  Li Mu nodded and said: "Alright, after I return to Handan, I will definitely advise the king to open the granary to relieve the people."

  Lin Wenqing said: "If the general can persuade the king, it will be a blessing for the people."

  At this time, Gao Yuan said: "I'm afraid that even if the general arrived in Handan, it would be difficult to persuade the king."

  Li Mu turned to look at Gao Yuan and said, "What did you just say?"

  Gao Yuan Dao said, "Great General, although it is true that Guo Xiangguo has been making a fuss about this, but after years of war, the grain left in our Zhao state's granaries may not be much either. This is also a fact. Therefore, even if you persuade the king to open up the granaries to help the people, it may not necessarily work. As for the merchants raising prices, firstly, they are profit-driven by nature; secondly, this year our Zhao state has had a severe drought, and grain production in various places has been reduced. With less grain available, prices naturally rise, which is beyond human control. Even if grain prices drop, it would be useless if there's no grain to sell."

  Li Mu listened and after a long time of contemplation, he finally nodded his head and sighed, saying: "What you said is not wrong." On the battlefield, Li Mu was resourceful and clever, with numerous ingenious ideas, but facing the current situation, no tactics were applicable, so at this moment, Li Mu was also at a loss, unable to think of any solution.

  Li Yinghong widened her eyes and said: "If even Father can't persuade the king, what can be done?"

  Lian Wenqing also looked at Gao Yuan and said: "Mr. Gao, do you have any good ideas?"

  Gao Yuan smiled and said, "Actually, I don't have any good ideas either. The only feasible solution now is to go to another country to buy grain. Qi State has not experienced war for decades, and its territory is vast enough. It's said that in recent years, the harvests have been abundant, and food is plentiful. Now, a dan of millet in Linzi sells for less than 50 coins, so it would be better to go to Qi State to buy grain. Even if the price is a bit high, it's still worth it."

  Li Mu shook his head and said, "But the state of Qi has always looked up to Qin as its leader. As early as the Battle of Handan, Qi refused to sell grain to Zhao. How can they possibly sell us grain now?"

  Gao Yuan smiled and said, "What I meant was not to use the name of Zhao Guo to buy grain from Qi Guo, but to let merchants take the lead, directly purchase grain from Qi Guo's merchants, and raise the price several times. Merchants are greedy for profit, as long as there is a profit to be made, there will certainly be many merchants willing to sell grain. As for the Qi Guo court, Qi Guo's merchants will naturally find a way to establish connections. We don't need to worry about it."

  The method of the highlands, in short, is to smuggle grain from the state of Qi. Although merchants have a low social status and are looked down upon by both Confucianism and Legalism, they are still needed for trade between states, so commercial exchanges were quite developed during this era in China, and many wealthy merchants emerged who could rival the wealth of nations, such as Tao Zhu, Bai, Wu from Qin state, Guo from Chu state, not to mention Lv Buwei, who helped King Zhuangxiang of Qin ascend to power, all of whom were famous merchants throughout the land.

  Because the merchants have a huge amount of wealth in their hands and have close relations with the dignitaries of various countries, they are extremely powerful in each country and basically do not dare to do business. What's more, grain is originally overproduced in Qi State, even if the ruler of Qi State prohibits buying grain for Zhao State, the merchants of Qi State will definitely find a way to establish connections and smuggle grain to Zhao State.

  Lin Wen nodded and said: "I have a few acquaintances in the state of Qi who are merchants, this method is worth trying."

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Actually, there is no need for the madam to appear alone. After arriving in Handan, General can take over and even report to the king, forming a trade association with everyone contributing funds together, jointly purchasing grain from Qi State. This way, collective efforts will make it easier to manage the roads to Qi State, funding for purchasing grain, as well as transportation arrangements. Not only will there be food for disaster relief, but also replenish Zhao State's treasury to prevent Qin State's next attack on Zhao State."

  Li Mu also nodded repeatedly and said: "This method is not bad, after returning to Handan, I will immediately advise the king, I think the king will definitely agree."

  Lin Wenqing said: "Even if we successfully buy grain from the state of Qi, but the two states of Qi and Zhao are separated by a thousand miles, the road is far away. When the grain from Qi arrives in Zhao, it will take at least two months. I'm afraid that within these two months, many people in Zhao will starve to death. Even if my estate's stored grain can be used, it can only support us for one and a half months."

  Li Mu smiled and said, "This is easy to handle. This time we have won a great victory over the Qin army, capturing more than 50 million stones of grain from the Qin army. There are still some leftovers. After a while, I can send someone to Fan Wu's camp to issue an order, allocating 1 million stones of grain for you to bring over. It should be enough to support you for another two months and temporarily relieve this urgent situation. If it's not enough, we can allocate more."

  Lin Wenqing was also delighted and hurriedly said, "In that case, thank you very much, General. After we buy grain from the Qi State, I will definitely repay you in full." After finishing speaking, he turned to Gao Yuan and raised his wine cup, saying, "I also want to thank you for your guidance. If it weren't for you, even if I racked my brains, I wouldn't have come up with a solution. Now I truly believe that your arrival in Zhao State is indeed a blessing for our country. I would like to offer this humble cup of wine as a token of gratitude."