As soon as white sugar came out, it caused a sensation in five cities. In just three days, several stores were sold out one after another, making it difficult to find sugar.
The Liang family and the Sun family wanted to sell their accumulated sugar in one go and make a lot of money, but they were stopped by Gu Zhengchen. Sufficient supply is not as good as hunger marketing. Only limited supply can bring popularity.
Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang admired Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang for their contrary business strategy.
The Sun and Liang families purchased brown sugar in batches at a very low cost. They calculated the costs of transportation, stores, customs, commercial taxes, sugar production, operation, etc., and finally priced a pound of white sugar at sixty-six cents, which is equivalent to two pounds of sugar on the market. The price of a kilogram of brown sugar.
It is normal for things to be rare and expensive, and the price to be higher. But despite the fact that supply exceeds demand, the price of Juren Sugar has never risen by a penny, which has attracted praise from countless wealthy households and ordinary people.
Merchants seek profits, but if there are more people buying, the price will rise, no matter whether it is grain or cloth. Although he can't sell a piece of steamed bun for 500,000 yuan, the businessman won't feel bad if he can't afford it and starve to death outside.
There are many people who can afford to buy it, and the price remains the same. These days, only Juren white sugar is available.
It's not that the Liang family and the Sun family have never thought about raising prices, it's just that Gu Zhengchen won't let them.
What Gu Zhengchen considered was that it was not the middle and late Ming Dynasty when commerce was relatively prosperous, but now the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The overall situation in the Ming Dynasty was a lack of materials, and commerce itself had inherent deficiencies.
The salary set by Lao Zhu for officials was very low. On the one hand, it was his subjective will, but on the other hand, it was based on the national conditions of the early Ming Dynasty. The country is in difficulty. The people have just emerged from the war and have not yet resumed production, so they cannot give officials that much salary.
If the price of white sugar increases wildly, it will lose its reputation and popularity for a while, and it will be difficult to penetrate the public in the future. Secondly, it will make white sugar a luxury product, exclusively for wealthy families.
Lao Zhu is a frugal person and will never allow the wind of luxury to blow around. When he was conquering the world, in order to avoid food waste, he ordered a ban on wine. If he felt that white sugar and brown sugar tasted the same, and the price of white sugar was too high, it would be embarrassing if there was another wave of bans on white sugar.
It is safest to do business calmly.
After the sugar business was launched and the framework and basic strategies were formulated, Gu Zhengchen never interfered with the business and rarely went to the county. He stayed in Dayan Village to study and listen to the chatter of old man Yan.
Although old man Yan was not in good health, he was very talkative. He took Gu Zhengchen's hand and began to talk: "What are customs? The people of the world have different hardness, softness, urgency, and different voices. They are all tied to the customs of water and soil. This is the wind." . Their likes and dislikes, choices, movement and stillness are all irregular, and they are vulgar. The wind arises from the region, and the vulgarity is promoted from above and spreads from below..."
In ancient times, including the Ming Dynasty, the elderly were treasures. The older you lived, the more valuable they were. You did not need to pay pensions for decades. As long as you could not afford to eat, the court would support you.
If you are over eighty, you will not only get rice and meat every month, but also wine.
The elderly are treasures, and the support of the court not only reflects the establishment of the country with filial piety, but more importantly, the elderly live a long time, have experienced many things, are rich in experience, and have the right to speak within the family and the countryside.
Old Man Yan knew a lot, and he had been concentrating on his words all his life, teaching Gu Zhengchen to be upright as a person, loyal as a minister, and thorough in doing things.
dusk.
A horse came from the south, kicked up smoke, and headed straight for the Teng County government office. When it got to the express delivery shop, it got off its horse and shouted eagerly: "The court documents must be reported to the county magistrate quickly."
When the shop owner heard about it, he didn't dare to neglect it. He handled the handover and reported it immediately.
The county magistrate Li Yi took the document, his eyes filled with eagerness of expectation. The county magistrate Jin Dache, the bookkeeper Sun Ang, and the master Yan Bin were also waiting quietly.
This is an official document from the Ministry of Personnel!
Needless to say, it must be the appointment document of the person who was inspected!
Wow.
The documents were closed suddenly.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Sun Keyi and Liu Ren, the ministers of the Ministry of War, and said solemnly: "The barbarians in Pingteng Dazhai did not obey the king's orders, and they were finally defeated by Yuan Hong. They should be rewarded according to their merits. The general and commander will be rewarded with four pieces of silk and silk each, and the leader of the army will be rewarded. Command Qi and silk to each be rewarded with three pieces of silk, and thousands of households will be rewarded according to their differences. The sergeants in the camp will be rewarded with two taels of platinum, those who are injured will be rewarded with three taels, and those who died in battle will be rewarded with four taels. Let's arrange it."
Sun Keyi and Liu Ren took the order and came out.
Seeing that at dusk, the government affairs had been settled, Zhu Yuanzhang got up and went to Kunning Palace.
When the maids saw the emperor arriving, they all saluted.
"Where's the queen?"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
The maid quickly replied: "Your Majesty, the queen has gone to the royal kitchen."
Just when Zhu Yuanzhang was about to ask again, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Queen Ma walking slowly.
"Your Majesty, you came back a little early today."
Queen Ma saluted with a warm smile on her face.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the woman in front of him. She did not have peerless appearance, and even looked a little mediocre, but the kindness and gentleness in her bones gave people an indescribable sense of comfort.
She is her own destiny.
Without her, I, Zhu Yuanzhang, would not be where I am today.
Looking at the old rhubarb shirt, the original deep green Xia Pei was also a little white. Zhu Yuanzhang was a little lost. When Empress Ma came closer, he smiled and said: "Sister, there are so many servants in charge of food and drink in the palace, why do you need to have a meal?" Check."
Empress Ma smiled gently: "I know that there are many people in charge of food in the palace, but it is my duty to take care of His Majesty's food and daily life. Besides, if there is something wrong with the food, and Your Majesty punishes them, I will not feel the same. peaceful."
"If you don't want to talk to your Majesty one at a time, it would be more comfortable to call us Chongba."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled.
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was happy, Empress Ma joked after entering the palace, "What's the matter that makes Chongba so happy?"
Zhu Yuanzhang sat down, took the cold tea handed over by Queen Ma, and drank it in one gulp: "I can really tell the Queen about this. Today, someone sent a treasure from Teng County, Jining Prefecture, Shandong Province."
"baby?"
Queen Ma looked at the happy Zhu Yuanzhang and couldn't help but advise: "The most precious people in this world are your Majesty's people."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand and began to make gestures: "Sister, our parents used to farm and cut wheat, but they always used sickles. With a broken waist, we couldn't cut two acres of land in a day, and we were scolded by the landlords. But there are With this treasure, our people can harvest wheat standing up, as much as six acres in one day!"
"Chongba, are you serious?"
Queen Ma was pleasantly surprised.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded seriously: "When have we ever deceived my sister? That thing is called Luo Zi. According to the report from the magistrate of Teng County, it was made by a man named Gu Zhengchen. He also taught the local villagers how to use it. The summer harvest was much faster than in previous years."
Empress Ma stood up and saluted: "I congratulate Your Majesty. Not only do you have a son to benefit the people, but you also have a talent. It can be said to be a double happiness."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled heartily, nodded and said: "Yes, we are very short of talents now. The brothers who follow us to conquer the world cannot rule the country, and the scholars who can rule the country are mostly officials of the old Yuan Dynasty. Bad habits are hard to change! We are looking forward to it now. More talents can be used by the imperial court..."
