Lin Xuan shrugged and said: "Then just send a lot of people to buy it. Although it is a bit slow, but send more people to the big city to buy it. If you spend some time, you can always buy it. Anyway, there is still time now."
Li Shimin said angrily: "You think I can't think of it? But those aristocratic families are eager to sell grain at sky-high prices. Once they realize that someone is harvesting grain secretly, they will increase the price and sell it in limited quantities. When the time comes, the people will be unable to buy grain, and people will be panicked.
.”
To put it bluntly, Li Shimin wanted food, but the price couldn't be too high, and it couldn't cause turmoil.
Lin Xuan thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, I have an idea, maybe you can try it."
"What can I do?" Li Shimin asked quickly.
"Now we are sending people to buy grain in Chang'an, causing the price of grain to rise sharply." Lin Xuan said.
"What's your bad idea?" Li Shimin glared at Lin Xuan.
There are millions of people in Chang'an, and food prices are already higher than in other places. If prices continue to rise sharply, people will simply not be able to afford them.
Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the people have the habit of saving food and do not buy food every day. With the price of food rising, the people will not be short of food in a short period of time. As businessmen pursue profits, the people have not been particularly short of food in these years.
, there must be many merchants who have grain on hand, and when they see the price of grain in Chang'an rising sharply, they will transport the grain to Chang'an for sale."
"So what? Is it possible for me to steal their food?" Li Shimin said angrily.
When he was fighting for the world, he had done this kind of thing secretly, but now that he is the emperor, he has begun to cherish feathers.
Lin Xuan rolled his eyes, wondering why the ancients couldn't change their thinking.
"Your Majesty, when those people transport the grain to Chang'an and the imperial court secretly sells the grain at the previous grain price, those people's grain will naturally not be sold. Then it can be purchased at the market price." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin's eyes lit up and he praised: "What a great idea, it can even lower the price."
"Your Majesty, you must not lower the price, you must purchase it at the original price." Lin Xuan said quickly.
Li Shimin was stunned and asked: "Why?"
"Your Majesty, those businessmen are all good at calculating. The price of food in Chang'an is already slightly higher than in other places. According to the original price, they can make a little profit. If the price is lowered, they would rather bring it back and sell it." Lin Xuan
explained.
Li Shimin was good as emperor, but not good at business.
They worked so hard to transport grain here, and even if they didn't make money, they still had to lose money. Naturally, they weren't willing to accept it.
Merchants like to hoard food. In addition, there were constant natural disasters in the Tang Dynasty in the past few years. It was not possible. They would rather hoard it first and wait until the price of food increased before selling it.
Li Shimin nodded and said: "You are right, but during this period, what should we do if there are people in Chang'an who cannot afford to buy food?"
"The government can provide guarantees, and the people can go to the government every day to buy the food they need according to the population. This will not only avoid panic, but also make the people grateful to the court." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin frowned slightly: "This will require a lot of food. Where can the imperial court get so much food?"
"Purchasing, isn't it necessary to purchase a large amount of grain in the early stage to raise the price of grain?" Lin Xuan said with a smile.
"If the imperial court sells grain at a low price, will those merchants still transport grain to Chang'an?" Li Shimin hesitated.
"As long as His Majesty arranges for people to go to all the grain stores in Chang'an to buy grain, no matter how high the price is, just buy them all," Lin Xuan said.
What those merchants care about is whether there will be anyone to collect the grain when it arrives in Chang'an, as long as there is always someone to collect it.
As for the court selling grain at low prices to the people, what does it have to do with them?
They don't plan to sell it pound by pound.
Next, Lin Xuan told Li Shimin some of the details.
This gave Li Shimin more confidence in Lin Xuan's plan.
"Your Majesty, Liu Rengui has brought you here." Li Mu walked in and reported.
"Let him come in." Li Shimin said.
Not long after, Li Mu brought Liu Rengui in.
Because of meeting the emperor, the shackles have been removed.
Although he didn't shower or change clothes, he was no longer as dusty as when he saw Lin Xuan at the city gate.
Liu Rengui was a little surprised when he saw Lin Xuan. Without any time to think about it, he bowed and saluted and said: "The criminal Liu Rengui, please see your majesty."
They say first impression is very important.
Liu Rengui's elegant face had a hint of heroism, which made Li Shimin feel good about him.
Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "No courtesy."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Liu Rengui was not as panicked as most people would be when they first met the emperor, nor was he confused about the future. He was very calm.
"How can you, a county lieutenant, have the courage to kill Lieutenant Zhechong?" Li Shimin's tone was flat with a hint of murderous intent.
Although he has a good impression of Liu Rengui, he cannot forgive the following offenses.
Liu Rengui was not afraid and said: "Lu Ning humiliated me, so I deliberately killed him."
"How outrageous! Just because he humiliated you, you plotted to kill Shangguan?" Li Shimin was furious.
Lin Xuan was stunned, why was the story different from the version Cao Hu asked about?
Facing Li Shimin's anger, Liu Rengui remained very calm and said nothing.
Li Shimin became even more angry when he saw Liu Rengui's appearance: "If you commit the following offense, I will beat the superior officer to death. I will give you the death penalty. Do you have anything to say?"
"The guilty minister has nothing to say!" Liu Rengui said.
"Okay, then I..."
"Your Majesty, I have something to say." Lin Xuan said quickly.
As Liu Rengui was a famous minister and general in history, Lin Xuan really didn't believe that he dared to kill Shangguan just because he was humiliated.
Li Shimin looked at Lin Xuan angrily and shouted: "What do you have to say? You told me to protect him. Look at him. He is lawless and has committed the following crimes. How can I forgive him?"
When Liu Rengui heard that Lin Xuan actually told Li Shimin that he wanted to protect him, there was a hint of confusion in his originally calm eyes.
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, Lu Ning was arrogant and domineering in Chencang County, indulged in illegal activities, and local officials did not dare to intervene. As a county captain, Liu Rengui was responsible for managing public security, and killing Lu Ning was just an accident.
Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin laughed angrily: "So, he is still a hero?"
"Your Majesty, is it true? You can find out if you just check it out." Lin Xuan said.
Li Shimin said calmly: "Why should I investigate? He has already admitted that he deliberately beat Lu Ning to death because he was humiliated."
"Hurry up and explain the specific reasons to His Majesty. Even if you are going to die, don't hold me back." Lin Xuan looked at Liu Rengui and said.
What the hell, I helped him with good intentions, but he just wanted to die.
If he had known earlier, Lin Xuan would have been too lazy to care about him.
"Your Majesty, what this lord said is true."
Although Liu Rengui was not afraid of death, he did not want to implicate Lin Xuan.
"Then why did you say you did it on purpose before? The crime of deceiving the emperor is also a capital crime." Li Shimin said.
"Your Majesty, although Lu Ning was accidentally beaten to death by the guilty minister, although he was guilty, he was not guilty of death. He was an official, and the guilty minister had no right to deal with him. If the guilty minister beat him to death, he should pay for his life with one life." Liu Rengui.
said.
"Whether one life pays for another is left to the Ministry of Punishments to decide. Why didn't you tell the truth in the first place?" Li Shimin was not worried about Liu Rengui deceiving him. After all, such a thing could not be concealed at all.
Liu Rengui was silent for a long time and said: "The criminal made a mistake and died without mercy. I want to use this as a warning to future generations."