Chapter 3315 On the Road (Update)
Bai Shan and Yin Huo said, "We will stay here for three days, one to worship our ancestors and the other to visit relatives, so you can go and have fun on your own. We will meet in the city in three days and then leave."
Yin Huo agreed and went to visit the gods and Buddhas in the mountains with Changshou.
After another day's journey overland from Longzhou, they arrived at the water's edge.
Bai Shan booked a ship six months in advance, and all the carriages, horses, people and goods could board the ship directly.
There is nothing wrong with it except that the fare is a bit high.
Zhou Man prepared seasickness medicine and patches in advance. Those who were seasick took the medicine and applied the patches as needed. They sailed south along the Jialing River. The boat stopped three times for supplies. Every time, Bai Shan and the others took the children off the boat and let them see the outside world.
When they arrived in Longzhou, the carriages and horses disembarked. Liu Gui and several Zhou brothers watched the ship unload the cargo, while Bai Shan and his family took the children into the city to go shopping.
Madam Liu wasn't very energetic and didn't want to go anywhere else, so she waved and said, "We'll be waiting for you at the nearby inn. Go ahead, but don't go too far. Come back early, as we have to go back to Mianzhou early tomorrow morning."
Bai Shan and the others agreed, then happily left with the children in their arms.
"I've passed by Longzhou several times, but I've never really enjoyed it," Bai Shan asked Yin Huo, "Do you want to stay and visit the famous mountains and great scholars?"
Yin Huo shook his head, "I'll go to Mianzhou with you first."
He smiled and said, "I also want to see what Qili Village is like."
A few of them took their children to a restaurant to eat some delicious food, and then went for a walk on the street.
After being on the boat for a long time, they always felt that people were shaking when walking on the street, but the children seemed to accept it well. They not only ate well on the boat, but also slept well, and were in better condition than the adults.
Zhou Man bought a candy man for each of them. Turning around, he saw a lot of people gathered in front of a grain store, so he took a few more looks out of curiosity.
Seeing this, Bai Shan asked a passerby, "Excuse me, brother, what is this grain shop doing?"
The man looked up at Bai Shan and saw that he was holding a delicate and beautiful child in his arms. He smiled and said, "My dear, you are from out of town, right? These days, the grain shops in Longzhou are clearing out old rice. They are selling it for four cents a liter, and many people are rushing to buy it."
"Chen rice?" Bai Shan was curious. "How long ago was it?"
"It's from the year before last. Some are even worse, from the year before last, but they're all freshly ground, so the taste isn't as good."
Bai Shan glanced at Dae Gil.
Daji squeezed in and bought three cloth bags, each of which contained several kilograms of rice.
Bai Shan and the others found a teahouse nearby and sat down to wait. Bai Jingxing and Bai Ruoyu were in the period of being disgusted by cats and dogs, and they couldn't sit still for a moment. As soon as they sat down, they started turning their butts around and looking around.
Mingda glanced at the two of them, called over the waiter and said, "Any snacks? Bring the children some osmanthus cake."
Trying to use delicious food to silence their chattering mouths and restless hands.
Daji came over with a cloth bag and opened it to show them, "There are three kinds of old rice, the prices are three, four, and five cents respectively."
Zhou Man grabbed a handful, looked at it, rubbed it, and then smelled it. "It does have a slight smell, but it's not strong. It hasn't been soaked in sulfur, so it must have been released after being ground. Look, there are still small stones in it."
Bai Shan also looked at the other two bags of rice. One bag was quite broken. He chewed a few bites and found that the taste was indeed not good. "This should be three wen a dou. Although the taste is not good, the price is indeed very cheap."
Yin Huo called over the waiter and asked curiously, "Why is your grain store suddenly selling old rice at a low price? Could it be that this old rice..."
"Sir, please don't misunderstand me. You are from out of town, right?"
Several people nodded.
The clerk laughed and said, "This year's new grain is coming in, and it's another bumper harvest, so they're selling the old grain early to free up the warehouse. I'd say this old grain isn't bad, just a little less tasty. But it's so cheap, even a poor family can have a few meals of it dry. Isn't it better than just gruel? If it were me, I'd be happy to buy it, too."
Bai Shan and the others nodded and were about to continue asking when the person at the next table sneered and said, "It's just a show."
Bai Shan and his companions looked over and saw that they were all dressed like scholars, obviously they were scholars. So they called the waiter and said, "Give the next table two plates of snacks and one plate of meat, and put it on our account."
The guy who was originally unhappy and wanted to refute immediately left happily after hearing this.
The three people at the next table also heard it and turned their heads to look over with the same curiosity.
Bai Shan stood up and bowed to them, saying, "Brother, did you just say that there's something else going on with the rice sold at the grain store?"
The three looked at them in confusion. Seeing that they were also gentle and seemed to be scholars, they asked, "How many of you are there?"
"Oh, we're scholars returning home from out of town, just stopping by Longzhou for a day," Bai Shan said with a smile. "We've passed through many places on our way south, but it's rare to see a grain store selling aged rice so openly. Judging from the price, they're kind, but I see that none of you three seem to agree."
"You can't judge a person by appearances, and the same applies to things," one person said. "Even though he's selling aged rice at a low price, it seems like he's benefiting the people. The consequences are a different story."
"Oh?" Bai Shan turned his chair and sat facing them. "I'd like to hear more about it."
"We've had good harvests in Longzhou in recent years. Although there was a bit of drought at the beginning of this spring, it has since rained. Judging by the conditions in the fields, it's time for another bumper harvest," one person said. "It's a good year for a good harvest, and with the new rice variety we're planting, the yield is high, so grain prices are getting cheaper every year."
He laughed and said, "Honestly, this is the first time in my life that I've seen a dou of rice cost ten wen. You know, when Yizhou was hit by a flood, the price of rice in our Jiannan Road area was over fifteen wen for several years. Even after it fell, it was still hovering around twelve wen a dou."
"Ever since the new rice varieties began to spread four years ago, grain prices have been dropping year by year. Last year, the price of rice at the grain shops hovered between eight and nine wen. This year, I'm afraid the price will be even lower," the man said with a sigh. "That's a good thing, but it's not all good. With low grain prices, grain merchants are making less money, so they're desperately trying to keep the purchase price down."
"They rush to sell old rice before the new grain arrives, which not only clears out the warehouse but also helps to lower the price of new grain."
Bai Erlang: "You're overthinking it. We can't just leave the old grain in the warehouse and let it spoil, right?"
Bai Shan stopped Bai Erlang and said, "Old grain has many uses. Most grain merchants have ways to dispose of it without losing too much money. Selling it directly to the people like this is actually ruining their business. If they do this, it means they have other motives."
Bai Erlang has recently been writing a storybook about merchants and famous scholars, and he's been putting himself in the shoes of his father. So, he said, "Maybe they just want to do good things. Don't think of them as such a bad person."
Bai Shan shook his head and said, "Fourth Brother wouldn't do such a thing. Merchants are driven by profit. This isn't meant to belittle them; it's their... nature, or perhaps their duty. Finding ways to make more money within the law—isn't that the nature of merchants?"
A scholar slammed his hand on the table and said happily, "That's exactly what I mean."
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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