Mo Chuan initially thought the Cui family patriarch would take him to the large granaries in Yueyang City to see the grain.
However, the Cui family's actions still caught Mo Chuan off guard.
As the saying goes, old ginger is spicier. The Cui family patriarch actually took Mo Chuan to the granaries within the Cui family's compound to see the grain.
How large could a family's storeroom be? Thousands of tons of aid grain couldn't even fit into an entire manor.
Mo Chuan outwardly smiled, but inwardly cursed.
But then, the situation reversed.
After passing through numerous checkpoints, the Cui family patriarch surprisingly led Mo Chuan into the underground of the manor.
The surrounding iron walls, ventilation grilles, and constantly patrolling guards made it seem less like a granary and more like a secret underground laboratory of the Umbrella Corporation.
Following the Cui family patriarch step by step downwards, Mo Chuan gradually saw the cylindrical granaries at the very bottom.
At this point, Mo Chuan could have declared the Cui family patriarch guilty and invited him for a "stay in the lantern."
But Mo Chuan wanted to wait.
He wanted to know for sure how much grain the Cui family patriarch had embezzled. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Based on Wang Hu's information, Mo Chuan knew that the Cui family had always secretly controlled most of Yueyang City's power and tax revenue.
Before arriving here, Yueyang City had reported a grain shortage this year due to weather conditions, resulting in only half the grain tax being submitted compared to last year. (Grain tax refers to a portion of grain that local authorities submit to the highest level for unified distribution; generally, individuals pay to the locality, and the locality pays to the highest level.)
So, Mo Chuan guessed that the Cui family had likely pocketed nearly five to six thousand tons of grain, including both taxes and aid.
But this seemed unrealistic. How could a family of just over two hundred people, no matter how capable, swallow so much grain at once?
Therefore, it was likely they had shared the spoils with others.
At this moment, the Cui family patriarch stopped and pointed to the granaries below, saying, "How is it? These grains won't let my brother Mo suffer a loss, will they? How about we name a price?"
Mo Chuan pondered for a moment and then asked, "Brother Cui, give me a straight answer, how many tons do you have?"
"How many do you want?"
"Whatever you have, I'll buy."
"Brother Mo, don't speak too boldly." Although the Cui family patriarch said this, he was already overjoyed in his heart. "You might not be able to handle all of this stock."
Mo Chuan pretended to hesitate for a moment before finally saying, "Brother Cui, I'll be honest with you. After I tell you, you must pretend you never heard it, but you must tell me how much grain you've stockpiled."
Seeing that Mo Chuan had revealed his intentions and was about to state his demands and offer, the Cui family patriarch began to play dumb. "What do you mean, brother Mo? You speak, I, Cui, have suddenly gone deaf for a few minutes."
Mo Chuan looked around and then whispered to the Cui family patriarch, "I am working for Lord Dongdi and have come to purchase grain. Whatever you have, I will buy."
The Cui family patriarch was overjoyed but still put on a show. "What?!"
"Don't make a sound!" Mo Chuan quickly grabbed the Cui family patriarch's hand and said, "Brother, don't blame me. We are all people of Dragon Country. If it weren't for these turbulent times, who would want to take such a risk?"
The Cui family patriarch looked sympathetic and stated his offer: "I have two thousand tons of grain here for trade. What price are you offering?"
Mo Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "The market price in Jiangzhou is one hundred and ninety yuan per jin, settled in paper currency."
"The market price in Qingzhou is two hundred and forty-one yuan per jin, settled in paper currency."
Mo Chuan frowned upon hearing this. "The market price in Jizhou is two hundred and ten yuan per jin, settled in paper currency."
"The market price in eastern Jizhou is two hundred yuan per jin, settled in precious metals."
Mo Chuan directly replied, "Brother, although I'm short on grain, that's no reason for you to rip off your brother."
"Brother Mo, your brother isn't doing charity." The Cui family patriarch's eyes twinkled with slyness as he stated his final offer, "The market price in Yueyang is two hundred and twenty yuan, settled in paper currency."
Mo Chuan's eyes widened, and he looked at the Cui family patriarch with disbelief. Yueyang, as a peaceful region far from the battlefield and part of the major grain-producing area of Jingzhou, had its grain prices artificially driven higher than the four states of the Southeastern Alliance. It was something even a heartless person wouldn't do.
"Brother Cui, are you toying with me?" Mo Chuan's face darkened. "In my years of traveling north and south, I've never heard of Yueyang's grain prices exceeding one hundred and fifty yuan. Even during wartime, you weren't fighting here, were you?"
"But this year there was a poor harvest, and the grain price is indeed this high. If you don't believe me, brother, you can check yourself."
"..." Mo Chuan remained silent for a long time, then turned around and pretended to make a phone call. Finally, he turned back to the Cui family patriarch and said, "Alright, I'll buy it, but you need to sell me at least another thousand tons of grain, settled at the Jiangzhou market price."
"..." The Cui family patriarch pondered for a moment. He had originally planned to sell the remaining fifteen hundred tons of grain to the Suiren government, as the longer the conflict lasted, the more opportunities he would have to profit.
But then he thought that the smaller families who had received two thousand tons of grain would likely approach Suiren and Yao Shun themselves. By then, it would be much harder to raise prices if he wanted to sell again.
With that in mind, the Cui family patriarch nodded and said, "Okay, but you have to buy fifteen hundred tons."
"What?!" Mo Chuan asked with a frown, "Brother, why do you have so much grain?"
"Don't ask so many questions. Just say whether you want it or not."
"If you don't let me see the actual goods, I won't believe you have that much," Mo Chuan shook his head. "Three thousand five hundred tons of grain; even as the ruler of Yueyang, your Cui family couldn't have stockpiled this much in such a short time."
"Alright, alright, alright." The Cui family patriarch chuckled. "If you see it, you have to buy it."
"As I said, whatever you have, I'll buy."
...
Mo Chuan looked at the mountains of grain piled before him, remaining silent.
In terms of quality, it was undoubtedly aid grain, mixed with a small amount of local rice.
Mo Chuan took a deep breath and made his final confirmation: "Brother, although I understand the unspoken rules, I still want to ask... how did you get so much grain?"
"Brother Mo, I'm not afraid to tell you..." The Cui family patriarch was clearly a bit tipsy and said, "This grain is aid from the top to Yueyang, I..."
"Hellbreaker."
As Mo Chuan's icy words fell, the Cui family patriarch was instantly pulled into Mo Chuan's domain.
His drunkenness subsided considerably. He stumbled to the ground and questioned, "What do you want to do! Do you want to monopolize all this grain?!"
"Even now, your mind is still on making money..." Mo Chuan shook his head, replaced himself with [Hellwalker · Divine Dragon Venerable · Dragon of Steel], and said, "I didn't come to buy grain."
"I came to buy your life."