Chapter 383 It’s time to take action
Qingzhou
After receiving the letter from Luoyang, Young Master Ji and Wu Ren read it and smiled at each other, "It's time for us to act."
Their grain transport operation was so grand and undisguised that it quickly attracted people's attention.
Merchants have a keen sense of smell. One merchant who was familiar with the two asked them, "Manager Wu, Young Master Ji, what are you doing?"
The Liaodong Chamber of Commerce was a household name for the people of Liaodong County, and it was also well-known in the South. Beyond these two major locations, the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce was also well-known in the Central Plains.
Wu Ren is currently the general manager of the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce. This time he led a team to build trade routes. By chance, he chose Qingzhou as his first stop.
After Wu Ren arrived in Qingzhou, Young Master Ji also came soon after. Young Master Ji took him to meet many people.
At this time, in order not to appear too deliberate, Wu Ren and Ji Dashao did not answer directly, but smiled.
"My two dear nephews, are these food?" someone else asked.
The two of them still didn't speak, and they huddled together like two fresh quails.
But as businessmen, what they are best at is dealing with people and being outgoing. It doesn’t matter if two people don’t talk, as long as they talk.
"Where is this being shipped to?"
"Hey, you two, stop hiding it. Let's make money together. When I make money, I'll give you a big red envelope!"
"Manager Wu, tell me what you want. I'll take the initiative to reduce the rent for your shop for three months."
Young Master Ji and Wu Ren exchanged a look, seemingly helpless. "My dear uncles, the sacks are indeed filled with grain. We intend to ship this grain to Nanyang. The grain price in Nanyang has gone up again."
"It's gone up again?" The man who spoke raised his voice unconsciously.
"Yes, thanks to the intervention of the Yuzhou Grain Merchants Association, the price has now risen to 280 wen per dou."
"Two hundred and eighty coins per bucket?!"
This price made all the merchants present shut up in surprise.
As merchants, they were well-informed. Everyone present had heard that ever since the earthquake in Nanyang, grain prices in Nanyang had remained high, fetching a hefty 260 wen per bushel.
In Nanyang, it is obvious that someone is manipulating food prices.
The price was good, but it wasn't enough to get them to take action. After all, the price of grain in Qingzhou was not low.
They did some calculations and found that the labor cost of transporting the grain to Nanyang plus the consumption on the road would result in the grain being sold for 260 yuan per dou. The profit did not increase much and was not enough to impress them.
Furthermore, such high grain prices were not very friendly to the imperial envoys who went to provide disaster relief. It was heard that Lord Zhang and Lord Zuo who went to provide disaster relief were the emperor's favorites, so they were somewhat cautious.
Now the price is 280 wen per dou, the profit margin is obvious, and we must take action.
Moreover, the price of grain has been rising again and again, which shows that in the struggle between officials and businessmen in Nanyang, merchants have the upper hand.
Two hundred and eighty wen a dou, they couldn't resist. After deducting the labor costs and expenses of transporting grain, they could make money no matter what. If they didn't make money, they would be a fool!
Another merchant, using his chubby body to push aside his fellow traders, stepped forward and asked, "Master Ji, which port in Nanyang are you transporting the grain from Qingzhou to?"
Young Master Ji: "Luoyang."
There are three or four canal ports in Yuzhou, among which Luoyang is closest to Nanyang, Kaifeng and Xiangru County (Zhoukou) are close to Xuchang, and Liangjun (Shangqiu) is farther away from Nanyang.
"How much is the shipping cost?"
Others also pricked up their ears.
“Isn’t it expensive now?”
"Not bad." After saying these two words, Young Master Ji pointed ahead and said, "Everyone, do you see that the man standing at the front of the first ship's deck is Deputy Leader Lin of the Cao Gang? If you want to know the price of shipping grain to Nanyang, why not ask him?"
Upon hearing this, the merchants swarmed towards Lin Shan.
After some inquiries, the merchants found that the transportation cost was not as high as they had imagined.
The Cao Gang hasn't reacted yet, right? That's why the price remains the same as before, without any arbitrary price hikes. But that may change in the future.
The merchants felt they had been vindicated.
So everyone present came to Lin Shan to place orders, hoping to make a deposit and fix the shipping fee.
Linshan welcomes everyone who comes.
When these merchants got off the boat one by one, they thought of Lin Shan's confused and out-of-touch look just now, and they were secretly happy. They all felt that they were cunning and had taken advantage of him.
Coincidentally, Lin Shan thought so too.
In the cabin, he looked at a stack of signed orders and felt that he had made a lot of money.
Ever since he went to Fang County, Liaodong County and met with President Lu Songli a while ago, he has been secretly preparing. Now it seems that the opportunity has indeed come.
Similar situations often occur in grain-rich areas.
In this way, with the instigation of Ji's Trading Company and Liaodong Chamber of Commerce, the news that Nanyang's grain prices were the highest in the country spread like wildfire, and grain merchants from all over the country took action upon hearing the news.
Liaoxi County, Yi County
Half a day had passed since Lords Lu Desheng and Lu Yiliang led their troops to the Governor's Mansion. Everyone was worried about Lord Lu. They were worried about his safety and the outcome, as this was a matter of great importance to their ability to continue their lives in Liaodong County.
Moreover, they had heard clearly before that their Pingzhou governor seemed to be on the side of Liaoxi County. Could Lord Lu defeat two of them alone?
Xue Xu comforted them, "Don't worry, Lord Lu has always convinced people with reason." He almost never lost.
Looking at the calm Mr. Xue, and then at the equally calm people from the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce, the hearts of the refugees in the south also calmed down.
Xue Xu thought for a moment and said, "I don't think we can leave today. It's getting late, so let's set up camp here tonight."
"Okay, I'll go tell everyone."
"Tell the guards to be on high alert tonight."
Hearing that they would spend the night here, everyone skillfully unpacked their bags and started to get busy.
When night fell, they skillfully built a bonfire.
When Lu Desheng came back, he brought 6,000 people with him, and it was quite a big commotion.
The scouts sent by the escort team turned back and told them that Lord Lu had returned and asked everyone not to panic.
"Master Lu is back!"
"Master Lu, are you okay?"
Everyone cares about him very much. After all, Lord Lu is working hard for them.
"It's okay, the matter has been resolved. Everyone can stay here tonight, and we can set off for Liaodong County early tomorrow morning."
Since there were no outsiders around, Lu Desheng was too lazy to give Shi Tao a face and said that the governor was very reasonable.
Upon hearing this, all the refugees from the South were looking forward to it.
Xue Xu quickly ordered people to prepare hot meals for the 6,000 people. They didn't have much, but they had plenty of food.
Lu Desheng didn't leave tonight. After dinner and a quick wash, he went straight to sleep in the place Xue Xu arranged for him. Mainly because he was tired and too lazy to bother.
But his action deeply moved more than 20,000 refugees in the south.
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