After Hao Laosi left Wangjiang Tower, Xing'er opened the letter sent by King Yan. The content of the letter was very simple. Yancheng's grain reserves were insufficient and it might not be able to support the grain harvest season next year. It was necessary to purchase a batch of grain from various places. Transported back to Yancheng. Part of the income from Wangjiang Tower was used to purchase grain and transport it to Yancheng. In addition, he paid attention to the prices in the slave market in the capital and purchased five hundred slaves, half male and half male.
After reading the letter, Xing'er raised her head and asked Zhang Guide: "Shopkeeper Zhang, thank you for calling everyone here. We have something to discuss."
"It's Miss, I'll go right away."
After a while, Li Youcai, Tian Qi, and Wang Dayong arrived in the living room.
After seeing everyone gathered, Xing'er said: "Your Majesty sent someone to deliver a letter. There are two things we need to do. The first is to purchase food. Shopkeeper Li, this is your old business. In the future, I’m afraid it’s going to be hard for you to run around a lot, the prince asked us to purchase grain and transport it back to Yancheng.”
Li Youcai said with a smile: "Don't worry, Miss. I don't dare to say anything else. Li is very familiar with food. But I don't know how much food the prince wants to purchase?"
"The prince didn't say how much he purchased specifically. I think his intention is to just let us just do it. After the purchase quantity arrives, the prince will send someone to send a message. It has been more than a month since Wangjiang Tower opened, and the current business on the books is I have collected about 250,000 taels, and I can give you 100,000 taels as a spare."
"One hundred thousand taels? According to the current price of grain in the capital, one tael of silver and four shi of grain. One hundred thousand taels can buy 400,000 shi of grain. This is probably more than Yancheng's annual tax revenue. The people of Yancheng are too poor. , If you bring back so much food, you will definitely lose money," Li Youcai said in surprise.
Xing'er saw that Li Youcai was still so obsessed with money. She looked at Li Youcai with sharp eyes and said, "Your Majesty has never said that you want to make money from the people of Yancheng. What you want to do is to save the people of Yancheng. Don't you understand this truth?"
Li Youcai was frightened by Xing'er's gaze. He realized that he had said the wrong thing and hurriedly stood up from the chair, then knelt down and said, "Miss, please calm down. It's the villain who was blinded by lard."
Xing'er withdrew her sharp eyes and said softly: "Shopkeeper Li, please get up. You are now the prince's servant and work for the prince. In the future, we can consider our interests externally, but internally we cannot look at problems from the perspective of a businessman like before. When we work in the capital, we act as merchants, but when we return to the borders of Yancheng, you are regarded as subordinate officials of Prince Yan's Mansion."
"I understand that I will live up to the prince's expectations and serve the prince with all my heart."
"In addition, the prince probably doesn't want this matter to be noticed by too many people, so it doesn't have to be acquired in the capital. It can be anything within the royal sphere of influence. Try not to do it with a big fanfare, just do it step by step. I will ask Captain Tian to accompany you. Keep you safe.”
"It's Miss."
After Xing'er finished speaking, she turned to Wang Dayong and said: "Captain Wang, go to Yahang and inquire about the price of slaves. The prince asked us to buy five hundred slaves, half male and half male."
"Slaves? Why did the prince buy so many slaves?" Wang Dayong asked curiously.
"I don't know about this either. The prince didn't say it clearly in his letter. Just do as the prince wants."
"Okay, then I'll go find out tomorrow."
Two days later, a carriage drove into Bianzhou City to the east of the capital. Today's Bianzhou City can be said to be the largest water transport terminal in Daxia. It connects the capital and Chang'an to the west, Shandong Road to the east, and Jiangnan Road to the south. Moreover, the largest granary within the royal sphere of influence was only a hundred miles away, and grain, rice, and silk from the south of the Yangtze River could also be transported here by water.
Huo's Grain Store, the largest grain store in Bianzhou City, is located in the east city of Bianzhou City. In the room on the second floor of the grain store, two businessmen dressed as if they were sitting opposite each other, and a strong man stood behind a businessman. It was Li Youcai and Tian Qi who came to Bianzhou City to purchase food. Sitting opposite them was Huo Zhengyan, the big shopkeeper of Huo's Grain Store.
Huo Zhengyan said, "I wonder how much grain Brother Li wants to purchase?"
Li Youcai chuckled and did not directly answer Huo Zhengyan's question. Instead, he asked, "I wonder how much grain storekeeper Huo has in his warehouse?"
"Hahaha, isn't Brother Li afraid that I don't have enough food in the warehouse? To be honest, no one in Bianzhou City has more food than my Huo family. Eighty-eight out of ten people in Bianzhou City eat Everything is the food of my Huo family."
"Of course Mr. Li knows this, otherwise he would not come to your store. Now that he has said that, Mr. Li will tell you bluntly that Mr. Li plans to purchase 100,000 shi of grain. I wonder if shopkeeper Huo has it?"
Huo Zhengyan was stunned for a moment when he heard about one hundred thousand stones, and then he laughed and said, "Hahaha, brother Li is trying to entertain Huo. Does brother Li know what the concept of one hundred thousand stones is?"
"What did Shopkeeper Huo say?" Li Youcai couldn't help but ask.
"Hmph, one hundred thousand shi of grain, that's enough food for a hundred thousand troops for three to four months. Brother Li, is he thinking of hoarding so much grain?" Huo Zhengyan looked at Li Youcai with a bad look on his face and said.
Li Youcai hurriedly interrupted when he heard this: "Shopkeeper Huo, don't make such a joke. Li is just a businessman. To be honest, Li is from the north. Shopkeeper Huo should know that the grain output in our north has never been as good as that in the Central Plains and the south." We are rich, and according to Li's observation, there will be a severe drought in the north next year, and there will be a shortage of food by then, so he wants to hoard a batch of food."
Huo Zhengyan looked at Li Youcai with some confusion and said, "Oh? Is this really the case?"
"certainly."
"This is a major business secret. If Brother Li tells Huo like this, aren't you afraid that Huo will steal Brother Li's business?"
Li Youcai didn't care about this, he just laughed and said: "Shopkeeper Huo doesn't know about the situation in the north. I'm afraid that shopkeeper Huo can get his grain to the north, but he may not be able to earn money."
"Ah hahaha, Brother Li, don't mind, Huo is just joking." Huo Zhengyan replied with a smile.
"Huo Mou has one more thing to ask. I wonder if Brother Li will purchase all the grain at once. Forgive Huo Mou, except for the imperial court, I am afraid no one can purchase so much grain at one time."
"That's not true. Shopkeeper Huo can prepare it in batches and deliver it in batches when the time comes."
Then some issues regarding delivery time and delivery location were agreed upon, and the two parties signed the purchase document. Li Youcai didn't dare to let anyone know that he was working for King Yan, so the agreed delivery location was in a small town on the way. After paying the deposit and receiving the receipt from Huo Zhengyan, the two of them stood up and left. Huo Zhengyan had negotiated such a big deal and wanted to treat the two of them to a banquet, but they politely declined.
After returning to the inn, Tian Qi immediately sent someone back to Yancheng to deliver the letter, explaining the delivery time and location one by one, so that King Yan could send someone to the contact point as soon as possible to respond. In order to avoid attracting the attention of others and causing grain prices to rise in a short period of time, Tian Qi and Li Youcai did not go elsewhere. Instead, they temporarily stayed in Bianzhou City, hoping to wait for the first batch of grain to be properly delivered before making other plans.
After the two left, Huo Zhengyan immediately ordered people to purchase grain. Relying on the Huo family's business distribution in Bianzhou City and surrounding areas, it was not a problem to prepare tens of thousands of stones of grain. The remaining part was sent to Jiangnan to purchase.
