Fang Yun and Ao Huang got on the carriage and, according to the records on the schedule, did not return to the county government office. They bought some food on the way and ate it before arriving at the grain fields outside the city.
Since Ning'an County is close to the barbarian border, there are often small groups of barbarians launching surprise attacks, and few people grow crops. Large tracts of fertile land on the north bank are left barren, so the local grain production in Ning'an County is extremely low and the county mainly relies on outside areas.
Thanks to the fact that Ning'an County is the northernmost hub of Jing State, it has a large floating population and many workshops, so as long as the people of Ning'an County are not too lazy, they can have a job to make a living.
Fang Yun has carefully studied the current situation of Ning'an County. The environment and productivity here cannot be compared with the ancient Chinese country in later generations. There are huge gaps in all aspects. The current Ning'an County cannot be measured by the standards of later generations. Anyone with a little bit of brains would not do such a stupid thing.
While Fang Yun was learning about farming, he was also thinking about grain prices.
Ning'an County actually has enough food, and most people can accept paying a high price to last for a month or two. But the problem is that people in most areas do not have enough sense of security, and any disturbance may cause panic.
Not to mention the Shengyuan Continent, even in future generations with a more universal education, people from all countries would panic buy medicinal materials or food because of diseases or nuclear radiation.
Ning'an County is close to the barbarian border, and the people here are more sensitive and more easily frightened, especially after Lan Xungu personally announced that the barbarians are about to invade, the panic will be pushed to a higher level.
Ao Huang could not see Lan Xungu's sinister intentions, but Fang Yun saw them clearly. It was impossible for a grand scholar to not know what could cause panic among the people and what could not.
Fang Yun had read an autobiography written by a senior scholar who was the editor of Wen Bao. Wen Bao had a clear internal regulation that suicides should be reported less or even not reported, because such news would trigger a suicide trend; incidents of children being hacked to death by lunatics or beasts should also be reported less or even not reported, because there would inevitably be inhumane beasts who would imitate them.
In order to keep their names on Wen Bao and strengthen their status in the Wen Bao editorial office, some scholars often choose news that may cause imitation or panic to be sent to the Wen Bao editorial office. However, the Wen Bao editorial office will reject and record the news. Once the person sends too many such articles, Wen Bao will revoke his qualification to recommend articles.
As the leader of the Yingyang Army, Lan Xungu naturally knew that once martial law was declared for Ning'an County and the entire prefecture was notified, the people's panic would surely increase.
Fang Yun thought of Lan Xungu, snorted coldly, and a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
While in the fields, Fang Yun kept receiving letters from his staff from all over Ning'an County.
"The workers in the county-owned workshops were not panicking. They even laughed at those who thought that food prices would remain high. They all trusted you immensely. On the contrary, the workers in some private workshops made sarcastic remarks and were beaten up."
“There are few farmers in the county, but they all have food at home, so they are not worried.”
"Some people from prominent families have been fanning the flames, spreading rumors that grain prices will rise sharply, and even saying that grain has been intercepted by monsters and barbarians and cannot be transported into the city. I have recorded these people one by one according to your instructions."
"The wealthy families only have some complaints, after all, they have stored a lot of food. The poor people are not without food reserves, but some of them are about to run out of food reserves. They are panicking, fearing that food prices will rise even higher, which leads to the spread of panic, and those who have some food reserves but not much are also afraid that food prices will continue to soar. So they start buying some food."
"The first to panic are the elderly, who have experienced hunger before. They are most worried that their children and grandchildren will also go hungry, so they are the first to join the rush to buy."
"The problem now is that many people are not well-informed. When they hear that food prices have skyrocketed, they think something big is going to happen and start panic buying."
"Some people actually suspected that the demons were about to invade Ning'an County and were preparing to flee."
…
It was already afternoon when Fang Yun finished sorting out the letter. He personally wrote an announcement, saying that the grain price was very abnormal this time. It might be caused by spies from the enemy country, or it might be a secret plot by rebellious intellectuals. It would be resolved within ten days, so the people could rest assured.
The county printing workshop quickly got to work, printing thousands of copies of the notice and having the yamen runners post them everywhere.
Afterwards, Fang Yun personally used his eloquence to repeat the content of the announcement, and then said that it would definitely be resolved.
Soon, staff members scattered across Ning'an County sent feedback letters saying that many people were no longer panicked, but were still skeptical. If the grain price problem could not be solved in a short period of time, the people would inevitably become even more panicked.
Fang Yun returned to the county government and issued two orders.
"Please invite the chief managers and principals of all the grain stores in Ning'an County. I want to have a talk with them."
"Bring to justice those who spread rumors and mislead the people! Hand them over to the prefect for careful trial!"
As early as the Qin Dynasty, there were crimes such as "spreading false information" and "slander", so Fang Yun had reason and evidence to arrest those people.
After issuing the order, Ao Huang took out his schedule and said, "You need to investigate a complicated murder case this afternoon. It may take the whole afternoon. How can you have time to interview hundreds of people from the grain store?"
"No time? Then let them wait in the county government office. If they still don't have time after twenty-four hours, I will let them go."
Ao Huang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I understand. With the protection of the Yingyang Army, you can't do anything to them for the time being, but your attitude must be revealed. Then shall we try the case right away?"
"No, I won't hear the case today. I have something important to discuss." After saying that, Fang Yun held the official seal in his hand and closed his eyes to rest.
Ao Huang realized that Fang Yun was using a letter to discuss important matters with others, but he had no idea what he was talking about. He scratched his ears and cheeks, feeling very unwilling.
What happened in Ning'an County soon became a hot topic and attracted the attention of scholars all over the world.
There were many scholars who were well-informed about the list. Before long, the news that Qingyuan Grain Store and Zuo Xiang's party were colluding to manipulate the grain prices in Ning'an County spread to various countries and soon reached the ears of scholars in Ning'an County.
Many scholars in Ning'an County just listened to Fang Yun's lecture today. They were full of admiration for Fang Yun, who was known for his "spokes of heaven". Even the children and grandchildren of officials from the Zuo Xiang faction felt their relationship with their families plummet to the freezing point after listening to Fang Yun's lecture.
Without the need for Fang Yun's staff to instigate, a large number of righteous scholars spontaneously organized themselves and began to tell the nearby people the whole story.
The people around knew these scholars, so they naturally believed what they said and did not suspect that Fang Yun had sent people to fabricate lies.
Early the next morning, the panic in Ning'an City had mostly dissipated. Instead, more and more people came to curse Zuo Xiang and his party, especially those who had just run out of food at home and had to buy expensive grain, jumping up and down and cursing.
However, all this has not stopped food prices from rising.
At noon on March 18, the price of coarse grains rose to five times the normal price!
Some noodle shops, steamed bun shops, steamed bun shops and hotels have begun to stop business. If the food is sold at a low price, a large number of diners will come in immediately, but if the food is sold at a high price, no one will come.
Soon, groups of beggars appeared in Ning'an City.
The people of Ning'an County were increasingly resentful, and incidents of fights, thefts and robberies increased dramatically.
Since yesterday, many scholars with foreign accents have appeared in Ning'an County. Most of these scholars carry a box that is different from a book box, just like the doctors in Ning'an City. (To be continued...)