The heavy rain relieved the worries of the spring plowing people, but it also made the road more difficult to walk.
The road in Henan Province was also very muddy. Only the rich villages would build a few concrete paths for people to walk on. As for the mainland, it was still paved with sand. It was not that they couldn't afford it, but they couldn't afford to waste the livestock.
Walking on the cement road, the number of times the wheels broke down was reduced, but the livestock's hooves were very worn out. If they hit their paws, it would cause a lot of damage to the road. Before bicycles were popularized and cars were invented, they could only use the dirt road.
The merchants who bought the garlic estimated the distance and the road situation and felt that the profit had decreased. They also found that the ships on the water were busy transporting the normal goods of the season, so the enthusiasm in their hearts faded.
The price of garlic in Henan Province remained three times the normal price. Because of the hype in the surrounding areas, the price had not decreased much. It was still about two times the normal price.
This price was still controlled by people. Otherwise, most of the restaurants and people would try the new dish Between the Clouds and the Water. No one would buy garlic at all.
Wind Logistics, which was in charge of Windy Bridge Shoji, was still buying garlic. The compensation had increased to five times the normal price, but the compensation period was extended. The local merchants didn't send them garlic, but Huainan Province sent them a lot. They directly used the deposit they had just received.
Windy Bridge Shoji, who should have been happy, was now worried. He didn't go to Between the Clouds and the Water near the Luo River to eat the expensive dishes. He went to a restaurant near the Yellow River and ordered two cold dishes. He warmed a pot of wine and looked at the rain outside in a daze.
Yamamoto and Yamamoto weren't very busy recently. They had just finished buying a batch of garlic and the deposit was gone. They wanted to use the silver and sulfur as collateral, but the price was very low. Yamamoto couldn't do anything. Even if he gave a big gift, the other party wouldn't give in.
"How much garlic have you bought?" Windy Bridge Shoji's eyes were still looking outside. He asked casually.
"About 1.4 million catties. The current price is 27 copper coins per catty. The price in the capital is 21 copper coins. According to the compensation ratio, we need to pay 50,000 strings of coins. Including the bribes, it's 63,000 strings of coins. That's all we have. There are still 720,000 strings of silver and sulfur left. The part that is successfully mortgaged still has 9,000 strings of coins."
Shan Ji was very familiar with this data and told Fengqiao Shoji about it.
Windy Bridge Shoji did some calculations and realized that not only did they not make any profit from the garlic, but they were also losing money. He frowned and said, "No, this price is not good. We need to raise the price to more than 50 coins before we can make any profit. Why is there so little money left? Even if one-third of it is mortgaged, it should be nearly 100,000 strings of coins. Just now, it only added up to 72,000 strings of coins. "
"Lord Windbridge, we borrowed from a loan shark. They said that they would give us 100,000 strings of cash, but in fact, they only gave us 90,000 strings of cash. When we return the loan, we will have to return 130,000 strings of cash. That's the principal amount. Besides, there's also the cumulative interest. We can't stand the cumulative interest, so we have to return the interest first. There's also the cost of transporting the garlic and renting the warehouse.
Yamamoto explained.
Fengqiao Shoji's frown deepened. "Since it's 90% and 13% return, why is there still a rolling interest?"
"That's how it was set in the beginning. Fortunately, we rented a warehouse. Otherwise, we would all be drenched," Yamamoto replied.
"No, we have to make the price of garlic rise. Is there any other way to get money? Damned rainy days. "Windy Bridge Shoji began to complain about the weather.
"There is. Rumor has it that the Great Tang Bank wants to limit the use of silver as collateral, but for some reason, it hasn't been implemented. It's just that the price has been lowered. It's said that there has been too much silver recently, and the market has adjusted automatically. It should be because the loan sharks sent the silver to the bank as collateral to get more money.
I think that a few days ago, someone wanted to use the bank to restrict us, but later found that it was not good to do so, so they didn't implement it. It's just a rumor. I think that Zhang Xiaobao must have given the order to not allow the bank to directly participate in non-pure financial activities. "
Yamamoto was in charge of this matter, so he was very familiar with this matter.
Windy Bridge Shoji laughed contemptuously. "Zhang Xiaobao is a fool. If I were him, I would use all the resources I could to restrict my opponent, even the administrative aspects. He actually didn't allow it."
Yamamoto was unhappy. If he said that Zhang Xiaobao was a fool, then wouldn't he be even more foolish after losing several times? He continued Windy Bridge Shoji's words.
"Zhang Xiaobao is not a fool. He just doesn't want to do that. In the book he wrote, the part that was leaked is not important. It mentioned that unless there is no other way, one should use administrative orders to solve the economic crisis. Otherwise, it will lead to confusion in the government and increase the dependence of the government on administrative orders.
It will unknowingly cause the government to be unable to distinguish between business and government, and it will cause the officials to be too involved in economic matters. It will cause the officials to privately use their power to obtain business benefits that they shouldn't have. "
"Then why does his family do such a big business? He is the Bohai Provincial Governor. Look at the northern part of Hebei Province. How many businesses does his family have? " Windy Bridge Shoji snorted. Yamamoto was speechless.
Yamamoto was at a loss for words. After thinking for a while, he said, "Perhaps he will give it up in the future? It's useless to talk about it. The main thing is that he must be involved in the garlic business now. We have to be careful and not be careless. Otherwise, even the bones will be eaten by him. "
"I don't care if he's involved or not. We have to make the price of garlic rise. Mortgage all the remaining silver to the Great Tang Bank and order our people to buy garlic at a higher price. There are still two months until the new garlic arrives. During this time, the price of garlic will definitely rise to 50 coins per catty."
Windy Bridge Shoji couldn't count on others, so he could only take the risk and buy it himself. He hoped that the Great Tang's imperial court would not consider garlic as a necessity and accuse them of hoarding.
Yamamoto and Yamamoto couldn't think of a better idea. Seeing that Windy Bridge Shoji insisted, they gritted their teeth and agreed.
Yamamoto transported about 600,000 strings of silver to the Great Tang Bank in Luoyang. According to the ratio of three to one, they exchanged for more than 200,000 strings of silver and distributed it to the Japanese people all over the country. They started to buy the garlic.
As soon as he started, before Zhang Xiaobao gave the order, Fang Liu 'er reacted first. She sent out telegrams one after another, ordering all the industries that belonged to Xin Er to transfer the funds. She couldn't wait for this day to come.
Because the money had to be sent to the Japanese people all over the country, they couldn't send it to those that were too far away. The distance to buy the garlic was limited to within half a month.
The news quickly spread to Zhang Xiaobao. Mo Jilian was also very interested in this matter. He specifically looked for Zhang Xiaobao and asked, "Zhang Xiaobao, someone is making a move. Aren't you going to do anything?"
"If they don't buy the garlic personally, I will. Since they have come to this step, they don't need me anymore. I'll send the garlic from Huainan Province to lead the way. The others will take care of the rest. It saves a lot of trouble."
Zhang Xiaobao said with a smile. He didn't expect that Windy Bridge Shoji would dare to make such a risky move and was finally forced to this step. After all, the people of Wind Logistics didn't consider the weather.
Mo Jilian didn't understand why Zhang Xiaobao didn't do anything. He was even more curious and asked, "Then you'll just watch them do it?"
"You'll know when the time comes. The Tang Empire is no longer the Tang Empire of the past. Why use a butcher's knife to kill a chicken? Let's not have lunch in Zhuangzi today. I'll go to the school to take a look. The rain is heavy these few days. I'll see if the school has taken the school into consideration. "
Zhang Xiaobao looked at the cattle in the field and said to Mo Jilian.
"What should we eat today?" Mo Jilian didn't understand.
"Stew. Add more ginger slices. It's best if it's beef stewed with radish."
"I've tasted it before. It's bitter."
"You didn't peel the radish when you stewed it. Of course it's bitter."
"Huh? Peel it? "
*****
Just as Zhang Xiaobao said, there was no need for him to do anything. Windy Bridge Shoji's fate was already decided.
Just as Fang Liu 'er used Xin Er's property to attack, the other businessmen followed suit.
Luoyang City, Thunder Logistics Group. The owner, Li Chengfang, ranked 16th on the list of billionaires, immediately called for an emergency meeting as soon as he received the news from Wind Logistics. Then, a transportation team of nearly 30,000 people started to move around Henan.
Suzhou Prefecture, Splendid Grocery. The owner, Ge Yunfei, ranked 24th on the list of billionaires, took out 600,000 yuan at the last minute and used it regardless of success or failure.
Jiannan Prefecture, Yizhou Prefecture, Wanliu Trading. The owner, Dong Long, ranked 71st on the list of billionaires, received a telegram from Kaifeng's office. He was authorized to use Wanliu Trading's shares as collateral and get 800,000 yuan from Kaifeng's Tang Bank as proof. He was to transfer the money to Shouchun branch to buy garlic on the spot and send it to Luoyang by water.
Jiangnan West Prefecture, Yuezhou Lake, Dongting Fishery. The owner, Yang Yang, ranked 19th on the list of billionaires, immediately ordered the fleet that transported fish and prawns to the capital to quickly move out and clean the ships. Along the way, he looked for merchants who wanted to transport garlic and waited in Luoyang for other things to come back.
Hedong Prefecture, Fen Prefecture …
Shannan Prefecture …
Guannei Prefecture …
In this way, one by one, people in the prefecture took action. It was as if they had a tacit understanding. Those who took action were all in the top 100 of the list of billionaires.
Fengqiao Shoji would never have thought that his decision to buy garlic in person because he was worried that it would spoil due to the humidity and make it difficult to travel would attract so many people to attack him.
It was not because of how much money he had. Including the garlic in his hand, he only had 300,000 strings of cash. Anyone in the top 100 of the list of billionaires would have more money than him.
Many businessmen in Tang looked down on his methods. If someone in the top 100 of the list of billionaires wanted to do this, it would create a bigger wave than Fengqiao Shoji. However, they did not dare to do it. They were afraid that Zhang Xiaobao would take action. Another reason was that they had a tacit understanding. They did not want to mess up the economic environment of Tang.
Originally, there were already people who wanted to take action against Wind Logistics. However, they did not know how to disrupt the logistics compensation plan. At the same time, they were also worried that they would disturb Zhang Xiaobao. Therefore, they were waiting.
Now, they finally saw the opportunity and learned a lot from it. It turned out that the simplest way was to change the eating habits of the people in a short time. Then, they would pay off all the deposits and wait for the rain to come.
The rest was to force Wind Logistics to buy the garlic personally. There was no need for Zhang Xiaobao to teach them. The businessmen all knew how to deal with it.
That was to raise the price of the garlic and increase the cost when Wind Logistics bought the garlic. At the same time, they would sell the garlic to Wind Logistics at a higher price. If Wind Logistics did not buy the garlic, they would sell the garlic at a lower price.
Wind Logistics could not afford to do that. They could only take out money to buy the garlic. If they did not buy the garlic now, they would wait for the new garlic to be sold. Then, these people would raise the price of the new garlic. If they bought the garlic now, the price would not go up. Even if they bought the garlic in the end, they would have to pay for it. If they did not take money, they would have to buy the garlic. However, not many of the previous garlic would be preserved by then. If they wanted to minimize losses, they had to sell the garlic before it went bad and the price was still high.
If they sold the garlic at a high price now, they would lower the price so that the garlic in their hands could not be sold at a high price. When the price was low, they would be a foodie. When the time came, most of the garlic would have gone bad, and the new garlic would be sold at a high price.
Windy Bridge Shoji was dumbfounded by the method of using money. He knew that if he insisted, the other party would also pay for it. However, there were so many people. If each of them paid a little, he would lose everything. He could not do that.
Windy Bridge Shoji knew that this was a conflict of interest. He was so scared that he did not dare to buy the garlic anymore. He was thinking about how to preserve the garlic he bought for as long as possible.
However, he found that he did not have a good idea. If the quantity was small, he could do something. The problem was that there were too many of them. If he wanted to preserve them for a long time, he would need other things to increase the cost.
"They are really bullying me. They just want to compare their losses with me because they see that I have to pay a few times more. I hope they will stop and let me get back my money. I will think of a way to sell the garlic in the future. At this time, even the gods will not be able to save the situation. "
Windy Bridge Shoji said to Yamamoto and Yamamoto, who were also worried. It seemed that he was looking for an excuse for his failure. After all, the other party was too strong.
If it were other people, they might agree with him, but Yamamoto and Yamamoto definitely did not. Yamamoto sighed and said, "Zhang Xiaobao not only calculated our capital, but also the changes in the weather and other people's thoughts. This time, he did not continue to do it himself. Windy Bridge Kun, hurry up and sell the garlic. We will accept the loss and collect as much money as we can. Let's first get three times the value of the garlic."
"So what if he continues to do it? Isn't it the same as now? "Windy Bridge Shoji was not convinced.
"Like now? Windy Bridge Kun, you are dreaming. If Zhang Xiaobao continues to do it, we will have to pay. He will not bet with us like other merchants. You have not fought with him personally, so you don't know how powerful he is. "
Seeing that Windy Bridge Shoji was not going to admit defeat, Yamamoto glared at him and scolded him.
Yamamoto also nodded and said, "That's right. Zhang Xiaobao can't be judged by common sense. Not to mention other things, even if he was in our position, he would be able to turn the tide. With the same capital and the same capital, he will not lose. He definitely has a way to make money in this situation.
Otherwise, why do you think the merchants of Tang are so honest? When they do business, they follow the rules. All the merchants of Tang follow Zhang Xiaobao's code of conduct. If the price is high, they will lower it. If the price is low, they will raise it. They are afraid of Zhang Xiaobao. They know the consequences of Zhang Xiaobao's anger. Even if they work together, they will not be able to defeat him. "
"I don't believe it. I don't believe that Zhang Xiaobao is so powerful." Windy Bridge Shoji shouted.
Yamamoto shook his head and sighed, "Sigh! There were many people who didn't believe it back then. That person from Tubo was able to enter the top ten of the list, and he even hid his strength. When Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were fighting outside, he made a move and thought that he could injure Jiannan.
What was the result? A letter sent to Zhang Xiaobao allowed Zhang Xiaobao to discover the problem. Then, he controlled that person from a thousand miles away. Not only did that person lose all his capital, but Zhang Xiaobao also took the opportunity to destroy that person. "
"That's right." Yamamoto continued, "After that, Yamamoto and I didn't believe it. We came up with a plan to sell silver and rice. In the end, we lost. We couldn't accept it and plotted to enter his research site. We came up with the ginseng formula and bought a lot of cement. After that, all the money was lost.
The people from Xinluo didn't believe it and insisted on going to Changning to cheat Li Xun's brother, Li Yu. Li Yu went to Xincai to borrow money from his brother and met Zhang Xiaobao. When he returned, the people from Xinluo lost all their money. Now, they are still trapped and working for him for free.
Later, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan went to Jili Province. However, they didn't believe it and traded with Zhang Xiaobao. They also formed a military alliance with him. In the end, the entire tribe was lost. Later on, the two of them wanted to build a mud river. The Xinluo clan was dissatisfied and arranged for Li Dong to find someone to cause trouble. Now, the mud river was paid by Li Dong and the others. They still can't get back the one million strings of coins.
You are not the first person to be dissatisfied, and you won't be the last. However, the outcome is the same. Whether you believe it or not, you will definitely lose to Zhang Xiaobao. "
"Then what do you think Zhang Xiaobao would do if he were in our position?" Fengqiao Shoji couldn't refute, so he could only ask for advice.
Yamamoto and Yamamoto shook their heads at the same time. "I don't know. We are not Zhang Xiaobao."
While the three of them were thinking about this matter, others were also thinking about it. However, others were more relaxed than them.
Between the Clouds and the Water by the Luoshui River. In a private room on the fifth floor, there was a rustling sound. Then, it stopped, and then the sound was much quieter.
"East Wind."
"That's great. Touch, two."
"I'll eat." "Stop, I'll touch, one chicken."
"I'll eat, white."
"Five."
"I'll eat." "Stop, I'll touch, red."
"Are you guys together to lie to me? It's been two rounds, and I haven't played a single card. Do you think I'm easy to bully because I'm the furthest away from the table? "
The person who didn't eat after shouting twice couldn't take it anymore.
"No, I'm just in time. I won't touch anymore. I'll let you eat." That person hurriedly persuaded.
After a round, the person who didn't eat twice said, "Thirty thousand."
"Eat? I can't eat thirty thousand. Is there anyone else who wants to touch?"
No one said anything. "Then I'll play, Nanfeng."
"Cheater, oh my, someone's already cheater. I got three copper coins just like that."
"I'm not playing anymore," the person who didn't play twice said angrily. He finally played a card with great difficulty, but he was cheated again.
"Don't. Didn't I let you eat it? I didn't touch it. Look, I have two thirty thousand in my hand. You have a bad idea. Isn't it just three copper coins? Do you have to be like this?"
The person hurriedly tried to persuade.
"It's not a matter of money. You guys are ganging up to bully me. It's just like how we bullied Fengqiao Shoji. I can see it now. Can anyone win by bullying like this?"
"Why not? It depends on who it is. If it's Zhang Xiaobao, he won't be afraid of us even if we work together. I guarantee that he'll be able to solve it," the person said to the person next to him.
"Why wouldn't I believe you? This time, we're the ones who joined forces to attack Wind Logistics. Even if we win, if he fights to the death, we'll have to pay for it as well. If we let the people who sent him win, it won't be a glorious win. If it weren't for the orders from the headquarters, I really wouldn't want to get involved in this mess. Let's play cards. If you hit me, you can raise your cards and play. I'll definitely hit you back. Let me say this first. If we don't have a card in the end, the Yellow Banker will play the Yellow Banker.
"I've never seen such a shameless person like you. Fine, I'll win back your cheater money even if I have to. Jiu Bing, if you ask me, this isn't a matter of getting involved in this mess. This time, we'll let other scheming people understand that Tang's money isn't that easy to cheat.
Didn't you see who made the move this time? Fang Liu 'er made the first move, and Zhang Xiaobao didn't say anything. That means that he's tacitly agreed to let us do it. Don't move. I'll fight back even if it's just one. North, I won't regret it. "
"I'll remember you. Two cheaters. The opponent is dreaming. Draw the cards."
"No, I was just thinking about it. Nine cheaters. I'm thinking, Zhang Xiaobao didn't make a move because he knows that he'll be fighting with Wind Logistics. He probably wants us to make a move."
"Don't want nine. Eight. If you ask me …"
"Bam, nine."
"You made it? You made two nine in a row. Now it's my turn, right? Fine, you're good. Two rounds, you cheated me twice. Another round. Are you going to cheat again? "
"How would I know that he has two eight? If you ask me, Zhang Xiaobao definitely won't let us pay. If you don't believe me, just watch. His methods are unpredictable. Two cheaters."
"Bam, I didn't use two cheaters this time. I didn't mean to give you a bye again. I definitely won't play again next time."
"You don't have many cards in your hand. Why bother? Opponent, it's your turn. Can you play a nine?"
"Me? Fine, I'll play. Oh, sorry, I won. Thank you, thank you, everyone. "
"You three play by yourselves. I'm going to watch them play Pai Gow. I can't afford to be angry."
"You paid for two cheaters."
"I owe you."
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