487 It all ended like this. Chen Jie was in a good mood and hoped that the princess could get some food.
After returning to the fishing gang, Chen Jie immediately gave orders and began to make all-out rescue efforts to help more people. Chen Jie was very busy these days.
However, the impact of the disaster continued, and the entire Mian River fell into a state of grief.
…
The eleventh year of Zhizheng.
The Mian River flooded and destroyed more than 10,000 acres of fertile farmland, affecting more than 100,000 people. The Mian River caused a major disaster.
There will be disasters in the year of great calamity, and the first to be affected is food. The largest granary in Mianshui County, Mianshui Granary, was destroyed, and all the stored food inside was gone. For a time, Mianshui was in a panic, and even some scoundrels spread rumors that Mianshui was short of food.
For a time, the people were in a state of panic and rushed to the major grain stores in the city to buy grain frantically.
However, almost all the major grain stores in the city were closed and stopped selling grain in an attempt to hoard it.
In this environment, Zhao Ya joined forces with the Mianshui County Government to issue a notice and intervene strongly, ordering all major grain shops in the city to open and sell grain at a fair price and not to raise grain prices, otherwise they would be severely punished.
For a time, all the major grain shops were forced to sell grain under pressure.
But anyone with a discerning eye knows that relying on pressure from above will not work.
Because every time there is a policy from the top, there is a countermeasure from the bottom.
Mian River, South City, Datong Grain Shop.
This grain shop is opened by Zhou Peng from the Beggars' Gang.
"Okay everyone, today's food has been sold out, please go back."
Inside the shop, the shopkeeper waved his hand and asked the clerk to rush people out. At the same time, he closed the door and hung a sign on the door: Sold out today.
This immediately caused a burst of complaints from the people outside.
"Hey, shopkeeper, why are they sold out so quickly today? We haven't bought any yet."
"Yes, shopkeeper, why are you so angry? Let me tell you, the government has issued a notice. The princess said that we must sell grain at a fair price. Do you want to disobey the order?"
"That's right, that's right, shopkeeper, please be kind, I've been waiting in line for three days and still haven't gotten a seat, you can't do this!"
"Boss, if you do this, we will go to the government office and sue you. You are pretending to obey but secretly disobeying your will!"
"Sell food, open the door and sell food!"
…
Hearing the people outside shouting loudly, the shopkeeper inside opened the window and said, "Everyone, please stop shouting. There is no food even if you shout. We have 50 quotas every day, and each person can buy two kilograms of food. We have sold all of it. Why are you still shouting?"
"What? The princess said..."
At this time, a commoner wanted to interrupt, but he heard the shopkeeper say, "The princess told us to open the door and sell affordable grain. We sold it, but the inventory is just this much. The princess can't force us to produce grain. No, look at how many pounds of meat I have, I will sell it to you."
"Alright, alright, everyone, stop crowding around. If you have time, go to West City and line up."
After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he put down the wooden board. After hearing what the shopkeeper said, the people outside started cursing, but the shopkeeper turned a deaf ear to them and turned back to the backyard.
At this time, Zhou Peng was playing mahjong with a few people in the back.
The people sitting there were not ordinary people either. They were the local Chai Gang leader, Liu Rong, and the two local landlords, Mr. Zhang and Mr. Wang.
At this time, four people sat together playing Majiang, which is similar to Mahjong and was a popular game in this era.
While playing mahjong, Zhou Peng was served by a beautiful maid. He took the teacup from the maid and drank a sip of tea. Then he saw the owner of the grain shop in the front yard come in and bowed, saying, "Boss, we have run out of grain for today."
Zhou Peng stretched out his hand and played a card and said, "Well, thank you for your hard work. How are the people who came today?"
The shopkeeper said, "There are more than yesterday. People started lining up at 1:00 this morning, and they were sold out in just a few minutes after opening."
Zhou Peng said: "Haha, it seems that this food is in great demand. We deserve to make a fortune."
"bump!"
Zhou Peng reached out and took the chicken card played by Wang Yuanwai on the opposite side.
Liu Rong from the Chai Gang on the other side said, "Boss Zhou, the trick you taught me is indeed useful. If we buy less of the daily limit, we can reduce the loss. But what if the princess finds out?"
Zhou Peng heard this and said, "What did you find? Didn't we all follow her request and open the store to sell affordable grain? A pound of sorghum rice costs ten cents, which is no different from before the disaster."
"I didn't add any sand to the rice, right? It's already like this, why is she dissatisfied?"
After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai said, "Boss Zhou, but, aren't fifty places a day too few?"
"A little? Not a lot. We don't have any food. Food needs to be allocated every day. We only have this much. We have tried our best. Does the princess really want to hold us back?"
"Besides, she's a temporary official and will be gone in a few days. Do you think she can really keep an eye on this matter?"
Zhou Peng said as he played a card.
After hearing this, Mr. Zhang said, "Yes, Old Wang, you are too timid. You took the princess' fart as an imperial decree."
Chai Bang Liu Rong said: "Yes, she is a noble princess and wants to be a saint, but what does her becoming a saint have to do with us? We don't buy food with money. There are 50 quotas a day, more than 100 kilograms of sorghum rice. Do you know how much sorghum rice costs on the black market now?"
After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai asked, "How much?"
"Twenty cents a pound, and it's going to go up."
After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai asked, "Has it doubled in size?"
Liu Rong said, "What do you think? How much will I lose if I sell 100 kilograms of sorghum rice a day? And according to my estimation, the price may rise to 25 wen in a few days."
After hearing this, Wang Yuanwai breathed heavily: "Such huge profits!"
"What do you think?"
Zhou Peng said: "I tell you, I estimate that the food supply will at least increase fivefold!"
After hearing this, the people around breathed heavily. Five times, what does this mean? This means that the assets have increased fivefold. If the net worth was 100,000 taels before, now it has become 500,000!
This is such a huge profit.
Zhou Peng looked at him and said, "So do you still think that one hundred kilograms of sorghum rice is not enough for one day?"
Wang Yuanwai said, "Not a small amount."
Zhou Peng smiled and said, "Yes, this 100 kilograms of sorghum rice is my sincerity, the princess should appreciate it."
As Zhou Peng was speaking, he saw thirty younger brothers coming back from the front yard one after another. Each of them carried a sack on his back, and went to the rice jar not far away and poured the sorghum rice in it into the jar.
Seeing this, Chai Gang leader Liu Rong asked, "Brother Zhou, what are you doing?"
Zhou Peng said: "Recycle the food."
"Hmm? Can it be recycled?"
The three looked at Zhou Peng in bewilderment. Zhou Peng said to the shopkeeper behind him, "Old Qian, please tell the three of you."
After hearing this, Lao Qian laughed and said, "Haha, fellow shopkeepers, this is the idea of our gang leader. We will send people outside to line up in advance every day. Then we will sell the food to the disciples we sent to line up in advance. Here, after the food is sold out, we will come back and sell it again tomorrow, and the cycle will continue."
"To be honest, the total amount of food we sold in the past few days is less than 20 kilograms."
Um?
After hearing this, Liu Rong and the other two seemed to have discovered a new world. They stared at Zhou Peng and asked, "Can you still do this?"
Zhou Peng laughed and said, "Why don't you guys really invest 100 kilograms of sorghum rice every day?"
"Hi!"
After hearing this, the three of them clapped their legs together. At this time, Wang Yuanwai said, "Boss Zhou, why didn't you tell us about this wonderful method earlier?"
Zhou Peng said: "You didn't ask earlier."
Liu Rong said: "Oh, I've suffered a loss, a big loss. I have sold 400 to 500 kilograms of sorghum rice in the past two days. How much money can I make if I put it on the black market?"
Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhang also agreed very much.
The black market is the latest underground trading place for selling grain established in Mianshui, which is different from the previous black markets.
Since Hua Sanniang is now completely aligned with the fishing gang, the black market she runs has suffered a great impact. As a result, a new black market has spontaneously emerged in Mianshui, specializing in the sale of grain, with prices much higher than those in the shops on the market.
But it is true that food can be bought.
Unfortunately, the price of food sold on the black market has not been going up recently. The reason is very simple: someone is causing trouble.
Who?
Chen Jiusi of the fishing gang.
That's right, Chen Jiusi's Antai Grain Shop has been strictly complying with the princess's requirements recently and selling affordable grain. Although the quantity purchased by each person is limited, there is no limit on the number of people who can buy.
Moreover, Chen Jiusi also made a bold statement that the grain he had was enough to feed the people of Mianshui for a year, so he would not restrict the price of grain.
Therefore, the long queues in front of Antai Grain Store these days can stretch for several miles.
Chen Jie's daily grain sales are also increasing day by day. In the past two days, he has sold more than 6,000 stones of grain. If he sells it freely, this amount of grain will probably be snatched up in a few days.
It is precisely because Chen Jie is holding up the grain prices that the grain prices have only doubled in so many days, which can be said to be very impressive.
But some people also said that Chen Jiusi didn't have much food and was just holding on.
Moreover, there are too many people queuing up every day, and many people cannot buy food, so they can only buy it on the black market.
Therefore, in the short term, the grain price in Mianshui can remain stable.
This made those who were hoarding goods very anxious, and they were all trying to find out how much stock Chen Jiusi had left.
Yelu Mansion!
"I, Zhou Chu, greet Lord Yelu."
Zhou Chu clasped his fists towards Yelu. Yelu glanced at Zhou Chu and said, "Oh, Zhou Chu, hahaha, no need to be so polite, no need to be so polite, sit down, sit down."
Yelu extended his hand and asked Zhou Chu to sit down.
Zhou Chu sat down, and Yelu clapped his hands and said, "Serve the food."
Soon, several dishes were served in front of Zhou Chu, among which Yelu's favorite, sashimi.
Yelu then gestured to Zhou Chu and said, "Try it. This is pufferfish shipped from the seaside. It was made by the chef I just found. It's very fresh."
Zhou Chu lowered his head and saw a plate in front of him. There was ice on the plate and fish meat as thin as a cicada's wing and transparent on top of the ice.
It's puffer fish sashimi.
Zhou Chu took the chopsticks and took a bite. A look of surprise immediately appeared on his face and he said, "Mm, delicious, very fresh, worthy of being a top-notch sashimi."
"Alas, this is not top-notch. The top-notch one is the dragon-patterned pufferfish. That's top-notch sashimi."