The food issue is related to human lives. There is no reason for Zhu Yunwen to ask about pearl agate and antique toys first.
Looking back at history, the greatest suffering that the ancient Chinese encountered, besides war, was famine.
Food is the most important thing for the people. If there is no food, there will be no food to eat. If there is no food to eat, then you have to go out to beg for food. If there are too many people begging for food, it is very likely that a guy named Zhu will appear.
Zhou Baitong saw that Zhu Yunwen was different from others, but he was not surprised at all. After all, as early as the Song Dynasty, there was a rumor that "the world is rich when Su Song is cooked". It is normal for businessmen from other places to come here to buy food. .
"Young master, if you want to buy grain, you have come to the right place. This city of Suzhou can be said to be the land of golden rice basins, and the price of rice is cheaper than other places. To discuss in detail who has the largest business, it is the Hui merchant Shen Yiyuan The Shen family, it is said that one-fifth of the grain around Suzhou is sold through his hands."
Zhou Baitong talked eloquently.
"Shen Yiyuan? Isn't he a cloth seller?"
Zhu Yunwen was a little surprised.
Zhou Baitong patted his chest and said, "Young master, don't believe it. These days, merchants are thieves and they will work wherever they can. Last year and this year, didn't the imperial court build granaries in various places? After the granaries are built, there must be food." The imperial court does not ask where it comes from when it collects grain. As long as it is good grain, it will be accepted. There can be huge profits to be found."
Concubine Ning was a little confused and asked aloud: "How much profit can this grain bring?"
Zhou Baitong smiled and said to Concubine Ning: "My virtuous lady, do you know the price of food in the capital? One tael of silver and one stone and eight buckets of rice. This is in Suzhou. One tael of silver can buy four stones of rice. As long as it is transported to the capital, , this is double the profit. Although the rolling profit is small, we have the convenience of the river, and if we transport one million stones a year, the profit is not hundreds of thousands of taels?"
"Besides, food is not like other goods. It depends on the season, people's faces, and recruiting. As long as it is shipped out, you don't have to worry about selling it. The court is collecting it, and the major food shops in the city also need it, right?"
Concubine Ning was a little surprised and said, "Why is food so cheap in Suzhou?"
Without waiting for Zhou Baitong to explain, Zhu Yunwen said: "Things are vaguely valuable, and once there are too many of them, they are no longer valuable. It is not an empty lie that if Su Song is mature, the world will be rich."
Judging from the annual taxes and food supply of the imperial court, the three regions of Nanzhili, Zhejiang and Jiangxi have exceeded the rest of the country combined. The price of food here is cheaper, which is also due to the law of commodity prices.
It's just that Shen Yiyuan made his business so big, which really surprised Zhu Yunqi. It seems that these businessmen, like the businessmen of later generations, began to take the path of diversified development. They were originally selling cloth and began to get involved in building cars. Originally, they were selling cloth. The fan seller is going to work as a part-time seller.
The expansion capability of capital is really shocking.
"Besides the Shen family, how many others are there?"
Zhu Yunwen asked.
Zhou Baitong pointed to the shop not far away and said: "Well, in front is the Hu family's grain store, and not far away are the Shi family and the Wu family. Although the grain business of these three families is not as good as the Shen family, they are also the first in Suzhou. No. 1. The ones below are mainly retail investors, mostly doing local business."
Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "Then let's go to Hu's house and have a look."
The Hu family's grain store is quite big. When you enter through the door on the right, you can see long and low cabinets with wooden partitions. Each compartment is filled with grain, including rice, wheat, and soybeans. , millet, glutinous rice...
And high up, there are wooden signs for each type of rice, facing the cabinets below.
On the right side is the counter, with a black abacus placed on it. Behind the counter, a middle-aged man with a sharp face who is over forty stands and greets him with a smile.
"Sir, what kind of grain do you want to buy? Our Hu's Grain Store doesn't have any old rice. All the grain is newly harvested this year."
The shopkeeper came closer and arranged for the waiters to greet him.
Zhu Yunwen walked to the rice, put his left hand into the rice, took out a hand of rice, gently pushed away some rice grains with his right hand, then picked up a grain of rice, looked at it carefully, put it into his mouth, it broke when he bit it, and he couldn't help spitting it out. , said to the shopkeeper: "You just said that the food here is all new rice, not old rice?"
The shopkeeper said confidently: "Yes, we can still guarantee this."
Zhu Yunwen shook the rice in his hand into the cupboard, clapped his hands, and walked to the wheat cupboard again. After looking at it, he bit a few more wheat grains and then said: "Shopkeeper, of course there is new rice, but inside It’s mixed with a lot of old rice, right?”
"Don't talk nonsense! Our Hu's Rice Shop never deceives others. New rice is new rice. If you don't buy it, leave. Don't talk nonsense and delay my business!"
The shopkeeper was a little angry and said sternly.
Zhu Yunwen looked at the barn on the left and said: "In business, credit is the most important. If we agree on good new rice, we will use old rice as new and substandard rice as good, and mix it up and sell it together. In my opinion, this can be said to be a profiteer."
The shopkeeper glared angrily, pointed at Zhu Yunwen and shouted: "Are you the one who ruined the place? I have been selling grain in Suzhou City for more than ten years, and no one has ever said anything wrong! If you buy it, buy it, if you don't buy it, get out of here. , If you dare to slander our food store again, be careful and you will be brought to justice!"
"This, this...what, sir, the Hu's Grain Shop still has its brand name, so it's not as if it's old and new. Otherwise, why don't we try another one?"
Zhou Baitong was a little anxious. He glanced at Hu's shopkeeper and saw that he couldn't afford to offend him, so he had to persuade Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen shook his head slightly and said: "To do business, you must behave like a business. It must be real and cannot be fake. What is fake cannot be true. If you can use the old as the new and the inferior as the good today, you will dare to bully the people and dominate the market in the future. Price gouging! If everyone who knows about it keeps silent and avoids it, then wouldn’t everyone who enters the store be a loser and be slaughtered?"
Zhou Baitong looked at Zhu Yunwen in surprise and thought: Isn't it just a matter of rice grains? Chen rice can't kill people. How can it be so serious? Besides, you are a businessman from other places, so why are you so unreasonable and sophisticated?
Even if they mix old rice or sand, it doesn't matter to you as a rice buyer. They can't treat big businessmen badly. The goods here are only for local people to eat.
Concubine Ning came out to support Zhu Yunwen and said angrily: "New rice is the price of new rice, and old rice is the price of old rice. Using old rice as new rice and mixing them together is not deceiving the people. If a businessman has no bottom line, he should be ruthless Take good care of it.”
Zhu Yunwen knew that the second half of the sentence was meant for him.
The shopkeeper was very angry. Seeing the excitement, people passing by the door gathered around, pointing and making a lot of noise.
"What's going on here?"
"I heard that Hu's Grain Store was singled out for Chen Chongxin."
"Who is so bold? Don't you know who the master behind Hu's Grain Store is?"
"Who knows, I'm afraid they're from out of town. Hey, I'm going to suffer a loss."
"No, if things got serious, that person would be killed if he just stamped his foot."
"Let's take a look."
There were sighs among the crowd.
When Zhu Yunwen saw this, he looked at the shopkeeper and said: "It's just that you are ignorant of your conscience and talk about the big picture, but you are disturbing the business atmosphere and defrauding the people. Since you don't admit it, then find some Wouldn’t it be clear if someone with rich experience can discern one or two things?”
The shopkeeper secretly gritted his teeth. He really forgot to read the almanac today. Why did he encounter such a thing at the opening of the market? This guy is so unfamiliar, and there is no trace of Wu Nong's soft words in his accent. He must be from out of town. In this case, Then don't blame yourself.
"If you are wrong, you must apologize to us and compensate us one thousand taels!"
The shopkeeper shouted through gritted teeth.
"One thousand taels?"
The onlookers couldn't help but exclaimed.
This is a huge amount, enough to buy several thousand stones of food. With this money, an ordinary family can live freely for three lifetimes.
Such a big gamble is rare in Suzhou City.
Zhu Yunwen looked at the shopkeeper calmly and said, "No problem. If you are wrong, I want this grain store."
"you!"
The shopkeeper didn't expect that the other party was so bold and wanted to get involved in his shop.
However, there is no reason for me to lose!
"good!"
The shopkeeper agreed directly and said: "It's up to you to choose someone to distinguish between new rice and old rice. Don't say that I bully you!"
Zhu Yunwen smiled indifferently, glanced at Zhou Baitong, and said, "Aren't you a local expert? Find three or five old people who have rice grains and ask them to come and identify it."
Zhou Baitong's face was a little ugly, his Adam's apple trembled several times, he looked at the shopkeeper, and wanted to speak, but unexpectedly Xue Xia pushed Zhou Baitong to the door and said, "I asked you to find it, so go find it quickly!"
"good……"
Zhou Baitong had no choice but to get out of the crowd. Before he could go far, he was blocked by two guys.
"then!"
A small money bag was thrown over.
Zhou Baitong quickly caught it, weighed it, and said with a smile on his face, "This is it?"
One of the guys said: "This money is for you. Whoever you invite, you must bring a message to them."
"What words?"
Zhou Baitong held the money bag.
"Tell them that the place they are coming to is Hu's Grain Store, Hu's!"
After the guy finished speaking, he stopped stopping him and left on his own.
Zhou Baitong struggled for a moment and looked at the money bag in his hand. There were at least twenty taels of silver in it. It was just a message!
After collecting the money, Zhou Baitong walked to the Shen's Grain Store, and then walked out of the Shen's Grain Store and headed to the Sun Family... Not long after, he found five experts from the grain store and entered the Hu's Grain Store.
Yang Chun is the shopkeeper of the Shen family. He is in charge of the Shen family's cloth store in Suzhou and the grain store outside Pochumen. Naturally, he has to deal with other grain stores on weekdays.
No matter whether we greet each other's parents secretly or not, on the surface, harmony brings wealth. You dig water from your home's well, and I pump water from the Tang River.
You see, there was something wrong with the Hu family's well water today, and he asked himself to go over and see if the well water was clear or turbid.
Mrs. Hu is not easy to mess with!
The person standing behind him was the general judge of Suzhou. If he got anxious and sentenced himself with a stroke of his pen, it would be a great loss.
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