Northern Dynasties

Chapter 32
Luoshui is the largest river in Weibei, and the area it flows through is also rich.

The reason for the Shang is that it has been scoured by the Luoshui River and its tributary ditches all year round. The landforms are mostly east-west plateaus.

"Your Majesty is really going to Shishiwu? I visited Captain Shixian in the city before, please don't see him, he is bullying others with arrogance, trying to test whether your wish is urgent, Sir. He was refused to see him, and now he is visiting him in the countryside. It's really a little..."

On the dusty country road, Zheng Man rode his horse and walked with Li Tai, while admonishing him: "Even if you buy the raw hemp, there are only three months left to spin it into cloth. Spinning it into cloth is not enough to buy grain and ten thousand stones!"

"Shi Mou has bad intentions, of course I understand. But since we have made this agreement with the county government, we should do our best to fulfill it, and we can't let Zheng Zheng suffer any trouble."

Hearing Zheng Man's advice to him, Li Tai said with a smile: "These big households hold their own goods, even if they are not for hemp, other things must be restrained. They have to visit sooner or later, and the more urgent, the more urgent they are." is restricted."

County Wei Shi Gong prevented the county government from taking raw hemp materials for himself, and he didn't just simply force Li Tai to go to his house to buy and take the opportunity to raise the price.After all, raw hemp is a cheap material, not a scarce product. In the eyes of outsiders, Li Tai has no reason to buy it.

The reason why Shi Xianwei wanted to be a villain in vain was to warn Li Tai that he should be divided into masters and guests when doing things.The deal he reached with the county government broke the relationship between the big households in the county and the county government, and provided the county government with a new way to bypass these rich local households and raise supplies.

This undoubtedly offended those big local tyrants. Shi Xianwei's obstruction this time was just a small show of his arms. If Li Tai still can't wake up and bow his head, more serious blows are yet to come.

For example, in the post-autumn period, even if he had sufficient funds, he would not be able to buy enough grain in the county, and he would not be able to complete the transaction agreement with the county government.

In the final analysis, these local tyrants who control a large amount of land and population are the real masters of this country.Even a high-ranking general like He Basheng had to avoid suspicion because he could not interfere with local politics, and did not dare to directly use Li Tai's hand to lose food to the county government.

If tens of thousands of shi of grain cannot be purchased locally, the cost of transportation alone will be a huge consumption, and it may not be able to be bought and shipped back in time.

Li Tai's farming plan is facing such a tricky situation. If he does not cooperate with the county government, he may not even be able to achieve normal production under the instigation of the surrounding big households.After cooperating with the county government, the big rural households did not dare to openly resist, but in other places, the suppression was even deeper.

Within the established local rules, even the nobles of the army are subject to many restrictions, and Li Tai, a powerless and powerless Dongzhou descendant, must face even deeper restrictions.

Even if he had the support of the upper-level forces in the Western Wei Dynasty, it would not be easy to break through this kind of nostalgic knot of old trees, not to mention that He Basheng would not have any bottom line and unreserved support for him.

But resignation is not in Li Tai's character. After weighing it up, he decided to take the initiative.

The Wubi of Xianghao Shijia is located between two plateaus, and the cultivated land on the left and right plateaus is full of acres of his family's fields, extending all the way to the rocky beach on the east bank of Luoshui River.

This dock wall was also built in a very grand style, and its scale was even larger than that of Shangyang Garrison. Li Tai and his party were nearly a mile away from the dock wall, but they were stopped by Zhuang Ding who was guarding outside.

Zheng Man posted his name before entering the post, and after some rounds of reporting, when Li Tai and his party entered Wubi, more than a quarter of an hour had passed.

"I knew that in the township, people lived in the clothes of the famous people, and they were too busy with farming, so I didn't have time to visit. Unexpectedly, Mr. Lang came today. He was far away from welcoming him, and he was rude and rude."

Inside the dock wall, a middle-aged barbarian walked over surrounded by powerful slaves, pointed at Li Tai from a distance and said with a smile: "Sure enough, the elegant demeanor of the famous clan is different from the vulgar!"

The middle-aged man's name is Shi Jing, and he is the younger brother of Shi Gong, the county captain. One of the two brothers is an official outside the home, and the other runs a business at home. This is also a relatively common match for powerful families nowadays.

"The younger generation is new to the countryside, so it is right to visit the elders of the village. They are also busy with farming and mulberry work, so I have only come to see them until now. I hope that Shihou will not sin."

This Shi Jingbai lives in the village and has no titles. Li Tai's calling him like this is just a title of honor.

"Haha, a talented person from a famous family will perform this job, which will make my family shine."

Although Shi Jing is a barbarian, he is thin and thin, not only a head shorter than Li Tai, he stood a few meters away, pointed at Li Tai and smiled to the left and right: "You all come and have a look, this one is Longxi The Li family's high-achieving students have always been the guests of the rich and powerful families, how can we see ordinary people in our village?"

After hearing the words, all the slaves looked at Li Tai unscrupulously, and their attitude was very rude.

Li Tai raised his hand to stop Zheng Man, who was about to speak out, with a smile still on his face: "Boshan is not a rare person in the world. Self-growth, entering this virtuous family, I am also ordinary, but it is not worth watching and admiring."

When Shi Jing heard this, he restrained himself with a slightly presumptuous smile on his face, and waved his hand to drive away the house slaves, not wanting to appear uneducated in front of outsiders.

"When a distinguished guest comes to the door, he should be entertained. It's just that the family is busy and there is no time to entertain guests. If you have something to say, you might as well say it here."

Shi Jing didn't invite Li Tai into the hall, but just stood there and said.

"Today's visit, I do have something to ask for."

Li Tai still maintained a polite smile, and bowed his body slightly, not to let his gaze look too condescending: "When I enter the new house in the countryside, everything needs to be done, but there is a shortage of materials, and the soldiers are only doing leisure. The former Zhizun's mansion has a surplus , so I take the liberty to visit, please clear up the trouble for Shihou."

"Don't you only buy hemp?"

When Shi Jing heard this, he asked a question in surprise, paused, glanced at Li Tai again, and said, "My family also needs to make a living, and the materials have their own uses, so don't sell them at will!"

"Of course, of course! The guests dare not interfere with the host's livelihood because of the host's convenience."

Li Tai smiled again and said, even if he wants to coax the opponent into the game, the initiative is not in his hands right now, so of course he should be more polite.

Shi Jing was very satisfied with his respectful and polite attitude, so he stopped talking nonsense and led them directly to a warehouse in the dock, asked them to open the warehouse door and said, "This is where tens of thousands of catties of hemp are stored, and there is good food in my hometown." He is a household, who supports his family by farming, and he is not a merchant who sells goods to enrich himself. Since Li Lang came to ask, it is inconvenient to refuse, so he gave it to you at the current price. Would you like to go into the warehouse and check?"

This is still polite, but Li Tai just took a look and found that more than half of the Chen Ma in the warehouse was obviously not stored for a while.

Although linen is also a basic material related to the clothing of the people, its price is much lower than that of silk, and it takes less labor to weave it.

Therefore, even if these large households in the villages spin linen and weave cloth, they only produce in a moderate amount, and the income is not as impressive as that of silk, and there is a lot of raw linen left every year.After several years of accumulation, there is such a scale. The longer it is stored, the lower the value. It not only takes up space, but also needs to be fireproof and moistureproof.

Shi Jing talked about the current price, meaning he wanted to sell the old hemp to Li Tai at the price of the new hemp, which was like a lion's mouth.

"Relief in the poor country is based on faith. Since Marquis Shi favors me, how can I be a villain? The next day, my family will send cloth and silk, and the car and horse will disturb the tranquility. I ask Shihou to forgive me."

Li Tai smiled generously, waved his hand and said.

When Shi Jing heard this, he immediately became fond of Li Tai, who was taken advantage of.The hemp material in this warehouse is only more than [-] catties, and he directly lied about [-] catties, and half of it is old hemp that has been stored for more than three years, which can no longer be used for weaving.

The Shi family has a huge family business, so they don't take this deal very seriously, but who doesn't like the profit of nothing?

To make a living in the countryside, who doesn't plan carefully?It is really rare for Li Tai to be taken advantage of without knowing the material resources.

For a while, Shi Jing was reluctant to let him go like this, so he said again: "Li Lang is so generous, and I am not a stingy person. I said earlier that other materials are also urgent. If I have a lot of money in my family, I will be happy." help."

"There are indeed other materials that need to be purchased. May I ask Shi Hou, is there a lot of flax and sesame oil stored in the house?"

Seeing that this guy is so upbeat, Li Tai said with a smile again.

"Flax, sesame oil...these are really not many."

After hearing the words, Shi Jing shook his head in disappointment and said, he wanted to catch this fat sheep and dump some waste that was useless and discarded, but there are not many flax plantations, and sesame oil has various uses, even if it is sold in the market. Worrying about sales, I don't want to do this deal.

"I bought these two materials at a [-]% discount to the current price. If they can exceed a hundred dendrobiums, they can be sold at a [-]% premium. The more the better!"

Li Tai quickly said again, the fish took a bite with great difficulty, of course he couldn't let it go.

"Twenty percent?"

When Shi Jing heard Li Tai's proposal to increase the price, he suddenly became excited again. The flax hurts the ground and the oil pressure takes a lot of work. Both are expensive. Adding [-]% ​​to the current price, the premium is quite considerable. .

"I'll let my slave check it out first, please let Li Lang enter the hall first and wait."

Shi Jing made quick calculations in his mind, and his expression suddenly became enthusiastic.

Li Tai and his party entered the hall and sat down, Shi Jing attentively prepared drinks and meals, and after a while, a servant entered the hall and whispered an announcement, Shi Jing's face changed slightly after hearing the words, and he said to Li Tai: "Hu The flax stored in it is only thirty-six dendrobiums, and the sesame oil is only seven dendrobiums, which will disappoint Li Lang."

One dendrobium is one stone, one hundred and twenty catties. To be honest, this stock is already quite a lot.Before Li Tai came to visit the historian, he had already visited the countryside. Even if the folks had reserves, they were only counted in liters of buckets, but the historian kept thousands of catties, which shows the strength of his hometown.

"I still have a compromise here. As much as I have in stock today, I can collect [-]% of the high current price. But when the flax is harvested this autumn, Shi Hou needs to make up for a hundred dendrobium."

"Then after the autumn delivery, it will also be [-]% higher?" Shi Jing asked again hastily.

Li Tai smiled and shook his head: "It can only be based on the current price, but I can order [-]% of the silk first. Because the delivery is delayed, a contract certificate is required!"

"can!"

Shi Jing hesitated for a while, then nodded and said, the two discussed in the hall, and put this agreement on paper.

After sending Li Tai and his party away, Shi Jing went back to the hall and looked at the contract, and laughed happily: "These aristocratic aristocrats think they are smart, but they are just empty-hearted fools. Flax is planted in summer and harvested in autumn. The price at the time of planting is high, but the price at harvest is low, and he is planning to harvest later in the autumn than today's price, so how can the business not be ruined!"

(End of this chapter)