The snow lies in the vast expanse, leaving a dream, the cold wind is swirling for thousands of miles, the clouds are smiling wherever the smoke waves pass, some families are happy and some are sad.
This rare blizzard is extremely unfortunate for the people in Guanzhong.
If there are no accidents, many people will be frozen or even lose their lives in this blizzard.
But they are lucky, because the sudden appearance of briquettes on the market recently has become a life-saving straw.
Briquettes are cheap and can not only solve the heating problem but also serve as firewood. They are simply a must-have heating item for families.
It is no exaggeration to say that with briquettes, you no longer have to worry about heating in the cold winter.
You don’t even need to prepare firewood for cooking, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
As the saying goes, some people are happy and some are worried, which is a great thing for poor people.
But for some aristocratic families and wealthy households who are bent on enriching the country and hoarding large amounts of charcoal, this is a source of worry.
In the Cui Mansion in Chang'an City, although the main hall was as warm as spring, Cui Yongjian couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
At this time, the air in the lobby seemed to have solidified, and even breathing could be heard.
Cui Yongjian, who was usually very casual, no longer dared to sit down. Instead, he stood with lowered eyebrows and trembling in shock.
From time to time, he glanced at Cui Yongping, who was sitting on the couch as if he was asleep, with his peripheral vision, looking uneasy.
Several times I wanted to open my mouth to speak, but as soon as I opened my mouth, I held back.
After a long while, Cui Yongping slowly opened his eyes, although he looked calm on the surface.
But the cold light flashing in his eyes from time to time can reveal the anger in his heart.
"How is the situation now?" Cui Yongping took a deep breath and asked.
Seeing that Cui Yongping was not furious, Cui Yongjian said cautiously: "Brother, today all our Cui's stores have reduced the price of charcoal by 50%, but they haven't sold much. Looking at this situation, if we can't sell it anymore,
, when all the briquettes take over the market, they will probably be in their hands.”
Since Cui's monopoly on purchasing large amounts of charcoal some time ago, the charcoal in Cui's shop has already piled up like a mountain.
The original plan was to sell it at a high price in two days when there was an extreme shortage of charcoal.
In this way, not only can you watch Yang Fan's jokes, but you can also make a lot of money.
Everything originally went according to plan, and the price of charcoal also skyrocketed.
Not to mention how beautiful Cui Yongping’s mood has been these days!
Even the newly married concubine felt the majesty of her master.
Although the weather has been getting colder and colder these days, the price of charcoal has suddenly changed, and Cui Yongping can no longer be happy.
A thing called honeycomb briquettes came out. Because of its cheap price and strong firepower, it instantly occupied the charcoal fire market.
Although honeycomb briquettes are made from toxic coal.
However, with the help of the imperial court to promote it and field tests, briquettes were quickly accepted by ordinary people.
The smell of burning briquettes may be more pungent than that of charcoal, but compared to freezing to death, what is this?
Therefore, Cui, who originally wanted to make a fortune, bought the charcoal at a high price and instantly turned it into a slow-selling item.
Except for some wealthy households who dislike the pungent smell of briquettes and continue to use charcoal, no one is willing to buy it at a high price.
Cui Yongping, who has been an official in the government for many years, certainly has some means and courage, and knows that if he continues to make mistakes, he will be subject to chaos.
What's more, the reason why Mr. Cui is hoarding a large amount of charcoal this time is not only to make a lot of money, but also to vent his anger on himself.
Unexpectedly, he failed to catch the geese and was pecked in the eye by the eagle.
Thinking of this, Cui Yongping said in a deep voice: "Go ahead and lower the price by 50% if you can't sell it. If you can't sell it, you can drop it by 70%. If you can't sell it by 70%, you can drop it by 90%."
Cui Yongjian's eyes widened in disbelief. He thought Cui Yongping had no business experience, so he immediately reminded:
"Brother, most of our charcoal was purchased at a high price a few days ago. Now it has dropped to five percent and we have already lost half of it. If the price drops further, we will lose all our money."
Cui Yongping snorted coldly: "Of course I know that I will lose money. When the weather gets warmer, these charcoals will be really useless. Anyway, I can't let these charcoals rot in my hands. By the way, how much charcoal are you still hoarding now?"
"Over a million pounds..." Cui Yongjian hesitated, a little timid!
Cui Yongping frowned: "How come there are so many? Didn't we only collect hundreds of thousands of catties in the past few days?"
"It's not the Changsun family..." Cui Yongjian immediately explained through gritted teeth and an angry look on his face.
It turned out that after Changsun Wuji saw the briquettes invented by Yang Fan, he immediately told his servants to sell the charcoal quietly when he returned to his house.
At that time, Cui Yongjian was also proud to purchase charcoal, making Cui the biggest takeover.
When Cui Yongping heard this, he could no longer maintain his calm expression, and said fiercely with red eyes: "Changsun Wuji, from now on, the Cui family and you are incompatible..."
But we also know that in this world, there are always winners and losers.
Even though he knew he was being plotted, he could only grit his teeth and swallow it, waiting for revenge when the opportunity arose.
The emergence of briquettes made the frozen city of Chang'an come alive again.
And as the sales of briquettes are getting higher and higher, it can be regarded as popular in Chang'an.
Naturally, the impact of briquettes has become an important talk among people after dinner.
The Sihai Inn in Chang'an City is now full of guests who used to have a similar number of guests.
Zhao Laosi and his wife were happily greeting the guests.
The originally cold Sihai Inn was now filled with heat, and coal stoves were burning briquettes in every corner.
Because briquettes are cheap, Zhao Laosi is quite willing to do so.
It was lunch time at this time, so naturally everyone's topic couldn't be separated from this matter.
"It's so pleasant. This is an inn! It used to be so cold and cold that it was hardly a place for people to live!"
A middle-aged man with a burly build and a sinewy face gulped down the wine in his bowl and let out a hearty laugh.
An old man at the same table said with emotion: "Yes, I have traveled all over the country for decades, and I have never seen such a heavy snowstorm. I have no intention of stopping at all. If it weren't for the briquettes, my old bones might really be able to survive."
Explain it here."
A young man next to him said angrily: "In fact, in my opinion, the most terrifying thing is not the blizzard, but the guys who deliberately hoard charcoal. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have almost frozen to death some time ago."
At this time, Zhao Laosi was walking over with dishes. When he heard this, he said: "What the guest said is that it is all the fault of those who deliberately hoarded charcoal, but now they are in trouble!"
The old man was a little confused: "Why is this?"
Zhao Laosi chuckled: "I went shopping this morning and heard that the merchants who were hoarding charcoal were selling it at low prices. They used to charge ten or twenty cents per catty, but now they only sell it for four or five cents and no one buys it. I really deserve it.
, this time they will definitely lose all their money. I really want to thank Uncle Zhongyi. If he hadn’t invented briquettes, I don’t know how many people would have died in this snow disaster!”
The young man asked: "This briquette was invented by Uncle Zhongyi. Who is Uncle Zhongyi? Can the shopkeeper tell us?"
"It seems that these guest officials are not from Guanzhong. Anyway, I have time, so I will tell you..." Seeing that nothing happened, Zhao Laosi stopped and told what he knew.
After hearing this, the young man's face was full of admiration: "Loyal and righteous Bo is truly benevolent and righteous. If you have the chance, I will definitely have a few drinks with him..."
However, he was slapped on the back of the head by the old man: "What are you dreaming about? I heard from the shopkeeper that Uncle Zhongyi is a living Bodhisattva. Even you are worthy of it?"
Zhao Laosi chuckled: "Old man, Uncle Zhongyi is actually very kind. My brother-in-law works in his house. I heard that Uncle Zhongyi even took the initiative to say hello to him!"
The middle-aged man picked up the wine bowl and said boldly: "I don't care about the rest, but this time Uncle Zhongyi punished these people who were greedy for wealth and made them lose all their money. We really should celebrate..."
After saying that, Gulu Gulu fucked another bowl.
The middle-aged man's words were recognized by everyone, and they all applauded.
The common people don't care how fanciful you say, they will remember whoever treats them well!
For a while, everyone had a heated discussion, which made this cold winter seem not so cold.