Because at least 120,000 people in Lin'an City had to go to the grain market to buy grain, so every day there were 2 to 3,000 stone grain ships transported into the city, and they were sent to various rice markets by camel footmen. Lin'an City's newly opened Caoqiaoxia South Street is the most concentrated place for grain stores, and there are 30 or 40 grain stores in the market less than a mile (Note 1), and the main stores of Fengyutang and Rishengzhuang are located here.

Lu Ci, the foot man, went to the wharf early every morning to wait for the arrival of the grain ship, and then carried the whole bag of rice and noodles to Caoqiaoxia South Street, earning dozens of yuan for himself to chew for a day. He is single, has not married a wife, there are no old or young in the family, although life is a little hard, but he is also quiet and comfortable.

Carrying a huge grain bag on his shoulder, Lu Ci walked with a puff, this street, he didn't know how many times he walked, even if he closed his eyes, he could walk to the destination.

This bag of rice belongs to Rishengzhuang, and Meng Shaotang, the old owner of Rishengzhuang, is also kind to a porter like him, never shouts and scolds, and even prepares a pot of tea in the summer, so Lu Ci admires Meng Lao's family very much. It is rumored that he was just a buddy of this day of Shengzhuang in his early years, and because of his diligence and promise, he married the only daughter of the owner, and became a son-in-law, and he got this day of Shengzhuang from his father-in-law. However, at that time, Rishengzhuang was not ranked in Lin'an, and it took 30 years for Meng Lao's family to have today's status.

As soon as he entered the door with the grain bag, a man led him to the backyard of the store, and just as Lu Ci was about to step into the backyard, he suddenly heard a crisp sound.

It was the sound of porcelain being broken.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Ci heard Meng Shaotang shouting and scolding: "How can he be like this? Is that really what Hu Fulang said? ”

Lu Ci was depressed in his heart, the old boss Meng was nearly sixty years old, and since he met, he had never seen this old boss so angry. He also heard a little about Bao Xing and Hu Fulang, Bao Xing is a newly opened shop in the south of the city that only sells wheat flour, and Hu Fulang is the shopkeeper.

"Daddy, what's so angry?" Meng Shaotang's son Meng Zhengxian followed behind Lu Ci, and when he heard his father smashing the cup, his expression was also uneasy, he grabbed two steps, drilled past Lu Ci, and came to the rear.

"Hu Fulang said that his owner is going to close Baoxing." Meng Shaotang's anger was still unresolved, and when he spoke, he was stiff, not as pleasant as usual.

"This is a good thing, why is Daddy angry?" Meng Zhengxian asked strangely.

Meng Shaotang glanced at Lu Ci, who had just put down the grain bag, shook his head, and asked the guy to send Lu Ci away.

Seeing that the irrelevant outsiders were gone, Meng Zhengxian said again: "The orphans and widows in Shaoxing Mansion must have made Fengyutang unable to hold on, he wants to close Baoxing, and Daddy can just take it down, and connect their Luban secret technique, so that Fengyutang and Baoxing Sandpiper Mussels compete, and we will benefit from the fishermen of Shengzhuang!" ”

"The fisherman has profited, but it is not us who profits!" Hearing his son say this, Meng Shaotang was angry again, he was able to have today, it was not a fluke, and he knew the consequences of his failure in calculation. Originally, he wanted to make friends with Baoxing, but he couldn't let go of Hu Fulang's secret technique of Luban, so he deliberately leaked the situation of Baoxing's owner to Fengyutang, he knew that Fengyutang Huang Shaobin was a person, and knew that it would definitely be*, whether it was successful or not, he Meng Shaotang could benefit from it. But he never thought that "Baoxing" would come up with a trick to draw salary, so that his wishful thinking of both getting benefits and selling well-behaved people came to naught.

"What's going on?" Meng Zheng said strangely.

"You tell the young owner again." Meng Shaotang pouted to the guy who was standing quietly.

"Hu Fulang of Baoxing asked the small one to report to the owner, and their owner has sold Baoxing at a discount to Peng Shiyi, the old man of the rice bank, and the business between Baoxing and the grain stores will be taken over by Peng Shiyi after they are handed over." The guy knew that what he brought was not good news, and the expression on his face was a little sneering: "I also said that Peng Shiyi bought his Luban secret technique at a high price, and if we want it, we can also sell it to us at a discount of five hundred yuan." ”

"Five hundred?"

Meng Zhengxian was taken aback, not that the price was too high, but that he felt that the price was really not high, but after thinking about it, if this Luban secret technique was a monopoly, then it would be worth five thousand yuan, but if other families also knew, it would not be worth so much.

"Shall we buy it?" Meng Zhengxian turned to his father.

"Buy, naturally buy." Meng Shaotang sighed, secretly annoyed in his heart, but when he thought of Fengyutang, he couldn't help but laugh. The other party came to break the wrist of this strong man and sold the secret skills of Baoxing and Luban, although he suffered a loss, but it also made Fengyutang, who calculated him, embarrassed himself by not eating sheep.

"If he sells this secret method to several families, it will be worth less than five hundred yuan." Meng Zhengxian said puzzledly: "Why does Daddy still want to buy it?" ”

"Someone else bought it, but we didn't buy it, and in the future, we will no longer have the right to price this flour." Meng Shaotang smiled bitterly: "If you don't buy it, you can't do it." ”

At this time, the price of rice noodles is not set by a single shop, taking rice as an example, the rice store must first grade according to the quality, and then negotiate the price. At the beginning, "Baoxing" did not dare to sell at a reduced price at will, which is why it was born.

After a pause, Meng Shaotang shook his head, although the anger in his heart had not faded, he was finally able to control it: "The Shaoxing Zhao family is just an orphan and a widow, how can there be such means, this must be the plan of Hu Fulang, the big shopkeeper of Baoxing, I have talked to him a few times, this person should not be taken lightly." ”

He was self-righteous at this point, because he always felt that Hu Fulang was very similar to himself when he was young, and he couldn't help but think highly of Hu Fulang. The strong man of "Baoxing" broke his wrist, Hu Fulang just acted according to the plan, and it was Zhao Heju himself who really made suggestions.

When Meng Shaotang's father and son discussed "Baoxing" and Hu Fulang, Hu Fulang was reluctant to stand in front of the door of "Baoxing", with mixed feelings in his heart, and he was reluctant to move his steps for a while.

The guys in the store also knew that the owner had changed, and they looked a little panicked, they were all invited by Hu Fulang, and Hu Fulang was hired by the Zhao family, and now the owner has changed his surname to Peng, so Hu Fulang is naturally leaving, and they guys are afraid that they will be replaced in a short time.

For these guys, although the rules of "Baoxing" are more than the rest of the shops, the pay is also higher, and they are extremely reluctant to lose this job.

Hu Fulang sighed in his heart, although he understood very well why the owner would sell Baoxing, he still felt reluctant. After all, this shop has cost him a lot of effort, and now he has a foothold in Lin'an, and he only needs to run it well, and it is just a matter of course to become a big store like Fengyutang and Rishengzhuang.

"The ...... of the Big Shopkeeper"

Seeing Hu Fulang standing at the entrance of the store, a guy called him, Hu Fulang was stunned, then he came back to his senses, and saw that these guys were all looking at him, he understood what they thought, but Zhao and Ju repeatedly explained, and there were many mouths here, so he just hugged his fists: "If you brothers can trust me Hu Fulang, you will stay here first, and then come to find your brothers to get together." ”

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(There is a guy who has always been good friends with Hu Fulang, so he can get up and whisper: "The big shopkeeper is here, and he will bring a few recommendation tickets for me to go back.") ”）

Note 1: This is a historical fact, which can be seen in "A Brief Discussion on Urban Consumption in the Song Dynasty", by Wu Xiaoliang. These rice markets are similar to today's secondary wholesalers.