Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 62
And this is only transported from Annan to Lianzhou Prefecture, and then from Lianzhou Prefecture to the Chief Envoy of Shaanxi Province. I don’t know how much trouble it will take.

But thinking of this, Zhang Guoji suddenly slapped his thigh and asked excitedly: "You said that about transporting grain to Annan, is it possible to transport it by canal ship?"

Zhang Shili was taken aback by his unreasonable behavior, and he came back to his senses after being stunned for a while, and hurriedly replied: "Many of the ships used by the imperial court for water transportation are flat-bottomed sand boats, so they can naturally be used to transport grain. I just don’t know how high your official position is, sir, and whether you can support the officials in the water transportation. The gentlemen in the water transportation are not easy to get along with!"

Zhang Guoji, as the Vice-President of the Governor's Office of the Chinese Army, was a high-ranking official from the first rank, and he was on an equal footing with the Governor of Water Transport. Although based on his official position, he did not have the power to instruct the Governor of Water Transport to help him with errands, but he still had He is wearing a gold medal given by the emperor.

The emperor had long ago told him that when encountering problems, he could directly dispatch local officials by imperial order to assist with errands. He had the right to dispatch even troops from local guards. Now that he could use their water transport, how dare they disobey orders? Can't?

Zhang Guoji immediately made up his mind, found two royal guards, handed over the imperial order to them, and ordered them to return to the Ming Dynasty quickly, go to Huai'an Mansion in South Zhili to meet with the Governor of Water Transport, and ordered him to quickly mobilize ships to transport grain to Annan. !

In addition, he also wrote a memorial to the emperor, instructing the two Jinyi guards to express the memorial to the emperor after arriving at Lianzhou Mansion, so as to inform the emperor of the details of his purchase of grain in Annan and the need for water transportation to assist in transporting grain.

Zhang Shili was ordered to accompany him, explain his requirements for the ships needed to transport grain to the water transport department, help select suitable ships, and lead the water transport fleet to and from Annan!

Although Zhang Shili had accepted Zhang Guoji's money before, the reason why he brought Zhang Guoji and his group to Annan this time was mostly because he wanted to curry favor with the court officials. He was selling favors to help. He was not obligated to accept Zhang Guoji's orders, but he Now seeing Zhang Guoji's momentum, even the Governor of Water Transport didn't take it seriously. He immediately didn't dare to disobey his orders and obediently accepted the order and went on errands with Jin Yiwei.

Zhang Shili didn't care whether he would lose money if he returned by empty ship. How big an official must he be to dispatch the governor of water transport? Now he just hopes to help Zhang Guoji get the job done. Maybe he can get the job in the future. The great master is so proud!
Not long after Zhang Shili left Wujiazhuang with two Jinyi guards, Wu Sanchai came back from outside, accompanied by an old man wearing brown cloth and a melon skin hat. He was thin and had an abacus in his arms. He didn't look like that. He is a big owner!
Wu Sanchai hurriedly introduced both parties. He first saluted Zhang Guoji and introduced: "Master Zhang, this is the manager of Mr. Zheng, the largest village owner here!"

As soon as Wu Sanchai finished speaking, and before he could introduce Zhang Guoji to Manager He, the Jin Yiwei behind Zhang Guoji shouted angrily: "How brave! You, Mr. Zheng, are so majestic that you didn't come to see him in person, but sent someone instead." When the manager comes here, it’s so disrespectful!”

With a yell, Wu Sanchai was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground with a thud, and Guanshi He who was standing beside him also trembled, breaking out in a cold sweat, but he seemed to realize that he was not a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, so there was no need to kneel Officials of the Ming Dynasty, and they came here to represent their own masters, could not lose their face, so they stiffened their necks and did not kneel down.

Zhang Guoji raised his hand, smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, we are here to discuss business. As long as this manager He can take charge, it will make the same difference whether Mr. Zheng comes or not!"

Zhang Guoji then signaled Wu Sanchai to get up, and said with a smile: "Since we have invited the people, let's stop talking and quickly finalize the grain and rice business!"

When Wu Sanchai heard this, he quickly arranged for Manager He to sit down as well, and ordered his servants to bring tea. Then he sat down aside and acted as an interpreter for the two of them.

Because when Wu Sanchai went to Zhengjiazhuang, he had already explained Zhang Guoji's situation clearly, so it is easy for the two sides to talk now, nothing more than finalizing the unit price and quantity.The price given by He Guanshi is eight taels of silver and one stone, and he explained that the reason why it is more expensive than the usual price is that there is a war in Annan now, and the Zheng family village is also responsible for supplying rations to the army of the Li Dynasty. They were also very nervous about the grain and rice. Zhang Guoji wanted to buy 200 million shi in one breath, which made them very embarrassed.

The amount of 200 million shi that Zhang Guoji reported before was completely based on the unit price of seven qian silver per shi and was compared with the cash in his hand. It was not necessary to buy this amount.

If according to the current quotation of He Guanshi, which is 150 qian per shimi, if he buys 120 million shi himself, it will be exactly 10 million taels of silver, and there will be less than [-] taels of silver left as a spare for transportation expenses, which is also appropriate.

Although the amount of money in his hand was limited, he still hoped to sell as much grain and rice as possible, so he asked: "If it is brown rice, can it be cheaper?"

Manager He immediately said that if Zhang Guoji was willing to ask for brown rice, the price of brown rice would naturally be cheap and he could sell it to him at five cents per stone. However, the amount of brown rice in Zhengjiazhuang was limited, and the warehouses were full of polished rice, with only the newly harvested rice from the previous season. of rice, and a small amount of unprocessed brown rice, which amounts to 20 koku at most.

However, 20 shi is not too little. After all, if you buy one more shi of rice, you might be able to save dozens of lives. Zhang Guoji immediately said that he wanted all the brown rice in Zhengjiazhuang, and he wanted another 140 million shi. All polished rice and grain rice will be delivered to Wujiazhuang, and cash will be paid upon arrival.

For such a big deal, the other party was willing to pay in cash, so Guanshi He was naturally surprised and immediately said that he would arrange for someone to deliver the grain and rice when he returned.

After Guanshi He left, Zhang Guoji did some calculations. 20 shi of brown rice was worth 10 taels of silver, and 140 million shi of polished rice was worth 110 taels of silver. After spending this amount of money, he would still have 3000 taels of silver left in his hand. , this money cannot buy [-] stones of grain and rice in Zhengjiazhuang, but it can still be bought here in Wusanchai.

Zhang Guoji immediately asked Wu Sanchai: "Shopkeeper Wu, you said before that you could sell me grain and rice at six qian per stone. I wonder if this is still true now?"

Wu Sanchai was slightly startled, but nodded quickly: "It's natural to count!"

Zhang Guoji nodded and said, "Okay, then please help me raise another [-] shi of grain and rice!"

When Wu Sanchai heard this, although he felt a little embarrassed, he still gritted his teeth and agreed. After all, he would not suffer any loss in this transaction. Although his unit price was two yuan lower than that of Zhengjiazhuang, it was not as profitable as others, but After all, Zhang Guoji is willing to pay in cash. In normal business, the payment for goods is settled in three quarters. It is naturally risky to not see the money now.

(End of this chapter)