Chapter Eighteen: Anything is better than growing grass

  "Fengweicao is really too much, so many that nobody wants it anymore, what's the point of keeping it? Let's just burn it all!" Wang Guanlan swept a glance at the terrified crowd. "Half of the Fengweicao in this field is from this year's new harvest, and the other half is from last year's storage in two large warehouses nearby. And yes, there are also fourteen other warehouses that are the same, because there's too much, this field can't hold it all, so they didn't move them over. But don't worry, those fourteen warehouses will be set on fire together!"

  In a short period of time, hardly anyone reacted to what had happened.

  Only Wang, the shopkeeper, had a pale face, staring at Wang Guanlan as if he saw a ghost, and suddenly shouted, "Fourteenth Young Master, are you going to drive us to death!!!"

  "I'm forcing you, where's the way to go?!" Wang Guanlan said slowly, "You see, you think the price is too high and can't make money, I think the price is too low and can't make money either. You can't force me to sell at a low price, and I can't force you to buy at a high price. Forcing a sale is not right. I think, under County Magistrate's rule, such things should never happen. But being stuck like this isn't a solution either. So, I've thought of an idea: since there's too much goods and selling more means losing more, why not just burn all the goods? That way, we won't lose or gain anything, what do you think?"

  The whole scene was silent, but those who reacted quickly suddenly understood the cause and effect. Their expressions turned as pale as Wang Da Zhanggui's, "Fourteenth Young Master, you can't do this! I'm willing to buy at the original price, I'm willing to pay for transportation!!"

  "Right, we're willing to bear the freight, we're willing——!"

  "Hoo—!"

  A torch was thrown by Wang Guanlan onto the pile of pampas grass, and dozens of Ning Tai business partners surrounding them also threw their torches into the pampas grass.

  The hay encountered fierce fire, and with the help of oil, the flames suddenly rose, quickly engulfing the entire area.

  "No!" Wang, the shopkeeper, seemed to have thought of something terrifying and let out a loud shout. His body stiffened, his eyes turned black, and he fell straight back, fainting on the spot.

  "No, you can't do this, you can't!!"

  In the crowd, a heart-wrenching voice rang out, and a stout figure rushed straight towards the fire scene, as if wanting to extinguish the flames with his own body. However, strangely, about one zhang away from the fire scene, his body was bounced back by an invisible force, heavily falling to the ground. It wasn't until then that the onlookers realized another thing - despite being so close to the raging flames, they hadn't felt even a hint of heat.

  "This place is located in the most bustling area of Yicheng, and the amount of phoenix tail grass is large. If it's not controlled well, a fire will break out, so I set up an array around this field to isolate the flames and avoid accidental injuries, which would be troublesome for County Lord!"

  Yao Yifei looked at Wang Guanlan deeply, as if to re-recognize this young master of the royal family, "The 14th young master is thoughtful and has a good heart!"

  "Fourteen Shao, spare our lives and let us go!!"

  With a thud, a middle-aged man knelt down in front of Wang Guanlan, followed by the second and third, and soon all the shopkeepers of Yicheng were kneeling down, leaving only those dozen or so boat owners who were at a loss, looking around at the crowd of people kneeling down, not knowing whether to kneel or not.

  "What are you doing? I'm burning the phoenix tail grass in my own house, what's it to you!!!" Wang Guanlan raised an eyebrow, revealing a displeased expression.

  The flames of the fire burned more and more fiercely, shooting up into the sky, but seemed to be restrained by an invisible force, only burning upwards and unable to spread in all directions. In the backyard of Ning Taihang's house, a huge pillar of fire formed, about 10 zhang high, which immediately shocked the entire city of Yicheng. With the appearance of this pillar of fire, another 14 warehouses also burst into flames at the same time, and for a moment, Yicheng was enveloped in a sea of firelight.

  "Unexpectedly, the feeling is not bad at all! This has a similar ingenuity to capitalists pouring milk into the sea!!" The increasingly fierce flames illuminated Wang Guanlan's face, making it bright red, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a sneer. This smile, seen through the eyes of the onlookers, was like the devil's grin, making people's hearts cold with fear.

  "All right, Tian Cheng, please have these shopkeepers leave. Kneel here and look like something! Wang Guanlan said, without looking at the group of shopkeepers again. 'County Magistrate, sir, please, the tea is ready!'"

  "Ah, okay, okay!" County Magistrate Yao Yifei also came back to his senses at this time, nodding repeatedly, "Have some tea, have some tea!!"

  ………………

  ………

  "It's all over, it's completely over!!!"

  Several dozen shopkeepers present were dragged out of Ningtai by Tian Cheng's men, even if they had to be pulled out one by one, carried out, and dragged out. As soon as they left the gate of Ningtai, every single one of them collapsed at the gate and refused to get up again.

  Then, a scene that made the entire Yicheng residents feel extremely strange appeared. The usual arrogant and disdainful shopkeepers were now all lying at the gate of Ningtai's mansion like dead dogs, contrasting with the flames coming from the backyard.

  In a quiet room in the backyard of Ningtai Business Firm, tea fragrance is wafting.

  However, Ning Wang's Yunli Qing, although a famous good tea in the world, Yao Yifei had no heart to appreciate it carefully. Today, Wang Guanlan's behavior was beyond his expectation. As the county magistrate of Yicheng, he must think carefully about the possible aftermath of today's events.

  Wang Guanlan's move can be said to have burned down all the business houses in Yicheng, and it can be said that after today, at least 90% of the shopkeepers in Yicheng will hang themselves, and the remaining 10% are not far from bankruptcy.

  Why say that?

  It was mentioned earlier that these so-called bosses and owners are actually working for others, with the forces of southwestern Sichuan standing behind them. They were placed in Yicheng to make money, but more importantly, to ensure a stable supply of phoenix tail grass for their own forces. In the past, due to the abundance of phoenix tail grass, there was no shortage, so these bosses acted tyrannically and privately deducted from the supplies, while the forces behind them turned a blind eye or simply didn't pay attention to this matter.

  Wang Guanlan's fire not only burned down all the inventory of Yicheng Ningtai Business Firm, but also destroyed the newly harvested phoenix tail grass. At this time of year, it should be the peak season for harvesting phoenix tail grass in Yicheng, and Ningtai Firm's business should be booming. However, Wang Guanlan made it clear that he really didn't want to do the phoenix tail grass business anymore, at least not this year, and Ningtai Firm would not be doing this business.

  As the magistrate of Yicheng County, he knew exactly what this meant.

  This means that for the entire Southwest region of three states, there will be a shortage of Lemongrass in the next year.

  Although various families have stockpiled Phoenix Tail Grass, its medicinal effect will dissipate over time. As a result, none of the families' stockpiles will last more than a year. Yicheng is the only place in the three southwestern states where Phoenix Tail Grass is produced, and this year's supply has been cut off. Since the existing stock cannot last for another year, it is clear that there will be a shortage of Phoenix Tail Grass next year. A shortage of Phoenix Tail Grass means a shortage of the elixirs used by warriors in their cultivation, which in turn means that all major powers will have to rely on their old reserves.

  But Wang Guanlan's action before that made people think deeply and feel extremely uneasy. Before burning the Phoenix Tail Grass, he sent ten years' worth of Phoenix Tail Grass to the Ning King's Mansion. At first, everyone thought this was him seeking help from the Ning King's Mansion, but now? This wasn't seeking help at all, it was clearly a show of force, guaranteeing the Ning King's Mansion's supply of Phoenix Tail Grass for ten years.

  Ten years!!!

  He's telling everyone that the Ning Wang Fu will not run out of phoenix tail grass for ten years, which means that for ten years, the Ning Wang Fu will not bother him because of the phoenix tail grass. So, what about you? Do you have enough stock to last ten years?

  If that's not enough, once they really get stuck with Wang Guanlan, Wang Guanlan will give up planting phoenix tail grass for a few years, and the old capital of each family will be wiped out.

  This is something that no family can tolerate or accept.

  As the county magistrate of Yicheng, Yao Yifei also couldn't accept this situation. So, while drinking tea, he thought about how to reason with the unreasonable Fourteenth Young Master of the Wang Manor.

  "What's wrong, I see that County Magistrate is distracted, are you thinking about the Phoenix Tail Grass?!" Seeing Yao Yifei's eyes flickering and losing focus from time to time, Wang Guanlan smiled, "Don't worry, I'm just going to teach them a lesson!"

  "They're so full of themselves, this bunch of merchants! Once they've got some money, they don't even know where to put their faces!" Yao Yifei let out a big sigh of relief. "If we didn't keep them in line, they'd really think they were somebody!"

  "Hmph, you want to give me a warning? You'd better take a good look in the mirror first!" Wang Guanlan said with a cold smile.

  "Fourteen Shao, did you really burn all of this year's phoenix tail grass and the stored goods in the warehouse? That's a lot of money!"

  "Money? Do I lack it?" Wang Guanlan heard the probing meaning in Yao Yifei's words, raised an eyebrow, and revealed a face of disdain. "This Yi City follows the old rules, only needing to pay 100,000 taels of silver to the Wang Manor every year, nothing major. I just made a fortune from the Eighteen Mountain Bandits, 100,000 taels is just a drizzle, and now I don't have many people to support. Hmph, if they really want to play with me, I'll slowly wear them out, let's see who can outlast whom!"

  Mentioning the eighteen mountain bandits, Yao Yifei couldn't help but sigh, "These eighteen mountain bandits rampaged across the three states of the southwest for over a decade, yet in the end they still fell into the hands of Young Master Fourteen. Young Master Fourteen has done a great service to our three states by eliminating this major scourge, his merit is boundless!"

  "Hehe, it's just a small effort!" Wang Guanlan rarely showed a humble expression. County Master, you say, is the grass planted in the Duan Yun mountain valley within a radius of sixty miles too much? Otherwise, next year I'll leave ten or twenty miles for him to build a large manor, and also dig a lake, which should be dug bigger, to raise some wild chickens and ducks. At that time, we can eat meat, which is much better than planting grass. What do you think, Master?"