Under the gray sky, Zhou Boxu looked at the face of Yu Cheng who was worried about the country and the people, and his heart was heavy.
Nodding in response to Yu Cheng's instructions, Zhou Boxu solemnly said: "His Royal Highness is the crown prince of the country. You must take care of yourself and be careful not to get infected by the epidemic."
After a pause, Zhou Boxu said hesitantly: "It's best not to go to the epidemic area anymore and just discuss matters and make decisions in the mansion."
Faced with the sudden concern, Yu Chengzheng smiled and said: "Don't worry, I know it well."
Yu Cheng studied under Zhou Taifu, and Zhou Boxu went to the palace to study with him since he was a child. They also grew up together. Not a best friend, but still a friend.
Moreover, Yu Cheng and Zhou Bexu are similar in age, and they met earlier than Yu Zheng.
Zhou Boxu was not a person who showed his emotions, and he also knew that Yu Cheng acted steadily and had his own opinions, so he got into the carriage and left without saying another word.
Yu Cheng raised his head and looked at the sky, hoping that it would not rain again and worsen the disaster and epidemic.
As Yu Cheng expected, Zhou Boxu's road to Owan City was not peaceful. On the third day, he encountered a robber on the winding mountain road.
Fortunately, Zhou Boxu led a large number of people, and all of them were strong in martial arts. He was able to kill the robbers without any danger. Only a few people were slightly injured, which did not affect their journey.
At dusk on the fifth day, the team arrived at Oiwa City. The magistrate Fei Kai warmly welcomed them and held a banquet in his mansion.
Zhou Boxu sat in the main seat, glanced at the officials accompanying him and the dancing girl twisting her waist in the hall, and frowned.
Upon seeing this, Fei Kai immediately asked cautiously: "But why did I fail to entertain you well? Your Excellency, please make it clear."
Zhou Boxu put down his chopsticks and said, "I came to Dabancheng to buy medicine, not to have fun."
Upon hearing this, Fei Kai hurriedly responded and waved his hand for the dancer to leave.
The hall finally became quiet, and Zhou Boxu picked up his chopsticks to eat again.
After finishing the meal without saying a word, Zhou Boxu said with a straight face: "Please, Sir Fei, please summon the Chinese medicine dealers in the city and meet tomorrow morning."
"Yes. Your Excellency, you have been working hard all the way, so please rest first." Fei Kai responded respectfully and ordered his servants to take Zhou Boxu to rest.
After Zhou Boxu left, Fei Kai snorted disdainfully: "What the hell? Come to Dabancheng to establish your official record."
The county magistrate said: "I think it's hard for you to get along with me this week, so you'd better be careful."
The master also said: "Yes, I heard that he is rigorous, resolute, and iron-handed, so it's better not to provoke him."
Fei Kai sneered and said: "Since he is here to buy medicine, let's just sell him medicine seriously."
After saying that, Fei Kai picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank it all in one gulp, smiling maliciously.
The county magistrate and the master took a look and immediately understood what Fei Kai meant.
Don't mess with others, just make money. Don't make trouble with anyone but money.
The next morning, Fei Kai summoned all the major drug dealers in the city to interview Zhou Boxu.
Zhou Boxu took out the medicine list and said straight to the point: "Here are the required medicinal materials, as many as you need."
The drug dealers took them and looked at them one by one, whispering to each other in dialect.
Zhou Poxu didn't understand, so he frowned and asked Fei Kai, "What are they talking about?"
Fei Kai picked something he could say: "They are discussing what they have in hand and how much inventory they have."
Zhou Bexu glanced at Fei Kai, pursed his lips and said nothing.
These drug dealers keep talking about it, how can this be the only thing they say?
Fei Kai made it clear that he was fooling him.
Zhou Boxu sat with a cold face, patiently waiting for the pharmacist to finish the discussion.
A quarter of an hour later, the leading drug dealer said: "We can get all the medicinal materials you need. But a lot of them were purchased in the past few days, and now we have a limited inventory."
"Doctors are benevolent and medicine practitioners are compassionate. Since we are here to help the victims, we should pour our money into it and give it to you at the lowest price."
"Then I would like to thank you all on behalf of the people of Duanzhou." Zhou Boxu handed over his hand.
The drug dealers replied: "Don't dare, don't dare, we are all doing our duty."
After confirming that all the medicinal materials are available, Zhou Bo prefaced: "Without further delay, everyone will start preparing immediately after returning. The sooner the medicine is handed over, the better."
"Yes." The medicine dealers responded and left.
Two days later, the drug dealers came to see Zhou Boxu with a list of items and quantities.
"That's all?" Zhou Boxu frowned.
The quantity of these medicinal materials is only enough for Duanzhou to need for half a month, but it is far from enough.
A pharmaceutical dealer was confused: "These are all the stocks we have. If there are not enough, we can only urgently collect them from the farmers, but the price will be higher."
Hearing this, Zhou Boxu already knew what was going on.
It’s not that there is none, it’s just that I want to raise the price.
Zhou Boxu glanced at everyone and suddenly raised his lips: "As long as the goods are available, the price is easy to negotiate. I brought two hundred thousand taels of silver, is it enough?"
When the drug dealers heard this, their eyes lit up and they nodded hurriedly: "That's enough, that's enough. We'll go back and collect it now."
Although Oiwa City is the hometown of medicinal materials, it is not a large place and it is not irreplaceable. Two hundred thousand taels is Oiwa City's revenue from medicinal materials for half a year.
Now, they can earn it in just a few days, which is really exciting.
After sending the medicine merchant away, Zhou Boxu also got up and wanted to leave the house.
Fei Kai hurriedly asked: "Where are you going, sir?"
Zhou Boxu paused and raised his eyebrows: "What? Where should I go to ask Master Fei for instructions?"
The cold eyes and tone made Fei Kai's heart tremble, and he said with an apologetic smile: "Your Excellency, you misunderstood. I just want to arrange for someone to lead the way."
Zhou Boxu thought for a moment after hearing the words, and finally said with some gratitude: "Then I'll pay you, Mr. Fei."
"You're welcome, sir. This is what a lower official should do." After saying this, Fei Kai waved his hand and ordered someone to guide Zhou Poxu's car.
Zhou Bexu took only one guard with him, followed the leading officer out of the house, and visited the city.
First, I went to several pharmacies and asked about the prices and stocks of medicinal materials. Then we left the city and went to a nearby village to ask some medicinal farmers.
After returning in the evening, Zhou Boxu went back to the guest house to wash himself and led the guards to return to Fei Kai.
"How is it?" Fei Kai asked, leaning on the Grand Master's chair, playing with two walnuts.
The officer said: "As expected, Master Zhou went to visit the medicine shop and the village."
"In accordance with your instructions, I will take Master Zhou to places that have been planned in advance."
"Is he suspicious?" Fei Kai asked.
"should not."
The officer thought about it: "Based on my humble observation, Mr. Zhou doesn't know much about medicinal materials and is a complete layman. He is in a hurry this time. He doesn't have time to investigate thoroughly, so he can only be led by the nose."
After hearing this, Fei Kai smiled proudly and said: "A strong dragon will not overwhelm a local snake. Although he has a high official position, he still has to be controlled by me when he gets to Owa City."
"Yes, sir, you are wise." The officer complimented.
Fei Kai waved his hand: "Okay, go and keep an eye on him. If he goes out again, don't lose him."
With the two hundred thousand taels already in his pocket, he couldn't make any mistakes.
"Yes." The officer took the order and left.
Two days later, all the medicine dealers came to see Zhou Boxu with faces full of joy.
"Sir, after urgent collection, the required medicinal materials have been prepared. Please take a look."
The drug dealer presented the quantity list to Zhou Boxu.
Zhou Boxu looked at it and saw that there were three times more than before. He felt cold at the moment.
He raised three times the amount of medicine in two days. These people really took him for a fool.
