Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 175 Jiangzhou Grain Merchants
After arranging the affairs of the supply and marketing cooperative, Wang Xiaolie left Xiangyang and went to Xinye.Administratively, Xinye should be under the jurisdiction of Dengzhou, but Wang Xiaolie set it aside as a place for military training.More than 1000 households in Xinye were also under the jurisdiction of the army.

After eating, Wang Xiaolie said to Niu Gao and Shao Ling: "You two follow me to the official hall, you have something to talk about."

In the official hall, the officials served tea.Wang Xiaolie said: "The weather in June is the hottest time of the year. Of course, soldiers in the army should not be afraid of hard work. The colder the weather, the hotter it is, they really need to practice. But these days are too hot, you can Take a break."

Niu Gao said: "Get up early in the morning, go to bed late at night, and take a rest at noon, it's really nothing."

Wang Xiaolie said: "It's good for the army to be like this. However, I think some soldiers who have been assigned to the new barracks can be given a few days off and go back to visit relatives. No matter how good our army is, There are still many rumors, but the common people don’t believe them. People in the army will be more credible if they tell them in person. After all, this army is a new one, so the common people should be familiar with us.”

Shao Ling said: "It's okay to make such a decision. However, you can only go back part of it, and it's not okay to have all of them on vacation."

"There's no reason for all of them to be on vacation! In this way, one-third of the people will go back on vacation, and the rest will stay. In the next year, a new group of people will not be on vacation after three years, and they will be discharged in five years."

Niu Gao and Shao Ling sang Nuo together.

Wang Xiaolie said: "The two of you discuss it and formulate a set of regulations. The discipline of the army must be strict, and the people must be cared for. We must not be like others. When we leave the barracks, what should the soldiers look like and what rules must be followed? Write everything down clearly. Soldiers who have been practicing here for several months and are in charge of their families on vacation must show their energy."

Niu Gao looked at Shao Ling, and said: "Zhi Zhi, what regulations do you need? After leaving the barracks, they are not soldiers, so why bother?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "They are soldiers, how can they ignore it? For example, the army has military uniforms. Do you wear them when you go out? When do you wear them? When you arrive at the pier or ferry, how do you wait for the boat? What do you do when you encounter bad people on the road? There must be regulations for these!"

Niu Gao didn't dare to talk back.Looking at Shao Ling, he sighed inwardly.Where will those who lead their own troops formulate these?
In the teahouse, Yang Shen looked at the passers-by on the road and felt upset.In the past few days, Xia Ping has traveled all over Ezhou City with him, and he has basically found out the price of food.Two hundred coins and a bucket here are indeed much more expensive than Dengzhou.However, Kang Ming, who was running the ship, died of the rising freight rate, which was three times that of previous years from Xiangyang to Ezhou.Coupled with other expenses, one bucket earns 150 Wen, and several merchants have no profit.

Xia Ping on the side was drinking tea leisurely, glanced at Yang Shen from time to time, with a relaxed expression.A foreigner, with himself by his side, what things can't be hidden?In the past few days, the price of wheat in Ezhou has been suppressed by Beixing and others, and it is set at 150 Wen provinces per bucket.In the Song Dynasty, Shengmo was used in the market, and it was said that two hundred words were actually more than 300 words.It's not for business in Dengzhou, now the price of wheat should rise to more than [-] Wen.

Sighing, Yang Shen said: "There are no other grain merchants in such a big Ezhou? Beixing must lower the price, why don't we find someone else?"

Xia Ping said: "Officer, Bei Xing is in charge of the grain business now, what's the use of finding someone else? It's not peaceful everywhere now, and long-distance grain transportation is not a profitable business. How can a businessman be willing to do it if he doesn't make money? Why don't you go back and report Let’s say, forty wen per bucket is forty wen, not much difference?”

Yang Shen shook his head: "One bucket is worth ten wen, and three million stones is 300 guan! Kongmu is not a small amount!"

Xia Ping said: "You have to sell to make money. Buying and selling is a negotiation between the two parties."

Yang Shen just sighed.Looking at the pedestrians on the street, he didn't speak.

In the evening, Xia Ping bid farewell and went home.Yang Shen bought a piece of cooked meat and a jug of wine, and returned to the inn.The past few days were really annoying, Yang Shen really had no choice but to drink away his worries.

The sun had just set, when the shop boy knocked on the door.

Yang Shen opened the door and said impatiently, "What's the matter? I just had two glasses of wine here!"

The servant said: "Reporting officer, there are two guests outside who have something important to see you. The young one dare not make the decision, so I came here to report."

Yang Shenben didn't see him, thought about it, and said: "You invite guests. — By the way, two what guests?"

The boy said: "Looking at the clothes the two of you are wearing, you must be from a wealthy family."

Yang Shen said: "How about this, I'll change clothes, and you lead me to meet them."

The boy hurriedly agreed and waited outside.Yang Shen closed the door and changed his clothes, followed the boy to the front of the inn.

Two members stood outside in the shadows in front of the door.Seeing Yang Shen coming out, he hurried forward to salute.

Yang Shen saw that they were both wearing silk and satin, and they were both slightly fat.One face is always smiling Mimi, and the other has a Chinese character face, which looks a bit serious.After thinking and thinking, Yang Shen couldn't remember that he knew each other.

An outsider said: "Guardian Yang, young Ma Qing, this is Gu Yuan, they are both grain merchants in Jiangzhou."

"Oh—" Yang Shen immediately understood why he looked at the two so ambiguously.The grain merchants in Jiangzhou came to Ezhou to find themselves. Do you need to think about something?These few are annoyed to death by the food matter, and it seems that there is a turning point.

Looking at the weather, Yang Shen said: "Since two members of the staff came here specifically to find me, you can't neglect it. There is a wine shop over there, how about we go and have a drink or two? If you have anything to say, go there and talk about it."

"Okay, okay." The two officers said, carefully looked around, and followed behind Yang Shen.

After entering the wine shop, they chose a corner seat, and the three of them sat down.Yang Shen ordered a corner of wine, ordered a plate of meat, and then asked the shopkeeper to serve some special dishes.When the wine was served, Yang Shen poured wine for the two officers.

Putting down the jug, Yang Shen smiled and said, "The two officials came to see me, what's the matter?"

Ma Qing smiled all over his face.Said: "The two of us have been in Ezhou for two or three days. We originally wanted to go to Xiangyang together, but before leaving the Hanyang Army, we heard that the officials had arrived in Ezhou, so we came back on purpose—"

Yang Shen didn't speak, but just raised his wine glass, signaling the two of them to drink.

Putting down his wine glass, Ma Qing said: "Ming people don't speak dark words. This year, there are a large number of people going south from Zhejiang, Jiangnan and other roads. They eat wheat, and the price of wheat has risen very sharply. Now the roads in Huainan are impassable, and the wheat from the north cannot be transported. Come on, there is a price but no market. We heard that Xiangyang, Dengzhou, and Tangzhou where Wang Guan is in have a big harvest of winter wheat this year, so we want to buy some."

Yang Shen said: "I came to Ezhou to sell wheat. You should know."

Ma Qing said: "We have indeed heard about this matter. However, we also heard that Ezhou's grain is unwilling to pay, and you have been unable to agree. If not, how dare we come to the officials?"

Yang Shen said: "What else have you heard?"

Ma Qing looked at Gu Yuan and said, "We also heard that grain merchants in Ezhou purposely suppressed the price of wheat in Ezhou in order to suppress the price. Jiangzhou, not far from here, now costs 350 Wenzu for a bucket of wheat, but in Ezhou It only costs two hundred Wen provinces, which is much worse."

Yang Shen's face darkened: "Is this price suppressed by the grain merchant?"

Ma Qing nodded: "That's right. And we also heard that Xia Kongmu, who was with the officials, also helped the grain merchants. This man's family was originally a rice merchant, and he was very familiar with these grain merchants. These people colluded , we must keep your wheat prices down."

Yang Shen snorted coldly.Picking up the wine glass and playing with it, there was no chatter for a long time.

Ma Qing and Gu Yuan looked at Yang Shen and didn't speak.I froze there for a while.

After a long time, Yang Shen said: "If I sell you the wheat, how much are you willing to pay?"

Ma Qing said: "Every fight is [-] yuan, and we start counting from Xiangyang Wharf! However, we are grain merchants in Jiangzhou, and we still have to pass through Ezhou along the river. We need Wang Guan to send official documents to the states along the way, so don't be blocked. "

Yang Shen nodded heavily: "Okay! You set off tomorrow and go to Xiangyang first. I will go to negotiate with the grain merchants in Ezhou. They don't want to raise the price, so I will give you all this year's wheat! They raised the price, so let's go to Xiangyang together. Observe and decide!"

(End of this chapter)