"I want to hear about it!"

Cao Cao heard Chen Yang's words so confidently, he was very interested and wanted to know what Chen Yang would do.

"Actually, it's very simple, you should know what the merchant is doing business for, right?" Chen Yang said.

"Businessmen seek profit, the world knows!" Cao Cao nodded and replied like a schoolboy.

Chen Yang said again: "Since businessmen like profits, then we will create benefits for them, just now Lao Guo said, even if they have surplus grain, they may not be willing to sell to us, because they can't see our interests, so they are unwilling to sell." ”

Hearing the mention of himself, Guo Jia didn't want to speak, lowered his head and made hot pot with Dian Wei, but he was also listening carefully, he wanted to listen to what good ideas Chen Yang could say.

Cao Cao thought about it deeply, but couldn't think of where the benefits came from, and asked, "And then?" ”

Chen Yang said: "We will first raise the price of grain in Xudu, and raise it as high as we can, and then the grain merchants outside will be able to see the benefits." ”

"Shopkeeper Chen, this won't work!"

Dian Wei suddenly raised his head and said, "The price of food is too high, and we are in a lot of trouble. ”

Guo Jia shook his head: "If the price of grain soars, not only will we not be able to afford the grain outside Xudu, but even inside Xudu City, many people will starve to death because of this." I don't know what Shopkeeper Chen said, what is your intention? ”

Chen Yang knew that they would think like this, and explained unhurriedly: "Now how long is the food in our Xudu enough for the whole city to eat?" ”

"About a month."

Cao Cao thought for a while, then nodded and said.

"A month's worth of surplus food is almost enough."

Chen Yang continued: "As long as the prime minister counts the number of poor people in the city in the name of the Son of Heaven, and establishes a guarantee system based on this data, so that all the people who can't afford to eat can receive enough food from the imperial court." ”

"But pay attention to two points, the family of Xudu, regardless of them, must have a large amount of surplus grain. The second point is to pay attention to the officials below, when the price of food is expensive, the officials will definitely be greedy, and in doing so, they can ensure that ordinary people will not starve. ”

Cao Cao muttered to himself, "This ...... Sounds pretty good. ”

Guo Jia shook his head again and said: "Although this method is good and guarantees the problem of people having no food due to soaring food prices, how can this solve the food problem?" ”

Chen Yang smiled: "The next thing is the point, you have to pay attention." ”

"Our grain prices are high, businessmen are profit-seeking, as long as they see benefits, they will be blinded by money, and they will not immediately send all the grain to Xudu, if there is more food, we can do whatever we want."

However, Guo Jia continued to shake his head and said, "The price of grain is so high, even if there is more grain, we can't afford it." ”

Chen Yang sighed helplessly: "Hey, what are your brains made of?" I finally understand now, Lao Cao, you can only be a small follower next to the prime minister, if Guo Jia and they listen, they will definitely understand what I am going to say next. ”

Guo Jia, who was sitting next to him, was stunned, he really couldn't think of it, and just wanted to open his mouth to refute, when he suddenly felt Cao Cao's gaze look over, and quickly lowered his head to think about why.

With more food, you can do whatever you want......

"I see!"

Guo Jia had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and slapped the table suddenly: "The reason why food is expensive is because it is small, and once it is more, it will be worthless!" ”

Chen Yang clapped his hands and said: "Lao Guo, you are smart, you must be comparable to Guo Jia." When the time comes, as long as the price is lowered again, the grain merchants will come thousands of miles, and they will not be able to go back with the grain for thousands of miles, if they do so, they will have to lose money, and then use some means, won't the grain be able to sell us at a low price? ”

After saying that, Chen Yang had to praise himself for his ice and snow intelligence, and he had a special sense of accomplishment in cutting leeks in ancient times.

As soon as these words came out, Cao Cao and Guo Jia both fell into deep thought.

Only Dian Wei didn't understand very well, and continued to eat hot pot, and after a while, all the meat slices were eaten by him.

"That's a good plan!"

In the end, it was Guo Jia who spoke first, his eyes shining brightly.

After listening to Chen Yang's analysis, he forgot his previous dissatisfaction with Chen Yang.

"But, there's no money!" Cao Cao frowned and said, "Even if a large amount of grain is shipped to Xudu, the price is not expensive, but the treasury has no money, so it still can't buy much." ”

Chen Yang was surprised: "Won't it? I thought I was already poor, but am I even poorer than me? ”

Cao Cao nodded and said: "That's right, now the prime minister has been fighting for years in order to support the Han family, and the property obtained is used for military expenses, and there is not enough money to buy food." ”

Chen Yang thought for a while, and then said: "No, there are still many big families in Xudu, and even the Son of Heaven, they must have some accumulation." ”

Cao Cao said: "Yes, so what? ”

Today's Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and there are many people inside and outside the court who are afraid of Cao Cao, but there are no people who want to take the initiative to take the money to help Cao Cao, right?

Cao Cao is also not good at using forcible means to rob money, what is the difference between doing so and rebelling? After all, he still has to conquer the world under the banner of the Han family.

Once something wrong is done, I am afraid that all the princes of the world will come to attack Xu Du, just like when they fought Dong Zhuo.

Thinking of this, Chen Yang also understood, now not only does he want to make money, but so does Cao Cao.

"If you want to make money, I have a good way!"

Chen Yang suddenly laughed, just watching him run into the back kitchen, and after a while, he came out with a jar of wine and a bowl of snow-white refined salt.

As soon as the wine jar was opened, Guo Jia's nose inhaled, and he said in surprise: "Wine, it's those good wines......"

He drank it at Cao Ang's that day, and it was the taste that he would never forget.

However, Cao Cao was also there, and Guo Jia could only look at Chen Yang with a blank eye.

Chen Yang laughed: "Today's wine, you can manage enough!" ”

He poured three bowls of wine for the three of them.

Guo Jia and Dian Wei's eyes lit up, and they immediately drank not a drop left.

"Good wine!"

Guo Jia showed the look of a drunkard, and Dian Wei was not much better.

"Shopkeeper Chen, I still want it!"

"I want it too, I want ......"

Looking at the two drunkards who grabbed the wine, Chen Yang shook his head: "The wine will be drunk later, let's get down to business first." Lao Cao, how about we cooperate with this wine? And with this salt, you will be a middleman between me and the prime minister, I will cooperate with you, and you will cooperate with the prime minister in your own name. ”

"Salt?"

Cao Cao looked at the bowl of snow-white and said in surprise: "You say, this is salt?" ”

He twisted some salt with his fingers, put it in his mouth, and said in surprise: "This is really salt, and there is no impurity, it is white and crystalline, as fine as flour, I have never seen such good salt." ”

Guo Jia also put down the wine bowl and leaned over to look at it for a while: "Shopkeeper Chen, where did you get all this salt?" ”

Although salt is not the most expensive seasoning, it is definitely the most important, and in ancient times salt had a high status and was always controlled by the government.

That's why, in some costume dramas, there are often villains who make a lot of money by selling smuggled salt.

"Of course, I refined it myself, because I found a salt mine, and I also have the technology to purify coarse salt, plus my wine here, are you interested in making a fortune with me?" After Chen Yang finished speaking, he also poured himself a bowl of wine, and continued, "With these things, I can definitely help you earn money to buy food." ”

Cao Cao listened to Chen Yang's words, he thought for a long time before he said, "How can we cooperate?" ”