"The Zhang family has orders," Xu Si shouted as soon as he saw the two of them.
"Tian Tian (Wang Wang) receives the orders," County Magistrate Tian and Registrar Wang responded loudly.
Xu Si spoke naturally, and so did the two of them. However, this made the others feel uneasy. What kind of Zhang family was this? How could they be more powerful than the officials from the imperial court? Not only did the two old masters open the main door to welcome them, but they were also so respectful?
Could it be that the people who came were more powerful than the imperial court? Who didn't know what the two old masters had been doing recently? They made the lives of the common people better and gave the people in the yamen more money. With such ability, even Shangguan Shangguan had to accompany them with a smile the last time he came. Now that he met three people, he became so obedient?
Not only the yamen runners, but the common people who passed by also saw their old masters dressed like this and were so sincere. They all gathered around curiously, wanting to see what was going on. Could it be that they were coerced by someone? Then they had to help.
Tian Tian and Wang Wang didn't care what others thought of them. They knew who gave them a good life when they were studying, who gave them the status they had today, and who helped them solve their problems. What they did this time wasn't just to respect the Zhang family, but also to respect themselves. People couldn't be without conscience. At the very least, they had to let the Zhang family know that next time they were asked to do something, they didn't have to take out the rice seedlings and just write the word "order".
The two of them thought this and did this. Together, they brought the cloth over. Tian Tian said, "If the head of the Zhang family orders us, we don't dare to disobey. Please take it back."
When Xu Si took the cloth, Wang Wang immediately said, "Please come in. Let's talk inside."
Xu Si and the other two were welcomed in by the two people in the crowd. After an hour of discussion, the three of them came out again. They mounted their horses and hurried to the next place, Guangdu County, where there were still two officials.
After the three of them left, a notice was posted in Shuangliu County. The content was very simple. It said that if they wanted to brew better wine, they would buy grain from the county and the surrounding counties. They also invited grain stores and grain merchants to cooperate. After the good wine was brewed, they would share the profits together.
Previously, the matter of purchasing raw lacquer and caring for the people's livelihood had already made the people recognize the two lords of Shuangliu County. Now that there was a new business, all the merchants with grain came over one after another.
A day later, there was news that Guangdu County had gathered a large number of mules to form a large caravan for the convenience of merchants. They were preparing to travel on the Tea and Horse Road after the autumn harvest.
The two consecutive announcements, which were good news for the commoners and merchants, attracted a lot of people. People who had mules and food sent them to the two counties.
On the second day after Xu Si arrived in Chengdu, he once again rushed to Yizhou. Along the way, he sent out deposits and ordered a large amount of charcoal and leather from the relevant shops.
No one knew what the people who took flying money were doing, but if there was money, they had to earn it. If there wasn't enough charcoal, they would burn it. If there wasn't enough leather, they would raise the price to encourage hunters to hunt.
When the large fleet of Zhang Family and Wang Family arrived in Yizhou, the advance team had already begun to pacify the people in Yizhou. There was nothing else on the mountain, but there was a lot of bamboo and all kinds of wild animals. Apart from the high mountains that couldn't be climbed due to ice and snow, the lower mountains had already been occupied by the locals.
Xu Si, in the name of a merchant, used the salt and cloth he brought this time to trade for bamboo with the locals. The price he set was very high. In addition to bamboo, there were also various kinds of wood that had to be cut down according to the requirements. They had to be cut down at the designated places.
No matter where the locals cut down the wood, as long as they could exchange it for necessities, they were willing to do it. After cutting down the wood for two days, they found that after cutting down the places the merchant had asked them to cut down, there were actually roads.
*****
When the fleet of Zhang Family and Wang Family arrived in Yizhou, it was already the end of summer. After traveling for more than two months, everyone was already tired of sitting on the boat. Only Xiaobei and the others were still as happy as ever.
Zhang Zhong's arrival was very low-key. He tried his best not to let others know. However, it was impossible for such a large fleet to not let others know. Those who heard some information about Zhang Zhong all guessed what was going on.
When Zhang Zhong, who was preparing to continue upward, stood on the deck and looked toward the shore, the people also gathered and pointed at him.
Before others knew the situation, news spread from Shuangliu County and Guangdu County that Zhang Zhong had been demoted. He was demoted from the Provincial Governor of the Upper Province to the Provincial Governor of the Lower Province. It was said that the Zhang family had made too much money and had offended someone they shouldn't have. Furthermore, they also told the local people that if Zhang Zhong's fleet wanted to sell anything, they must ask for more money. This was because the Zhang family was rich. It would be unreasonable if they didn't take advantage of this opportunity to earn more money from the Zhang family.
If this news was said by ordinary people, perhaps not many people would believe it. However, it wasn't said by ordinary people. It was said that it was said by the county magistrate and the registrar of the two counties. This time, everyone was prepared to make a lot of money.
Zhang Zhong didn't disappoint the local people. He really began to buy a lot of supplies along the way, especially vegetable oil. He bought as much as he could, and the price was raised again and again.
By the time the fleet was about to reach Yingzhou, the price of vegetable oil had tripled. This made the seller of vegetable oil feel embarrassed. It was really too much of a bully.
Zhang Zhong also pretended to be wronged, making people feel that he was unlucky to be demoted to a poor place like Yingzhou. Moreover, it was a situation where the local people wouldn't cooperate.
Old Man Pi and the other two old men were also anxious. They originally thought that the Zhang family would buy a lot of food when they arrived here so that they could use it for logistics. They didn't expect that they would collect vegetable oil. How could they not be hungry after eating this? Even if they weren't hungry, they would have diarrhea if they ate too much.
If it weren't for the fear of the two experts of the Zhang family to a certain extent, the three old men would have really gone crazy from anxiety. It was completely different from what they had originally imagined.
"What does the Zhang family mean? Are they still not satisfied? The people of the Ministry of Works have agreed to let them open the salt pans. They have also exempted a lot of taxes. Once the matter is settled, the elders of the Zhang family will also have corresponding official positions. Why don't they organize logistics? "
Old Man Yao had only been in contact with the Zhang Family and the Wang Family for a short time, so he didn't know the style of the two families. He also didn't know that the Zhang Family and the Wang Family could ignore other things, but they would definitely take care of logistics. He hadn't eaten well for two days in a row. He wanted to know what the Zhang Family and the Wang Family were thinking.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Since the Zhang family has agreed, they won't let us down. If the Zhang family can't do it, no one in the Tang Empire can. Otherwise, why would the Emperor send the Zhang family to Yingzhou? They are like the 56 members of the Zero Team of the Zhang family. They are the most elite. The Zhang family is also the Tang Empire, or rather, the Emperor's elite.
If it weren't for the fact that there was no concrete evidence this time and that he didn't want to provoke a bigger war, the Emperor would never send the Zhang family here. It's so good to build a place. They can raise the rent and taxes everywhere and let the people live a good life. The Emperor has no other choice.
Even if there was another person who could reach half of the logistical organization of the Zhang family, the Emperor wouldn't send the Zhang family to this unstable place. Do you think that anyone can and dares to build the Yangtze River Bridge? "
Old Man Pi comforted Old Man Yao, but he was not sure. If he didn't know that the Zhang family had always been bold and unconstrained, he would also go crazy. Why would they collect vegetables, oil, and grain? Grain was the most important thing.
They had asked Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan several times, but the two of them were at a loss.
Seeing that they had arrived in Yizhou, Wang Juan played with her brother and sister for a while. Then she said to Zhang Xiaobao, "Xiao Bao, I think it's a loss for the country that you didn't go to military school for a few years and serve the army.
Your plan reminds me of Operation Ghost Shadow in Calais during World War II. Without Operation Ghost Shadow in Calais, there wouldn't have been Operation Sea King in Normandy. If this operation had succeeded, it would have been written in the annals of Chinese war.
Of course, Li Longji's evaluation of his life had also added one more thing to it, and that was to know how to make good use of people. Xiaobao, what I want to know the most right now is, why are you collecting so much vegetable oil? I don't think you'll spend a lot of ammunition and electrons to paralyze the enemy like Operation Ghost Shadow in World War II.
That's not you, Zhang Xiaobao. You're better at scheming than Eisenhower and Montgomery, and the enemy isn't as capable as Rommel. Tell me, or we'll sleep in separate beds. "
"Thank you. Can you keep it a secret?" Zhang Xiaobao was a little embarrassed by the praise. He lowered his head and asked with a slightly red face.
"Yes," Wang Juan said with certainty.
"I … I can do it too." Zhang Xiaobao became more and more shy.
"Separate. I want to live separately from you. You can live in the mountains."
*****
When Zhang Xiaobao and the Wang family's teams really arrived in Yizhou, the three old men suddenly realized that the things they saw were different from what they had imagined. The people in this place, who had always been difficult to deal with, actually came to greet them.
Could this be the charisma that Xiao Bao and Cuckoo talked about? Why did the people come out and greet them with a smile? No, that's not right.
Wang Juan also sighed at Zhang Xiaobao's arrangements in advance. After her eyes swept around, she selectively forgot about other people and only focused on the two animals in the cage.
"Xiao Bao, panda, panda, look, they're so fun. They're looking at me. Let them out and let Xiaobei and the others play with them."
Wang Juan said excitedly to Zhang Xiaobao.
"Forget it. Do you think pandas only eat bamboo? Pandas are omnivores, okay? You want Xiaobei and the others to feed pandas? There were a lot of reports before that people thought pandas were cute and ate bamboo. In the end, they foolishly went over and got bitten. "
Zhang Xiaobao didn't think that the cage contained domesticated pandas and quickly dispelled Wang Juan's idea.
"Who said that? I also heard that wild pandas often go to the farmer's house to eat and play with their children. Unfortunately, the farmer poisoned the pandas for money and sentenced them to death. If pandas come to our house to eat, I'll definitely make the best food for them. "
Wang Juan really didn't dare to let pandas play with Xiaobei and the others. She wasn't without common sense.
"Pandas like to eat bamboo with little fiber, not other people's food. Unless there's not enough bamboo and there's no other way, they'll eat other things. Let's go. We still need to use the local people for our later plans. Let's go and greet them."
Zhang Xiaobao said as he walked forward.
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