Chapter 617: Another Conspiracy
The chief steward in charge of purchasing at Anhe Pharmacy was named Qi. As soon as Zhou Yi was sent away, one of the junior stewards came to sound him out, "Steward Qi, the young master of the Cui family wants to treat you to a meal. What do you think?"
After some thought, Steward Qi accepted the invitation. After all, the Cui family was one of the suppliers that Anhe Pharmacy frequently cooperated with.
At the banquet, Master Cui smiled and poured him wine. "Steward Qi, is Anhe's stock this year the same as last year?"
"Well, let's take a look." Manager Qi had just signed a big deal, so it was difficult for him to answer, so he just laughed it off.
"Steward Qi, our Cui family and An He are old friends. We have always had a pleasant cooperation. An He should at least give us a meal this year, right?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Are you from the Cui family still worried about buying a buyer? You sold your donkey to someone else last year."
"We had no choice but to do that last year. The price Anhe offered was too low, and we suffered heavy losses. Regardless of whether this matter is right or wrong, I would like to apologize to Manager Qi. I'll drink this glass of wine, you can do as you please." Young Master Cui drank the wine in the glass.
Manager Qi also drank it, and the matter was put to rest.
Then, when Master Cui talked about the business between the two families this year, Manager Qi finally relented, "We'll talk about it later. If the price is right, we at Anhe can also take a batch."
"How many are there in a batch?"
"About 30,000 to 50,000." This was to prevent Zhou Yi from having an unexpected incident at the end of the year and being unable to deliver the goods. With the Cui family's 30,000 to 50,000 donkeys, their Anhe Pharmacy would barely be able to meet their needs.
Young Master Cui frowned slightly. Thirty to fifty thousand heads is a bit too few.
"If you have no objection, then it's settled." said Manager Qi.
Young Master Cui was helpless.
"As a token of our sincerity, we at Anhe will pay you a 20,000 yuan deposit! But we must agree in advance. If the price of this donkey..." This trick was learned from Zhou Yi. No matter how much money they could save on the purchase, at least they had to ensure they had enough goods for the coming year and the pharmacy could operate.
The reason why Manager Qi dared to sign the contract in this way was because An He was not without supporters.
Zhuozhou Cai Family
Upon learning that his family had to raise an additional 150,000 donkeys because of a contract, Cai Guang's son Cai Qin became worried after reading the contract between his family and Ding Jun.
"We have so many donkeys at home. What if Ding Jun breaks the contract?"
"What are you afraid of? Even if Ding Jun breaches the contract, our 100,000 donkeys are still there." It's just that they can't be sold for the time being, it doesn't mean that they will die if they can't be sold.
Cai Guang said nonchalantly, "We'll just sell them slowly when the time comes. Don't worry, we'll make 60,000 taels for free."
"Son, you're too timid." As the saying goes, the bold die of overeating, while the timid die of starvation. Since the Cai family has the ability to take on this order, why not do it?
Cai Qin thought about it and realized that what his father said made sense. "But Dad, our farm can't support so many donkeys."
"If that doesn't work, ask your uncle's family to help us raise some of the money. I just received news that our rival, the Chen family, has also received a large order. Go to the accounting office to withdraw money, buy what needs to be purchased, and invest what needs to be invested."
"OK."
…
With the intervention of Ding Jun and Zhou Yi, the big donkey farmers around Qingzhou and Zhuozhou have more or less taken some action or heard some rumors.
The donkey market in Zhuozhou has been experiencing a chain reaction due to several large orders, demonstrating that the undercurrent in the donkey market has already begun to heat up, like a calm lake with a storm brewing beneath its surface.
After Ding Jun and Zhou Yi returned to Pingzhou, they reported their battle results to their superiors.
Then, Lu Songli prepared to add fuel to the fire.
At Lu Songli's signal, Ji Wuyin, Gu Huaisheng and others took action.
To celebrate Dali's lifting of the blockade on Pingzhou, the merchants in Pingzhou contributed money and effort and jointly held a buffet.
This buffet was held for three days, and during these three days, we truly enjoyed ourselves with the people.
The common people outside Pingzhou had heard about this very special banquet, and the merchants worked hard to search for delicious food and present it to Governor Lu.
Among them was a donkey meat hot pot, which Governor Lu liked very much.
This donkey meat hotpot is made by a master chef named Duan Laosan from Zhuozhou. His Duan family has an old shop specializing in selling donkey meat hotpot.
Not only did Governor Lu himself like to eat it, but General Qin Sheng was also amazed by its deliciousness after taking one bite.
Because General Qin Sheng liked it, Governor Lu waved his hand and included the donkey meat hotpot made by Duan Laosan in the military supply purchase list so that General Qin Sheng could eat it at any time.
When the news spread, the people in Pingzhou and its surrounding areas all talked about it with relish, saying that Governor Lu doted on her husband too much.
At this moment, Duan Laosan's shop in Zhuozhou is crowded with people.
The old customer even teased Duan Laosan, "Duan Laosan, I was thinking, I've had your donkey meat hot pot before, and while it's delicious, it's not amazing."
Duan Lao San laughed and scolded, "Go away, go away! When I was invited to Pingzhou to make donkey meat hotpot for Governor Lu, could I use the same ingredients as usual?"
The people around him started to make a noise, "Duan Lao San, can you please tell me what's different about the ingredients you use?"
"Hmph, I won't say anything else, but the donkey meat I used is not what I usually buy in the market."
"Why is that?"
"Everyone knows that our Zhuozhou donkey meat hotpot is particularly delicious. Even if other places use the same method, they can't make it taste the same."
Some people around had eaten donkey meat hotpot from other places and nodded, saying that the taste of donkey meat cooked from other places was not the same.
Duan Laosan: "It's the same reason. The family I found raised their donkeys very carefully. The donkey meat they raised was very delicious, and the donkey meat hotpot they made had a very special flavor."
Everyone expressed disbelief.
"Believe it or not, I'll tell you something. People raise donkeys very carefully. They feed them tender grass in the morning, some beans and bean vines at noon, and soybean meal, cake bran, and melons in the evening."
Everyone thought it was nothing special. Many people raised donkeys like this, and it was pretty much the same.
Duan Laosan snorted and laughed, "What do you know? Donkeys have high requirements for food. They like dry, hard and crisp grass, such as beans, wheat, reeds and green rice stalks. They like these grasses."
Some people were unconvinced, "What's the big deal? We can raise donkeys this way, too."
Duan Laosan glanced at him and said, "I know with my own imagination that the bean vines you fed to the donkey must have been old bean vines after the bean harvest."
What else?
Duan Laosan continued, "Do you know what kind of fodder they feed them? They feed them fresh fodder every day, in the best season, such as bean vines. They use plants before they bloom. These bean vines are the most nutritious, and donkeys love them the most."
What? They worked so hard to grow beans, and before they even harvested them, they were feeding the donkeys? They couldn't bear to do that.
"The same goes for rice stalks. They're harvested before the rice reaches the ears."
Hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but gasp. What a waste! They couldn't bear to feed the donkey like this.
"The donkey meat raised in this way can be used to make donkey meat hotpot, which tastes amazing. I'm willing to pay fifteen taels of silver for one, and I'll take as many as you can get!" After saying this, Duan Laosan turned around and went into the store to get busy.
The speaker may not have intended it, but the listener took it to heart, and some people quickly made a calculation in their minds.
The price of donkeys in Zhuozhou has been very stable in recent years, fluctuating around eight taels. Now Duan Lao San asked for double the price, and many people were tempted.
"Duan Laosan, are you sure you'd pay fifteen taels for a donkey raised like this?"
"certainly!"
Just then, the family that Duan Laosan mentioned earlier came with a donkey.
"Five donkeys, right? Here, seventy-five taels of silver." Duan Laosan paid the bill directly, very cheerfully.
The people around had red eyes.
Isn't it just raising donkeys according to the method given by Duan Lao San? Who doesn't know how to do it?
Raising a donkey can earn you nearly ten taels of silver. Isn't that better than anything else? Farming is exhausting, and how much can you save at the end of the year? Forget it, go home and raise donkeys!
Many people went home in a hurry, but their hearts were burning with enthusiasm.
Unlike ordinary people who pursue profit, Jiang Boya in Zhuozhou was keenly aware of something.
Jiang Boya said to Xie Bai with a serious face, "Buy deer to control Chu, Pingzhou uses a trick to plan for Zhuozhou."
Xie Bai was stunned. As a child of a noble family, he naturally knew that buying a deer to defeat Chu was the plan proposed by Guan Zhong to Duke Huan of Qi to attack Chu.
"Mr. Jiang, what should we do?"
"You will set off for Chang'an soon and report this matter to the Grand Commander. Don't panic. Pingzhou will need time to implement this plan, and we have plenty of time to deal with it."
Hearing this, Xie Bai felt relieved.
But for Jiang Boya, despite saying this, he still frowned. For strategists like them, the traces of Pingzhou's conspiracy this time were obvious.
He had studied Pingzhou. Pingzhou was good at using strategies and liked to use open strategies. It seemed that no matter how his opponent tried to break through, Pingzhou's subsequent moves would be like an overwhelming force, and he would eventually achieve his goal.
This time, can they foil Pingzhou's plan and make Pingzhou fail?
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