Lu Bu and Zhou Yu were dealing with the situation that the fan was wearing out too much and wasting too fast, and a guard reported that it was Zhang Shiping who asked to see him.

He instructed the guards to bring Zhang Shiping to him.

It didn't take long for Zhang Shiping to be brought by the guards.

Before he could explain why he came after seeing the ceremony, Lu Bu opened his mouth and asked, "Are you here to sell coal to the Yuan family?" ”

"Exactly." Zhang Shiping replied: "It turns out that Chu Hou knows about this matter.

"I confessed this matter, of course I know." Lu Bu said: "This is not the place to talk, I will find a room later, and I will talk to you about it." ”

Lu Bu didn't want to talk here, and Zhang Shiping certainly didn't dare to ask more.

He followed behind Lu Bu and walked around the coal mine again.

After checking everywhere, Lu Bu said: "I thought there would be many unsatisfactory places here, but now it seems that it is not as bad as I thought, but the craftsmen are underground, you have to be careful." Nowadays, coal is barely enough, and it is not necessary for craftsmen to mine it too quickly. ”

Several managers of the coal mine quickly agreed.

Lu Bu greeted Zhang Shiping, you come with me.

instructed the steward to prepare a room for him, and Lu Bu took Zhang Shiping and Zhou Yu into the room.

After entering the house, he instructed Zhang Shiping: "Close them." ”

Zhang Shiping closed the door and lowered his head to face Lu Bu.

"Is it that most of the coal is taken by the Yuan family, so you are unhappy and think that the benefits you make are too small?" Lu Bu asked Zhang Shiping straight to the point.

"What Chu Hou said is exact." Zhang Shiping replied: "In the past, coal was transferred through me, but now it is suddenly not handed over to me, which is indeed a lot less beneficial......

"Coal will later replace firewood as the basic raw material for combustion. If we grasp coal, we will grasp the lifeblood of the local community in the future. Lu Bu asked, "Are you planning to grasp the lifeblood of Xuzhou?" ”

Zhang Shiping was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly said to Lu Bu: "Chuhou Mingjian, I definitely don't mean that......"

"I allowed you to meddle in coal, in fact, I want you to accumulate some capital." Lu Bu said: "Where is the coal sold, I will take it back completely sooner or later, is it possible that when I want to take it back, you will completely cut off the source of money?" Now that I have only sold some of the coal to the Yuan family, you feel that the income has decreased, so you have come to me. In the future, if all the coal is collected by me, how will you feel? ”

Zhang Shiping lowered his head when he was asked by Lu Bu and did not dare to say anything.

Lu Bu said: "The days you and I have known each other are not short, and the benefits you get from Xuzhou are afraid that you can't even count them yourself." I haven't taken back all the coal deals yet, and you can still make a profit from it at this time. When I sold coal to the Yuan family, I actually want you to know that if you just keep your eyes on the coal mine, one day you will end up with all other livelihoods forgotten. At that time, you will really call the heavens and the earth unspiritual. ”

Zhang Shiping was going to ask Lu Bu why he wanted to sell so much coal directly to the Yuan family.

He also thought that this matter was the coal mine's own initiative, so he wanted to ask clearly, and also to give the managers of the coal mine a dismissal.

Unexpectedly, this matter was actually facilitated by Lu Bu.

Since it was Lu Bu's order, Zhang Shiping certainly didn't dare to ask more.

"How many years have you been a trader?" Lu Bu suddenly asked Zhang Shiping.

Zhang Shiping replied: "I have been a businessman for 20 years......

"Twenty years, how many days have you spent at home?" Lu Bu asked again.

didn't understand why he asked this at all, Zhang Shiping still replied honestly: "In the past twenty years, my days at home are numbered. ”

"It's really worth it to run around all day long for money, and even neglect your family?" Lu Bu smiled slightly and patted Zhang Shiping's shoulder gently: "I can give you a way to make money, but I want you to stop running around from now on, but open a restaurant in Pengcheng." ”

As a businessman, Zhang Shiping also opened a restaurant in the past.

The restaurant belongs to the diligent line, and it is necessary to be diligent and diligent, and it will be busy every day.

So in the end, he didn't run the restaurant because Zhang Shiping felt that he was not only busy in that business, but also had less benefits than the merchants.

Lu Bu mentioned that he wanted him to open a restaurant in Pengcheng, and Zhang Shiping was stunned and asked, "Is Chu Hou serious?" ”

"Seriously, of course." Lu Bu said: "Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, there has been continuous trade with the Western Regions and other places, and the spices sent from the Western Regions have also been favored by the Han people. However, many of these spices can be used in dishes. Moreover, today's dishes are cooked in kettles or urns, and the taste is extremely poor. ”

Since Zhang Shiping was a child, the dishes he has eaten have been either steamed or boiled, and he doesn't feel that the taste of the dishes is bad.

But when Lu Bu said this, he couldn't believe that there were other ways to cook dishes.

"I don't know much about cooking, but I do know something called a pot." Lu Bu said: "When you cook with it, not only is it not as heavy as a kettle, but it will also make more dishes with more colors and taste. The world's dishes are monotonous, you open a restaurant, the dishes are richer, do you still have to worry about no customers coming to the door? ”

"What Chu Hou said is right, but the dishes are either cooked or boiled, is there any other way to cook them?" Zhang Shiping replied: "Some people will use oil to fry, but unfortunately it is not very delicious......

"Who says fried stuff isn't tasty?" Lu Bu said: "So it's not delicious, just because the ingredients are too simple." Tomorrow you come to me, and I will take you with you to prepare all the recipes for making the pot and all the spices you need and can get. With these, you don't have to worry about running a restaurant without having business. ”

"Chu Hou doesn't know that the restaurant belongs to diligence among all industries." Zhang Shiping replied: "If you want to run a restaurant, you must be busy every day. I've opened it before, and I'm busy and don't make much profit......"

"If a restaurant can sell coal or something, do you think it can make more money?" Lu Bu interrupted him and asked suddenly.

Zhang Shiping was stunned, he had sold coal for so long, of course he knew that the interest in coal was very high.

He licked his lips and asked Lu Bu, "Dare to ask Chu Hou, how does the restaurant sell coal?" ”

"Make coal tickets and sell them from restaurants." Lu Bu said: "Let people come to the mine with coal tickets to receive coal, and then the mine and the restaurant share the net profit, what do you think?" ”

Zhang Shiping nodded and said, "If I can do this, I can give it a try." ”

"Not only that, but I'm also asking the restaurant to open an auction hall." Lu Bu said: "In the future, there will be more and more good things sold wherever they are sold, and I am worried not that the restaurant will not make profits, but that you will make too much money and refuse to give it to me." ”

"The army led by the Marquis of Chu was extremely expensive." Zhang Shiping replied: "I only need 20% of the benefits, and the rest will be given to Chu Hou." ”

"You only need 20%, and give me all the rest?" Lu Bu smiled and asked, "Will this make your flesh hurt?" ”

"If it weren't for the opportunity for Chu Hou to earn profits, I would still be selling horses in the north now." Zhang Shiping replied: "Although I have earned a lot, three or five years will not be able to catch up with today's year." The benefits are all given by Chu Hou, of course I can't be too greedy. ”

"Sure enough, there is a big business style." Lu Bu nodded: "No wonder there are so many businessmen who come to Xuzhou, and you are the only one who really makes a lot of money." ”

"It's not all about relying on Chu Hou's support." Zhang Shiping replied: "If it weren't for Chu Hou, I wouldn't have been able to make a living to this extent in my life." The Marquis of Chu conquered the world, and the cost was huge. I'm just a businessman, and all the money I earn is for my own family. Compared with the whole world, I only need 20% of the family, which is still too much. ”

"With interests in front of you and being able to be not greedy, you are indeed different." Gently patting Zhang Shiping's arm, Lu Bu said: "Don't forget to look for me tomorrow, remember, it must be tomorrow." In two days, the army may be on the march, and if you are too late to find me, you can only wait for me to come back and prepare the restaurant. The longer you procrasit, the more money you lose. ”

"I have memorized everything that Chu Hou explained," Zhang Shiping responded.

Lu Bu greeted Zhou Yu: "Gong Jin will return to Pengcheng with me." ”

Zhou Yu agreed and followed Lu Bu out of the room.

Zhang Shiping sent them to the door and bowed down to watch Lu Bu leave.

When Lu Bu walked away, he straightened up and let out a long sigh.

The coal mine manager came over: "How is Gong Zhang?" Did I talk nonsense with you? The sale of coal to the Yuan family in Hebei was the order of the Marquis of Chu. ”

"I know it's Chu Hou's order." Zhang Shiping said: "But you people are also looking forward to selling coal to Hebei." I heard that the price given by the Yuan family in Hebei Province is seventy percent of the market price. It's a lot higher than the thirty percent I received from you. ”

"Gong Zhang is not protected by the Marquis of Chu." The steward said: "Like the price given by Gong Zhang, we really don't earn much profit here, excluding the wear and tear required by the mine and the wages received by the craftsmen, there are not many that can be handed over to Chu Hou every year." ”

"Even if you can't pay a copper coin, Chu Hou won't be short of money." Zhang Shiping replied: "As long as I am here, Xuzhou is a rich land, even if it is really a bad year, I will take out money from my family to support Chuhou." ”

"No wonder Chu Hou relies so heavily on Zhang Gong." I have long known that Lu Bu relied on Zhang Shiping to make money, but the steward still pretended to be completely unaware and said: "I can share the worries of Chu Hou, and I don't want to be relied on by him, but I'm afraid it's also very difficult." ”

"Of course." Zhang Shiping said without humility: "You and I are all worried about Chu Hou, but you haven't done enough." Looking at such a large coal mine, only two taels of coal are produced every year, with such a small output, how can it support the use of Chu Hou's army? ”

"That's what Gong Zhang said." The steward replied to him: "It's just that Chu Hou explained, he asked us to pick more slowly, and not produce so many ......."

"Why?" Coal is a good time to sell well, Lu Bu actually asked the coal mine to be slower, Zhang Shiping asked puzzled.

The steward shook his head: "I don't know what Chu Hou means, but he ordered it, and we can only do it." ”

Zhang Shiping is completely messy.

If he had only met Lu Bu, he would definitely think that this Chu Hou didn't know how to do business at all.

Looking at such a good piece of treasure land, instead of allowing the craftsmen to mine more coal, they also let the production be slower......

Even if you mine a few catties of coal every day, you can earn more profits in this era of coal being sold by catties......

Like Zhang Shiping, Zhou Yu was also puzzled by Lu Bu's explanation not to mine too quickly.

Accompanying Lu Bu to leave the coal mine, Zhou Yu said: "Coal is in short supply, I heard that the price of selling it to various places has increased several times, and the people can afford to buy it for home use, but now it is rare to see it on the market." Some blacksmiths even went to the black market to collect high prices in order to refine tar forging tools from coal. ”

"Gongjin wonders, is it why should I let the mine mine mine mine mine less coal?" Lu Bu asked Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu nodded: "If Chu Hou is willing to let the mine produce more, the army doesn't need to worry about the use at all." Just one coal mine can feed all the soldiers and horses under Chu Hou. ”

"That's what you do at today's market price." Lu Bu said: "The price of anything will not be low when it is in demand. There are actually two reasons why I let the coal mine produce less coal, one is that there will be gas gas under the mine, which will be illuminated by an open flame, which will sooner or later cause a mining disaster, and bury all the craftsmen underground. ”

The same thing was said by Lu Bu more than once.

Listening to his explanation, Zhou Yu was not completely able to understand.

In this era when human life is not precious, if a group of craftsmen dies, it is enough to recruit another group, and there is no need to worry about the death of too many craftsmen, so that no one works in the coal mine.

Although he didn't agree with Lu Bu's explanation, Zhou Yu didn't dare to say it.

After following Lu Bu for so long, he had already figured out the temper of this Chu Hou.

is in a high position, but he does not treat anyone's life as a mustard.

Even those at the bottom of the ladder, as long as they live in Xuzhou, Lu Bu will also consider their survival......

But when he arrived on the battlefield, Lu Bu wouldn't blink his eyes at all.

As soon as the halberd comes out, those who dare to stand in front of him will be picked and killed by him on the battlefield.

Lü Bu showed too much benevolence towards his men, and even ordered the progress of coal mining to be slowed down because he did not want the craftsmen to work underground with open fires......

Although Zhou Yu didn't say anything, Lu Bu still saw that he was puzzled by this: "Actually, there is another reason, Yuan Benchu and I discussed that Xuzhou coal would be given to him at seventy percent of the market price. Now because there is so little coal, he has to spend more money to buy it. If there is too much coal produced in Xuzhou, the price will definitely fall, and when Yuan Benchu pays this money, the coal he buys back will be more than that. ”

He then whispered to Zhou Yu: "Gong Jin also told me earlier that when Yuan Benchu got coal, there would be more weapons forged in Hebei. Could it be that I want to use the coal produced in Xuzhou to support him to forge more weapons, and then be our enemies in the future? ”

(End of chapter)