"What can we do? If that woman really has food, then we will be doomed!"
"Yes, we have hoarded a lot of food this time, but we can't let her ruin our affairs. If the road to and from Dunchuan is repaired after a while, then we will really have no hope."
"Don't panic, everyone. I don't believe that the old woman really has so much food."
Several shopkeepers from the grain farm were sitting at a round table, frowning and discussing the predicament at hand.
Those who trade grain must join a specialized chamber of commerce. Not only grain merchants, but also drug dealers and booksellers all have chambers of commerce. The original intention of the imperial court to establish the chamber of commerce was to supervise these merchants and prevent them from doing bad things and cheating.
common people.
When the Chamber of Commerce was first established, it did play a role for a while. But who would have expected that over time, the Chamber of Commerce, which was originally used to supervise major businessmen, would change its nature. The so-called Chamber of Commerce was just to make it easier for them to unite.
It's just a collusion. The Chamber of Commerce has only been in existence for two years, but the quality of food has become even worse.
It is common practice to sell old grain as new grain without sifting the rice bran. During times of famine, these grain merchants even add sand to the rice and no one cares.
The people of the Chamber of Commerce united together to crowd out the passing merchants, so that the grain trading environment in Dunchuan became worse and worse. All grain merchants did this, and what was originally unethical became an invisible rule.
Already, the officials have been bribed by them, and the people have long been numb.
But now, Cheng Yaojin unexpectedly appeared on the way.
I don’t know where this old lady Lin came from. I heard that she has been selling food from yesterday to today, and even opened an extra queue. When they sell food, they have a friendly smile, and they can even get credit on credit even if they don’t have money.
, just say "Thank you, Mrs. Lin".
Moreover, the quality of the grain they sell is very good. The rice is white and clean, almost the same as tribute grain. Not to mention that there is sand in it, there is not even a trace of rice bran to be seen.
"That being said, what if she really has food? We can't just hope that she doesn't have food, right?"
"That's right, I asked the people in the yamen. The people in the yamen didn't know where she was from. They only knew that during the day, the county magistrate asked them to go outside to collect food, so they helped Mrs. Lin do it.
More than a dozen cartloads of grain have returned."
"Anyway, I still stick to my opinion. I don't believe she really has so much food. The food must be fake! I think we can continue to stock up on food and wait until she runs out of food. By then, those people will be bankrupt.
, in order not to starve to death, we have no choice but to come and buy our food."
"Store food and stock up on food. If she really has food, wouldn't our food be lost in her hands? Who will bear our losses then?"
The grain merchants hold different opinions, some suggest selling grain, and some suggest continuing to hoard grain. However, their ultimate interests are the same, which is to take advantage of this flood to make more money.
A lot of money.
"President, please say something."
While everyone was arguing, one person looked at the president of the Lianghui who was sitting in the middle. In an instant, the scene became quiet, and everyone turned their attention to the president of the Lianghui, waiting for his answer.
The president is an old man in his fifties. He wears a member's hat and a satin gown with five blessing bats printed on it. He holds a gold-inlaid cigarette rod in his hand. There is also a delicate hanging on the end of the cigarette rod.
of ears.
Facing everyone's gaze, he calmly took a puff of dry cigarette, blew out a long smoke ring, and then lightly knocked the table with the cigarette rod, "Look at you, why are you panicking? You're just a smoker.
What kind of situation could a foreign grain merchant have? If it were not for the support of the county magistrate, she would not be selling grain at the gate of the county government now. I am afraid that the corpses would have sunk in the Laodao River to feed the fish."
He spoke in an unhurried tone and with a calm demeanor. Because he was older, he looked very thin. His dry lips seemed to be always curled up, and his slightly sunken eyes were slightly cloudy. Occasionally, when he turned, he would reveal
There is a hint of ruthlessness, and it is obvious that this is a ruthless old man who has gone through ups and downs.
A grain merchant from out of town dared to run wild in Dunchuan, so they had to teach her the rules.
"Tonight, send a few people to the Yamen's warehouse to explore. If it is really grain, sprinkle it with tung oil and burn it. If it is not grain, that's even better. Let's see how it turns out tomorrow."
As soon as he spoke, someone immediately clapped their hands, "Wonderful, our president is so awesome. Look at us, a grain merchant from out of town has made us panic. It would be really embarrassing if this spread.
"
"That's right, she's just a woman, nothing special. Let's go check it out tonight. Then she will really have food. We just need to do what the president said and cut the fire under the cauldron to see how she can play tomorrow."
"Huh, by that time, I'm afraid our Mr. Qi will have no choice but to bow his arrogant head and invite us to a restaurant for a drink. But this time, we can't agree to him selling grain so easily. We have to ask him to pay for it.
No blood is allowed."
After hearing the president's idea, everyone thought it was very good. They immediately felt relieved and praised the president one after another. Not only that, they also discussed how to manipulate Qi County Magistrate.
If a county magistrate bows to merchants like them again and again, what kind of authority can he have?
The county magistrate who has lost his prestige will either become depressed and drift with the crowd from now on; or he will see the situation clearly and join in with them. No matter which point is, it is beneficial to them.
In their eyes, Ye Chuqiu was just a grain merchant and nothing. This time, they were actually wrestling with the Qi County Magistrate.
Either the east wind will overwhelm the west wind, or the west wind will overwhelm the east wind. It depends on who is in charge of Dunchuan City this time.
Soon, they selected two thugs from the chamber of commerce to carry out the task. In addition, they also sent hundreds of taels of silver to the county government office to let them open the door at night.
She didn't know who the money was given to, but Ye Chuqiu guessed right. Someone in the county government was a lackey of these grain dealers. Fortunately, she told Qi Chongjin about the previous countermeasures alone, and no one leaked it.
Therefore, no one knows whether the sacks she sent to the warehouse contained grain.
…
"Everyone, it's getting late. Today's food is sold here. Come back tomorrow."
Ye Chuqiu waved to them, "Starting from tomorrow, we will increase the amount. Each person can buy three liters of food, so you don't have to queue up with your family. Everyone can buy food, and they can buy it at any time.
Don’t worry, everyone.”
"Hmph, this old woman still dares to increase the amount. I think she is deliberately making a gesture to force us to compromise. I don't believe that she really has food."
"That's right, let's see her entertaining guests, and let's see her building collapse."
Ye Chuqiu didn't know that in a restaurant opposite the Yamen, several grain merchants from the grain association were standing upstairs, looking at her coldly.
Ye Chuqiu closed the stall, but the enthusiastic people did not leave because queuing was not easy. Some people knew that it would not be their turn for a while, so they even brought their bedding and slept in the queue.
In order to buy cheap food, everyone worked hard.
"Xiaoqiu, each person will sell three liters tomorrow. Do you have so much food?"
As soon as he saw Ye Chuqiu turning around and entering the yamen, Qi Chongjin hurriedly walked over, took her to the small room next to her where she was boiling water for making tea, and asked anxiously.
"Don't worry." Ye Chuqiu said calmly, "We only have half a liter per day. Those grain merchants thought we had no grain, so we simply sold more a day to worry them."
"But……"
Qi Chongjin looked at Ye Chuqiu. He was still worried. The idea was right, but the problem was food? Where did the food come from?
"Don't worry, there is food. The warehouse is full of food." Ye Chuqiu said again.
"But didn't you say it was sand?" Qi Chongjin said.
"When did I say it was sand?" Ye Chuqiu opened his eyes wide and looked at him in surprise.
Qi Chongjin was feeling strange about her behavior when suddenly a servant came in from behind him and said, "Master, Mrs. Lin."
Only then did he suddenly realize that Ye Chuqiu saw someone coming in, so he said that on purpose.
Although he was full of worries, now was not the time to talk. Qi Chongjin took a deep look at Ye Chuqiu and left with sadness.
Ye Chuqiu ate some simple meals in the tea room and followed him out.
However, the two of them were going in completely different directions. Qi Chongjin went to the backyard of the county government office, while Ye Chuqiu went to the warehouse to take care of her food.
In addition to her who was in charge of the food, there were two other officials assigned to her by Qi Chongjin. According to Qi Chongjin, these two officials were the ones he had beaten before and were trustworthy.
Although there are two more official servants, because Ye Chuqiu is sleeping in the warehouse and the official servants are watching outside, they will not affect Ye Chuqiu's exchange of grain.
After Ye Chuqiu entered the warehouse, she first closed the door from the inside, then opened the sign-in system and started to check her gratitude points.
"Hey, I gained more than 10,000 gratitude points today. It's so cool." Seeing the gratitude points in the system, Ye Chuqiu was very satisfied.
I don’t want to make a wish today. Is it worth making a wish for just a small amount of food? I’ll sign in briefly first, maybe I’ll be lucky and my wish will come true. With ten points of gratitude, I can sign in for ten bags of food. That’s not much more cost-effective than making a wish.
One point of her wish value can be exchanged for about ten kilograms of grain. In the past two days, almost everyone who came to buy food could provide her with five or six points of gratitude. Everyone could only buy half a liter at a time, and one liter of grain cost about
Each weighs three ounces per catty, so she still has a surplus, so today she dares to have the confidence to say that each person can buy three liters of grain tomorrow.
But then, someone will definitely make repeated purchases, so she won't earn many gratitude points. However, after earning so many gratitude points, it's time for her to give back to the people. Anyway, it's to harvest the system's wool, so that the people of Dunchuan,
It is also a good thing to feel the care of the system.
This day and a half of selling grains has accumulated 18,766 gratitude points for her, which is enough for her to buy more than 100,000 kilograms of grains. This much grain is probably more than what the grain merchants in the county have.
The total amount of food was even more, enough to alleviate the food shortage, so Ye Chuqiu felt confident.
Rubbing her hands, she started to sign in.
However, after a while, Ye Chuqiu looked at the pile of useless things in front of him and wanted to cry but had no tears.