Chapter 740 It’s better than being swept to the bottom of the river to feed the fish!
It is no exaggeration to say that Nanyun’s ferry stretches for hundreds of miles.
This is the largest dock and ferry in the entire Jiangnan area, and a must-pass place for all large merchant ships traveling to and from the south.
When the weather is calm, large and small boats travel back and forth at the ferry day and night, traveling back and forth in an orderly manner at the four ferry crossings in the east, west, south and north.
The place where they were located belonged to the North Ferry Crossing, and the South Ferry Crossing was the largest and most visited of the Nanyun Ferry Crossings.
Sang Zhixia's expression changed slightly, and she immediately stood up and said, "Let's talk while we walk."
"Lin Yun, send someone to the Gui family immediately and ask the head of the Gui family to come to Nandukou to find me."
Sang Zhixia took the umbrella handed to her by Hua Shan and hurried downstairs: "Let's go."
Xue Liu was as talkative as ever. He gave a brief account of what had happened right after he got into the carriage and even sat down.
Although the locations of several ferry crossings are close to the river, there are still differences between the upper and lower parts.
Nandukou is the lowest point, and the waterline near the shore is usually the deepest there.
Now it is raining heavily and the water level on the river is rising rapidly. The places with slightly higher terrain can still barely hold on, but Nandukou cannot.
Xue Liu rode all the way over, clutching the handkerchief Diancui had given him, not even bothering to wipe the rain from his face and head. His face was pale as he spoke, "Nandukou has a natural advantage at its deep waterline, making it difficult for ships to get caught. Merchant ships carrying heavy cargoes will choose to dock at Nandukou, and so will our company."
"Our two largest granaries are right there, inside..."
Xue Liu took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice, "These two granaries are filled with a total of 110,000 kilograms of grain, from rice and flour to wheat and beans."
"We originally planned to send this grain to Chuzhou, but...but the merchant ship wasn't available before. When it finally did, the waves on the river were too high to sail, so we had to put it on hold. But now..."
"Not only can we not send it out now..."
If you can’t send it right away, you can think of a way later.
However, the prerequisite for finding a solution is that the food is intact and has not been soaked in water.
In such humid weather with continuous heavy rain, once the grain is soaked in water, even if it is pulled out in time and found a place to dry, it will become moldy within three to five days.
Xue Liu took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice, "Boss, the responsibility this time is mine."
"Lin Yun said half a month ago that this batch of grain could be sent out. I wanted to collect 100,000 yuan before taking any action. That's why it's been delayed like this. I..."
"None of us can predict the future, and no one wants to see unexpected accidents."
"Now that something has happened, the most urgent thing is to find a way to solve the problem, not to blame ourselves and reflect on it."
Sang Zhixia waved her hand to signal Xue Liu not to say anything more, frowning slightly. "Has the water already flooded the granary?"
“It’s just a hair’s breadth away.”
Xue Liu smiled bitterly and said, "I've been guarding the South Ferry for the past few days, fearing that the water will rise again."
"The situation seemed relatively good yesterday. I had planned to wait until nightfall to try to move some grain to a higher ground within the city for storage, but I didn't realize it was too late."
Sanyou Trading Company has been secretly buying large quantities of grain, and after collecting the required amount, it will be transported to where the Lingnan army is located.
But such things cannot be done openly.
The sudden appearance of excessive amounts of grain in front of people will cause a series of unpredictable troubles.
In order to avoid being noticed that the company had a large demand for grain and then being manipulated by grain merchants from all over to raise the price, all purchases were carried out in secret.
Xue Liu’s consideration was actually correct.
The best time to transport grain is only when it is late at night and no one is around to notice.
However, the rain has become even heavier after nightfall in recent days. No matter how thorough the measures are, it is impossible to completely prevent the food from being soaked by water.
The dilemma for a while, and a series of mistakes have led to the current predicament.
Overnight, the river level, which was relatively calm yesterday, rose much higher again, which was more terrifying than anyone had expected.
At this time, even if it doesn't matter whether it will be discovered or not, it is difficult to transfer all the food in a short period of time.
There are no more people available at the ferry.
Xue Liu took a deep breath and said hoarsely, "The water level is now only thirteen steps away from our granary, and it's still rising."
"At the current rate, within a day and a night at most, the water level will completely rise and cover all the steps, and the granary will be flooded."
Once grain is soaked in water, it becomes worthless.
Eating moldy food can be fatal.
But……
Sang Zhixia noticed that Xue Liu was shaking with anxiety, so she placed her hand on the back of her hand and said softly, "Don't worry, there will be a way."
"How many people do we have available right now? Besides Nandukou, how many of our other businesses might face similar crises?"
Sang Zhixia lowered her eyes and said, "I haven't been able to take care of the company these days, so I'm not very clear about the situation."
"Tell me what you know first, and then we'll figure out a solution when we get there."
The carriage tore through the rain and rushed towards Nandukou. The sound of talking in the carriage never stopped.
When he arrived at the place, Sang Zhixia realized that the problem might be more serious than he had imagined.
Xue Liu's face turned pale, and after stammering repeatedly, he said in disbelief, "How long has it been?"
It has been no more than an hour since she set out to find Sang Zhixia.
Just one hour.
Most of the thirteen steps she had counted before setting out were flooded, and now...
Sang Zhixia grabbed a corner of the straw raincoat and said lightly, as if in a trance, "Seventh level."
"There are still seven levels left."
The road from the river to the granary is a long staircase.
It is unknown how many steps there are to walk up from the ferry, but Xue Liu said on the way here that it takes a quarter of an hour to walk up from the bottom.
The remaining steps could no longer be seen in the surging turbid water, and the only seven remaining steps were constantly being swallowed by the waves.
Sang Zhixia's eyes narrowed sharply, and she made a decisive decision: "There's no time to waste."
"Move over here now, mobilize all the vehicles and horses that can move, and move the grain in the granary immediately!"
The steward who had been guarding here was extremely anxious. He rubbed his eyes, which were so wet that he couldn't open them, and said loudly, "But Boss, this food can't get wet."
"It got a little wet, then..."
"I don't care about that anymore!"
Sang Zhixia shouted at the top of her lungs amidst the fierce wind, "It's better to cross the river than to be swept to the bottom of the river and become food for the fish!"
"Go now!"
"We are short on manpower, so we are looking for local boatmen who are willing to work hard and earn money!"
Sang Zhixia wiped the raindrops from his face and said through gritted teeth, "Spread my words. Anyone who works hard in the next few days will be paid one tael of silver a day if they come unarmed, and two taels of silver a day if they come with a carriage or horse!"
“Wages will be settled on the same day, never in arrears!”
"besides!"
Sang Zhixia shouted at the manager who was about to run, "Let me make it clear, only men can come to work. No one over fifty, no one under twenty!"
"The waves here are too strong, even the weak ones can't handle it. Don't get swept into the water and cause more deaths. Remember?!"
The steward replied with a mournful face and a hoarse voice: "Don't worry, I know what to do!"
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