Ge Yunfei had just sent Li Chengfang to the door. Before she could say goodbye, a group of people came from the road beside them. There were servants holding lanterns in front.
Ge Yunfei took a look and recognized them. They were all local merchants from Suzhou. Normally, she did not have much contact with them. Most of the time, it was her housekeeper who met with them to discuss business matters. For example, Jinxiu needed to buy groceries, and local merchants needed to buy goods from other places.
Usually, they would only meet once during the New Year. They would all come to her house to give her gifts.
Even though she was a woman, she was ranked 16th on the list of top billionaires. In the past, she was ranked 24th. Ever since she started working with Xiao Bei and the others, her assets had obviously increased a lot. Naturally, her status also rose along with the tide.
And these people who came were not even in the top 500, so they had to be more respectful to her.
"Boss Ge, we are really sorry to disturb you so late at night. But we have some misgivings in our hearts, so we have to trouble you." The group of people came closer. Surrounded by people, a middle-aged man spoke to Ge Yunfei with a face full of smiles. He then looked at the person beside him and asked, "This noble is …"
"So it is Boss Yuan. It is not very late. If you have something to discuss, let's discuss it. This is the boss of Thunder Logistics, Li Chengfang, Boss Li." Ge Yunfei quickly showed that her status was higher than this group of people. She was not rude and introduced Li Chengfang at the same time.
There was a series of gasps on the relatively quiet road. The merchants who had rushed over stared at Li Chengfang without blinking. This was the boss of Thunder Logistics, which was ranked higher than Boss Ge. No wonder Boss Ge personally saw him off.
Birds of a feather flock together, as expected.
The merchants respectfully bowed to Li Chengfang again. There was only envy and admiration in their eyes. There was no jealousy because the difference was too great. So great that they could not produce a trace of jealousy.
"Boss Yuan, why have you come at this time? Come, come, come. Let's talk inside. " Ge Yunfei gave way. She already had some guesses in her heart, so she asked now so that she could pull Li Chengfang to deal with it together.
"No, no, no, we're not going in. We're just here to ask. Ge Dongjia is busy, and we're not at ease. Only then did we remember Ge Dongjia's ability. We're here to ask, so we won't waste Ge Dongjia's time."
The man with the surname Yuan politely refused. He also knew that he had to enter through the main entrance now. He didn't want to receive this kind of courtesy. One should eat as many bowls of rice as one's ability. He didn't have the ability to enjoy this kind of treatment. Once he did, the consequences would definitely not be good.
Someone at the side chimed in, "Yes, yes, we just want to ask around. Ge Dongjia, we feel that there is going to be a war soon. Ge Dongjia also knows that every time there is a war, the prices of goods in different places are different. We just want to know if our goods can be adjusted according to the law of the market demand."
Ge Yunfei smiled. She looked at the man and said, "What is the law of demand in the market? The demand of the market is the demand of the common people. I feel that the greatest demand of the common people is to live in a stable and happy environment, and not to see the price of survival necessities rise day by day, but not be able to afford them.
This is the need of the people of the Great Tang, the need of our Monopoly Business Alliance, and even Zhang Xiaobao's personal need. Do you understand? "
"Un … Understood." The merchants were completely frightened. Before they came, they were still thinking about what to hoard, what to raise the price of, and how much to raise it. Now, it was clear that they couldn't hoard anything. Even if they did, they couldn't raise the price.
They didn't expect that the Business Alliance would not take advantage of this opportunity to make more money. Instead, they started to maintain the stability of domestic prices during wartime. Who would dare to go against the Business Alliance's orders? As for Zhang Xiaobao, there was no need to say more. His personal will was unconditionally followed by all the merchants of the Great Tang.
"So … so Xiao Bao didn't agree to the price change." The man with the surname Yuan wanted to confirm.
"Zhang Xiaobao doesn't allow the price of the people's necessities to fluctuate too much at any time. Our Monopoly Business Alliance follows his footsteps. If you really want to make more money, you can try to raise the price of other goods. "
Li Chengfang gave the merchants a suggestion. After all, merchants had their own needs. Moreover, Zhang Xiaobao never cared about the price of other things, especially luxury goods. If the cost was one copper coin, and one could sell it for ten thousand strings of string of cash, that was because one had the ability.
He just didn't want to see the people not being able to afford rice or wear clothes when they had enough resources.
If the country had enough resources, there couldn't be too much fluctuation in the price of these six things. As for the other things, the merchants could do whatever they wanted. Linen cloth could be sold for ten copper coins per bolt, but it couldn't be sold for thirteen copper coins. But if one could sell silk for ten thousand copper coins per bolt, that was because one had the ability.
When the hospital bought licorice, as long as the licorice wasn't so rare that it couldn't be used on every patient, the supplier couldn't sell it for too high a price. As for the tea leaves that could help with digestion, Zhang Xiaobao wouldn't say that you were wrong if you exchanged one catty for a building.
"That … may I ask, can the price of candles be raised? Isn't it also something that should be used for people's livelihood? "Another merchant carefully asked.
"You can raise the price of candles. People won't die without candles, but I advise you not to hoard candles because the Ministry of Works will release a lot of paraffin wax this month. What you are talking about now should be grease wax. It can't be compared to paraffin wax in terms of smell and longevity. Once you hoard it and release a lot of paraffin wax, you will suffer a lot of losses."
Li Chengfang kindly advised. Xiao Bei had already told him that he would first ship a large batch to Jiannan Road. There, Xiao Bei would organize people to process it. The rest of the paraffin wax would be placed in various places in Great Tang. After all, the current oil refining technology was the most primitive. A lot of paraffin wax was produced every day. As long as oil was processed, paraffin wax would appear. Then, people would have to spend a lot of effort to clean it up. Otherwise, it would affect the production.
The perverted merchant who asked the question was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, he had asked. Otherwise, if he really had to hoard candles, the losses would be huge, especially now that the weather was getting hotter.
After repeatedly thanking him, the group of merchants left. They could go back and do business as usual. When the time came, the price of various things would naturally follow a regular pattern. They didn't need to worry about it.
"Ge Dongjia, I'll leave now. Tomorrow morning, it's better for the Business Alliance to issue an announcement to the merchants in various places. So as to prevent them from self-righteously raising the price and causing more losses to themselves."
Li Chengfang said to Ge Yunfei and then disappeared into the night with his subordinates.
Ge Yunfei stood there and pondered. She muttered to herself, "There will be a lot of paraffin wax released. I'll send a batch of it. When the weather is hot, paraffin wax can be stored better than grease wax. There's no need to worry about it."
*****
In Hongnong County, Old Willow Village, the seventh-grade official Liu Feifei also received a telegram tonight.
Compared to other places, Old Willow Village was special because it was directly under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Temple. Moreover, the villagers were united. In addition, there was only one iron cable bridge to enter the village. Therefore, they had a separate telegraph machine.
Usually, there were at least four people guarding the machine room of the telegraph machine 24 hours a day in the village. No outsiders were allowed to come close. Not to mention the machine room, it was difficult to even cross the bridge. There was a small hydroelectric generator near the river in the village to provide power for the village.
There were simple shellers and flour grinders in the village. There was also a cutting machine for processing willow branches. There were more light bulbs. At night, the light bulbs placed on the bank would illuminate the opposite bank.
With so many 'advanced' equipment, how could they let outsiders come in and see? What if they were robbed?
"Let me make models. When the time comes, the paraffin wax can be turned into all kinds of fun candles. Mainly in the image of little dolls, including the design of various animals and houses. When they are made into candles, they can be sold together with the grass seed dolls. Also, make a lot of willow ware and prepare to provide to the transport team. "
This was the content of the telegram Liu Feifei received. Xiaobei didn't tell her about the war, so it was not her turn to worry.
"Feifei, the telegram said to let you prepare to make new dolls?" The old villager had to patrol the vicinity of the telegraph machine room for three hours every day. Every time a message was sent and received, he had to participate and help to provide the solution. After all, he was a scholar and had good knowledge. The teachers in the school in the village were all personally taught by him.
He was a little pedantic. He always wanted to protect his identity as a scholar. However, there was also a benefit. Scholars like him now had backs as strong as iron. If he needed to pick up a sword and a gun to fight, he might not be the most powerful, but he was definitely the most heroic. When the country was rising and falling, escaping was not the choice of a true scholar. He would pull out the sword at his waist and fight to the end with the demeanor of the Six Arts of Gentleman.
Therefore, he was the most idle and the busiest person in the world. He would meddle in everything, but at the same time, he would not care about anything. He was like an old hen. As long as the chicks were fine, he would lie under the sun and enjoy the warmth of life, cooing from time to time.
But when the chicks were in danger, he would stand up and despise all opponents. He would fight with his life until the enemy fled or he fell down.
Now he just wanted to take care of something, especially when the telegraph machine finally rang.
Liu Feifei respected this old hen very much. When she heard the old villager ask, she nodded and answered, "Yes, Xiaobei said that he would send a lot of paraffin wax. At the same time, he asked us to make more wicker baskets. In the future, we will need them when we transport a large number of other things."
"He didn't mention when the war will start?" The old villager was actually most concerned about the national affairs.
"No, the war has nothing to do with me. I only care about the trade of willow and the planting of willow trees in the surrounding areas. My official position is to prevent others from bullying me. If anyone sees the high income of willow in our village and wants to get benefits from it, he should first think about how a child like me can be a seventh-level official.
In the whole Tang Empire, except for Xiaobei's official position, my official position can scare a lot of other local officials. Grandpa, now arrange people to make a large number of willow baskets. Xiaobei said that they will be used soon. "
Liu Feifei planned to implement Xiaobei's words.
The old villager narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. He nodded and said, "So, the war is close at hand."
Well, it's time for the fifth watch. For the time being, I have kept 500 full attendance. I guess this money is the most difficult to earn because there are not many subscriptions for this book, so there is no need to count on subscriptions. Then, there is only the full attendance left. If there were not still people subscribing, I would have given up. But as a web writer, I think I am also a scholar. Like an old hen, I have to have some spirit to protect what I should protect. I am pedantic, but I also have a backbone. So, I never ask. I sell my words, not my personality and dignity. So, you should take the initiative to vote. Don't wait for me to ask, because you can't wait.
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