A thousand-mile dike broke in an ant's nest. Once the price loosened, it became irresistible. By the afternoon, the price of food had dropped to two liang and one stone. The reason why it did not continue to fall was that the shopkeepers had to go to jail to follow up.
Because of the boss’s report…
After dark, the grain merchants still gathered in the brothels and taverns, but how could they still think about drinking and having fun? The current situation was unexpected for them. What should they do? The grain merchants who are familiar with them need to do some calculations.
While they were asking people to inquire about the information, they were discussing countermeasures...
"Look at this situation, it will drop again tomorrow." Someone sighed.
"The maximum concession is one to two or eight, otherwise our trip will be boring." Someone calculated the account and said: "If they go to us to buy food, they will have to ask for one, two and six. Now we have shipped it to him, and the freight is plus
One penny is spent. It’s New Year’s Day now, and we’re going back and forth for six or seven days, why should we earn one more penny? So one, two, eight, is the end, and it can’t be lowered any lower!”
"Yes, they originally offered three taels, but now they have spared him nearly half of it."
"The account can't be calculated like this..." But some people disagreed: "If it's less than one or two eight, can you still transport it back? The round-trip freight, three days of dock money, the labor cost of unloading the ship and warehousing it, and also
There are losses..." He looked at the gloomy sky outside the window: "If I just go back like this, I won't make a penny, but I will lose a lot..."
"There is something even more troublesome." The more the grain merchants thought about it, the more they became confused: "If we don't sell it to him, we can only sell it for eight yuan when we go back. And whether we sell it or not, it is estimated that Fuyang County will lose money for half a year this time."
There is no need to buy grain..." They did not know how big the shortfall in grain storage in Fuyang County was, but based on common sense, they thought that Fuyang grain merchants only need to buy 2,700 shi of grain. But this time the Bafang grain ship will arrive in Fuyang
, they obviously cannot just buy what is necessary, but must collect as much food as possible to appease public anger.
The inevitable result of this is that Fuyang County will not need to import grain for a long time. Then who will sell their high-priced grain to? And it is not just a matter of high price. A big customer suddenly has no demand, and the extra grain is sold
To whom? It is unrealistic to keep it and sell it slowly. The spring famine only lasts for a short season. Once the summer harvest comes, the price of food will drop sharply...
The grain merchants finally understood the seriousness of the problem - although the grain merchants in Fuyang County are highly dependent on them, they are also highly dependent on the grain merchants in Fuyang County to maintain the current price system. Once this part is missing, the price system will collapse.
The profit margin no longer exists, and there is even the possibility of losing money!
This caused the grain merchants' mood to change from frustration to panic, and they began to feel restless.
"Is there any way to avoid it?"
"Yes, that's what the man surnamed Zhang said today. We only sold them 2,700 shi, and we won't sell them even one more shi... This is the best way."
"That's impossible." Everyone shook their heads and said, "There are more wolves and less meat. No matter how you divide it, some people will be dissatisfied. In the past, when this kind of thing happened, everyone would have a bad temper. How can we be so easy to talk to?"
"We can't delay it any longer. If we delay it for one day, we will suffer another loss." Although it was very difficult, everyone still reached a consensus, even if it is lower than one, two, eight, but no matter what, we must reach an agreement tonight!
After making up their mind, the grain merchants left the restaurant and went straight to the Zhou family grain store... Because the floorboards had been kicked down during the day, shopkeeper Han could no longer pretend to be asleep, because he had to keep vigil in the front hall with the lights brightly lit.
The grain merchants met him without any trouble this time, and heard from him the decision of their boss Zhou Yang:
'I will try my best to buy even if I lose all my money, but I hope the price can be as favorable as possible!'
"There's nothing we can do about it." Shopkeeper Han explained apologetically: "My boss doesn't have that much money. If he wants to charge more, he has to go cheaper..."
"We've already given up to two taels, how can we make it cheaper?" the grain merchants said dissatisfied.
"The Qian family grain store has already given in to one, two or six." Under the lamp, shopkeeper Han's face could not be seen, but he must have said with a shameless smile: "But there is no need to be on par with them. Let's do this, brother, be brave
Make a decision, and buy all those who come to register with me before midnight tomorrow!"
"What about the price?" Grain dealers now finally understand how those miserable farmers feel when they sell grain. They are really more grandsons than grandsons!
"It depends on how much grain we have." Shopkeeper Han patted his chest and said, "In addition to the originally prepared funds, we also borrowed a thousand taels of silver from the bank, and we will try to give you a high price tomorrow." The implication is that it is also possible to give you a high price.
Offer a low price...
"Don't wait until tomorrow." The grain merchants gritted their teeth and said, "We will also offer one, two, six!"
"Let's wait." Shopkeeper Han has indeed realized that he is now the stronger one, and his face has definitely become obscene and hateful: "Who knows what the calculation will be?"
"Hey, you old man, stop playing tricks!" The grain merchants pierced his hypocrisy, "Please give me a price!"
"It's not good..." Shopkeeper Han smacked his lips and said vaguely: "One or two."
"How much did you say?" The grain merchants' eyes almost popped out of their eyes, and they yelled: "Well, you are so shameless for someone named Han. You really dare to say that!"
But shopkeeper Han said matter-of-factly: "Your store sells it for eight yuan, now I'll add one yuan, and after you deduct the expenses, you still make one yuan more for every stone of grain. Is there anything I can't say?"
"When you buy goods from us, you still have to pay one to two six." The grain merchants said angrily: "Now that the goods are delivered to your door, they are cut into one to two. Are you still being reasonable?"
"You sell it to others for eight cents in your store, but you sell it to us for one or two six cents. Why should we double the price?" Shopkeeper Han retorted, "Who is unreasonable?"
"That's all of your own free will. Who told Fuyang not to produce food?"
"Yes, so we accepted the victory at that time." Shopkeeper Han sneered: "But now the situation has changed. Food from all over the country is shipped to Fuyang, and another batch will arrive tomorrow!"
Although they had been mentally prepared, the grain merchants were still very angry at Shopkeeper Han's smug attitude, and angrily said: "Then we won't do anything, just put it back in the store and sell it slowly, so that you can
Go to hell, my boss!"
"Haha, our boss will die." Shopkeeper Han said with a smile, "After persuasion, the county master realized that he had wronged our boss, and let him go home in the past two days." He paused and said, "Now I am buying rice.
It’s just out of morality and I don’t want everyone to go in vain. Our employer is very honest, so shouldn’t you also give us a fair price?”
"Ah..." When everyone heard this, they suddenly realized. No wonder they suddenly changed their faces. It turned out that they didn't need food to save their lives. This made their last confidence no longer exist, but they still said angrily: "Let's go to Qian's Grain Shop.
Go ahead! He has one, two, and six!"
Unexpectedly, shopkeeper Han said quietly: "Don't talk about the Qian family, it's the same even if you go to the **. Our colleagues have discussed it, it's one tael of silver and one stone of rice." He said sternly: "We can even go to the government to discuss it, this price is reasonable.
live!"
Of course it is tenable. The government has control over the price of grain. If it reaches one or two and one stone, the grain will be released! The high price of grain in Fuyang is caused by market reasons. It does not make sense to the government... Why are you selling?
Give it to others for eight cents, but sell it to Fuyang County for one or two cents? The government will not consider a seller's market.
Wang Xian looked at the matter with a government mentality and gave the grain price of one tael or one stone.
Faced with the tyranny of shopkeeper Han, the grain merchants were extremely aggrieved and could only use their trump card, "Will you never buy grain? Even if you pay five taels of silver, we won't sell it to you!"
"For just two taels of silver, we can get it delivered to your door." Shopkeeper Han sneered: "And we can also purchase goods from Huguang, where the food is as cheap as dirt!" When we meet on a narrow road, the madman wins. At this time, it's a competition to see who is the best.
Defeat is inevitable! This last sentence was taught by Wang Xian. In fact, Zhou Yang and others have no connection with Huguang.
"Shopkeeper Han, can you raise the price a little higher?" The grain merchants finally gave up and began to beg.
"Raise it a little higher? It's not that easy." Shopkeeper Han said flatly: "Maybe the three of us will have to eat eight or nine thousand shi of food, and one dollar increase will cost eight or nine hundred taels of silver! It's really unaffordable."
"This price is too low. It's like our trip was in vain." The grain merchants said pitifully: "Shopkeeper Han should be more generous."
Unable to bear the entanglement, shopkeeper Han had no choice but to give in and said: "The maximum price is one yuan. It is limited to those who sign the contract tonight, and one tael and one stone will be restored at dawn!"
The grain merchants looked at each other. This result is really bad, but it is not unacceptable. After all, they sell it in their own county, which is eight yuan and one stone. Now they can sell it for one or two, so they are making a profit no matter what... they just make more money.
If there is less, there is no problem of losing money. But if you go back without opening, you will face losing money, and even your future business will be affected.
After a long debate, the grain merchants finally made the difficult decision to throw away their last traces of moral integrity and accept the one-two-one offer.
The two parties signed a contract overnight and agreed to pay the money and deliver the goods tomorrow morning.
The grain merchant questioned the legality of the deed, but shopkeeper Han took out a seal and stamped it on the deed. It was Zhou Yang's seal!
.
The same situation happened in three grain stores at the same time. The shopkeepers of the three stores could not sleep a sleep that night. They were signing grain sales contracts all night long!
By daytime, half of the grain merchants had signed contracts, and the cumulative grain sales reached 4,000 dan. Some of the remaining grain merchants also went back in anger, but more of them agreed to the one-two-one quotation. By noon, the three merchants had collected
The grain amount reached 7,000 dan, which was more than the required amount.
In the afternoon, another group of grain merchants had to surrender, bringing the total to nine thousand dan, and the amount of silver they paid also reached 9,500 taels!
Of course, grain merchants alone cannot afford this money, but being able to buy such cheap grain in Fuyang County is obviously a guaranteed profit. Do you still have to worry about no one willing to lend money? Several banks in the county have provided loans.