"Brothers, time to move the grain!"
The weather suddenly cleared up today, and the long-awaited sun briefly warmed the earth.
Then it turned gloomy, as if preparing for an even bigger rain.
Holding the roster, Guo Datou began selecting outstanding employees from the construction site to become one of them.
On the construction site, countless young people eagerly awaited their turn to be selected.
The monthly salary of five taels of silver, coupled with the temptation of lavish meals, made the position of officer a dream for them.
Who wouldn't want to wear a dashing flying fish robe, carry two embroidered spring knives, and patrol and inspect everywhere?
"Bai Luoti, Feng He, Ying Song, Heng Zejin, Guangxiu."
Guo Datou read from the roster: "The five of you have been verified to be diligent, responsible, respectful to your colleagues, and helpful. You are now officially promoted to guards of the Marquis's residence."
The five young men whose names were mentioned stood up, their faces beaming with excitement.
Among the guards behind Guo Datou, a man dressed in a flying fish robe handed them five sets of clothes and an embroidered spring knife.
"The five of you will follow him from now on. Also, after becoming guards, your wages will increase to five taels of silver a month, and you will enjoy the same wages and benefits."
"Once you put on this uniform, you must forget your former identities. From this moment on, you are all equal and glorious warriors. Everything you do represents the honor of the Marquis's mansion."
"Therefore, remember the first order of the Marquis's guards: the interests of the people are above all else, and the safety of the people's lives is above all else."
“You Mingkuang, take your men to change clothes, then teach them the rules. The rest of you, go and transport the grain.”
Guo Datou pointed at the man in the flying fish robe and gave him instructions. Then he turned and left with his men.
You Mingkuang looked at his newly arrived subordinates and smiled: "Congratulations everyone. Now, we're all brothers in arms, working together in the same pot."
"Now, let me tell you about the rules for soldiers."
"The soldiers of the Marquis's mansion are different from those in other places; they are treated much better."
"The wage is five taels of silver. Normally, we get two days off per month, but due to the special circumstances, we don't get any days off now. However, this month's wage will be tripled, which is fifteen taels of silver."
"In addition, there are extra subsidies, which are the main source of income. Last month I received two hundred taels of silver, as well as grain, cloth, wine, and coal."
At this point, You Mingkuang paused, turned around and stared intently at them, saying each word carefully: "The Marquis gives a lot of money, but he also imposes many rules."
"You all must remember this: of all the rules, the most important one is that you must not bully men or women, or harm the common people."
"Never, ever break this rule, or you will definitely regret being born into this world."
After saying this, You Mingkuang resumed his sly smile: "Besides this one, everything else must also be followed. Our most important rules are the Eight Disciplines and the Three Points for Attention."
"You must remember these things, do you hear me?"
After listening, the five men looked at each other in bewilderment, and then replied, "Yes, sir!"
"That's more like it. I believe in you all; you definitely won't let me down."
You Mingkuang patted them on the shoulder, and then explained to the new recruits some things they needed to pay attention to.
After he finished speaking, Bai Luoti couldn't help but raise his hand: "Reporting to the commander, didn't the Marquis say that there was no more grain? Why did Captain Guo say that he was going to transport grain today?"
"Well, I'm not really sure about that either."
"Perhaps the Marquis bought some more grain from there and is now selling it!"
You Mingkuang stroked his chin, his eyes seemingly lost in thought.
As a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, he vaguely guessed what was going on.
In Lantian County, grains that had been suspended from sale for two days have finally been put back on the shelves in Pinduoduo's grocery store.
As soon as it was put on the shelves, the same people flocked to it, intending to short the grain prices in the capital once again.
Li Chang'an sat in the attic, watching them scramble to buy, without feeling anxious at all.
The fish have mostly taken the bait, so now it's time to haul in the net.
I made over a million taels of silver selling grain these past two days.
Yan Song embezzled for decades, but only amassed 95.27 million taels of silver.
He earned over a million taels of silver in just five or six days, a rate of earning money faster than murder or arson.
He looked at Yang Wenguang and the others and asked, "How are your shops coming along?"
"Reporting to the Marquis, preparations are almost complete."
Yang Wenguang cupped his hands in greeting and replied, "Including some Confucian scholars, we have already prepared more than a hundred shops in various parts of the capital. The shop preparations are almost complete, and they will be open in two days."
Yang Guofu and Zhang Liang also spoke up, saying, "We have cleared out more than twenty shops in our fiefdom and in the counties near the capital. As long as you, Lord Marquis, give the word, they can open at any time."
Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an nodded: "Once General Yang's shop is ready, we can all open for business together and sell grain at half price."
“I will provide the grain, you are responsible for selling it, and the profits will be split 30/70.”
"My principle in life is to share food and money with everyone. I never eat alone."
"However, there is a rule: once I'm full, everyone else can eat the rest slowly."
"I've finished speaking. Do you have any further comments?"
Yang Wenguang and the others exchanged glances and stood up one after another: "We are willing to serve you, Lord Marquis."
They had no objection to the 30/70 split.
The items were provided by the other party; all we need to do is help find a shop and hire a few people to protect them.
There's absolutely no risk involved; it's practically the same as making money from home.
Moreover, they're not stupid; they've seen how profitable Pinduoduo's general stores are.
Even without this grain price increase, just the fact that the goods inside were priced lower than the normal prices outside would have been enough to make a lot of money.
Moreover, the recent rise in grain prices has brought in hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for the grocery store every day.
After deducting costs and taxes, the daily allowance was nearly 100,000 taels of silver.
This way of making money is faster than robbery, and there's no risk involved; it's a perfectly legitimate way to make money.
Even if others find out, there's nothing they can do about it.
They felt that if they didn't accept such a good deal, they might be struck by lightning when they went out.
Li Chang'an looked at them, stood up, raised his glass, and said, "Then I hope that everyone will unite as one, work together with one heart, and value harmony above all else."
Everyone raised their glasses, shouted, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Peace is of paramount importance!"
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