"We will never raise prices!" In the hall, Xiao Fubao's childish voice rang out firmly. "Not only will we not raise prices, but we'll also give away rice for free!"
This year's freeze has lasted since the 21st day of the twelfth lunar month, and the ice on the lakes is thick enough for caravans to pass through.
It also caused the freezing deaths of tens of thousands of livestock.
On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, hailstones the size of bowls fell, killing tens of thousands of people and their belongings within a radius of three hundred miles.
Xiao Fubao had already asked someone to catch the carp from Guhu Lake and make them into braised fish.
Niushan County was the least affected by the disaster.
Little Fu Bao had a fever for several days as a result.
To protect Niushan County from disaster, she used some of her good fortune to bless the people of Niushan County.
Although she had a money tree to provide wealth and good fortune, she still lost some of her vital energy because she was a mortal.
Along with it, most of the lucky charms withered and died.
This disaster was the worst in two hundred years. Many elderly people had never seen so many houses collapse and hailstones kill people.
Millions of people are homeless and have nothing to eat.
Crops grew in the fields of Niushan County.
Groups of disaster victims are heading towards Niushan County.
Although Niushan County suffered minor losses and still had grain in the fields, it also suffered losses. Rice shop owners raised prices on the spot, from fifty cash per rice to two strings of cash per rice.
It increased twentyfold.
Xiao Fubao's family also owned a grain shop, which used to be the most inconspicuous and smallest of all the grain shops.
Normally, those bigwigs in the grain industry don't take this millet shop seriously.
However, all the grain shop owners raised their prices, but Tianxia Grain Depot did not. People who wanted to buy rice spread the word, and everyone went to the Niu family's Tianxia Grain Depot to buy rice.
Someone scoffed:
"Kids are just kids, so naive. Do you really think those disaster victims will remember the good things your family did for them? We're businessmen, all we care about is profit. Whether you're good or bad, in their eyes, all crows are black."
"Your family is ruled by a child?"
“We are human beings first, and then businessmen,” Xiao Fubao said. “There are starving people everywhere outside, and we disregard their lives for these petty profits. Are we human?”
Little Fu Bao's words were sharp; the faces of the grain store owners turned ashen. The little girl was openly calling them inhuman...
Then, Xiao Fubao tilted her head back, looking at Niu Da and Shen Yu who had remained silent, with an expression that seemed to be asking for praise, and said:
"Father, Mother, am I right?"
Niu Da laughed and patted Xiao Fubao's head:
"right"
Xiao Heng looked at Xiao Fubao with doting eyes. She looked so cute when she was so serious just now!
The little guy scared away a group of grain warehouse owners and was praised by the whole family. Now his tail is wagging so high it's almost in the sky.
Only the worried family members asked:
"Miss, we've offended these bosses. Will they give us a hard time? Also, are we really going to give away rice for free to help those disaster victims?"
Little Fu Bao said:
"Do you think they won't make things difficult for us just because I don't offend them? It's human nature for businessmen to seek profit and avoid harm."
Little Fu Bao played with the yin-yang stone in his hand and said, "They came today just to drag us down. They're trying to raise prices on the spot, but they're walking on thin ice."
"They've all been in the rice business for years, deeply entrenched, and have other vested interests with each other; they're both enemies and allies." "If they get involved, who do you think they'll push forward to take the fall?"
"Are you saying, Miss, that they've planned to shift the blame onto us if anything goes wrong?" Tuanyuan asked. "But Miss, how do you know they have any vested interests involved?"
"Go shopping more and pay attention, and you'll see." "Although they are big bosses of rice shops, they don't just have rice as their only business. Much of what they wear, what they carry, and what they sell in their shops are sourced from their competitors."
Xiao Fubao said.
"Reunion, do you know why I'm sending rice?"
Tuanyuan said, "Because Miss is a good person."
Xiao Fubao glanced at the innocent Tuanyuan. Although Tuanyuan was seven or eight years older than her and had already passed her coming-of-age ceremony, she was still so pure and innocent, without a trace of guile.
“If I were only thinking of those disaster victims, I could simply cook some old and broken rice into porridge and give it to them,” “Why give away all the rice?”
"A successful businessman must value both righteousness and profit; I will not do anything that prioritizes righteousness over profit."
"My only goal is to establish the reputation of our family's granary." "Reunion—every business in our family must be expanded and strengthened."
"Today, those disaster victims are disaster victims, but the imperial court will not abandon them. After this famine year, next year, and the year after, they will no longer be disaster victims, but they will still remember the kindness of the national granary. Even if they don't remember, the words on the sacks will always remind them."
The rice was delivered in small burlap sacks.
Ordinary people like to save up items like bags so they can use them again during the next harvest.
Reunion still said with great concern:
"But can we possibly provide relief to so many disaster victims? Won't those who didn't receive rice be more likely to harbor resentment?"
"That's a good question. So, disaster victims receive rice based on their household registration. On the other hand, the old and broken rice in the granaries are mixed with wild vegetables to make porridge. Those who didn't receive rice can survive on porridge."
"Those who can bring their household registration are basically disaster victims from nearby areas. Besides, it's not just my family that's distributing porridge; the imperial court's relief will arrive soon, and this disaster won't last long."
Those disaster victims who lived nearby received rice and went home.
The disaster victims who lived far away were still stranded outside the city, relying on the porridge provided by some wealthy people to survive.
The imperial court also issued an order to provide relief to the disaster victims, but little actually reached them, and they continued to subsist on porridge and bran.
Magistrate Liu reported to the emperor that many rice merchants were raising prices arbitrarily. The imperial court sent people to investigate and confiscate the property of the two rice merchants who had raised prices the most.
Their family property was confiscated.
Xiao Fubao used his own savings to take the opportunity to acquire the grain shops of these two rice merchants, totaling more than a dozen shops.
At the same time, they monopolized the purchase of all the fields and farms of the two rice merchants, totaling three farms and one hundred hectares of land.
When they were raising prices on the spot, they never imagined that this seven-year-old girl would play the game of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
The disaster lasted for less than three months.
After the second day of the second lunar month, the day the dragon raises its head, good days gradually begin to arrive.
The year following the disaster looks like it will be a year of great harvest, with post-disaster reconstruction showing a thriving scene once again.
The reputation of the Niu family as the granary of the nation quickly spread throughout the south. Although the rice from the Niu family was the kind of rice that ordinary families used, its quality and aroma were superior to that of rice from other grain stores.
The rice from the Niu family was free of pebbles; broken rice was separated from good rice. Broken rice was sold cheaply to poor families, while good rice was sold at the same price as other rice from the same industry.
Given the same price, people would naturally prefer to buy rice from the Niu family.
Before heading to the capital, the young "rich woman" Fu Bao planned to tour all of her family's properties and, incidentally, give a warning to the guards.
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