Chapter 681: The rice that determines life and death

Zheng Ji's rice shop suddenly became free. A few idle guys moved a bench listlessly and sat by the door shop. The snow had stopped, but the wind was not small. Taiyuan was located in the border area, and the weather was harsh and it was difficult for even eyes to open.

Originally, tens of thousands of people entered the city, and the rice shop's business should not be bad. But who knew that it was just opened early the next morning and there was no one who could see it. A guy went out to inquire and found out that there were porridge sheds everywhere in the city, which were two meals a day. Although it was not enough to be full, compared with the sky-high rice in this rice shop, anyone who was not a rich family would rather get a meal of porridge to fill their stomachs than buy rice.

"How can this continue?" The guy started to complain. He had no business and just had nothing to do. When the waterway was clear and the food from Bianjing was transported, wouldn't Zheng Ji rice shop lose money? Those who are friends are afraid that life will not be easy.

Several people complained to each other a few times, lifted the curtain, the shopkeeper walked out and shouted angrily: "What are you sitting here for doing? Don't you have to do anything?"

"Second shopkeeper..." A guy laughed and said, "In the current situation, where is there any work to do? Should the price of grain be reduced? If it doesn't drop, I'm afraid that there will be no one to buy rice tomorrow."

The second shopkeeper had a gloomy face. Seeing the lonely appearance of the door outside, he couldn't help but wonder whether it was time to discuss with the master that the rice price was so high and so many rice was stored here. When the imperial court calmed the price of grain in the spring, it would be too late to regret it. But of course he wouldn't say these words to the guys, but he just snorted coldly: "You go to do your business. If you are really fine, go to the warehouse to weigh all the rice. Don't be idle. Do you still want to be lazy?"

After hearing what the second shopkeeper said, several guys didn't dare to tell the difference. They immediately moved a long bench back and went to do things in shame.

The second shopkeeper saw that there was not a single figure on the street, so he couldn't help but sigh, called a car, got on the carriage, and asked someone to go to another restaurant of the Zheng family.

In just one stick of incense, the carriage stopped steadily. The house was very deep. The snow in front of the door had been swept away. The second shopkeeper in the doorman recognized it. He informed him and asked him to go in.

The second shopkeeper walked through the numerous courtyards and finally stopped in a side hall, telling him: "The villain Hu Ke'an greeted the master."

A lazy voice came from inside: "Come in."

Hu Ke'an walked into the hall and saw Zheng Ke sitting by the charcoal basin and drinking warm wine. He smiled and said, "It's rare for me to have such a good mood. Unfortunately, there is no plum forest here, otherwise the plum forest would be more elegant."

Zheng Ke said with a stern face: "Is there nothing wrong with the rice shop? What are you doing here?"

Hu Kean smiled bitterly and told the story of this morning, and finally said: "Master, should we reduce the price of grain? Now that the government is offering porridge, if we don't lower the price of grain, we are afraid we will suffer a loss."

Zheng Ke poured a pot of warm wine into the cup, and then carefully picked up the cup. The cup was obviously an antique at first glance. The bronze pattern axis was clear. After drinking a sip, the whole body was steaming. After drinking a glass of wine, Zheng Ke raised his chin and looked at Hu Kean, and said, "Is this what you came to say specifically?"

Hu Ke'an said aloofly: "Yes...yes...yes...and I'm afraid that the master will not know the news, so I came to tell you so that the master can know it."

Zheng Kehe said, "It's very good. It's not bad to use the four words "do your best" on you. Do it well and one day you will ask you to go to Bianjing."

After hearing Zheng Ke's praise, Hu Kean showed gratitude and said, "The matter of eating the king's fortune and loyalty to the king is what a villain should do, and he cannot be praised by the master."

Zheng Ke smiled unquestionably, pinched the dilute beard under his jaw and said lightly: "But... then again, the price of grain will not only not drop, but will also rise. From today on, the grain in Zheng Ji rice shop will be ten stakes per bucket."

"Ten Guan..." Hu Kean's eyes were about to fall off. Ten Guan was equivalent to many people's annual income. Now he couldn't even sell two Guans. Why is the price getting higher and higher? He suspected that he had heard it wrong and couldn't help but say, "Master..."

Zheng Ke had already interrupted him impatiently: "It's just a ten-man guild. You don't have to ask anymore. Sell it at this price and you can't lose a single piece of money."

"Yes." Hu Kean nodded. He had many questions in his heart, but he didn't dare to ask. No matter what, Mi or Zheng's family, he would do whatever the master said. He didn't dare to ask or ask other things.

Zheng Ke stood up gently, paced slowly in the hall, spitting out a faint sense of alcohol, and said, "There is one more thing to tell you to do."

"Please give me instructions."

Zheng Ke said word by word: "If you release a message, you will say that the government's food is empty."

"Is it empty?" Hu Kean finally understood. No wonder the master dared to raise the price to ten cents. The government had no food. The price was not the final say of the Zheng family. So he nodded happily and said, "The villain is asking someone to send the news."

Zheng Ke said: "Remember, this news must be released early in the morning and you cannot leave it for a day."

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The official warehouse in Taiyuan is not far from the prefect's yamen. After turning a few streets, it has been replaced by the lieutenant defense. All the original personnel are responsible for transporting grain and serving porridge. The weather has suddenly improved in the past two days, but the cold wind is still whirling. Several lieutenants at the door stood straight with their knives, their faces have become frost, but they are motionless, with only a pair of eyes, looking at passers-by vigilantly like a knife.

This is the most important place, which is related to the livelihood of the whole city, so the garrison is even more stringent than the imperial commander. From time to time, there will be teams of lieutenants passing by according to the hilt of the knife shoulder around their waists. Every quarter of the hour, the captains of each team will ring a gong to show their safety.

At noon, a convoy would come. The leader was Song Cheng, an escort. Song Cheng was an old official. His family had been begging for food in the public. When he was young, he was a scholar. However, he failed the imperial examination several times, so he was disheartened and still started his ancestral business in Taiyuan. Fortunately, he still had some favors in the yamen. He was also a scholar, so he was allowed to replace his father. In this position, Song Cheng had been in office for more than ten years. He was not rich, but he was considered a wealthy person.

The convoy stopped at the door of the Guancang, and Song Cheng took out the waist sign and tested it for the lieutenants. The lieutenants saw the waist sign, nodded at him, and signaled him to go in.

Song Cheng greeted the lieutenant driving behind him and drove into the official warehouse. Before entering, Song Cheng couldn't help but look at the captains, and couldn't help thinking, are these people all wooden people? Why are they not tired after standing for a whole day?

After thinking about it for a while, I arrived at a warehouse where an old official was waiting for them and said to them: "Why did you come earlier today?"

Song Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "For some reason, many rumors suddenly broke out in the city, saying that the Guancang had no rice. Now people are in panic. So we have come to move the rice out so that everyone can see it and calm the rumors."

The old official smiled worldly and said, "Eighty times it was the news released by the rice merchants. Song Aishi thought about it. Only when people know that the official warehouse has no rice, can everyone go to the rice shop to buy rice, right? I just don't know how many people will be fooled."

Song Cheng shook his head with a tense face and said, "I don't think they can cheat once, can they cheat the second time? When people in the city hear the rumors, they probably have to see if the rice will be released. If they really don't have the rice, they are willing to buy rice at the rice shop. There is no benefit for them to release the rumors."

The old official said in surprise: "This is strange. Since that's the case, who released the news? What's the point of releasing this news?"

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Your Highness is thinking about this in the prefect's office. We are just doing errands. How can we think so far? Are the rice ready?"

The old official said: "All five hundred dou have been loaded into sacks. If you ask someone to load into the car, go."

Song Cheng nodded and asked the accompanying clerk to move the rice, but his feet refused to move and whispered: "Old Zhu, tell me the truth, how many days can the rice in the official warehouse be eaten?"

The old official smiled bitterly and said, "If you have to release a thousand buckets a day, it will be gone in only six or seven days at most. Now it has been four days. If you have more than three or two days, the official warehouse will be empty. If you don't think of any other way, God knows what will happen at that time." Then, he lowered his voice and continued, "The rice on the rice shop has sold for ten coins. I'm afraid I've received the news that this is to demolish the Xiwang platform."

Speaking of King Pingxi, Song Cheng couldn't help but feel respectful. In his heart, he was also a scholar. He had read the books of sages and understood the principles. King Pingxi released the victims into the city and spread the porridge and rice. No matter where he looked, he was a good person. Those unscrupulous merchants who set prices on the ground were all destined to look at it. But he also knew that if there was no rice in the official warehouse, even if King Pingxi had great skills, he could do nothing. Only God knew what would happen then.

Song Cheng frowned and said coldly, "These profiteers will be retribution sooner or later." Then, "The King of Pingxi has never suffered any losses in Quanzhou, Xixia, and Jingji North Road. In Taiyuan, I must have had a brilliant plan and will not let those profiteers succeed." Although he said this, he was not sure at all. He sighed and shook his head and said, "If you don't talk about this, what are the mediocre people doing? Let's just keep your energy and give porridge."

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Chapter completed!