sbdcsierra Chapter 316: Shen Qionghua is a profiteer?
Chapter 316: Shen Qionghua is a profiteer?
He walked up to Shen Qionghua with a smile and said, "Princess Jialin, the Emperor has been waiting for you for a long time. Please come in."
Li Shunquan smiled and turned sideways.
Shen Qionghua nodded and walked straight towards the inner hall.
Li Shunquan was about to catch up when a voice came from behind him, "Manager Li."
Li Shunquan paused, a strange look flashed across his eyes, and he turned to Xie Qian'an and asked, "Your Highness Prince An, do you have any instructions?"
Xie Qianan smiled gently and said, "Master Li, you're joking. You are my father's confidant. How dare I give you orders? I'm just... just a little curious."
"Right now, Father is worried about the food and fodder not being delivered on time. How could he be in the mood to summon Princess Shen...Jialin?"
Li Shunquan chuckled and said, "Your Highness Prince An, how could I possibly know what the Emperor is thinking? I would never dare to guess the Emperor's mind."
"Don't say I don't know. Even if I do know, I wouldn't dare tell anyone."
Xie Qi'an's expression gradually turned cold when he heard this, but he said, "What Li Zongguan said is true. I was just saying it casually. You don't have to take it to heart."
Li Shunquan nodded and said, "Then I will go in and serve the emperor first."
As he spoke, he flashed into the inner hall.
Snowflakes were everywhere in the sky, and a few crystal flakes fell on his eyelashes. Xie Qian'an couldn't help but clench his fists.
A hand touched his shoulder, brushing off the snowflakes through the handkerchief. Concubine Zhou stood beside Xie Qian'an with an umbrella, her eyes full of anger, and whispered, "He's just a slave..."
"Mother, please be careful with your words!" Xie Qian'an said.
Although I am a slave, I am a slave beside my father, and I am a slave who can say a few words in front of my father.
This was in the Taiji Hall, and Li Shunquan's spies were everywhere. Xie Qian'an didn't want to make enemies with Li Shunquan.
Concubine Zhou paused, then reluctantly swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
But he said with a look of surprise: "We have been waiting here for so long, but your father has not come out. Instead, he summoned that bitch from the Shen family. Will she say something to your father and ruin our plan?"
Concubine Zhou had been waiting for so long that she was already dissatisfied.
If An'er hadn't said that even though the delay in grain supply had nothing to do with him on the surface, the emperor must still be a little angry with him in his heart, and that the emperor had to vent his anger so that he would not hold a grudge against him in the future, she would have returned to her Yanx Palace long ago.
Who knew that after waiting for a long time, the emperor didn't show up, but Shen Qionghua got there first.
Not only was Concubine Zhou worried, but Xie Qian'an also had some doubts in his heart.
But then he sneered and said in a low voice: "Don't worry, mother, whatever she does now is useless."
"The winter weather is so bad that even the team transporting food and fodder is blocked by the snow and wind. No matter how rich the Shen family is, it can't quench thirst. There is no time at all."
Xie Qian'an spoke the last sentence with great confidence.
Seeing Xie Qian'an's confident look, Concubine Zhou felt relieved.
She chuckled and said, "Of course, mother is relieved. My An'er is very talented and resourceful. Mother has confidence in you."
The mother and son smiled at each other in the snow.
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Inside the Tai Chi Hall.
The emperor, dressed in a dragon robe and full of majesty, sat on the dragon throne and looked at the woman who was slowly walking towards him.
"Jia Lin pays respect to the Emperor!" Shen Qionghua knelt down and saluted.
"Be flat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Shen Qionghua stood still and heard a majestic voice from above, "County Master Jialin, you said you have a way to solve the problem of delayed food supplies. Is this true?"
"Let me be frank. It's snowing in the north, and the imperial supplies are stuck on the roads. If you truly have a solution, that would be great, and I will certainly reward you. But if you use this to provoke me, I will certainly not let you off easily."
Shen Qionghua curled her lips slightly and said with a cupped hand, "Your Majesty, I do have an idea, but I hope Your Majesty can answer a question from me first."
"Oh, what's the question?" Xie Rong said lightly.
"I would like to know how long it will take for the team transporting grain and fodder to reach the border?" Shen Qionghua asked.
Xie Rong pondered for a moment and said, "It shouldn't take more than fifteen days."
After hearing this, Shen Qionghua breathed a sigh of relief.
"What's wrong? Do you feel that it takes too long? There's nothing we can do about it." Xie Rong said.
Shen Qionghua shook her head and said, "No, I am relieved because I am glad that I can help the border troops."
"What do you mean?" Xie Rong raised his eyebrows.
Shen Qionghua suppressed her inner guilt and pretended to be relieved. A cheerful expression flashed across her face as she said, "Your Majesty, you don't know that the Shen family is a merchant family. Besides the businesses we already have, we'll always try to make a quick buck by jumping in whenever there's a good business opportunity."
"The land along the border is not conducive to growing crops. Most people eat coarse grains and sweet potatoes to fill their stomachs. Food is in short supply and prices are high."
"There was a flood at the beginning of this year, and there was a war going on nearby. I heard that the price of grain has skyrocketed, even much higher than the grain prices in the capital, which have already increased several times this year!"
"Get to the point." Xie Rong said.
Shen Qionghua choked up and said, "The point is, I felt that selling grain this year would be very profitable, and I thought that the price of grain at the border would be even higher after winter. So, I sent people to collect a batch of grain from the villages around the capital before winter came, intending to transport it to the border cities to sell it."
Seeing that Xie Rong's face looked a little strange, Shen Qionghua frantically explained as if frightened, "Your Majesty, please don't misunderstand me. I don't want to be a profiteer or take advantage of others' misfortune. I didn't intend to sell my grain at such a high price."
"I originally wanted to set the grain price to be on par with the price in the capital. Firstly, I can earn some money, and secondly, it can be regarded as helping those people and accumulating blessings for the Shen family."
"The prices are the same? Why does it sound so unbelievable to me?" Xie Rong said.
"If it's really Qi Ping, wouldn't you earn a lot less money compared to the grain merchants in the capital? After all, the grain transport agency is a considerable expense. Are you happy with that?"
Shen Qionghua smiled awkwardly and said, "To answer the emperor's question, it may be a lot for others, but it won't cost much for me. The Shen family owns an escort agency, and it won't cost much for our own agency."
If this is true, then what I just said is somewhat credible.
Xie Rong's eyes flashed with interest when he heard this, "The Shen family also has an escort agency?"
Shen Qionghua nodded repeatedly.
Of course, I just registered a month ago, and this is my first order.
"You mean you can use your food to support the army in an emergency?" Xie Rong sneered, "How much food do you have? It's not even enough for the soldiers to eat a few meals."
Even if the Shen family was in the grain business, they could not support the huge amount of food consumed by the army.
"If my estimation is correct, it should be enough to support the soldiers' food consumption for more than ten days." Shen Qionghua said.
The food and fodder originally prepared should have been enough for twenty days, but Shen Qionghua deliberately said it was a few days less.
Upon hearing this, Xie Rong's expression changed slightly, but then quickly returned to normal.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, and his left hand kept spinning the ring on his right thumb, a look of surprise on his face, "So much food?"
Shen Qionghua said somewhat embarrassedly, "Although the escort agency is our own and doesn't cost much, it is still an expense. I have to earn back this money. Since I earn less than the grain merchants in the capital, I can only sell in bulk."
"The grain prices I set are considered high in the capital, but they are still low at the border."
At the end, Shen Qionghua did not forget to add a sentence, as if she was afraid that the emperor would think she was taking advantage of the situation and was a profiteer.
There was a moment of silence in the air. Li Shunquan, who was standing aside, watching Shen Qionghua with his eyes and nose, was secretly worried about her.