Zhang San waited at the gate of the city until the sun turned west, then got on the carriage to go to Wang Sima to see how the preparations were. So far, more than twenty teams of grain merchants have entered Xuzhou City.
There were probably some grain merchants from the counties below, and Zhang San thought: Sure enough, merchants have the most sensitive sense of smell and the fastest reaction. The relief materials prepared by the imperial court are still on the way, and these grain merchants have already arrived first.
It is now the time of autumn harvest everywhere, and more grain merchants will definitely come later, and it will be the time for Zhang San to cut leeks.
"Uncle Zhang, you are here, please take a seat." When Wang Sima saw Zhang San coming in, he quickly put down what he was doing and saluted.
The arrival of the grain merchants today gave Xuzhou officials a lot of confidence. Seeing all this, Zhang San, the trader, was very enthusiastic and full of admiration in his heart.
Sure enough, someone who can become a county magistrate at this age is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
"Wang Sima, you're welcome. I'm here to see how the arrangements for the temple fair you have prepared are going." Zhang San said.
"The arrangements have been made according to your idea. Mr. Song has promised to fund this temple fair and invite some opera troupes to perform. Gao Fusheng also said that he will invite some acrobats." Wang Sima said with a smile.
"That's good. Xuzhou's economy is in a slump right now. We need some early guidance. Once the economy is revitalized, other merchants will naturally catch wind of it and come here. Coupled with the grain merchants outside, this temple fair will definitely be a success.
Inject a source of life into Xuzhou's economy."
"What Mr. Zhang said is that fortunately the emperor asked Mr. Zhang to come here to take charge of the disaster relief. On behalf of the people of Xuzhou, I would like to thank Mr. Zhang for saving the people from the fire and water." Wang Sima bowed respectfully and thanked him.
"Wang Sima doesn't have to be like this. Besides, it's just the beginning. We don't know what it will develop into later." Zhang San said quickly.
"Although it's just the beginning, since you came here, I have seen the hope of successful disaster relief. Before that, we tried our best and tried our best, but we couldn't achieve what we have now. You just came here for a short time."
It has brought different changes to Xuzhou in just a few days, which makes the official admire him very much!" Wang Sima said sincerely.
"Wang Sima was very complimentary. We still need to cooperate sincerely to overcome the difficulties together and strive to find a new life for the victims as soon as possible." Zhang San replied.
After Zhang San and Wang Sima talked about the details of the temple fair, they left and went back to wait for the temple fair to start.
When Xu Changliang and Yu Mingsheng came back that night, they both expressed their respect to Zhang San. The method Zhang San originally mentioned has now begun to bear fruit. After more grain merchants gather, they can start the next step.
With Wang Sima's deliberate publicity, more and more people know that Xuzhou will hold a grand temple fair in Dongxifang City to pray to the Dragon King to send down rain and save the people from the fire and water; at the same time, Song Lao, Gao Fusheng and others
The sponsors involved in the temple fair also went out to publicize and build momentum for the temple fair.
"Sir, we are going to officially hold a memorial ceremony tomorrow and start the three-day Dragon King Temple Fair." Wang Sima reported to Zhang San.
"Okay, you just have to proceed as planned. It must be grand and attractive. Now that there are more and more grain merchants in the city, it's time." Zhang San replied.
…
"Master, just now the carrier pigeon came again with news that the governor of Xuzhou ordered the counties to intercept some of the victims and resettle them in other places. Zhang San spent the whole day eating, drinking and having fun. Except for the first day when he went out to investigate the disaster, the rest were in the city. In addition,
There was a lot of bran added to the porridge eaten by the victims; and the last time Zhang San invited guests to dinner, he secretly used the emperor's name to promise to build merit monuments for the landlords, gentry and wealthy businessmen." Butler Zheng said to Zheng Xuan.
"Is this really happening?" Zheng Xuan's eyes lit up, especially the matter of feeding bran to the victims, which made Zheng Xuan see an opportunity to attack Zhang San. It would then depend on where Li Shimin would put his face.
"It should be true." Butler Zheng replied.
Zheng Xuan originally wanted to arrange for Wei Zheng to go to Xuzhou to provide disaster relief. Without Wei Zheng's involvement, it would be easier to operate at Yushitai.
Later, I suddenly changed my mind and thought that if I just brought Zhang San over to provide disaster relief, what would he be able to do with his weak legs?
As long as Zhang San made mistakes in disaster relief, Zheng Xuan would have reason to mobilize some officials to force Li Shimin to go to the palace to seek more benefits for the family, and at the same time eliminate Li Shimin's purpose of supporting a poor family member to rise to power.
In order to get Li Shimin to agree, Zheng Xuan made great sacrifices and gave up several important positions controlled by the family. Only then did Li Shimin finally agree to send Zhang San as the inspection envoy to preside over disaster relief in Xuzhou.
"Go and call Minister Cui over, and Zheng Qing by the way. I have something to tell them," Zheng Xuan said.
Zhang San didn't know that when he was too busy on the front line to provide disaster relief, the DPRK and the Central Government were already quarreling because of his actions.
Fortunately, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng and others supported Zhang San, and Li Shimin knew more details, so Zhang San was not punished for this, and the matter was temporarily suppressed.
Zhang San knew nothing about what happened in Chang'an. Today was the second day of the Dragon King Temple Fair. Zhang San was visiting the temple fair accompanied by Wang Sima.
Zhang Fu, Genzi, and Erwazi followed Zhang San, and several other members of the escort team were continuing to go to various counties to check the disaster situation and report the news to Zhang San.
"Oh, this is awesome. It's just that it's breathing fire in broad daylight, but the effect is not very good." Zhang San saw a shirtless man performing fire breathing, and excitedly gathered around to watch, and commented at the same time.
"This pastry is delicious. Zhang Fu will buy some more and take them back, and let Yu Shishi and Xu Yushi try them in the evening." Zhang San stuffed a piece of mung bean cake into his mouth and said to Zhang Fu vaguely.
If Wang Sima didn't know the truth, he would really think that Zhang San came to go shopping and have fun.
"Uncle Zhang, why don't we go to the Dragon King Temple in front to watch a show?" Wang Sima suggested as he felt a little tired after walking around with Zhang San.
"I don't like going to the theater, and I don't understand what I'm talking about. You can go by yourself, I still want to go shopping." Zhang San quickly shook his head and refused.
When the temple fair started yesterday, Zhang San had already gone to see it. He sat there and watched it for a long time without understanding what was being sung, but the citizens of Xuzhou watched it with gusto and cheered loudly.
"Well, I'd better go shopping with you, sir!" Wang Sima was embarrassed to leave first, so he said.
"Haha, no need, you go ahead. The main event is over there. You go and hold the battle to avoid any mistakes." Zhang San found a high-sounding reason for Wang Sima.
"Okay! I'll go over there first. If you need anything, send someone to call me over there." Wang Sima didn't insist anymore. He had been exhausted for the past two days for this temple fair.
Ever since the drought in Xuzhou became more serious, Xuzhou has not been so lively for a long time. There is an endless stream of people coming and going, watching performances and juggling, and exchanging the items they need.
Qian Tong also arranged for people to select a group of skilled refugees to come to the city and arrange some work for them.
As the first batch of grain merchants entering the city successfully sold out their grain, more grain merchants also flocked to Xuzhou, and the government's disaster relief grain funds finally arrived, Zhang San was ready to close the shop and start harvesting leeks.