Chapter 298 Stealing the Cake
It was not easy for Zhu Congwen to secretly embezzle the grain from the two granaries of the Zhu family. As soon as he made a move, Zhu's second uncle knew about it. He was shocked to learn that his nephew had actually moved the grain from the two granaries.
Zhu Congwen acted very quickly. When Uncle Zhu arrived, the granary had basically been emptied.
"Cong Wen, what are you doing?"
When Zhu Congwen saw his second uncle coming, he quickly pulled him aside and explained the situation. However, he still didn't mention that he had discovered a gold mine on someone else's land and was working hard to make it his own. He only said that he had discovered a business opportunity, a sure-win deal.
When Uncle Zhu heard this, he felt that his nephew had been cheated.
"Uncle, although I don't have much ability, I'm not the kind of person who thinks I'm great. I know my own worth. If this opportunity wasn't so good, I wouldn't have dared to borrow 200,000 taels to do it. Uncle, just trust me this time."
Uncle Zhu thought about it after hearing this. His nephew was indeed just as he said. He had never been like this before. Perhaps, as his nephew said, he had discovered a business that could make money?
Moreover, Uncle Zhu thought that no matter what kind of business it was, he might lose a little money after a month, but he would never lose all 200,000 taels. At worst, when the redemption time came and his nephew couldn't come up with 200,000 taels, he would give him some money to redeem the grain.
Uncle Zhu advised himself this way, but he still wanted to persuade his nephew, "Cong Wen, the grain price is obviously still rising. We can make money by guarding the grain. If we can avoid it, then don't bother."
Pledging these grains in exchange for 200,000 taels was clearly a loss.
Now, several other major families in the South are very jealous of their Zhu family.
Zhu Congwen thought, what a joke! Food prices are rising, yes, but how fast can they rise compared to the speed at which he's digging for gold in a gold mine? Furthermore, he'll have to redeem the grain within a month, and any premium on the grain will go to the Zhu family. He wants to have it both ways!
"Uncle, don't worry. Don't tell the old man about this. I want to give him a surprise and let him see what a promising son he has become."
…
Xie Zhan ticked off each completed plan.
He had been asking people to keep an eye on Zhu Congwen's movements. When he discovered that Zhu Congwen had actually used up the grain from the Zhu family's two granaries in order to get the 200,000 taels, his brows slightly frowned.
After checking, we found out that Ji Wuyin had returned to the south.
At Ji Wuyin's level, his whereabouts have always been kept secret.
If the Ji family business had not been connected with his plan, and if he had not been intentional and kept people on the lookout, most people would not have noticed that Ji Wuyin had secretly traveled to Liaodong County.
Xie Zhan sensed something was wrong and after further investigation, he discovered the relationship between Ji Wuyin and Xue Xu.
This discovery was both accidental and inevitable.
As the saying goes, know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.
The people he had previously sent to Liaodong County had been collecting information about the father and daughter of the Lu family.
Xue Xu had no connection to the Lu family father and daughter; he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Furthermore, he appeared after Lu Desheng was exiled, and immediately after his appearance, he was appointed the Chief Clerk of Houcheng. This person's identity was clearly not simple.
Xue Xu's identity is not difficult to find out.
Among the intelligence gathering personnel in charge of Xie Zhan was an old man from the Chen family. After he had suspicions, he sent the old man to Liaodong County. The old man from the Chen family recognized that Xue Xu was the Xue Guangxian from before them.
He chose to start the plan when Ji Wuyin was heading north. Firstly, the time had come, and secondly, he wanted to take advantage of Ji Wuyin's unpreparedness and drag him in.
Of course, in his plan, the Ji family business was not among the prey he had to hunt. But if the Ji family business made a mistake and he got the chance, he would not show any mercy.
It seems that old ginger still has the shrewdness. Ji Wuyin has become the richest man in the South, and he is obviously more cautious than his eldest son.
Xie Zhan couldn't help feeling regretful. He thought it would be better if Ji Wuyin had come back two days later.
However, since no loopholes were found in Ji Wuyin, let's put it aside for now. Besides, now that he is back, there are still some things we can exploit.
Xie Zhan's eyes turned, he picked up the pen and slowly added a stroke to his plan.
At this time, Xie Zhan was working hard to make a cake, but he didn't know that someone had secretly eaten a piece.
Liaodong County, Houcheng, Yang's Blacksmith Shop
In the large blacksmith's room, all seven or eight doors were open, and several stoves were burning.
It was a very hot day. Blacksmith Xiao Yang was bare-chested, swinging a hammer and hammering the iron, with sweat dripping down his face.
The apprentices he brought with him, like him, did not dare to slack off.
During the break, he came to the yard, shook up a bucket of well water, scooped a spoonful, and was about to drink it.
But Old Yang, the blacksmith who came in from outside, slapped him away with one hand, "You are not allowed to drink well water! Isn't there herbal tea next to it?"
"Dad, drinking well water is cool in this weather." It was too hot working as an ironworker. Coming out of the ironworks, nothing could quench his thirst better than a bowl of well water.
Old blacksmith Yang glared at him, and he put down the watering can in disappointment.
In the past, he drank well water directly. After arriving in Houcheng, his father believed Houcheng’s propaganda, which said that there were insects and viruses in the water that were invisible to the naked eye, and called on the people to boil the water before drinking it, and not to drink it raw.
At first some people believed it and some did not.
Until the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce's shop reopened, this time they no longer sold cheap grain, but instead sold something called pagoda candy, claiming it could cure worms in children's stomachs.
It's said that any child experiencing any of the following symptoms can try this product. For example, if the child is chronically thin, irritable, has a loss of appetite, vomits frequently, experiences itchy skin, grinds their teeth while sleeping, has frequent pain around the navel, or even experiences sudden cramping in the right upper abdomen, these can all be bought and given to your child. They're inexpensive, costing only a penny per pill.
The candy that can cure worms costs only one penny per piece, which is really not expensive. Going to the pharmacy to get some medicine is much more expensive.
Houcheng has seen a surge in job opportunities lately, and many willing to endure the hardship have earned money. Even for those who haven't, Houcheng is vibrant and full of life, and the people haven't felt the hardship of making a living. Furthermore, since this is a matter for their children, many are willing to part with their pennies to buy Pagoda Pond.
When they went to buy it, they discovered that the pagoda candy was also limited in purchase. If they wanted to buy pagoda candy for their children to repel parasites, they could do so by showing their household registration and using the quota for their children. Want to buy it for a relative? That was also possible, but the price was different. Those not registered in Liaodong County had to pay five cents per piece.
The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce explained that they were selling the pagoda candy at a loss to their fellow villagers for one penny, but if they sold it to others, they would definitely make a profit.
With the foundation of affordable grain last time, once the purchase limit was imposed on this pagoda candy, people subconsciously thought it was a good thing.
Especially after the results came out, their understanding was further deepened.
The first group of people who bought pagoda candies gave the candies to their children.
This pagoda candy is also very effective in repelling insects.
The next day, many children cried and called for help. The adults were also amazed by the results. They helped the children deal with the problem while exclaiming about the effectiveness of the pagoda candy.
Then, many people rushed to buy medicine with their household registration books.
When he thought of certain scenes, blacksmith Xiao Yang silently picked up the bowl of cool tea beside him and drank it in gulps.
Then he saw what his father had brought in and placed at his feet. Blacksmith Yang asked, "Are you looking for something again?"
"Yes."
"There's no peace all day long." Blacksmith Xiao Yang muttered.
After arriving at Hou Ping, the initial days were easy. Lately, for some reason, there's always an endless supply of ironwork. The work they're asking for is quite detailed, and he can't just hand it off to his apprentice. He has to keep an eye on the key details, sometimes even doing it himself.
"What are you mumbling about?" Old blacksmith Yang glared at him. This idiot had no respect for his parents who provided him with food and clothing.
Under pressure from his father, Blacksmith Xiao Yang quickly said, "No complaints! Dad, I'll get the stuff. I promise to get it ready and send it to them as soon as possible."
Old blacksmith Yang was finally satisfied.
Blacksmith Xiao Yang looked closely at the roller center, gears, and bearings of the foot-operated thresher and thought to himself, fortunately, this thing is not difficult to thresh, otherwise, making such a large and delicate thing would cost him his life.
So he shouted, "Young men, get to work!"
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