Chapter 347: First Volume, Chapter 347: Not a Natural Disaster, But Human Misconduct

First Volume, Chapter 347: Not a Natural Disaster, But Human Misconduct

The Tianji Camp is like a factory—does a factory make money? The answer is yes.

But having to appease the Liang Emperor's exploitation while granting discounts to various agents, it's barely enough to stand and earn.

Now, selling off the sugar industry does not mean the "Intellectual Property" is being cleared out in a fire sale too.

As long as Qin Feng still controls the raw material formula and production process for white sugar, he can still claim a share of its profits.

The difference is that Qin Feng has shifted from self-production and self-sales to collecting patent fees.

Even a ten percent patent fee is essentially free money.

From standing to earn, he's now lying down to earn—why not?

With this, Qin Feng can free up his hands and energy to control the upstream profits of the sugar industry, upgrade sugar products, and continue monopolizing the confectionery industry.

Sugar industry and confectionery industry—just one character apart, yet worlds apart.

The same logic applies to the Book Bureau!

Qin Feng can't control book pricing or sales, but as the "author," he hasn't signed any indenture contract—his exorbitant manuscript fees are enough to keep him well-fed.

Selling off operations is not the same as a full buyout!

In this day and age, there's no consumer association, no court, no antitrust law—every bit of power is clenched in Qin Feng's own hands. Go ahead, sue me anywhere you like—I'm not here to serve you.

Besides, if he didn't sell the sugar business to the Jingdu merchants, how would he move the factory to Beixi County?

Others might profit, but Qin Feng will never lose.

The Jingdu operations can be handed to Liu Hongyan—this Second Sister is a powerhouse and would never make a foolish move that harms Qin Feng.

Qin Feng's current priority is naturally to relieve the famine victims of Changping County.

Beixi County does need population, but there's a limit—if refugees from all corners flood into Beixi County, even Qin Feng's wealth won't last.

The money he previously swindled from the sons of ministers by rectifying the Jingdu official climate is now perfectly useful—but not for buying relief grain.

First, relief grain treats symptoms, not the root cause.

Second, neighboring counties, though not as dire as Changping County, are suffering from the influx of starving refugees; even if Qin Feng offered high prices, they likely have no surplus grain to sell.

The root of Changping County's famine is not natural disaster—it's human misconduct!

Ultimately, what's needed is to create a good living environment for the local people.

Therefore, Qin Feng did not rush into the city but dispatched Zhao Yuxiong, Wu Wei, and Qin Xiaofu to survey the surrounding areas.

As Qin Feng expected.

Changping County lies at the center of Shedynasty's territory; though not coastal, its drought risk is far lower than the Northwest.

Moreover, it's neither too close nor too far from Jiangnan—free from flood risks there, yet able to profit from its terrain by tapping into Jiangnan's rice and fish wealth.

But the rivers and wells within Changping County's borders are indeed dry.

Before leaving Jingdu, Qin Feng had reviewed Changping County's local records at the Ministry of Personnel.

Over the past three years, Changping County's rainfall has not been scarce—but each rainstorm is extremely brief, leaving the earth no time to retain water before it ends, then evaporating under the sun, gradually drying up rivers and wells.

Yet in Qin Feng's view, this level of drought is not a problem at all.

The caravan halted outside Changping County's city gate, showing no intention to enter.

In the following two hours, not a single local official came to greet them—but from the guards at the gate, the county yamen's functions remained intact, proving the county magistrate knew Qin Feng had arrived and deliberately gave him a downward warning.

Since it's human misconduct, it's easy to handle!

Qin Feng pulled out ten thousand liang in silver notes and handed them to Qin Xiaofu: "Go to surrounding counties and post a hire notice. Any able-bodied man aged eighteen to forty qualifies. Anyone willing to work in Changping County for ten days gets five taels of silver as pay."

Ten days' work, five taels' pay—this is a dream come true for any common people.

As the saying goes, great rewards attract brave men; coupled with the local economy collapsing and people starving, this silver is enough to make the locals risk everything.

Though Qin Xiaofu didn't understand Qin Feng's intent, he knew clearly: whatever the young master ordered, there was always deep meaning.

Qin Xiaofu immediately asked: "Young Master, how many workers?"

Qin Feng didn't hesitate: "Hire as many as you can. This ten thousand liang is just a deposit. Anyone who comes gets one tael upfront; the rest is paid after the work ends. Bring them all here—I'll wait."

Since Changping County is now very close to Jiangnan Lin Family's territory,

To avoid trouble on the road, Qin Feng sent Zhao Yuxiong along to protect Qin Xiaofu.

After Qin Xiaofu and Zhao Yuxiong left,

Qin Feng called Wu Wei forward and said: "Before we came, I checked the Ministry of Personnel's records—the local prefect is Chen Chenghao. He's held the position for twenty years. Though Ben Zhou suffers frequent disasters, his seat remains as solid as Taishan—he's a rigid, incompetent man skilled at self-preservation."

"Go to the Zhou Fu and tell Prefect Chen to send a Supervising Official to take over the Zhou Fu's authority and handle Changping County's officials on the spot. If Prefect Chen plays along, we coexist peacefully. If he refuses to help, tell that old ass—I won't mind going to the Zhou Fu myself and blowing the Zhengyi wind right into his face. The Sage only ordered me to rectify official conduct—no boundaries or time limits were set!"

"As long as the Sage doesn't speak, I'll use this imperial authority to its fullest."

Wu Wei bowed and left.

Finally, Qin Feng left Li Lang and the servants to guard the carriage.

Qin Feng, accompanied by Jing Qianying and Xiao Xiangxiang, began inspecting on foot.

Xiao Xiangxiang stayed close beside Qin Feng. Though deeply moved by Changping County's suffering, her heart was filled with happiness—after all, Qin Feng had once promised her he'd never leave her alone in Jingdu again, and now he kept his word, filling her with overwhelming emotion.

In her simple little heart, as long as she was with the young master, anything they did was pure happiness.

Xiao Xiangxiang couldn't help tugging Qin Feng's sleeve, playing a small trick: letting him hold her hand as she whispered, "Young Master, what are we doing?"

Qin Feng's eyes scanned the surroundings constantly: "Looking for water."

Before Xiao Xiangxiang could speak, Jing Qianying asked first: "The whole of Changping County is parched—where's there any water?"