Chapter 33 Rich people looking for goods

Shang Yuan took advantage of someone and actually harvested the autumn flax in advance at the current price in summer. This matter quickly spread throughout Wuxiang County and township. Even in Nanbaishui County on the other side of Luoshui River, a large family sent their slaves to inquire.

"Although there are few flax species in the countryside, the harvest is not limited to failure. The water vapor in the new harvest after autumn is too high, which is to suppress the oil and cut the material. This year's farming season is halfway through, and a bumper harvest can be expected, and then the price will be low again."

Liu Gong, a local tycoon from Nanbaishui County who had done business in Huazhou City before, also came to Shangyuan. When he saw Li Tai, he said with a puzzled face: "Lang Jun is so eager to buy Qiuhou flax. Everyone in Zuojin Township has already bought it." It's just a rumor. But from what I can see, Mr. Lang is definitely not the unwise person as rumored. There must be something hidden in doing this, right?"

Li Tai smiled slightly after hearing this. He had also heard what kind of idiot he was portrayed as by the rumors in the countryside. His mouth is on other people's faces, and he has no control over what they want to say.

Hearing Liu Gong's question, he took him outside the newly built workshop in Zhuangbei, pointed at the wall that was already half a person high and said with a smile: "It is rare for villagers to be illiterate and see things that are different from common sense. I was so surprised. When I came to this village, I saw that the oil pressing effect of the villagers was poor. One stick of flax produced only about 30 kilograms of oil. But I knew that there is a technique in Hebei that can produce nearly 50 kilograms of oil. The difference is enough for the job.”

"So that's it, that's it! Hebei's agriculture and industry are far more prosperous than those in Guanxi. I've known for a long time, but I didn't expect there to be such a big gap! It's even more rare for a man who favors the Chinese people to be so familiar with small-scale farming operations."

After hearing this, Liu Gong had a look of realization on his face, and after a moment he said with some embarrassment: "My family will also grow half an acre of flax this summer. I wonder if I can make this sale?"

Naturally, Li Tai would not let go of the target that came to his door. In order to ensure scarcity in the region, Nanbaishui County was originally within his target range, so he happily signed a contract with Liu Gong to receive 80 dendrobium sesame seeds in advance, and asked him to take away 20% of the price of the goods. Cloth as deposit.

In the newly completed nave of the manor, He Basheng pointed to the basket full of contract orders and said with half distress and half confusion: "Thousands of pieces of cloth are exchanged for such a basket of waste paper?"

"If it was just me doing the homework, these papers would probably be just waste paper. But since my uncle is involved, these powerful people on the surface have to consider whether they dare to break the contract!"

After hearing this, Li Tai smiled and said, and sorted out these contracts. The sesame order for more than 1,700 hu of dendrobium was of course priced at more than a few thousand bolts of cloth. He only needed to pay a 20% deposit.

A considerable part of the thousands of pieces of cloth sold by He Basheng were for the purchase of sesame seeds and oilseeds.

"It's a bad thing if they don't dare to break the contract. Do they really have to raise tens of thousands of pieces of cloth and go to the countryside to buy these flax from house to house after the autumn?"

When He Basheng heard this, he gnashed his teeth in sorrow: "I thought you had some clever plan to fight with the country, but it turned out that it was just a casual invitation. I can tell you clearly, I have already taken out these thousands of pieces of cloth. My financial resources are at the limit, and I may not have enough material to buy clothes for my family this winter! I am really crazy to make such a big gamble based on just a few words from you."

"Uncle, please rest assured. In the end, these people will only hold back their goods and be reluctant to sell them. They will never dare to come to your door to demand payment. I am confident that the price of flax oil will only soar in the future."

Li Tai said confidently, feeling quite excited that he was operating such a large-scale futures transaction.

After hearing this, He Basheng said with concern: "I warned you before, Daxingtai is focused on people's livelihood and will never allow hoarding to harm the market! If you violate the order, not even I can protect you. !”

"The oil and hemp materials in my warehouse were all purchased at a higher price than the current price. The original intention was to lose official positions instead of hoarding them, which would harm our fat country. What crime is there?"

Li Tai was very eloquent about this, and pointed to the contracts and said: "These paper contracts are not even half a grain of flax or even a speck of oil stain, so why hoard them?"

"That's true. Daxingtai has nothing to say against entering into long-term sales contracts. Who can say that I am breaking the law!"

He Basheng was also happy after hearing this. He twirled his beard and said with a smile, but then frowned and said: "So you want to wait until after losing the reward Gebu, with the oil in hand, force the villagers to bow their heads, and then let them follow you Redeem the spot at a high price?"

Li Tai quickly shook his head and said: "The purpose of hanging up the grid in Daxingtai to recruit people to reward people is to let the people in the court get both. If I make a noise from it, it will be a greater sin than hoarding and harming the market. How dare I do this! But if Other local tycoons are afraid that I will gain power, so they search for and raise prices in the countryside, but I can't blame them. "

The reward formula formulated by Daxingtai is not just a simple transaction of money and power. In addition to supplementing material use, it also has the intention of bringing the powerful people in Guanzhong into the rule.

In this era, those who can raise enough donations within the time limit are all wealthy families with large amounts of land and population. The fact that they obtained official positions after delivering goods meant that the productive forces and means of production they owned became part of the Western Wei regime, and Yu Wentai also gained both.

This is an important project for the Western Wei Dynasty to prepare the army system. If Li Tai dares to interfere and sabotage it, no matter how clever his words are, Yu Wentai is afraid that he will deal with him. This bottom line must not be touched.

Li Tai's goal is to let the local tycoons in the vicinity become involved in internal affairs and consume themselves.

Under the normal format, once the Daxingtai reward price is announced, the big households in the countryside will naturally choose the most beneficial and cost-effective donation method in exchange for official positions based on the current status of their respective family properties.

But now, everyone in the village knew that Li Tai had a large amount of oil in hand, which left the villagers with no room for easy choice. On a runway, everyone is gearing up at the starting point, but they are already standing at the finish line, one step on the line, so how can they still compete?

It would be a waste if the official position obtained by losing the reward was another official position, but it was an official position with real power over the rural soldiers such as the governor and the commander-in-chief. These local tycoons cannot allow it to fall into the hands of others and will definitely use their own local resources to do it. check.

Li Tai doesn't even need to build momentum anymore, these local powerful people will be in chaos.

The reaction of the local tycoons was quicker than Li Tai expected. One day in late June, brother Shi Gong, the county captain, came to visit in person.

Li Tai did not deliberately stage the scene and let the song directly introduce the two brothers into the hall.

After entering the hall, Shi Gong strode forward, bowed to Li Taishen first, then turned to glare at his brother Shi Jing and cursed: "You bad thing, why don't you come to the hall quickly to apologize to Li Lang and beg for forgiveness! "

Shi Jing limped forward and knelt down in front of Li Tai's seat with a plop. Li Tai hurriedly avoided the seat and stood up, pretending to be surprised and said: "What is Shi County Lieutenant doing? Mr. Shi Hou Xiangxian, How dare I accept this great gift!"

"Alas, my family is in misfortune! The former Zheng was engaged in going to the Yamen to sue the government. Since I am in charge of the county's public property, I dare not neglect it. I also know that Li Lang is in need of materials, so I sent a message to let him know..."

Shi Gong said with a face of shame. After Li Tai heard this, he smiled again and said: "It is true. I would like to thank Shi Hou for the favor. I have supplied ten thousand kilograms of hemp raw materials to alleviate the urgent need at home."

Shi Gong was stunned when he heard this, and Shi Jing also raised his eyes to look at Li Tai. Just as he was about to stand up, he was kicked to the ground by his big brother.

"Li Lang, you focus on honor and support, or don't ask about the common people's business in the family. But I dare not hide that there is such a scum in the family, greedy for temporary material gains, actually passing the bad as the good, the less as the more, ruining the integrity of the village. It really puts my family to shame!”

Shi Gong bowed his head again, and then said with a face of shame: "I have been in the government office for a long time and seldom asked about household chores. I didn't interrogate and verify until I came home today, so I caught this disgusting thing and came to apologize to Li Lang. This is my family's fault. , the cloth and silk obtained by the former will be returned together. I beg Li Lang for your understanding!"

"Is this happening? I really don't know."

Li Tai still pretended to be confused and watched the brothers continue to perform.

Shi Gong was really ruthless, kicking and kicking his brother. Before long, Shi Jing, who was already thin, had bruises all over his face.

When Li Tai saw that the heat was about the same, he raised his hand to signal the brothers to stop and generously expressed his forgiveness.

"I'm really ashamed that the poor materials were harmful to the work before. Fortunately, Li Lang has good business management skills and built a new oil shop, which has a long-term and prosperous business. I heard before that Li Lang went to the countryside to collect seed oil and ointment. Now he must have abundant reserves, right?"

He was so arrogant before, but now he is so embarrassed. Shi Gong used this bitter trick to prepare the ground for a long time, and finally revealed the fundamental purpose of his trip.

"Things in the countryside are really running smoothly. The oil shop in my household has not yet made cakes and pressed them, but the county captain already knows about it. The soil is scarce, so we can only make a living by this industry. It is not as dignified as the rich people who cultivate mulberry trees and produce crops, which makes the county captain laugh. "

After Li Tai heard this, he chuckled. This was his home field, and his words and actions were naturally within the ears of others.

"I would like to ask, how long does Li Langhu have stored ointment?"

Shi Gong said quickly, and then pretended to be calm and said: "To be honest, a few days ago in the Yazhong gathering of colleagues, Daxingtai was going to award awards to the losers. Although I dare not covet power, after all, I have lived in Kansai for a long time. A good citizen of our country, when he learned that the country was in need, he also wanted to do his best to help..."

"If you lose the reward this time, you will be rewarded by the governor of the local soldiers. Li Lang, you are new to Dongzhou. Even if you lose the reward and get the official position, how many local people will you know? Then the soldiers will not know the generals, and it will be difficult to follow the orders, which will add to the trouble. My family is willing to Redeemed at the old price..."

Shi Jing groaned while covering his beaten pig-headed face. Before he could finish his words, he was slapped again by his brother.

"Although this person is clumsy, what he said is true. The people of Guanxi are tough, and they cannot be intimidated unless they are chosen by the locals. Li Lang, a talented person from the Chinese clan, does not care about his origin. As the saying goes, Xunyu is not the same, Qingliu is the best choice. I think I disdain the dirty official."

The two brothers each role-played, but they also made their intentions clear.

"This is why the county captain came to visit. I also heard about this when I was at Grand Master Heba's house. It happened to be that I was going to work on the oil mill. It was a coincidence."

Li Tai chuckled when he heard this, pretending to be arrogant and said: "I am simple by nature, and I really don't like to be the leader of the team. Since Lieutenant Shi is asking sincerely, I will tell you the truth. The oil stored in the house is now There are more than 300 pods of dendrobium ointment. After the oil workshop is completed, I hope to replenish it, but I have no intention of selling it yet. "