gnovel Chapter 30 Chao's Rice Shop
Chapter 30 Chao's Rice Shop
Lei Heng returned in the evening.
As soon as he entered the granary, he slammed the broadsword at his waist onto the table and downed a large bowl of cold tea.
"happy!"
Liu Bei, Wu Yong, and Song Jiang were discussing matters in the hall when they saw his appearance and all stopped.
"Brother Lei, is everything settled?" Liu Bei asked.
Lei Heng wiped his mouth and burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, brother!"
"Zhang Wenyuan's legs were both broken by the brothers. He was dragged out of the north gate like a dead dog. He'll never be able to return to Yuncheng County in his lifetime."
Song Jiang listened without showing any expression.
Wu Yong, fanning himself, asked, "What about Yan Poxi?"
Mentioning this woman, Lei Heng's smile deepened.
"At first, that woman cried and made a scene, even threatening to kill herself. But when she heard that she was to be sold to a foreign merchant, she became quiet."
"Today, a Khitan caravan happened to be leaving the pass, so I took it upon myself to sell her to the caravan leader for fifty strings of cash."
"When the Khitan chieftain saw her, his eyes almost popped out of his head. He kept saying I sold her too cheaply. As he was leaving, he kept thanking me."
Lei Heng spoke with great enthusiasm.
"Brother, you didn't see it! When those Khitan men dragged that woman onto the carriage, her face was blacker than the bottom of a pot. Hahahaha!"
Song Jiang picked up his teacup and silently took a sip.
Liu Bei nodded.
"That's good then. Let's leave it at that."
He steered the conversation back to the main topic.
"With the acquisition of these three hundred bushels of white rice today, our rice business can be considered to have a solid foundation."
He looked at Wu Yong.
"Scholar, in your opinion, what should we do next?"
Wu Yong closed his fan and tapped it lightly on the table.
"Take root, connect the river."
"We are already taking root here. We have established a firm foothold in Yuncheng County by providing work relief, gathering refugees, and purchasing surplus grain."
"Next is the 'Tonghe'."
Wu Yong stood up and walked to a simple map on the wall.
"Yuncheng is located east of the Guangji River, which is a vital waterway for grain transport."
He drew a line on the map with his finger.
"We need ships, we need enough ships."
"You also need to be a boatman who is familiar with the water and can make a living on the water."
Song Jiang interjected, "This is not difficult. There are many families around Yuncheng who make their living by the water. As long as we can afford the price, we won't have trouble finding people."
Wu Yong nodded: "That's excellent."
Liu Bei looked at Song Jiang and said, "Brother, it is most appropriate for you to handle this matter."
Song Jiang immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I will certainly not disappoint you, brother."
Liu Bei then said, "Scholar, having boats alone isn't enough. Boats are for transporting grain, but where will the grain come from?"
Wu Yong waved his fan: "Brother, do you mean to buy directly from the farmers?"
Liu Bei nodded: "Buying directly from farmers is 10% cheaper than buying from grain merchants. It's just that we don't have enough manpower, and buying from each household is too slow."
He turned to look at Sun Sheng.
"Alright, Brother Sun Sheng, you know everyone in Yuncheng County. Find out which major grain producers and dealers are in these nearby towns. Tell them that I, Chao Gai, will buy grain at a price one or two cents higher than the market price. Buy as much as they have."
Sun Sheng was taken aback: "Brother, if we buy it at a higher price and then sell it at the original price, wouldn't we be losing money?"
Liu Bei smiled and said, "Whether it's a loss or not, I know in my heart. Just go and do it."
Sun Sheng asked no further questions, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes, I will make the arrangements immediately."
……
The next morning, Sun Sheng led several men out of the city separately.
He had lived in Yuncheng County for over a decade and knew all sorts of people. He knew exactly which township had large grain producers and which village had independent grain dealers.
Around noon, he brought back three people.
The first one was surnamed Liu, in his forties, dark-skinned and thin. He was a grain dealer from Liu Family Village in the south of the city, who specialized in buying grain from various villages and households and then reselling it to grain shops in the city. He had more than two hundred bushels of grain in his possession and was worried about not finding a good buyer.
The second person, surnamed Wang, was the village head of Wangjiazhai in the east of the city. The village had about a hundred households, and after paying their annual grain tax to the government, they still had a considerable amount left over. He decided on behalf of the entire village to sell the surplus grain.
The third man, surnamed Chen, was a traveling grain merchant who frequently traveled between Jizhou Prefecture and Dongping Prefecture. He had a batch of rice transported from Huainan, but due to delays on the way, it missed the good market price and was now stuck in his hands.
Sun Sheng led the three to a side hall of the official granary in the west of the city.
Liu Bei was already waiting inside.
The three entered and saw a burly man with a thick beard sitting in the main seat, with Wu Yong standing behind him and Sun Sheng standing beside him. The burly man didn't speak, but just sitting there, he exuded an aura that made people afraid to look him in the eye.
The grain dealer surnamed Liu spoke first: "Provincial Magistrate Chao, I heard you're looking to buy grain?"
Liu Bei nodded: "I'll take it. How many do you have?"
"Two hundred and thirty shi (a unit of dry measure). It's all newly harvested wheat this year, with large and plump grains, so you can rest assured."
"What's the price?"
"The market price is 1.200 cash per shi (a unit of dry measure). If you want it all, I'll round it down to 1.180 cash per shi."
Liu Bei glanced at Wu Yong. Wu Yong nodded slightly.
Liu Bei said, "One string of cash is worth two hundred coins. I will buy it at the market price."
The grain dealer surnamed Liu was stunned. In all his years of business, this was the first time he had ever seen a buyer proactively raise the price.
"Guardian, what's wrong...?"
"I told you, it's one or two cents more than the market price," Liu Bei said. "I'll take your grain, it'll be 200 coins per string."
The grain merchant surnamed Liu was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.
Next was Wang Lizheng. He sold grain for the entire village and had over four hundred shi (a unit of dry measure). Liu Bei bought it at the market price as well, without holding back a single coin.
Finally, there was the grain merchant surnamed Chen. He had 600 shi (a unit of dry measure) of Huainan rice, which was of the highest quality white rice. He originally planned to transport it to Jizhou Prefecture to sell, but the price of grain there dropped, and he couldn't bear to sell it, so he kept it on the ship.
"Manager Chen, how much do you plan to sell this rice for?"
The grain merchant surnamed Chen gritted his teeth: "Sir, this batch of rice was bought at a cost of one string of cash and three hundred cash per shi. Just give me the cost price, I won't make any profit."
Liu Bei said, "One string of cash is three hundred and fifty coins. You'll make twenty coins."
The grain merchant surnamed Chen stared with his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.
He had been a merchant for over a decade and had seen people try to lower prices, delay payments, and default on debts, but he had never seen anyone proactively raise prices for buyers.
"Guardian... what is this...?"
Liu Bei waved his hand: "Fine, I'll take the grain. From now on, however much rice you bring from Huainan, I'll take it all."
The grain merchant surnamed Chen, regaining his composure, stood up and bowed deeply to Liu Bei: "The headman is truly righteous! On behalf of my family, I thank the headman!"
……
The three granaries in the western part of the city were all full.
Wu Yong, carrying the account books, inventoried the goods in each granary. The first granary contained 400 shi of wheat. The second granary contained 350 shi of barley. The third granary contained 600 shi of Huainan white rice. Adding to the 300 shi of white rice previously received from Dexing Grain Store, the total was 1,650 shi.
"Brother," Wu Yong said, closing the ledger, "this should be enough for us to sell for a while."
Liu Bei stood at the entrance of the granary, looking at the neatly stacked sacks of grain inside.
"Whether it's enough or not depends on how much it costs."
Wu Yong understood: "What does brother mean?"
"Sell at low prices, with small profits and quick turnover." Liu Bei turned around. "From the very first day our rice shop opens, we must let the people of Yuncheng County know whose rice is the cheapest and whose rice is the fairest."
Wu Yong pondered for a moment: "If it's half a percent cheaper than the market price, 1,650 shi (a unit of dry measure), after deducting the cost, we can still make a profit. It's just that the profit margin is small."
"Low profits are not a problem. First, build a reputation. Once the reputation is established, sales volume will increase."
Wu Yong laughed and said, "Brother is right."
……
Three days later, Chao's Rice Shop officially opened for business.
Before dawn, Sun Sheng and his men were already busy at the entrance of the official granary.
Red silk was hung above the door, and red cloth flower balls were tied to the stone lions on both sides.
The steps at the entrance were swept three times and splashed with water, making the bluestone slabs so shiny you could see your reflection.
Three strings of firecrackers were carried on bamboo poles, hanging down from the gatehouse to the ground.
At 3:45 AM, Liu Bei emerged from the inner hall, having changed into a dark blue silk robe. His hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, and his beard was combed.
He stood at the doorway and looked at the sky.
"put."
Sun Sheng took the tinder and brought it close to the firecracker fuse.
"Crackling and popping!"
"Crackling and popping!"
Three strings of firecrackers went off at the same time, sending red paper scraps flying everywhere, and the smell of gunpowder filled the entire street corner.
People flocked from all directions to watch the spectacle.
The peddler carrying his load put down his load, the woman holding her child stood on tiptoe, and the tea drinkers in the teahouse put down their teacups and ran out.
In no time, hundreds of people gathered at the entrance of the official granary, forming a dense, impenetrable crowd.
"Chao's Rice Shop is now open!" Sun Sheng shouted at the top of his lungs, standing on the steps. "New rice is on the market, half a percent cheaper than the market price!"
The onlookers were stunned.
"Half a percent discount? Really?"
"Isn't that cheaper than the market outside the city?"
"I heard it's run by Chao Baozheng from Dongxi Village, so it should be fine!"
Several daring men squeezed to the counter, pulled out copper coins, and slammed them on the counter: "Give me two bushels!"
Zhang Shi stood behind the counter, wearing a newly made blue cloth shirt and a new hat.
He took the copper coins, counted them, scooped up some rice with a measuring cup, and poured it into a cloth bag.
Although the movements were slow, they were meticulous.
"Two bushels, please take them."
The man took the cloth bag, weighed it in his hand, and grinned: "Good grain! Much better than Li's from East Street!"
This sentence caused a surge of people to rush forward, and the counter creaked as it was pushed.
Sweat beaded on Zhang Shi's forehead, and he kept pounding the measuring cup in his hand.
Sun Sheng, accompanied by a few thugs, maintained order, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Line up! Line up! Don't push! Whoever pushes won't get a ticket!"
The line stretched out crookedly for dozens of steps, all the way to the street corner, and still extending beyond.
Some people came from the north of the city, while others ran five miles from the south.
Sun Sheng's voice became hoarse from shouting, and so did the voices of several hooligans.
The line is getting longer than it gets shorter.
The sun moved from the east to the west.
The grain behind the counter has been changed three times.
The first batch of grain sacks sold out, the second batch sold out, and the third batch unpacked the stockpiled goods in the warehouse.
Zhang Shi's abacus never stopped clicking and clattering, from morning till evening, until his fingers were red from being used up.
As evening approached, darkness fell.
Sun Sheng climbed the steps and called out to the back of the line, "Fellow villagers, we've sold out of rice for today! Come early tomorrow!"
A sigh rose from the crowd.
"Sold out already? I've been waiting in line for an hour!"
"Will you stick to this price tomorrow?"
Sun Sheng shouted, "Same as tomorrow, no price increase!"
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Some people kept turning back as they walked, glancing twice at the entrance of the rice shop.
Several elderly women supported each other, muttering, "Come early tomorrow, before dawn!"