The frightening first day passed like this. night. Not only Wen Tong, but all the people in the South China Sugar Factory are like ants on a hot pot - everyone realizes that they have encountered challenges here and are facing a crisis. For Wen Tong, there are two countermeasures. One is to mobilize cash from Guangzhou and Lingao. As long as there is enough money, the current crisis can immediately turn into a good thing - South China Sugar Company will purchase sugar goods at the original price, not only It can actually gain huge profits and greatly increase its credibility in Leizhou. But arithmetic quickly reminded him: there was no way. Even if he only ate a third of the more than 200,000 shi of candy in Leizhou, he would still have to pay nearly 200,000 taels of silver. This was simply an astronomical figure. Not to mention that Lingao will definitely not be able to get it, even Guo Yi from Guangzhou will have to bankrupt the Guangzhou Station to be satisfied.
Xiao Gui said: "Let Lingao allocate a batch of luxury goods, mirrors, glass and so on..."
"It's useless for sugarcane farmers to ask for these things. Lao Xiao!" Chen Tianxiong shook his head repeatedly, "Are you willing to give you an Armani suit to replace you when you are paid?"
"That's true." Xiao Gui thought that no matter whether it is ancient people or modern people, real money and silver are always more useful than goods.
"The second countermeasure," Wen Tong said, "is simply to buy at a reduced price tomorrow. As long as the price is reduced, this situation will change immediately, and we can continue normal acquisitions. Of course, we want to get rid of Haiyi Tang in one fell swoop. The possibility of dominating Leizhou is gone. This is a safer approach, and I’m afraid it’s also the only way.”
"It would be great if Lao Chang could come back as soon as possible. He will definitely be able to bring back rice. If we use rice to pay for sugar, the sugarcane farmers will definitely accept it." Wen Tong sighed, knowing in his heart that this was impossible.
"It seems that this is the only way." Everyone was relatively speechless. That night Wen Tong was in a restless mood, and even A'Zhu, who was about to propose himself as a pillow, was scolded by him and kicked out.
At dawn the next day, Wen Tong washed up hastily and led people to the entrance of the sugar store. The situation outside almost made him stop breathing. The dark cane farmers stretched from the entrance to the main road. The crowd was small. There must be several thousand, and it seems that they all came overnight - it seems that the price drop at Haiyitang has spread throughout Xuwen, and all those who still have sugar to hold on to are flocking to South China, the last hope. .
Chen Tianxiong and others also arrived, and even Xiao Gui came - why bother to train apprentices now?
Liao Daxing came over and asked in a low voice: "Master, are you changing the market price on the water sign now?"
Wen Tong gritted his teeth, nodded and said, "Change it."
Liao Daxing was taking care of the waiter to write the water sign and prepare to hang it out for opening. Liao Dahua had already come in. When he saw that the price was going to be changed, he quickly grabbed his arm: "Don't hang out yet!" He turned to Wen Tong and whispered: "My boss, you can't change it!" He pulled Wen Tong. Entering the back room of the closet:
"The escort sent out got some information."
"What's the news?" Wen Tong became nervous.
"People in Hai'an Street and Xuwen County are saying that the South China Sugar Factory has a magic trick and can make more sugar out of nothing, so now South China sugar is everywhere in the field, the price has dropped very low, and all the sugar is on sale Do not move……"
"Nonsense!" Wen Tong gritted his teeth in anger. What kind of rumor is this? mean! How despicable! "The price of sugar in Guangzhou is obviously 30,000 yuan. How has the price dropped?"
"This... the sugarcane farmers are ignorant, and Guangzhou is more than a thousand miles away from here, so no one can verify it."
Chen Tianxiong said: "It seems that someone is taking advantage of this lack of information."
"No need for analysis, make up your mind quickly!" Wen Tong began to feel irritable, "What should we do with the purchase price?! Do we want to change it?"
Before anyone else could speak, Liao Dahua spoke first: "You can't change it! Now there are rumors on the street that the South China Factory caused the incident. If the South China Factory doesn't buy it for two to five dollars, they will sue. The official said that the Huanan Factory is suspected of practicing witchcraft..."
"Fart, can the county listen to their nonsense?"
"Boss, of course we are not afraid of them going to the county to file a complaint - it was originally just a matter of chasing rumors. But when the escorts came back, they said that there was something fishy in this matter. There were a lot of bad guys among the candy sellers, and now it's... People are panicking. As soon as the price in South China changes here, these people immediately start making noises and inciting the crowd to rush inside. This...isn’t this the same fate? Once things start to happen, even people from the county may not be able to calm it down immediately!"
Reports of past mass incidents appeared in everyone's mind. When everyone saw this kind of thing, they felt a little secretly happy, and they felt a little angry for me and other shitty people. But when things came to an end, when the shitty people were outside preparing to cause mass violence, everyone still felt a lot of pressure. big.
"And..." Liao Dahua added: "There are also hundreds of sugar-cooking craftsmen from hundreds of local sugar shops in Leizhou here. Since the opening of the South China Factory, the business of local sugar shops has plummeted. These craftsmen have either lost their jobs or lost their jobs. Unemployed people are also being paid very low wages, and they are all full of resentment. I heard that some people have gone to the Yamen to submit petitions a few days ago, asking the government to intervene, but the county magistrate refuted it. It would be even worse if they took the opportunity to cause trouble. It’s incredible. Someone is still preparing to rush in and burn the machine.”
"I, isn't this a movement to destroy machines? The revolutionary consciousness of the masses is so high!" Merlin said.
"What's the use of talking nonsense," Wen Tong waved his hand, "We are all capitalists, be careful of giving the dictatorship of the revolutionary masses outside, we have all made up our own minds!"
"Let's buy it at the original price." Xiao Gui said, "Even if no one wants to attack the sugar factory, it will not be easy for the sugarcane farmers. Anyway, we can just make money with the money we have. If there is a real commotion, the losses will be huge if the machine is destroyed."
"Of course, the best option is to continue the acquisition. But where is the money?!" This is what Wen Tong is worried about.
"The money can last for a few days," Chen Tianxiong said. "Whether it can last for a few days, at least there is a buffer and we can consider countermeasures."
If the price is reduced now, according to the information obtained by Liao Dahua. The bomb someone prepared for them will blow up the South China Factory to pieces immediately. If the acquisition is continued at the original price, although it may still happen after a few days of lingering, but at least it has a buffer time. If countermeasures can be figured out in time, it may be a good opportunity to unify Leizhou Sugar Industry.
"Let's do it like this. Shopkeeper Liao, go and notify us and continue to purchase at two-two-five..."
Before he finished speaking, Wenxiu ran in staggeringly: "No... it's not good..."
"What's going on?" Several people's expressions changed. Have the proletarian masses already taken action?
"The sugarcane farmers outside, and I don't know who they heard from, are all talking about Huanan being able to receive goods at a price of one to two to five cents today. Some people are making noises, saying that the problem is all caused by Huanan, and if Huanan dares to lower the price, it will South China is beautiful..."
"Asshole!" Seeing his opponent forcing him step by step, Wen Tong knew it was too late and quickly ordered Wen Xiu: "Run out and tell Liao Daxing to hang up the water tag for me immediately. The price will not change!"
Wenxiu ran out, and the atmosphere in the room became heavier. If what Liao Dahua said just now was just a possibility, the current situation has proved the accuracy of the intelligence. Chen Tianxiong suddenly said: "There is something fishy here!"
Everyone's eyes were fixed on it, and Chen Tianxiong said: "We have to change the purchase price. We only made the decision early this morning. How did people outside know about it so quickly?"
"There are details!"
"That's right." Chen Tianxiong said, "It seems that the roots are with a few local guys. They were all recruited recently, and we don't know any details about this place."
Liao Dahua said: "This is easy. Let's replace the people first and ask the bodyguard to take them all into custody."
"But as a result, there are no local people who can communicate with the sugarcane farmers. Leizhou dialect is difficult to understand, but Cantonese is considered the best."
"I'm going to go to Xuwen County and ask for help from familiar shops and warehouses. There will be one or two for each house. Plus the locals from the escort agency, it will be enough."
"Okay, go quickly. The opening time is coming soon!"
Rearrange the staff here. Zhou Shizhai was called over there and asked to mobilize not only the militia but also all the men and strong women in the sugar factory. Production was suspended and everyone had a stick to prepare to protect the factory and protect the equipment and warehouses.
"Tell everyone, if there is a riot, just give me a beating. If you kill someone, I will find someone to replace them! The dead will be paid five hundred taels a pension, and Huanan will be injured to support him for a lifetime! As long as the machines and warehouses are saved, everyone will be Ten taels of silver!"
"I'll give you the orders right now!" Zhou Shizhai also knew that the matter was of great importance and hurriedly made arrangements. Xiao Gui also hurried back to the boiler room to raise the air pressure. If someone wanted to rush into the sugar factory, he would use the steam engine to drive the water hose to spray water to drive away the crowd.
While arrangements were being made intensively inside, the crowd outside had already begun to commotion. Originally, they had been disturbed by the news of falling sugar prices, but now they heard that their only hope, the South China trip, was also preparing to drop prices, and it had been a while since the opening time, but the door still wouldn't open. There were already some in the crowd. The commotion began to spread, and someone took the opportunity to shout:
"Huanan dare not open the door!"
"They must clean up whatever they cause!"
"If you don't open the door, we'll rush in!"
"Burn down this monster factory in South China!"
"Everyone rush."
The commotion in the crowd was getting bigger and bigger, and just when it was about to become uncontrollable, the gate to South China opened. Liao Da walked out excitedly, and his gentlemanly demeanor made the already irritable and eager sugarcane farmers quiet for a moment.
"What's the fuss about?" Liao Daxing looked confident and arrogant, even though his back was covered in sweat, "Come on, hang out the water sign for me."
The guys came out and quickly hung up the water signs.
The eyes of everyone present were focused on the water sign, which clearly wrote two, two, and five dollars.
Sighs of relief blew through the crowd like a gust of wind.
"Dear fellow villagers!" Liao Daxing kept repeating in his mind what Wen Tong had just said to him, "Although our South China Factory and South China Sugar Company are new here, we are all well-behaved businessmen. These days For months, I have made sweets for everyone. The quality of the sugar is obvious to all. Now that the price of sugar outside is high, South China was originally worried about not enough sugar to sell. I can’t thank you enough for showing such love to South China.” As he said that, he cupped his hands in a circle, "Our boss said: If you have candy you want to sell, just come and sell it. There is plenty of silver rice in South China to buy. Let's open the scale!" After saying that, he bowed again and went about his own business. went in.
This statement, coupled with the fact that the price did not fall, temporarily calmed down the originally impetuous crowd. But this is only a stopgap measure. It depends on how the executive committee handles the following.
The executive committee obtained the urgent documents on the same day. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an emergency meeting, thinking that there was a need to transfer funds, so the matter became a joint meeting between the finance department and the foreign affairs department.
"Now the total inventory of silver in Lingao is less than 40,000 taels." Cheng Dong lowered his voice when talking about the number of silver deposits. This is one of the top secrets of the Chuan Chuan Group.
Forty thousand taels can only collect 16,000 stone sugar, which is a drop in the bucket for the hundreds of thousands of stone sugar that are eagerly waiting to rush to the door of South China.
"Run out of money? We should still have some left to sell to Macau."
"Those Indian money orders cannot be cashed in Leizhou. At least they have to be exchanged in Macau. Besides, it's only 20,000 pesos."
"Let Guangzhou Station mobilize."
"I have contacted the Guangzhou Station." Cheng Dong said, "The original plan was for the Guangzhou Station to raise 100,000 taels of silver to go to Leizhou specifically to purchase Leizhou sugar products. However, it was too difficult to transport cash and the safety was not guaranteed, so we decided to Adopted the idea of Chang Shide from Leizhou Sugar Industry: exchange part of Leizhou sugar for Vietnamese rice, and then use Vietnamese rice to purchase Leizhou sugar. This idea was very good. At the time, we did not expect that such a 'squeeze' event would occur. With so much supply coming in at once, there is no money to allocate."
Wen Desi said: "This matter is quite difficult and the risk is high. It is better to transfer cash to Leizhou. It is estimated that the whale will not be able to come back for a while."
"The big whale doesn't have a radio, otherwise it would be better to just send a telegram and ask him to buy rice and come back."
"How about we transport rice to them from Lingao or Guangzhou? Chang Shide said in the report that the price of rice in Leizhou is very high."
"I'm afraid not," said Yan Ming, the newly appointed president of the "Delong Grain Bank". "We don't have so much grain inventory." Since the Lingao Grain Circulation Voucher was issued, grain has become the bank's daily requirement. All data should be paid attention to. "Furthermore, the daily consumption of food is quite large, and transporting away several thousand dan will jeopardize the reserves."
"Transporting grain from Guangzhou is like money," Wen Desi said. "It's too slow. The sailing ship has to go back and forth for six to seven days. By the time it reaches Leizhou, the day lilies are cold."
"I agree with Mr. Wen: we need to transport money!" Ma Qianzhu frowned, "If we don't transport money, the South China Factory will be squeezed out. The great situation created by Leizhou will be gone." (! )! ~!
