Sinbad, prior to this, was a notorious mountain bandit who killed without hesitation. But now things are different. Now, Sinbad is a legitimate official of the Great Latium Imperium and the mayor of Green River Town. How could he commit such heinous acts of robbery and plunder?
So Magnus Valorion had someone send a message to Sinbad of Green River Town, instructing him to have everyone wear masks to conceal their identities. The masks of others were varied, including bull masks, pig masks, and all kinds of types. However, Magnus Valorion's own mask was meticulously designed by a craftsman, modeled after the Guy Fawkes mask from the movie V for Vendetta.
The cleverest move was that Magnus Valorion had Neil Thompson and the others replace the previous "Double-Bladed Skull Flag" with a "Single-Bladed Skull Flag." The original flag had two crossed blades under the skull, but now there was only one blade crossed with a bone. Such a small change carried a completely different meaning.
If you were robbed by bandits under the "Single-Bladed Skull Flag" while passing through my Green River Town, what does it have to do with the "Double-Bladed Skull Flag" of the previous Sinbad? Now, Sinbad has turned over a new leaf and is an official of the Great Latium Imperium!
The grain going to Greenwood City from the Blackthorn family and other families had already been arranged by Magnus Valorion to be intercepted by the patrol and soldiers of Green River Town. As for the grain being sent to Lionheart City for sale, Magnus Valorion planned to have Ethan Thompson lead the new recruits from Willowbrook Town, who had long been oppressed by the Blackthorn family and others, to seize it.
In this way, it could be considered "brothers fighting tigers, father and sons going to war together!"
After selling their ancestral lands and obtaining a large amount of silver from Galen Veritas, all the families in Willowbrook Town started looking forward to the day when they could buy up the grain stores in town and make a big profit!
The heads of these families had signed agreements with Galen Veritas, allowing them to buy back their ancestral lands at a price 30% higher than the previous selling price. Furthermore, when selling their ancestral lands, Galen Veritas had pressed the price very low, which also meant that the price they would pay to redeem their ancestral properties in the future would not be very high.
At that time, not only would they not lose their ancestral lands, but they would also earn a lot of silver for nothing. Just thinking about it made their lives reach a peak of excitement and ecstasy.
The day after the Blackthorn family, the Ravenswood family, the Hawthorne family, and other large and small families sold all their land, the grain store prices skyrocketed again. The market price rose from four taels of silver to five taels of silver, and the military family discount price doubled from 100 copper coins to 200 copper coins, while the grain buyback price rose from the original 90 copper coins to 180 copper coins.
Some common folk who bought grain yesterday took their grain to resell, easily earning 90 copper coins per kilogram of refined rice. These commoners regretted not buying more in the past few days.
"Why not buy some more today? Maybe the buyback price will be higher tomorrow!" Some bold commoners began to think this way.
And the Blackthorn family, the Ravenswood family, the Hawthorne family, and other large and small families, seeing this situation, became even more excited and started hoarding again, buying as much grain as they could with all their silver.
The next day, the grain prices in the store skyrocketed again. The military family discount price rose to 300 copper coins per kilogram, and the buyback price rose to 270 copper coins per kilogram.
The continuous rise in grain buyback prices in the grain stores also attracted many greedy commoners. Now almost everyone understood that Magnus Valorion's grain was running out.
A small family head cautiously advised Edmund Blackthorn and the others, "Clan leader Edmund, their buyback price has reached 270 copper coins. Why don't we sell now? Anyway, we didn't spend much when we bought it. Now selling it can make a big profit!"
Greed knows no bounds!
At this moment, Edmund Blackthorn and the other heads of families had long been blinded by greed and could not listen to any advice.
Edmund Blackthorn scoffed and said, "Tomorrow night, our grain will be transported to Greenwood City and Lionheart City. There, a small liter of grain can sell for 79 taels of silver. If we sell now, we won't make much money!"
So Edmund Blackthorn and the others bet everything again, using the remaining silver in their families to buy up all the grain in the store. Other small families, unable to do anything else, could only follow suit.
On the night when they planned to send the grain, all the heads of the Green River Town families gathered together, dreaming of a future of immense wealth!
These two groups of people were selected from the strong laborers of each family. With Edmund Blackthorn and other family heads shouting, the two groups, carrying torches and a large amount of grain, left Willowbrook Town under the cover of night.
Edmund Blackthorn and the other family heads thought their arrangements were flawless, not knowing that Magnus Valorion was aware of their every move.
The moment the two groups stepped out, Duncan Thorngate, who had been secretly monitoring the families, immediately sent someone to inform the just-asleep Magnus Valorion.
"Good, good, good, have Ethan Thompson immediately take three thousand men to set an ambush at Ram's Horn Mountain. Make sure to seize all the grain without missing a single grain!"
After receiving the order, Ethan Thompson also immediately had his subordinates cover the horses' hooves and quietly left Willowbrook Town under the cover of night.
The next morning, Magnus Valorion did not hurry to lower the grain store prices. Instead, he had the prices raised even further. After two consecutive price increases in one day, there were hardly any buyers left.
As for those greedy commoners, they all hoped that the buyback price of refined rice would continue to rise.
Now Magnus Valorion was certain that he had completely drained the silver from the hands of all the families.
With this in mind, Magnus Valorion immediately ordered the price of refined rice to be reduced to 20 copper coins per kilogram, and the grain sold before would no longer be repurchased.
This news caused panic among the commoners who had bought grain at high prices. Originally, they hoped that the grain store's buyback price would continue to rise, but they never expected to be caught at a high price, becoming the "foolish investors."
Grain that was worth several hundred copper coins per kilogram suddenly dropped to 20 copper coins. Those who bought high-priced grain found themselves stuck and rushed to the grain store, hoping to sell their high-priced grain.
These people were delusional!
Which financial institution makes money and then returns it to the foolish investors?
Moreover, Magnus Valorion had long warned them not to hoard grain for profit. The first batch of "foolish investors" who voluntarily bought at high prices could blame no one but themselves!
Even the clerks in the grain store scolded these people, "You idiots! Our master had early warned you not to hoard grain for profit, but you rushed to buy when the price was high. Now that the price has dropped, you want us to buy it back at a high price? Where in the world is there such a good deal?"
"How about starting tomorrow, we change the price to 79 taels of silver per kilogram?"
Hearing this, those commoners who speculated on grain prices and hoped for quick profits felt ashamed and left.
The news of the grain store's drastic price drop quickly reached Edmund Blackthorn's ears. Initially, Edmund Blackthorn was also surprised and puzzled by how the grain store's prices could drop so low overnight.
But then he laughed and said, "They must be out of grain!"
"This price adjustment must be a technical move!"
However, as he laughed, he began to doubt himself.