At this moment, the door opened with a "click" and Zhang Jun's mother came out. She is less than forty years old, but she looks like she is in her early twenties. The skin is delicate and smooth as cream. Her long hair is like a black waterfall, framing her fair face. His clothes were messy and roughly worn. You can tell at a glance what was going on inside just now.
Seeing Zhang Jun's eyes widening with anger, the woman said, "Da Lang, don't be ridiculous. Yan Li is a good man."
Zhang Jun looked at Yan Lizheng and then at his mother. After a long time, he nodded and said: "Okay, I won't argue with you today! If you bully me again, I will chop off your dog's head!"
Yan Lizheng looked up to the sky and smiled: "You are a junior, and I won't quarrel with you. There is a house in the town. I ordered people to clean it up. You will move in tomorrow. I will give you your daily expenses. You mother and son will follow It’s such a blessing to have me!”
Zhang Jun said coldly: "I know how to make money to support my family, who wants your money!"
Yan Lizheng shook his head, said nothing, and staggered away with two servants.
Zhang Jun stepped forward and said to his mother: "Mom, my father was captured by the Jin people and suffered a lot! Why did you steal someone while you were at home! What will you do to me when my father comes back one day?"
Zhang Jun's mother sighed: "We, a family of two, live here. How can we make ends meet just by doing odd jobs? The rice you bought a few days ago was gone yesterday. It wasn't Yan Lizheng here. , we are going to be hungry today.”
Zhang Jun said: "It doesn't matter if you are hungry for a day! On the way to escape from famine, who doesn't want to be hungry and have a full meal? Otherwise, how can it be called fleeing from famine!"
The mother shook her head gently: "I have been pampered since I was a child. When I married into your family, your father obeyed my words and never suffered at all. How can I survive this kind of life?"
After hearing this, Zhang Jun didn't know what to say. He rushed to the door angrily and sat on a tree pillar, dazed there. My father was captured by the Jin people and I didn’t know whether he was alive or dead. After a few days, my mother started looking for other men. As a son of man, how can I tolerate this kind of thing! But that was her mother, so what could she do if she wanted to? After much deliberation, I couldn't think of a good solution.
After a long time, I felt really upset.
Mother went back to the house to clean up and came out again. He took out a small silver ingot and handed it to Zhang Jun: "Yan Lizheng gave you some silver. You can exchange it at the gold and silver shop in the town and buy some rice. Then buy some wine and meat so that we can eat better at night."
Zhang Jun took the silver ingot and couldn't express his feelings for a while. This was given to Yan Lizheng by his own mother after he slept with him. How does it feel to be a son? But what can I do if my mother is waiting to eat?
When he was about to leave, Zhang Jun said: "Mom, I saw a notice in the town today, saying that a general from Kaifeng City came here to buy grain. After he bought the grain, he wanted to hire someone to transport it back to the capital. In addition to food and accommodation, he would pay a hundred Well versed. I thought, I can do this job."
Mother said: "If you are being taken care of strictly, why should you care about the small money?"
Zhang Jun listened and strode towards the town without saying a word.
In Caizhou City, Wang Xiao went to the state government office and met with the magistrate Cheng Changyu and other officials. Cheng Changyu and Wang Xiaolie's father once had a relationship, but they didn't have a close relationship. After being polite, he ordered someone to take him to the grain store in the city and discuss it himself. Tell him that he has already said hello to the grain merchants. If they dare to take the opportunity to raise grain prices, the government will not spare them.
Seeing that Cheng Changyu had no intention of staying any longer, Wang Xiaolie followed an official out of the yamen and headed for the grain store.
Business at this time was different from that of later generations in that it was a guild system. All walks of life have their own guilds and various types of people. Without guilds and people, it would be difficult to do business. The government also controlled market prices through guilds.
When they arrived not far to the south of the state government office, the officials handed over to Wang Xiaolie and said, "Commander, there is a grain store in front of you. The magistrate has ordered that several grain merchants inside have been waiting there, waiting for the commander."
Wang Xiaolie nodded. He took his soldiers and entered the grain store.
Several members of the staff came out to greet Wang Xiaolie and invited him to sit inside.
The host and guest were seated and tea was served. One of the officials said: "My surname is Zhou, and I am known as Zhou Yuanwai. This one is Lu Yuanwai, and that one is Sun Yuanwai. The three of us are the largest grain merchants in Caizhou City. Cheng Zhizhou has given orders, saying that Commander Wang will lead The army resisted the Jin Dynasty and made great contributions to the country."
Several members of the team said yes together. Jingxi Road was plundered by the Jin army last year and failed to win a single battle. Wang Xiaolie won a victory in Gong County a few days ago, which was extremely exciting. At this time, the news had spread throughout the states.
Wang Xiaolie said: "I was just lucky in the battle in Gong County. Now that the whole army has arrived in Kaifeng Mansion, everything is fine, but there is a lack of food. As you all know, the Bian River has been silted up for several months, and grain and rice cannot be transported from the Jianghuai River. The price of rice in Kaifeng has skyrocketed. It is summer now. The Jin people are going north and there is nothing to do, so I came to Caizhou to buy some grain. I will transport it back to Kaifeng to raise troops and prepare for war."
"You're welcome, Commander." Zhou Yuanwai said hurriedly. "I heard that in the battle of Gong County, there were thousands of gold men, and we were helpless for a few days. If there were generals like commanders, Caizhou would not have broken the city last year. We people will not lose too much gold and silver."
Cheng Changyu is a talent. Although he could not defend the city, he escaped with his men before the golden soldiers arrived. Except for several members of the imperial family, these wealthy households all fled out of the city with Cheng Changyu, leaving the Jin soldiers with an empty city. However, they still lost a lot of money when the Jin soldiers entered the city and burned them. Wang Xiaolie was the only general who won the battle on Jingxi Road last year, and these people respected him very much.
After chatting for a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "I wonder what the price of food is in Caizhou now? I don't have much money in my hands."
Zhou Yuanwai said: "To be fair to the commander, grain stores now sell rice for two thousand mun enough per dou. The rest, such as wheat, 3,000 mun, beans, 1,500 mun, and millet, 3,500 mun. It’s enough money. If the commander wants to buy it, we can discuss it.”
Wang Xiaolie thought for a while and shook his head slightly. He said: "The money I can spare now can only buy more than 100 shi of rice. I'm afraid these grains are a little short. I don't know when the Bianhe River will be opened, but the price of grain in Kaifeng Prefecture will rise."
Zhou Yuanwai hurriedly said: "There is no rush. The commander is a person who has made meritorious service in fighting the Jin soldiers, so he is naturally different from others. We will discuss it later."
After speaking, several members of the team gathered together and whispered. After a while, Zhou Yuanwai came over and said: "We have discussed it. If we sell it to the commander, we will exchange all the money for a hundred dollars. We are the grain merchants. Thank you for the commander's kindness."
Wang Xiaolie was overjoyed when he heard this. The province of one hundred was the prevailing algorithm at this time, and seventy-seven articles equaled one hundred articles. If it's enough money, one hundred means really one hundred pence. Exchanging enough money for saving a hundred is equivalent to a price discount of more than 20%, but it is quite a lot.
The decision was made at that moment, and Wang Xiaolie asked the grain merchant to write a list of common grain prices for him. Wait until you bring it back and discuss it with the rest of the people before deciding what kind of food to buy. There are so many people here that we can’t just buy rice, but also horse feed.
