"What's wrong?" The two of them changed their faces when they heard this, and they had a bad premonition in their hearts.

"Those who sell flowers outside, I don't know who is listening, are talking that we will reopen the scale tomorrow and receive it according to the market of one or two or five yuan, and some people are noisy in the crowd, saying that the previous market is caused by us, and now the water foot money is put into a lot, and Wan Tong wants to dare to reduce the price to make us look good......"

"!" Hu Barong's originally stiff face finally showed a trace of anger, and he also learned from the thick language of the chiefs to scold.

But he immediately calmed down and instructed the guy: "Go to the warehouse and call Second Master Hu over." ”

Second Master Hu is Hu Feng, and the guy hurriedly went through the back door when he heard this.

Seeing that the guy was leaving, Hu Hai hurriedly said, "Why don't you hang up the water card first?" ”

Hu Barong glared at Hu Hai, what did it mean clearly - what about silver?

"The key is not in the water card, but there is something strange in this matter."

After Hu Barong said this, Hu Hai suddenly realized, but then he felt a little guilty and explained: "I want to reduce the price of cotton, and I only discussed it with the counter yesterday. ”

"There must be an inner ghost." Looking around and seeing that there was no one else, Hu Barong whispered.

"It seems that it was a problem among the few local guys on the counter yesterday, originally two or three were newly recruited by Hailan Hall, because the people were clever and the local language was not hindered, so they were transferred to this side of the cabinet to support, and now it seems that this clever man intends to do it for us to see, but we can't figure out the details of these people."

"It's easy to find out, Brother Feng is here in a while, you let him and the dart masters first detain people and interrogate them slowly, Chief Wang should have taught him before."

The methods of interrogation and some simple psychological applications, Wang Liumei did tell the aborigines sent a thing or two, not to mention how powerful Hu Feng is, the means are always a few points stronger than the head of the county government torture room.

As he was talking, another guy came to report, "Boss, the people outside are making trouble." ”

"It seems that some people can't wait." Hu Barong's face turned pale, "Brother Hai, you quickly lead people to stabilize the situation outside, if you don't have enough manpower, you will transfer it from the warehouse first, and the rest of the cash will be collected and moved to the back." ”

Hu Hai was about to arrange the order, but Hu Barong stopped him again, "Don't be busy, the people over there don't move." ”

"Stationmaster, are you worried about ......?" Hu Hai understood in his heart, this is worried that the other party will attack the west, compared to a few cabinet rooms, the warehouse side is the most important, if someone touches it and puts a fire, it is not a joke.

"Don't care about anything else, you go outside first and try to stabilize the crowd, if it really doesn't work......" Hu Barong hesitated, but finally said resolutely, "If it really doesn't work, just hang out the water card and reopen the scales, which can always stabilize some people." ”

As he was talking, he saw Hu Feng hurrying from the back door.

Seeing Hu Feng's somewhat embarrassed appearance, Hu Barong's heart tightened.

"Brother Feng, what's the matter?"

"Panic? Where am I panicking? ”

"And what are you?"

Hu Feng finally couldn't help laughing, "Stationmaster, the chief's ship has arrived." ”

"Chief? The chief's ship? Hu Barong reacted when he heard this, and immediately rejoiced, "It's from Ryukyu?" ”

"Exactly, the chief said that the much-needed silver was brought with the ship, and as for the situation, we need to meet before making a decision."

Because of Hu Barong's indigenous identity, there were no other elders in Shanghai, and for the sake of insurance, the Senate did not disclose the specific situation of Ma Qianhu and his party in advance, and only asked Hu Barong to prepare. Hu Barong only knew that there would be some support from the Ryukyu side, but he didn't know what the plan was, everything had to wait until someone came, and he also thought that he might have a chief come in person, but when he really knew that there was a chief on the ship that came to help, he was even happier than when he heard that the money had arrived.

After the senate's 'merchant ships' arrived in the Daming Sea, in order to deal with the Kanhe inventory along the way, radio communications and all the munitions were sealed in the bilge compartment, and even the silver brought from the Ryukyus did not dare to be exposed, and the upper floor was full of all kinds of ordinary goods piled up. Because of this, even Ma Qianhu himself could not contact Hu Barong directly, and only contacted Hu Feng after waiting for Kanhe to finish passing through a number of sluices and arriving at the port.

"Stationmaster, I have already arranged the dart master, and the chief wants the Shanghai Station to prepare some carriages and horses quickly, and transport the silver on the ship to the warehouse as soon as it gets night."

Hu Barong only thought for a moment before interrupting: "The eyebrows are already burning now, there is no need to hide people's eyes and ears, and it is easy for people to covet it if you can't see clearly at night, and you are about to make a big fanfare so that those opponents can retreat, so you take me to see the chief first." ”

He didn't forget to give Hu Hai another command, and then he realized: "By the way, did the chief say how much silver he brought this time?" ”

"100,000 taels ......"

…………

When Hu Barong was in full swing to give orders, there was already a commotion outside the gate of Wantong.

Two days ago, the news of the cloth shop in Songjiang came to reduce the price of cotton, the people here were already restless, and now they heard that even Wan Tong was going to reduce the price, and the sudden feeling that it had not been sold had suffered a big loss, and it was already depressed, and the economy of the cloth was said to be high in this way, and it was even more unbearable to see it, and then someone instigated a few words from the side, and a nameless nature burned high.

Although there was no cotton harvest in the past two days, Wantong still wanted to open his doors to do business, but today there was no movement for an unusually long time, and even the soup kitchen shed had not been erected.

Nowadays, there are hundreds of traders who gather outside the 10,000 passes every day, plus the carriages and horses transporting goods and all kinds of hawkers. Even if there are people coming and going on the sixteen-shop pier outside this small east gate, it is quite eye-catching.

Yang Yuanxi's subordinates were mixing in the crowd, and when they saw the opportunity, they shouted everywhere:

"Wan Tong doesn't dare to open the door—'

'I've heard that they colluded with the cloth shops to bring down the purchase price—'

"In previous years, it was one or two eighty-one loads, they first deceived us with a high price this year, but deliberately lowered the price, my flowers were supposed to be shipped to Nandu, just because I believed in the instigation of his family's economy, and lost a lot of money——'

'These black hearts provoked them, if they don't give an explanation, they want to look good-'

'Before we open the door, we'll rush in—'

'Ouch, my cotton-'

'Who lit the fire-'

At this time, I don't know who lit the cotton bales that a group of cotton merchants had placed in the roadside trucks, and soon thick smoke rose and the crowd became excited again.

The steward here was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pot behind the door, and when he saw that Hu Hai had finally come, he was pardoned.

Hu Hai has changed into a calm and relaxed expression, and said to the dart head behind him: "Master Xiao Cai, from now on, I don't care what trouble is outside, as long as someone dares to break through the door, your people just call me, I have bought the substitute debt, the dead dart master is still according to two hundred and twenty-one people, and the injured will be sent to the elderly, this is the rule set by the Shanghai branch, as for Gu Dongzhu and the dart bureau to give us another don't ask." ”

The young dart head was already a strong-blooded man, and when he heard this, he patted his chest and said: "Consul Hu just rest assured, I will arrange it here, with me Cai Jiuyi here, no one dares to look at the jokes of the owner." ”

He had just led someone to escort a few suspicious local guys to the back room, and when he saw someone setting fire to it, his hands immediately itched. Guangdong is quite stable now, and he didn't expect Jiangnan to encounter such a thing.

As for the other men, Hu Hai each developed ten taels of silver to protect the warehouse, and each prepared clubs, equipment, and fire extinguishing equipment, so that they could protect the warehouse thoroughly.

At this time, the movement in the crowd was getting louder and louder, and it was obvious that someone was instigating it, and just when the situation was about to get out of control, the gate of Wantong suddenly creaked open.

Hu Hai slowly walked out of the door with his hands behind his back, several dart masters on both sides, just this extraordinary appearance made the scene freeze for a moment, and the original noise even sounded a little lighter.

As soon as he scolded the guys, the steward rehearsed as early as he had rehearsed, and asked the group to bring out the prepared buckets of white rice porridge, and the porridge shed was erected as usual, and soon someone broke through the defense.

"Those who haven't eaten yet come here and line up, and there are enough food pipes for today." ’

Before the words fell, the cotton farmers of those small households had already gathered around, they were forced to fill the heads, but those who lent money did not let people eat alms, and the scene that was still full of excitement before suddenly opened a big gap.

Recruitment signs were also erected.

'Newly opened Hailan Hall recruits, and anyone who is willing to come, according to the past practice, will be given a monthly salary of three taels, brown rice is full, and there is a wine and meat reward every day. ’

This time, the momentum on the opposite side was a little weaker, and some retail weavers in the crowd were even more eager to try.

Yang Yuanxi saw that the momentum was not right, and wanted to redeem it, so he took advantage of the chaos and shouted: "It's useless to say this, we just need to harvest cotton." ”

'Yes, in the end, whether to harvest cotton or not. His men were clamoring, and the wind was a little swaying.

'Noise! Hu Hai scolded in his heart.

But he had already taken a reassuring pill, and immediately changed to a pleasant appearance, stretched out his hands and pressed down, making a gesture to silence the crowd.

"Hang up the water sign."

A few men heard the sound and hung a new water sign in the air.

Everyone's eyes converged, followed by a wave of exclamation, the sigh can be heard a great relief and a trace of unwillingness and resentment, and some seem to have suffered a loss, that is, they feel that their own cotton is sold too early, because anyone who can read can clearly see a few big characters written on the ink that has not yet dried on the high pink and white sign - today's cotton purchase price is two or five cents per quintal.

"Fathers."

Hu Hai didn't know when an iron 'horn' appeared on his hand.

"Although I Wantong is a new Songjiang business, but the rules of life and work, since the opening of the scales this year, we have lost any money to you?"

Against the backdrop of the big characters on the water sign, Hu Hai's question was unquestionable.

Sure enough, a few voices came from the crowd - 'No. ’

Hu Hai nodded with satisfaction and continued: "Our reputation, you can see it, these days the cloth shop wants to reduce the price of flowers, because we are also a little hesitant, so we have only stopped for a few days. However, Hu Dongzhu thought about it again and again, and still felt that doing business should be conscientious, so in order to reward the trust of the fathers and elders, he sent cotton from afar, and then decided to raise the purchase price of each load by three yuan, just hoping that you would give me a name. ”

After saying that, he looked deeply at the crowd, and the people outside suddenly made another noise, which was mixed with a cheerful atmosphere, many people called Hu Dongzhu Gaoyi, and more cursed Bu Xing in their hearts. Hu Hai arched his hands again, and then Shi Shiran retreated to the back hall.

With such a sincere attitude, the most important thing is that the price of cotton not only did not drop, but added three dollars, compared with the cloth merchants who have reduced the price in various places, this benevolent trick can be regarded as standing, and in this way, it is impossible to take back the lint deliberately released by the cloth shop in order to drag down Wantong.

At this time, in the cabin, Hu Barong also saw Ma Qianhu and his party, who had just arrived all the way.

"The villain has seen the chief."

Ma Qianhu hurriedly helped him up. "Stationmaster Hu, you are a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, you don't have to be so formal, we are here to support this time, and you have to talk about the difficulties here for us."

Hu Barong hurriedly said that he didn't dare, "Now that the silver has arrived, most of the headache has been solved, and the villain next to him has made a slight arrangement, only one case, and now the ship of Wantong seems to be being targeted, and we have just been robbed of a boatload of cotton goods not long ago." ”

"This is a problem, the Fubo army has to use troops in the north, cotton is now a military supply, and it is related to the winter problem of sheltering refugees, so it must be transported out of Hong Kong as soon as possible." Ma Qianhu said, "By the way, have you crossed the path of the robbers?" ”

"That's a bit of an eyebrow."

"That's easy to do, as the so-called is not afraid of thieves stealing, just afraid of thieves, this time I will personally accompany them to play, and help Shanghai Station but this trouble."

Seeing the chief's attitude, Hu Barong secretly felt relieved, but he still didn't forget to remind, "The Ming Dynasty is not as good as the Senate, and there is a saying that the villain dares to remind the chief." ”

"You say."

"Eliminate evil!"

[References]

1, "Daming Huidian"

2, "Records of Emperor Mingshen Zongxian"

3, "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" Fan Shuzhi

4, "Wanli Ye Ed" Shen Defu

5. "The Record of Crimes: The Biography of the Economic Ministers"

6, "History of the Ming Dynasty • The Biography of Xu Guangqi"

7, "The Biography of Erchen"

8. "Compendium of Materia Medica" Li Shizhen

9, "Weiya Anthology" Huo Tao

10, "Wan Department Miscellaneous Notes" Shen Bang

11. "Instructions for the Ministry of Industry and Warehouse"

12, "Wanli Accounting Record" Wang Guoguang, Zhang Xueyan

13. "Regulations on Food and Grain for Officers and Soldiers in Beijing"

14. Peng Xinwei, "A History of Chinese Currency".

15, "Shuyuan Miscellaneous" Lu Rong

16, "Miscellaneous Notes" Li Le

17, "History of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 240, Biography 128"

18, "Jinling Trivia" Zhou Hui

19. "Estimation of Cotton and Cotton Cloth Production in Shanghai in the Ming and Qing Dynasties" Hou Yangfang