Chapter 395 Harvest Time
After the news that Ji's branch announced that grain would be sold at 100 coins per dou spread, the people of Nanyang were stunned, but when they came to their senses, they were ecstatic.
"What kind of great act of kindness is this, Ji Daxiu?"
"Why call him Ji Daxiu? From now on, we should call him Ji Dashanren!"
Because the person who announced the price reduction of grain was Ji Wuyin, all the praise from the people was directed at Ji Wuyin.
However, all the grain merchants, who held large amounts of grain, were wailing.
The drop in food prices means they are losing more food.
They just wanted to hold their positions and wait and see, but they didn't expect that the longer they waited, the greater the losses would be.
These people cursed the Ji family and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce for being inhumane, and at the same time regretted not selling the grain in their hands earlier.
Those who had cut their losses, such as Tao Xun, and the grain merchants who, under Tao Xun's influence, followed suit and sold their grain, were now extremely grateful that they had run fast.
The two waves of grain merchants are in stark contrast.
"I really envy you." Those who have food are now very upset.
"I advise you to sell it quickly." Anyway, you have come to Nanyang. You will be cut whether you stick your head out or hide your head. It's better to sell it sooner and feel at ease.
"But if we sell it at this price, we will lose too much."
"Believe it or not, if you don't sell now, you will lose more later?"
"Are you saying that food prices will continue to fall?"
"Who knows? The Ji family and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce have joined forces and are coming at us with such force. They might even push grain prices down."
"No way? Still need to press?"
"What are they trying to achieve? Can the Ji family and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce tolerate such a loss?"
"Why are you worrying about others? Why don't you worry about yourself?"
…
At this time, the Che Mansion was like a storm.
Che Jiu Ming smashed the entire house and got very angry.
After he calmed down a little, he called the old accountant of the Che Mansion to talk.
"Let's count the money and food we have."
The old accountant said, "Before the Ji's Chamber of Commerce's Luoyang branch announced the sale of grain at a fair price, the master had a total of 940,000 dan of grain and 450,000 taels of silver in his name."
"During the period when grain prices were 120 wen, we consumed 180,000 dan of grain for six consecutive days. Including labor costs, the total cost was 220,000 taels."
"After deducting the recent expenses and paying off the eldest young master's gambling debts, we currently have 1.12 million dan of grain and 150,000 taels of silver."
Che Jiuming listened attentively. He knew full well that after this round of price cuts, his assets had shrunk by another two hundred thousand taels. This was equivalent to the entire fortune of a middle-class merchant. His heart sank at the thought.
"We owe Liu's Money House 800,000 taels, plus interest, it's 854,000 taels. Master, what should we do next?" The old accountant's voice was also very heavy. The situation is now critical. If they are not careful, they will lose everything.
The old accountant advised him, "As long as there is green mountain, there is no fear of running out of firewood."
Che Jiuming silently calculated in his mind that if they were to repay the money they owed to Liu's bank, they would have to sell at least 700,000 dan of grain. That would leave him with only 450,000 dan of grain left.
After the calculation, he didn't say anything. Where was Qingshan left for him?
At this time, the doorman came to report, "Master, Shopkeepers Lin and Mo want to see you."
These two people were his followers. Che Jiuming nodded and said, "Please let them in."
The old accountant standing by was worried. As the saying goes, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly. The arrival of Shopkeepers Lin and Mo at this time must be bad news.
As expected, as soon as the two entered the room, they began to cry and beg Che Jiuming, "Chairman Che, in order to respond to your call and stand by you, we all borrowed money from Liu's Bank, and then used all the money to buy food."
"Now that the Ji family has driven down the price of grain to one hundred coins per bushel, we are on the verge of insolvency. Chairman Che, you must help us."
"Yes, the people from Liu's Bank came to our door just now and need us to deposit a deposit with the bank. Otherwise, if we are insolvent, they will force us to fulfill the contract. They gave us three days. President Che, can you help us?"
The two men begged in a very humble manner. They could not compare with Che Jiu Ming's wealthy family, so they borrowed 800,000 taels from Liu's Bank. They borrowed 200,000 taels and 300,000 taels respectively.
I originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune and double my assets, but I didn't expect to lose everything!
They regret it now, so much so that their intestines are turning green.
Che Jiu Ming looked embarrassed and said, "In this situation, I can't even protect myself, and I really don't have the energy to help you." What a joke, at this time, how could he lend out the limited money he had?
Shopkeeper Lin and Shopkeeper Mo looked at each other with ugly expressions. They didn't expect Che Jiu Ming to turn against them!
Che Jiuming added, "But listen to me, with these grain prices, the people will definitely be agitated. Can the Ji branch handle this surge in demand? So, as for the money, I think you can borrow some from your relatives. Once you get through this difficult time, everything will be fine."
The two came with high hopes, but failed to borrow money and had to leave in despair.
But they listened to Che Jiu Ming's words and decided to trust him again. At this point, there was no way they could not believe him.
The two of them were hoping for a lucky break, so they went back to borrow money from their relatives and friends. Unfortunately, they had already borrowed money from all their relatives, and even those who were able to help them were unwilling to lend them money and let it go to waste.
When the Ji branch really sold a large amount of grain to the people at the price of one hundred coins per dou, the foreign grain merchants who had grain on hand could no longer sit still.
This group of people found Ji Dashao and Wu Ren through their friends, hoping to sell them all the food they had at once.
This time, the Ji family business and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Alliance did not purchase the grain from them at the price of one hundred coins per dou, but instead lowered the price and were only willing to pay ninety-five coins per dou.
At this time, they entered the harvest season and would not be soft-handed. The reason why they bought the grain from Tao Xun and others at the price of 120 wen was because they had high hopes for them and did not bargain down the price. They just treated it as making friends.
The price-cutting behavior of the Ji family company and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce alliance angered the grain merchants who came to inquire. They thought it would be better to sell it themselves.
Countless foreign grain traders chose to sell their grain, which created a squeeze.
The price of grain dropped steadily, from one hundred coins per dou to ninety-eight coins, then ninety-six coins...
The lowest price was ninety-five wen, and there was no price lower than that, so grain merchants were reluctant to sell.
Moreover, if the price is lower than ninety-five coins per dou, they might as well sell it all to the Ji family and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce.
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