The passage of time is always an irreversible thing.
Winter in Yunzhou County is very cold and much longer than in Guan Nei.
But the time has come to the last few days of the year.
Since the beginning of winter, the battle between Feiyun Trading Company and the Li family has gradually subsided over time.
Coal stoves and coal-padded jackets quietly began to be sold in Li's shop.
However, the store of Feiyun Trading Company sold a kind of material that surprised all the herdsmen.
Tea!
Not to mention the fine teas such as Longjing, Yunzhongque, and Tianyahai from areas with abundant rainfall in Guan Nei, these are also beyond the reach of ordinary herdsmen.
What surprises the herdsmen the most is the large quantities of tea bricks sold in the store. The price is not high and the quantity is large enough to satisfy the needs.
A sheep can be replaced by a whole brick of tea, and a few drinks can feed a family for a month.
This tea brick is actually the tea leaves made into a brick shape. If it is placed in the pass, even the tea shops on the street will not sell the water made with this tea, and the customers will break the stall.
But in Yunzhou County, or for the grassland area, this is it!
It’s already a good thing that you can’t even buy.
Due to the living habits of other nomadic peoples in Yunzhou County and the border, herdsmen mostly rely on dairy products and meat as their staple food.
And this also leads to a problem, that is, it is very greasy, and the herdsmen are extremely lacking in some necessary vitamins and trace elements because of their single diet. As a result, over time, it will lead to various diseases. , a lot of people die every year on the grassland.
Tea can not only relieve fatigue, but also supplement the missing vitamins and trace elements.
There is a saying on the grassland.
It is better to go without food for a day than to go without tea for a day.
However, the reality is that the scarcity of tea is extremely serious on the grasslands.
After Yunzhou County surrendered to the Song Dynasty, the imperial court issued tea quotations from Yunzhou County to merchants.
However, a certain amount was set, and according to the plan, it was enough for the people in Yunzhou County.
But in actual practice, most of the tea that arrived in Yunzhou County went into the hands of the upper echelons of the tribe, and even went further north under the operation of the four major families.
This has resulted in Yunzhou County still being extremely short of tea.
Feiyun Trading Company's shop was completely packed on the first day it started selling tea bricks!
The herdsmen were afraid that the quantity was limited, and those with wealthy families pushed their carts to buy them one by one. The cattle and sheep they brought could not be seen at the end.
Although Feiyun Trading Company has enough inventory, it can't help but grab enough. It will take time to transport it to Yunzhou County.
Therefore, in order to enable most herdsmen to buy tea bricks, Feiyun Trading Company implemented a purchase restriction policy.
With the household registration certificate as proof, each household registration certificate can only purchase one tea brick weighing one kilogram, but there is no limit on the grade of the tea brick.
As soon as the purchase restriction order came out, those herdsmen with wealthy families were naturally disappointed. However, most other ordinary herdsmen were overjoyed and hurried home and took their family's household registration certificate with them.
People rushed to buy tea bricks. Those whose families were wealthy would buy tea bricks made of good tea, while those whose families were not well-off would buy tea bricks made of the most common tea residues.
Everyone was very satisfied. As for the leaders of the big tribes who received the news, they directly asked their men to come over with a lot of gold and silver and sweep away the best tea leaves.
Therefore, on the first day of tea sales, Feiyun Trading Company had to close early. The goods were sold too fast, and the inventory was empty before dark.
The second day, the third day, the fourth day...
This continued for nearly a week before the herdsmen gradually let go of their worries. Everyone finally believed that the supply of tea from Feiyun Trading Company would be sufficient, and they no longer had to worry about the supply of tea being cut off.
In this way, Feiyun Trading Company's daily tea sales can be considered back to normal.
Feiyun Trading Company and the Li family stopped fighting, and Feiyun Trading Company even directly changed its business. The other three companies in Yunzhou City soon learned about it.
At first they thought it was the Li family in Nanyang who helped, so Feiyun Trading Company retreated and changed its business directly.
But what they didn't expect was that the main line of the Li family in Nanyang had no idea what was going on here. At this moment, they were still facing pressure from Feiyun Trading Company and were struggling. How could they have the time to care about such a family in Yunzhou City? The city where the branch is located.
When the lanterns came on, most of the city in Yunzhou County fell into darkness late at night.
Only Nancheng District, due to the concentration of shops, has become a rare place to stay up all night in Yunzhou City.
Yunkelou.
"Hahahaha, everyone, please drink this cup to the full!"
"I won't come home until I'm drunk today!"
"It's been a hard year, and it's New Year's Eve again soon. I wish you all a lot of money next year! Hahahaha! Come! Drink!"
Touching the light one by one, pushing the cup and changing the cup.
All the big and small family forces in Yunzhou City came here today.
Ever since the aristocratic family settled in Yunzhou City, over time, on the penultimate day of every year, these family forces who migrated from abroad will gather together.
First of all, it’s approaching New Year’s Eve, and every family has their own things to do on New Year’s Eve, so why not just do it a day in advance.
Secondly, it also provides some peace of mind to all the family forces in Yunzhou County. In the new year, everyone should divide their own spheres of influence to avoid damaging the harmony.
Many business deals are even concluded on this day, and most of the business trends in Yunzhou City in the coming year will be decided today.
Therefore, for the family forces in Yunzhou City, today is a must. Otherwise, let alone the issue of compatibility and lack of special news, the entire family will lag behind others in doing things in the next year. .
The entire Yun Guest House was booked today, and the guests were packed.
Among them, the best location in the entire Yun Guest House, the big round table in the center of the third floor, is naturally occupied by the four major Yunzhou families who control the four important trade channels in the entire Yunzhou City.
The four families are Chen, Li, Wang and Sun.
These four families are also the four largest family forces in the entire Yunzhou City.
Compared to the lively atmosphere among the middle and lower-class families on the first and second floors, the four families this year seemed a bit silent.
Li Xuanji, the head of the Li family, drank glass after glass of wine without looking at the other three.
The three of them wanted to talk, but for a while they didn't know what to say.
But the atmosphere can't just be stiff.
So, after a while, Chen Lixin, the head of the Chen family, coughed twice, attracting the attention of everyone at the table. Seeing that Li Xuanji's eyes were also attracted, he calmed down and put on a smile on his face. He asked with a smile: "Hahaha, brother Li, I haven't seen you for a long time. Besides, the business of Li's shop has been booming recently!
It’s the New Year soon. Chen wishes Brother Li continued financial success next year! "
"I'll lend you some good words!"
Li Xuanji withdrew his gaze, casually raised his hand and bowed to Chen Lixin and replied, then drank by himself, as if he was not very familiar with the other three people at the table.
Now the three of them were a little confused.
In the end, it was Sun Xingzhou who was the most impatient and said in a loud voice:
"Hey, I said you can do it, Lao Li. Isn't it because we didn't help you when you were in trouble?
But, how could you help us in that situation? Even those reckless men who only know how to use knives are being controlled by others. Even if we go together, people may not take us seriously.
Don't you think it's bad now?
After all, those masters are still very powerful. Once they take action, the people behind Feiyun Trading Company will honestly return the business to you.
We are old friends, and you are such a big person now. Do we still need to tell you how the world works?
Let me tell you, now that this matter is over, you shouldn't take it to heart. Can't it be enough for the four of us to continue to make money peacefully in Yunzhou County? "
Sun Xingzhou's words touched the hearts of the other two people, and they all nodded in agreement.
After hearing this, Li Xuanji slowly put down his wine glass, raised his eyes and looked around the three of them, then slowly rubbed the wine glass in his hand on the table with one hand and said slowly:
"I, Lao Li, have been living for more than 40 years. I understand what you are saying. The four of us are, at best, in the same spirit. At worst, we are just compromising with each other. Things in this world are always about the jungle of the jungle. Yes, you didn’t dare to interfere with the affairs between my Li family and Feiyun Trading Company not long ago, but I can understand if you don’t want to get involved.”
"Hey, right! Isn't that what the world is like? As long as you can understand it, that's good!"
The other three people quickly responded with a smile.
Li Xuanji did not smile, but looked at the three people coldly. The three people who were looking at him gradually stopped the smiles on their faces, and then continued to turn the cups in their hands and said in a deep voice:
"Although I can understand it, my heart is just so unhappy.
There is finally a barrier between us!
Now you also know the situation in Yunzhou City. The imperial court directly sent a prince to become a vassal. They are always waiting to overthrow our four families. Now there is a gap between our four families. This is not a good thing. "
The other three families now understood that this good guy was here to get benefits.
The three of them felt relieved.
Just like Li Xuanji said, the current situation in Yunzhou City requires the four of them to work together, but what they did before was to add some troubles to the four families. This is unfavorable and needs to be eliminated.
Before, they were worried that Li Xuanji was in trouble because of this matter, but now it seems that Li Xuanji has finally gained the upper hand and knows that instead of sulking, it is better to get some real benefits.
It's okay to ask for benefits, but I'm afraid you don't want benefits. You can talk about benefits. As long as both parties are satisfied in the end, there won't be any problem.
Li Xuanji quickly put forward his request.
"My Li family will take 30% more of the clearance share next year!"
Li Xuanji gave his initial price.
However, Chen Lixin and others immediately raised the price: "Lao Li, don't be too greedy. How much of the 30% share can you afford? Half a percent at most!"
"Twenty percent!"
"Seven points!"
…
