One hundred and sixty-seventh section of the long profit warehouse of rice
To be able to produce 50,000 kilograms of rice from the ground in Nanzhi is not something that ordinary businessmen can do. Shen Tingyang said that he would also come up with a solution - Wuhu on the Yangtze River is a large grain distribution center, and maybe he can raise funds there. After receiving a considerable amount of grain, he tried to raise it within a month. Zhao Yingong returned to Qiwei's Shanghai branch and called Mao Sansheng to discuss the matter.
Since Mao Sansheng arrived in Shanghai, although Qiwei is mainly engaged in logistics business, he has handled more goods and accumulated a lot of experience.
"I'm afraid it's impossible to buy rice in the market recently," Mao Sansheng said. "We have business dealings with merchants in several rice markets. The price of the market has risen sharply recently, but they are reluctant to sell it: the price of the market is tens of dan. With the amount of one or two hundred dan, it is difficult to buy one or two thousand dan in one go."
Qiweizhan is mainly engaged in warehousing and logistics, and has the most dealings with bulk cargo merchants like Mihang. Mao Sansheng's words are naturally reliable.
"I need to raise 50,000 kilograms of rice now, and I need it within a month."
Mao Sansheng took a breath: "Master, this is a bit difficult."
"If you put some thought into buying, how much can you buy?"
"Every household went there, and based on past favors and honors, we could probably collect more than 10,000 dan. It's just hard to say the price." Mao Sansheng said that the final average price might be more than 30 taels of silver.
"So expensive!" Zhao Yingong was a little unwilling.
"If I could buy rice at this price, I would already think it was a great deal."
"Okay, you go ahead and send someone to do it. Buy as much as you can. All the rice you buy will be shipped to Shanghai."
The goal of 10,000 shi rice was still far away. Although Zhao Yingong found it very difficult, he could only work hard to sit in Shanghai and arrange the purchase of rice.
Although natural disasters continued in the Nanzhi area, it was one of the few places that could be called "stable" under the Ming Dynasty. The social order was generally normal, so the food supply was sufficient. Although the price of brown rice increased, rice merchants were reluctant to sell. , but as long as you are willing to pay, you can still buy rice.
Originally, the price of rice at this time was constantly rising. The large-scale acquisitions by Shen Tingyang and Zhao Yingong caused the price of rice to continue to rise. Originally, the price of rice in Nanzhi, Anhui and other places was relatively low, and it could still flow to the serious price this year. Zhejiang, which is short of grain, has insufficient supplies. However, although the number of purchases continues to increase, a large amount of grain and rice begins to flow to Shanghai, which has more convenient transportation conditions.
The price of rice in the Hangjiahu area, which suffered from floods and droughts last year, originally benefited from the distribution of relief grains by the Famine Relief Bureau and was for a time. At this time, the price of rice began to rise, quietly exceeding three qian per dou of rice, and rising by 15% in a row. Day. By mid-June, the price of rice in Hangzhou had risen to three cents and six cents, which was close to four cents, the price during the food shortage.
Zhao Yingong, who was far away in Shanghai, was completely unaware of this change. Although social and financial information from various places were sent to his desk every week, he was busy purchasing grain and coordinating business contracts with Liaohai Bank, and had no intention of paying attention to it.
Although Zhao Yingong and Shen Tingyang spent a lot of effort, they only bought more than 20,000 shi in half a month. According to this progress, they may not be able to collect 50,000 shi by the latest departure time in July.
Zhao Yingong worried about this every day. He kept thinking about whether to send a distress telegram to Lingao. Although under the current situation, it was still possible for Lingao to transport 20,000 shi of brown rice to him, but this would seriously affect his image.
Just when he was in a dilemma, things took a turn for the better. Wu Zhixiang suddenly came to visit him.
After Wu Zhixiang came to Jiangnan, she successfully joined the Fushe by recruiting key members of the Fushe such as Zhang Dai in Hangzhou. With her active enthusiasm for social affairs, she soon became a well-known Fushe member in Hangzhou Prefecture. Because she knew
It was extremely difficult for him to pass the imperial examination - even Fushe was unwilling to arrange for an unlearned and unskilled playboy like him to pass the examination. So he spent money to donate the title of an Imperial College student. Now he is waiting for the opportunity to get Fushe.
Recommended, get an official position through the relationship with Donglin boss.
Wu Zhixiang had established a relationship with Zhao Yingong through Zhang Dai and others very early. Based on his experience in interacting with Guo Daguan in Guangzhou, he was convinced that Zhao Yingong was also a "concubine". However, he did not expose this layer.
.Zhao Yingong knew his true identity and also intended to win over him, and the two parties began to interact with each other tacitly.
The matter of Shen Tingyang's transportation of grain and wages to Liaodong has long been known within Fushe - this matter was indeed successful with the support of Fushe and Donglin. Therefore, it is not a secret that China Merchants Bureau also joined it. From Fushe's point of view,
Although Zhao Yingong was not a member of the Fushe and had a suspicious background as a "conspirator", he was a fellow traveler of the Fushe during the abolition of the canal reform. Because of his religious connections, he had a close relationship with Xu Guangqi and others. This pair of people urgently needed a cabinet minister.
It is also an important ally for the Donglin Fushe Group supported by Mr.
What Wu Zhixiang brought was exactly what Shen Tingyang and Zhao Yingong had dreamed of: rice - plenty of rice. Not only was it more than enough to make up for the shortfall of 30,000 shi, it would not be a problem to ask for more.
The rice is not in Jiangnan, but the distance is not far. The key is that it is not difficult to transport it to Shanghai. As long as the two parties negotiate the terms, delivery can be made soon.
As for the price, it's not expensive. It costs only two taels of silver per stone to be shipped to Shanghai. Even if it's not shipped to Liaodong, you can still make money by selling it locally.
Although Zhao Yingong was happy, he also had great doubts: Pies would not fall from the sky. He really couldn't think of a place in the Ming Dynasty where cheap rice worth tens of thousands of shi could be easily produced.
If he hadn't known everything about Wu Zhixiang's background and his "performance" in Guangzhou, he might have directly regarded him as a swindler.
"Where is the rice?" Zhao Yingong asked.
"Qingjiangpu."
Zhao Yingong secretly felt ashamed that he had forgotten this place!
Qingjiangpu belongs to Shanyang County, Huai'an Prefecture. Although it is just a town in itself, since Chen Xuan opened the port in the early Ming Dynasty and changed water transportation from sea to river, it has become a transportation hub for water and land transportation from north to south.
When Chen Xuan presided over the canal administration in the early Ming Dynasty, he instituted a grain "transportation" system, that is, in Huai'an, Xuzhou, Linqing and other important towns along the canal, separate transit granaries were built to receive grain sent by civilian ships from designated areas. Chang Ying
The warehouse is located in Qingjiangpu, where 1.5 million shi of grain from Jiangxi, Huguang, and Zhejiang are transferred and stored. The annual grain storage is more than 1 million shi.
Since there is a large granary, there are inevitably countless large and small rats. Around this large warehouse, there are water transporters, warehouse managers, from the head of the household department responsible for the Prime Minister's warehouse affairs, to the Kudin who carries grain and rice, and the people on the ship.
Caoding...there are countless people of all kinds who eat Cao. The four million shi of grain transported to the capital every year, the freight and losses on the road are as high as 8 million shi. Qingjiangpu is the largest of the suction channels along the way. Precipitation here
It is no surprise that a large amount of warehouse rice has been placed for sale.
Of course Wu Zhixiang is not a "big rat", but his father is currently working in the Ministry of Household Affairs. He has a share of the benefits of Changyingcang in Qingjiangpu.
The "benefits" hoarded in Qingjiangpu must be turned into money before they can be spent. Anyone from the household department, from the minister to the secretary, who can get the benefits in Changyingcang has this problem of cashing out.
In the past, this benefit was nothing, and someone had to contact him. However, the amount of grain to be cashed out this time was huge, not only from the benefit of Wu Zhixiang's father, but also from the storage accumulated by many people in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Ordinary businessmen do not have this strength.
, Wu Zhixiang thought of Mr. Zhao, who had a background of Kun thieves. When he was in Guangzhou, he knew that Kun thieves had a very strong demand for food, basically they could only get in but not get out. It was impossible for Mr. Zhao not to be interested in this.
The two parties quickly reached an agreement: Wu Zhixiang should transport 30,000 shi of brown rice to Shanghai at least before mid-July, and any excess would be ignored. The China Merchants Bureau would purchase it at a CIF price of 2 taels of silver per shi.
"Thirty thousand stone meters have been delivered as scheduled. Is there any problem?" Zhao Yingong was a little worried. In an era when transportation and communication were very backward, long-distance transportation of bulk goods was calculated on a monthly basis. To transport so much rice from Qingjiangpu to Shanghai, even if there is one
Months are not easy either.
"Mr. Zhao, you can rest assured. This is the time when the canal boats that have spent the winter in the north are returning south. There are a lot of empty canal boats in Qingjiangpu. Those transporters are willing to return with cargo to earn a few more."
"Okay, then I'll just wait for the good news." Zhao Yingong nodded, "We have an agreement."
"It's a deal." Wu Zhixiang's face turned red with excitement. This was the first time he had made such a big deal! When he thought about what his father and brother would think of him, he couldn't help but get excited. He has been a playboy all these years.
Although his family had no control over him and allowed him to live in Guangzhou, he was looked down upon by his family. He himself felt inferior to others.
Zhao Yingong also told him that if there were any mistakes in transportation, he must be notified as soon as possible, and he would arrange for Wei Zhan to take over.
"No problem, I will definitely be able to handle this matter." Wu Zhixiang agreed wholeheartedly.
"Okay, then it all depends on you, brother." Although Zhao Yingong felt uneasy, his promise was cash on delivery. Even if something unexpected happened to this dude during his food transportation, it would have nothing to do with him. In the end, it was nothing more than cash on delivery.
It's because cheap grain cannot be transported, so he makes less money. If the shipped rice is traded at a CIF price of six taels per stone, the profit of 120,000 taels will be enough to pay Guan Ning's military salary and pay for all the miscellaneous expenses along the way.
.The freight paid by the court is the net profit of China Merchants Bureau.
This young master Wu was very close to Guangzhou Station at the beginning. He was a young man who was deeply "poisoned by Australia's decadent culture". Moreover, his family was aboriginal in Guangxi, and he had always been listed as a cooperation partner that the Senate could use. Now it is just right.
Let's take this opportunity to see how capable Master Wu is and whether he is qualified to be a future "collaborator" of the Senate.