We are indeed very smart

In Willowbrook Town, as long as one person joins the army, their entire family is honored.

Serving under Magnus Valorion not only guarantees three meals a day, but also allows soldiers to buy one kilogram of premium white rice for 10 copper coins at the town's designated grain store.

To put this into perspective, even in bountiful years, 10 copper coins can't buy a kilogram of premium white rice, making this price practically a giveaway.

The Blackthorn family, the Ravenswood Family, the Hawthorne Family, and several other families in Willowbrook Town gathered to discuss their strategy.

Walter Ravenswood, the head of the Ravenswood Family, was the first to speak: "What are we going to do? Even if Magnus Valorion sold the grain at one tael of silver per kilogram, it would still be cheaper than ours!"

"Moreover, he offers benefits to the families of soldiers, who can buy premium white rice for just 10 copper coins as if it were a giveaway!"

Victor Blackthorn, the head of the Blackthorn family, remained calm and composed as he said, "What's there to fear? The grain store's low prices are likely just a ploy to entice townsfolk to join the army. The prices will naturally go up after a while."

The heads of the other families agreed that Victor Blackthorn's analysis made perfect sense.

However, after another seven days, the grain store's prices remained unchanged, and the discounted price for soldiers' families had even dropped to 5 copper coins per kilogram, while the market price remained one tael of silver per kilogram.

As a result, none of the three major families in Willowbrook Town, nor any of the other families, sold any of their grain.

Once again, the heads of these families gathered together, and Victor Blackthorn came up with another idea.

"In that case, our families can also send people to join the army. First, they can secretly gather information about the military, and second, we can use the family members' status to purchase large quantities of cheap grain."

"I heard that in Greenwood City, one sheng, or 0.8 kilograms, of grain is already selling for 79 taels of silver. If we sell the cheap grain there for even one tael of silver per kilogram, we could make a fortune!"

The family heads present thought this idea was feasible, and the most they would have to do was let a few young family members suffer a bit.

Joining the army, after all, involves the risk of going to the battlefield and shedding blood, so these families were reluctant to send their promising young men. Instead, they sent young men from marginalized branches of their families.

In essence, these people were expendable. As long as they could bring profit to the family, even their sacrifice was acceptable.

The plan went smoothly. Initially, the marginalized young men from the three major families and other families in Willowbrook Town would occasionally return to report on their situation in the military camp. However, as time went by, even when they returned, they stopped reporting anything.

When the elders of the families questioned them, the young men would simply say that there was nothing new in the camp.

But the leaders of the Blackthorn family, the Ravenswood Family, and the Hawthorne Family didn't mind. These young men were sent out as expendables anyway, and their names were used to buy cheap premium white rice.

Magnus Valorion had anticipated this.

He not only allowed the major families in Willowbrook Town to purchase freely, but he even offered larger discounts for bigger purchases.

The more grain these families bought, the more it piled up in their warehouses.

"We're rich, we're rich. Imagine how much we'll earn by selling this grain in Greenwood City. One gold mountain wouldn't be enough to cover our profits!"

The various families in Willowbrook Town were all elated, lost in the fantasy of making money.

Just as the Blackthorn family, the Ravenswood Family, and the Hawthorne Family were about to run out of cash, Magnus Valorion suddenly raised the prices at the grain store.

The market price went from one tael of silver to two taels of silver per kilogram of premium white rice, while the discount price for soldiers' families went from 5 copper coins to 20 copper coins per kilogram.

Noticing this change, Victor Blackthorn once again called for a meeting of the families.

"Everyone, I just received a report that the grain store's price has gone up from 5 copper coins to 20 copper coins per kilogram!"

Alaric Hawthorne, the head of the Hawthorne Family, didn't take it seriously and said, "What's the big deal? Even at 20 copper coins per kilogram, it's still cheaper than our previous price for coarse grain!"

Victor Blackthorn smiled wickedly and said, "You're mistaken!"

"When their discount price was 10 copper coins, then 5 copper coins, it showed that their grain was still abundant."

"But now that the price has risen to 20 copper coins per kilogram, what does that mean?"

Alaric Hawthorne, a clever man, immediately understood after Victor's reminder and excitedly said, "It means they're running out of grain!"

Victor Blackthorn nodded firmly, "Exactly. This shows their grain supply is nearly exhausted. So we should speed up our purchasing."

"If we buy up all their grain, they'll have none left, and even the military won't have enough. Soldiers without food will undoubtedly riot!"

"If they really do riot, how could Magnus Valorion, a mere town mayor, handle such a disaster?"

"Moreover, we can provide grain to pacify the soldiers and take control of the military. All the groundwork laid by Magnus will be for our benefit!"

Walter Ravenswood applauded excitedly, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

However, Walter had one concern.

"To be honest, our family spent a lot of silver purchasing premium white rice recently, and we're short on cash now. Could the Blackthorn family lend us some money to help us out?"

Victor Blackthorn shook his head, "It's not that we're stingy, but our family also doesn't have much cash right now!"

Alaric Hawthorne sighed deeply, "What do we do then?"

"If we can't buy out the last of the grain store's stock, the brilliant plan we just discussed will be unfeasible!"

Victor Blackthorn smiled wickedly again and said confidently, "Don't worry, everyone. Recently, I met a wealthy merchant from Lionheart City named Galen Veritas. This Galen Veritas wants to buy some land in Willowbrook Town, although his offer is a bit low!"

Alaric Hawthorne said, "What's the problem? We have plenty of land anyway. And these lands were swindled from those commoners. Selling the land to buy cheap grain is much more profitable than holding onto the land!"

Walter Ravenswood agreed, "Exactly. We can always buy back the land after we've made a profit from selling the premium white rice, even if it costs a bit more. Overall, we'll still be ahead!"

The heads of other smaller families also agreed to exchange their surplus land for cash.

Seeing such unity among the families, Victor Blackthorn felt gratified.

"Great, in that case, I'll contact Mr. Galen Veritas and sell our surplus land to him. Once we've made a profit, we can buy it back!"

The crowd, seeing the decision made, were all smiles, thinking they had struck gold!