Old shopkeeper Zhang raised his concerns, the first of which was about whether to take the water route or the land route.
"The waterway can reach Yangzhou Prefecture directly. Although the canal is impassable and one has to abandon the boat and go ashore, it is only fifty miles away from Yangzhou City. It is also very convenient to transport it back and forth by oxcart from the Yangtze River pier. However, it is a waste of time and requires more manpower.
If it’s more, the cost will just increase. Why did the boss choose to go overland?”
Yan Biyun said: "The slave family thinks that Su Jin may be worried that it will be too much trouble. Shipping and shipping from Luzhou requires a lot of trouble, and getting on the ship and arriving at the boundary of Yangzhou has to go ashore again. The cost issue is not the main issue, but the back and forth.
The delay may be even longer, and if we need dozens of ships to travel by water now, I am afraid that there are not so many ships at Luzhou Pier, and we have to go to the south for dispatch, so the delay will be too long."
Zhang Rongqin stroked his beard and said: "It seems that the big boss is very anxious and wants to transport the grain to Yangzhou one day early."
Yan Biyun said: "Yes, people in Yangzhou have already started to make trouble. It is said that there is no food in the market. The price of rice on the black market is as high as two thousand five hundred and sixty-one stones. The people can't afford the food and are hungry, so trouble will naturally arise."
b Sure enough, a food crisis is about to break out.”
Yan Biyun said: "Is there anyone in Luzhou who takes the initiative to sell official grain?"
Shopkeeper Zhao Da interjected: "There is no one. Everyone is holding grain as gold. The imperial court's meal reduction order is telling everyone that the price of grain will rise. Tang Jiyuan and others from the Chamber of Commerce are holding grain and planning to make a fortune. The imperial court's
It was as if the matter had fallen on deaf ears."
Yan Biyun frowned and said, "Is that really so? Don't they know the time limit set by the court? After November 20th, they will be forcibly confiscated, and they will be punished for it."
Zhang Rongqin smiled and said: "President Tang has great hands and eyes, how can he be afraid of such things? I am afraid that the food is so hoarded that even the mice cannot be found. I am afraid that it is confiscated by force. I am afraid it is just a talk."
Yan Biyun remained silent, and Rou Niang said softly: "I'm afraid this errand will not be easy for Master."
Shopkeeper Zhao Da said: "Yes, we first heard that our boss was summoned by the emperor and entrusted with an important position. We thanked God with Lao Zhang and the others, but when we heard that it was this job, everyone was sweating."
Yan Biyun smiled and said: "It is difficult, but the slave family believes in Su Jin. In such a difficult situation in Yingtian Mansion, if you are not careful, you will be in danger of your life. If you are in his hands, you can still get it back. I believe in him.
"
Zhang Rongqin and others suddenly felt ashamed. His own family members had no confidence in him, but Yan Biyun had the greatest confidence in him. This was completely reversed.
"But I have to remind you that transporting grain by land is probably very difficult. Originally, I thought it was a waterway, so there is no need to worry about this problem."
Yan Biyun said: "Is the old shopkeeper worried about driving problems?"
Zhang Rongqin shook his head and said: "What a problem this is. Five hundred oxcarts can gather here in Luzhou in the past two days. This is not a problem at all."
Yan Biyun said happily: "Are there so many cars? Previously, the Nu family was worried about not having any cars. Su Jin seemed to be in a hurry. He even wrote a letter asking the people from the Bodyguard Department to go to Tianchang to find Li Zhong to find a solution. It's just the people from the Bodyguard Department.
I didn’t go at all, and the slave family had two quarrels with the commander of the bodyguard department because of this.”
Zhang Rongqin said: "Tianchang? Are you kidding? It's almost halfway to Yangzhou Mansion. It's such a long journey back and forth."
Yan Biyun covered her mouth and smiled and said: "Su Jin is probably too anxious. He is afraid that he doesn't know where Tian Chang is."
Everyone laughed, and the image of Su Jin scratching his head and waving his hands anxiously appeared in front of their eyes.
"Just having a car is not enough. Does Yan Dong's family know about the recent banditry in Bagong Mountain?" Zhang Rongqin put away his smile and said seriously.
"Bagong Mountain? Is it that big mountain within the jurisdiction of Huainan Road Administration Office?"
"It seems that Yan Dong's family is unaware of it. It is indeed that mountain. There have been a lot of bandits gathering there recently, and there have been frequent raids. More than a dozen batches of goods heading north have been robbed in Luzhou Prefecture and Huainan Road. Even the bodyguards of the Escort Bureau have been robbed.
No one is immune; bandits are very rampant. The Yong'an Army stationed in Luzhou Prefecture and the Shouzhou Zhongzheng Army jointly encircled and suppressed three times but were defeated by the bandits. I am worried that if such a large amount of food is shipped out, will it be delivered to my door for them to rob?"
Yan Biyun was so shocked that he opened his eyes wide and said, "Is there such a thing? There are actually bandits."
Old shopkeeper Zhang sighed: "I can't help it, I don't know what happened."
Shopkeeper Zhao shouted: "What else could be going on? It's not that I can't survive now, otherwise who would be willing to become a bandit."
Zhang Rongqin quickly signaled shopkeeper Zhao to shut up, looked outside carefully, and said reproachfully: "You are also talking nonsense like this. I think you are too young to live like a dog. Do you want to spread this matter?"
Is it bad luck to implicate Su Ji?"
Shopkeeper Zhao Da quickly covered his mouth with his hand and said, "I couldn't hold it back for a while and it leaked out."
Yan Biyun turned around and told Xiao Xian'er: "Xian'er go to the door and watch. No unrelated people are allowed to approach the backyard."
Xiao Xian'er agreed and went, and then Yan Biyun asked: "Two old shopkeepers, why can't the people survive?"
Zhang Rongqin lowered his voice and said: "It's not about grain. To be honest with Yan Dong's family, Su Ji's family is the only one who has opened a grain shop in Luzhou now. The other shops have been closed since ten days ago. They say they sell grain and rice."
Fortunately, people still have some food in their homes, otherwise chaos would have started long ago."
Yan Biyun was shocked: "If this continues, won't it be the second Yangzhou? How can Su Ji and his family get so much food when they start their business?"
Old shopkeeper Zhang said: "Originally, this matter was to be reported to the Dadong family, but when I sent Yang Xiaosi to Yingtian Mansion, I heard that the Dadong family had gone to the capital, so I made my own decision after discussing with the mistress and other shopkeepers.
Solution: Now Su Ji's six grain stores are only open for two hours every day, and each store can only sell a hundred liters of grain every day, while supplies last, and each store is limited to two liters a day. I want to be a big boss.
Here I will also agree with the decision I made without authorization."
Yan Biyun was silent. He didn't expect that this place would soon be unbearable. Six hundred stones per day, eighty thousand stones only lasted more than a hundred days, and what kind of food would these six hundred stones be enough for? There were hundreds of thousands of people in Luzhou City, how could it be said every day?
Do you just live on these 600 shi of food?
"Every day in the early morning, there is a long queue in front of the door. The people squeeze in for these two liters of rice. It's really unbearable to see." Zhang Rongqin sighed.
Yan Biyun thought for a while and said: "The Chamber of Commerce is naturally unwilling to sell it. Isn't the prefect's Yamen also worried about this matter?"
Zhang Rongqin said: "Not only did Zhu Shiyong think of nothing, he also sent people to warn us time and time again that we were blocking the market and disrupting the market with low prices. However, the young master gave him a good look last time, but he just talked and didn't take action."
Yan Biyun lowered his head and thought for a while, then raised his head and said softly: "It's impossible to count on others. I think you will increase the quota of grain sales. You will have to wait until November 20th. There are still 20 days to get through. Then the next step will be
There may be a turning point."
Zhang Rongqin said: "How can it be done? Such a big thing requires the approval of the big boss. If it continues to be sold like this, once it is empty, wouldn't it mean that the people from the Chamber of Commerce will sell out the monopoly market?"
Rou Niang said softly: "Old shopkeeper, Yan Dong's family has good intentions. The young master is now the special envoy of grain affairs, and he has to handle food preparation matters in various states. If there is a fire everywhere, how can you ask the young master to do errands? Besides, the young master will be here.
Yingtian also told the slave family that if the people really have no food and have to beg for food for the hungry, they will have to help even if they use up all their family resources. The three words "loyalty, trust and benefit" set by the master are not a joke.
of."
Zhang Rongqin thought for a while and said: "In fact, the old man is also thinking about Su Ji's family business. Is it possible that he will destroy Su Ji in his hands? Since everyone says so, and the old man is willing to do this, let's first relax it to one thousand shi per day.
, in a real crisis, we can open a porridge shed and serve porridge as the big boss said. We Su Ji can make less money, but we can't let the store's motto become empty talk."
Yan Biyun smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, old shopkeeper, Su Jin will definitely get greater rewards for doing this. Think about it, is your big boss the kind of person who is willing to suffer losses?"
When everyone thought about it, it was true that this man was willing to suffer losses in vain. Since he said so, he must have a reason.dd