The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This young man doesn't know something. This year, there was a flood in the capital, so there was no rice harvested at all. The grain stored in previous years was all bought by outsiders at high prices. I'll tell you the truth. Although we are the largest grain store in Suizhou, we really don’t have that many.”
"How many are there now?" Xiao Mu then asked.
The shopkeeper stretched out his hand and gestured to Xiao Mu.
Rui Yi behind him frowned slightly when he saw it, "Thirty stones."
You must know how these thirty stones can be eaten by tens of thousands of troops.
The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "No."
"No, how much is that?" Rui Yi quickly asked again.
The shopkeeper said at this time, "Three stones."
"What? Sanshi, a huge grain store like yours can only offer three shi of rice. Why don't you just close the door and stop doing business." After hearing this, Ruiyi's face couldn't help but be full of disbelief. He only had three shi of rice. , these three stones are not enough to fill the gaps between teeth.
After hearing this, the shopkeeper said with a helpless look, "Little brother, these three stones are already the most. Those small grain shops probably don't have even one stone."
"Three stones is three stones. Please pack it up for me and take it to Tongfu Inn!" Xiao Mu stood up at this time and looked at the shopkeeper and said.
Food is scarce now. It’s better to have some than nothing. Let’s get it together bit by bit.
After hearing this, the shopkeeper smiled and said, "Okay, sir, please pay the deposit first."
"Rui Yi." Xiao Mu called Rui Yi at this time.
Ruiyi nodded, and then asked the shopkeeper, "How much is the deposit?"
"It's one-third of the total price, four taels of silver." The shopkeeper said to Ruiyi with a smile.
After hearing this, Ruiyi couldn't help but say again, "Why don't you go grab four taels of silver?"
One-third of the total price is four taels, and the three stones cost a total of twelve taels of silver. This price is several times the usual price.
Now he finally knew the reason why the grain store was deserted.
The shopkeeper looked at Rui Yi and smiled, and then said, "Brother, you can't say that. We transported these rice from afar. The journey is long, and the workers' wages and time spent in the middle..."
"It can't be so expensive. What's the difference between this and robbing it?" Ruiyi interrupted the shopkeeper before he finished speaking.
After hearing this, the shopkeeper could not help but frown, and then said, "Little brother, what you said is wrong. If you don't want to buy it, you don't have to buy it."
"You..." Ruiyi wanted to say something else.
At this time, Xiao Mu interrupted, "Ruiyi, okay, pay the deposit."
After hearing this, Ruiyi nodded, took out three taels of silver from his body, and handed it to the shopkeeper.
After the shopkeeper took it, he smiled and said, "Young master, go back first, and then I will send someone to Tongfu Inn."
"Yeah." Xiao Mu responded and walked out of the grain store.
As soon as he walked out, Rui Yi asked Xiao Mu, "Brother Xiao, how could you agree to him so readily?"
"There is a shortage of food now, and it is inevitable that the food store will raise the price. As the boss said, if it is too expensive, you don't have to buy it." Xiao Mu looked at Ruiyi and said.
After hearing this, Ruiyi nodded, "What should we do next? Do we want to go to other grain stores?"
"This big grain store only provides three kilos of grain, and other small grain stores will definitely have less." Xiao Mu sighed at this time.
Rui Yi then asked, "What should we do?"
"I can only think of other ways." Xiao Mu looked into the distance at this time, and then said.
Regardless of whether we look at the price of food or the food and grass needed by the army, it is far from enough.
I can only think of another way.
Then Xiao Mu said to the two of them, "It's getting late, let's go back to the inn first, and then go out for a walk tomorrow morning."
"Yes." The two of them agreed.
Then several people walked towards the inn.
In the evening, several people had dinner. The food store, which is famous for its food, had already sent three stones of rice over.
Xiao Mu asked the inn to take care of it first.
Then the group fell asleep early.
At this time, Zheng Qiu and others finally entered Suizhou City before the city gate closed.
After he entered the city, Su Tong walked up to Zheng Qiu and asked, "Brother Zheng, what should we do tonight?"
I saw Zheng Qiu thinking for a moment after hearing this.
They don't have much money with them. They don't know when these potatoes will be sold out. By then, all the money for eating for so many people will be here. If they find another place to live, if they can't buy the potatoes in time, they and their group will all have them. I'm hungry.
After thinking about it, Zheng Qiu said to Su Tong, "We don't have much money and can't find a place to stay. Let's take everyone to find a place that is protected from the wind. We will take the potatoes to the vegetable market to sell them early tomorrow morning. .”
"Everything depends on Brother Zheng." Su Tong nodded and said.
Then he walked aside and said loudly to the representatives sent by each village, "Because we don't have much money, we can't find a place for everyone today. Let's find a place that can block the wind first. Everyone will be aggrieved first, and wait until the potatoes are sold." Once the price is good, we won’t have to eat and sleep in the open.”
"Okay." The village representatives behind them said in unison.
Then a group of motorcades walked towards the city.
At this time, Zhao Po and Su Tong, who were walking forward to explore the road, found a dilapidated courtyard, so they opened the door and went in to check.
Apart from being a little broken, at least it can block the wind, which is much better than staying outside.
Su Tong said to Zhao Po at this time, you raise the fire here first, and I will let them come over.
"Okay." Zhao Po nodded.
Su Tong immediately ran out of the yard.
After Su Tong left, Zhao Po found some dead branches and leaves around him, gathered them together, then took out the fire breakers from his body, and then started a fire.
Soon the fire started.
Then, Zhao Po then brought over the fallen wooden piles from the surroundings. This firewood would definitely not be enough for one night, so he would need to prepare more.
You know, the second half of the night is the coldest time.
At this time, Su Tong ran to Zheng Qiu and said, "Brother Zheng, find a good place with a dilapidated courtyard so that everyone can live there without worrying about catching cold."
"Yeah, okay." Zheng Qiu nodded after hearing this.
Then he turned around and said to the people behind him, "Everyone has driven the carriage and found a place to stay."
"Okay." Upon hearing that they had found the place, the village representatives nodded with joy on their faces.
After traveling for so long, they could take a break at noon.
At this time, Zheng Qiu turned around and said to Su Tong, "Brother Su, you lead the way."
"Okay, follow me!" Su Tong said and walked ahead to lead the way.
When they arrived at the dilapidated yard, Zheng Qiu directed everyone to park the carriage in the yard. These potatoes were their entire hope and there was no room for any mistakes.
Zhao Po, who was coming to life in the house, stopped to see the movement outside and came out to help.
After the carriage was ready, everyone entered the house one after another, sat down in front of the fire, and then took out the prepared dry food from their bags and ate it directly.
After everyone had eaten, Zheng Qiu arranged for people to go on duty outside, two at a time, for an hour.
After everything was arranged, everyone took a rest.
The next day, when it was barely getting dark, Zheng Qiu woke everyone up and said, "Everyone, get up quickly. Let's quickly take Tudou to the market. In the morning, there are the most people."
After hearing this, everyone rubbed their eyes and stood up, probably sleepily, and then walked outside to play.
After everyone got up, they drove the carriage and followed Zheng Qiu towards the vegetable market.
The reason why Zheng Qiu is familiar with Suizhou City is because his hometown was in Suizhou Cheng before, and later his family moved to Jiandu. Although he was still young at the time, he could still remember the general location of Suizhou City.
At the vegetable market, small vendors came to set up stalls early in the morning.
These small traders were ordinary people at that time. They brought here the vegetables they couldn't finish at home to sell, or to exchange for some needed things.
At this time Zheng Qiu and his people also came here, and then they found an open space and stopped the carriage.
Several people took out a bag of potatoes from the carriage and poured it in front of them.
The sky was getting brighter, and people were coming out to buy groceries one after another, or bringing some unnecessary things in exchange.
The peddler called for someone to come and started shouting one after another.
"Chinese cabbage, fresh Chinese cabbage, freshly dug Chinese cabbage, sold cheaply, two cents or three pounds."
"Selling radishes, selling radishes, big crispy and sweet radishes, one penny or two pounds."
…
Zheng Qiu couldn't help but frown slightly after hearing this. They ignored a very serious problem. They had never bought potatoes before. How should they price these potatoes
At this time, Su Tong looked at Zheng Qiu. He should also know why Zheng Qiu frowned, because they had not discussed the price of potatoes.
At this time, Su Tong said to Zheng Qiu, "Brother Zheng, I'm going to go to another stall to see if anyone is selling potatoes and ask about the price."
"That's fine." Zheng Qiu nodded and responded.
Then Su Tong handed the sword in his hand to Zhao Po, and then walked to the stall beside him.
I walked through several stalls in a row, selling either cabbage, radish, or pumpkin, but I didn’t see any potatoes.
Su Tong couldn't help frowning at this moment, what should we do? If they don't know the market price, they are afraid that no one will buy it if it is too expensive, and if it is too cheap, they will definitely suffer a loss.
Just when Su Tong didn't know what to do, he heard an old woman's voice shouting, "Potatoes, delicious potatoes."
After hearing this, Su Tong couldn't help but feel happy, and asked about the reputation!
Not far away, he saw an old woman with a small pile of potatoes in front of her. Seeing this, Su Tong hurried over.
Then he bent down and asked, "Old lady, how do you sell these potatoes?"
When the old woman saw someone asking, she quickly said, "Sir, these potatoes are not only delicious but also filling. They only cost two cents a pound."
"Two coins and a pound." Su Tong frowned slightly after hearing this, then nodded and said.
Two pennies per pound is fine for them, not too low.