"It's actually a Jin merchant?"

Jiang Zhe took the news from the Xu family and said in surprise.

Recently, the price of grain on the ground in Jiangnan has risen, which has to attract his attention, and the Zheng family is now the largest seller in Jiangnan. And you must know that now is the time for new grain to be put on the market, and grain prices are going to fall. The Shen family and the Xu family were notified to investigate, and the Wei Mansion first came with news - Jin Shang.

"What do they do with their food?"

Zheng Zhilong buys food to support people, and these days, boatloads of immigrants are constantly being sent to the big people, and it is natural for the Zheng family to buy food.

But what about Jin Shang?

The road from the Central Plains to the west of Jin has been blocked, and the salt merchants of Jinxi in Yangzhou have purchased grain and rice in a big way.

In the Ming Dynasty, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, and in May, the Tartars were sent out of the border fortress, and the plague broke out in Beijing. The refugees from all over the country who had previously taken refuge in the Beijing division because of the Qing army's entry into the fortress dispersed from the capital like a flood. They didn't even dare to stay in Gyeonggi, because since the tenth year of Chongzhen, the plague broke out in Beizhili one after another. Such as Changping, such as Tongzhou, these Gyeonggi important places have plague outbreaks. There are no less than hundreds of people every day, and there are even people who die without leaving a single person in the whole family, although relatives and friends dare not ask to hang, and no one is buried when the door is closed.

Therefore, there is no shortage of food in the current capital, on the contrary, the flight of a large number of residents has greatly reduced the food pressure of the capital division.

To say that at the beginning of the year, the price of grain in Beijing could still reach 35 taels and 1 stone fine grain, but now it is not more expensive than Jiangnan, and the long-distance transportation to Beijing has not made any profit at all.

Of course, this does not mean that Emperor Chongzhen's finances have become loose.

Hong Chengchou wants to clean up the mess in the Central Plains, and also contact Ma Shiying, Huang Degong and others to put pressure on northern Hubei, which requires money and food, right? The reward for the court's contribution before was very demoralizing.

Sun Chuanting recuperated in Qindi, and Emperor Chongzhen still remembered it, always thinking about asking his troops to go out of Tongguan, and Hong Chengchou to fight Li Zicheng together, which also requires a lot of money and food, right? Without the support of the central government, with only the money and grain in the ruined Guanzhong, how could Sun Chuanting pull up an army with no shortage of money and food?

Skipping the hard press, Emperor Chongzhen didn't mention it, just looked at the current situation, "Strange, weird!" Jiang Zhe was really puzzled.

At this time, is anyone still thinking about going to Beizhili? That's the plague, damn thing.

Zheng Zhilong set up the settlement in Denglai in the north earlier, and never thought of introducing displaced people in Jinmen, and this is one of the main reasons.

It is not only a matter of whether it will pierce the eyes of the court, but also whether it will be a matter of life and death whether it will be 'set on fire'.

The Ming people looked at the plague as if they were looking at death, and they all wore it like a god. There is a record in "Talking about the Past in the Flower Village" that when an official was drinking tea with his colleagues one moment ago, he "died without standing up" the next moment; The two of them rode horses and chatted one after the other, and the person behind just said a few words and asked the person in front, but found that this person had "died in the saddle, and his hands were still whipped"; The most chilling thing is probably the strange death of two thieves: a rich family died in the plague, so the two thieves planned to make a windfall, and the two agreed that one would answer on the eaves, and the other would go down to the room to hand over the stolen things, but the person below suddenly died suddenly with the bag, and the person above also contracted the plague and died when he received it, and when he died, the two thieves still had the stolen baggage in their hands.

If it works, I'm afraid no one wants to enter the disaster area.

And even if Beizhili will run out of grain next year because of plague, drought and military disasters, the Jinxi salt merchants in Yangzhou will also take advantage of the opportunity of the new grain on the market and the fall in grain prices to buy grain and rice on a large scale, wanting to make a big profit next year, but is this difference really in their eyes?

The effort and the gain are too disproportionate.

If you want to make the difference next year, then you must first transport a large amount of grain to the north, but the cost and trouble of transportation, as well as the problem of reserves after arriving in the north, are not what those grain profits can make up, right?

What's more, this is not their main business, I have never heard of the salt merchants in the western Jin Dynasty still trafficking grain to the north, right?

Jiang Zhe subconsciously felt that something was wrong. But he couldn't say it, so he could only report the matter to Zheng Zhilong.

Then I went to the flower building to have a banquet.

There is no way, as the agent of the Zheng family in Jiangnan, Jiang Zhe's social status has made full progress. Hugh said that he was an ordinary official, even those who were above the top three grades, and he had to be polite when he saw Jiang Zhe.

But at the same time, Jiang Zhe's friendship also broadened all of a sudden. The daily feasts and courtesies do not stop.

The dignitaries and dignitaries in Jiangnan, the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan, and the gentry one by one......

If he wants, then he can have a banquet every day and an invitation every day. Drunk and lying in the green building, sleeping in the morning pillow and flowers, will no longer be a dream.

But the two sisters, Da Bian and Xiao Bian, will not be dissatisfied with this, because they are also very busy.

Well? Why sister flowers, you say? Is it surprising that Jiang Zhe took in Xiao Bian's family by the way? Bian Min is not a salt-free girl!

As the only women in Jiang Zhe's back house, the hero book in their hands is increasing every day. Jiang Zhe received a bunch of famous thorns on the wine table, and since he accepted it, this is Jiang Zhe's favor.

It's not just that people want to give gifts to the Jiang family, but the Jiang family also has to give gifts in return.

It is also necessary to inquire carefully about the person's birthday, personal festive hobbies, and when people celebrate their birthdays, a suitable gift will be offered.

If the woman in the back house sent an invitation, the Bian sisters really couldn't shirk it, so they would have to record the personal birthdays, preferences, and birthdays of the children who were 'handed' in the meeting.

Jiang Zhe is a business card that Zheng put in Jiangnan, but in fact, it is occasionally rude, and others will not talk much.

But he himself suddenly jumped to a high position, and he still had a sense of pride, not only enjoying the exchanges with these dignitaries, enjoying this sense of superiority at the social level, but also being willing to integrate into the life of this upper class.

This is personal psychology, and the second is to have Zheng Zhilong as an example.

The Zheng Group in the past, and the Zheng Group today, isn't that an active integration into the upper class?

Jiang Zhe is not willing to be a 'ruined' madman.

Therefore, he must try to show the etiquette as much as possible.

So tired that they are the Bian sisters.

At most, he himself pays attention to some people, such as the group of top bigwigs in the Jiangnan realm, or the Shen family. Most of the second- and third-rate characters will be taken care of by the Bian sisters.

The two sisters are like the mistresses of the Jiang family, holding the power of Jiang Zhe's 'housekeeper' now.

In a short period of time, there were a bunch of stewards and purchasers under their hands, and they were assigned to buy all kinds of items and gifts.

Most of the gift lists are framed, and there is a specification for the number of items inside, but to reflect the owner's intentions, it must be as much as possible to choose the preferences and hobbies of the recipient.

This kind of thing is very brainless, but the Bian sisters are happy to do it.

Maybe they will get bored after a long time, but only now, the two are far from getting bored.

This kind of scene made the sisters experience a kind of rush of the official wife.

will even give birth to a reverie, if their father did not die early, they would not be able to have a prominent official position, and the second daughter, as a young lady of the official family, even if she is a daughter of the outer room, can be worthy of a good husband and be the wife of the main house......