Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 296 Coping
Two days later, the city strike organized by Liu Xingwen, Xu Qiming and others officially started in Yangzhou and other big cities.

In the Jiangnan area where the handicraft industry is already very developed, because a large amount of farmland has been replanted with mulberry, most of the rice noodles in Suzhou and other big cities are shipped from Huguang and other places, and then distributed by more than a dozen large and small grain stores in the city.

It is precisely because the daily supply of rice grains is very sufficient, and there is never any worry about food shortages, so the residents of these big cities do not have the habit of stockpiling grains, but only buy enough grains for a family for a few days at a time, and go to Just buy it at the grain store.

On the first day after the strike started, residents in several prefectural cities suddenly discovered that almost all the grain, oil, salt and various grocery stores in the city had their doors closed, and there was not even a note on the door why they were closed. stick.

In the Fucheng of Yangzhou, just when many residents in the city were baffled with baskets and pockets ready to buy these daily necessities, a sensational news quietly spread among the crowd: the imperial court was short of money, and was going to tax the wealthy people in the south of the Yangtze River , Whether it is a worker or a businessman, everyone has to pay a variable amount of poll tax. If the tax is not paid, the imperial court will not allow food from other places to be transported to the south of the Yangtze River, and the people in the south of the Yangtze River will be forced to submit by cutting off food.

"Ah? How could the imperial court act like this? How can there be any talk of taxing civilians?"

"Is this news true or false?"

"Since there are rumors, they should be true! There are traitors in the court!"

"I wait for ordinary people to work hard and earn some money to support our families. Why do we have to pay taxes? It's unreasonable!"

"It's not that Emperor Shenzong has never paid taxes. What's so strange about it? At worst, I'll just gather people to protest the taxes later!"

"When the sky is falling, there is a tall character standing on top of it. What do we people care about that? We should hurry up and find a way to buy some rice noodles and go home, otherwise the price will increase when it is not good!"

"Old Ding is right! Let's talk about it in front of our eyes!"

"But this grain and oil store is closed everywhere, where can I buy it?"

Just when everyone was discussing and at a loss, someone shouted loudly: "Sihai Commercial Bank's stores are still open! Everyone can go there to buy!"

As soon as the shouts fell, the growing crowd rushed towards the store of the Universal Commercial Bank.

In the backyard of a grain store of Sihai Commercial Bank, Han Dequan, who is in charge of the Yangzhou branch, is instructing the guys in the store to unload grain. There is a long line of black-covered boats parked on the river outside the backyard door, and the boats are full of bags of rice. It was purchased and transported by the Huguang branch of Sihai Commercial Bank from the local area.

"Little Four! Look at your feet! Why are you carrying a sack and looking around!"

"Ma Liu! You can't carry it alone! Ask someone to carry it with you! You usually eat a lot, but you have little strength!"

"Everyone, work hard! After this incident, all those who survived the difficulties with the business will be rewarded!"

After receiving the relevant notice from the head office, the storekeepers of the commercial bank within the scope of the strike began to hoard relevant daily necessities for emergencies.After Li Ruolian arrived in Yangzhou, he also dispatched a small team of captains in Jinyi to various commercial firms to deal with possible emergencies and protect the security of the commercial firms.

"Shopkeeper Han! You are not young! Let's sit down and rest for a while! Seeing you yelling for a long time, these guys are walking smoothly! Hahahaha!"

Sitting on the stool, Jin Yiwei Xiaoqi Li Fengchun said with a smile.

"General Li is laughing! This old man is a little nervous, and he always feels uneasy! The yelling makes me feel much better! Seeing that there are more and more people outside the grain store, this old man is always afraid that something bad will happen. !"

Hearing Li Fengchun's laughter, Han Dequan turned around with a little embarrassment and smiled wryly.

"I'm talking about Shopkeeper Han, this Four Seas Trading Company and my army are owned by the emperor. In this way, you and I are not outsiders, but you are doing business outside, so you may not know the prestige of my army! Let me tell you this, in Daming In the territory, apart from the emperor's family, my army is not afraid of anyone! Whether he is a cabinet minister, a local tycoon, or a general in the army, in the eyes of my army, he is a chicken and a dog! Let alone this little boy Little Yangzhou Mansion! If someone who doesn’t have long eyes dares to come and touch a tiger’s beard, my own army will teach him whether he can come or go! Just be at ease! I’m afraid that no one will dare to come!”

Li Fengchun spoke disapprovingly to comfort Han Dequan, his tone was full of pride, while Han Dequan looked skeptical.

Han Dequan, who was over [-] years old, was originally the treasurer of a commercial firm under the name of Fan Yongdou. After inspection, he was selected and sent to Yangzhou Prefecture. In the past two years, relying on his rich business experience, he moved around and brought a lot of profits to the head office.

When he was in Fan's Commercial Firm, he often dealt with middle- and lower-level officials in the yamen. From this, he knew the power of the officials in the government. He originally thought that the people in the government would be the Ming Dynasty. Then he said such bold and reckless words, with a gesture of not paying attention to the officials and lords of the world, which made him not suspicious.

"Shopkeeper, two vendors came outside the store and said they wanted to see you, and they said they would take away all the grain in our store at high prices. How should we deal with this matter?"

Seeing Han Dequan's suspicious expression, Li Fengchun was about to continue to show off when Huang Yuan, the accountant of the firm, hurried over from the front yard.

"Tell those people that the old man is in poor health and cannot see customers! The food in this store is still used for other purposes, please take care of them!"

Han Dequan, who had already planned in mind, waved his hands at Huang Yuan.

Huang Yuan agreed and turned to leave, Li Fengchun turned his head and gave a wink, and two school captains in casual clothes followed out silently.

"He uses it? Isn't this grain just for people to eat? What else is there to use? Is your grain store making money from business? What's the reason for not making a huge profit?"

In the waiting room of the grain store, a thin straight man dressed in royal blue satin questioned Huang Yuan.

"This clerk, since the manager of the store spoke, I can only obey orders, please go back, and don't delay the business of the two clerks!"

Huang Yuan replied with a smile, the thin man and the other person looked at each other, then both stood up, headed out of the living room, pushed aside the crowd who were crowded at the door to buy food, and walked to one side.

After they walked dozens of steps, two school captains in plain clothes who were waiting outside the shop quietly followed.

In the study in the backyard of Xu Qiming's mansion in Dongcheng, Yangzhou, Liu Xingwen and Xu Qiming sat opposite each other. The thin man in royal blue straight body stood at the entrance and briefly explained what happened.

"Okay, you go out, order to go down, no one is allowed to approach this courtyard!"

Xu Qiming said in a deep voice.

"Yes, sir! The villain will leave!"

After the man bowed and exited the house, and gently closed the door, Xu Qiming said, "Mr. Liu, could it be that someone has leaked the news? Although this Four Seas Trading Company has a background in the palace, it is also a palace Why do you put a lot of money in the place where you earn money, but do such a strange thing instead? Could it be that he has some schemes?"

"Sihai Commercial Bank only has two grain stores in Yangzhou. How much grain can it store? Even if it is aware of it, if it releases all the grain it has hoarded, can it meet the needs of tens of thousands of people in the city? Today's door-to-door purchase of grain is purely a It’s unnecessary! After a few days, when the Four Seas Grain Store has no rice to sell, it will be the time when chaos will break out in the city! Just wait!”

Liu Xingwen took a sip from his teacup and replied.

"I'm afraid that there will be long nights and many dreams! I guess, I'm afraid that there will be grain delivered to the Four Seas Grain Store one after another. With these two grain stores open every day, those small people in Shengdou can feel at ease! Chaos is good! When the people are in chaos, officials can give the court an excuse. This matter is of great importance, and it is best not to delay!"

Xu Qiming said.

"This statement is reasonable! But as long as there is food, it is difficult for the people to cause chaos. These small people only look at the benefits in front of them. If there is no harm to themselves, it may not be easy to use words to confuse them into chaos!"

"In my opinion, it's better to just do nothing and let the grain stockpiled in the Four Seas Grain Store be wiped out tonight! Once it is known that there is no grain to buy, and rumors spread, the people in the city will be chaotic if they don't!"

Xu Qiming stood up abruptly and said firmly.

　Thanks to book friends Three-eyed Sirius, book friends KingOfBlade, book friends 20180126134802800, and book friends KKKJK for their rewards.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)