The three shops to which the Marquis of Wenchang belonged, although they were in the capital, were far apart, and one of them was in Xicheng.

Since the shopkeepers of these three families may be from the Marquis of Jingning's mansion, in order to prevent the other party from ventilating the news, Feng Lanyu asked Jiang Hu to arrange people in advance and guarded the front and back doors of the three stores.

When Mrs. Jiang's carriage came to the door of the grain shop in Xicheng, the shopkeeper in the store didn't react.

The people of the main family have not come to inspect for nearly a year, and today they suddenly came, and it was the famous Mrs. Shizi, whose expression was subtle, and he suddenly had a bad premonition.

When he went out to greet him, he quietly gave a little guy a look.

The little guy immediately crept into the back room and went to the back door, but as soon as he reached the door, he was covered by someone and pressed to the ground.

Feng Lanyu got out of the carriage, stood at the door and looked, the location is naturally good, in the middle of the city, the flow of people is not worried, the store is said to have been in business for more than ten years, there has never been an accident, and the reputation among the people is acceptable.

Feng Lanyu stepped into the door, and saw a somewhat short and fat middle-aged man come out with a smile on his face, bent down and bowed his head and said: "I don't know if the young lady is coming, it's really a disappointment, I snub the young lady, and I hope the young lady is not strange." ”

Feng Lanyu glanced at him and asked, "You are Wang Dehai, the shopkeeper of this grain store?" ”

Wang Dehai hurriedly nodded: "Yes......"

Feng Lanyu nodded, and said with a smile: "Sure enough, people are like their surnames." ”

"Huh?" Shopkeeper Wang didn't understand for a while, but he still complimented and said, "What the young lady said is true." ”

Xiao Zhi, who was following behind him, raised his eyebrows, and almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

Xiaoli asked her in a low voice, "What are you laughing at?" ”

Xiaozhi covered his mouth, leaned over and whispered, "His surname is Wang, what do you say I am laughing at?" ”

Xiao Li thought about it, reacted, and began to cover her mouth and snicker, Xiao Zhi made a silent gesture, the two stopped talking, and followed Feng Lanyu into the grain store.

The interior decoration of the grain shop is not bad, one side is a three-layer shelf, on which all kinds of rice grains are neatly arranged, and on the other side there are neatly piled up some coarse grains that are packed in sacks or bamboo baskets, there are hulled milled rice, there are also unhulled cereals, and some sweet potatoes and corn and the like, there are many categories at a cursory glance, but if you look closely, the inventory of each grain is not much.

Feng Lanyu walked around the grain shop, and the shopkeeper Wang kept following her and reported to her the operation of the grain shop in the past year.

Feng Lanyu interrupted him and asked, "Where is the storage of grain?" ”

Shopkeeper Wang was stunned for a moment, and his smile froze: "Library, inventory?" ”

Feng Lanyu glanced at him, and then looked at Jiang Hu.

Jiang Hu immediately said: "Young lady, there is a warehouse in the backyard of the grain store, and the grain is usually placed in the warehouse, and the goods will be pulled from the Zhuangzi regularly every month. ”

The grain that has just been harvested, some to be shelled, some to be muded, the cereals need to be dried, and the shells taken off are used as chaff, which can be used as animal feed, which are made on the Zhuangzi, and pulled to the grain store by donkey carts or ox carts, and can be sold directly in the warehouse.

Jiang Hu walked directly to the backyard of the grain store and took the sealed blue pomelo to the warehouse.

Shopkeeper Wang's face was anxious, and he stretched out his sleeve to wipe his sweat.

Originally, the storehouse was full two days ago, but yesterday he had just resold the grain in the storehouse, and the people there were in dire need of money, so after he sold the grain, the money was transferred to another master's family.

He pondered that there was still some grain stock on the Zhuangzi, and it would be good to arrange for someone to pull the stock over in the next two days.

Who knew that it was such a coincidence, the grain that had just been sold yesterday afternoon, and Mrs. Shizi came to inspect the store early this morning.

The backyard of the grain shop is not large, and there are four or five rooms, two of which are storehouses, and the other three are for the workers.

The two storerooms are connected, the inside is opened, and the door is locked.

Feng Lanyu turned to look at Shopkeeper Wang and motioned for him to open the door.

The shopkeeper Wang had no way to refuse, the master inspected the house, and it was necessary to look at the treasury and account books, and he took the key to open the door while thinking about how to explain.

The explanation is also very easy to explain, just say that this month's inventory is sold out, and the Zhuangzi has not been pulled over, and the people of the main family don't know whether it is true or false, so they will definitely be able to fool the past.

Thinking of this, Manager Wang immediately made up his mind and slowly opened the door of the warehouse.

The house used as a storehouse faces south, is sunny and ventilated, and is the best two rooms in this yard, with wooden planks on the ground to prevent moisture, and in order to prevent insects, many insect repellent drugs are also applied to the wooden boards and walls, and the main function is to prevent rodent infestation.

In such a good storeroom, there were not many things in it, there were hundreds of empty bamboo baskets piled up in the corner, and the empty sacks were placed next to the bamboo baskets one by one, but in addition, a few baskets of dried peanuts were placed in the corner.

Feng Lanyu walked in with Jiang Hu, looked around, his eyes fell on the baskets of peanuts, and raised his eyebrows: "Shopkeeper Wang, what's the situation?" ”

Jiang Hu's brows furrowed, and even he could see that something was wrong with this shop.

This shopkeeper Wang has also been taking care of the grain shop for several years, so it can't be that there is something wrong with him?

The shopkeeper Wang hurriedly replied with a smile: "It's not the winter solstice soon, the weather is getting colder and colder, the young lady doesn't know, the people in our city have the habit of hoarding grain, this month is a little busy, the grain is sold out, and the Zhuangzi will not be pulled over until tomorrow, so this is the scene you see now." ”

People in the capital hoard grain in winter, this blue pomelo of course knows, not to mention ancient times, even in modern times, many people in the north will carry bags of potatoes, cabbage flour and the like home, put them in the cellar, and eat them for a winter.

Feng Lanyu nodded and didn't say anything.

Shopkeeper Wang hurriedly reached out to wipe his sweat.

Feng Lanyu walked to the courtyard, sat down at the stone table at the bottom of the courtyard, and said to Mr. Wang: "Since this month's grain is selling well, then you can bring this month's account book to me to see." ”

Mr. Wang nodded and hurriedly went to get it.

I couldn't help but rejoice in my heart, fortunately, the account book had already been prepared, otherwise the young lady would definitely have to reveal her stuffing if she checked it so suddenly.

After Manager Wang left, Feng Lanyu said to Jiang Hu on the side: "You take someone to Zhuangzi now, take stock of the grain in the warehouse, and by the way, ask a few more workers over there, how often did you send grain to the grain shop in previous years, how many times a month, how much each time, how many times a month this year, how many times have you sent?" Ask these questions clearly, remember to record them, and let people press their handprints. ”

Jiang Hu nodded, indicating that he had written it down.

Feng Lanyu said: "There are also previous years' harvests, and this year's harvest, how much is each, also ask, the people in the Zhuangzi may not be credible, you can go to the Zhuangzi of someone next door to ask, or ask the nearby villagers, compare the income of the two parties, see if the gap is big, these are best recorded, let them press the handprint, as a testimony." ”

After Jiang Hu heard this, he couldn't help but become serious, nodded and said, "My subordinates will do it." ”

——————

Feng Lanyu said to Xiaozhi: "Xiaozhi, you accompany Jiang Hu and help him count them." ”

Xiaozhi nodded and followed Jiang Hu out of the door.

Jiang Hu was not worried about the safety of Feng Lanyu, and when he left, he left all the guards, returned to the Hou Mansion with Xiaozhi, and took a few more guards before setting off for Zhuangzi.