When Qi Sheng's government decree was publicized, in addition to the people in Ningzhou who were particularly excited, not only Liuyunzhai, but also many people in other large and small villages began to be excited. It is better to be able to make money and eat openly than to stay in the village and wait. Drink northwest wind strong.
And many people were even more excited when they saw that the road to be repaired would pass through the township where their family was located. It is definitely a good deal to build a road for their own family and get enough food from the wages!
Since the issuance of the two government orders, there has been an endless stream of people who have come to the government office to sign up, which made them ignore Qi Sheng's second order. However, Qi Sheng is not in a hurry. When these people calm down, they should think of this second order. It's up.
The clerk in charge of the house saw Qi Sheng spending so much money, and advised with some distress: "My lord, these are the only taels of silver left in the treasury now. Now that you have finished spending money on road repairs, you will think of where to use the money later. It will be difficult."
In Ningzhou today, when it comes time to collect taxes, many people will run to hide in the stockade, and there are very few taxes and grains that can be collected. Now there are these in the warehouse, because a lot of corrupt officials and profiteers were raided a while ago Come on, how can there be so many rich people who have committed crimes in Ningzhou? Let them investigate!
Qi Sheng waved his hand, not paying much attention: "You can always find ways to earn money, but if you keep suffocating in the mountains of Ningzhou, you will starve to death sooner or later!"
Seeing that they couldn't persuade Qi Sheng, everyone in the house had no choice but to obey orders and do their job honestly.
When Qi Sheng came to the prison, he was quite satisfied to see that the prisoners in each cell were honestly weaving bamboo baskets. Even the second head and third head of the Qingmu Village, who was so loud at the beginning, devoted himself to playing with the bamboo sticks in his hand until Qi Sheng Sheng stood for a while before he caught their attention.
Seeing that it was Qi Sheng who came, the second and third heads snorted and turned their backs, and continued to bury their heads in their work, not wanting to talk to Qi Sheng at all.
Qi Sheng smiled silently, as long as he can work hard, otherwise so many people would still want to eat his free prison meals!
Road construction will start soon, these bamboo baskets will come in handy, and there will be a great need to buy wild herbs and herbs later on, with these people around, it will save a lot of labor, Qi Sheng left with a satisfied smile, and settled down Looks like a profiteer.
The road construction project was officially launched. In order to reassure these people, Qi Sheng asked them to pay their wages every ten days. Although there are two solid meals a day, the people in Ningzhou are really afraid of being exploited by corrupt officials and profiteers. They were afraid that in the end there would be some reason to deduct most of the wages, and they didn't dare to completely let go of their hearts until they received the wages.
A man who received the money immediately ran to a nearby salt shop to buy some salt, but after asking the price, he couldn't help but stare in surprise: "It's really so cheap! A catty of salt really only costs one hundred yuan!"
The waiter at the salt shop rolled his eyes inwardly, but he replied patiently: "Yes, our salt price has long been the same as that in Xuzhou and Yanzhou. Would you like some?"
The man shouted excitedly: "Yes, give me half a catty, no, I want a catty!"
After holding the salt that the waiter in the shop weighed for him, and looking at the money left in his hand, the man walked home happily.
There are still many people like him. Hearing about the current salt price, they all come to buy a lot. The salt shop sells a lot for a while, but the shopkeeper is not very happy.
In the past, a catty of salt was three hundred renminbi, which was three or four times more expensive than outsiders. People in Ningzhou were expensive to eat salt, and most of the money they earned after working hard for a month fell into the pockets of salt merchants. Unfortunately, the salt officials were powerful back then. The people of Ningzhou have nowhere to ask for help, so they can only live a miserable life.
Later, after the former Ningzhou official was investigated, the new salt merchant who took over was unwilling to make less money. Although the price was reduced symbolically, there was no one in Ningzhou at the time, and each catty of salt still cost one or two hundred renminbi. .
After learning about the price of salt, Qi Sheng had a "good" negotiation with the local salt merchants, and considering that he couldn't push people into a hurry, he set the salt price at one catty per catty according to the surrounding Xuzhou and Yanzhou. Baiwen, compared with the normal price of fifty or sixty yuan a catty of salt, this price is enough to make these salt merchants in Ningzhou make a lot of money.
But Qi Sheng also knew that since ancient times, the salt merchants had been intertwined, and when the entire salt merchant system had not been rectified, it was appropriate to give them some convenience.
However, the current price of salt is enough to make the people of Ningzhou happy. People who bought salt with their wages lamented that Mr. Qi is a great official who pleads for the people.
Qi Sheng's image has been established in the hearts of the people, and naturally some people began to notice another announcement issued by Qi Sheng back then, exchanging wild medicinal materials for rice!
At first, the common people were worried that they would not be able to exchange much rice for the mountain products and medicinal materials they picked so hard, but now that they have experienced Qi Sheng's preferential policies, some people who really can't live on are beginning to feel a little bit moved.
There used to be an Orion family at the foot of the mountain in Baijia Village. Now the Orion has a lame leg. Looking at the dry goods that have been accumulated for a long time, and listening to the news from the village, he made up his mind to pick out some good-looking hickory nuts, chestnuts, and mushrooms.
"Master, you really want to go. I still don't believe the rumors that are so evil." The Orion's wife is not a weak character either. Don't worry, just take the stock at home and exchange it for rice.
Their family is short of food, and there is no extra money to buy oil and salt, but if they can only exchange a little rice with a basket full of dry goods, it is not for nothing that her man rummaged through the mountains with a lame leg. Results!
Orion didn't really believe the rumors, but thinking of the children in the house who were waiting to be supported and his wife who was getting thinner, he finally said helplessly: "It's okay, these things are nothing, I didn't bring the valuable ones, this time Just go and have a look, it’s okay to change some food, besides, if you don’t buy salt, the adults can still cook along with it, but the children can’t bear it.”
Thinking about the children in the family, the Orion's daughter-in-law stopped talking, and prayed in her heart that Mr. Qi is really a good official.
After Qi Sheng announced the news of buying mountain goods, he specially arranged for Xiong San, who knows the goods, to watch them personally. Unfortunately, there were very few people who came to buy goods. .
These mountain products can be eaten as a full stomach in the hands of ordinary people, but they should not be able to afford rice, let alone oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, so it is better for him to lead the sale of a batch, so that These people really have money in their hands.
In recent years, Qi Sheng has met many businessmen, and those businessmen also admire Qi Sheng's brains. Some people even muttered in private that if Mr. Qi is not an official one day, he will definitely become the richest man if he comes to do business. Think about it in your heart, who would let Guangzong Yaozu's high-ranking official be improper and run to become a lowly businessman.
However, many businessmen who have dealt with Qi Sheng have a good impression of Qi Sheng. They have not been looked down upon by these scholars all year round. The scholars think that their livelihood is opportunistic, and they have no status in front of those dignitaries. A small number of them can really think highly of them, and Qi Sheng is one of the very few, who not only think highly of them, but also really think they are good.
Courtesy is reciprocal, these businessmen will come here without saying a word when Qi Sheng has something to do, not only think that Qi Sheng is a nice person, but also know that there is no profit-making business led by Qi Sheng.
Qi Sheng had already written to contact a group of merchants, but they were all told to leave here two months ago, it is only November now, and there is still time to do business with the people of Ningzhou.
He was thinking about the deal, when he heard Xiong San running out of the study excitedly, "My lord, I have something to report!"
Qi Sheng raised his eyebrows, did someone come to sell wild goods
"come in."
Xiong San carefully held a few boxes, and didn't bother to salute when he came in. He said excitedly, "My lord, these are all good things. Take a look, this is a hundred-year-old mountain ginseng!"
Qi Sheng was a little surprised when he heard that, he took the boxes and opened them one by one to check, "It really is a good thing!"
Qi Sheng was curious: "How did this come about?"
After Xiong San explained the ins and outs of the matter to Qi Sheng in detail, he said again: "As you ordered, for such a precious thing, I first gave that person a deposit, and then wrote down the terms for him, so he will never suffer. "
Qi Sheng nodded and was very satisfied. These precious medicinal materials can definitely be sold for a good price outside, but Qi Sheng is not a businessman, and he still has to make a fortune. He can also use some money on the people himself, but like today, he can’t tell if he changes hands. He simply acts as a middleman and pays the seller some deposits first, and waits until the final price is negotiated with the buyer. Then hand over the silver to the seller.
Carrying a heavy amount of silver on his back, and holding a document with a red seal in his hand, Orion smiled inwardly, and when he walked, his legs and legs were windy, making people want to ignore his lame leg.
Walking the path back home, after closing the door tightly, Orion entered the main room and started talking with his wife.
Orion's daughter-in-law has been in a daze since just now. Not long after Orion left for the first time, she came back with a basket full of rice noodles and daily necessities, and handed a few taels of silver to her. The good things I got up carefully packed up and carried away.
Looking at the money in her hand and the large bag of rice noodles on the table, the Orion wife had a guess, but she still couldn't help wondering how much money the head of the family could bring back when she came back again.
After following Orion for so many years, she also knows a lot of good things. She said that the century-old wild ginseng that has been carefully placed will definitely sell for a lot of money. They were hungry and didn't even sell it. Speaking of which, Orion's daughter-in-law knew in her heart that if it took a while, they might not be able to hold on.
While the children were outside, Orion deliberately lowered his voice, and the precious one hugged the wrapped bundle, and proudly asked his wife, "How many do you think there are?"
Orion's daughter-in-law had never seen too much money, so she looked at such a big package and carefully guessed: "Could it be one hundred taels, no no, there are so many, it can't be two hundred taels!"
Orion narrowed his eyes with a rough smile, opened the package and said excitedly, "This is five hundred taels!"
The Orion's daughter-in-law exclaimed, then hurriedly covered her mouth, touched the white silver with trembling hands, and was so excited that she couldn't believe it: "Really, our family... our family is finally going to have a good life!"
Orion looked at the excited daughter-in-law and smiled again: "It's more than that!"
Seeing his daughter-in-law's doubts, Orion quickly explained: "The adult in charge of the transaction also said that the five hundred taels is only a preliminary estimated price, and it will be counted as a deposit. If Master Qi can sell the mountain ginseng at a higher price, The higher part will still be distributed to us!"
The Orion's daughter-in-law opened her eyes wide and couldn't believe her ears at all.
When Orion heard about it for the first time, he couldn't believe it. The obviously serious man blushed with excitement, and the excitement has not subsided until now.
"Hey, this is a document written by the official, saying that I will take this when I am notified to collect money next time."
Orion's daughter-in-law wiped her hands and took it carefully, but she couldn't read and said suspiciously: "Don't fool you, you can't read."
Orion hurriedly pointed to the handprint in the middle of the document and said: "Did you see this? This is Mr. Guo's signature and handprint. I met Mr. Guo before. It's not wrong. He even read it to me specially. wrong."
Orion's daughter-in-law hurriedly asked curiously: "The Mr. Guo you are talking about is Mr. Guo, the successor of Baiyu Academy?"
Orion nodded: "It's him, Mr. Qi specially asked Mr. Guo to be the intermediate witness, so what Mr. Qi said can't be false!"
Only then did Orion's daughter-in-law dare to believe it. She carefully folded the documents and said excitedly, "No, I have to put this away. This is a lot of money!"
Excitedly looking around the room for a long time, she finally found a safe place to store and put away the paperwork. Looking at the money on the table, Orion's daughter-in-law felt that she had a bad heart today.
"Master, what do you think we should do with the money?"
Orion sat down carelessly, looked at the white silver on the table and said firmly: "Buy land and build a new house! My third son Bai has been an Orion for half his life, and he lost one of his legs. I can't let my children live like this again." In the days of begging for a living, when we have land, we will no longer worry about not being able to support their brothers!"
The Orion's daughter-in-law couldn't help but shed tears when she heard the words. How miserable life was at the beginning, she is so happy now. She thought that life would be unbearable, but she didn't expect it to be like this now.
"Master Qi is really a good person, a living Bodhisattva who saves the suffering!"
Orion also nodded in agreement: "Our land in Ningzhou is finally occupied with a good official who can do great things. God bless our ancestors!"