"Where are my fifth uncle and the others?"
After taking a deep breath, Qian Lang asked again.
"They are still in the backyard!"
"Lead the way!"
At this point, Qian Lang could no longer sit still…
"Young Master, Mr. Shao's first batch of grain is already at the dock!"
"Sir, you've gotten grain from somewhere else?"
In Han Mo's official residence, upon hearing the news, Li Yueyang became as excited as a child.
With the end of the year approaching, and at this critical juncture, everyone was hoarding grain.
Even though Mingzhou City was by the sea, and the people's demand for grain was not as high as in inland cities, the price of grain had still risen exorbitantly.
Those unscrupulous merchants were also using this opportunity to drive up prices.
Yesterday, broken rice was 1200 wen, and in just one night it had risen to 1500 wen. If they didn't do something, the grain prices in Mingzhou City might soon catch up to Bianliang.
But grain wasn't like anything else; it couldn't be conjured out of thin air.
He had originally been contemplating whether Han Mo could help him find a way to transfer some grain from elsewhere, but he hadn't expected to hear such good news from a servant of the Han family shortly after entering.
"Don't get too excited yet. I can only allocate five thousand shi of this grain to stabilize prices. The rest has other uses!"
Looking at the excited Li Yueyang, Han Mo poured cold water on him again.
"Five thousand shi…"
As expected, upon hearing Han Mo's words, Li Yueyang's face immediately soured.
Given the current situation in Mingzhou City, he would need at least thirty to fifty thousand shi of grain to completely bring down grain prices. Otherwise, such a small amount of grain would not even be enough for those unscrupulous merchants to fill their teeth.
"This grain is being reserved for emergencies. No one is to touch it for now! But don't complain that it's too little. Only you and I know this news. As long as neither of us speaks of it, how will others find out?"
Han Mo said while patting Li Yueyang's shoulder.
"You mean…"
"As Sun Tzu said, 'When strong, feign weakness; when weak, feign strength.' The essence of change lies in the mind!"
Seeing his face as bitter as a bitter gourd, Han Mo smiled and added.
"Sir, rest assured, your subordinate understands! I just wonder, how much of this batch of grain will be declared to the public?"
"This is just the first batch. Another batch should arrive before the New Year, with a total of about 150,000 to 200,000 shi!"
"So much?"
Li Yueyang's eyes widened in surprise.
"We'll take it one step at a time. This is just the first step. Oh, right, with the people having no major matters at hand, and with some time before January, help me mobilize 3,000 laborers to level this area. This will be Mingzhou City's granary from now on!"
Han Mo said as he brought over a map and circled a location on it.
"Isn't this place too close to the sea?"
Upon hearing Han Mo's words, Li Yueyang immediately frowned.
When building a granary, the first consideration was the climate.
The area Han Mo had chosen was too close to the sea. Frankly speaking, it was not a good place to build a granary.
After all, it was quite difficult to preserve grain in places with high humidity.
If so much grain sprouted, the problem would be enormous.
Especially in this day and age, it would be a terrible waste of heaven's bounty!
"You don't need to worry about this. This is only temporary, enough for a few months of storage!"
Judging by the current situation, Fang La's rebellion was about to be quelled.
It should be resolved within two to three months at most.
Of course, post-disaster reconstruction and local pacification would not be completed in a day or two.
However, as long as the overall situation was stable, and the rest of the matters were handled systematically, it should not cause too much trouble. At least, the basic production of the people could be maintained.
After a long period of consideration, a grand plan had once again formed in Han Mo's mind. He truly did not want to see a loyal general like Wang Bing die in Taiyuan City due to a grain shortage.
With Han Mo's current status, it was unrealistic to assign troops and generals to him.
However, it was not impossible for him to secretly stockpile a large amount of grain in Taiyuan City.
After all, when converted, the cost of this grain, even with shipping fees, was less than 100 wen per shi.
If Taiyuan City could stockpile three to five hundred thousand shi of grain, with the capabilities of Zhang Xiaochun and Wang Bing, Han Mo truly wanted to see the frustrated faces of those Jurchens.
A mere 3,000 troops, along with the laborers in the city, had managed to withstand the fierce attack of 80,000 Jurchen troops for over 200 days under conditions of severe lack of food and clothing.
If they were suddenly given tens of thousands of shi of grain and tens of thousands of catties of steel, who knew how those Jurchens would die in the end…
If Taiyuan did not fall, the entire Hedong region could still be defended!
If Taiyuan did not fall, there would be no subsequent advance of Wanyan Zonghan's army eastward!
"Yes!"
After giving Han Mo a deep look, Li Yueyang stopped asking.
From the day he decided to pledge allegiance to Han Mo, his fate was already destined to be in Han Mo's hands.
At this point, no matter what Han Mo wanted to do, he couldn't stop him. Instead of worrying unnecessarily, it was better to do what he could.
"Lord Li, with your talent, being a mere prefect is truly an underutilization of your abilities. Rest assured, when Prince Xin returns to the capital, your merit in defending Mingzhou will surely be recorded!"
"Thank you, sir, for your commendation!"
Upon hearing Han Mo's words, Li Yueyang was overjoyed.
If he could advance further, wouldn't he be able to directly become a pacification commissioner or even enter the imperial court…
Should he spend money to facilitate his departure from Han Mo's shadow?
This thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
During the defense of Mingzhou, Han Mo had left too deep an impression on him.
Such a person could not be an enemy, only a friend!
As long as he remained loyal, Han Mo wouldn't turn his attention to him, would he? In this era, the imperial court was rife with factions. Rather than flatter others and sit in the cold, it was better to follow Han Mo and see if there was an opportunity to take a big gamble!
A coastal military commissioner at the age of twenty!
This was probably the first in the history of the Great Song Dynasty!