Of course, there are also people who keenly sense that something big is about to happen, so they take action.
It didn't take long for several large grain merchants who had not joined the big chamber of commerce to join forces to drive up grain prices.
They have never been at odds with the Great Chamber of Commerce, but they feel that this time is a rare and good opportunity.
In their view, no matter how much grain the Great Chamber of Commerce has, it cannot do business for everyone in the world.
Nowadays, various families' frenzied stockpiling of food must have exhausted the food reserves in the large chamber of commerce.
If they act at this time, not only can they make a lot of money, but they can even teach the naive small businessmen in the big chamber of commerce a lesson.
What is true honesty and integrity?
When it comes to doing business, the group of people in the big chamber of commerce are just a small group of people, how can they compare to these group of veterans?
As a result, for three days in a row, the price of food almost doubled. The price of a bucket of rice was several times more than before.
The emergence of high-priced grains has embarrassed not only ordinary people who cannot afford to buy grains.
In the inner courtyard of the Ma family, Ma Beichen, who has now married a beautiful woman as he wished, is no longer the frivolous look he once was, wandering among flowers.
As the most outstanding grandchild of this generation of the Ma family, the head of the Ma family had intentionally transferred authority downwards as early as after marrying Liu Qianrong.
Compared with Shiro of the Cheng family, the second generation descendants of the Ma family are not too prosperous.
Ma Beichen's father only has one uncle, and the relationship between the two brothers has always been very good.
However, both of them were in poor health and felt that they would definitely not be able to bear the heavy burden of being the head of the Ma family.
Fortunately, the third generation Ma Beichen is a powerful figure.
Although he was very ridiculous when he was young, in fact, this guy is like a human being. He seems to be a playboy, but in fact he is very scheming and is definitely pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.
But since marrying Liu Qianrong, he has changed from his past romantic behavior and only treats his wife well.
Now that the two have a son and a daughter, Liu Qianrong, the young lady in charge of the family, has become Ma Beichen's inseparable other half.
The relationship between the two was very deep, and Ma Beichen never regarded Liu Qianrong as an ignorant woman in the back house. Instead, she would come back to tell him about anything. The couple had discussed it, and they had made several things.
Something that is praised by the elders in the family.
Ma Beichen got off his horse in the outer courtyard and rushed into the couple's yard at a fast pace.
Liu Qianrong had just coaxed a pair of young children to sleep. Now she saw her husband's angry yard and couldn't help but go to meet him.
"Who messed with you? Why are you so angry?"
Facing the soft-spoken lady, Ma Beichen's tense face suddenly revealed
Somewhat aggrieved.
He had already taken off his coat, and now he was like a big dog being bullied. He suddenly plunged into the lady's arms and kept rubbing his big head from side to side.
"It's okay, my grandfather asked me to stock up on food. I didn't expect that group of people to be so careless.
They insisted on increasing the price they had agreed upon five or six times. They also said that they only gave me such a price for my grandfather's sake, otherwise I wouldn't be able to buy food even if I paid ten times the price."
The other people spoke even more harshly, but facing his wife, Ma Beichen didn't want to say it out loud and upset her.
In fact, it’s because Liu Qianrong has a close relationship with Lin Mengya.
When she got married, she was married as the adopted daughter of the Gong family. Apart from other things, the dowry alone, which amounted to one hundred and twenty-eight dollars, was enough to make others envious.
After their marriage, Liu Qianrong and Lin Mengya continued to have contact with each other.
Whether it's New Year's Day or Liu Qianrong's birthday, the Gong family will send many generous gifts in the name of giving gifts to my aunt.
Over time, people outside knew that the Ma family and the Gong family were now in the same boat. In addition, they later took the initiative to join the big chamber of commerce, so the grain merchants raised the prices this time, in fact, to give them face.
look.
So that they know that even if they join the big chamber of commerce, it will be of no use.
Ma Beichen knew their plan, so he didn't tell his wife about the rumors outside.
Anyway, they are just jealous that they have a smart and considerate wife!
Humph! Go ahead and be jealous, they will never be jealous in this life anyway!
Liu Qianrong patted her big furry head comfortingly and said with a smile, "I don't think it's a big deal. It's just that the price has doubled. It's not like our family can't afford it."
Unexpectedly, Ma Beichen muttered, "No matter how much money our family has, I don't want to give it to those ungrateful people!"
When those grain merchants were transporting grain, which one did not receive the care of the Ma family?
Now he is just taking advantage of someone's misfortune, and it is precisely because of the past relationship that he seems even more despicable now.
Liu Qianrong patted her husband's shoulder again. Seeing that the hair was almost smooth, she pushed him away.
"By the way, what do you think about the grain store over there at the Chamber of Commerce?"
"Well, the grain store at the Chamber of Commerce has long been empty. But the shopkeeper there gave me the number yesterday and asked me to calm down. He said that he had written back to ask for instructions from the steward over there.
"
take horse
Ma Beichen knew very well about his family's relationship with the big chamber of commerce, and most of the food could still be bought.
But he always felt that more of the grain stores owned by the Chamber of Commerce should be reserved for the common people.
As for the extra money they spent, it was spent. The Ma family is not short of that money now.
I didn't expect this group of people to be so snobbish!
While the couple was talking, someone came to invite them over, saying that it was the old man who invited them.
The couple tidied up a little and then went to the main courtyard where the old man was.
Patriarch Ma received the letter from the Gong family three days ago.
Like the Cheng family, they believed what was written in the letter almost immediately.
Mr. Ma is someone who has seen big events, and he also knows that Gong Ya is right.
This time it concerns each of them. If they cannot protect their homeland, one day, both he and the Ma family will become slaves of others.
He couldn't accept this no matter what.
The Ma family can die to protect their family, but they can never become enslaved slaves.
Therefore, in this battle, the Ma family must do their best!
"How is the baggage prepared?"
As soon as he came in, Patriarch Ma asked.
Ma Beichen frowned slightly, thought for a while, and told the old man the current dilemma he was facing.
Upon learning that the group of people had gone back on their word, Patriarch Ma did not show any anger.
The human heart is unpredictable. The most difficult thing in the world to see through is the human heart. The most difficult thing to grasp is the human heart.
Therefore, he would not be surprised at all by what Ma Beichen said. After all, some people put their interests first and would even betray their close relatives in order to obtain huge benefits.
It was just a breach of contract. If it were normal, he might still be angry, but now the overall situation is more important.
Even if the Ma family loses all their wealth, they must prepare everything properly.
The most important thing now is to live, not to be angry with those people.
He was thinking about handing over the keys to the inner treasury to his grandson-in-law later.
Although the Ma family has a lot of wealth, most of what can really be used is concentrated in the inner treasury.
It can be said that this is the true heritage of the Ma family.
Once you take it out, let alone buy out these people's food, you will be rich enough to buy their lives.
But in this way, the Ma family is likely to be seriously injured, and it may take several generations of efforts to recover again.
>
But as the saying goes, everyone knows clearly which is lighter and which is more important. They can only have a future if they live first.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, a burst of hearty laughter came from outside the door.
"Old man Ma! I just said that you looked wrong when you left yesterday. Look, what did I bring you?"
As soon as Patriarch Ma heard the sound outside, he suddenly felt happy.
He and the head of the Cheng family met yesterday, and it was also yesterday that they discussed the decision to send troops together.
But what I didn't expect was that this old guy who was supposed to return to the Cheng family came back again?
Although Patriarch Ma said he was disgusted, he was very honest and soon went to the outer courtyard to personally greet his old friend.
Patriarch Cheng is now wearing light armor and looks much younger.
Looking at the light armor on his body, Patriarch Ma's eyes flashed with envy.
But soon he was greeted with only a smile.
"You old guy, you're not afraid of the wind blowing your tongue! Tell me, we just met yesterday, why are you here again today? Don't be greedy for my Ma's wine, I tell you, we are not competing now
In the past, if you had a few more drinks, you wouldn't even be able to get on the horse."
Patriarch Cheng laughed loudly, pointed at his old friend, and joked, "Your Ma family's wine is really strong! But I am here to bring you food."
"Send food?" Patriarch Ma's face suddenly lit up, but then he seemed to have thought of something and said anxiously, "Oh, you ungrateful old guy, please bring us food."
Yes, what do you eat?"
Patriarch Ma thought that the Cheng family had heard the news, so he sent him the food stored by the Cheng family. He was moved but knew that he must not take it!
Nowadays, food is a big problem.
An army that can easily number tens of thousands of people requires a huge amount of food and drink.
As an old friend for many years, he naturally knew that the Cheng family's food hoard was not too large.
If you give him some now, wouldn't it mean that you are dragging down your old friend?
Unexpectedly, Patriarch Cheng said, "What do you want? Even if I want to give it to you, I don't have that much."
"That is?"
"It was sent here by the Great Chamber of Commerce. The head of the Gong family has given permission to open the granary to store food. Don't worry, this food will be enough even after the war is over!"
This time, it was the Ma family’s turn to be surprised!
You know, such a food gap is a figure that they can't even imagine.
