When the holy decree arrived in Nanjing, the officials and salt merchants of Nanzhili were dumbfounded. The emperor not only did not blame Huguang for the introduction of grain, but instead scolded Jiangnan officials for being puppets of merchants and interfering in the affairs of other provinces for no reason.

“…… It is for the sake of the ministers to do their own things, ensure the peace of the place, and pay the full amount of taxes. I am very pleased with the introduction of Huguang grain......"

The content of the holy decree spread, and the price of grain in Jiangnan immediately ushered in a new ** rise. The major grain merchants are reluctant to sell, and the rice is still out of stock for ten taels of silver and one stone, and the entrance of every grain store is full of people waiting to buy grain.

In November, the grain prices in Jiangnan still did not fall, but rose even more, reaching 20 taels of silver and one stone, catching up with the grain prices in the famine years. The whole south of the Yangtze River was in mourning, a large number of poor people could not survive, and many handicraftsmen were in a dilemma of food and clothing.

Wu Guifang, the prefect of Yangzhou, convened the magistrates, salt merchants, and grain merchants to discuss how to solve the immediate disaster.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Huguang Zhu Shunming received grain, which caused Yangzhou's grain to skyrocket. The price of rice has risen from 3 taels per stone to 30 taels per stone. There is no food available in the market. If you can't go on like this, if you don't have anything to eat, you will rebel. ”

Wu Guifang warned: "If you are either in a high position, or you have a lot of wealth, once the hungry people rebel, not only will the head on the neck of the official be difficult to protect, but your glory and wealth will also become a thing of the past." ”

After speaking, he looked at Ma Tianxi, the largest grain merchant in Yangzhou. Ma Tianxi relied on Nanjing to guard Liu Gonggong, and the grain business was very popular, and all the prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River had his grain stores.

This food crisis, starting from Zhu Shunming, fueled by Ma Tianxi and other grain merchants, and then Emperor Chongzhen added fuel to the fire, which eventually led to the current situation that is out of control.

Jiangnan is like a powder keg, Yangzhou is the center of the explosion, and if you are not careful, the entire Yangzhou officialdom, businessmen, and civilians will be blown to death.

"Alarmist." Ma Tianxi didn't believe in the words of Governor Wu at all. The Ming Dynasty is in full swing, and anyone dares to rebel? Not to mention anything else, he can kill all these untouchables with more than a thousand people under his hands.

"It's not for the black gauze hat on my head." Ma Tianxi despised Wu Guifang in his heart.

Ma Tianxi didn't smile, and said slowly: "Governor Wu, it's not that you don't sell grain, it's really that the store has no grain to sell." ”

"With the name of Gonggong Liu, a boatload of high-priced grain was mobilized from Jiangxi and distributed to all parts of Jiangnan. Since Lord Wu mentioned it, he has to sell his face. In this way, Yangzhou will sell grain for 100 stone tomorrow. But the price can not be low, thirty-five taels of silver and one stone, and each person is limited to one bucket. ”

After speaking, he looked at Wu Guifang with some smugness. A small prefect, can he fight with Gonggong Liu? Fortunately, the low-key requirements on the fair day will give you a few thin noodles. Otherwise......

Wu Guifang's face was expressionless, looking around at the grain merchants. Seeing that no one answered, he turned his head to the salt merchants and said: "You know better than this official what caused the grain turmoil in the south of the Yangtze River. Is there a way to calm down? ”

The salt merchants looked at each other, and finally Hu Wanan replied: "My lord, we also want to calm down this grain price turmoil, but the initiative is not in our hands. We strictly investigate the illegal salt, which is actually stipulated by the law of the imperial court. You can't let me break the law, can you? Besides, Fang Yanyun (Fang Changqing) will not agree if he wants to! ”

Zhu Er was stunned and did not allow food to go south, thinking that the local people were complaining, it would definitely not last long. Grain is not like table salt, which spoils after a year or two. ”

Wu Guifang nodded slightly, turned to the magistrates, and asked, "Do you colleagues have a good way?" ”

Gaoyou Zhizhou, Tongzhou Zhizhou, Yizhen Zhixian, Taixing Zhixian and others all looked at each other and didn't know how to answer.

Ye Yingtai, the governor of Taizhou, said carefully: "It is better to borrow grain in the name of Yangzhou Mansion to travel to Huguang and Jiangxi." ”

………………

Grain merchants share the same hatred and hatred, and unanimously do not release grain or reduce prices; The salt merchants moved out of the salt transportation so that this institution, which was not under the jurisdiction of the prefect's yamen, stood on the commanding heights of the law, and watched the fire from the other side with peace of mind; The governor of the prefecture and county is okay to manage daily affairs, but they have no way to start this kind of business war emergency.

The meeting ended up with nothing. Wu Guifang walked out of the hall with a black face, looking helpless, shaking his head and sighing. The businessmen only care about a little profit in front of them, but they don't know that a bloodthirsty tiger is staring at the entire Yangzhou shopping mall.

Wu Guifang sat in the study and pondered for nearly an hour. finally smiled bitterly: "For the sake of the people, let the old man bear these pressures." ”

………………

On Wanshou Street near Wanshou Wharf in Jiangdu County (Yangzhou Prefecture), a new shop has opened.

The shop is close to the pier, and the empty façade is very magnificent. The plaque on the storefront is covered with red silk, and the store has not yet opened, so it is impossible to see who the store is.

At about the hour, a firecracker went off, the red silk was lifted, and the store opened. The whole process is simple, direct and rude, which is very in line with the characteristics of Zhu Shunming's forces.

"What kind of store is open? In this Yangzhou City, what else can be sold except food? 'Jiu'an Grain Travel'? What do you sell? Grain line? Grain sellers? The crowd of onlookers woke up like a dream.

A guy in the store posted a notice.

"Our store sells rice, the price is clearly marked, the amount is fair, and there is no bullying for children, everyone is welcome to buy."

"The price of grain is three dollars and a bucket of silver. Open supply. ”

"There are a large number of buyers, and the city can be free of charge."

The crowd boiled.

Those who run to tell each other, those who go home to get money and tools, those who weep with joy, those whose faces are as dead as ashes, those who dare not believe...... And so on.

"I, I'm going to buy one stone, no, five buckets with one stone." A tall, scrawny man trembled over the sack and silver, fearing that the grain store would not sell grain.

"Okay...... "The guy in the uniform quickly stretched out his pocket and took out a big bucket to measure rice." Look at it, a big bucket that is full of weight. If you find that you are short of two catties, you come back and smash our store. ”

One stone and five buckets, more than 300 catties. The guy turned around and said, "Ergou, get in the car, call a team of people, and send this guest officer back." ”

The men were very quick, skillfully carrying three bags of rice onto the cart, and seven or eight guards with swords accompanied them, following the trembling thin man home.

In addition to the men and guards who pulled the cart, there were a few other men who took a lot of leaflets and distributed them to everyone, shouting, "The Jiu'an grain store is open, and the rice is open for supply, as long as three coins and a bucket of silver." You heard it right, three coins and a bucket of silver, open supply, unlimited. ”

The local grain merchants in Yangzhou stared at the arrogant men viciously, and if it weren't for the fierce escort team, these guys might have been killed on the spot. This...... Isn't it to kill the local grain merchants in Yangzhou? Three taels of silver and one stone, the purchase price of Yangzhou grain merchants is more than that.

With the rise of grain prices in the south of the Yangtze River, the grain prices in the grain producing areas have also risen, and the grain prices have skyrocketed from more than one tael to more than a dozen taels.

Merchants are buying up, not down. Even if the price of grain soars, there is still a lot of profit compared to the price of rice in Jiangnan. Therefore, grain merchants in the south of the Yangtze River continued to stock up and continue to eat rice in northern Huguang, Jiangxi and other places. Even the grain from Anhui and Shandong has flowed back to the south of the Yangtze River.

Zhu Shunming opened a grain store in Jiangdu, and the price of grain was so cheap, wouldn't it be a salary from the bottom of the kettle and take the lives of all grain merchants? You must know that in order to hoard grain, many merchants even pawn their property in exchange for cash, just to make a big profit.

Good service, continuous publicity, word of mouth, in less than an hour, most of the people in Jiangdu County know that there is such a grain store that sells grain at a low price.

Food is life. Who knows how long this grain store will be open for supply? Who knows if their prices will go up? Who knows if they will be able to withstand the overt tricks of local food? So tens of thousands of people with sacks and baskets poured into Wanshou Street.

Zhu Shunming stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the more and more crowds of people, and couldn't help frowning: "Why doesn't Li Yuncai control the situation?" If this continues, how to deal with a stampede? With so many people mixed together, wouldn't it be bad for someone to take the opportunity to incite it? The conscience and bottom line of a businessman cannot be overestimated. ”

Li Yuncai is the grandson of Li Laoqi, a big landlord in Chengbu County, who once went to court with Wen Xiucai because of his concubine Wen, and sent Wen Xiucai to prison after twists and turns.

In a lawsuit that was sued by the Yamen, the final winner was actually Li Yuncai, the defendant. After the lawsuit, the Li family went from not dealing with Zhu Shunming to resolutely supporting it, completing a 180-degree transformation.

In order to compete with Wen Xiucai for the right of public opinion, the Li family organized a large number of literati and storytellers to arrange and publicize Wen Xiucai's scandal, which once became the most talked-about thing in Chengbu County.

In an era when there was a lack of entertainment, it was a matter of great excitement for the broad masses of the people to be able to listen to the storyteller's vivid and vivid descriptions in teahouses, restaurants, or open-air squares, such as sneaking into widows taking a bath, wriggling into a kiln to prostitute aunts, and having a private meeting with lovers under the moon.

After the lawsuit ended, the Li family saw a business opportunity from it, and continued to organize people to arrange stories, continue to tell stories in public, and continue to print all kinds of lace stories. However, it is no longer free, but it is starting to charge a small fee.

For this reason, Li Laoqi specially consulted Hu County's order. Hu County ordered him to go to the Yamen for the record and obtain a business license, so that he could operate this matter reasonably and legally.

Therefore, a cultural and entertainment company with a strong market atmosphere - Huayun Entertainment Group was born.

The word "Hua" is taken from She Miaohua, and the word "cloud" is taken from Wen's boudoir name.

Wen's repentance, respect with Li Yuncai, and harmony with the piano. Wen's is indeed talented, and he reads a lot of novels about talented and beautiful women on weekdays, and his mind is full of the drama of the matchmaker sending a letter to the West Chamber under the moon before the flower. The screenplay of the novel written by her was sought after by the general public as soon as it came out.

The Li family's entry into the entertainment industry has a large part of the Wen's credit. This shows Li Yuncai's love for Wen.

She Miaohua entered the Li family's entertainment group, which can be described as a great joy.

She Miaohua was simple-hearted and forced by life, so she had to pretend to be a coquettish and poisonous snake. After being conquered by Zhu Shunming, she gradually revealed the girl's heart.

Singing and dancing is her hobby and specialty. She also liked to read Wen's little talk book, and even came to ask why she didn't arrange the script into a stage play.

The two sides hit it off and jointly established Huayun Entertainment Group. The group has carried out printing and publishing business such as novel publishing, atlas publishing, publishing of four books and five classics, publishing of Buddhist scriptures, customized publishing, etc., and established Huayun Printing Company; ran a "Huayun Entertainment Newspaper" that integrates news gathering, current affairs commentary, lace news and other elements; set up a Huayun Opera Club that conducts storytelling and stage performances.

Wen has a career and is becoming more and more energetic. Coupled with meeting the like-minded She Miaohua, the two burst out with great enthusiasm and devoted themselves to their careers.

Li Yuncai hates and loves this. He loves Wen's other wives and concubines who are completely different from him, and the vitality of his eyes and eyebrows is so cute. The hate is that Wen is too busy to see each other all day, and when he comes home, he is also pondering the script of the novel, and as Wen makes more and more money, Li Yuncai's pressure is also increasing.

As a traditional man, it is a shame to need a woman to support you.

It just so happened that Zhu Shunming was brewing about the Jiu'an Grain Bank, and Li Yun recommended himself to the thatched house and became the chief shopkeeper of the Jiu'an Grain Store in Yangzhou.