Yun Zheng looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a group of people holding red cloth that they got from somewhere and waving it at him vigorously, as if they were afraid that he could not see them in the crowd.
They wanted to break through the human wall formed by the soldiers, but were blocked outside.
Could it be that these people have suffered grievances?
Want to seek justice for yourself?
While Yun Zheng was secretly puzzled, Chen Bu quickly walked over and shouted: "If you have anything to say, let's talk about it another day! Today is the day when the prince returns triumphantly, don't act rashly here!"
However, Chen Bu's scolding did not have much effect. The group of people continued to shout and wave the red cloth in their hands vigorously at Yun Zheng.
If you don’t know, you might think these are all Yun Zheng’s little fans!
Seeing how loudly those people were shouting, Yun Zheng guessed that they must have something important to tell him, so he ordered the guards around him, "Go, bring them over!"
"yes!"
The guards immediately took the order and left.
...
...
Soon, the Royal Guards came over with two people from the group.
As the two men approached, a hint of understanding flashed across Yun Zheng's eyes.
Isn’t this the grain merchant from before?
No wonder he was so anxious to see me!
Judging from the way they are doing, I guess they failed to deliver enough food to Shuobei on time?
He also said that he would find time to deal with this matter later!
I didn't expect that someone would come to me as soon as I returned to Dingbei.
"I pay my respects to His Majesty..."
When they arrived in front of Yun Zheng, they knelt down and saluted.
"No need to be polite!"
Yun Zheng waved his hand gently and looked at the two with a smile on his face, "You two look familiar to me. Have I seen you somewhere before?"
Listening to Yun Zheng's words, both of them couldn't help but smile slightly.
They actually wished they had never met Yun Zheng!
"Your Majesty is so busy, it's normal that he doesn't remember me."
Hou Shikai slowly stood up, nodded and said, "I am a grain merchant in Muzhou. When I was in Mayi, I talked with the prince and Lord Zhang..."
"So it's you! Why do you look so familiar to me?"
Yun Zheng smiled as if he had suddenly realized something, and then asked in confusion, "Why are you so anxious to see me? Could it be that you have delivered the grain to Shuobei, and no one is willing to pay you?"
"No...no..." Hou Shikai shook his head quickly.
"What's that?"
Yun Zheng pretended to be confused.
Hou Shikai had a sad face and knelt down with a bang, "I am begging for mercy from Your Majesty, please show some leniency and let me go..."
As Hou Shikai knelt down, another person also knelt down.
"Beg for mercy? Give me a break?"
Yun Zheng frowned, "I say, you two, what's going on with you? I'm still confused. I've always been honest in my business. Why are you begging me for mercy?"
Seeing Yun Zheng's confused look, the two of them wailed even more.
The two didn't know whether Yun Zheng was really confused or just pretending, so they could only tell the whole story.
Both of them overestimated their abilities, and failed to deliver the food stipulated in the contract to Shuobei on time and in sufficient quantities.
Hou Shikai still needed 150,000 dan of grain, and another person still needed 170,000 dan of grain.
According to the contract they signed with Zhang Wuxian, the missing grain had to be compensated at three times the price Yun Zheng and his team paid for it.
Because Yun Zheng and his team paid too high a price for the grain, according to the price they offered, the two men would need to pay compensation of five or six hundred thousand taels of silver.
With this calculation, they were essentially giving away all the grain that had already been transported to Shuobei to Yun Zheng for free, and they had to pay out tens of thousands of taels of silver.
With no other options left, they could only think of asking Zhang Xu for help.
But upon asking around, I found out that Zhang Xu had already returned to the imperial city.
Finally, they had no choice but to run to the palace to beg for mercy.
But the people in the palace didn't even let them in. They just asked them to go find Chen Bu, saying that the matter was now under the jurisdiction of Chen Bu.
Under the guidance of the people in the palace, they met Chen Bu.
But Chen Bu kept repeating the same thing over and over again: everything is subject to the contract.
If this is stipulated in the contract, they will suffer a huge loss.
They had been in Dingbei for several days and had tried to contact Chen Bu many times, but Chen Bu refused to give in.
It was not until he learned that Yun Zheng was about to return triumphantly that he thought of coming to Yun Zheng to beg for mercy.
"Is that so?"
Yun Zheng frowned and looked at the two of them. "When we were in Mayi in the past, I told you again and again that if you can't do it, just quit early and I won't make it difficult for you! Now that you have breached the contract and you should take responsibility, you come to me to beg for mercy. This is a bit shameless!"
If I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place?
When doing business, how can you just think about making money?
"I was hot-headed and overestimated myself. I beg Your Majesty to give me a chance to live!"
"Please, Your Majesty, please show some leniency and spare me this time..."
The two men knelt on the ground and begged continuously.
It doesn't matter if you play rogue or you can't afford to lose.
They just wanted to ask Yun Zheng to show some leniency, otherwise, they would lose everything they had.
If it is a contract signed with someone else, they may not take compensation seriously at all.
But they signed a contract with Yun Zheng!
This is the King of Jingbei who commands a large army!
If they dare not take the compensation seriously, Yun Zheng probably won't take the lives of their entire family seriously either.
The two men begged for mercy and kowtowed continuously.
"You guys are making this very difficult for me!"
Yun Zheng looked embarrassed, and after sighing for a while, he said, "Well, you guys leave first! I have something else to do, so you guys come to the palace to see me tomorrow afternoon!"
Hearing that begging for mercy seemed promising, the two of them kowtowed and thanked him, "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty..."
"Okay, step back first!"
Yun Zheng waved his hand impatiently, thinking secretly in his heart.
Why are there only two of them?
Could it be that the other two grain merchants delivered the grain to Shuobei on time and in sufficient quantities?
If this is the case, it means that the two grain merchants do have some skills.
Yun Zheng thought about it for a while, and then said a few simple words to the people at the scene.
He didn't say anything to save face, but just asked everyone to disperse early and not catch a cold.
Afterwards, Yun Zheng got on the carriage.
The three women in the carriage were talking and laughing, but when they saw Yun Zheng coming in, they stopped talking and laughing.
"It's so cold, and I see some people have neither cotton-padded clothes nor leather clothes. Is it because they don't have the money to make cotton-padded clothes or leather clothes, or is there a shortage of cotton cloth and fur in Shuobei?"
Yun Zheng's gaze fell on Ye Zi.
“All of them!”
Ye Zi sighed softly: "But it's mainly because there is not enough cotton cloth on the market. We have been worried that the war will last too long and that the soldiers on the front line will have no cotton clothes to keep warm in winter. The cotton and cloth transported from the interior are given priority to ensure the needs of the army..."
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