All the grain merchants in Jingnan County discussed for a long time in the Jingnan County government office. Under the leadership and encouragement of the three largest grain merchants, they reached a consensus and swore an oath over tea instead of wine: All grain merchants in the county will stick together, face the outside world with one voice, and will not lower prices! Anyone who lowers prices privately will be the public enemy of all grain merchants in the county! The fight will not end until one dies!
Shopkeeper Tai and Shopkeeper Lu were no exception, and they also swore an oath with everyone else. First, they were unwilling to lower the price, and they were afraid of being the first to make an example. Now that all the grain merchants in the county have sworn an oath and reached a consensus, they thought that they were just small grain merchants, and only the big grain merchants were qualified to be the first to make an example, so they were safe; second, now that all the grain merchants in the county have sworn an oath, if they did not participate, they would become the enemy of all the grain merchants in the county, and these grain merchants would be able to tear them apart without the county lord's intervention.
I don’t know if it was intentional, but Zhu Ping’an arrived late only after all the grain merchants had reached a consensus and sworn an alliance.
"Greetings, His Excellency the County Master."
"I have met the magistrate."
Seeing Zhu Ping'an pushing the door open, a group of grain merchants came forward to greet him and pay their respects to him.
Zhu Pingan smiled and glanced at everyone, waved his hand at them, and said softly, "No need to be polite, no need to be polite. I am busy with official duties and I didn't pay attention to the time. I am sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."
"How dare we? The county magistrate is embarrassing us. The county magistrate pleads for the people and is busy with hundreds of thousands of people in the county. We should wait a little longer."
A group of grain merchants spoke one after another. When they noticed Zhu Ping'an glancing at them, many of them felt guilty and did not dare to look Zhu Ping'an in the eye. After all, they had just sworn an oath.
"Everyone, please take a seat. I have invited you here this time. I believe you all know why. I will not beat around the bush. I have invited you here this time because of the grain price."
Zhu Ping'an sat in the main seat and spoke straight to the point to the grain merchants without any further ado.
It’s because of food prices!
The grain merchants looked at each other. They were not surprised at all. They knew the whole thing clearly.
Zhu Pingan glanced at the grain merchants one by one, and then said, "As the saying goes, food is the first necessity of the people. Now that there is a flood in the south of the Yangtze River, food is the top priority, and the price of food is the most important. If the price of food is unstable, Jingnan will be unstable, so I intend to define the price of food in Jingnan. However, defining the price of food is related to the people's livelihood and the overall stability of Jingnan County. It affects the whole body, so I dare not make a decision on my own. You are all well-known grain merchants in Jingnan, and you know a lot about food. I want to hear your thoughts? You all don't have to worry about it. Tell me what you think, and I promise that I will not be punished for what you say."
"What?! Define the grain price in Jingnan?!"
The grain merchants were extremely shocked upon hearing this, and they all had expressions of shock on their faces. Many of them even screamed out in uncontrollable shock.
Define the grain price in Jingnan!
This is a huge matter for grain merchants. What does it mean to define grain prices? It means to fix grain prices! Once the grain prices are determined, they are not allowed to raise the prices anymore!
Now the grain prices in various parts of Jiangnan are rising three times a day. If the county lord defines the grain price in Jingnan, then the grain price in Jingnan will not be able to rise any further, and their losses will be immeasurable!
They originally thought that Zhu Ping'an wanted them to lower the grain market price based on the three daily increases, for example, the market price of one stone of grain was 1350 Wen in the morning, and the price of grain in Jingnan was 1340 Wen; the market price at noon was 1355 Wen, and the price of grain in Jingnan was 1345 Wen; the market price in the evening was 1360 Wen, and the price of grain in Jingnan was 1350 Wen. Even so, they could not accept such a price reduction, let alone defining the price of grain in Jingnan and not allowing them to raise the price again!
ruthless!
The county magistrate is so cruel!
The grain merchants never expected Zhu Ping'an to be so cruel! He even wanted to define the grain price in Jingnan!
Yang Zhen, the shopkeeper of Yangji Grain Store, was proud of his status and winked at a junior shopkeeper beside him.
The business of this small shopkeeper was mostly dependent on Yangji Grain Store. After receiving Yang Zhen's hint, he stood up and clasped his fists to Zhu Ping'an, saying, "County Master, it's not that we don't want to, but now most of Jiangnan has suffered from floods. The former land of fish and rice and the granary of the world has become a land of famine. We grain merchants can't get grain in Jiangnan, and can only go to Bashu in the west and Shandong in the north to collect grain with great difficulty. Not to mention the long journey, the grain in Bashu and Shandong is also rising. The local grain used to be 410 coins per stone. The last time our shop manager went to Shandong to collect grain, he offered 500 coins per stone, but the locals ignored him. Not to mention the food and horse chewing, hiring guards, etc. along the way, it is becoming more and more difficult to collect grain, and our costs are getting higher and higher. Please think twice, County Master, and give us a way out."
After someone started talking, a group of grain merchants began to complain to Zhu Ping'an.
"It's a problem, County Master. Even if we collect grain from Bashu and Shandong, it's not easy to transport it to Jingnan. Not to mention the bandits along the way, but now there are floods in Jiangnan, and there are countless refugees and victims. When they see grain, they are like hungry wolves seeing meat. As soon as our grain transport trucks enter Jiangnan, they are always in danger of refugees and victims gathering to loot... "
"Your Excellency, we are all from the same village. We also want to sell grain to you at a low price, but our costs are there. We also have elderly parents and children to support. We can't sell grain at a loss. If we lose money, our whole family will have nothing to eat, and we will have to close down the business."
"Your Excellency, we work hard and get up early just to support our family. Please understand. Besides, we didn't set the grain price. We just follow the market... Please think twice."
…
For a moment, the classroom seemed to have become a grievance meeting for grain merchants, with complaints and grievances heard constantly.
Yes, that's right. The law does not punish the masses, as long as we stick together, we are not afraid of him, Zhu Ping'an.
Manager Yang of Yangji Grain Store was very satisfied with everyone's performance. He couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and glanced at Zhu Ping'an with the corner of his eyes. Manager Yang couldn't help but be stunned at the glance.
He was surprised to see that Zhu Ping'an listened to people's complaints very patiently, nodding slightly as he listened, without any displeasure on his face. He listened patiently without interrupting anyone.
No... This shouldn't be the case. If we do this, shouldn't the county lord be angry?!
horrible!
It's terrible! The county master is so young, but his skills in cultivating qi are so profound! Such a person is terrible.
Shopkeeper Yang, who couldn't figure it out, had to attribute it all to Zhu Ping'an's profound skills in cultivating qi and his cunningness.
Suddenly, Shopkeeper Yang could not help but feel wary of Zhu Ping'an. If it were not for his own huge interests, Shopkeeper Yang really did not want to have a grudge with such a man who was so skilled in cultivating his Qi and so cunning.