The next morning, before the morning sun had risen, the sky was filled with golden glow on the eastern hill.

Liuzhou City is three miles long from east to west, two miles wide from north to south, there are five city gates in the east, north, west, Zhennan, Jingnan, because it resembles a pot, it is called "pot city" again.

There are poems: Hucheng was built in the early Ming Dynasty, named because of the shape of the model, Lijiang is folded in all directions, such as embracing the city. Today, Liuzhou has become the economic capital of Guangxi, and tung oil and timber have become the fist products of Liuzhou City.

Especially tung oil, with the economic rise of Leizhou capital, Liuzhou tung oil is not only sought after by Leizhou city places, even Portuguese merchants often buy Liuzhou tung oil to bring back to Europe.

However, this sudden drought has had a huge impact on the economy of this fragile ancient city, especially the high rice market has made ordinary people feel desperate.

It was at this dawn that a group of rice merchants and their helpers loaded the hoarded grain onto the cart and transported it to the United Restaurant or Yipin Sauce Shop.

"Shopkeeper Sun, where are you going?"

"When I arrived in Yurong County, where are you the shopkeeper?"

"Huh...... I'm a bit of a doorway in Xiangzhou, so I'm going to try my luck! ”

"Shopkeeper Li and I come to Laibin County and Rongqi County, where we should be able to get rice grain!"

"Then I wish you all a smooth journey, let's come back and make a fortune, and have a good drink!"

……

More than 20 grain merchants packed their bags and rode horses or carriages out of the city, saying goodbye to each other at the city gate, preparing to transport rice and grain back to Liuzhou City to sell to the United Restaurant.

The hustle and bustle of the world is for profit, and the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit!

With the United Restaurant's involvement in the rice market in Liuzhou City, and they signed a purchase agreement with the United Restaurant, they are also willing to do their best to get rice grain from all over the country.

Of course, there are also people who set off from the wharf and plan to take a boat along the Liujiang River to the north to Guizhou. After all, it is the provincial capital of Guangxi, and the drought is relatively light, so you can get some rice and grain.

The area from the east gate of Liuzhou City to the South Street is a gathering area for the rich, but the rich area is also relative, not to mention that compared with the small Yong in the capital, even the Xiguan of Leizhou Mansion is not comparable.

Lin usually rented a house here, and as usual, he got up early to exercise with Ali in the morning.

The morning sun is rising, and the golden sun spreads on the river surface of the Liujiang River.

After the morning exercise, Lin usually did not plan to have breakfast at home, but led everyone to a nearby restaurant to eat local authentic Guilin rice noodles.

Rice is usually eaten as it is, but there are different ways to eat it, such as the dustpan cooking in western Guangdong, and the Guilin rice noodles in Guangxi.

It is worth mentioning that Guilin rice noodles were not created by the locals, but originated from the southern expeditionary army of the Qin Dynasty.

It is said that the King of Qin sent Tu Sui to lead an army of 500,000 to conquer South Vietnam, and then sent Shi Lu to lead migrant workers to dig the Ling Canal to communicate with the Xiang River and the Li River to solve the transportation problem.

Soldiers in the northwest were born to eat wheat noodles, but it was extremely difficult to transport military rations from the north, but the south was rich in rice, but did not grow wheat, so it was difficult for the army to eat wheat noodles.

How to evolve rice into wheat noodles for the Qin soldiers to accept, Shi Lu handed over the task to the soldiers in the army to complete.

The guy didn't know if he was a genius or a madman, so he directly adopted the principle of making Northwest noodles. First, the rice is swelled, ground into rice milk, drained water, kneaded into a dough, then steamed until the dough is half-cooked, and then taken to the mortar to scoop for a while, and finally the vermicelli is squeezed out by manpower, and it falls directly into the pot of boiling water to cook it.

Anyway, the original pearl rice has become chewy rice noodles under their fierce operation.

After the improvement and processing of the rice noodle master, various condiments are added to become the unique flavor of Guilin rice noodle brine, which is a famous delicacy in Guangxi at the time.

Lin has always been irresistive to local food, and she is a Gaozhou person who eats rice, so she is quite fond of this kind of rice noodles with various delicious condiments.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please use it slowly!"

This humble shop is a mom-and-pop shop, and a middle-aged woman comes up neatly with bowls of rice noodles.

Lin usually doesn't eat first, and gives it to Ali, Shen Yan, and Little Pig, and then she and Little Rabbit and Little Fox, and the six women gather around this long table to enjoy the delicious food.

The rice bowl and a few guards were sitting outside, and the rice bowl did not wait for the rice noodles, and when they saw that there were buns here, they also sat there and ate them in a big gulp.

All the nutrients of the little fox were given to the brain, and he still looked extremely slender, but he seriously provoked the topic and said: "I just heard that those rice merchants don't plan to go far, they all go to nearby states and counties to buy rice!" ”

"If this is the case, won't the price of rice in nearby states and counties rise to three taels and one stone!" The rabbit's eyes widened slightly, looking worried.

Ali and Piggy felt that Rabbit had a point, so they looked up at Lin Pingping.

Lin usually took a bite of rice noodles with soup, and responded to their eyes: "This is also a matter of no choice, special means can only be used in special periods, and it is expected that they will go to nearby states and counties to buy rice!" ”

Xiaotu and the others seemed even more confused, their original intention was to help, how can they seem to be helping now?

"We now raise the price of the rice market in Liuzhou City to the price of three taels and one stone, which will inevitably cause an imbalance in the prices of various places in Liuzhou Prefecture, and those shrewd rice merchants will choose to transport rice grain from other states and counties in Liuzhou Prefecture to Liuzhou City!" Shen Yan explained to the people with sad faces, and then analyzed seriously: "It's only May now, even if it rains in Liuzhou, at least there will be a harvest in September!" Many rice merchants saw this, and they all wanted to hoard rice and grain and sell it at a price. On the one hand, they will take the initiative to sell rice to us, and on the other hand, they will actively go to various places to transport grain to Liuzhou City, which is actually a good way to raise the price! ”

"The grain in Liuzhou City has been solved, but these grains are all from nearby states and counties, so how can the grain of the people in the local states and counties be good?" The little rabbit frowned slightly, and asked the question that everyone was worried about.

Their original intention was to save people, but if they harmed the people of the state and county in order to save the people of Liuzhou City, this was not the result they hoped to see.

Shen Yan glanced up at them, knowing what they were worried about, so she laid out the dishes in turn, from large to small, and said eloquently: "We are like digging a big pit in Liuzhou City now, and the water from the nearby states and counties will flow towards us, but the water from the periphery will also flow to the prefectures and counties. The price of rice in various states and counties has risen, and the willingness of local grain merchants to sell and hoard rice will become stronger, and they will sell and hoard rice and go further away to pull rice! Although the price of rice has been raised all of a sudden, if we do not do this, not only will the local rice grain also rise, but more people will starve to death due to the lack of food stock! ”

Xiaohu and the others are all smart people, and they slowly understood what Shen Yan meant.

If we put aside the price factor and want to save more victims now, it is natural to try to encourage these grain merchants to bring more rice from other places, instead of all grain merchants hoarding grain and waiting and seeing.

Food, which has always been a serious problem. The permanent population of Liuzhou City has reached 100,000, and there are now tens of thousands of refugees.

There is no perfect thing in the world, and if the high price of rice can save more people, it will actually be a good result.

Now that Lin Ping wants to alleviate the disaster in Liuzhou City, he must raise the rice market in Liuzhou City, so as to attract grain merchants from all over the world to transport rice, and then meet the rations of the people of Liuzhou City.

The most important thing is that it is only May, and even if it rains next, then there will be no autumn grain until at least September, which requires a very stable source of food.

Xiaotu understood the mystery of it, and sincerely admired: "Master Shen, you are really amazing, you can think so long-term!" ”

"I'm a toddler in Handan, compared with Fan Zhongyan of the Song Dynasty, we are actually far behind!" Shen Yan ate the last rice noodles, but smiled bitterly.

As soon as Xiaotu heard the story, he immediately showed the innocence of a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, and asked seriously: "Master Shen, what did that Fan Zhongyan do, can you tell us!" ”

I like to listen to stories, which is already one of the characteristics of the rabbit.

Shen Yan smiled and said nothing, and turned to look at Lin Pingping opposite.

Lin usually drank the entire bowl of Guilin jade powder while they were chatting, and drank the last soup into his stomach, and found that everyone was staring at her with great interest, especially Xiaotu's pitiful appearance.

She coughed lightly at first, and then slapped the table in the tone of a storyteller: "In other words, during the Song Dynasty, the famous minister Fan Zhongyan failed to preside over the new policy again, and was released from outside the court to serve as the governor of Hangzhou, and was changed to the governor of Hangzhou in the first year of Emperor You. As the saying goes, the sky does not fulfill people's wishes, and people do not fulfill people's hearts. In the following year, there was a famine in Hangzhou, and the people were displaced, and the scene was very miserable. ”

The woman from the rice noodle shop came over to clean up the dishes and chopsticks on the adjacent table, and after hearing Lin Pingping's words, she couldn't help but stand there and listen.

Lin usually said crisp in his ears, but now he learned to tell a storyteller is also vivid, and he continued with a good expression: "Some black-hearted and unscrupulous businessmen in Hangzhou took the opportunity to raise the price of rice, and the price of a bucket of rice was 120 yuan at that time, which made many people even worse. The government came forward to ask the rice merchants to control the price, but the profiteers were perfunctory, and then sold the rice at a high price. Seeing that the price would continue to rise, Fan Zhongyan thought of a way, he simply raised the price of rice to 180 yuan a bucket, and posted a list along the river to publicize to the outside world that the price of food shortage in Hangzhou would rise! ”

At this point, she suddenly stopped, and looked at the rabbit with a hint of amusement in her eyebrows.

"Miss, what then?" The little rabbit listened very attentively, but he didn't see a hint of banter in his young lady's eyes, and sure enough, he asked in a hurry.

Shen Yan saw the anxious appearance of the little rabbit, so she took the initiative to take the next step and said: "The local grain chamber of commerce is racing against time to sell rice, and the grain chamber of commerce from other places will transport the rice to Hangzhou. Just like the current Liuzhou City, let's say 'three two one stone' to buy rice grain, the grain merchants in this city go to the nearby states and counties to buy rice, but the rice merchants from other places hear the news, I am afraid they will also transport rice over! ”

"What about the price of rice?" Bunny didn't care about these things, but asked straight to the heart of the question.

In her concept, only when the price of rice is low is the real "victory". But not only the little rabbit was curious about the price, but the little fox and the little pig next to him also wanted to know, and even the woman who cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks at the next table did not leave.

Shen Yan exchanged glances with Lin Ping, and then responded with a smile: "The local rice merchants are in a hurry to sell grain, and the grain merchants from other places have come with grain, and the price has quickly dropped to 120 yuan per bucket!" ”

"Is it just 120 dollars per bucket?" Little Rabbit's brows furrowed slightly, and he didn't seem very satisfied with the result.

Shen Yan stretched out her hand and pinched the rabbit's nose, and said jokingly: "Of course it won't be like this, Fan Zhongyan also used a trick, and he was so angry that those rice merchants jumped to their feet!" ”

"What is it?" Little Rabbit didn't care about Shen Yan pinching her nose, and asked with a glint in her eyes.

Shen Yan watched the curiosity of Xiaotu and the people next to her being hooked, picked up the rest of the soup and drank it all, and then said to everyone: "Don't leak the secret now, I'll tell you in a few days!" ”

Hearing this answer, the little rabbit was so angry that he wanted to pull a knife and cut this woman.

Lin usually knew what Fan Zhongyan would do later, but he didn't reveal the meaning, that is, let Xiaotu pay the bill, and prepare to lead everyone towards the United Restaurant.

The middle-aged woman did not reach out to take the silver, but cautiously asked Lin Pingping, "Dare to ask you...... Patrol Adult? ”

It was also a coincidence, she heard that Huang Chengsheng was taught by Nanyang Patrol Lin yesterday, and now she heard their arguments again, and she had already guessed the identity of this girl.

"Yes, do you have a grievance?" Lin usually didn't expect this woman to recognize her identity, but she didn't hide it.

The middle-aged woman pounced on the ground and appealed to Lin Pingping: "The woman has heard about you, and knows that you and your brother are good officials who ask for the people's lives, and please save the people of Liuzhou, we really can't afford such a high price of rice!" ”

In the end, it seemed that he had touched something sad, and tears poured out uncontrollably.

Lin Ping sighed secretly, stretched out his hand to help her up, and said seriously: "I know your life is difficult!" I will definitely do my best to help you through this difficult time, I rushed from Leizhou with them to find a way to help you, but please give me a little time! ”

When the middle-aged woman received the reply, her mood had calmed down a lot, and she looked reluctant to watch Lin Ping and the others leave.

It wasn't until a few more customers came to the store that she went to entertain her. When she heard that the price of rice in Liu Feng's rice store had risen to five taels and one stone, her heart twitched inexplicably, but she looked at the direction where Lin usually left.

In the afternoon of the next day, it was another annoying sunny day. It has become an established fact that there is no harvest of summer grain, but there is still no hope for autumn grain, so it is really hopeless.

The money shopkeeper changed to a new set of silk and satin, and walked out of the house with his teeth picked, recalling the taste of the fat goose with shochu just now, and couldn't help humming a little song.

As long as it continues like this, within half a month, he will be able to buy another house and marry a beautiful concubine, and become a real person in this Liuzhou City.

Thinking of the days when he used to be accompanied by a smile and only hoped that the store could sell more "four dollars and one stone" of rice, he really felt that he had no interest before.

He looked up at the dazzling sun, but he hoped that it could go on like this, and hoped that Liuzhou would be a drought every year, so that he could make money every day.

When he was walking on the road, he couldn't help but think of the wonderful speech yesterday morning: "Fellow villagers, it's not that I don't want to sell more of you, it's really for your sake!" The day before yesterday, the United Restaurant had already released a word, and he wanted to buy the rice in my hand for four taels and one stone! It's just that I know that the businessman Tuli, he can buy my rice for four taels and one stone of rice in the restaurant, so he will sell it to everyone for eight taels and one stone, so please understand my difficulties, and the price is still limited today! ”

When he said that, it was crazy. Those people seemed to know that the day was not far off, but they were scrambling to buy it, and some people were even fighting.

Sure enough, when the price was raised to five taels and one stone, no one raised any objections. Instead, more people came running up to him and asking him to sell them more rice.

If this situation continues, the price of rice will be six taels, seven taels, eight taels, and even ten taels in the future, and these poor people will still have to pay obediently, and they will have to accompany themselves with a smiling face.

Although United Restaurant suddenly intervened in Liuzhou's rice market, it could not affect his good mood.

Not to mention that the people behind him can settle everything, this United Restaurant came in at such a big cost to make money, at most it was just one more person to get a piece of the pie.

"What's going on?"

When the money shopkeeper came to the door of Liu Feng's rice store, he couldn't help but rub his eyes, and once thought that he was in the wrong place. The crowding since this time has disappeared, and there is no one in front of the door.

"We're not in the wrong place!"

The little guy behind him was also stunned, and couldn't help but be confused.

"Ah Si, knock on the door!"

The money shopkeeper was quite calm, and immediately gave an order.

A guy trotted directly to the store and knocked on the door, and soon the account room led a few guys to open the door and come out of it, and the money shopkeeper asked directly: "What's going on?" ”

Although Mr. Bookkeeper had been staying in the store, he also heard some movement outside, and pointed in the direction of the United Restaurant: "Everyone was here before, but somehow, they were curious to go to the United Restaurant together!" ”

"Those poor people can't even eat, and they still have the money to go to the restaurant?" When the money shopkeeper heard that the gang of people running to the United Restaurant, he couldn't help but say with disdain.

The bookkeeper shook his head and explained seriously: "No...... No, I faintly heard them say that the United Restaurant is now selling rice! ”

"Let's go over and have a look!"

The money shopkeeper's brows frowned slightly, but he waved his big hand. Although he knew that the other party would intervene in the rice market, he didn't expect to move so quickly, and he didn't understand what means they used to abduct those poor acids.

When the group turned around the street in front of them, they saw the United Restaurant in the center of the street, but they saw that there was already a sea of people in front of the restaurant, and there were thousands of people.

The façade of the United Restaurant is naturally not comparable to his small rice shop, the restaurant here is not only extraordinary, but also very spacious in front of the door, and the plaque is extravagant.

The shopkeeper and his party couldn't approach the United Restaurant, so they could only watch the situation from a distance outside the crowd.

The shopkeeper Chen of the United Restaurant stood on a table, stood under the sun and said loudly to the onlookers: "Fathers and fellow villagers, the United Restaurant will close its doors from today and specialize in selling rice!" We have now purchased 800,000 catties of rice in our hands, and the joint cooperative workshop has successively shipped 10 million catties of rice from Leizhou! It's just that it's an extraordinary period, so we can only limit purchases in advance, but as long as the grain roads in Leizhou and Liuzhou are opened, there will be no more purchase restrictions! ”

The money shopkeeper couldn't help frowning slightly, the other party not only bought rice on a large scale, but also transported tens of millions of catties of rice from Leizhou, and already wanted to intervene strongly in the rice market of Liuzhou Mansion.

However, the move of the United Restaurant seems to be very layman, and the goods have always been scarce and expensive, and this rice market is even more so.

You transferred so much rice to Liuzhou City at once, and the people knew that you had so much rice in your hands, but they were not in such a hurry to buy it. At that time, don't say ten taels and one stone, it is difficult to maintain five taels and one stone, it is really a pig teammate!

"The entire Liuzhou Mansion is not harvested, where is the grain collected in their joint restaurant?"

"I've heard that they bought it from other grain merchants at a high price of four taels and one stone in the past three days!"

"If they bought it for four taels and one stone, then he sold it to them for six stones and one tael, and I still patronize the black-hearted four rice shops!"

……

The onlookers maintained a high sense of vigilance, and when they learned the origin of the rice and grain in the United Restaurant, they already planned to leave here with oil on the soles of their feet.