Wanli 1592

Chapter 559

After Xiao Ruxun finished taking care of those troublesome things, it was already dusk, and the heavy snow still didn't stop.

The temperature dropped sharply, but he could still feel the chill even though he was wearing winter clothes and fur robes. The sky was getting darker and darker, and night was not far away, so Xiao Ruxun immediately ordered the soldiers to collect firewood and prepare for the night camp.

The food left by Beilu is really a lot. Xiao Ruxun probably calculated that it would be enough for the tens of thousands of refugees who lost their houses in Taiyuan City to eat two or three meals of porridge. Let's get through tonight and tomorrow morning first, and then think of other ways .

As for those gold and silver treasures, Xiao Ruxun is also very clear that their owners are probably gone, and Liu Yong can prove this.

"So it turns out that you are a survivor of the Liu family, a big family in the city."

Xiao Ruxun called Liu Yong to her side and talked with him alone. Liu Yong also knew that he couldn't hide his identity. After all, his conversation was really different from ordinary people. He didn't even change his clothes. There are definitely not many scholars in Daming who have read books, so I can only tell the whole story.

"When the villain went out to drink with his friends, the northern captives broke into the city. The villain's family was killed by the northern captives, and the house and ancestral property were burned. At present, only some distant relatives are still in the south. This villain is my family. Once the family It's over, and the distant relatives can't stand the methods of other big merchants, so the Liu family is finished."

Liu Yong explained honestly.

Xiao Ruxun stretched out his hand to pick the pile of firewood to make the fire burn more vigorously.

"You really survived a catastrophe, and there will be future blessings. Instigate the people to surround the government and army. If you meet others, you will be rebellious. You must be killed and then quickly. Fortunately, you met the governor, and the governor came before you came. Knowing everything, Liu Yong, for you, this is a blessing in misfortune."

Liu Yong smiled miserably.

"The admiral was joking, what kind of luck is there for a man whose family is ruined? It's just a life, but right now, I don't know how long this life will last. Even if the admiral doesn't kill me, maybe I will be starved in the future To die, to be frozen to death, or to be beaten to death by someone, in chaotic seasons, human life is the least valuable, and there are too many villains."

Xiao Ruxun tapped a bag of rice grains next to him with the wooden stick in his hand.

"The governor has asked someone to knock on it. The wheat here is at least five years old. In recent years, the harvest in the north has generally been bad, and people are generally short of food. Every year, there are not a few people from Shanxi to Myanmar. Everyone cried to me that the land at home could not be used for food, so they had to sell it cheaply and then come to Myanmar to survive.

I don’t believe that the land is divided into the rich and the poor. The land of the poor cannot be used for food, but the land of the rich can be used for food. There is no such reason, but I am sure of one thing. It is impossible for the poor to have more than two years of grain.

They have no more than tens of acres of Susukida at most, and it is hard work to feed a family. Every year, they have to save food to survive. Except for seeds, they can't save the food for the next year, so they can only rely on the sky.

Grain for more than five years can only appear among wealthy households, and it is the kind of big family that hoards grain wantonly. Liu Yong, tell me, do you big Shanxi merchants like to hoard grain?Do you especially like Enemy? "

"Enemy?"

Liu Yong stared wide-eyed and turned pale with shock: "Admiral Mingjian, although we have the habit of hoarding food, it is to avoid unexpected needs. How can we support the enemy? And the support of the enemy will not allow the Beilu to destroy the entire Taiyuan. Come down, and destroy my entire clan, how is this possible?"

"Could it be that your family's deadly rival did it? You big Shanxi merchants often go to the grasslands to trade salt and iron with Beilu. It is also very easy to build relationships with them. When you encounter competitors who don't like it, you spend money. Ask Beilu to enter the customs to help you clean up your competitors, this practice should not be uncommon, right?"

Liu Yong's heart skipped a beat.

He has not done specific operations, but similar things do not rarely appear in the competition among large Shanxi merchants. It was quite fierce in the early years. Standardize the operation and management, but also in order to establish its own position without being shaken.

Therefore, the giants joined together to formulate many rules for competition between Shanxi merchants, and also formulated a strategy of going out. Therefore, competition between local Shanxi merchants has rarely occurred, and basically they are competing with outsiders in other places. Otherwise, merchants across the country would hate Shanxi merchants so much.

If you really want to say that it is an enemy, it is not the work of the Shanxi merchants, it may be the Shanxi merchants' deadly rivals.

"Admiral, since the development of Shanxi Merchants, many rules have been established, and the competition between each other must follow the rules. Whoever violates the rules will face the attack of the entire Shanxi Merchants. It is impossible for anyone to dare to risk the disgrace of the world. Going against the whole of Shanxi is courting death!"

Xiao Ruxun understood what he meant.

"Do you want to say that it is your enemy of Shanxi merchants who led the northern captives to go south this time? Is it Liaodong, Shandong, or Jiangnan?"

"It's possible, admiral, it's not a day or two since they've been dissatisfied with my Shanxi merchants, blaming us for competing with them, so they used these dirty methods to attack us, admiral, you have to be aware of the details!"

Xiao Ruxun laughed out loud as if hearing some joke.

Liu Yong looked at Xiao Ruxun who was laughing in surprise.

"Admiral, you..."

"Don't worry, don't worry, the governor just heard something funny. You Jin merchant gang formed a faction to fight against the imperial court, and you did salt and iron business with the northern captives. It’s embarrassing to say that other business gangs are dirty, hahaha, it’s so funny!”

Liu Yong was suddenly choked speechless.

"Liu Yong, you should think about it carefully! This matter is definitely not done by merchants from other places. They can't produce such a huge amount of old wheat. Someone must be helping the northern captives go south with stored grain. If you want to clean up the door or seize the share, don’t tell me that your Shanxi merchants are monolithic, that’s impossible.”

Liu Yong's face was pale.

"Tell me everything you know. Your family is ruined. Without the protection of me, you will not be able to live tomorrow morning. Think about it carefully, the Liu family no longer exists. If you want to live, what should you do?"

Xiao Ruxun gave him a further psychological blow.

After thinking about it, Liu Yongsi finally let out a long sigh.

"Admiral, unless there is a traitor who informs and sells them, the North Prisoners will never find our grain storage cave, nor can we find so much grain. These grains can only be inside the grain storage cave, but if you know the exact location of the grain storage cave, There are no more than ten people in the whole family."

"The storage cave?"

Xiao Ruxun frowned.

"Yes, the admiral may not know, but the local officials, as long as they are of a certain rank, know it. This is actually an open secret. Many people know the existence of the grain storage cave, but they don't know the exact location. In case of emergency, The ancestors dug holes in well-ventilated places in the mountains of Shanxi and Datong, or chose natural caves, and stored the surplus grain accumulated every year in them and sealed them up.

The efficiency of these grain storage holes is very good. Generally, they can store grain for more than ten years. Wheat is easy to store, so the ancestors did this to save some savings for future generations. food, and then control the price of food.

Not only did they make a fortune in the famine year, but they even got their land from farmers at a very low price. At the same time, it was convenient to do business with the northern captives, so the custom of storing grain into the cave was passed down. Among the large households with land in Shanxi, there is no family that does not store grain, and there is no family that does not use grain storage holes. "

(End of this chapter)