The focus of "It is difficult for the country to make a fortune" is to make a fortune, not the national crisis.
Businessmen do not need any moral bottom line or prerequisites to make money. As long as they can make a fortune, they can work in any industry and dare to do any risky things.
A severe drought in the north is an excellent opportunity for businessmen to make money.
The governor of Bingzhou paid 40 cents per liter to purchase grain, and the news quickly spread to all directions.
Most of the grain merchants did not know Li Qinzai, the newly appointed governor, but they could learn a lot of information by just asking around.
Li Qinzai was a very valued minister by the emperor at that time. He was also the grandson of the British Duke. He was also named a county magistrate by the emperor. He made many contributions to the Tang Dynasty. He even destroyed the Japanese country in the east.
These news are all minor. For grain merchants, there is another very important news.
Li Qinzai was ordered to do so at a critical moment, and the emperor placed high hopes on him. Before setting off from Chang'an, the treasury had allocated sufficient money to Li Qinzai.
No one knows the exact amount of money allocated to him. The only thing that is known is that this money was a special favor given to Li Qinzai by the emperor.
Forty coins were used to buy grain and four coins were sold to the people of Bingzhou. This completely abnormal business behavior proved that Li Qinzai brought a lot of money from Chang'an, so he was confident.
It also proves that Li Qinzai doesn't care about money at all. What he wants is achievements that can make the emperor shine. Bingzhou's ability to survive this drought safely is a great achievement.
So the grain merchants quickly had a preconceived impression of Li Qinzai.
Li Qinzai is not short of money, but needs merit.
And the grain merchants in the north just needed money.
A match made in heaven!
After the governor of Bingzhou bought grain in public at a price of forty cents, the news spread quickly, and within three days, something magical happened.
Grain merchants from cities around Bingzhou swarmed in with grain, and Bingzhou City, which was originally depressed and depressed, became lively overnight.
Li Qinzai's move of buying horse bones with a large sum of money finally attracted the grain merchants.
Throughout the morning, we saw the convoys of grain merchants entering the city gate non-stop, and the people gathered inside the city gate to watch the excitement, and everyone's face was filled with joy that could not be concealed.
The newly appointed governor was worthy of being a highly valued and capable minister of the emperor, and he allowed so many grain merchants to gather again in Bingzhou City without making any noise.
The food shortage that has long worried the people has finally been resolved.
The people saw the excitement, but there were many sober and sensible people among them.
There was no joy on these people's faces, but a little worry on their faces.
Grain merchants from all over the world have indeed come, but...will Governor Li pay? Forty cents per liter is simply the price of a pig. Is the dignified Governor really willing to be slaughtered by these grain merchants?
Even if Li Qishi was willing to be slaughtered by grain merchants for the sake of the people's livelihood, the question was, did he have money? The emperor did allocate money from the treasury to him, but that money could never cover the price of such a large amount of grain.
…………
Bingzhou governor's office.
Liu Asi stood in front of Li Qinzai with a worried look on his face and reported.
"The grain merchant's convoy entered the city, and more than ten groups came from different cities. Now they are staying in the inns in the city..."
Liu Asi sighed and said: "I heard that they are coming to the Governor's Mansion tomorrow to visit the Fifth Young Master and ask when the Governor's Mansion will pay for the grain collection. What should I do, Fifth Young Master? We don't have that much money."
Li Qinzai said lazily: "What's the hurry? Food has entered Bingzhou City, and they still want to leave?"
Liu Asi was surprised and said: "You are not really planning to... steal their food, are you?"
Li Qinzai smiled: "It's not incomprehensible for me, a notorious dandy, to occasionally do a few plundering things, right? Think back to when we destroyed the Japanese country, and how many things the six thousand soldiers robbed in the Japanese country..."
Liu Asi said with a bitter face: "Fifth Young Master, that's different. Killing, arson, and looting are all natural in the enemy's territory, but you can't rob in Bingzhou. I heard that someone in Bingzhou complained to Chang'an. There are many censors in the court.
We are about to jointly impeach you."
Li Qinzai sneered: "It's a bit ridiculous to participate in the impeachment. If your Majesty really listens to those officials and removes me, my surname will be yours."
Liu Asi corrected him kindly: "Your surname is His Majesty, and your whole family is surnamed after His Majesty."
Li Qinzai's old face darkened: "Ah Si, you've been feeling a little swollen recently. Do you want me to transfer you back to Chang'an and rebuild it in front of my grandpa?"
Liu Asi hurriedly begged for mercy.
Li Qinzai sighed and said: "Of course it's not possible to steal money by clever means. Having no money is also a big trouble. How much did your Majesty allocate to me?"
"A total of fifty thousand guan."
Li Qinzai smiled bitterly. Fifty thousand guan was indeed an astronomical sum for an individual. Prices were low these days, so 50,000 guan could last two or three generations.
It can be used to feed and clothe a city, so this amount of money is simply negligible.
"I won't show up tomorrow. When the grain merchants come, you can buy grain at a price of 40 cents and spend all 50,000 cents."
"But, Fifth Young Master, if the price is 40 cents per liter, 50,000 guan can't buy much..."
Li Qinzai smiled mysteriously: "It doesn't matter, you can buy as much as you can. Once you buy it, send it to the official warehouse immediately."
"That's only enough to buy out the grain from a small number of grain merchants. The rest of the grain merchants are still waiting. What should I do?"
"Let them wait and re-seal the grain sent to the official warehouse. You will lead your troops to send the grain out of the city in the middle of the night and wait until dawn before sending the grain back. You will do this every night from now on..."
Liu Asi was surprised: "Why?"
"Don't say it, just do it."
Early the next morning, the grain merchants gathered outside the governor's mansion.
Li Qinzai did not show up, and Liu Asi still received the grain merchants.
When the door of the mansion was opened and the grain merchants entered, they were shocked to find dozens of large boxes stacked in the atrium. When the boxes were opened, they were all filled with silver cakes and copper coins.
After the grain merchants saw it, their eyes glowed with green light one after another, and they felt reassured.
This is what they think about day and night.
The door of the house was open, and Liu Asi collected the grain and paid the money meticulously.
Liu Asi moved very slowly. Every bag of grain had to be weighed carefully, and every string of copper coins had to be counted clearly before being paid to the grain merchant.
After dilly-dallying until evening, the 50,000 yuan was almost spent, and grain bags were piled up in the yard as high as a hill.
Liu Asi smiled and announced that it was time to rest today and would continue to collect grain tomorrow.
Although the grain merchants were dissatisfied with Liu Asi's dilly-dallying, they were sure that the governor's office was really rich, so they didn't care about it for a day or two, and the guests and hosts left happily.
The grain merchants who had sold out all the grain happily counted their money and left Bingzhou overnight.
While this wave of dividends is still there, they have to rush back and continue to raise a batch of grain to sell in Bingzhou. It is bustling with people and profits come and go. This is the golden time to make money.
On the second day, the grain merchants who had not sold the grain continued to gather outside the governor's mansion, waiting for the gate to open to sell grain.
Unexpectedly, it was only at three o'clock in the morning that Liu Asi came out and told the grain merchants with an apologetic look that Li Jishi had caught a cold last night and fell ill this morning. The grain collection was an important matter and Li Jishi had to personally take charge of it, so he asked for grain.
The merchants waited for another day or two until Li Qishi recovered from his illness and continued to collect grain.
The grain merchants were stunned, and the crowd suddenly became a little restless.
At this time Li Qinzai came out, with a white scarf wrapped around his head, and his steps were weak and staggering. He was helped out by servants on the left and right. His face was yellow, his cheekbones on both sides were slightly sunken, and his eye circles were darkened. He took two steps.
He also coughed for a while, a typical image of a sick man.
Li Qinzai stood in front of the mansion to apologize to the grain merchants, and said that he would continue to purchase grain. He asked the grain merchants to wait for two more days, and he would personally take charge after he recovered from his illness.
The grain merchants looked at each other suspiciously. Although they felt something was wrong, Li Qinzai definitely looked sick, so it was hard to suspect anything, so they said a few words of concern in a false way, and then they dispersed.
That afternoon, groups of grain trucks entered Bingzhou City.
It’s not unusual for grain trucks to enter the city, we’ve seen them a lot these days.
But this group of grain trucks was different. The people escorting the trucks were officers from the governor's office. The grain bags exposed were actually sealed with the seals of Jiangnan Luzhou and Jiangning governor's office.
Food from the south of the Yangtze River arrived in Bingzhou without anyone noticing.
As the grain trucks entered the city, various versions of the news spread throughout the city.
Rumors spread from unknown sources, and it was said with certainty that the emperor was concerned about the drought in the north and had issued an edict as early as two months ago to allocate grain aid from cities in Jiangnan Province and send it to the north via the Grand Canal.
The food entering Bingzhou City today is only the first batch.
The news spread throughout the city like a plague, and the grain merchants stationed in Bingzhou City were immediately upset.