Why did so many people starve to death during the great disaster? Why were countless others displaced?
There were many reasons, but ultimately, it came down to one thing.
No food.
Although the Immortal Martial Continent was a cultivation world, that was only for cultivators with spiritual roots. Most people were ordinary, struggling to make a living and worrying about their daily meals. In essence, it was no different from elite rule.
Since Shen Zhao had decided to help the affected people survive this crisis, he naturally needed to address the issue of food first.
In his previous life, because of his different position and the support of the royal family, led by Yu Xiyan, Shen Zhao was able to resolve this crisis from the perspective of a ruler, using methods from before his transmigration.
But now, he had no ties to the Yin Tian Dynasty. Even if he could still use his previous methods, it would take a lot of time. By the time he began to deal with it, he didn't know how many people would have died.
To solve the food problem as much as possible, Shen Zhao decided to play a trick and target the wealthy families who had both money and grain.
Who in this world had money?
Answer: The aristocratic families and sects.
They possessed resources sufficient to feed tens of billions of people. As long as he could fleece them, the problem would naturally be solved.
Therefore, Shen Zhao set his sights on his first target: the Shi Family, the number one wealthy family in Yunzhou, south of the Yin Tian Dynasty.
"Aren't we supposed to be reliefing the disaster victims? Why are we going to the Shi Family?"
"What? Do you think the belongings we have are enough to save many people?"
"Master Shen, I think you're playing a bit too big. Is the Shi Family's money that easy to get? Do they even know you?"
"I'm a law enforcement elder from the eighth district of the Public Arbitration Council. Isn't that status good enough?"
"Oh, you think someone will give you face because of the Public Arbitration Council? Come on, don't be ridiculous, okay?"
Sitting on the flying beast, Shen Zhao and Ding Buer started their usual banter, seemingly not taking the matter of relieving the disaster victims to heart.
Su Yunying was very puzzled: "Boss Shen, why did you choose to go to the Shi Family?"
"The Shi Family's wealth is greater than the Yin Tian Dynasty's treasury. Letting them bleed a little is also considered accumulating virtue."
"Isn't it good to go to the Qingyun Sect? They will definitely agree."
"Qingyun Sect? Forget it. Not to mention they might not care about this mortal world's affairs, even if they wanted to, asking them to produce enough grain to feed tens of millions of starving people isn't something they can do overnight. Anyway, you just watch my performance this time, and don't say anything."
Seeing Shen Zhao's confident look, Su Yunying didn't say much and sat quietly on the back of the flying beast, heading towards Yunzhou.
When the three of them arrived at Yunzhou City, it was already overflowing with people. Everywhere they looked, there were refugees, crowding the sides of the roads and numbly begging from passersby.
Some people were selling their children.
"Five liters of flour, take this girl. Please, sir, be kind. She's small, but easy to raise. One meal a day is enough."
A woman "enthusiastically" grabbed a passing wealthy merchant, "promoting" her seven or eight-year-old daughter.
On another side, a group of starving people were fighting in the street below a restaurant.
The cause was a young master from a noble family on the second floor who had thrown a few steamed buns down to them, enjoying their scramble for the food.
Elsewhere, a group of sect cultivators were selecting disciples. They were all minor sects and associations. If it weren't for the great disaster, no one would have paid them any attention. But now, all they needed was a few liters of rice to potentially gain a disciple with a spiritual root to cultivate, which was an absolutely worthwhile deal.
In addition to this, a crowd of people had gathered in front of a Shi Family rice shop, all wanting to buy rice.
A spokesperson, surnamed Li, shouted loudly in front of the shop: "From now on, the price of rice has increased. It's 79 gold taels per liter!"
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an immediate uproar of curses.
"Li Jiaqi, you son of a bitch, 79 gold taels per liter of rice! Why don't you just rob us!"
"I'll f**k your ancestors, Li! Don't you feel any pain in your conscience, making money off our hard-earned money?"
"I'll take your surname if I buy your rice!"
Facing the crowd's curses and accusations, Li Jiaqi remained unfazed. "79 gold taels for rice, and you still think it's expensive? Where is it expensive? This is local Yunzhou rice; it's hard to come by.
I've been following the local rice merchants for so many years, and I know exactly how it came about. Besides, what time is it now? A year of great disaster! Even if you have money, you can't buy food."
Thinking about it this way, is 79 taels of gold really that expensive? If you still think it's expensive, then I can only say that you're not working hard enough! If you worked harder and planted more crops, you wouldn't have to come here to buy rice..."
However, no matter how much Li Jiaqi tried to PUA them, the curses still didn't stop.
"This profiteer!"
Su Yunying, watching this scene, was so angry that her pretty face turned red.
"Boss Shen, should we take this guy down first?"
Shen Zhao glanced at Li Jiaqi with a sideways look and shook his head, saying, "Not yet, he'll have his time to cry. We must do the main thing first, go and visit the Shi Family."
Yunzhou City was divided into an outer city and an inner city. The outer city was a mix of people from all walks of life, but the inner city presented a completely different scene.
There were no vagrants here, the streets were clean and bright, and everyone you saw was well-dressed, clearly wealthy or noble.
Su Yunying sighed, "The outside world is filled with starving people, but here, it's like a paradise."
"That's what they call 'the rich have meat and wine to spare, while the dead freeze on the road!'"
Shen Zhao added, and Su Yunying muttered a few times, thinking to herself, Good poem, now it's mine, hehe.
After turning a corner, Shen Zhao's eyes lit up, and he quickly gestured for the others to stop.
He saw two men and a woman standing not far away.
The man and woman on the left were plainly dressed. The man had an air of arrogance, and the woman was quite attractive, but her face was filled with impatience.
The man on the right wore a white and blue celestial-grade spirit robe, and looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, handsome and dashing.
But at this moment, the young man on the right had a look of embarrassment and humility on his face, a stark contrast to those on the left.
"Shi Hongyi! I don't need your spirit stones! How many times do I have to tell you, I can handle things myself!"
With that, the girl threw the storage bag containing five thousand spirit stones onto the ground.
The young man beside her also said righteously, "That's right, Shi Hongyi, don't think that dignity can be measured with money. Remember one thing, don't look down on a poor young man!"
The young man named Shi Hongyi looked extremely embarrassed. Facing the angry young man and woman, he could only stammer, "No, Xuanxuan, I didn't mean that. I just heard that you were interested in a spirit artifact and might be short on spirit stones, so I brought them over."
"Do I need your help?" Han Xuanxuan immediately retorted, "Shi Hongyi, do you know that you make me sick!"
The young man beside her also sneered, "Exactly, Young Master Shi, you were born into a prestigious family and are incredibly privileged, but can't you learn how to respect people?
Xuanxuan hates people like you the most. You look down on us so much."
Han Xuanxuan also said, "Qin Feng, you're right, Shi Hongyi, we're not on the same path. Don't come looking for me anymore! Give the money to whoever you want!"
The argument between the three attracted a crowd of onlookers. Han Xuanxuan and Qin Feng acted as though they were in the right, looking at Shi Hongyi provocatively.
Watching this scene, Shen Zhao found it somewhat amusing.
Shi Hongyi was the Shi Family's only son, the future heir to the family, and he had decent talent. At nineteen, he had already reached the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, only a step away from the Spirit Gathering Realm.
Although he couldn't compare to those favored by heaven, Shi Hongyi was definitely a genius among his peers.
However, this young master of the Shi Family, for some reason, had gone completely mad. Ignoring the various sect's proud daughters and the girls next door, he was obsessively pursuing Han Xuanxuan, the young lady of a third- or fourth-rate family in Yunzhou City.
No matter how much he fawned over her, Han Xuanxuan always treated him coldly, never giving him a good look.
Moreover, Han Xuanxuan liked the Qin Feng beside her, but Qin Feng was even poorer than the Han Family.
Over these years, the Han Family, relying on Shi Hongyi's secret financial support, had jumped to become a second-rate power in Yunzhou City. Because of his relationship with Han Xuanxuan, Qin Feng had also received a lot of cultivation resources over the past few years, rising from the Body Tempering Realm to the third rank of the Qi Condensation Realm.
However, despite Han Xuanxuan and Qin Feng's righteous appearances, refusing Shi Hongyi's charity, they always waited until Shi Hongyi was utterly humiliated before reluctantly accepting.
Years later, after Qin Feng rose to power, he and Han Xuanxuan immediately killed Shi Hongyi, who had "humiliated" him, and, together with Lin Feng, annihilated the Shi Family.
Unfortunately.
In this life, Shen Zhao didn't enter the court, which meant the future of this pair of adulterers was over.
"Watch Shen here perform."
Shen Zhao left those words and charged directly into the crowd, without a word, picking up the storage ring. He then cried out, "Young Master Shi, since this young lady doesn't want it, why not give it to me? To be honest, I'm short on money, and with this money, I can bury my deceased master."
Shi Hongyi was just looking for a way out. Seeing Shen Zhao pick up the ring, he immediately said calmly, "Alright, this storage bag is yours as a gift."
"Thank you, Young Master Shi. Young Master Shi is generous."
Seeing Shen Zhao accept the storage ring, Qin Feng and Han Xuanxuan's eyes flashed with a hint of regret, then they glared at Shen Zhao fiercely, clearly holding a grudge.
Han Xuanxuan pulled Qin Feng and said, "Qin Feng, let's go!"
Watching the two leave, Shi Hongyi instinctively wanted to call them back, but Shen Zhao stopped him: "Young Master Shi, I am Shen Zhao. I've long heard of Young Master Shi's generosity. Seeing you today, it truly lives up to the reputation. If Young Master Shi doesn't mind, may I accompany you?"
Shi Hongyi frowned when he heard this, and said, "Are you after my money?"
"To be honest, I am indeed very short on money. I'm just a straightforward person; you wouldn't believe me if I said I wasn't short on money. However, Young Master Shi, rest assured, I won't take your money for nothing. You can come to me if you need anything, and I can help you."
"Can you really help me?"
"As long as the money is right, I can definitely help!"
"Good!"
Shi Hongyi immediately said, "Come with me back to the mansion first. It's not a good place to talk in detail here, with so many people around."
Shen Zhao nodded. "But Young Master Shi, I have two friends. Would you mind?"
"It's just two extra pairs of chopsticks and two rooms. Come along."
"Then thank you, Young Master Shi."
After saying that, Shen Zhao waved to Ding Buer and Su Yunying, signaling them to follow…
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