The Dai family, the largest grain merchant in Golden State.

An old man who was completely deaf buried his head in black and white sat for a long time and finally said, "Zhu Taishou really rebelled?" ”

Dai Chengsi wrote: "Killed Zhizhou, Tongju and Silu, and was about to divide his troops to occupy the remaining four counties. ”

The old man was not only deaf, but also had bad eyes, so he pasted a magnifying glass on the paper, and his eyes were attached to the magnifying glass. After reading the content of his grandson's writing, he muttered in his mouth: "It's over, it's over, no matter whether the surname Zhu can succeed or not, Jinzhou will have to fight and end the disaster." If the officers and soldiers were killed from the east, Jinzhou would bear the brunt, and I don't know how many people would die. ”

Dai Chengsi continued: "Jinzhou has the victory of mountains and rivers, and it is not easy for officers and soldiers to attack. ”

The old man looked at it for a long time and said, "Since he raised troops in Jinzhou, he must occupy the entire Hanzhong, where is there no victory in mountains and rivers?" Officers and men who wanted to quell the chaos had to come from Shaanxi, Shuzhong, and Jingxiang. ”

After thinking carefully for a moment, the old man said again: "It's good that the officers and soldiers can quickly quell the chaos, but I'm afraid that the surnamed Zhu will take advantage of the terrain and have been fighting against the imperial court for more than ten years. When the time comes, we will definitely levy grain and fight wars every year, what can our Dai family's grain business do? ”

Dai Chengsi wrote: "Does my grandfather think Mr. Zhu can succeed? ”

The old man read it carefully: "The surname Zhu is not Fang La, his father and son have been operating in Yangzhou and Jinzhou for a long time, if they don't make trouble, it will be difficult for officers and soldiers to get in." I heard that the imperial court sent all the elite soldiers to attack Liao, I am afraid that the Zhu family father and son can still occupy the Shu land, and then it will be a situation of separating one side. ”

Dai Chengsi wrote: "There are three officials in Jinzhou City, who have been appointed as the magistrate, and the grandson wants to follow Mr. Zhu to start an incident. ”

The old man lay down and looked at it again, as if he didn't recognize the text.

After a long time, the old man finally spoke: "Alas, I am too old to be decrepit, you can make up your own mind." There is only one thing to remember, there is a way out in everything. Once the Zhu family's father and son appear to be defeated, immediately contact the court secretly, maybe you can still make meritorious contributions and become officials. ”

Dai Chengsi wrote: "Grandchildren remember. ”

After reading it, the old man leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to recuperate: "If you burn it, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse." ”

Dai Chengsi lit the oil lamp, burned all the words he had just written, and helped the old man to bask in the sun.

After a while, the servant ran in: "Lang Jun, Mrs. Zhu...... Zhu Xianggong summoned him. ”

Dai Chengsi said goodbye to his grandfather and hurried to the state office.

Observing the situation in the city all the way, I found that the law and order were good, as if nothing had happened.

There are not even robbers who take advantage of the chaos, and those ruffians in the city have already learned Zhu Ming's methods, and they know that they will definitely be beheaded if they make trouble today.

When I came to the state yahuangtang, I found that three other grain merchants had arrived.

Dai Chengsi bowed his hand, then sat down and waited.

After waiting for about two quarters of an hour, Zhu Ming came from outside, raised his hand to signal that he didn't need to get up and salute, and went straight to the point: "To make a long story short, the four of you are all big grain merchants in Jinzhou. Now that food prices are skyrocketing, this cannot continue. Based on white rice, it can be sold for up to 800 wen per stone. ”

A grain merchant named Song Jue said, "It's too ...... Hmmm......"

"Just call the general." Zhu Ming said.

Song Jue was embarrassed: "General, most of this year's summer grain has been requisitioned by the government. We are all selling last year's grain stockpiles, and the market price has already exceeded 1,200 Wen, and it is really difficult to support it by selling only 800 Wen and one stone. ”

Zhu Ming glanced at the four major grain merchants, and he didn't dare to speak for an instant.

Dai Chengsi is not only a businessman, but also a local scholar, and often runs to listen to Zhu Ming's lectures.

But he had never seen Zhu Ming have such eyes, as if he had a knife hidden in his eye, and he could take someone's life at any time.

It seems that the temperature in the house has dropped by several degrees.

Zhu Ming said in a cold tone: "Don't forget, you don't have to forget, I'm a thief now, and I'm doing a killing business." I don't actually have to call them over, wouldn't it be easier to just lead the troops to raid the house? All the grain in your house is collected from the peasants, or grown by your tenants. There was no disaster in Jinzhou last year, no matter how fierce the price of grain rose, when you collect grain, it is absolutely impossible for each stone to exceed 300 Wen. Am I not merciful enough to allow you to sell 800 Wen? ”

That's true, but it's not like that at all.

Last year and this year, the four grain merchants were apportioned the most money by the government, and they had to sell their grain at a high price to earn it back.

Zhu Ming's meaning is very clear, the money and grain apportioned by the government have nothing to do with him, a thief!

Dai Chengsi hurriedly said: "The Dai family respectfully follows Mr.'s order, and the price of grain will definitely not exceed 800 Wen and one stone." ”

The other three also chimed in, for fear that Zhu Ming would directly raid his house and grab grain.

If you hit a stick, you have to give a sweet date.

Zhu Ming changed his kind expression and said with a smile: "As long as you are honest and obedient, you will have your own benefits." When the other four counties are defeated, each county will select another grain merchant. From now on, in the five counties of Jinzhou, only you eight grain merchants can go to the countryside to buy grain. Only the eight of you grain merchants can open a grain shop in the city. The rest of the merchants are allowed to open shops in the town to sell grain at most! ”

Several people looked at each other, excited and worried.

They can be regarded as having obtained a grain franchise license, as long as Zhu Ming can stand tall, each family will definitely be able to take the opportunity to make a fortune.

But what if Zhu Ming is exterminated? If they are so deeply bound, I am afraid that they will be liquidated by the imperial court.

Dai Chengsi had already decided to follow Zhu Ming into trouble, so he didn't have to worry about it, so he immediately got up and said: "The Dai family is willing to help Mr. achieve great things, and all the scholars in the clan can work for Mr.!" ”

"Very good," Zhu Ming smiled approvingly, "You can follow me, the rest of the literate people of the Dai family will be sent to the various armies to do paperwork first." If you have a little merit, you will definitely be promoted. ”

Another grain merchant gritted his teeth and said, "The Chen family is also willing to help Taishou achieve great things!" ”

Anyway, it's all bound, so it's better to do it more thoroughly.

This hellish world, even if you don't obey the thief, you are being cheated by the government and getting more and more difficult.

Moreover, if Zhu Ming is really destroyed by the imperial court, he will never be a thief. They are the largest grain merchants in Jinzhou, and the officers and soldiers will definitely extort money when they come, just like the ransacking of the southeast when they pacified Fangla.

The remaining two families, looking at each other, also expressed their willingness to send the disciples of the clan to do things - they were afraid that if they continued to hold it, they would be hated and retaliated by Zhu Ming.

Zhu Ming was very satisfied, painted a big pie and said: "I will not forget your contributions, and the future of the marquis is unknown." ”

No matter how much he says, it is a scene, no one can trust anyone, and Zhu Ming has to bear the conscription of a group of officers and soldiers.

Even their grain business license, when the external environment is stable in the future, Zhu Ming will turn his face and deny people.

It's too ugly to cancel the license directly, but you can increase the license. If you issue an additional one every year, it will be worthless in a few years, and it is impossible for anyone to monopolize the grain trade anyway.

At this stage, monopoly is advantageous, and it is more convenient for Zhu Ming to control grain prices.

Regarding those big landlords, big businessmen, and the officials who control the state and county, Zhu Ming does not plan to move for the time being.

The top priority at the moment is to rapidly expand and occupy Sichuan, and the landless peasants are all high-quality soldiers!

The landless peasants who had flocked to the state city to work had already been conscripted into the soldiers. It not only solves the employment problem, but also alleviates the public security problem, and can also quickly fight out the army.

Boatload after boatload of weapons, brought in from Iron Hat Village.

The weapon was simple and rudimentary, that is, countless iron spear heads, and sharpened bamboo or wooden sticks turned into spears. This kind of ordinary pikemen, who do not even have a pair of leather armor, although they can't be defeated in the face of the elite officers and soldiers, but it is more than enough to deal with the local army.

The next day, notices were posted inside and outside the state announcing that the price of white rice had been reduced to 800 wen per stone, and that other grains and old rice would be sold cheaper.

However, the purchase restriction is fully implemented, and when buying grain, it is necessary to bring the household registration book, and those who do not have a household registration must hurry up to handle it.

The common people rushed to tell each other, and there was a cheerful atmosphere everywhere, and they all felt that Zhu Taishou's rebellion was a good thing.

This is really a strange phenomenon, and rebellions elsewhere will only lead to soaring food prices, gentry fleeing, and starvation everywhere. And Zhu Ming rebelled, but he quickly stabilized the price of grain, not to mention the people at the bottom, even the gentry and businessmen were too lazy to run.

Of course, there are always people who are disobedient.

Pingli County is the closest to Jinzhou City, and when the magistrate and the chief bookkeeper heard the news, they ran away directly with gold and silver, and they didn't even care about copper and iron money.

Zhang Jin and Yang Anshi led a thousand newly recruited soldiers and took over Pingli County without much effort.

The gangsters in the city took advantage of the fire to rob, and after Zhang Jin occupied the county government and the cane storehouse, he immediately asked Yang Anshi to lead troops to maintain law and order.

Yang Anshi didn't want to do anything else, just complete the task honestly.

However, when a rich man was fleeing, he accidentally knocked over the box containing his goods. A group of soldiers were so confused that they killed the rich merchants, robbed the money and divided it privately, and even occupied the houses and hid the money in the houses.

When Yang Anshi learned of the situation, he planned to punish him severely, but those soldiers offered their goods and begged for mercy.

There are more than 4,000 in total, Yang Anshi's eyes are straight, and he will never earn so much in his life.

Yang Anshi took out a few hundred guan and distributed them to the soldiers who knew about it, and he monopolized four thousand guan, and warned: "Don't say it outside, otherwise with Mr. Zhu's temper, we will all have to lose our heads!" ”

The soldiers said yes again and again, and happily divided the money.

The two commanders of the Xiang Army, Zhu Ming, when distributing the troops, deliberately did not let them continue to command the Xiang Army, in order to prevent the army from losing control.

Yang Anshi's subordinates are all newly recruited young people.

It is inevitable that there are timid and smart people who are unwilling to take risks with only more than ten yuan of money, and quietly go to Zhang Jin to report.

Zhang Jin used to be a blacksmith in Xuzhou, a thief leader, and a very righteous person. After living in Iron Hat Village for a few years and training under Yang Zhi for more than a year, his thoughts were completely different from Yang Anshi's.

In the name of discussing military affairs, Zhang Jin called Yang Anshi, who just entered the door and heard an angry shout: "Take this guy!" ”

Yang Anshi exclaimed: "You are the main general, I am the deputy general, what qualifications do you have to arrest me?" ”

Zhang Jin said: "Mr. Zhu has repeatedly told him not to rob the people and not to hide money privately, but you don't listen at all. ”

Yang Anshi still didn't feel that he was wrong, and said, "It's a big deal, half of that money will be shared with you." We have all rebelled, what kind of thief is it if we don't rob money? ”

Zhang Jin sneered: "I'm a rough person, I don't know any big truths." I have only met two good officials in my life, one is Xu Taishou of Xuzhou, who was arrested by him and wanted to be killed, and I also admired him as a person. Another good official is Mr. Zhu. Mr. Zhu is doing great things, and he will be the emperor in the future. We are all heroes from the dragon, and we must be able to be princes. Your eyes are too small, you can only see the goods, but you can't see the princes of the generations. ”

"Be a fart prince, maybe one day the officers and soldiers will kill, you and I will all lose our heads," Yang Anshi said, "It's better to get more money and women, and enjoy yourself while you are still alive, and not rebel in vain." ”

"I don't understand you," Zhang Jin ordered, "take the soldiers who have been divided, along with this guy, to the street, and behead them all in front of the people." Whoever robs and hides smuggling in the future will all end up like this! ”

Yang Anshi finally panicked: "I am the deputy general of this road, you kill me and exceed your authority, and you will eat and hang up with Mr. Zhu!" ”

Zhang Jin roared angrily: "Drag it down and cut it!" ”

As soon as the county seat was captured, the chief general slaughtered the deputy general, and sent someone back to inform Zhu Ming, requesting that a deputy general be rearranged.

(Thanks to Mai Lin Benlin, dedicated and reserved a few points of the league leader's reward, O(∩_∩)O~)

(End of chapter)