Chapter 59 He's still so enthusiastic (Please vote!)
On the third floor of Yuanming Tower, there is a private room without windows.
The waitresses carried the dishes in and out quietly, not daring to disturb the group of wealthy out-of-town merchants who were sitting silently in the private room.
All the dishes were served.
The door was tightly closed from the outside.
The private room was quiet.
A round table, laden with a dazzling array of dishes.
The guests, seated around the table, had their eyes fixed on the delicious food, but no one was the first to touch their chopsticks.
The waitresses who were assigned by the restaurant to accompany them did not dare to serve them food without permission, let alone say anything flattering to warm up the atmosphere.
The atmosphere gradually froze.
Wang Caozhi, who was hosting the event, smiled broadly, stood up, raised his glass, and said in a forcedly familiar tone, "Everyone, eat quickly, it's getting cold, don't waste food."
"What Longcheng has in abundance right now is food, so why bother saving it?" Manager Ma said coldly.
The air fell silent.
Including Wang Caozhi, who looked embarrassed, the sixteen grain merchants remained silent, their expressions becoming solemn and suppressed.
These days, their moods are just like the fluctuating prices of grain, going up and down dramatically.
I thought that even if Jiangzhou wasn't a dining table, it was at least a breakfast stall, where I could grab a bite and leave anytime.
But to their utter surprise, this place turned out to be a carefully planned trap that exploited their greed!
It's the kind where you lock the door and unleash the dogs!
Damn it, how could a small, insignificant disaster-stricken county in Jiangnan possibly pull off such a daring feat? Can such a small place really have such a master?
That's really going too far.
Everyone was cursing under their breath.
Indeed, after these days of calm and witnessing the strange trend of events, the grain merchants have gradually come to their senses. If anyone still believes that honest and sincere young magistrate, they might as well not sit here for a meal and go sit at the children's table next time.
Even knowing all this, Wang Caozhi and the other grain merchants couldn't help but feel a bitter taste in their mouths.
Longcheng County is a place where the right timing, location, and people all come together to create a favorable environment.
They've been planning this from the start, putting on a show of hospitality, then acting as the dealer and personally participating in the game. How can anyone play like that?
Especially in these southern prefectures and counties where people stick together, are exclusive, and have conservative customs, even a powerful dragon can hardly suppress a local snake.
And most importantly, while they themselves can leave Dragon City at any time, their most precious food is locked up here.
ruthless.
That cheap brother-in-law is ruthless!
Thinking about all the things that had happened these past few days, Wang Caozhi couldn't help but wipe his face hard with the hot towel he used to wipe his hands before the meal, and then throw it to the Hu woman who was serving him drinks behind him.
He should have been wary long ago, especially after meeting Sister Ling Jiang at the entrance of this restaurant when he first arrived in Longcheng. He should have realized that a new county magistrate who could have a noble lady from the Xie family following him couldn't be a simple naive girl; he might even be a personally trained disciple favored by Uncle Xie Xun...
The short young man was filled with remorse.
Manager Ma waved his hand impatiently: "All of you get out of here, don't get in the way."
"Here you are."
Inside the private room, the sixteen female wine girls who had been serving drinks to the guests bowed their heads and left.
Logically, they should have eaten before discussing business, but right now, with tens of thousands of bushels of grain hanging in the balance, the grain merchants had no appetite at all...
Wang Caozhi glanced at the tall, slender Hu woman who had stepped down from the table. He had specially chosen her to accompany him for drinks, not because he liked exotic customs, but to support her business.
He first met Sister Lingjiang at Yuanming Tower. The latter had come to visit this tall Hu woman, whose full name seemed to be "Zhiying". Later, Sister Lingjiang seemed to visit her often, and recently they even seemed to be discussing redeeming her from her servitude...
Wang Caozhi actually couldn't appreciate this kind of Hu style at all, and even thought it was ugly. Perhaps in the northern part of the empire, in the two capitals of Guanzhong and Longxi, where Hu people lived, the cultural atmosphere was relatively open. But in the southern provinces, the local aristocratic families and clans were powerful, their aesthetics were more traditional, and the atmosphere was very conservative.
Moreover, Wang Caozhi was born into the Langya Wang clan, which valued the attire of the Han Chinese. He estimated that if he dared to bring the Hu woman back to his family, even if she was just a concubine, at least one of his three legs would be broken.
So when Wang Caozhi heard a couple of days ago that his cheap brother-in-law had not only bought a Hu woman, but also a white-haired one, he was filled with awe and admiration, as surging as a mighty river...
The door to the private room was closed again.
The oppressive atmosphere inside the room eased slightly.
Wang Caozhi silently scanned the area.
Grain merchants looked worried.
One grain merchant looked utterly dejected.
Some grain merchants, their faces contorted with anger, got up and paced back and forth inside the house.
"Young Master Wang, you really went to a lot of trouble choosing this private room. You even picked one without windows, in case one of us is thinking of jumping off?"
After a few days apart, Manager Li looked much older, and his forced smile seemed tired as he made a joke.
Wang Caozhi helplessly spread his hands: "If we don't think of a solution, there will be a queue on the rooftop."
The short young man looked somewhat tired and addressed his business partners:
"I'm sure you all understand the current situation, so I'm inviting you to this meal so that you can put aside your past grievances and temporarily restore unity. We can't afford to fall apart like a pile of sand, or we'll all end up flying off the building... If you have any ideas, please share them so we can discuss them together."
"What a load of rubbish!"
Manager Ma paced back and forth inside the room, then turned around in a huff.
The tall, middle-aged shopkeeper was no longer the leisurely man who used to casually twirl his prayer beads. Now, he had two large dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for two days and two nights, looking like a patient with severe anxiety disorder.
His face was ashen, and he gritted his teeth: "We need to find the rats who broke the agreement and secretly released grain at a low price. What kind of business can we do if we have no self-control? Unity? Unity my ass!"
Wang Caozhi and the others looked grim, their eyes darting around, speechless with embarrassment.
Only sixteen grain merchants attended today's gathering because two small grain merchants had already sold off all their grain at rock-bottom prices a few days ago and secretly made their way away by boat. Everyone only found out this morning.
However, these two small grain merchants had small boats that made it easy for them to turn around. The remaining grain merchants had a lot of grain stored up, especially Wang Caozhi, Manager Ma, and Manager Li, who had the most grain stored in the dock warehouse, totaling over 100,000 shi (a unit of dry measure). The daily warehouse management fees and anti-aging fees alone were a considerable expense.
After the impact of the "five qian grain" price, the price of grain in Longcheng has plummeted to seven or eight qian per dou, which even the disaster victims found heartbreaking.
Moreover, this is not the bottom, but only the beginning.
"What's the point of saying all this now? Even if we find out the culprits, what good will it do? It'll only increase internal strife..."
Wang Caozhi shook his head and sighed again:
“Now almost everyone in Longcheng County knows that we have more than 200,000 tons of grain in storage, and they are all waiting for us to lower the price. But now it’s the rainy season, and if the grain is stored any longer, it will become stale. There’s not much left to hold on to… The grain price can’t be stabilized.”
Manager Li looked miserable. "What can we do? We can't just watch the grain go bad and become worthless, losing a fortune!"
Wang Caozhi looked up and said seriously, "We have to start from the root cause, otherwise everything else will be in vain."
Manager Ma's forehead veins twitched. "The root cause? You all saw the attitude of the Longcheng County government. They're all masters of tai chi, kicking us around like a football! To hell with them, if they dared to do this in Jinling, I... I'd smash them all!"
Wang Caozhi quickly got up to stop Manager Ma from kicking the stool and punching the flowerpot.
The crowd was speechless. What good is it for you to be a "war god in the private room" in front of us? Do you dare to smash it in front of the young county magistrate and the blue-clad constable?
A young, round-faced grain merchant muttered, "Should we go and plead with Magistrate Ouyang again?"
Everyone fell silent, exchanging glances in unison.
Manager Li shook his head bitterly and said:
"It's no use. I've figured it out these past few days. This Magistrate Ouyang, who claims to love the people like his own children, is just pretending to be confused... He probably arranged all of this. That Constable Yan is probably just following his orders. And who knows, even the official documents from Jiangzhou that were sent to seal off the area might be..."
The old grain merchant with the goatee paused, gazing at the table full of delicacies with a sigh.
The round-faced grain merchant continued to shake his head:
“I understand. But it’s easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings. What can we do if we’re stuck in Longcheng County? Without a powerful backer, it’s hard for a merchant to fight against an official… Let’s just admit defeat, go and apologize to Magistrate Ouyang, show our sincerity, and see if we can pay a toll or send some ‘local specialties’ so we can leave without further trouble.”
Another small grain merchant's face immediately contorted with pain:
"Why do we still have to pay? The grain price is so badly low, all the profits we made have been wiped out, and we're even losing a lot of money..."
The round-faced grain merchant said coldly:
"So what do you suggest we do? The problem is that the Longcheng government is holding us back. That's the root of the problem. The county magistrate is the key. If we don't bribe our way through, why should they remove the knife that's been wiping our necks? We should have thought of this a long time ago. We've wasted so much time and so much food."
"No, no, I mean, how about we try a different approach... sending a few beauties to Magistrate Ouyang?"
Wang Caozhi and several grain merchants shook their heads in unison: "It won't work. Magistrate Ouyang is not interested in women!"
"So he likes fame? Then let's weave a few umbrellas for the people and send them to the county government office."
Wang Caozhi shook his head. "He seems to take disasters and floods very seriously, as there has always been a shortage of food."
Manager Li glared, "We can't possibly donate all the grain, can we? We might as well sell it off cheaply!"
Manager Ma's eyes reddened, and he slammed his fist on the table:
"At worst, I'll fight him to the death. I, Ma, will not sell it cheaply. I won't let him burn it; I'll do it myself! I'd rather burn all that pure white rice than give it to these poor bastards for nothing!"
"Manager Ma, please calm down, please calm down..."
Manager Li and the others quickly tried to persuade him.
Some small grain merchants couldn't help but take the lead in urging Wang Caozhi:
"Young Master Wang, isn't Magistrate Ouyang your brother-in-law? Go and put in a good word for him. See if you can find out what the magistrate wants. Regardless of whether it's outright robbery or not, at least let him know a little bit, right?"
"Yes, if that doesn't work, you can go and plead with that Xie family sister, and whisper some sweet nothings in her ear."
Wang Caozhi blushed instantly, unsure whether his colleagues were mocking him or serious... In fact, he had frequently tried to get information from Xie Lingjiang a few days ago, but the latter had always been unresponsive.
"Ahem, my brother-in-law... is quite impartial and upright, which makes things difficult for me."
The short young man sighed and then changed the subject, saying, "However, I went to the county government office yesterday evening and saw my brother-in-law."
The crowd immediately fell silent, and they whispered, "What did the magistrate say?"
Wang Caozhi nodded:
He said, "We are all guests from afar, doing business in Longcheng. The county government will definitely help us if it can... He also said that he had heard about the recent grain price issue and told me to go back first. He said he would give us an answer in the next few days."
Several small grain merchants in the private room were also taken aback and said, "We went to see the county magistrate the day before yesterday, and he told us the same thing, telling us to be patient and that the county government would definitely help if it could..."
The faces of everyone immediately turned to disappointment.
"Help my ass!" Manager Ma's eyes reddened, as if he had been brutally violated by a scumbag, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Isn't it just stalling for time and watching grain prices plummet? Who doesn't know what the county government is up to?"
The atmosphere in the private room fell silent again. Everyone was at a loss, their expressions varied. Manager Ma stopped, turned around, faced the crowd, and gritted his teeth as if to speak.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, breaking the silence. Everyone turned around and saw a gray-clad servant rush in, hurry to Manager Li's side, and whisper a few words in his ear.
Manager Li's face froze as he listened.
Wang Caozhi and the others asked with concern, "What is it?"
Manager Li's eyes revealed an expression of disbelief:
“The magistrate of Ouyang sent someone to say that all the grain that was stolen from me by the refugees in the suburbs has been recovered... and that I should go and collect it when I have time.”
"They found them all? Really? Weren't those constables just fooling us? Are they really investigating a case?" Everyone was astonished.
"Not only that, there's something else..." Manager Li swallowed hard.
"The county magistrate has invited the sixteen of us grain merchants to the county government hall this afternoon for a meeting. He said that he and the county government will provide a satisfactory explanation to all parties regarding the difficulties faced by the grain merchants in this county!"
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
Why is Magistrate Ouyang being so enthusiastic?
(End of this chapter)
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