After arranging matters for the supply and marketing cooperative, Wang Xiaolie left Xiangyang and went to Xinye. Administratively, Xinye should be under the jurisdiction of Dengzhou, but Wang Xiaolie set it aside as a place for military training. More than a thousand households in Xinye were also under the jurisdiction of the army.
After finishing the meal, Wang Xiaolie said to Niu Gao and Shao Ling: "You two follow me to the official hall. You have something to say."
When I arrived at the government office, the officials served tea. Wang Xiaolie said: "The weather in June is now the hottest time of the year. Of course, the soldiers of the army cannot be afraid of hard work. The colder the weather is and the hotter it is, they really need to practice. But it is too hot these days. It can be Take a break.”
Niu Gao said: "It doesn't matter if you get up early in the morning, go to bed late at night, and take a rest at noon."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course it is good for the army to be like this. However, I think some soldiers who have been assigned to the new barracks can be given a few days off to go back to visit their relatives. No matter how well our army does, There are still many rumors, but the people don't believe them. If people in the army tell them in person, they will be more credible. This army is a new one after all, and we want the people to be familiar with us."
Shao Ling said: "It's okay to make such a decision. However, we can only go back part of the time, and it's not okay to take a full vacation."
"There is no reason to take all the holidays! In this way, one-third of the people will go back on holiday and the rest will stay. Next year, a new group of people will be replaced. There will be no holidays after three years and they will be discharged in five years."
Niu Gao and Shao Ling sang Nuo together.
Wang Xiaolie said: "You two discuss it and formulate a set of regulations. The military must have strict discipline and care for the people. We cannot be the same as others. After leaving the military camp, what should soldiers look like and what rules must they abide by? Write everything down clearly. Soldiers who have been practicing here for several months and are taking charge of their duties during the holidays must show their spirit and spirit."
Niu Gao looked at Shao Ling and said, "Zhizhi, what regulations do we need? Once they leave the military camp, they are not soldiers, so why bother?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "They are soldiers, how can they ignore them? For example, the army has military uniforms. Do you wear them after you go out? When do you wear them? How do you wait for the boat at the dock or ferry? What do you do if you encounter bad people on the road? There must be regulations for these!”
Niu Gao didn't dare to talk back. He looked at Shao Ling and sighed in his heart. How could someone who leads his own troops formulate these?
In the teahouse, Yang Shen looked at the people walking on the road and felt upset. In the past few days, Xia Ping took him all over Ezhou City and basically found out the price of food. Two hundred coins per dou here is indeed much more expensive than in Dengzhou. However, Kang Ming, who is running a ship, has been bitten by the increase in freight costs. From Xiangyang to Ezhou, it is three times that of previous years. Including other expenses, a bucket earns 150 coins, and several merchants have no profit.
Xia Ping on the side was drinking tea leisurely, glancing at Yang Shen from time to time, with a leisurely expression. As a foreigner, with me by my side, what can't I hide? In the past few days, the price of wheat in Ezhou has been suppressed by Bei Xing and others, and has been set at 200 yuan per bucket. In the Song Dynasty, Shengmo was used in the market. It was said that it was 200 Wen, but it was actually more than 150 Wen. If it weren't for the Dengzhou business, the price of wheat would have risen to more than 300 yuan now.
Sighing, Yang Shen said: "In such a big Ezhou, are there no other grain merchants? Beixing must lower the price, why don't we find someone else?"
Xia Ping said: "Officer, Bei Xing is in charge of the grain store now, what's the use of looking for someone else to do it? It's not peaceful everywhere now, and transporting grain over long distances is not a profitable business. How can a businessman do it if he doesn't make money? Why don't you go back and report it? Now, forty coins per fight is forty coins, not much difference?"
Yang Shen shook his head: "One fight is ten cents away, three million stones is three hundred thousand strings! Kongmu, it's not a small amount!"
Xia Ping said: "You have to sell it to make money. The transaction is negotiated by both parties."
Yang Shen just sighed. He looked at the people on the street and said nothing.
In the evening, Xia Ping said goodbye and went home. Yang Shen bought a piece of cooked meat and a jar of wine and returned to the inn. Yang Shen has been really worried these past few days, and Yang Shen really has no choice but to drink to drown his sorrows.
The sun had just set when the waiter in the store came and knocked on the door.
Yang Shen opened the door and said impatiently: "What's the matter? I just drank two glasses of wine here!"
The boy said: "My lord, there are two guests outside who want to see you for something important. I don't dare to make the decision, so I came here to report it."
Yang Shenben didn't want to see him, so he thought about it and said, "You invite guests. - By the way, what kind of guests are you two?"
The boy said: "Looking at the clothes they are wearing, they must be from a wealthy family."
Yang Shen said: "Let's do this. I'll change my clothes and you lead me to see them."
The boy hurriedly agreed and waited outside. Yang Shen closed the door, changed his clothes, and followed the boy to the front of the inn.
Two members of the party stood in the shadow in front of the door. Seeing Yang Shen coming out, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute.
Yang Shen looked at the two of them. They were both wearing silk and satin, and both had slightly chubby figures. One always has a smile on his face, while the other has a Chinese character face and looks a bit serious. After thinking about it again and again, Yang Shen couldn't remember that he knew him.
An outsider said: "Yang Guanren, little Ma Qing, this one is Gu Yuan, they are all grain merchants in Jiangzhou."
"Oh -" Yang Shen immediately understood why he was looking at the two of them so ambiguously. The grain merchants from Jiangzhou came to Ezhou to look for me. Do you still need to think about what they were doing? These guys were annoyed to death by the food issue, but things seemed to be turning around.
Looking at the weather, Yang Shen said: "Since two members of the Communist Party of China have come to see me specifically, we should not neglect them. There is a wine shop over there. How about we go over and have a few glasses of wine? If you have anything to say, we can elaborate on it when we get there."
"Okay, okay." The two officers said, looking around carefully, and followed Yang Shen.
After entering the wine shop, they chose a seat in the corner and the three of them sat down. Yang Shen ordered a dime of wine and a plate of meat, and then asked the store owner to bring some of their specialty dishes. When the wine came, Yang Shen poured wine for the two members.
Putting down the wine bottle, Yang Shen smiled and said, "Two members came to see me. What do you want?"
Ma Qing had a smile on his face. Said: "It's been two or three days since the two of us arrived in Ezhou. We originally wanted to go to Xiangyang together, but before we left the Hanyang Army, we heard that officials had arrived in Ezhou, so we came back specially -"
Yang Shen didn't speak, but raised his glass to signal the two of them to drink.
Putting down his wine glass, Ma Qing said: "People in the Ming Dynasty do not speak secretly. This year, there are a large number of people going south on the roads in Zhejiang and Jiangnan. They eat wheat, and the price of wheat has suddenly risen sharply. Now the roads in Huainan are blocked, and wheat from the north cannot be transported. Come on, there is a price but no market. We heard that Xiangyang, Dengzhou, and Tangzhou where Wang Guan is here have a big harvest of winter wheat this year, so we wanted to buy some."
Yang Shen said: "I came to Ezhou just to sell wheat. You should know."
Ma Qing said: "We have indeed heard about this. However, we also heard that Ezhou's grain is unwilling to pay for it, and you have been unable to negotiate. If not, how could we dare to come to the officials?"
Yang Shen said: "What else have you heard?"
Ma Qing looked at Gu Yuan and said: "We also heard that in order to keep the price down, Ezhou grain merchants deliberately suppressed the price of wheat in Ezhou and prevented it from rising. In Jiangzhou, not far away, a bushel of wheat now costs 350 yuan. , but Ezhou only has 200 literary provinces, which is much worse."
Yang Shen's face darkened: "Did the grain dealer lower the price?"
Ma Qing nodded: "Exactly. And we also heard that Xia Kongmu, who was accompanying the officials, also helped the grain merchants. This man's family was originally a rice merchant, and he was very familiar with these grain merchants. These people colluded. , be sure to keep your wheat prices down."
Yang Shen snorted coldly. He picked up the wine glass and played with it, without saying anything for a long time.
Ma Qing and Gu Yuan looked at Yang Shen and said nothing. He was frozen there for a moment.
After a long time, Yang Shen said: "If I sell wheat to you, how much are you willing to pay?"
Ma Qing said: "For every sixty bucks, we start from Xiangyang Wharf! However, we are Jiangzhou grain merchants, and we still have to pass through Ezhou when going down the river. We need Wang Jing to issue official documents to the states along the way, so as not to be blocked. "
Yang Shen nodded heavily: "Okay! You will set off tomorrow and go to Xiangyang first. I will go to negotiate with the grain merchants in Ezhou. They are unwilling to increase the price, so I will give you all this year's wheat! If they increase the price, we will go to Xiangyang together and let Observe and make decisions!”
