In the evening, the delivery of the salt goods was completed, and Zhu Wanchun's four hundred taels of silver were also delivered as promised.

Although Zhu Renzhong didn't pay attention to Min Yuanqi's affairs, he didn't put a hundred households in his eyes at all, and in the afternoon, Zhu Wanchun heard a definite news, Liu Zeqing felt that there was no good mansion to live in after entering the city, so he first took over the guard command yamen of Huai'anwei and Dahewei, and lived in Huai'anwei himself, and some other generals lived in Dahewei.

Liu Zeqing has a lot of soldiers and horses, I heard that there are 30,000 or 40,000 people, of course these soldiers and horses will not all enter the city, this time Liu Zeqing will transfer troops and send generals, and the soldiers and horses will live in Andong, Dongyang, Guannan, Shuyang, Shanyang and other counties, in addition to Baoying and other counties in Yangzhou Prefecture, Liu Zeqing is afraid that he will also send soldiers and horses.

Although these places are not as rich and prosperous as Jiangnan, they are densely populated, there are many raw mouths, and there are still some large gentry and grain households in the localities, the important thing is that the salt merchants are rich, Liu Zeqing is stationed here, and the military department in Nanjing will also allocate money and grain, and Liu Zeqing's life will be quite nourishing.

The battalion entered the city and first kicked the military attache of the guard from his yamen, Liu Zeqing was arrogant and domineering, but he did not cause any backlash in the city, and the military attachés of the guard post pinched their noses and moved out of the yamen, so they endured it.

In this way, Zhu Wanchun was even more disappointed with the military attache of the guard, those commanders, fellow knowledgers, and servants were all serious third-grade and fourth-grade military attachés, and they all looked low and small, what can Min Yuanqi do if he tries a hundred households?

For this reason, in the evening, Zhu Wanchun did not come to see him off at all, the silver was delivered as promised, and the salt was also accepted, but obviously it was not that Zhu Wanchun was optimistic about Min Yuanqi, but just acted as agreed.

At the same time, it is also the expression that the wealthy and powerful Zhu family does not take Yang Shida in their eyes at all, and ordinary small and medium-sized salt shops are under Yang Shida's obscenity, but the Zhu family does not take this little salt lord in their eyes.

Even if it is Yang Shida's brother, it is the same thing for the Zhu family, so there is no need to take it too seriously.

It doesn't matter to Min Yuanqi, as long as the silver is given and the salt is received, he wrote down this favor.

"The city was in chaos all at once." Min Yuanjin and Liang Shifa, Min Yuanzhong, Yang Zhijin, Gao Cuncheng and others rushed back to the dock with the cart panting, Liang Shifa said with palpitations: "The rebels looted everywhere, fortunately they didn't grab the grain, we were wearing fat jackets again, and the army and the soldiers had some incense, so we pushed the grain back in the chaos." ”

Because thousands of soldiers and horses poured in at once, Huai'an was in chaos regardless of the city, the new city, and the old city. For the fifty taels of silver that sold salt, Min Yuanqi ordered Liang Shifa and others to buy all the grain, and not to polish the rice and noodles, and to buy all the brown rice and bring it back.

Brown rice is considered a health food in later generations, because it is less planted, and the price is much more expensive than polished rice. At this moment, because the planting range is large and the taste is poor, the key is that brown rice is not as nutritious as polished rice, and the ancients did not understand the protein and sugar content of the fat mill, but the people who eat polished rice and eat brown rice are different, and this is clear. From the teeth to the muscles of the person, the mental outlook is very different.

"How's the price of food?" Min Yuanqi pressed the knife and stood solemnly, he originally had some worries, but now he finally put his mind at ease.

Liang Shifa said: "The price of refined grain has risen to seven dollars and one stone, and the rough grain has also risen to five dollars and one stone. ”

Gao Cuncheng said: "Guide Mansion, Chenzhou area, a few years of money and grain prices to ten taels of stone, I heard my relatives say, when Kaifeng was besieged, the highest price of grain in the city was forty taels of stone. ”

"Good." Liang Shifa wiped his sweat and said with a forced smile: "If we are here at this price, we can only wait to starve to death." ”

There is certainly no standard for grain prices in the Ming Dynasty, generally speaking, the price of refined grain has been maintained for a long time, including rice and flour, about five yuan and one stone, there are high and low, three to four yuan when it is low, five yuan and six yuan when it is high, there is no certain rule.

After a long period of war, including the catastrophe in Henan and Shaanxi, the hungry people are everywhere, and the production is destroyed, the more the people encounter disasters and cannot afford to buy grain, the price of grain will skyrocket like a broken kite, and when a stone is sold for a few taels, a dozen taels, and dozens of taels of silver, it is generally in the time of large-scale war.

"Fifty taels of silver, exactly one hundred stones of rough grain." Liang Shifa wiped his sweat again and grinned: "There are chaotic soldiers everywhere, and the guys in the grain store have run away, and they don't dare to come out to deliver food." Let's push the cart ourselves to get it, a dozen or so people a few trips back and forth is enough, I and the grain merchant Zhao Dongzhu agreed, saved his eight silver feet money, folded into two stones of grain for us. ”

Liang Shifa did not boast of his credit, but the extra two stones of grain were obviously his credit.

Min Yuanqi nodded at Liang Shifa and said, "Shifa is hard. ”

Liang Shifa had a bigger smile on his face, he was not afraid of doing things, he was afraid that his boss would not understand his intentions, and now it seems that Min Baihu understands quite well in his heart, and he is not a reckless man who only knows how to do it.

"One hundred and two stone grain ......" Min Yuanqi breathed a sigh of relief, it stands to reason that twenty percent of this grain is his, and the rest is divided by the small banners and the boiling salt stove households according to the number of dingkou, more than fifty households, each household could originally share more than one stone of grain, barely enough to eat for a month, food and clothing is not wanted, but barely starved to death.

It is necessary to wait for the spring famine to pass, have more wild vegetables and fruits, and then fish and birds to supplement animal protein, and then the average military household can have a better time after the autumn, and save some money to survive the cold winter and the spring famine of the next year.

If the weather is not right, or someone in the family is sick, it is inevitable to sell the house and land, or even sell the children and daughters.

This is the Ming Dynasty, this is the end of the Ming Dynasty, this is the people of the late Ming Dynasty, and this is the military household at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

"Go back to the Cloud Ladder Pass." After the last grain package was placed on the boat, Min Yuanqi was unwilling to stay even one more night, even if he ordered everyone to hold the boat and leave.

Huai'an in front of you is quite prosperous, and some buildings are still preserved until hundreds of years later, of course, those few big yamen, which have become famous attractions in later generations. Min Yuanqi didn't have the heart to look at it, the prosperity in front of him was the last residual warmth before the corpse rotted and festered, meaningless, desolate, he had to take a more difficult and difficult road, but it was a way to live!

……

The return journey is much easier than the road you came from.

All the way down the river the speed of the ship is very fast, when passing the tax card, several people together with the pole, the sail eats the wind plus manpower, and the power of the water flow, although it is loaded with more than 100 stone grain, but the original design of this boat is to carry more than 500 stones, the current shipment is only one-fifth of its normal volume, the hull is very light and the draft is very shallow, when the card is crossed, everyone exerts force, the boat is almost on the water surface and flies, there is a burst of shouting and scolding on both sides of the river, it seems that there are still people driving a small boat to chase, but Zhang Fan downstream the boat they can't catch up at all, After scolding for a while, he gave up.

On the big boat, Min Yuanjin, Liang Shifa, Yang Zhijin, Gao Cuncheng and others, as well as a group of flag soldiers, first looked at each other, and then they were all lying on the boat, and couldn't help laughing.

Before that, it was Min Yuanqi's business to beat people and draw knives to cut people, but at this moment, everyone seemed to have participated in this matter, and they began to feel a little like being in the same boat and hating the same enemy.

Well, it's really all in the same boat.

Seeing such a scene, Min Yuanqi was also happy, this trip to sell salt and buy grain was a good start, not only did he have a fixed cooperative salt merchant and got an investment, but these subordinates could really be used.

As for the people in front of him, like an arm, or even a sincere heart, swearing to serve to the death, it is really early now.

The way to control the next, Min Yuanqi also has some insights, after all, he was also a small official in later generations, and the experience at that time was a little different from this time, but the general truth was almost the same.

There is some truth that is easier said than done.

For example, grace, Enjie's subordinates must grasp the scale and proportion, and they are stingy with famous names such as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and those who serve the country must not die well, such as Qi Jiguang is excluded and suppressed, and he will not be knighted in the end. There are some toasts who are unruly, and in order to win over them, the title of hereditary title is easily granted.

Either they are stingy, or they are indiscriminate, and the way of grace is crooked.

Grace and power are equally important, and power is not chaotic, and the punishment must be reasonable, and grasp the scale of severity.

The group of people in front of them have gone from indifference to friendliness to death for themselves, and they are still far from trust and love.

However, from the current scene, Min Yuanqi also felt a sense of relief...... Looking at the smiling and smiling subordinates on the boat, and seeing the vivid smiles, Min Yuanqi couldn't help laughing.

……

"Brother Yuan Qi." In the middle of the night, Min Yuanqi never entered the small warehouse, his jacket was thick, and with the futon, although there was dew and the moisture of the river, it was better than lying in the cabin and smelling the stench. Besides, the air on the river is very good, because there is no air pollution, and the starry sky above his head is simply bright, Min Yuanqi would rather stay on the deck and suffer some cold, and he would never go under the cabin to rest.

It can drive people out, but it will definitely destroy the image and close relationship that has just been established, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Min Yuanjin came out before and after the watch, and saw that Min Yuanqi was not asleep and was looking up at the starry sky, so he hurriedly drilled over, whispered hello, and then said: "Brother Yuanqi, my heart is not steady......

"What's wrong?" Min Yuanqi knows that this brother is not silent on the surface, but in fact, he is also delicate and shrewd in his heart, although his arithmetic is not as good as Liang Shifa, but he never suffers a secret loss when dealing with people. At that moment, he raised his arm and asked with a smile: "Are you worried that Yang Shida will retaliate against us hundred households?" ”

"Yang Shida and his salt dog are not taken to heart." Min Yuanjin said in a sullen voice: "They are bullying people on the tax card, they left at that time, they came to our hundred households, although Han Sen's house is not convinced by Brother Yuan Qi, but outsiders want to beat our hundred households, they must also copy the guys together, those salt dogs bully the good people, bully our military households, and they can't get started." ”

"And what are you worried about?"

"What I'm worried about is that Yang Shida colluded with the bandits in the Yancheng area, those people are extremely vicious and not easy to get along with. The other is ......" Min Yuanjin looked at Min Yuanqi and whispered: "Brother Yuanqi, you said that you can dry salt, are you bragging to coax Zhu Wanchun's plague, or can you really dry salt?" ”