Sui Dynasty: I, Yang Guang, am both scrupulous and stable

Chapter 144 How can anyone starve to death?
When the grain store clerk heard that King Jin had arrived, he rushed into the store and called the shopkeeper from home.

The shopkeeper of the grain store is a middle-aged man, who looks like he is in his 40s or younger than [-]. He has a Chinese character face, dark skin, and the face of a farmer.

"Liu Shutong, a common man, has met His Highness the King of Jin."

This is also the first time Liu Shutong has seen a person of this level. He is also very panicked. Because he has lived for a long time, he can handle it well even if he panics.

"Aren't you asking me to come in and sit down?"

"The common people are rude. Your Highness, don't blame me. Your Highness, please come inside."

Then Yang Guang was invited into the house. All the wooden barrels that originally contained food were empty, and wooden signs with names and prices were inserted alone in the wooden barrels. The popularity of food in the city was evident.

After passing through the grain store and opening the curtain, there is a small courtyard. The shopkeeper is quite an elegant man. There are several houses next to the small courtyard where the shopkeeper, his family and a few guys live. .

"The tea and tea in this humble house are poor and cheap. I hope Your Highness will not find it objectionable."

Liu Shutong poured tea for Yang Guang, and Wang Yi tried it first before giving it to Yang Guang.

"I wonder what the purpose of Your Highness's visit today is?"

Yang Guang looked at the grain store in the front hall and said: "My subordinates told me that the price of grain in the city has skyrocketed, but your grain store is selling it at a much lower price than other grain stores. I feel strange. After three days of observation, your family is indeed like this, but is it mixed with low-quality food and sold at a low price?"

Liu Shutong hurriedly replied: "Your Highness, I misunderstood. I select all the grains in my family. I see them clearly when purchasing. I have been a grain store for nearly 40 years. I will never cheat or be ignorant." Mixing poor quality food with conscience to deceive people."

"Then why can it be so expensive?"

Liu Shutong scratched his head in embarrassment. Although the clothes he wore were of high quality and not ordinary people's clothes, he still smiled like a simple farmer.

"It's nothing. I'm not afraid of His Highness laughing when I say it. When Cao Min was a child, he promised the old shopkeeper of this shop that whenever there is a disaster, he will do his best to provide disaster relief. If there is a disaster, he will never make it difficult for the country to make money. Today, he is more than [-] years old. I earned this family business in [-] only by the help of my fellow villagers. Today, the price of food has skyrocketed, so I will sell it at a fair price, which is naturally cheaper than others, and it is not profitable."

Yang Guang was confused: "You can also do business that doesn't make money?"

Liu Shutong said without hesitation but in a calm tone: "Do it, you have to do what you promised. We will naturally make money in the prosperous business years, and we will not miss the little time when we encounter disasters."

"You said you agreed to someone else, why did you agree?"

Because it was the King of Jin who asked, Liu Shutong could only tell what happened in the past: "The grassroots lost their parents when they were eight years old. They lived in the temple and stole some tributes from the gods to eat. The old monk turned a blind eye and closed his eyes. It was considered a living." It was extremely cold that winter. When the old monk was about to die from the cold, he gave me a cloth bag and asked me to give it to the shopkeeper of Liu Ji Grain Store in the city."

"The cloth bag was heavy, so I opened it out of curiosity. There were two coins inside. I had never seen such a lot of money before. I also wondered if it was the pilgrim's money that the old monk had stolen. I wanted to take it. I walked around in exchange for food, but the old monk treated me well, and he had to do his last things, so I packed up my money and went to find a grain store."

Speaking of this, Liu Shutong was full of memories: "But the weather was too cold at that time, and I couldn't walk on the cold road. After entering the city, I couldn't help but take the money to buy hot steamed buns to eat. That's it." The gangsters on the street corner were immediately interested in the money in my arms. Fortunately, I was quite wary by nature and ran away. I was so cold that I lost all feeling. My feet were soaked and bleeding and they didn’t notice. I was lucky. Found Liu Ji Grain Store."

"Shopkeeper Liu took the money and asked me why I didn't spend it. I said I spent two cents and bought a few steamed buns to eat. I would return it to him when I made money. From that day on, shopkeeper Liu took me in. He If I don’t have a son, I will be his son. He said that he almost starved to death when he was a child, so when he grew up, he opened a grain store. I almost starved to death, so I inherited his grain store. The old shopkeeper often helped the victims of disasters, and the business of the grain store was clear. It’s great but I didn’t save any money.”

After hearing this, Yang Guang said: "So you also use money to subsidize food prices?"

Liu Shutong said with some embarrassment: "At the beginning, I almost forgot that although there have been few good years in recent years, there have been no disaster years. People seem to forget all the things in the past after they have enough food and drink to make money. Forgot, I almost can’t remember what it was like when I was about to starve to death. It seems that it’s easy to say the word “starve to death” now. I can’t even remember waiting for the pilgrims to leave the cold table in the ruined temple. It’s time to steal some tributes from the case and eat them.”

"Why did you think of it again?"

"A few days ago, my eight-year-old daughter asked me a question. She said, "Father, people outside say that some people starve to death because they cannot afford food. How is that possible?"No one will starve to death. ""

Liu Shutong's eyes were full of disappointment: "The common people don't know how to answer her question. Our family's life has improved and we have never lacked food for our children. But I know that there are many people in the world who almost starved to death like me. I think of the old shopkeeper back then. You take me in and raise me, so you feel ashamed. You should do your part and sell the food for as much as you buy. Even today we are losing money. There is a limit on how much no one can buy every day. You can help some people and count some people. .”

After Yang Guang heard what he said, he didn't hear any indignation or showing off his kindness in his words. He just told a plain and simple story. After several days of observation, he found that the grain sold in this grain store was indeed sold at a loss. , and the quality is no problem, otherwise Yang Guang would not come to the door.

"Will you continue?"

Faced with Yang Guang's question, Liu Shutong hesitated for a while and said: "Do your best. We can't make money in disaster years, and we can't make money in national disasters. You can do whatever you can, otherwise you will always feel bad." Yang Guang stood up and said, "You don't look like a businessman."

Liu Shutong didn't know how to answer Yang Guang's words, so he could only smile and say nothing.

Yang Guang didn't say anything more and left straight away, walking on the streets of Chang'an City. It has been much deserted recently than before. Rumors are spreading everywhere. Some say that the Turkic army is approaching Chang'an, and some say that the Turkic army has bypassed Chang'an. There is all kinds of news, and in this day and age, news that comes from nowhere can ferment into a big news.

Wang Yi asked beside Yang Guang: "Why does Your Highness pay so much attention to Liu Shutong of Liu Ji Grain Store?"

"No matter what the purpose is, whether it is for reputation or to do better in the future, at least Liu Shutong is really doing good things. There are very few people who can avoid making a fortune for the country under such circumstances. "

"He's a nice guy, let's see what happens next."

Yang Guang came to the newspaper's workshop. At the front of the workshop was a group of literati who were busy writing books. These people were all gathered from Lu Bi's network from various places, and there were many young and promising people among them. Generally speaking, these people are seeking official careers. It’s just not possible for everyone to become an official.

Lu Ben said that newspapers can publish your articles and spread the word. If you get a big pie, the effect will be huge. After all, everyone has also seen the communication ability of newspapers. As long as you can publish your poems in newspapers, writing articles for newspapers is just that. What do little things mean?
At the back end were newspaper workshops, movable type printing, and paper mills.

The paper from the paper mill is not yet used to make newspapers, because Yang Guang is not satisfied with the current paper, so he asked Lu Ben to build a papermaking workshop nearby. What he does is research work, and he is purely involved in the project, and uses the paper as much as possible. Manufacturing capacity is also improved.

A group of craftsmen have no worries about production and just let them study. They are happy and relaxed. Moreover, the old craftsmen have the craftsman spirit. If you let them study, they will be more serious than you think.

Go up to the second floor of the inner courtyard. The second floor is an elegant room. When you walk in, you see Yun Rui and Yun Qi, two sisters, carefully checking the layout of the newspaper to be published next.

The two heard the sound of the door opening, turned around, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"Yunrui has met His Highness Prince Jin."

"Yun Qi has met His Highness Prince Jin."

As expected of an art student studying music, his voice is always beautiful.

"How is the newspaper? Is it okay?"

Yunrui said with a smile: "Your Highness, this is the second time for us two sisters to operate the layout of the newspaper. The first time it was a little awkward, but with the experience of the first time, it became smooth the second time. There are many, and we should be able to have people start printing them in the afternoon, and they will be released early tomorrow morning."

Because Yang Guang wanted to control the food prices in the city, the newspaper was originally published every five or six days, but urgently mentioned that it would be published every two days. The workload increased greatly. Yun Rui and Yun Qi were now arranged by him to take over the newspaper. This thing seems to be quite suitable for the young artistic woman, and the two of them are now absolutely loyal to Yang Guangke.

Because they had nowhere to go, Yang Guang took them in and did not force them to do anything. He arranged jobs for them, making them feel that they were much freer than when they were in his own house.

At least not as a bargaining chip to cling to the powerful.

The two of them now obeyed Yang Guangke's words. If Yang Guangke said that they were going to go against each other today, the two of them would immediately come together to welcome him.

"You two should arrange the newspapers as soon as possible. They should go to various major grain stores to collect the latest grain prices. Duke Bao Guo has also arranged for news to come over."

"Yes, Your Highness."

At this time, the servant from Prince Jin's Mansion ran over and came from home. He whispered a few words in Yang Guang's ear, and Yang Guang waved him to leave first.

"Wang Yi, come into the palace."

Yang Guang got on the carriage and headed towards the palace. The news just arrived was that Yang Yong, who had not been heard from for a long time, asked the emperor to lead troops to attack the Turks.

Because of Yun Luo's fall, Yang Yong had not shown up for a long time. This time he suddenly appeared in front of the emperor and said that he would lead troops to defend his family and country. He didn't know what caused the commotion.

(End of this chapter)