1746 The Third Young Master cuts off Feng Qingchen's path
Feng Qingchen and Muzachi had an agreement that Feng Qingchen would take over all the cattle and sheep from Muzachi's tribe, including the troops around him.
The amount of cattle and sheep that Muzachi provides to Feng Qingchen on a monthly basis must not be less than 80,000 catties per month, and no less than 300,000 catties per season, with no limit on the amount to be provided.
Last year was the first time the two worked together, and Muzachi had always done what was agreed upon, providing just as much fresh meat as possible, but this year problems arose frequently.
In the first half of the year, the delivery was occasionally delayed by ten days or half a month, but Feng Qingchen didn't care about it. The two places are far apart, and if it rains heavily and blocks the road, it is normal to be late for ten days or half a month, or even a month. But this time, the delivery has not been on time for three months.
Chun Hui had sent a letter to Feng Qingchen before. At that time, Feng Qingchen was on his way back. Feng Qingchen asked Chun Hui to contact Muzachi and send someone to the grassland to find out if something had happened to Muzachi and whether he needed help.
As a result, no news came from the grassland. Even though the news of Muzachi's trip to Beijing arrived first, Feng Qingchen arranged today's meeting as soon as he received the news that Muzachi had gone straight to Beijing.
Seeing Muzachi sitting opposite him with a look of shame on his face, Feng Qingchen knew that the situation was beyond his control and that the connection with Muzachi was probably ruined.
"Chief Muzachi, what happened?" Feng Qingchen sat down and asked straight to the point.
"Feng, Miss Feng." A trace of embarrassment flashed across the face of tribe leader Muzachi, his eyes flickered, and he didn't dare to look at Feng Qingchen at all. In this way, Feng Qingchen still didn't understand anything.
"Just tell me directly who did it and what conditions they offered you." Although her cooperation with Muzhachi was secret, it was not impossible for someone to find out if they wanted to.
Seeing Feng Qingchen like this, Mu Zhachi felt even more uneasy. He suppressed his guilt and said, "It's Mr. Cui San. His price is 50% higher than yours, Miss Feng, and he doesn't need us to send it."
To put it in perspective, if they sell the same batch of meat to Feng Qingchen, they can only get 10,000 taels, but if they sell it to Young Master Cui San, they can get nearly 20,000 taels, which is double the profit. They would be stupid to refuse.
"Mr. Cui San? What a big deal." Feng Qingchen sneered, with light in his eyes.
She said, Mr. Cui San was chased by assassins and didn't dare to go out, so how could he not come back for revenge.
How cruel! He actually cut off her food supply.
"Miss Feng, yes, I'm sorry, I didn't want to do that, it's really..." If Feng Qingchen had scolded him a few words, he would have felt better, but Feng Qingchen didn't say a word, and he felt really bad.
At the beginning, their cattle and sheep froze to death on the grassland, and it was Feng Qingchen who helped the tribe survive that winter. At the beginning, they had no doctors or medicine on the grassland, and it was Miss Feng who sent carts of medicine and doctors to treat them, but now...
Their lives improved, but they kicked Feng Qingchen aside.
"Business is business, and there is nothing wrong with you chasing high profits." Feng Qingchen interrupted Muzhachi. Muzhachi just breathed a sigh of relief when Feng Qingchen changed the subject and said sternly, "But your sneaky behavior really makes me ashamed. If you think the price is too low, you can just ask for it directly; if someone offers a high price, at least tell me so that I can be prepared and see if I can offer the same price. I will admit that I can't compete with them. But you didn't say a word, so I thought something happened to you, so I sent people to the grassland to look for you, and you didn't come to me until you couldn't hide it anymore."
"Miss Feng, we, we don't want to either. It's really because of that Third Master Cui, he... doesn't allow us to say it." Muzachi almost buried his head in his chest.
The men of the grassland have always acted uprightly. They really felt sorry for Feng Qingchen in this matter. Not only did they betray him, but they also betrayed Feng Qingchen.
"What's the point of saying this now? The losses you've caused me are more than just a little bit." Even if the other party had said it two months earlier, she would have been able to find a solution.
It is winter now, and not only can she not harvest any grain, but she also cannot raise her cattle, sheep, and pigs in a short time. The grain she has stored will not last until the next year when the new grain is harvested.
When Feng Qingchen thought of those tens of thousands of mouths, he felt like he couldn't breathe. The pressure was really enormous.
Seeing Feng Qingchen's sad face, Mu Zhachi felt even more uneasy: "Miss Feng, we are wrong in this matter. We, we... can't get a batch of silver, we don't want it."
Every time Feng Qingchen pledged silver for a batch of goods, it was mainly to prevent the other party from going back on their word, but what’s the use of that little bit of silver now?
"Even if the deal doesn't work out, it's still friendship. You don't keep your promise, but I can't. You go back to the accountant to settle the bill, and I'll give you the full amount. I hope we can still have cooperation in the future." Feng Qingchen felt very uncomfortable, but she couldn't say anything definite. After all, she couldn't cut off this path. The people under her were trained very intensively, and they had to consume a lot of meat.
"Miss Feng, thank you, thank you." Mu Zhachi lowered his head, not daring to look at Feng Qingchen at all. He said goodbye in a hurry and left.
Feng Qingchen sat alone in the greenhouse, propping his head up and gently pressing his temples, his thin face full of worry.
Young Master Cui San has drawn the line, and she would be doing herself a disservice if she didn't reciprocate, but... the most urgent task is to gather the grain, otherwise Shandong will run out of food in two months.
"Maintaining an army is indeed a money-burning business." Especially since she only spends money and has no income, there is not much money left in the account. If this continues, she will not be able to support that group of people.
Although the Lu family's gold was in her hands, she couldn't use it for the time being. A large amount of gold flowing into the market would naturally arouse suspicion. If someone could find out, she would be the enemy of the four countries and nine cities.
"Should I learn from the Ninth Uncle and take over a city first, and use the city's taxes to support the army?" Maintaining an army is a long-term expense, and she must have a stable income, otherwise she will not be able to support it for a few years.
"But which city should we attack?" Feng Qingchen went over all the nine cities in her mind, but with her current strength, she couldn't take any city.
Feng Qingchen shook her head and smiled bitterly, temporarily putting the idea aside. She sat quietly in the greenhouse for a while, making sure that no one could see anything on her face, before going downstairs.
Before he walked down the stairs, he was blocked by someone. Feng Qingchen looked at the person standing below and took the initiative to speak: "Fu Lin, no...it should be Lord Fu."
"You'd better call me Fu Lin. This term, Master Fu, sounds weird to me." Fu Lin pointed to the seat by the window and said, "Would you like to sit down?"
"Okay." Feng Qingchen did not refuse and sat down with Fu Lin.
As soon as they sat down, the waiter brought wine and food. Feng Qingchen frowned and said, "I don't drink."
The waiter was about to change it, but was stopped by Fu Lin: "It's just fruit wine, a couple of sips will do no harm. I have good news to tell you today, so we should have a couple of sips for this news."
"What good news? Do we need to drink to celebrate?" Feng Qingchen stopped trying to stop him and looked at Fu Lin calmly. She didn't seem to be very interested in the good news he mentioned.
Fu Lin didn't care. He poured a glass of wine for the two of them, then picked up his own glass and drank it. His words and actions were all full of mysterious and mysterious spirits, which aroused Feng Qingchen's interest. After Fu Lin drank three glasses of wine, Feng Qingchen finally asked...