Wanjin Lady

Chapter 78: Backstab

Village Chief Li had a complicated expression on his face, and hesitated to speak. "It is said that the grain merchants in Bingzhou are giving an extra penny of silver for every dou of grain."

Shopkeeper Zhu's eyebrows twitched.

A penny?!

For those who do grain business, being sensitive to grain prices is the most basic survival skill. Shopkeeper Zhu keenly smelled the trickery inside and immediately dropped his work and chased after him.

Shopkeeper Zhu was so full of food that he was out of breath after running two steps. Fortunately, he finally caught up with the two men at the village entrance.

The two men did not go far. They sat under a tree with their bags on their backs to rest.

Shopkeeper Zhu approached quietly and heard the two men talking.

"Hateful! We gained nothing on this trip, and ended up losing a lot! There are hundreds of kilograms of grain in Hexiang Village. If we transported it all to Bingzhou, we'd make at least this much!"

The young man held up five fingers.

Shopkeeper Zhu didn't know how much it was, but he guessed a little from the young man's expression.

This number must be considerable, otherwise these two people would not have come to Ping County to collect grain.

"Fuck him! Ping County is a fertile place, with plenty of surplus grain in previous years. Who knew Yuan Liulang would show up this time? I've already made inquiries. Yuan Liulang is from the Cheng family winery in Bozhou. He came to Ping County specifically to look for grain. I was wondering how a wine merchant like him could suddenly seize all the grain in Ping County! Now it seems that the Cheng family must have known about the situation in Bingzhou!"

"Isn't it? Grain prices in Bingzhou have skyrocketed. Even the official price for grain has reached one hundred and fifty coins per dou. If we can get even a little bit in Ping County, we'll have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of our lives!"

After hearing this, Shopkeeper Zhu broke out in a cold sweat!

The price of grain in the Dachen Dynasty fluctuated between 40 and 50 coins. If there was a natural disaster, the price of grain would soar, but it would only be 100 coins!

Now the official purchase price of grain in Bingzhou has reached 150 coins!

Huge profits!
But then Shopkeeper Zhu felt like he was falling into an icy cave!

The price of grain in Tianshui Prefecture has skyrocketed, but Yuan Liulang happened to appear in Ping County at this moment and bought up all the grain in the villages and towns near Ping County!
Yuan Liulang's trick is to catch a turtle in a jar...but is he catching the Wen family...or is he catching Old Zhu?
It was broad daylight, but Shopkeeper Zhu felt a chill on his back.

He returned to the granary with a heavy heart. He bought the land for the granary at a low price, so it covers a large area. Now he saw that the granary, which was full yesterday, was half empty today.

Shopkeeper Zhu was dumbfounded!

He hurriedly summoned the granary keeper, who spoke and gestured, "It's already been taken away! Yesterday, Young Master Yuan said that Bozhou was pressing for it, so he brought people to take all his grain away! He left a granary full of grain, saying he'll come back in a couple of days!" Manager Zhu almost fell to the ground!
Yuan Liulang once told him that there was a food shortage in the Bozhou area, and he came to Ping County for two reasons: one was for the Wen family winery, and the other was to raise food for the Cheng family winery.

He tried his best to help without any complaints, but was actually tricked by Yuan Liulang?
Yuan Liulang must be planning to sell the grain to Bingzhou to make a fortune!

Okay, okay, let’s do something under his nose, right?

At this moment, Shopkeeper Zhu was like an abandoned woman who had been kicked out of her husband's house despite having given herself to him. He was so angry that he didn't care about anything else. He sent someone to harness the carriage and headed down along the lower reaches of Taohua Creek!
The fastest route from Pingxian to Bingzhou is to take a merchant ship of the Cao Gang. There is a ferry a few dozen miles downstream. If Yuan Jing wants to sell grain, the only option is to take the water route!

Shopkeeper Zhu traveled day and night, following the official road all the way downstream, and finally saw the team escorting grain.

Good guy!
Yuan Liulang actually found so many helpers!

The grain transport team stretched like a long dragon on the official road, with no end in sight. There were one or two hundred carts carrying grain and fodder, which were heavy and blocked the road. Dozens of men, with bare arms and covered in sweat in the early autumn, were moving forward towards the ferry with difficulty and speed.

"Genrokuro!"

When Shopkeeper Zhu saw Yuan Liulang, he was like a divorced wife meeting her ex-husband. He nimbly jumped off the carriage, rushed into the grain delivery team, and pulled out his ex-husband. "Yuan Liulang! You have such a cruel heart! Didn't you say that this batch of grain was to be taken back to Bozhou for emergency use? Open your eyes and look, does this road lead to Bozhou?!"

Shopkeeper Zhu grew increasingly furious as he spoke. He had given his all to help Yuan Jing, but Yuan Jing had already planned something. He was so angry that his face flushed and his neck thickened. "If it weren't for me, Old Zhu, would you have been able to collect grain so smoothly in Ping County? Now that there's a great opportunity to make a fortune, you abandon me, Old Zhu. Do you still consider yourself a human being?"

Yuan Jing was scolded by him and his face was naturally not in good spirits. However, after all, the matter of conquering the Wen family winery was still inseparable from the fat old man's help. So he could only suppress his temper and greet him with a smile. "Old brother, your words are really harsh. If I really have the opportunity to make a fortune, how could I not take you with me?"

Shopkeeper Zhu folded his chubby hands over his chest and looked on coldly. "Oh, the Bingzhou government has issued notices everywhere. The price of grain in the city has already reached 150 coins per bushel, and they're still accepting it at this price. The grain merchants in Bingzhou are all coming to us to collect their grain. And you still say this isn't an opportunity to make a fortune?"

"Brother, you're really wronging me. I only found out about this the other day. I wanted to tell you, but you happened to be out collecting grain in the village below. Fearing I'd miss the opportunity, I quickly ordered the grain to be shipped out. I'll tell you to go to Bingzhou together to make a fortune tomorrow when I have to go back to transport the second batch of grain. Accountant Zhou has already gone ahead to negotiate the transportation price with the Cao Gang. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the time on the grain transportation contract and you'll know whether what I said is true or not."

Seeing Yuan Jing's assurance, and thinking that there was indeed some grain in his warehouse that Yuan Jing had not transported, Shopkeeper Zhu's expression eased a little.

Yuan Jing smiled and said, "If there really was an opportunity to make a fortune, given our friendship, how could I possibly leave you, Shopkeeper Zhu, alone? Besides, you're a grain merchant, so you know the ins and outs of this business better than I do. I'm counting on you taking me, your brother, with you on this trip to Bingzhou."

Yuan Jing coaxed Manager Zhu into submission with just a few words.

Shopkeeper Zhu's face turned pale, and he smiled and said, "That's true! The grain market is very volatile. Just having goods doesn't guarantee profit. Liu Lang, tell me... what's going on in Bingzhou? Why are prices so high now? Isn't it said that... the court sent a certain Huai'an Marquis as governor, and this man is quite powerful. The famine in Bingzhou has been brought under control -"

Yuan Jing was clearly more informed. He pulled Shopkeeper Zhu into the shade of a tree and said, "I don't know the ins and outs of this, but I do know that the famine in Bingzhou has been getting worse since the beginning of spring. Previously, the government was actively trying to stabilize grain prices, but a few days ago, for some reason, they suddenly doubled the price. All the grain merchants in Tianshui Prefecture have caught wind of this, and merchant ships of all sizes are heading for Bingzhou, hoping to make a killing."

(End of this chapter)