Uncle Shazhu, a simple-minded man in a courtyard house, persuades people with reason.

At that time, Beijing had already begun implementing a grain rationing system, so there wasn't a shortage of food. Although grain production had decreased the previous year, it shouldn't have come to this. Ultimately, it was greed that was at play... collusion between officials and merchants, hoarding and speculation, and the artificial creation of panic.

Corrupt officials, in collusion with grain merchants, distributed a small amount of grain each day to prevent large-scale riots.

Grain merchants, taking advantage of the ever-increasing grain prices, squeezed every last penny out of the people's pockets.

Dongcheng District, Dongsi District, is one of the areas where wealthy businessmen from Beijing congregate. Wan Fulin, a grain merchant behind the black market, is a long-time resident here. He Ping'an found a secluded corner, vanished on the spot, and reappeared dressed in black.

Fearing for his own beastly nature and worried about provoking Red Boy's father, the Bull Demon King, He Ping'an politely declined Bai Ling's invitation to come in. Although Bai Ling was unaware of the "tacit understanding" between men and women in later generations, He Ping'an was still seething with anger.

Just as He Daqing's request was still pending, He Ping'an tightened the black cloth covering his face as he looked at the Wan Mansion, which was still brightly lit late at night.

"You're lucky!"

An hour later, He Ping'an checked the contents of his spatial storage and left the Wan family satisfied. He left behind nothing of value, including gold and silver jewelry, large and small croakers, and colorful banknotes such as US dollars and British pounds.

Back at courtyard number 95, He Ping'an woke He Daqing and led him to the courtyard gate. He Ping'an pointed to the grain borrowed from the Wan family:

"50 bags each of polished rice and wheat flour, each bag weighing 50 jin (25 catties), enough to last three years with some left over!"

"brother!"

"Shh, move the grain!"

After eight years of devastation by the Japanese invaders, if a family in Beijing didn't have a hidden cellar, they wouldn't dare call themselves a Beijinger (I forgot where this came from, just kidding)!

With 100 bags of grain to carry, and not wanting to reveal their strength, the two brothers spent over half an hour moving them. On the last trip, as He Ping'an was about to enter the house, he glanced at a spot in the yard out of the corner of his eye and smiled casually.

The following day, following the massacre of Ma Hanshan's entire family, high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants in Beiping were once again shaken. The reason? The Wan family, renowned for its century-old grain business, had been robbed. Hidden compartments and secret rooms were meticulously investigated!

Hmm... there are also 100 bags of rice and noodles. Of course, this is just a childhood joke told in casual conversation.

These things had nothing to do with He Ping'an, a scholar. Besides the 300 large yellow croakers and 1000 small yellow croakers lying in the space, there was also a total of more than 10 US dollars in foreign exchange.

This doesn't mean that the Wan family only has so much; they have multiple burrows and deposits in foreign banks. What He Ping'an holds can only be considered the Wan family's floating wealth.

This is why He Ping'an, despite having a spatial ability, still meticulously plans to do "business" instead of becoming a master thief. A group of old foxes are experts at hiding things, even depositing them in foreign banks. They can't very well emulate Li Zicheng and extort money from the government, can they?

After mentally calculating the amount in Wan Jia's savings account, he knew his plan could begin. He hadn't just randomly chosen a family last night; Wan Fulin was one of the wealthy merchants at the gathering.

Using Wan Fulin's wealth as a benchmark, He Ping'an had a preliminary estimate of those people's financial resources, which would make it easier for him to advertise the quantity of penicillin needed. Too much, and they couldn't afford it; too little, and they wouldn't even give him a second glance. Just the right amount, so that both host and guests would be satisfied.

At noon, in the teachers' office, Bai Ling entered while He Ping'an was feeding Xiao Yushui. With a stern face, she told him that the organization had replied and they would discuss the details at Jing'an Bookstore that evening. Then she left briskly!

He's angry again! Hmm... Next time he'll turn into a beast, what Bull Demon King or whatever! Even the Bull Demon King is a beast!

Jing'an Bookstore, the same old routine... Bai Ling keeps watch while Luo Chengjun gives instructions.

"The Central Committee has approved your plan, and you are given full command. You are also granted the authority to mobilize guerrilla forces around Beiping and Tianjin at any time! This is a telegram from the Northwest; take a look, read it carefully!"

After receiving the telegram from Luo Chengjun, He Ping'an carefully read it and understood Luo Chengjun's blatant implication.

I agree in principle... Merging is interesting, but splitting up is even more interesting. "Agreeing in principle" means agreeing to anything that conforms to Communist Party principles—it's a task assigned by the Party. Anything that doesn't conform to principles is naturally his private, personal action.

This telegram is really flexible! It's all about convenience! Well, it makes sense; it's a business that requires no capital but yields huge profits, so giving it more autonomy is reasonable and compliant!

Sizzle! The match struck the phosphorescent paper, and the bright yellow flame burned the telegram to ashes.

He Ping'an understood the rules—in intelligence work, telegrams from the Northwest couldn't be kept overnight, much less be shown to just anyone. He secretly noted Luo Chengjun's favor and began to explain the specific plan.

Roughly three steps... baiting the area, casting the bait, and landing the fish!

The strategy is to first organize a large-scale purchase of penicillin within Beiping (Beijing), buying up as much as possible regardless of price. The goal is to quickly drive up the price of penicillin, enticing others to enter the market more rapidly.

Baiting the deal—once wealthy merchants enter the market, the price of penicillin will definitely rise again, and the supply will become even tighter. Inform the underground Communist Party in Tianjin to disguise themselves as members of the Green Gang and retail penicillin at high prices on the black market.

They spread rumors that penicillin was readily available in large quantities, as long as the price was right. This was a deception of the wealthy merchants in Beiping, who believed the Tianjin visitors were simply outcasts trying to steal their business!

Of course, it is crucial to safeguard the penicillin supply route to Beiping during this process, and absolutely prevent penicillin from other places from entering Beiping. Otherwise, we would be doing all the work for others!

The fish are caught – penicillin prices have skyrocketed, and wealthy merchants can't buy any themselves, so if they want to make money, they have no choice but to take the bait!

As for the subsequent repackaging, diluting 200,000 units of penicillin into 100,000 units, those are minor issues.

After Luo Chengjun finished He Ping'an's plan, he thought for a long time: "The plan is generally feasible, but there are two problems. First, where will the money to buy penicillin come from? Ma Hanshan's ill-gotten gains have already been transported to the Northwest, and our Beiping Station doesn't have that much money!"

Second, controlling the penicillin supply chain is fine for some small groups, but not in Nanjing!

He Ping'an chuckled and offered a brief explanation:

"None of what you're saying is a problem! As for the money, I went to Wan Fulin's house last night and collected some donations! As for the people from Nanjing, we're not the ones in a hurry!"

The money obtained from Wanfulin seems like a lot, but it's definitely not enough to operate the entire plan. However, by buying low and selling high, and manipulating the market, maintaining the overall market stability is not a problem at all.

These basic operations of capitalism in later generations are too difficult to explain to people of this era, especially to people like Luo Chengjun, so He Ping'an didn't say much.

Nanjing, a city ruled by one family and one surname? Ha... They are too greedy, turning the country into their own home. If their tentacles are allowed to reach into Beiping, not to mention the huge losses He Ping'an will suffer, those century-old wealthy merchants will be the first to be unable to bear it.

After all, he only dealt in penicillin, while their business spanned every industry. He wanted money, but they were digging up their very foundation! These old foxes knew better than anyone which was more important.