Although soon, both local and foreign grain merchants knew that "Bao Qing Sheng" was the warehouse of the cotton master Chu Qing, and there were more criticisms against her, such as "Hoarding during the current disaster" and so on, Chu Qing still went her own way, with great fanfare.

Construction of the "Cheong Wa Dae Uibinfu Branch" began.

Not only did they post notices to recruit workers, they also vigorously promoted that the local "Blue House" should be built into the largest restaurant with local characteristics and a collection of local flavors.

They also placed promotional slogans and colorful flags starting from the selected pavement and all the way to the canal ferry. They required that wherever the colorful flags went, they should be paved with blue brick pavement, saying that they wanted to "recruit customers from all over the world."

For a time, the entire Yibin Mansion was talking about her. Some said that she was not doing her job properly, some said that she was competing with the people for profit, and some said that she abused her power and used it for personal gain... In short, it was all said.

On the other side, Chu Qing came to the government office and told the Gaozhifu that he would pay for the road construction and the green brick road and give it to him for approval.

"This is a great thing!" Gao Zhifu's face was full of smiles, and the lines around his eyes looked amiable: "Master Chu cares about the people and serves the country for the people. I admire him! I don't know how much money Mr. Chu has contributed? I will ask someone to come over and talk to you right now.

Handover!"

The Kozhi Prefecture is very happy. Someone is willing to pay to be taken advantage of, so why not hurry up? Chu Qing pays and the government finds someone to do the work. How much of the money will end up in his own pocket!

In the past, the government did this. When there was no performance to show, they would build bridges and pave roads. Anyway, they "mobilized" local large households to contribute money, and the government collected corvees to do the work.

Big businessmen also know that being an official means making money again, but the money is not free, and supporting officials can make more money.

As long as they contribute money happily, the prefect will always give them feedback, such as revealing some information and formulating some policies that will help them make money.

Collusion between government and businessmen is a win-win move.

Gao Zhifu thought that Chu Qing wanted to "ease the relationship" with him and send him money, so his attitude was quite good.

"There is no need to hand over," Chu Qing said: "How can I bother Master Gao so much? Just give me a stamp to prove that you agree with me building the road."

Chu Qing's attitude was also very polite.

What do you mean? Kozhifu is a little confused.

"Master Gao, if you want to get rich, build the roads first. I will pay for the road construction. Then you will lead the people to get rich together. Your appointment as an official will not be wasted. I am here." Chu Qing said with a smile: "I am a worker myself.

Recruitment, I will buy the bricks and stones myself, I promise not to cause any trouble to you!"

Damn trouble! If you don’t keep this “trouble” for me, who’s money will I make?!

Gao Zhifu's smile was a little stiff: "This... this is what happened," he began to speak in an official tone: "The road Master Chu wants to build runs through the main roads of the entire city and will affect the normal life of the people. Gao

It needs to be reported to the court and can only be implemented after receiving approval."

Chu Qing immediately presented the "Rainbow Fart": "Master Gao is so wise, thinking about the people and caring about their worries!

In order not to cause trouble to Mr. Gao, Chu has planned a route that will not affect people's lives during the road construction period. After confirmation by the Secret Investigation Department's directorate in Yibin Mansion, it can be implemented;

We will lay it back from the ferry. This will not only give the people time to accept it, but also greatly reduce the interference to the people in the city.

Moreover, in order to complete the project as soon as possible, Chu will work in ‘three shifts’ to speed up the progress of the project, so that adults can get things done without worrying!”

Kochifu's face no longer wanted to maintain a smile.

"Confirmed by the Directorate of the Secret Investigation Department in Yibin Mansion." Good confirmation! You built the road and blocked my road, but I can't say anything!

"Since Mr. Chu has thought it over carefully, there is no need to discuss it with Gao." Gao Zhifu had already turned cold and stood up to "drive away" Chu Qing.

Chu Qing took out the document and said, "Master Gao, please seal it."

The document already had two seals from the director's office, Wang Qianhu and Chu Qing, indicating that the matter had been reported. No matter how angry the prefecture was, it had no choice but to stamp it with the government's seal.

Chu Qing was very satisfied with her behavior of bringing the duck to the other person's mouth and then taking it away.

As the saying goes, if you've already offended someone, don't worry about the severity.

There is nothing new in Chu Qing's approach. She has no business talent and is simply following the practices of the ancients.

It is much more appropriate to use the wisdom of the ancients to deal with the ancients than to act with only a partial understanding of the world.

I remember that when Fan Zhongyan was an official in Hangzhou, he encountered a drought, a shortage of food, and rising food prices. The old man played this trick: raising food prices to concentrate food from various places in Hangzhou, so that Hangzhou was no longer short of food, and suppressed the supply of food.

price.

At the same time, he spent a lot of time and alcohol to help the economy: he organized "dragon boat races", built temples, and used large-scale construction methods to create local employment so that people could have money to eat.

Chu Qing was not a local official, nor did he have Fan Zhongyan's broad sentiments of serving the country and the people.

But she plans to use this method to hold local grain stocks in the warehouse and not let them out unless the price is reduced.

Then use road construction to delay the food that has been transported or is about to arrive in Yibin Prefecture on the road for a period of time, forcing them to lower the price.

As for the money for road construction, if it is clear today, it can be made up from elsewhere tomorrow.

There is only one reason for this: logistics.

Logistics costs in this era are huge. Since the grain has been shipped with extremely high logistics costs, grain merchants will naturally not spend another logistics fee to bring the grain back just because the price is unsatisfactory.

What can we do? Lower the price.

Gao Zhifu told himself to hold back his temper and let the "little man" Chu Qing be proud for the time being.

After stamping the seal, the prefect of Gao ordered someone to notify several businessmen he often contacted to pull out the "soaked food" from the treasury and sell it to Chu Qing in their names.

Not only will I sell you the rotten grain at a high price, but I will also repair the road back to you. I will also report this to the imperial court as my political achievement!

Without my leadership and call, this road would not exist!

You are just an investor who responded to the call of the prefect!

Of course, if you make any mistakes in building this road, I will sue you for encroaching on official roads, illegal expropriation of corvee, etc. Isn’t it easy to lay out the charges?

As Chu Qing expected, Baijiaxing reported the next day that someone had brought "soaked food". The bags were all new, but the musty smell could not be concealed.

However, these grains were all rejected, whether they were "water-soaked grains" or grains shipped from other ways, for the reason: to expand the warehouse.

Then Baijiaxing posted a notice: Because the warehouse is not enough, it will take five days to continue purchasing, so please wait patiently.

As long as they don't charge you, it doesn't matter if you wait five days. The porter's fee is very low, just take it back to your own warehouse.

The people of Yibin Mansion gradually felt at ease when they saw so much food entering the city.

At the same time, a large number of people flocked to the lumber yard to apply for jobs as construction workers, road builders, etc. The wages were very low, far lower than the recruitment level when Chu Qing arrived at the beginning of the year, but they had no complaints because labor was the cheapest in disaster years.

.

Fan Zhongyan uses the "reverse method" to solve problems, which is to think from the opposite direction of known things and find ways to solve problems.

Chu Qing used Fan Zhongyan's method to solve the problem.


Chapter completed!