Chapter 37 Brother A

Xiaoyaozi was very polite to Ada.

"Brother Ah Da, please, my master is really anxious to see Miss Lin."

Ah Da is a stubborn person. "My daughter is very busy recently, but I will tell her what you said. It is up to her to decide whether to go to Qingyun Temple or not."

Xu Bing thought to himself: This strong man is called A Da, and his sturdy figure suits his name quite well.

Judging from Ah Da's tone, his mistress's daughter didn't seem to care much about Taoist Tianji's fortune-telling.

How could Ada's master not care about this good thing that others couldn't even ask for?

It would be great if the opportunity to tell fortunes could be given to him, the head of the procurement department!

Really, everyone in the entire Great Yan Kingdom knows that Taoist Tianji’s fortune-telling is always accurate. If he predicts that a guest is in trouble, he will help find a solution.

That's like being half a god.

Xu Bingliang especially wanted Taoist Tianji to help him solve the current dilemma.

Xiaoyaozi thought about it and decided to settle for the next best thing. "It's okay not to go to Qingyun Temple. If your girl is busy, my master can provide door-to-door service." Anyway, the master said that as long as he can see Miss Lin, any condition is acceptable.

Ah Da said the same thing, "I told you, I can't make the decision on this matter. I will report it to my daughter."

Xu Bingliang was so envious that he almost broke his thigh. Even if the nobles went to Qingyun Temple, they might not be able to get a divination from Taoist Tianji, but Ah Da's master could have Taoist Tianji come to his house to serve him personally? In the end, he was not happy about Taoist Tianji coming to his house.

Is there any justice in this world?

Some people are born in Rome, while others can never reach Rome even after working their entire lives.

So which girl is this strong man's mistress? It's simply unbelievable.

Seeing that it was useless to say nice things, Xiaoyaozi just left dejectedly.

Ah Da took the initiative to talk to Xu Bingliang, the head of the Procurement Department.

"My master has also sent people to the south to buy grain. The grain has been collected and will arrive at the Beijing-Tianjin dock in five days at most. The master said that the cost has increased. The total cost of our grain is eleven cents."

Xu Bing thought to himself: After all this nonsense, you just want to raise the price and sell it to the court. You are as evil as those other unscrupulous merchants.

Other merchants have united and are determined to sell it at fifteen cents. It is impossible for your price to be higher than fifteen cents.

Ah Da continued, "My master said that he is willing to sell all the grain we transported here as military rations at the cost price of 11 cents."

Xu Bingliang was so excited that he was speechless.

Selling military rations at cost price? This master of Ah Da is really a living Buddha.

But if the number is small, it will not solve the fundamental problem.

"How much food did your master sell?"

"Not much, just 30,000 taels of silver for grain." It was the 30,000 taels earned from speculating on the dock warehouse, so the cost of selling grain was not a penny.

Xu Bingliang didn't know what to say: Isn't thirty thousand taels of silver a lot?

Thirty thousand taels of silver for food, great! That's great.

Xu Bingliang also followed Xiaoyaozi's lead and called out to Brother A, "Brother A, where is your mistress? I think it is necessary for me to sign an agreement with her in person."

Selling such a large amount of food at cost price? You can't regret it.

No, she must sign a simple agreement in person. Once she signs the agreement with the court, she will not be able to go back on her word.

As a result, Xu Bingliang was worried and chased A Da directly to Jiang's house.

He looked at the door plaque of Jiang's house and was stunned for a moment.

"Does your master live in Jiang's house?"

"Yes, my family name is Lin."

Xu Bingliang recalled that in the past, the Jiang family donated a large amount of military rations every year. How could such a family be exiled because of corruption?

Soon, Xu Bingliang met the person he wanted to see.

But I didn’t expect that Brother Ada’s master was a little girl of thirteen or fourteen years old.

This girl was completely different from the noble ladies in the capital. She wore a moon-white robe and her hair was simply tied behind her. This dress seemed ordinary, but for some reason, it made people feel that her demeanor was more noble than those gorgeously dressed ladies.

Especially those eyes, which were so deep that one could not see the bottom at a glance.

But he is too young to make his own decisions.

"I, Xu, am sorry to bother you so much. I hope Miss Lin will forgive me. Is Miss Lin's elders at home?"

Lin Qianqian has already learned from Ada the purpose of Xu Bingliang's visit.

"Don't worry, Master Xu. I am the only one who can make the decision in this house. Master Xu, please have some tea."

The tea is really good, but Xu Bingliang’s heart is not on tea.

"Miss Lin, Brother A said that you would sell all the grain to the court at the price of eleven cents. I think that empty words are not enough, so I want to sign a simple agreement with Miss Lin."

Lin Qianqian smiled: "Don't worry, Master Xu. The food I have can't solve all your problems."

Xu Bingliang suddenly became reserved: How come this little girl knows everything? Sitting in front of this little girl, I feel like a little scholar standing in front of a teacher.

"I have a plan that can help Lord Xu solve his current predicament. I wonder if Lord Xu would like to hear it?"

I want to listen, of course I want to listen, Xu Bingliang thought, the person that Taoist Tianji asked to meet must be special, so I might as well listen to what this girl says.

"Miss Lin, please speak."

"The treasury is now empty. If Lord Xu purchases military rations at the price of fifteen cents per pound, he will most likely be criticized by His Majesty."

Xu Bingliang: It's not a high probability, but it is certain and definite that I will be blamed 100% and I might even lose my official position.

"I suggest that Lord Xu use loess straw to impersonate grain, at least 80 carts, and transport them to the north in public. This is all a show for the merchants. When my grain arrives, I will sell it to you at the Beijing-Tianjin dock at 11 cents per pound. Then you can say that the military grain has been collected. The grain in the hands of other merchants cannot be kept for the New Year, so they will have to sell the grain at a lower price."

In this way, all the warehouses and grain in Wang's hands had to be sold at a discount.

Lin Qianqian found out that Wang had cashed in a lot of her dowry to start the military food business.

When the money is paid, I wonder if the couple will cry together.

Xu Bingliang thought about it and felt that Miss Lin's idea was a good one, but the difficulty lay in that everyone knew that the person in charge of escorting the military rations this time was Guanjun Hou, a cold-faced and selfless devil. Who could convince him to join in the fraud?

No one can do it.

Therefore, Miss Lin’s proposal is totally unfeasible.

"Miss Lin, thank you for your kind suggestion, but it's a pity that this won't work. The matter of bluffing and transporting fake grain that you mentioned won't work with the Champion Marquis."

Lin Qianqian said without thinking: "Leave the Champion Marquis to me."

Xu Bingliang's eyes lit up, "Are you serious?"

"Really, Lord Xu should pay more attention to the issue of transporting fake grain. Those merchants are very smart. They can tell the weight and volume of fake grain and the depth of the wheel marks on the road."