Su Qingyu said: "Of course we have to sell it, but we can't sell it like this."
As soon as the news of the earthquake in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces came out in the previous life, grain merchants in the capital realized that there was a shortage of grain. As soon as the market opened in the morning, they invariably started to increase prices.
On the first day, it was three taels of silver and one stone, and on the second day it went up to five taels.
Because grain dealers raised prices one after another, people began to panic. Everyone came out to queue up to buy grain. For a while, people in the capital were panicked.
At that time, the issue of disaster relief fell on Xu Yixiang, the chief minister of the cabinet.
The first thing Xu Gelao did was to attack several major grain merchants, charging them with maliciously driving up prices.
Several major grain merchants, headed by the Lin family and the Su family, each contributed 300,000 shi of grain and 500,000 taels of silver to calm the government's anger.
Half a month later, refugees affected by the disaster came to Beijing one after another. However, by that time, all the food in Beizhili had been sent to the northwest for disaster relief, and the capital was once again in panic.
It was not until the end of the first year that grain from Jiangnan came to Beijing, which eased the turmoil.
Lin Wenbai didn't know why, "How to sell it?"
Su Qingyu pondered and said: "Cousin, do you think it is three taels today, will it rise tomorrow?"
Lin Wenbai said: "It will definitely continue to rise. Now anyone with a discerning eye can see that Beizhili is short of food. I'm afraid it will be even 10 taels later."
Su Qingyu asked again: "Now that the country is in crisis, if we all raise our prices, will the court use us as a flag sacrifice?"
"When the day comes when public outrage arouses, our major grain merchants will be the culprits."
"When the time comes, I'm afraid I'll have to spit back all the money I've earned."
Lin Wenbai is not a young man who is inexperienced in the world. He has been in the capital for many years, and he is well aware of the twists and turns involved.
Whenever there is a major national disaster, merchants like them are the main force in disaster relief. Firstly, this is what they should do for the people as businessmen, and secondly, they must have a good relationship with the government.
My cousin said that this possibility is very high. If you follow the trend and increase prices, you may end up getting out of control.
Seeing that he understood, Su Qingyu said again: "Cousin, we don't ask for much money this time, we just ask that the Lin family will not be liquidated by the court."
Fortunately, Su Qingyu's side only has these four food stores. The Lin family has a lot of property. It really feels like they were targeted in the previous life, and the family is also having a hard time.
Lin Wenbai nodded slightly and asked Su Qingyu, "Then how do we sell it? Selling it at a low price will offend all the merchants in the capital."
The current situation is different from the previous price reduction by Zhou's Grain Store. Previously, Zhou's Grain Store reduced the price of grain by three yuan per stone, and the grain merchants in the capital were already complaining.
Under such a situation, if the Su family and Lin family sell at the same price, these grain merchants in Beijing will have to come to question them.
Su Qingyu said thoughtfully: "I have an idea..."
The two discussed for half an hour, then got up and said goodbye to Lin, and returned to the city together.
After entering the city, Lin Wenbai's carriage turned back to Lin's Trading Company. He had a lot of things to do today. Su Qingyu ordered the driver to go to the shop in the west of the city.
Su Qingyu gently opened the curtain, and the whole capital seemed to be alive. The road is crowded, and whenever you pass by a grain store, no matter how big or small, there is always a long queue at the door.
Pearl looked outside along the gap between the vehicles and sighed, "Miss, why does this look so scary? Are everyone in the capital crazy?"
Su Qingyu looked outside with a cold expression, wondering where she was now. In the next month, the capital would become more and more chaotic day by day.
The carriage stopped opposite Su's Grain Store. On one side, Zhou's Grain Store was queuing up to sell grain. The listed price was three taels of silver and one stone.
Lin Sheng, the shopkeeper of Su's Grain Store, had just received a notice from the Lin family manager that all Su's and Lin's grain stores were closed today.
The people queuing in line have been staring at Su's, waiting for them to confirm the price before queuing up to buy. Unexpectedly, the price didn't come, but the shop closed when it came.
Seeing that Lin Sheng was about to close, someone shouted, "Aren't you going to open the door today?"
Lin Sheng stood at the door and clasped his fists slightly, saying: "Everyone, I'm really sorry, we are closed today."
At this time, a person came out of Zhou's Grain Store, squeezed his way into the crowd at the entrance of Su's Grain Store, and suddenly shouted: "Are the Su family waiting for the price to increase in the future? Do you still have any conscience?"
"Yes, does the Su family want to wait until it becomes more expensive to sell?" Someone asked loudly next to them.
Lin Sheng could only say vaguely: "As for the price, we won't know until we open tomorrow."
The man immediately shouted: "You are just waiting for the price to rise, and I will never buy your food again."
"Yes, I will never buy food from the Su family again."
People are always easy to incite, especially now when people are in panic. After a while, Su's Grain Store became synonymous with unscrupulous businesses. Zhou's Trading Company has become the most loyal grain store in the hearts of the people.
Pearl looked at the angry chest rising and falling outside, and stood up to get out of the car, "Miss, I'll go argue with them."
But Jade grabbed her arm, "Miss, she has her own plan."
Pearl sat back dejectedly and said, "Miss, we can't let them slander us like this."
Su Qingyu was still looking outside. Lin Sheng had already closed the shop, but the people were aroused and were throwing rotten vegetable leaves and eggs at the shop.
"Let's go back to the Marquis Mansion. Everything is fine here. It will be fine tomorrow."
Pearl asked in confusion: "Will our shop also sell three taels of silver and one stone tomorrow?"
Su Qingyu shook her head and said, "No, we don't sell it for three taels of silver."
She was curious about what Zhou's listing price would be tomorrow.
After returning to Pingninghou Mansion, Su Qingyu first went to greet the old lady and sent fresh vegetables from the village.
Regarding Su Qingyu's visit to Zhuangzi to celebrate the New Year, the old lady didn't say much. She just asked about Lin's health.
Su Qingyu was curious, when did her grandmother have such a good temper? She thought that when she came back, she would be scolded all over her face.
While he was wandering in the sky, he heard the old lady say: "On New Year's Eve this year, the emperor specifically mentioned Shen Zhixiu and specially rewarded Mrs. Shen. After receiving the reward, Mrs. Shen even sent someone to give you part of it."
"The things are in Bishui Pavilion. You can take the time to pay New Year's greetings to Mrs. Shen in the past few days, and mention your second uncle's affairs by the way."
"Mrs. Shen mentioned this matter during the last marriage discussion, but their family has many trivial matters, so I'm afraid she will forget it."
