"It's not worth risking your life for those flashy things. No amount of possessions later on can replace a life lost."

“This is not good, rice prices have skyrocketed, and along with that, wheat flour and other staple foods have all become incredibly expensive. Even with money, you can’t buy them.”

"They looked at their rice bins, with each meal eaten, there was one less to go. And the money earned from selling rice had also been spent almost entirely. This year's New Year, many families in the village were sighing and lamenting, not as good as before."

“Because I heard rumors that rice prices will go up even more next year, and it will be even harder to buy!”

>Now people are in a state of panic, and even those with limited food supplies are counting their grains before cooking.

Upon hearing Yang Hua's words, Yang Ruoqing's brows furrowed tightly.

How do you feel about this situation, it seems a bit serious?

Could it be because...

"Could it be that the war news from Daliao this past year has reached here, causing people to panic?" Luofengtang suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention.

Yang Ruqing said, "I just thought of this too. It's very likely that the situation from the front is being reported, and the information isn't complete."

"The people were panicked, and unscrupulous merchants took advantage of the situation. They first inflated prices of all kinds of goods, especially grain."

>

“Then, they will hoard grain on a large scale, hoping to sell it at exorbitant prices and make huge profits from the chaos of war.” she said.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Yang Yongjin slammed his fist on the table, angrily saying, "These unscrupulous merchants are simply despicable!"

Yang Huazhou said: "Hoarding goods is bizarre, these merchants deliberately disrupt market prices, making it impossible for people to afford rice. They really have no conscience."

"It's not a matter of whether they have a conscience or not, it's that what they do will cause chaos." Yang Ruohqing said.

When the external conflict finally subsided, internal turmoil erupted.

“Since such a situation has occurred in our Qianyuan County, I presume that other counties are experiencing similar circumstances. The entire land is shivering under the cold!” Yang Ruocheng added.

"Until next year's rice harvest, there are still six months. During this time, if grain prices remain so volatile,"

>

"So, other edible ingredients will also rise in price, and chaos will ensue."

This is a chain reaction, unstoppable.

By then, the restaurants will have to close down because the cost of every ingredient has gone up, while customers' spending power hasn't increased.

“We have to come up with something.” she finally said.

Yang Yongjin stood up directly and said, "Isn't this method simple? Tang Yazi is a general, Qing'er, you are familiar with the magistrate of Zou County, ask the magistrate to lend a team of officials, and let Tang Yazi lead them,"

“In every grain store in the county and town, once any hoarding of unsold grains is discovered, they are all dragged out to sell. Furthermore, heavy fines are imposed upon them severely, to see if they dare!”

As soon as Yang Yongjin finished speaking, he was overruled by Luofengtang.

"Second brother, your method, though the simplest and most direct, won't work," Luofengtang said.

"Why isn't it working? There are many reasons. On one hand, there's a problem between the generals and the local government officials. On the other hand, there is no warrant of arrest. According to the laws of the Daqi kingdom, we cannot forcefully break into civilian homes to search for and confiscate things."

“If officials arbitrarily break into people's homes, the negative consequences would be even worse than hoarding.” he said.

"What? Are you still going to show leniency towards those profiteers?" Yang Yongjin was puzzled.

Luo Fengtang said: "This is not appeasement, but if we are to forcefully execute it, there must be reasonable grounds."

“In this situation, I believe the county magistrate of Zou should be well aware and has been working hard to resolve it.”

"If force could be used, the County Magistrate of Zou should have used it already."

Hearing Luo Fengtang's words, Yang Huazhou also nodded and said: "I agree with Tang Yazi's point. To put it another way, even if you bring a group of officials into the home of a corrupt merchant,"

“Even if you found a lot of grain in his granary, what makes you say he's hoarding for odd purposes?”

"When the time comes, people will say they have a large family and need that much grain. What are you going to do then?"

“Didn’t you confiscate all the food that other families had stockpiled for their own use?”

Yang Huazhong also spoke up, saying, "Indeed, not to mention those who truly hoard grain, just take me as an example. If officials came to my house to search, there would be thousands of pounds of unhusked rice in my granary."

This is the end of a paragraph.

"But I'm not a greedy merchant hoarding goods, you see. And in the town and the surrounding villages, many wealthy households also have stored grain. So we can't use force to seize it." Yang Huazhong couldn't help but laugh and cry.

“Qing’er, why aren't you speaking? Is there any way to handle this?” Yang Huazhong turned his head and asked Yang Ruqing again.

Yang Ruqing sat there, always in a contemplative manner. Hearing Yang Huazhong's question, she came back to her senses.

“I was thinking, I can't resort to force. I need to resolve this crisis with a gentle approach, like spring breeze and rain. There are two things I need to do,” she said.

"Haha, I knew no matter what it was, our Qing'er could handle it." Yang Yongjin immediately beamed with a smile.

"Qing'er, what good idea do you have? Tell us quickly!"

Yang Ruoqing didn't hold back, she beckoned the four of them in front of her and whispered a few words in their ears. After that, the eyes of the four lit up.

Especially Yang Yongjin, he even gave her a thumbs up repeatedly, "Qing'er, you're really amazing! This is taking the initiative to ask them to hand over their hoarded rice!"

Yang Ruqing curved her lips.

Yang Huazhong said, “Qinger, your move is indeed good. It can minimize the chaos.”

“But, I’m worried that if those scoundrels don’t fall for it, won’t we be the ones who get caught in the trap?”

>

Yang Ruqing gave Yang Huazhong a warm smile and said, "Dad, don't worry, I can do it."

Yang Huazhong nodded. "Good!"

Here, Luofengtang said, "Qing'er, should I go to the county town early tomorrow morning?"

Yang Ruqing said: "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, there is no one on the street. After the sixth day of the first lunar month, we will go to the county town together to do business and visit relatives by the way."

That's settled then. It was getting late by now.

Just as everyone was about to leave, Yang Huazhou thought of something and suddenly said, “Younger brother Si has been doing small-scale buying and selling businesses this past half year, even picking up odd jobs like hawking trinkets on the streets.”

“I've calculated for him, if he does these things, at most he can just make ends meet.”

"And on this trip back, I saw the way he spoke and acted, and also the gold and silver jewelry on Xiaojuan. It seems like he's made a good amount of money."

“But he hasn't done any small business for over a month now. I wonder if he's also involved in rice trading? Otherwise, where would the money come from so quickly!” Yang Huazhou said.

Yang Yongjin also said: "Eight Sister also told me that Xiu Xiu ran to Xiaojuan's room to play that day, and she went in too,"

“Goodness gracious, everything in that room, on the bed, on the table, things for sleeping, eating, drinking, using, all of it was newly furnished.”

"Xiaojuan also brought pastries for my Xiu Xiu to eat. Baimei discovered that those pastries were from the best pastry shop in the county, and they weren't cheap. Even in the county, we wouldn't usually buy those pastries for Xiu Xiu."

"It seems that Si Shu has money in his hands again, and a lot of it!" Yang Yongjin said.

Yang Ruqing smirked coldly, "Something that makes money so fast is probably just another get-rich-quick scheme!"

(Editor in charge：novel meaning)