At year-end, in the main hall of the Li family's ancestral home in Qian'an.
Li Qing, the current family head, had finished reviewing the account books submitted by the various branches and the shopkeepers from across the land.
He glared at Li Hongjing with considerable displeasure:
"Fifth son's branch, your line primarily manages the grain business. Regardless of the year or month, those involved in this trade are basically guaranteed to make a profit. While it might not compare to the risk-free business of highway robbery, it's certainly not far off.
Are these account books trying to fool a ghost?
Not only did you not make money in those places that experienced famine, but you actually lost money. Do you have nothing to say?"
"Father, this truly cannot be blamed on me.
It's not just our family that lost money; all the other families selling grain in those famine-stricken areas also lost money. The grain simply wouldn't sell. Even after lowering the price, no one bought it.
At the time, we all thought we'd make a fortune. We specially invested heavily to transport a large quantity of grain there. As a result, because the grain couldn't be sold, not only did we not make money, but we also lost the transportation fees and some of the initial cost, resulting in a significant loss!"
Li Hongjing had anticipated this kind of confrontation the moment the losses started to occur, so he responded calmly and with an expression of utter helplessness.
"That is truly strange.
Grain couldn't be sold in areas experiencing famine. Judging by your demeanor, you encountered some force majeure. Speak, I'll give you a chance to defend yourself."
Upon hearing his words and observing his expression, Li Qing immediately understood that Li Hongjing was prepared.
This matter likely wasn't his direct fault.
Otherwise, he would have been begging for mercy and confessing his sins long ago.
And Li Hongjing clearly wouldn't dare to deliberately keep his father in suspense, so he quickly straightened up and explained:
"Father, this is all the fault of that newly opened grain merchant called Ping Jia Liang Pu (平价粮铺). They specifically chose to open for business when grain prices in those disaster-stricken areas were soaring. And after opening, they didn't sell grain at high prices like we did. Instead, they sold it at low prices, even lower than in years without any disasters. Who could compete with that?
It's normal for those ignorant masses to be greedy for a bargain. Even a little kindness is enough to make them flock, let alone the fact that Ping Jia Liang Pu's grain quality is also not bad.
We did issue warnings at the beginning.
But they simply didn't listen.
Later, we even tried to pool our resources to buy out all their grain. But they first implemented purchase limits, and then inexplicably transported countless amounts of grain from somewhere.
We could buy as much as we wanted.
It was as if they had an inexhaustible supply.
After we purchased tens of millions of catties, we dared not buy anymore.
Finally, we tried to use official channels, but we were warned by the local county magistrate. In the end, we had no choice but to lose a great opportunity to profit and were forced to sell at a low price.
We also used the unsold grain to brew wine.
Only then did we manage to preserve most of our capital and avoid excessive losses. The losses recorded on paper were mostly due to similar situations. The opponent's grain seemed inexhaustible, and the selling price felt like they were just doing charity. It's truly perplexing."
"Foolish! What use is it to beg the county magistrate in this matter?
The small amount of silver you bribed can compare to the achievements of an entire region for a local official?
However, this sudden grain merchant.
Where exactly did they come from?
How can they be so disobedient? You contact the other families later and make sure to find a way to suppress this so-called Ping Jia Liang Pu. The rules that grain merchants have followed for years cannot be broken because of him. If grain can't even be sold at a decent price during famine years, how can we acquire the land of those ordinary masses?"
After giving his fifth son a roll of his eyes, Li Qing began to offer advice, setting demands and issuing orders:
"If legitimate means are ineffective, then don't hesitate. The bandits and brigands we keep outside are not to be trifled with. Rob a few of their grain shipments and see if they can still continue to transport grain to famine-stricken areas at low prices without regard for losses.
If they still dare to oppose us.
Then burn down their granaries.
Also, when necessary, investigate carefully who the owner of the so-called Ping Jia Liang Pu is.
If they are not a person of great influence.
Killing them should not be too difficult.
Mercy is not to be shown. Fifth son, do you understand?
When dealing with those who disrupt established practices, you must make an example of them to warn future generations."
It must be said, the older the ginger, the spicier it is; the older the person, the more ruthless. His words were spoken with casualness, but their venom was no less than that of any truly wicked person.
"Yes, but I hope Father will cooperate then.
There are some hands that I cannot mobilize."
Others might consider Li Qing excessively vicious and cruel, but Li Hongjing had no such thoughts. He simply nodded in agreement as if it were a natural course of action and described his difficulties, hoping for his father's assistance.
"No problem, just notify me."
At this point, their discussion regarding this matter temporarily ceased. Li Qing then proceeded to inquire about the situations in other industries related to their family.
Not long after,
Several large grain merchants who had dealings in grain, more or less, across the country, under the leadership of the Li family, formed a united front to confront outsiders and officially began to take action against all grain shops operating under the name Ping Jia Liang Pu.
Since it was just the beginning, they didn't resort to directly setting fires or looting. They simply strictly ordered small grain merchants in various regions not to sell even half a grain of rice to Ping Jia Liang Pu.
And to try their best to notify the villages within their sphere of influence and those they had long-standing connections with.
These were the villages from which they had previously collected grain.
They also strictly ordered them not to sell grain to anyone other than themselves, otherwise, they would stop buying from them in the future. They hoped to thus directly cut off the source of grain for Ping Jia Liang Pu from the very beginning. Even if they couldn't completely sever it,
They should be able to prevent Ping Jia Liang Pu from expanding.
Or even cause the grain shops to run out of grain to sell.
If Ding Yun's Ping Jia Liang Pu was operating normally, it would undoubtedly be affected by this.
And it would be significantly impacted.
It might even lead to bankruptcy.
However, by chance, Ding Yun's grain supplier was not those ordinary farmers, small and medium-sized grain merchants, or small landlords. All the grain was basically supplied by her own farm, through her own efforts.
Therefore, these actions by the opposing side had no effect on Ding Yun whatsoever. She didn't even realize that someone was trying to suppress her.
She had no worries whatsoever.
And she didn't take those matters to heart at all.
Because shortly after the New Year, her energy was focused on sending gifts and maintaining connections. Fortunately, her efforts paid off. After a considerable amount of effort, Ding Yun finally spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to purchase one of the over fifty spirit passes (度牒) released at the beginning of the year.
And through this, she successfully entered the Daoist registry,
Becoming a female Daoist priest with a spirit pass.