The following night
"Young friend Zhixing, did you invite me here today still about selling charcoal?"
"In my opinion, your good charcoal can fetch a good price, but bamboo charcoal and walnut charcoal are too expensive. You'll need to find someone with a good eye to connect you with them."
Zhixing carefully poured wine for the person opposite him. This person was a manager introduced to him by a middleman he met while selling charcoal in several small towns at the foot of the mountain.
This steward had a seventh-rank official backing him. He was nothing special in Longxing Prefecture, but in the small town of Zhixing, he was a very important figure.
It should be noted that even a county magistrate who governs a region is only a minor official of the ninth rank.
Zhi Xing forcibly suppressed his excitement and said with a smile:
"Selling charcoal is such a small matter, how could I trouble you? It's just that my elders were worried about the high prices of grain and vegetables in the prefectural city, so they asked a messenger to send me some vegetables. They look fresh, so I invited you to come and try them."
The manager had heard about Zhixing's background from the merchant who had made the connection. He knew that all of Zhixing's relatives had died, and that he was lucky enough to be taken in by a charcoal burner who lived in seclusion in the mountains. The charcoal burner even gave Zhixing all his wealth to start a business.
Upon hearing Zhixing mention his elders, the steward didn't think much of it, simply smacked his lips and sighed:
"Grain and meat prices are a bit high in the city. My wife went to the market yesterday and luckily ran into a vendor selling winter bamboo shoots. Do you know how much winter bamboo shoots cost per pound?"
Zhi Xing often wandered around the prefectural city to inquire about the situation, so he knew all too well what the vegetable prices were like, but he pretended to be clueless:
"Winter bamboo shoots... even at their most expensive, they can't compare to the price of rice, right? Eighteen coins a pound?"
The steward smiled without saying a word, while Zhixing gritted his teeth and boldly guessed, "Could it be twenty coins?"
The steward, also from a farming family, didn't look down on him and counted the numbers:
“My wife snatched five winter bamboo shoots, which cost her almost half a tael of silver. Even so, she was lucky to be the first to grab them.”
One tael of silver is equivalent to one thousand coins, so half a tael of silver would be at least two or three hundred coins.
Zhi Xing clicked his tongue in amazement and clinked his wine glass with the steward: "If I had known that the grain and vegetable business would be so good in winter, why would I sell charcoal? I would have gone to the mountains outside the city to grow grain and dig winter bamboo shoots."
The steward took a sip of wine, shook his head, and mumbled:
"In snowy weather, few vegetables can grow, so it's understandable that vegetable prices are higher... But listen to my advice: never touch rice or grains."
Zhi Xing's eyes flashed, but he didn't ask any further questions and instead ordered the dishes to be served.
The first one is candied sweet potato.
Ye Wenxue was worried that Zhixing wouldn't know how to cook sweet potatoes, so she wrote down the recipe.
The sweet potatoes, cut into small pieces and coated with syrup, exude a rich, sweet aroma and look absolutely delicious.
The steward momentarily ignored the dozen or so dishes that were about to be served, picked up a piece of sweet potato and was about to put it in his mouth when Zhixing quickly stopped him:
"Be careful, it's hot. After a while, the syrup will harden, and it will be crisp and sweet when you bite into it, making it even more delicious."
The person in charge couldn't worry about all that. After blowing on the candied sweet potato to cool it down, he put it directly into his mouth. The sweetness filled his mouth, and he instantly squinted his eyes in delight.
Zhi Xing explained from the side, "My eldest sister found this in the mountains. It tastes good whether boiled or roasted..."
After swallowing the sweet potato, the steward stared at Zhixing for a while, then suddenly laughed: "You, you..."
Zhi Xing pretended not to understand and held out his hand: "This is stir-fried bean sprouts with soy sauce, please..."
After the meal, the manager, who had initially been lenient with Zhixing out of consideration for the middleman, suddenly changed his attitude and, unusually, vaguely said to him:
"Such a big thing happened in the prefectural city, and the news has spread far and wide."
Zhixing kept Xu Lin's instructions in mind: don't talk about things he shouldn't know, and don't delve into things he shouldn't know. He smiled and saw off the steward who had taken half a sweet potato, bean sprouts, corn, and a few winter bamboo shoots.
When he returned to the house, Wang Jin was sitting there casually, eating the leftovers on the table.
"Brother Xing, the food that Boss Ye sent is rare. Wouldn't it be a waste to give it to him for free?"
Zhi Xing shook his head, a smile playing on his lips: "Not a loss."
We've gained two useful pieces of information for nothing, how could we possibly lose out?
Since the Prince's mansion doesn't value the charcoal business and only wants to make some money on the side, he can finally put his skills to good use.
at the same time,
Luckily, they arrived in Longxing Prefecture just before the city strictly prohibited refugees from entering. The He family, however, were already stirring up trouble.
"Father, Uncle, now is the perfect time to go out and collect charcoal."
That's what the books say: buy up all the cheap charcoal at low prices, then sell it at higher prices.
Even if the people are unwilling, they can't do without charcoal in this freezing weather. Then we can monopolize the charcoal market and make a fortune!
After investigating for several days, He Laosan finally couldn't help but try to persuade He Lizheng and his uncle Liang Hai, who owned a charcoal workshop.
Liang Hai was also tempted, but: "What about the Prince's Mansion..."
Longxing Prefecture was, after all, a fiefdom of a prince, and the officials sent by the imperial court to govern it did not manage much, nor did they dare to interfere arbitrarily.
The only thing to be wary of is the Prince's mansion.
Old He sighed and winked at him: "The Prince is seriously injured..."
Those in charge are usually the subordinates, and there are plenty of ways to get them to turn a blind eye.
In particular, Liang Hai's sister, who was recently taken into the household of an official, is extremely favored.
After much deliberation, Liang Hai finally decided to take a stand on his wife's nephew, a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, and reluctantly agreed.
"Then tell me, what's a suitable price range for purchasing charcoal?"
He Laosan chuckled: "The less the better. The lower the price of charcoal, the more we earn."
Liang Hai nodded repeatedly.
Just as He Lizheng, who had been silent all along, was about to speak, Old Mrs. He rushed over:
"Suibao has been crying nonstop, something must have happened, you should go check on him!"
He Lizheng suddenly remembered something: "Where's Lao Wu?"
"He...he still went...sigh!"
*
valley,
Ye Wenxue was busy with the bean sprouting business and only managed to find time to check her space a few days later.
The seeds planted a few days ago are growing vigorously.
Vegetables with short growing periods, such as scallions, garlic sprouts, cilantro, chives, and bok choy, are already mature.
Even the fruit trees are lush and full of buds.
Ye Wenxue didn't rush to harvest the crops, since the space didn't have a preservation function, and harvesting them would just leave them to rot.
She used her supernatural powers to sprout sweet potatoes and corn, and planted them together with a potato she had dug up.
After watering the plants and leaving the space, Ye Wenxue began to think about how to smuggle the vegetables out discreetly to sell.
If there were only a few children in the valley, to be honest, it wouldn't be a problem.
But there's still Su Jiu, so it's probably not easy to fool him.
Ye Wenxue stared at the snow for a while, pondering, but couldn't come up with any ideas.
Shuangshuang, who had been searching for her for quite some time, breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to her: "Mom, what are you thinking about?"
Ye Wenxue came to her senses, weighed the sandbags tied to her hands and legs, and felt that they were not too heavy, so she didn't pay much attention to them.
“The vegetable patch has frozen solid, so I’m thinking of finding another place to grow crops.”
Both of them put on stern faces:
“Mother, you’ve been working so hard these past few days, why don’t you take a break? The charcoal kiln you dug before is useless, all that effort wasted…”
Ye Wenxue's eyes lit up.
Yes, a charcoal kiln!
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