Seeing Situ Yuan disappearing outside the hall, Situ Lang's face became more and more gloomy. The purpose of this emperor brother was not that simple. Milanese, did he really think that he would not mind his relationship with the Milanese? If the Milanese enters the East China Sea and Jiangnan, can he still control these two places in the future? The eldest brother occupied the East China Sea. As long as he can stabilize Jinling now, even if he loses Jinling, it doesn't matter. As long as he firmly defends Jiangnan and uses the economic strength of the land controlled by the eldest brother, his army will not last long without the support of the central government's finances. Even if he intercepts Donghai and Yan Yun's finances and taxes, he will naturally have to vomit it out. However, if Milanese enter the East China Sea and Jiangnan, it is easy to ask the gods to send the gods, and it is rare to send the gods to these plague gods.

After all, it was still this damn Li Wufeng. After getting the benefits, he refused to fulfill his promise and played Tai Chi pusher with him. He swirled on the edge of Pinglu Mansion, but refused to step into the Qinghe River. The Kaman people seemed to have a tacit understanding with Li Wufeng, and they actually left Li Wufeng's Northwest Army to show off his power in Pinglu Mansion but turned a blind eye. If it weren't for knowing that Li Wufeng's Northwest Army annihilated the 30,000 Kaman people's army in the north of Pinglu, Situ Lang would have really believed that Li Wufeng had already had some kind of conspiracy agreement with the Kaman people.

Thinking of this, Situ Lang was a little envious of Li Wufeng. The Northwest Army in this guy's hands was really powerful. Even the Kamans' army was defeated in his hands. Seeing that the city guards, which were usually domineering, retreated in front of the Kamans, but the Northwest Army was able to defeat the other side. Regardless of whether there were other objective external reasons, it was enough to be proud.

When will the several legions in his hands reach this level? Situ Lang sighed with regret, and his confused eyes became a little erratic. He was so tired. He seemed to have never had a stable sleep when he sat in this position. No wonder the kings of all dynasties could not live long. The mental pressure alone was enough. If he chose this position, he seemed to have to bear all this. Situ Lang looked out of the hall blankly.

The application for establishing the Western Protectorate seems to have been put on hold without restrictions by the Empire Central Committee. It seems to have become a powerful weapon for the Empire Central Committee to deal with the Northwest. Many things are reported, and it only takes a sentence to temporarily hold them down and be delayed for a year or two, which makes you hate them to the core but can't do anything about it. However, Wufeng does not intend to give up just like this. He has his killer weapon, and by then, he will naturally have a way to make the imperial central government surrender.

All preparations are still being carried out in an orderly manner. The location of the Protectorate of the Western Xinjiang Protectorate is still located in Qingyang. Some officials originally tended to be located in Hanzhong, believing that Hanzhong was once the capital of the king, and it was a treasure land. However, Wufeng still decided on this suggestion after consideration. First, he was unwilling to make people have some unnecessary associations. After all, it was the capital of the previous two dynasties. Second, Hanzhong is too east for the current control area, and psychologically the influence on the Western Regions and Northern Luzon will be weakened. Third, the northwest economy is in a period of healthy and rapid development. The change in the location of the Protectorate will have a certain impact on the northwest economy. Wufeng is unwilling to see this.

However, in recent times, Wufeng spent more time in Kansai. He also took the time to inspect the situation of Pinglu Mansion, and even went to the border area between Pinglu, Qinghe, Tianshui and the river for on-site inspections. This made the Kamans and Taiping Cult feel nervous after obtaining intelligence through spies and paying more attention to the Northwest Army's every move.

The entire Eastern continent has almost not rained in March. The drought was so fierce that everyone immediately felt what Xiaochun harvest would be. As April, the weather seemed to be getting more and more, as if it had suddenly entered the summer. In the words of the old man, it has been a long time since I felt the heat of summer so early. I almost passed the spring and stepped directly into early summer. The bright sunshine made people feel the abnormal climate and surging in their hearts.

I felt a little worried and fearful. Xiaochun’s harvest was a foregone conclusion, and the elderly knew better that this kind of weather was the best climate for locust breeding. The drought was likely to be a locust plague. Every day, people would use a begging mentality to hope that the weather could fall and the temperature could fall. But what disappointed them was that God seemed to ignore the feelings of his people. The golden crow would show its head excitedly early in the morning, and then it was the same hotness.

Grain prices have been unpredictable since early March, sometimes falling and sometimes rising, but the price fluctuations are not large. Northwest, which has completed the grain purchase plan, did not stop and still absorb grain on a small scale. However, this action is not reasonable compared to the big moves in the previous month, and grain prices are still on an upward trend. After entering late March, the drought trend is certain, and the price of grain has suddenly become a rocket. Generally, from four and a half gold coins per lever to seven gold coins.

It exceeded the highest price when the Northwest grain price purchase plan was launched in February, which made grain merchants sigh at the good luck of the Northwest. Of course, they would not believe who could predict God's movements. Moreover, they also believed that Xiaochun was not the highlight of the year's grain. Even if there was a drought, there was still a major spring season that could rely on. Moreover, they did not expect that the entire Eastern Continent would encounter such a drought and the locust plague that followed.

As the drought became increasingly serious, the news from all over the world was worse than the other. The rivers were cut off and the lakes were bottoming out. Except for some rivers that mainly rely on the melting water of snow mountains and some large lakes, almost every place discovered that the drought was unusually fierce. People spontaneously organized themselves to burn incense and worship Buddha, pray to God to fulfill their wishes, and beg God for his eyes and mercy, but it seemed that there was no effect.

In this case, the alert grain merchants have begun to hoard grain for speculation, but most merchants have a contradictory mentality, because the grain price has exceeded ten gold coins at this time. Moreover, given the Northwest hoarding astronomical grain, grain speculators are also secretly irritating in their hearts. If a large amount of grain is purchased at this price, and once the Northwest sells, they are afraid that the losses they bear will also become astronomical. This contradictory mentality will burn the fragile minds of grain merchants in various parts of the empire and even around the empire every day. They don’t know what the purpose of buying such a large amount of grain at the beginning of the year? Speculation? Or is it really as they say to make strategic reserves?

Grain merchants have always expressed doubts about the Northwest's claim to be strategic reserves. No one will choose to make strategic reserves in January and February instead of grain harvests after June and September. This is clearly an unattainable behavior, which only means that the Northwest is preparing to speculate. However, the risks of large-scale speculation without any confidence are that no one dares to bear. Even if the Xiaochun harvest is out of stock, in just four months, there will be a big spring harvest that accounts for one quarter of the year, and no one can predict.

God's face, even if you happen to bet on Xiaochun's treasure right, can you still bet on Dachun's treasure? Moreover, grain production is not limited to one county and one place. Developed water and land transportation can adjust and make up for the imbalance caused by this disaster, unless the madman thinks that a large area will cause continuous natural disasters to destroy this ability to adjust without reason, but this probability seems to be less likely than buying the first prize in the gambling game that has become popular in the Western Continent, and the price is amazing.

The price of grain rose in the worrying eyes of the entire Eastern Continent, and on April 12, 698, the psychological price of 15 gold coins per loo was exceeded. When the quotation of the three main grains (wheat, millet and millet) exceeded 15 gold coins per loo, the first type of grain (corn and sorghum) suddenly jumped from 9 gold coins per loo to 12 gold coins per loo. Even the second type of grain (sweet potatoes, barley and yam) that ordinary grain merchants disdained them in one breath.

It has risen to the price of 10 gold coins per pound. Even at such a price, the three largest grain trading markets in the empire (Zhongzhou Grain Trading Market, Jinling Grain Trading Market, and Yueyang Grain Trading Market) are still in short supply, and most of the time it is still out of stock. Nearby countries and regions are like Yuejing Grain Market, and the supply of goods is even tighter, which has created a new high for the imperial grain quotation and the Eastern Continental grain quotation in the past twenty years.

Affected by this, the prices of various important materials involving people's livelihood in the entire empire began to rise wildly, and the prices of meat, medicinal materials, edible oils, cotton cloths and other prices began to rise sharply to varying degrees. In particular, due to the sharp rise in grain prices, the prices of alcohol have doubled several times compared to the original one. However, wine merchants still refused to ship because they were worried that raw materials would further increase prices, which caused the wine prices in the empire to be high that were rare in decades.
Chapter completed!