Grain prices were exorbitantly high

Suddenly, an elderly man, full of excitement, walked up to Magnus Valorion and asked, "Sir, is it true that the brave and wise William Wallace is indeed the ancient ancestor of our Green River Town?"

"What? Do you think I have anything to gain by deceiving you?" Magnus Valorion responded, his face calm and composed.

The elderly man quickly shook his head and waved his hand excitedly, "It's just that I never thought our Green River Town's ancestor could be so formidable."

"If I had known, a year ago, I would have fought those Altai Tribe savages to the death, so as not to disgrace the honor of our ancestor."

The crowd below became agitated, agreeing one after another, "Exactly, exactly, if they don't agree, we fight! Even if we can't win, taking down one is still worth it!"

Magnus Valorion was very pleased with the crowd's reaction. He knew he had stirred up the fighting spirit of the people of Green River Town.

William Wallace! What a hero, what a majestic figure!

Now, Magnus Valorion had given the people of Green River Town a heroic example. Surely, everyone would be in awe of, admire, and strive to emulate such a loyal, courageous, and outstanding individual, even wanting to become him.

As expected, after the night class, regardless of age, everyone in Green River Town who had a stick would wave it around, imagining themselves as the hero Wallace, wielding a great sword and leading troops to crush the enemies.

For a time, the entire night class was filled with dust stirred up by the old and young alike. A large black dog resting at the edge of the night class was hit on the backside by a stick swung by some unaware fellow, yelping in pain as it ran away.

Originally about to leave, Magnus Valorion looked at the crowd, which reminded him of his own desire to drift and race after watching "Fast & Furious." Fortunately, as a poor man, he had no car to fulfill this dream; otherwise, he might have crossed over a few years earlier.

Early the next morning, Alice Parker and her brother urged their sister-in-law Emily Johnson to take them to the town hall to thank Magnus Valorion for sending people to rescue them.

Magnus Valorion didn't take the rescue of the Parker siblings to heart, simply advising them to work hard and live diligently in Green River Town.

The Parker siblings initially planned to head south to rely on their aunt, but now that Green River Town was willing to take them in, providing food and education, and given the dangerous and lengthy journey south, Alice decided to stay in Green River Town with her brother.

Through simple conversation, Magnus Valorion learned from Alice that a severe drought had affected all twenty-one towns in Fierce Lion Province.

At first, Magnus Valorion thought only his Green River Town, Willowbrook Town, and Greenwood City were affected by the drought, but he hadn't realized the severity was much worse than he had imagined.

"Ah! Such a lack of information!" Magnus Valorion sighed inwardly.

Currently, Magnus Valorion's informants were only in Willowbrook Town and Greenwood City, with occasional reports from the other two counties.

Based on the information he obtained from Alice today, Magnus Valorion decided to send people to the other towns to attract more population and develop his own area.

The method would surely be the same as in Greenwood City and Willowbrook Town: first inflate the grain prices sky-high, then spread the news of cheap grain prices in Green River Town to attract outsiders to settle.

Combined with Green River Town's rampant recruitment policy, Magnus Valorion was very confident in attracting those poor people to his town.

After sending off the Parker siblings and Emily Johnson, Magnus Valorion received news that Galen Veritas had returned from Greenwood City.

Although Magnus Valorion had received a letter a few days ago about Galen Veritas's imminent return, he was still somewhat excited to see his old friend after a month-long absence.

It wasn't just because Magnus Valorion missed Galen Veritas; it was also because he brought back a lot of supplies from Greenwood City.

Magnus Valorion quickly ordered horses to be prepared and headed to the city gate to welcome him.

Seeing his young master personally come to greet him, Galen Veritas was extremely excited and urged his servants to speed up.

When Galen Veritas reached Magnus Valorion, he burst into tears, "Master! In this past month, you've overworked yourself for the people and have lost weight!"

"No, no, you were the one who went all the way to Greenwood City and endured hardship."

Galen Veritas quickly pulled out a piece of cloth from the convoy and ran back, "Master, I bought some silk fabric for you in Greenwood City. It will make a nice set of clothes for you."

"No rush, no rush. Galen Veritas, tell me, what was the grain price in Greenwood City when you left?"

Galen Veritas thought for a moment, then honestly said, "When I left, a dou of grain in Greenwood City was already selling for 79 taels of silver."

"The key point is, most of the grain sold by those merchants was mixed with bran and sand."

In the Great Latium Imperium, one dou was approximately equal to ten liters.

One liter of rice was about 0.8 kilograms.

If converted, a kilogram of grain would cost about 500 dollars.

Terrifying, truly terrifying.

Magnus Valorion never expected the landlords and merchants to be so ruthless.

"With grain prices so high, can the people of Greenwood City afford it?" Magnus Valorion asked curiously.

Galen Veritas shook his head and said, "Of course not. When someone asked why the grain price was so high, the merchant retorted, 'What? 79 taels per dou, and you think it's expensive? Can't afford grain? Maybe you should reflect on your own farming efforts.'"

Hearing Galen Veritas recount the merchants' malicious price gouging in Greenwood City, Magnus Valorion felt a strange familiarity, as if he had heard this before, but couldn't quite recall where.