Luoshui is the largest river in Weibei, and the area it flows through is also rich.
The reason for the Shang Dynasty is that it has been washed away by the Luoshui River and its tributary ditches all year round. The landform is mostly an east-west plateau, with mostly fertile farmland above and below the plateau.
"Lang Jun really wants to go to Shishiwu? I went to the city to visit Captain Shi before, but I couldn't see him. He was using his arrogant attitude to test whether your wish was urgent, Mr. Lang. He was refused to see you, and now he went to visit him in his hometown. This
It’s really a bit…”
On the dusty country road, Zheng Man rode his horse and walked with Li Tai while admonishing: "Even if you buy all the raw hemp, you only have three months left to spin it into cloth.
Spun into cloth, it’s not enough to buy grain and thousands of stones!”
"Of course I understand that Shi has bad intentions. But since I made this agreement with the county government, I should try my best to fulfill it and not let Zheng Zhan be implicated."
Hearing Zheng Man's advice to him, Li Tai said with a smile: "These big households rely on their own goods, even if they are not for flax, they must be controlled for anything else. They have to visit sooner or later. If you are in a hurry, slow down. The more urgent you are, the more likely you will be."
It’s controlled.”
Shi Gong, the county lieutenant, prevented the county government from obtaining raw hemp materials for him, and he did not simply force Li Tai to go to his house to buy and raise the price. After all, raw hemp is a cheap material, not a scarce product. In the eyes of outsiders, Li Tai also
There is no reason to necessarily buy it.
The reason why Na Shi County Lieutenant continued to be a bad guy in vain was to warn Li Tai that he should divide the village and the county government. The deal he reached with the county government broke the relationship between the big households in the county and the county government, and gave the county
The Yamen provided a new way to raise supplies by bypassing these wealthy households.
This undoubtedly offended the rich and powerful. Shi County Lieutenant's obstruction this time was just a small show of strength. If Li Tai could not wake up and bow his head, a more serious blow would be to come.
For example, in the late autumn, even if he had sufficient resources, he could not purchase enough grain in the county to complete the transaction agreement with the county government.
In the final analysis, these local tycoons who control a large amount of land and population are the real owners of this country. Even a high-ranking general like He Basheng has to avoid suspicion because he cannot interfere with local politics and dare not directly
Borrow Li Tai's help to deliver grain to the county government.
If tens of thousands of kilograms of grain cannot be purchased locally, the cost of transportation alone will be a huge consumption, and it may not be possible to buy it and transport it back in time.
Li Tai's farming plan faced such a tricky situation. If he did not cooperate with the county government, he might not even be able to achieve normal production due to the crowding out and instigation of the surrounding large households. After cooperating with the county government, the large rural households would not dare to continue production.
Overt resistance, but in other places more restrictive.
Within the established local rules, even those military leaders and nobles were subject to many restrictions. Li Tai, a powerless Dongzhou surrenderer, must face even deeper restrictions.
Even if he had the support of the upper-class forces of the Western Wei Dynasty, it would be difficult for him to break through this old-rooted nostalgia, not to mention that He Basheng would not have any bottom line or unreserved support for him.
But it was not Li Tai's character to be submissive. After weighing things up, he decided to take the initiative.
The dock wall of the family of a local tycoon and historian is located between two plateaus. The cultivated land on the left and right plateaus are all his family's acres, extending all the way to the rocky beach on the east bank of Luoshui River.
This dock wall was also built very grandly, and its scale was even larger than that of Shangyang garrison. Li Tai and his party were still nearly a mile away from the dock wall when they were stopped by the villagers guarding the outside.
Zheng Man posted his name before entering, and after some back-and-forth reporting, more than a quarter of an hour had passed when Li Tai and his party entered the dock wall.
"I had known that the village was full of famous people, and they were busy with farm work, so they had no time to visit. Unexpectedly, my husband came here today. He was not greeted from afar, and it was rude and rude."
Inside the wall of the dock, a middle-aged Hu man walked forward, surrounded by wealthy slaves. He pointed at Li Tai from a distance and said with a smile: "Sure enough, the style of the famous clan is different from the common people!"
The middle-aged man's name is Shi Jing, the younger brother of the county captain Shi Gong. One of the two brothers is an official outside, and the other is working at home. This is also a common combination among powerful families nowadays.
"The younger generation has just come to live in the countryside, so it is necessary to visit the wise elders of the village. I am also busy with farming and mulberry work, so I have only come to see you now. I hope that Mr. Shi will not sin."
Shi Jingbai lived in his hometown and had no title, so Li Tai's calling him this was just an honorific title.
"Haha, a talented person from a well-known family does this, which makes my family shine."
Although Shi Jing was a barbarian, he was thin and a head shorter than Li Tai. He stood a few feet away, pointed at Li Tai and smiled to the left and right: "Please come and take a look, this guy is from Longxi."
The disciples of the Li family have always been guests of powerful families, so how can we, the ordinary people in our village, see them?"
After hearing this, all the slaves looked at Li Tai unscrupulously and their attitude was very rude.
Li Tai raised his hand to stop Zheng Man who was about to speak, but still kept a smile on his face: "Bo Shan is not a rare person in the world. He only knows how to treat others with courtesy due to his family upbringing. Shi Hou is a noble family man. Although he is a simple householder, he also
I am an ordinary person and am not worth watching and admiring."
When Shi Jing heard this, the slightly wild smile on his face subsided slightly, and he waved his hand to dismiss the slaves, not wanting to appear uneducated in front of outsiders.
"When distinguished guests come to your door, you should be entertained. It's just that we are busy with family affairs and have no time to entertain guests. If your husband has something to say, you might as well say it here."
Shi Jing did not invite Li Tai into the hall, but just stood there and said.
"I came to visit you today. I really have something to ask of you."
Li Tai still maintained a polite smile and bowed slightly to prevent his gaze from appearing too condescending: "When we move into a new home in the countryside, we have everything to do, but there is a shortage of materials. The soldiers are just for leisure. I knew that the treasury of the Lord's Palace was full.
, so I took the liberty to visit you, please help Mr. Shi to clear up the trouble."
"Aren't you just buying hemp?"
When Shi Jing heard this, he asked a little surprised, then paused and looked at Li Tai again before saying: "My family also has to make a living, and materials have their own uses, so we can't sell them at will!"
"Of course, of course! The guest does not dare to disturb the host's livelihood because of his own convenience."
Li Tai smiled again and said that even if he wanted to coax the other party into entering the game, the initiative was not in his hands at the moment, so of course he had to be polite.
His respectful and polite attitude made Shi Jing very satisfied, so he stopped talking nonsense and led them directly to a warehouse inside the dock wall. He asked someone to open the door and said: "Ten thousand kilograms of hemp are stored here, and Liang is a good person in my hometown."
He is a householder who relies on farming to support his family, and he is not a merchant who sells goods to enrich himself. Since Li Lang came to ask for it, he could not refuse, so he gave it to me at the current price. Would you like me to go into the warehouse and check it? "
This was said politely, but Li Tai just took a quick look and found that more than half of the Chen Ma in the warehouse was obviously not temporarily stored.
Although linen is also a basic material related to people's livelihood and clothing, its price is much lower than silk, and the weaving process requires a little more labor.
Therefore, even if these large households in the countryside spin linen and weave cloth, they only produce a moderate amount, and the income is not as impressive as silk. Every year, there is a lot of raw linen left. After a few years of accumulation, they have such a scale. The longer they are stored, the lower the value.
, it not only takes up space, but also needs to be fireproof and moisture-proof, which is really useless.
Shi Jing said that he would sell the old hemp to Li Tai at the current price, which meant that he would sell it to Li Tai at the price of new hemp.
"The country helps the poor, only with faith. Since Marquis Shi has shown favor to me, how can I make unreasonable suggestions? The next day, my family will send cloth and horses, and the carriages and horses will disturb the peace. Please forgive me, Marquis Shi."
Li Tai smiled grandly, waved his hand and said.
When Shi Jing heard this, he felt very fond of Li Tai. The hemp material in the warehouse was only more than 8,000 kilograms, but he directly lied about nearly 2,000 kilograms, and half of it was old hemp that had been stored for more than three years.
It can no longer be used for textiles at all.
The Shi family has a huge family fortune, so they don’t think much of this deal, but who doesn’t like the free gains?
When it comes to making a living in the countryside, who doesn’t plan carefully? It’s really rare to take someone like Li Tai who doesn’t know how to take advantage of financial difficulties.
For a moment, Shi Jing was reluctant to let him go, so he said again: "Li Lang is so generous, and I am not a stingy person. I mentioned that other materials are also in short supply. If I have a rich reserve at home, I will be happy to do so."
help."
"It is true that there are other materials that need to be purchased. May I ask Shihou, do you have enough flax and sesame oil to store grain indoors?"
Seeing that this guy was so smart, Li Tai said with a smile.
"Flax, sesame oil...this is really not much."
After hearing this, Shi Jing shook his head with some disappointment. He originally wanted to catch this fat sheep and dump some useless and discarded inventory garbage, but there are not many flax cultivations, and sesame oil has various uses. Even if it is sold in the market, it will not work.
I'm worried about sales, so I don't want to do this deal.
"I bought these two ingredients at 10% of the current price. If it can exceed 100 dendrobiums, I can increase it by 20%. The more, the better!"
Li Tai quickly said again that the fish finally bit the hook, so of course he couldn't let it go.
"Twenty percent?"
When Shi Jing heard Li Tai's proposal to increase the price, he immediately became excited again. Flax hurts the ground, and pressing oil takes a lot of work. Both of them are expensive. If you add 20% to the current price, the premium will be quite considerable.
.
"I'll let my servant check it out first, and ask Li Lang to come into the hall and wait a moment."
Shi Jing made a quick calculation in his mind, and his expression suddenly became enthusiastic.
Li Tai and his entourage entered the hall and sat down. Shi Jing attentively prepared drinks and meals. After a while, a domestic servant came into the hall and whispered an announcement. After hearing this, Shi Jing's face changed slightly and said to Li Tai: "Hu
There are only thirty-six bushels of flax in it, and only seven bushels of sesame oil. This will disappoint Li Lang."
One dendrobium is equivalent to one stone, one hundred and twenty kilograms. To be honest, this stock is already quite a lot. Before Li Tai came to visit the historian, he had already visited the countryside. Even if the private sector had storage, it was only measured by liters, but the historian collected thousands.
The amount of kilograms shows that the power of his hometown is strong.
"I have a compromise here. As much as I have in stock now, I will sell it at 20% of the current price. But when the flax is harvested this autumn, Shi Hou will need to make up for a hundred dendrobiums."
"What about the post-autumn delivery, which is still 20% higher?" Shi Jing quickly asked again.
Li Tai shook his head with a smile: "It can only be based on the current price, but I can order 20% of the silk price first. Because the delivery is delayed, a contract is required as a witness!"
"Can!"
Shi Jing hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, and they discussed it in the hall and put the agreement on paper.
After sending Li Tai and his entourage away, Shi Jing returned to the hall and looked at the contract. He slapped the table and laughed happily: "These noble families think they are smart, but they are just stupid people with empty stomachs. Flax is sown in the summer and harvested in the autumn.
The price when sowing is high and the price when harvesting is low. He predicts the harvest in autumn compared with today's price. How can he manage his business in such a way that it will not be ruined?"