On the road leading from Nanshan Village to Tieling City, several four-wheeled carriages loaded with food were walking slowly from Nanshan Village to Tieling City. The horses pulling the carts seemed to be struggling, but the villagers driving the carts were all smiling.
Talking and laughing.
"Brother Da Mao, you have made a fortune this year. The grain from thousands of acres of land can be sold for hundreds of taels of silver."
Ding Dazhu and Li Damao walked side by side, chatting as they walked.
Four-wheeled carriages are also standard equipment in the Liaodong region. Every household has plenty of food. In addition to steam engine-powered equipment, horses and cattle are also extremely important laborers.
The transportation capacity of the four-wheeled carriage is very powerful, and it can transport several thousand kilograms of grain at a time. Without this thing, if you have to carry the mountains of grain at home on your shoulders, your shoulders will be bent even if you have to carry it until the end of the year of the monkey.
"What are you doing with your hair~"
"Although there will be a bumper harvest of food this year, the price of food will definitely be lower. Last year, it cost five shi and one tael of silver. If we can't keep it this year, we may only be able to sell it for 7 or 8 shi for one tael of silver."
Li Damao smiled and shook his head.
To be honest, his income this year is much less than last year, mainly because there are more steam harvesters and fewer people hire him to harvest wheat, so he naturally makes less money.
This time last year, he had no time to sell grain at all, but was helping people harvest wheat everywhere.
"No way, didn't the imperial court say it would collect grain on a large scale to protect grain prices?"
When Ding Dazhu heard this, he immediately became anxious.
How can this bumper harvest not increase the income? Don’t end up working hard for a year and end up with very little money. You can just hope to sell the grain and repay the bank loan.
"There is too much grain, and the imperial court may not purchase so much grain."
"This food can't be eaten all and the imperial court collects it. It will go bad if it is kept for a long time."
"So ultimately, food prices will definitely fall."
Li Damao said helplessly.
The land in Liaodong is really fertile, with black soil and plains. Everything grows well.
Amid everyone's chatting, they arrived at Tieling City.
At this time, the entire Tieling City was immersed in a sea of food. Four-wheeled carriages could be seen everywhere, dragging carts full of food, constantly transporting them to Tieling City, so much so that they gathered near the cement road outside Tieling City.
A large number of four-wheeled carriages.
The four-wheeled carriages were filled with farmers who came to sell grain, and everyone looked very anxious. As soon as they saw the merchants who came to collect grain, everyone immediately surrounded them.
"Eight stones of grain and one tael of silver will be sold and transported to the Sihai Grain Store in Xicheng!"
There was a businessman holding a tin trumpet and shouting loudly to everyone as he walked.
"Eight shi of grain can be sold for only one tael of silver. This is outrageous. The price has not dropped to such an extent."
"Last year, I could still sell five shi of grain for one tael of silver."
"That's right, that's right~"
"In the past, when we were in our hometown in Shaanxi, this food was very valuable. In years of famine, not to mention a stone of food, sometimes a bag of food could be exchanged for a yellow flower girl."
"Look at the wheat we have in Liaodong. How good it is. It costs eight shi to exchange for one tael of silver."
"These black-hearted businessmen, they all work together to lower prices."
"They work together to lower the price when harvesting grain. If there is a famine, they join forces to raise the price. This is their usual method."
"Isn't that right? A black-hearted businessman."
Hearing the merchant's shouting, many farmers who came to sell grain couldn't help but curse.
This price is really too low.
Eight stones of grain cost one tael of silver, a price that had never been seen before.
"Brother Da Mao, what should we do?"
"Eight stones of grain can be sold for one tael of silver. We have worked so hard for a year and we can't sell it for much silver."
Ding Dazhu was also anxious. The price was really too low.
There are too many farmers in Tieling City who are unwilling to sell their grain at such a low price, so everyone is waiting to see if there is anyone with a higher bid.
"These merchants must have unified prices, no matter which one you ask, it's the same."
Li Damao seemed very calm because he had anticipated the scene before him.
To be honest, these businessmen are disgusting, but this business is based on your own free will. Moreover, there is an indisputable fact that there is a surplus of food. If there is too much food, it will naturally not be sold at a high price.
"You guys wait while I get off. I'll ask some acquaintances. If I remember correctly, we happen to have a large winery that is about to start construction here in Tieling. The winery also needs a lot of food."
"Maybe if you sell it to a winery, you can sell it for a higher price."
Then Li Damao also asked Ding Dazhu to help him take care of the grain and wheels, and went directly to the city to inquire about the news.
It didn't take long before he ran back excitedly and said.
"Everyone, follow me~"
After saying that, he drove the four-wheeled carriage towards the north of Tieling City.
"Brother Da Mao, is it really okay?"
Ding Dazhu asked as he drove the car.
"Yes, this is the Daming Guojiao Winery. They harvest a lot of grain. This winery is an industry under the current Minister of Civil Affairs, Liu Jin. It was established last year. This year, several wineries were built in Liaodong, specifically for
Those who come to make wine will soon be able to officially start making wine after collecting the grain."
"And not only the winery, Mr. Liu also built more than a dozen large livestock farms in Liaodong, specifically to raise pigs, cattle, horses and sheep to supply the huge meat demand in the Beijing and Tianjin areas."
"They are now preparing to purchase a large amount of grain. Six stones of grain are worth one tael of silver."
Li Damao said softly.
"Six stones of grain and one tael of silver?"
When Ding Dazhu heard this, he couldn't help shouting.
"Keep your voice down so that everyone can hear it. Then there will be more people delivering food."
Li Damao said quickly.
"I know, I know~"
Ding Dazhu nodded quickly, understanding and followed silently.
Soon they came to the north of Tieling City, where a spacious cement road was built, and they could see newly built factories standing on the cliff.
These factories are very new. They are all newly built this year. They are a brewery specially used for brewing wine and a feed factory that you have never heard of before.
"Brother Damao, what is this feed factory for?"
Ding Dazhu pointed to a factory area next to the road and said.
"This feed factory is specially used to make feed. It is said that the feed is specially used to feed cattle, sheep, horses and pigs. I don't know. Anyway, it is said that this feed factory also collects grain."
Li Damao shook his head and said.
"The relationship is great. We in Liaodong have a lot of food, among other things. No matter how much food we have, as long as we have money, we can talk about anything."
"This is not nonsense~"
"Don't even look at who the boss behind these factories is. He is Mr. Liu, the official minister of the Ming Dynasty, known as the God of Wealth. How can he be short of money?"
"No matter how much food you have, they can still eat it."
"That's, that's~"
"Mr. Liu, you must be afraid that we have too much food, and if the price is too low, it will hurt our enthusiasm for growing food. That's why we opened this winery and livestock farm to stabilize food prices. In the final analysis, it is still for food.
we are good."
"That is, Mr. Liu is a truly good official. Without him, our current life would not be possible."
"It's good to know."
Everyone chatted and soon arrived at the brewery. They sold the grain in their hands very smoothly and got the silver coins in vain.
After selling the grain, Li Damao, Ding Dazhu and others were not in a hurry to leave, and started shopping around the brewery and feed factory.
"In my opinion, next year, we should not plant all wheat next year. We should classify our fields. Some fields should be planted with wheat, and some fields should be planted with corn, potatoes and soybeans."
"In this case, even if the price of food drops, it won't have a big impact on us. And I heard that the prices of potatoes and soybeans are rising now, and they are quite easy to sell."
After walking around, Li Damao was also thinking about next year.
Here in Liaodong, basically after harvesting the grain, sell the grain and wait for Mao Dong.
So now I can think about next year.
"Will this work?"
"Grain is not easy to sell, how can these things be easy to sell?"
"Maybe then we might as well grow food."
Ding Dazhu expressed doubts. In his opinion, food is the most precious thing.
"You still don't believe it?"
"Anyway, I'm going to give it a try next year. Not only will I grow these things, I will also grow Chinese cabbage on a large scale. I heard that the price of cabbage is very high in the winter in Beijing and Tianjin.
They can be sold for dozens of coins."
Li Damao looked at Ding Dazhu and said.
"Where did you see the information?"
Ding Dazhu expressed his doubts. Raising pigs, cattle and sheep was still reasonable, but he was tired of eating all the cabbage.
"In the teahouse, I heard what the newspaper reader in the teahouse said. I think it's right. I bought this steam cultivator and harvester because of what the people there said."
"It's a pity that we can't read. It would be great if we could read the newspaper ourselves."
Li Damao said with some regret that he now feels more and more important about knowledge and information.
In the past, I thought it was okay if I didn't know a single Chinese character, but now it seems that I still need to know some characters.
"In addition to growing soybeans and cabbage, I am also planning to buy some piglets to raise pigs. I heard that the price of pork has been rising in the Beijing-Tianjin area."
"People in the Beijing-Tianjin area are rich and have a large population. It is said that tens of thousands of pigs are killed in Tianjin every day. Think about it, how many pigs must be killed this year to meet their needs."
"So, learn from it, buy some piglets with me, and raise some pigs at home. The price of food is low anyway, and raising pigs is more cost-effective than farming."
Li Damao said very confidently that newspapers provide the common people with a broader perspective and enable them to know more information.