Chapter 32: The Greed of the Rural Tyrants

Chapter 32: The Greed of the Rural Tyrants

Luoshui is the largest river in Weibei, and the area it flows through is also rich.

The reason for the Shang Dynasty is that it has been washed away by the Luoshui River and its tributary ditches all year round. The landform is mostly an east-west plateau, with mostly fertile farmland above and below the plateau.

"Lang Jun really wants to go to Shishiwu? I went to the city to visit Captain Shi before, but I couldn't see him. He was using his arrogant attitude to test whether your wish was urgent, Mr. Lang. He was refused to see you before, and now he's visiting his hometown again. This time It’s really a bit…”

On the dusty country road, Zheng Man rode his horse and walked with Li Tai while giving advice: "Even if you buy the raw hemp, you only have three months left to spin it into cloth. Even if you buy all the raw hemp, it will not be enough to spin it into cloth." Spun into cloth, it’s not enough to buy food and thousands of stones!”

"Of course I understand that Shi has bad intentions. But since I made this agreement with the county government, I should try my best to fulfill it, and Zheng Zheng cannot be implicated."

Hearing Zheng Man's advice to him, Li Tai said with a smile: "These big households rely on their own goods. Even if they are not for flax, they must be controlled for anything else. They have to visit sooner or later. If you are in a hurry, slow down. The more urgent you are, the more likely you will be." It’s controlled.”

County Lieutenant Shi Gong prevented the county government from obtaining raw hemp materials for him, and he did not simply force Li Tai to go to his house to buy them and take the opportunity to raise the price. After all, raw hemp is a cheap material, not a scarce product. In the eyes of outsiders, there is no reason why Li Tai must buy it.

The reason why County Lieutenant Shi still wants to be a bad guy in vain is to warn Li Tai that he needs to distinguish between host and guest. The deal he reached with the county government broke the relationship between the big households in the county and the county government, and provided the county government with a new way to bypass these wealthy households in raising supplies.

This undoubtedly offended the rich and powerful. Shi Xianwei's obstruction this time was just a small show of strength. If Li Tai could not wake up and bow his head, a more serious blow would be to come.

For example, in the late autumn, even if he had sufficient resources, he could not purchase enough food in the county to complete the transaction agreement with the county government.

In the final analysis, these wealthy families who control a large amount of land and population are the real owners of this country. Even a high-ranking general like He Basheng had to avoid suspicion because he could not interfere with local politics, and did not dare to directly use Li Tai's hand to lose food to the county government.

If tens of thousands of kilograms of grain cannot be purchased locally, the cost of transportation alone will be a huge consumption, and it may not be possible to buy it and transport it back in time.

Li Tai's farming plan faced such a tricky situation. If he did not cooperate with the county government, he might not be able to achieve normal production due to the crowding out and instigation of the surrounding big households. After cooperating with the county government, large rural households no longer dared to openly resist, but in other places the clampdown was even deeper.

Within the established local rules, even those military leaders and nobles are subject to many restrictions. Li Tai, a powerless Dongzhou surrender, must face even deeper restrictions.

Even if he had the support of the upper-class forces of the Western Wei Dynasty, it would be difficult for him to break through this old-rooted nostalgia, not to mention that He Basheng would not support him without any bottom line or reservation.

But it was not Li Tai's character to be submissive. After weighing it, he decided to take the initiative.

The dock wall of the family of a local tycoon and historian is located between two plateaus. The cultivated land on the left and right plateaus are all his family's acres, extending all the way to the rocky beach on the east bank of Luoshui River.

This dock wall was also built very grandly, and its scale was even larger than that of Shangyang garrison. Li Tai and his party were still nearly a mile away from the dock wall when they were stopped by the villagers guarding the outside.

Zheng Man posted his name before entering, and after some back-and-forth reporting, more than a quarter of an hour had passed when Li Tai and his party entered the dock wall.

"I had known that the village was occupied by a famous family, and they were busy with farm work, so they had no time to visit. Unexpectedly, my husband came here today. He was not greeted from afar, and it was rude and rude."

Inside the wall of the dock, a middle-aged Hu man walked forward, surrounded by wealthy slaves. He pointed at Li Tai from a distance and said with a smile: "Sure enough, the style of the famous clan is different from that of the common people!"

The middle-aged man's name is Shi Jing, the younger brother of the county captain Shi Gong. One of the two brothers is an official outside the home, and the other is running a business at home. This is also a common combination among powerful families nowadays.

"As a junior who has just come to live in the countryside, he should visit the wise elders of the village. He is also busy with farming and mulberry work, so he has only come to see him now. I hope Mr. Shi will not offend him."

Shi Jingbai lived in his hometown and had no title. Li Tai's calling him this was just an honorific title.

"Haha, a talented person from a well-known family does this, which makes my family shine."

Although Shi Jing was a barbarian, he was thin and a head shorter than Li Tai. He stood a few feet away, pointed at Li Tai and smiled to the left and right: "Please come and take a look, this guy is from Longxi." The disciples of the Li family have always been guests of powerful families, so how can we, the ordinary people in our village, see them?"

After hearing this, all the slaves looked at Li Tai unscrupulously and their attitude was very rude.

Li Tai raised his hand to stop Zheng Man who was about to speak, but still kept a smile on his face: "Bo Shan is not a rare person in the world. He only has a family upbringing and knows how to treat others with courtesy. Shi Hou governs his family with dignity. Although he is a simple householder, he also Self-generated brilliance, entering this virtuous family, I am also ordinary, not worthy of watching and admiring. "

When Shi Jing heard this, the slightly cheeky smile on his face subsided slightly, and he waved his hand to dismiss the slaves, not wanting to appear uneducated in front of outsiders.

"When distinguished guests come to your door, you should be treated with hospitality. It's just that we are busy with family affairs and have no time to entertain guests. If your husband has something to say, you might as well say it here."

Shi Jing did not invite Li Tai into the hall, but stood there and said directly.

"I came to visit you today. I really have something to ask of you."

Li Tai still maintained a polite smile and bowed slightly to prevent his gaze from appearing too condescending: "When I moved into my new home in the countryside, everything was ready to be done, but there was a shortage of materials, and the soldiers were just for leisure. I knew that the treasury of the Lord's Palace was full. , so I took the liberty of visiting, and please help Mr. Shi to clear up the trouble."

"Aren't you just buying hemp?"

When Shi Jing heard this, he asked slightly in surprise. He paused and looked at Li Tai again before saying, "My family also needs to make a living. Materials have their own uses and cannot be sold at will!"

"Of course, of course! The guest does not dare to disturb the host's livelihood because of his own convenience."

Li Tai smiled again and said that even if he wanted to coax the other party into the game, the initiative was not in his hands at the moment, so of course he had to be polite.

His respectful and polite attitude made Shi Jing very satisfied, so he stopped talking nonsense and led them directly to a warehouse inside the dock wall. He asked someone to open the warehouse door and said: "Ten thousand kilograms of hemp are stored here. Liang Liang in my hometown." I am a householder who relies on farming to support his family, and he is not a merchant who sells goods to enrich himself. Since Li Lang came to ask for it, he couldn't refuse it, so he gave it to the gentleman at the current price. Would the gentleman go into the warehouse and check it? "

This was said politely, but Li Tai just took a quick look and found that more than half of the Chen Ma in the warehouse was obviously not temporarily stored.

Although linen is also a basic material related to people's livelihood and clothing, its price is much lower than silk, and the weaving process requires a little more time.

Therefore, even if these large households in the countryside spin linen and weave cloth, they only produce a moderate amount, and the income is not as impressive as silk. Every year, there is a lot of raw linen leftover. After several years of accumulation, it has reached such a scale. The longer it is stored, the lower its value. It not only takes up space, but also needs to be fire-proof and moisture-proof, which is really useless.

Shi Jing said that he would sell the old hemp to Li Tai at the current price, which meant that he would sell it to Li Tai at the price of new hemp.

"The country helps the poor, only with faith. Since Marquis Shi has favored me, how can I make scheming? The next day, my family will send cloth and horses, and the carriages and horses will disturb the peace. Please forgive me, Marquis Shi."

Li Tai smiled grandly, waved his hand and said.

When Shi Jing heard this, he felt very fond of Li Tai, his enemy. The amount of linen in the warehouse was only over 8,000 kilograms. He lied about nearly 2,000 kilograms, and half of it was old hemp that had been stored for more than three years and could no longer be used for weaving.

The Shi family has a huge family fortune, so they don't think much of this deal, but who doesn't like the free gains?

Who is not careful about making a living in the countryside? It's really rare to take someone like Li Tai who doesn't know how to take advantage of him.

For a moment, Shi Jing was reluctant to let him go, so he said again: "Li Lang is so generous, and I am not a stingy person. I mentioned that other materials are also in short supply. If I have a rich reserve at home, I will be happy to do so." help."

"There are indeed other materials that need to be purchased. May I ask Shihou, do you have enough flax and sesame oil to store grain indoors?"

Seeing how polite this guy was, Li Tai said with a smile.

"Flax, sesame oil...this is really not much."

After hearing this, Shi Jing shook his head in disappointment and said. He originally wanted to catch this fat sheep and dump some useless and discarded inventory garbage, but there are not many flax cultivations and sesame oil has various uses. Even if it is sold in the market, it will not work. I am worried about sales, so I don’t want to do this deal.

"I bought these two ingredients at 10% of the current price. If it can exceed 100 dendrobiums, I can increase it by 20%. The more, the better!"

Li Tai quickly said again, the fish finally bit the hook, so of course it cannot be let go.

"Twenty percent?"

When Shi Jing heard Li Tai's proposal to increase the price, he immediately became excited again. Flax hurts the ground and oil pressing is labor-intensive. Both of them are expensive. If they increase the current price by 20%, the premium will be quite considerable. .

"I'll let my servant check it first, and ask Li Lang to go into the hall and wait a moment."

Shi Jing made a quick calculation in his mind, and his expression suddenly became enthusiastic.

Li Tai and his entourage sat down in the hall, while Shi Jing attentively prepared drinks and meals. After a while, a domestic servant entered the hall and whispered an announcement. After hearing this, Shi Jing's face changed slightly and said to Li Tai: "Hu There are only thirty-six bushels of flax and only seven bushels of sesame oil left in it, which will disappoint Li Lang."

One dendrobium is one stone and one hundred and twenty kilograms. To be honest, this stock is quite a lot. Before Li Tai came to visit the historian, he had already visited the countryside. Even if there was any storage among the people, it was only measured in liters. However, the historian collected thousands of kilograms, which shows the growth of the local power in his hometown.

"I have a compromise here. As much as I have in stock now, I will sell it at 20% of the current price. But by the time of the flax harvest this autumn, Shi Hou needs to make up for the amount of hundreds of dendrobium."

"What about the post-autumn delivery, which is still 20% higher?" Shi Jing quickly asked again.

Li Taize smiled and shook his head: "It can only be based on the current price, but I can order 20% of the silk price first. Because the delivery is delayed, a contract is required as evidence!"

"Can!"

Shi Jing hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, and they discussed it in the hall and put the agreement on paper.

After sending Li Tai and his entourage away, Shi Jing returned to the hall and looked at the contract. He slapped the table and laughed happily: "These noble families think they are smart, but they are just stupid people with empty stomachs. Flax is sown in the summer and harvested in the autumn. The price when sowing is high and the price when harvesting is low. He predicts the harvest in autumn compared with today's price. How can he manage his business in such a way that it will not be ruined? "