Chapter 219: Substituting inferior goods for superior ones
"Excuse me, gentlemen. The wine we served you earlier was an old one from our restaurant. This is a new wine from Shuntian. Would you like to try it?"
The ginseng wine that Cheng Weiyao brought was placed in a transparent jar, with a whole ginseng soaked head upwards in it, which looked precious and elegant.
The gatekeeper, who was in charge of the task, knew Cheng Weiyao's strength very well. Seeing this young lady coming downstairs, he immediately began to stir up trouble: "You said you wanted to taste it, so why would a man like me listen to a woman like you?"
Cheng Weiyao shot him a vicious glare and retorted, "What? Discrimination against women? Without your mother, where would you be? You don't listen to your mother? That's extremely unfilial!"
Everyone knows how to rise to a higher level, especially in ancient times when filial piety was more important than anything else. As soon as these words were spoken, the gatekeeper immediately got angry.
The herdsmen had only a vague understanding of the conversation, but they understood Cheng Weiyao's invitation to drink. They weren't afraid of a mere Central Plains woman's wine. They immediately reached out, ready to scoop up the jar.
"Sir, drink that bowl. This wine is not suitable for drinking too much. It will make you drunk if you drink too much."
Cheng Weiyao was kindly reminding him. While ginseng wine is mild, smooth, and generally sobers up quickly without getting drunk, it's best for the average person to limit their intake to no more than one or two ounces.
But for the herders on the grassland, one or two ounces? That's just enough to moisten their lips, but after drinking a cup, the herders' faces became visibly rosy.
Although this wine was not as spicy as other wines, it was surprisingly refreshing, instantly dispelling the fatigue from the long journey. The herdsmen's eyes instantly lit up when they saw the wine.
"Zhongyuan's wine is pretty good, Shuntian is pretty good!"
A few herders sipped a few glasses, and before leaving, they still thought about buying two jars to take back. Cheng Weiyao's little brain immediately saw the business route, and she generously said that the two jars would be gifts, and she would help promote the product when she returned.
After receiving a thumbs-up from the herdsmen, the gatekeeper looked regretful. He had come here to cause trouble, but unexpectedly he ended up attracting new customers for Shuntian.
The gatekeeper, realizing he had done something wrong, paid the bill and left Shuntian Restaurant in disgrace. However, after this incident, word of Shuntian's excellent wine spread, and customers flocked to the restaurant almost every day.
On the first floor, you can drink wine and listen to books, and the ginseng wine is nourishing and nourishing. On the second floor, you can enjoy delicious food, and the stall owners are all top-notch beauties.
Once you enter Shuntian Restaurant, you will spend some money before leaving with a feeling of being unsatisfied. Cheng Weiyao's reputation has also risen along with the fame of Shuntian Restaurant.
At the same time, towards the capital.
Sun Youcai received another urgent letter from the person behind the scenes. Although the jewelry he had taken from the national treasury had temporarily solved the problem of expenses, the problem of food had not yet been solved.
However, large-scale purchases of grain by individuals would inevitably arouse the vigilance of the imperial court. Sun Youcai was so worried that he kept pacing in the yard.
The imperial court did have granaries, and a warehouse full of rice was enough to feed countless people. However, unless there was a disaster, the granary doors would not be opened, and grain would not be allocated for no reason.
"You damned girl, what kind of rouge and powder did you buy? You're passing them off as good quality. Luckily, I was smart enough not to use them on my face, or else you'd have been in big trouble!"
The Shangshu's wife in the room was pulling the maid's ear and scolding her, her voice was sharp and thin.
Sun Youcai was already irritable, and hearing the tigress's voice made him even more uncomfortable. He immediately said impatiently: "It's just a box of rouge and powder. If you are not satisfied, just send someone to buy more. Why are you angry with a maid?"
"Is this about a box of rouge and powder? Sun Youcai, what's your attitude? I think you're just treating me like a nobody!"
Sun Youcai's unreasonable defense instantly made the Shangshu's wife alert, and the maid fell to her knees with a thud.
She had been following the Madam's identity for a long time, so she naturally knew that the Madam was extremely suspicious and had always kept a close eye on the Master. The Master defending her at this critical moment was truly devastating...
The intention is inferior and the woman is really unreasonable! Seeing that his wife was about to get jealous again, Sun Youcai held his forehead and tried to walk out. He needed a quiet place to think.
Wait, selling inferior goods as good ones? Why hadn't he thought of this clever idea? Sun Youcai slapped his forehead and suddenly realized it.
"Madam, oh madam, I am so lucky to have you!"
Sun Youcai rushed back and kissed his wife on the face.
The Shangshu's wife looked at the man's swift steps as he left in bewilderment. She touched her face with her backhand and muttered softly, "We are so old, an old married couple, and you are still playing this trick..."
The maid kneeling on the ground breathed a sigh of relief, having escaped danger.
Sun Youcai, who went out excitedly, went to the major grain shops. He did not go to collect grain on behalf of the court. On the contrary, he confiscated the stale grain from the major grain shops in the name of supervision.
Most of this rice has become glutenous due to poor storage. The grooves on the sides and back of the rice appear white, and after a while they turn grayish white or even darken in color.
But at least for now, if you don't look closely, you can't see anything unusual. It is just right for replacing the rice in the granary.
He specially organized some capable confidants to select the rice that had just started to become glutenous and re-pack it into bags in order to replace the rice with the real one.
Since there were no refugees in the capital, they simply hired people to perform. With the power of money, many beggars and hooligans transformed themselves into refugees fleeing from other places.
Most of the confessions were consistent, saying that the village was buried by mountain soil and they had no choice but to drift to the capital.
Under the emperor's feet, news spread in all directions, and the news of refugees coming to the capital quickly reached Wen Chengfeng's ears. As a benevolent emperor, he naturally chose to open warehouses and increase supply, and set up porridge shops to provide relief.
This was exactly what Sun Youcai wanted. The high-quality rice that left the granary was quickly taken away by carts, and the rice that actually arrived at the relief sites was replaced with the low-quality rice that Sun Youcai had carefully prepared.
He had originally thought his actions were flawless, but he hadn't expected this move to attract real refugees. Villages in the outskirts of Kyoto were truly buried by the mountain soil, and large numbers of refugees, upon hearing about the disaster relief efforts in Kyoto, flocked to the city.
Most of the beggars and hooligans hired by Sun Youcai are young, so eating moldy rice will not be a problem for a while.
But the real refugees are of all ages. When there are a lot of elderly, weak, women and children, the side effects of gluten-forming rice will soon become apparent.
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