Although Jiang Shu has unique vision and talent in business, he is still young and the shopkeepers are worried.
Jiang's father, who has been in business for many years, has always focused on stability, but Jiang Shu's move was too bold. Jiang's father thought for a while.
"Listen to the princess." In the end, Jiang's father still chose to believe Jiang Shu.
To put it another way, this year everything will be business as usual. The goods in stock will be sold at a low price at most, and the loss will not be too big.
On the contrary, if it goes as Jiang Shu predicted, then Jiang Ji will definitely make a lot of money and become the number one company in Beijing.
It's a big gamble.
The shopkeepers were worried, but the two bosses had already made up their minds, so they could only do it.
Last year there was a good harvest everywhere, and there was plenty left over. However, the imperial court has been aggressively raising grain recently, causing all the major grain stores in Beijing to be sold out, and grain prices are on the rise.
On April 16, Zhou Boxu set off with the second batch of money and grain.
The journey to Duanzhou is long and the round trip will take more than a month.
And there was only more than a month left for him and Yu Lan to get married.
The day before leaving, Yu Lan and Zhou Boxu met at the princess mansion.
"You have to come back soon and come back safely." Yu Lan choked and asked.
She has never left Shangjing. She doesn't know what the outside world is like, but she also knows that there are many dangers here.
Bandits and robbers, unexpected wages, this trip will not be uneventful after all.
Zhou Poxu stretched out his hand to hug her into his arms and said slowly: "Don't worry, I'm just escorting money and food. It's not as dangerous as you think. I will definitely come back before the wedding."
"Yes." Yu Lan put his arms around Zhou Boxu's waist, his eyes moist and hot.
Although she was worried and reluctant to give up, she also understood that this was an unshirkable responsibility.
"wait for me."
These two words left by Zhou Boxu became Yu Lan's daily hope.
After Zhou Boxu left, the Ministry of Rites began to prepare for the wedding.
Due to the Duanzhou disaster, the people suffered, and the national treasury incurred huge expenditures, the wedding that was originally planned to be a grand ceremony was changed to a simple one.
Yu Lan didn't care about this and only hoped that Zhou Boxu would return safely as scheduled.
On April 20th, a fire broke out in Li's Mansion in the north of the city at night. The whole house was completely burned, and no one survived.
This was originally a big event, but right now everyone was focused on Duanzhou, so it didn't cause much of a stir. After inspection, the Yamen found nothing fishy and hastily closed the case as an accident.
Late at night, Li Xu said goodbye to his family outside the city and watched his family get on a carriage and leave.
The night was dark and the carriage quickly disappeared.
Li Xu turned around heavily and followed Zhuiyun back to the alley in the west of the city, where he began to collect evidence of the crimes committed by Cao Qian's gang members.
Shangjing was still lively and prosperous during the day, and the Duanzhou disaster became a lamentable topic for people to talk about after dinner.
He not only lamented for the people of Duanzhou, but also felt lucky to live in Shangjing. Finally, he praised the prince Renming for coming to Duanzhou to provide disaster relief, which was a blessing to the people of Dazhao.
On April 25, when Shen Changze escorted the third batch of money and grain out of Beijing, the imperial court received another urgent report.
An epidemic has broken out in Duanzhou.
Counting the time, Yu Cheng just arrived in Duanzhou.
Cao Qian and the Queen were extremely anxious, fearing that Yu Cheng would be infected with the epidemic. They wrote a letter overnight and sent it to Duanzhou immediately, urging Yu Cheng to return to Beijing as soon as possible after distributing money and food.
When Yu Cheng received the letter, he had just finished discussing the next steps for epidemic prevention and control with Duanzhou officials.
This epidemic was coming fiercely. Although we had taken precautions in advance, the area was too wide, and the vinegar and water prepared were not enough to spread. We had to organize doctors to boil the medicine and drink it everywhere.
However, there were too many people, and the medicinal materials prepared could only last a few days. The most important thing right now is to buy the medicinal materials needed for the epidemic and recruit doctors.
Yu Cheng rubbed his forehead tiredly after reading the Queen's letter, frowned and thought for a moment, then picked up his pen and wrote a reply.
By the way, I wrote a report to the DPRK.
I want money and people.
The original one million silver was simply not enough.
In the imperial hospital, there were imperial doctors who were good at curing diseases, and Duanzhou was in urgent need of them.
After Yu Cheng finished writing the report, he gave it to the courier and sent it back to the capital together with the reply to the queen.
Three days later, Zhou Boxu arrived at Duanzhou with the second batch of money and grain.
Yu Cheng was not at the official residence, but went to inspect the victims with local officials.
It wasn't until evening that Yu Chengcai came back with a frown on his face. When he learned that Zhou Boxu had arrived, he looked happy.
The first batch of money and food that Yu Cheng brought has been exhausted, and now he is waiting for the second batch of emergency supplies escorted by Zhou Boxu.
"Your Highness." Zhou Boxu greeted him respectfully.
Yu Chengliyuan said: "I'm coming back from outside. Wait until I take a shower and change my clothes."
To nip problems in the bud, it is better to be more troublesome than to be careless.
It was dark after Yu Cheng finished cleaning. After having dinner with Zhou Boxu, he summoned all the officials to discuss matters.
Zhou Boxu followed Yu Cheng into the house and smelled the smoke produced by burning medicinal materials.
An official said: "This is made from grinding atractylodes, red dates and other substances into powder and burning them to prevent and treat diseases."
Zhou Boxu nodded and sat down under Yu Cheng.
After everyone was seated, the officials began to report.
"After several days of observation, we can see that medicinal decoction and burning smoke can effectively control the disease, but the amount required is too large and there is no longer any medicine available in surrounding towns."
"There are so many people affected by this disaster. The quantity of medicine purchased from drug dealers is small and the price is high. The best way is to go directly to Oiwa City to buy it."
Oiwa City is rich in medicinal materials and is known as the hometown of medicinal materials. Buying directly from the place of production will not only meet your needs, but also save a lot of money.
"How long does it take to go back and forth from Duanzhou to Dapan?" Yu Cheng asked.
Someone said: "About ten days, plus the time required to buy medicine, it will take at least fifteen days."
"But our existing medicinal materials can only last for ten days at most."
During these ten days, the dregs of the medicine had to be boiled repeatedly to get enough.
After hearing this, Yu Cheng frowned heavily, thought for a moment and then said: "The troops are divided into two groups, one is going to Dabancheng, and the other is going to the nearest Yuncheng to buy a batch of emergency supplies first."
"Then who should be sent to Oiwa City?"
The task of going to Oiwa City was arduous. He had to bring a lot of money, and he had to deal with local officials and drug dealers. He needed someone who was reliable, intelligent, and had a high official position.
Among the people present, Yu Cheng, Zhou Boxu, and Zhizhou had the highest official positions.
Ke Zhizhou is familiar with Duanzhou affairs. If he goes to Oiwa City, it will be very inconvenient to deal with Duanzhou affairs. And Yu Cheng is the backbone, all decisions must be made by him and cannot be left alone.
After much thought, only Zhou Boxu was the most suitable.
However, Yu Cheng knew that Zhou Boxu and Yu Lan were getting married next month and could not stay in Duanzhou for a long time, so he hesitated.
There was silence in the room for a moment, and Zhou Boxu said in a solemn voice: "I'll go."
The people are in danger, and as a minister of the Great Zhao Dynasty, it is my duty to do so.
It is now the fourth day of May, and there is still one month left before the sixth day of June, enough time to go to Oiwa Castle.
"If you have the responsibility, I'll leave it to you." Yu Cheng's face was filled with relief and admiration.
When Zhou Boxu went, he was very relieved.
"Yes." Zhou Boxu responded calmly.
The discussion lasted until late at night, and after all matters were decided, everyone went back to rest.
As soon as the day breaks, everyone must perform their duties and join in the tough battle.
Early the next morning, at dawn, Zhou Boxu was ready to go, and Yu Cheng saw him off in person.
"Be careful on the road." Yu Cheng patted Zhou Boxu's shoulder and warned him.
Going to Opan City, there are many mountain roads, and there will be bandits. And Zhou Boxu brought 200,000 taels of silver, so he will be targeted and intercepted.
Neither people nor money can make any mistakes. Otherwise, he would have no face to return to Beijing to face Yu Lan, and no face to face the people of Duanzhou.
