Old Liu Tou never expected that someone really wanted to sell the village, or thousands of acres. Fortunately, Qingyu left him the address when he left that day, so he quickly asked someone to bring the news.
So at noon that day, Qingyu and Hongtao came to the countryside, and with old Liu Tou as the intermediary, they bought 1,074 acres of land in Tongjiazhuang, including more than 70 cows in the village.
Farm tools and various types of seeds, etc., totaling more than 2,548 taels.
The contract was signed smoothly, but because the village head was a servant of the Tong family, he could not stay in the village any longer. Qingyu gave him a couple of silver coins and asked him to stay for a while longer until the new village head arrived.
, hand over before leaving.
The head of the village was also happy and agreed. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he notified the tenants in the village of the basic situation of the new owner.
The new owner is Zhu Feng. When the tenant farmers heard the news, they all cheered with joy, for no other reason than that the name of Zhu Feng had spread throughout this area.
The crops in other fields were withered and yellow, but the owner's medicine field had a good harvest. Many people didn't believe it when they first heard about it, and even went to see it for themselves. The result was really shocking.
Not to mention, the method of making the sand fields that everyone uses now was also taught by Boss Zhu, so when the tenant farmers in Zhuangzi heard that the new owner was Boss Zhu, they immediately became as happy as if they had picked up a gold ingot.
For a time, everyone was looking forward to meeting the new owner as soon as possible.
...
Compared with the happiness of the tenant farmers, the people of Yinzhou City have become sad, because recently, the price of food has risen too fast. At first, it was 70 copper coins per catty, then it rose to 80 copper coins in a few days, and then in less than half a month
, it actually increased to one yuan per catty.
As food prices rise, other types of meat and vegetables also rise in price.
The common people were forced to complain all day long, but they had no choice. The price of food in the whole city was about the same, and among them, the price of one hundred and twenty coppers per catty, led by the He family, was high.
But this is just the beginning. Food prices have soared just after the autumn harvest. This year’s autumn harvest has reduced production. What will we do next year? Isn’t it going to be expensive?
Everyone began to worry. Yes, everyone, including the big grain merchants of the Si family.
In the courtyard of the Si family, Si Chaoren had just read the letter sent back by his brother.
He covered his eyebrows and put the letter on the table. After being silent for a long time, he picked up the letter and went to his father's study.
"Father..." Si Chaoren said bluntly as he entered the room: "My second brother has returned from delivering a letter. Something has changed regarding the purchase of grain."
Si Denghan frowned, quickly put down what he was doing, and asked: "What are the variables?"
Si Chaoren handed over the letter and said: "The price of food in Yezhou has risen to eighty copper coins per catty."
Si Denghan was shocked and asked as he took the letter: "What's going on? This year is a good year in Yezhou. How come the price of food is so high?"
“It is said that grain dealers purchased grains at high prices, which raised grain prices.
Moreover, this price is only for foreign businessmen, the local food price in Yezhou is around 40 copper coins."
It turned out to be doubled. Stenghan held the letter and read it for a long time, then murmured in confusion: "How could this be?"
There is no shortage of grain in Yezhou, and there is no competition at all, so why do grain dealers buy at high prices? Even if they want to monopolize the grain market, they have to buy out. But now, there is no buyout, and they deliberately raise prices. Why?
Stenghan really couldn't figure out what kind of businessman would do this because he had so much money and nowhere to spend it.
Si Chaoren said: "If it is eighty copper coins per catty, plus the round-trip transportation cost, even if we only sell it at cost price, it will be at least one coin and ten copper coins per catty."
The price of grain that they originally inquired about could be as low as thirty or forty copper coins per catty when purchased in large quantities. Adding in the cost, their grain price could have been controlled at sixty to seventy copper coins per catty, which was about the same as before.
But now, the price of food in other places has soared. Even if they only guarantee the cost, it will be more than one yuan. This is far more than the price Luo Xian originally set for them.
Si Denghan thought for a while and asked again: "The third and fourth sons haven't sent the letter back yet?"
Si Chaoren hummed, "I guess the letter will be sent back in the next two days. It depends on their situation now."
Si Denghan pondered for a moment and then said: "Go and invite other large grain merchants here. Let's understand the situation first."
The other large grain merchants all received quotas from Luo Xian, who was sent by Cang Cao. They were all in the same boat, so there was no need to keep it secret.
"Where's the He family? Do you want to invite me?" Si Chaoren asked.
Stenghan thought for a moment, even if there were conflicts with the He family in other business matters, in this matter, the two families were actually a united front, and then said: "Please, come and see him."
Si Chaoren responded yes, and then went to deliver the post. That afternoon, all the grain merchant bosses gathered in the main room of the He family's courtyard.
Of course, as expected, there was no He Wanming.
Stenghan ignored it and took the lead in telling the grain merchants what he had encountered.
"I mainly buy in three prefectures: Yezhou, Bingzhou, and Qizhou. Now, Yezhou has received accurate information. The price for foreign merchants to purchase grain is eighty copper coins per catty."
As soon as he finished speaking, a boss hurriedly said: "I'm about the same. I bought it in Wuzhou for 75."
Stenghan frowned and looked at the other bosses. Then everyone told their prices, and they were all about the same. The most expensive one was eighty-five.
They all buy them from different places, so why are the prices of food so expensive?
Stenghan felt something was wrong, "It's obviously a good year in these places, but why are food prices so high? Do you know the reason?"
Another boss said: "Where I am, I heard that right after the harvest, grain dealers from other places purchased grains at high prices, and that's how grain prices went up."
Si Denghan was surprised. The situation was the same as in Yezhou. He asked other bosses again and found out that those who didn't want to know were all because someone deliberately raised the price.
At this time, the bosses also felt that something was wrong.
Someone said: "If this person really wants to monopolize the grain market, he will definitely have to buy it out, but he doesn't want to buy it out, and he wants a high price. Isn't this... deliberately looking for trouble for himself? What exactly does he want to do?
"
Someone else asked: "You may have guessed, who is this foreign businessman?"
Everyone looked at each other, and another person continued: "Actually, I heard that he seems to be a grain merchant from Yinzhou..."
The grain merchants in Yinzhou... everyone was silent for a while. Finally, someone spoke up again: "I think that the person who sells grain at the highest price in the city is probably that person. He can't possibly pay the price himself. Buy it at a high price."
It is absolutely impossible to sell it at a low price."
The most expensive one... There is only one store with the most expensive grain prices in the city now. The grain merchant bosses all seemed to be thinking of the same person, so someone soon tried to say: "It seems that I haven't seen much of Boss He recently.
.”
Si Denghan also figured it out in his mind and felt a little frustrated, "I posted a message for him, but he didn't come. He probably didn't want to come. Humph, or he didn't have the nerve to come."
In this way, everyone has almost concluded that the He family purchased grain at a high price, raising the price of grain in various states, causing the costs of other grain merchants to quadruple.