Under the big tree, Zhang Chi was eating melon and telling the teenagers around him about the outside world. Except for themselves, these people have never been to the county seat and are full of curiosity about the outside world. Even the two yellow dogs lying behind were quietly listening to the story.
Father Lin came back from outside the village and saw Zhang Chi. Asked: "Erlang, where is your father?"
Zhang Chi said: "I'm at home. It's too hot today, so I didn't go to the fields."
Father Lin said: "You come home with me quickly! The government has built some kind of supply and marketing cooperative, and they are collecting grain at Daliushu Wharf! Their price is thirty cents per bucket, which is much higher than the price of the grain merchants. ! Go and sell it quickly to avoid losing money later.”
Zhang Chi stood up and went home with Father Lin.
These grain merchants harvest wheat, and the price is getting lower day by day. In the past, a fight cost fifteen cents, but these days it has dropped to ten cents. Families that are not in urgent need of money are not selling and would rather wait. Wheat can be kept well and will not go bad for a while.
When I got home, my father was watering vegetables in the vegetable garden. Zhang Chi stepped forward and said: "Dad, just now Dad Lin next door said that some government supply and marketing cooperative is harvesting wheat at the dock of Daliushu Village, and the price is thirty cents per bucket! He asked us if we want to sell it."
The father put down the bucket, wiped his hands on his body, and said hurriedly: "Come on, let's go take a look! Thirty cents per bucket is of course good. The grain merchants have lowered the price to ten cents a few days ago. Who can sell it to them?"
Zhang Chi was stunned for a moment. He said: "Since the price is good, we can just pick up the grain and sell it. Why bother to go see it?"
The father said: "How can you do it without looking at it? There are many ways to do business with the government. You have said such a price, but will you give me the money? Will the money be converted into other goods? Are the buckets they use to collect grain big or small?" My child, you can’t just listen to the price.”
Zhang Chi nodded. It seems that I am still young and unaware of many dangers in this world.
After telling their mother, the father and son left the house and walked towards Daliushu Village. There are small roads all the way, and it rained a few days ago, making it a little muddy. Fortunately, the father and son were wearing straw sandals, otherwise they would have been worried about wasting shoes along the way.
It was noon, and the father and son were tired and thirsty from walking. Halfway through, my father said, "I would have brought some water with me. I would have been so thirsty along the way! We walked faster and reached Daliushu Village to ask for some water."
Zhang Chi said: "There is a soldier with me in Shilipu Village. When you get there, just go to his house to drink."
Father nodded and looked ahead. There was not even a shade of tree on the road, so I could only sigh. I walked to the roadside and supported the tree, took off my straw sandals, took a branch to clean up the mud, put them on and continued on my way.
When we arrived at Daliushu Village, it was the hottest time of the day. Under the big trees by the river, villagers were standing or squatting in twos and threes. There were two boats on the dock and a large shed was set up on the shore.
Zhang Chi said: "Dad, it's been a hard journey along the way. Let's go get some water."
The father said: "We have arrived at the place, let's go and take a look first. If it is really thirty coins per bucket, but our people are convinced. Although we don't grow as much wheat here as in Dengzhou in the north, this year our family still harvested more than ten stones. How much money do you have!"
Zhang Chi had no choice but to follow his father to the dock.
There were only three or five households selling grain under the shed, but the surroundings were full of people. Apparently more is seen and less is sold.
Stepping forward, my father looked at it for a while. Asked a man next to him: "Brother, why are everyone here looking at it? Thirty cents per bushel is a good price this year. If you don't sell it to them, what's the use of keeping the wheat in your own home?"
The man said: "Thirty coins per bucket, the price is indeed good. The only thing is, they don't give cash, so the folks will inevitably be worried."
"No cash?" My father was surprised. "Then what do they give us? It's useless for us country folk to ask for those discounted goods."
The man said: "It's not a discount, it's just that they don't give you cash. This supply and marketing cooperative just keeps accounts for you and says you will pay after one month. This is a newly opened cooperative, who dares to believe them? After a month, What should I do if I don’t see anyone?”
Father nodded, finally understanding what was going on. Accounting? How many people dare to believe them?
Zhang Chi stood there and watched for a while, and saw his father standing still. He said: "Dad, let's go up and ask."
The father said: "What do you want to ask? Don't you see that the villagers are here to watch? They collected the wheat and didn't give cash. They just kept accounts. They said they would give the money in one month. Where will they be after one month? Looking for them?"
Zhang Chi said: "I still need to ask clearly. I heard that this supply and marketing cooperative is run by the government?" After speaking, he stepped forward.
There was a farmer selling his wheat there. The dou Zhang Chi used was recently awarded by the government, and was not the previous big or small dou. When measuring, the bucket surface was exactly level, without many of the previous tricks.
I saw an official next to me. Zhang Chi stepped forward, crossed his hands and said: "This brother, I am Zhang Chi, is from a nearby village. Now he is serving as a soldier in Xinye, and he is going home to visit relatives during the holiday. I would like to ask, how are the wheat harvested now? Look at the folks over there, just watching I'm not here to sell wheat."
The officials looked Zhang Chi up and down. He said: "It turns out you are a soldier, no wonder you have some knowledge. The supply and marketing cooperative was recently opened by the government. There was no capital when it was first opened, so we had to pay debts. Our debts are guaranteed by the government, and we will definitely repay the money after one month. It's just that the people in the countryside lack the money. See, the official announcement is here, but I can’t understand it.”
After speaking, he pointed to the wall behind him.
Zhang Chi saw that there was indeed a list of articles posted on the wall. I stepped forward and took a closer look. It turned out that it was sent by the Production and Purchase Department and Xiangyang Prefecture together, saying that the supply and marketing cooperative was established. Moreover, the supply and marketing cooperatives were newly established and lacked capital, so the people did not have to worry about their debts. As long as there are accounts, even if the supply and marketing cooperative does not come out in the future, the Xiangyang Prefecture will repay the accounts.
After reading the list, Zhang Chi said strangely: "Since we said that the government will be the guarantee, why don't the people believe it? If the supply and marketing cooperative collapses, the Xiangyang government will not collapse. Your thirty cents for a bucket of wheat is much higher than the price of the grain merchants. "
The official said: "You can't guess what the people are thinking. As soon as someone takes the lead and you tell something, others won't believe it. In some places, as long as someone in the lead believes it, the rest of the people will rush to get the upper hand. The land will be sold accordingly. This place is not good."
Zhang Chi looked at several people selling grain and said, "Isn't there someone taking the lead?"
The official laughed and said: "Most of them are upright, senior officials and the like, but the people don't believe it."
Li Zheng and the elders were originally servants. If they owed money to them, they would always find a way to get their money back. How could ordinary people do that? So everyone else is watching. The villagers were eager for such a price, but were not worried about not getting the money. They stood there very conflicted.
At Xiangyang Wharf, Wang Xiaolie watched the porters going up and down to load the wheat onto the ship. For transportation, Wang Xiaolie had a batch of sacks made, and the wheat was packed in the sacks. Each sack contains two stones, which is both easy to transport and easy to count.
Looking at the busy backs of the workers, Wang Xiaolie slowly figured out something. Why was food measured in buckets and stones in this era, but in later generations it was measured by weight? When retailing, it is not troublesome to use bucket stones, and it is very convenient when weighing in small quantities. But it is very inconvenient when doing large transactions like this. Wheat is put into sacks, and it is very convenient to weigh it. Can't the capacity be calculated clearly only by pouring it out?
Chen Yuyi came over and whispered to Wang Xiaolie: "Observe, it took seven or eight days to collect 150,000 shi. Several grain merchants were talking quietly over there, wondering if we didn't have that much grain."
Wang Xiaolie said: "It's normal to have various thoughts when doing business for the first time. No matter what they think, the business will still continue. There should be more by the time I come next time."
"Why?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "This time we collected grain because we had to pay the bills first, and the supply and marketing cooperative did not give cash. How can the people believe it without cash? After all, we only have less than a year in Xiangyang, and our credit is not very good. . It will be different when the grain merchants transport the grain back and give us money. Only when the supply and marketing cooperative pays off the debt and sees cash will the people's minds change."
Chen Yuyi nodded and understood what Wang Xiaolie meant.
In these years of war and chaos, the credibility of the government was not very good. If you receive grain without giving money, why should the people trust you? So now there are many people waiting and watching, but few people actually selling food. Only when the supply and marketing cooperatives repay the money can people's confidence be enhanced.
There is not such a large fleet on the Han River that can transport one or two million stones of grain at a time, let alone a grain merchant. When buying grain from Xiangyang, grain merchants can only transport it in batches. Every time they come, the people's confidence will increase. So Wang Xiaolie was not in a hurry.
