Those profiteers who robbed on fire were defeated, and their food was received at low prices. At the same time, Suizhou merchants such as Sun Rang and Shopkeeper Jin helped them also benefited a lot, and the final result was very happy.

Especially for the people of Suizhou, when news came out of the Shen family that the food prices would be stable in the future, the people were even more happy. The stabilization of grain prices means that the prices of many industries linked to it will be stabilized. At the same time, this will lead to the decline of other items that have already risen, so that too many people do not have to suffer from future survival. For many people in the city who work hard, it is really a good guarantee.

As for the farmers in the countryside, they received strong help from the Shen family after this incident. They did what they said. In the following days, not only did they open stalls for lending grain in many shops in the city, but also specially sent people to the outside of the city and the county towns under Suizhou Prefecture to promote it, and truly delivered grain to the township to alleviate the local grain shortage caused by the disaster. This made the already famous Shen family even more respected by the people and almost became a Buddha-like existence in Suizhou.

As for Li Ling, who really contributed to all this, or "Ling Li", not many people know his identity. He did not mean to make himself famous by this. Instead, he hoped that the Shen family could help keep it confidential and not be known to more people.

Of course, this can be hidden from the vast majority of the people, but the government must not be able to hide it. On the third day after the victory of the Shang War, the government office had already passed the message to the Shen family. The prefect wanted to meet this charity businessman who helped Suizhou overcome the difficulties. Li Ling naturally could not refuse this.

On that day, he took Li Moyun and a few more, and Shu Wenqing, who looked strange, and went to the government office. Halfway through the way, Shu Wenqing still looked like he wanted to speak but stopped. He looked at Li Ling several times, but he was afraid to speak.

Li Ling, who had noticed this, suddenly looked at him and said, "Brother Shu, just say whatever you want to say, there is no need to be so embarrassed."

"I..." Shu Wenqing looked at Li Ling, with a hint of fear in his eyes, but he asked quickly, "So Boss Ling, you have been fighting for Suizhou from the beginning to help Suizhou overcome difficulties and prevent those people from using low prices to exchange food for land, right?"

He still remembered what Li Ling promised them when he first came to Suizhou, that was to defeat those competitors and then dominate the entire Suizhou grain transactions, so as to obtain heavy profits. However, in the subsequent battles and calculations, he clearly realized that Li Ling wanted not profits, and even did not hesitate to harm himself in order to deal with the unscrupulous merchants. Because of this, the shopkeeper Zhou decisively left. He originally didn't have much food in hand, and returning to Guang'an without participating was not a loss.

But Shu Wenqing is different. He spent a lot of money to buy a large amount of grain, intending to make a fortune in the transactions in Suizhou, but the result was a few changes. Although he still made a profit in the end - Li Ling, the grain purchased at a low price from merchants such as Cai Fan and Hu Liang, did not take it alone. When it was sold at a fair price, whether it was the Shen family or him, they could benefit from it. But even so, his doubts were not eliminated. After enduring it for a few days, he finally couldn't help it.

Li Ling turned his head and looked at him a few more times, and smiled and said, "No matter what the final result is, it's always true that you and I have made money. Why do you have to pay attention to these details?" If the other party has not seen any abnormality at this time, it will really surprise Li Ling, so his performance is quite calm.

"But... why?" Although I made money this time, the risk was far greater than the original plan. Shu Wenqing really couldn't understand the truth. The only explanation was the other party's identity. "Boss Ling, who are you?"

"Haha, some things are far more important than making money or not, at least that's how I think. It's important for us to do business, and supporting our family is the most important thing, but we can't lose all the bottom line of being a human being for the sake of that little bit of yellow and white. That will not become a real big businessman. Prospering the country, restoring the people, and allowing more people to benefit from business is the real way to do business." Li Ling looked at the other party with a solemn expression, and directly saw Shu Wenqing's heart, and subconsciously lowered his head and did not dare to have eye contact with him.

Li Ling then withdrew his gaze and said lightly: "As for my identity, it's just a businessman who sees something wrong and wants to do. You don't have to delve into it."

Shu Wenqing could not believe this anymore, but it was not easy to investigate it further at this time. He could already be convinced that this identity is much more valuable than the so-called imperial merchants. This is the real nobleman.

As they spoke, the group finally arrived in front of the government office, and only Li Ling and Shu Wenqing were able to enter the second hall, while the others could only wait outside.

In front of the prefect's general, Li Ling met the prefect of Suizhou, Wang Yaochen, who was dressed in a typical court official regardless of his name and appearance. He was square and elegant in appearance. After seeing Li Ling and the other two, he had no official power. He just smiled casually and let them come in and sit down.

"You are already aware of what the two Yigong merchants do. It's really rare. Although you are not the people of Suizhou, you can do your best for me, Suizhou, and even offend those great merchants with deep backgrounds. I will thank you for the people of the city on my behalf." At the beginning, the prefect Wang's attitude was very kind, and as he spoke, he actually stood up to salute.

This action naturally made Shu Wenqing avoid it quickly and said he did not dare: "My lord is so serious, we are just doing our duty. Moreover, the common people are also people of Suizhou, although they are people of Guang'an under their jurisdiction."

"Even so, it is rare. Look at the other merchants who are accomplices of tigers, you can tell how difficult it is to act your righteousness." As the prefect Wang said, he looked at Li Ling, but found that this foreign merchant seemed quite calm from beginning to end, and did not get distracted by his courtesy, as if this was a matter of course.

This made him more and more sure of his previous guess. This foreign businessman named Ling Li must have an extraordinary identity. This person can be close to each other and cannot make enemies. This made the smile on his face become more and more cordial: "Of course, Mr. Ling is the most credited. As Mr. Shen said, all this can only be successful after your advice and internal and external efforts. It really makes me respect him." As he said that, he bowed his hand and bowed.

Li Ling sat there and received a gift from him, and then slowly said: "Since I am a citizen of Dayue, I cannot watch the people suffer. Since I have the ability to help, I naturally have to do it. However, the prefect, please forgive me for asking you a bold question, since you are a local parent, why can't you interfere and help the people to rule?"

"This..." Wang Yaochen didn't expect Li Ling to ask this question at all, and he didn't know what to respond. After a while, he said: "The incident happened suddenly, and the yamen also lacked enough food, so he could only let those profiteers do whatever they wanted."

"Is that true? This is inconsistent with some of the situations I know below, because according to the laws of the court, generally the prefectures have at least two to three official warehouses to deal with possible disasters, which is a regular warehouse. But why can't Suizhou Government Office take out grain to stabilize the price of grain because of the abundant grain storage in Huguang? But we, the small businessmen, have to deal with others?

"Sir, I'm afraid the whole story cannot be explained suddenly by a single sentence? Also, as far as I know, not only Suizhou, but the situation in Huguang is not optimistic. Although the grain prices in various places cannot be compared with the previous grain prices in Suizhou, it is far beyond the limit that the people can accept. I wonder if I can explain the whole story of this result to me?"

After hearing Li Ling's question, Shu Wenqing was panicked and almost wanted to escape. You are a businessman, where did you have the courage to question the dignified prefect? ​​You are desperate, I want it.

But to his surprise, when Magistrate Wang heard this question, he was not angry. Instead, a hint of panic flashed in his eyes and said stutteringly: "I... some things are not as simple as what I see outside, and there are even more difficulties in the officialdom. I hope Mr. Ling can understand it."

Li Ling narrowed his eyes: "But it has to do with the forces behind those families?"

Wang Yaochen fell silent again, but this time his silence actually gave an answer. He had already agreed to the rationality of this inference.

Li Ling smiled and said, "No wonder, it seems that they wouldn't give up just now, right?" After all, the profiteers lost all their money this time, which also means that the forces behind them have lost their capital. With those guys' style of doing things, how could they give up?

"This is exactly the purpose of my official asking you to come. You should leave here as soon as possible. If you don't leave, it will be too late." Wang Yaochen smiled bitterly. Even if the person in front of him looked quite good, he really didn't think that the other party could compete with the forces behind those people.

Li Ling looked at him deeply again and grasped the other party's psychology and character. This is a typical bureaucrat who does not seek merit, but only seeks no mistakes, and does not dare to offend his superiors. This is why this incident in Suizhou occurs.

But often, such a self-righteous bureaucrat is the most harmful. Only by the changes in Suizhou during this period can we know his harm. If we had not taken action by ourselves, we would be afraid that the local people would really lose the land they depend on for their own life and become slaves to those big families.

The prefect Wang thought Li Ling was hesitating, so he persuaded him earnestly: "Mr. Ling, you have succeeded this time and have made a lot of money. You should stop as soon as possible, otherwise there may be a disaster."
Chapter completed!