Yipin Farmer

The grain supply in Changping City became more and more tense after being snapped up by the citizens and consumed by the war. Hu Junxian approached Ting Shuang and proposed to jointly monopolize the grain market.

"Now is a good opportunity. Both the imperial army and the Wu army need food. We can join forces in the food business. Whoever offers the highest price will sell it to whomever, and we can make a lot of money."

Anyone who makes war fortunes in extraordinary times will hoard them. For example, strategic materials such as food, medicine, and iron can make a lot of money by hoarding and reselling them.Ting Shuang had already stockpiled a lot of food beforehand, and if he joined forces with the Hu family, the richest businessman in the county, he could make several times more money by changing hands.

But Ting Shuang didn't think so, and asked, "How do you plan to sell it?"

"Now that both sides need food, it is easy to raise the price, and we can have both sides." Hu Junxian is full of ambition.

Ting Shuang objected: "No, of course you have to make money in business, but you can't make money from beheading."

His idea of ​​making money is that if there is an opportunity to make money, he must make it. However, there are a few principles, and he cannot make money that harms others and benefits himself, so as not to be retaliated by others one day and cause disaster.There is no money to be made in offending the powerful, as it is easy to attract retaliation.You can’t earn money that hurts the friendship of friends or colleagues, so as not to forge unnecessary resentment and cut off the way of cooperation.The last point is very important. Illegal money cannot be earned. Although sometimes he takes advantage of legal loopholes and hits borderlines, but he has always grasped his speed and never hit borderlines.

So he educated Hu Junxian: "You want to step on two boats to profit from it, but think about it, if you deal with the rebels and sell them food, the court will never let you go, and you will definitely be treated as a rebel. The rebels Seeing you sell goods to the imperial court, I will definitely not trust you. Although you have made a lot of money, it is dangerous if you cannot be trusted by both parties."

Hu Junxian was terrified, he only wanted to take advantage of the chaos of the war to fish and profit from both sides, but he only cared about making money and never thought that stepping on two boats might lead to death.

So, which ship should you put your life on?Seeing Wu Jun's vigor and victories, the court is also mobilizing all forces to suppress it.

Ting Shuang saw his concerns. To maintain the current situation, the current strength of the Meng family is not enough, but also the support of the Hu family, an established businessman. Only by uniting with powerful big families can they stand firm in the precarious crisis heel.Although Hu Junxian is a dude, he is aggressive and courageous, and if he can win over, he will be a good partner for cooperation.He immediately analyzed the situation in front of him, which was the rhetoric that persuaded Yang Sanli at the beginning.

"Brother Hu, who is the biggest customer for our business?"

"Of course it's the government." Hu Junxian also understood.

"So, we have to stand on the side of the government and help the imperial court. Naturally, the imperial court will not forget us. Will there be less benefits in the future? Don't take chestnuts out of the fire and earn money from the beheading."

Hu Junxian nodded convincingly, thinking that the Hu family has been in business for generations, but their vision is not as far-sighted as a farmer without fame.

"Thanks to Brother Meng for your advice, otherwise I would have ransacked my family and exterminated my family. I would like to ask Brother Meng to remind you more in the future."

With the support of the Hu family, the richest man in the county, Ting Shuang barely helped the county suppress the soaring prices.But seeing that the Chinese New Year was getting closer day by day, and the payment had not been paid for a long time, the soldiers were very resentful, and Bao Qi forced them not to mutiny.

Ting Shuang didn't want Baoqi to use bloody heads to maintain the situation, and didn't expect these soldiers to have such lofty beliefs, so she could only try her best to raise money for payment, and went to the county magistrate Yang Sanli to discuss it.

"Seeing that it's the Chinese New Year, the owed wages will be paid no matter what, and the soldiers are very resentful."

Yang Sanli was helpless, once the feudal lord caused chaos, the money in the county treasury had already been confiscated by the court. Now there are only 2000 taels in the treasury for urgent needs, and the money is not enough to pay.

"I had to think of a way to persuade people to donate."

"Forcing people to donate?" Yang Sanli didn't have much hope for this. In the past, it was terrible to ask those wealthy households to donate for water conservancy projects to relieve victims, and it would be worthless to get a bad name of threatening merchants to donate.

Ting Shuang, the unbeatable little strong physique, decided to give it a try. In the name of the county magistrate, he called all the wealthy households in the county to call for donations.

Sure enough, most merchants put up clay sculptures without saying a word, and a few who wanted to donate quietly retreated when they saw that the big households did not donate, and some people just looked at the wind.Seeing this, Yang Sanli became anxious, coughed, and prepared to give some ideological and political education to serve the country faithfully.

Ting Shuang opened the mouth first: "All seniors have been in the business field for many years. Who is the biggest and richest client?"

"Of course it's the government."

"That's right, the biggest client is the government." Ting Shuang gave a tempting example, "For example, the Qiao family in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, is a wealthy family. Why is his family running so fast?"

Ting Shuang paused for a moment, seeing everyone staring at him greedily, very satisfied with the effect, and then said: "It is because his family took over a big business sent by the imperial court to supply army quilts, so the wealth is rushing in. Tongrentang Lejia also became famous all over the world for supplying medicines to the palace. Therefore, as long as they do business with the government, they will make a lot of money.

Everyone understands. I don’t need to say more. If you want to do business with the government, now is an opportunity. Everyone’s money is not a loss, but a capital. If the Wu army is not successful, the court will win in the end. , Our business is not easy to do. At that time, the court will remember that you have done your best, so why not give it convenience?At that time, not only can the money donated by everyone be earned back, but the days of prosperity are coming. "

Bao Qi next to her covered her mouth and laughed. This guy really has a way of persuading others.Adding fire in conjunction with it: "That's right, this time everyone worked together to help the officers and soldiers tide over the difficulties. I will definitely go to the emperor and never forget the benefits of everyone."

Sure enough, the wealthy households were moved by what they said, and began to argue with each other. One of the merchants opened his mouth first: "I don't know how much Mr. Meng intends to donate?"

Everyone looked at Ting Shuang, and Ting Shuang immediately made a calculation, about how much the military salary would be, and how many wealthy households in the county were allocated. There is no calculator in this world, and he doesn't know how to make calculations. After practicing, Zhi Gu made a decision, and immediately said loudly: "The Meng family is a new junior, and they dare not compete with the seniors. I will donate two thousand silver."

For the newly wealthy household, two thousand silver is quite a lot. Hu Junxian and Ting Shuang have formed a new alliance and are willing to support him. He also said: "The Hu family also contributes two thousand." He evened out the money.

Shi Jie also expressed his support, and raised Ting Shuang's status by using the clouds to support the moon, saying: "Yongxingsheng will give you 500 taels."

A few people took the lead, and other wealthy households also jumped up, pledged donations one by one, and unexpectedly collected more than 3 taels, and paid the arrears and there was still some left over.

Ting Shuang did a beautiful job this time, and the wealthy households in the county all admired him, even those who did not accept him before were a little convinced.County magistrate Yang saw that he had solved the headache, and he was even more sympathetic, saying: "When the former county magistrate Qi handed over, he said that you were a sincere gentleman, and he would ask you for help if you had any difficulties. I still don't believe it. Now it seems that brother Tai is really You are a sage with both ability and virtue, I will definitely report to the province to ask for your commendation."

"I don't want to be an official. I just want to do something for the village. When the world is peaceful, I can do business." Ting Shuang said modestly.

Seeing his indifference to fame and fortune, Zhixian Yang was even more moved.

After the salary was issued, the soldiers' mood stabilized.This year was deserted, and Ting Shuang had no intention of celebrating the New Year, spending every day with craftsmen and supervising them making landmines.

"Wu Jun is pulling Hongyi cannons here, everyone must quickly build the mines, otherwise we will go to heaven when the cannons hit us."

The craftsmen had heard about the power of the cannon, but they didn't understand how the mines could fight the cannons, or whether they should build mines according to his idea.

As for how to use the landmine, Ting Shuang's idea is to bury it in the city to lure the enemy into the city, while Baoqi's idea is to throw it from the top of the city.

"Throw the thunder down from the top of the city..." Ting Shuang couldn't help laughing when he thought of Er Fatty throwing the shit Baba Lei on the head.

"What are you laughing at? What the hell are you thinking?" Bao Qi looked at him.

"I don't have any idea. If you want to find an idea, go to the gang of leather children in the village."

Gao Cheng's rebels brought four Hongyi cannons from Kaifeng and they had already arrived. The morale of the rebels was greatly shaken and they began to attack the city again. In addition to the arrows raining down, what was even more serious was that the shells fell on the top of the city, blowing up bricks The stones flew around, Baoqi strictly ordered Tingshuang to stay in a safe place, and she personally led the team to throw the mine from the top of the city, blowing up the rebels and screaming repeatedly.

After fighting hard for more than half an hour, Changping City was blown away by the Hongyi cannon, and the lieutenant was anxious: "What should I do? I can't hold it anymore."

"If you can't hold it, you will withdraw." Baoqi has a plan in mind.

"Street fighting?"

"almost."

Now the defenders of Changping City are at a disadvantage, but their vitality is not diminished, and they will not suffer losses if they retreat to the streets to attack the enemy.

Gao Cheng relied on the cannon and felt that he would win. Seeing that the defenders at the top of the city had been defeated, he was overjoyed and ordered the soldiers to rush into the city.Relying on the power of Hongyi cannons, the rebels smashed through the city wall and rushed in, preparing to burn, kill and loot. No one thought it was abnormal that there were no ordinary people on the street.

Halfway through the rebel army's entry into the city, Ting Shuang, who was hiding in a private house facing the street, pulled the fuse, and there was a loud noise, and bricks, earth and stones flew into the sky, accompanied by people's screams.

The rebels were dumbfounded, and continued to move forward. From time to time, they stepped on landmines and were blown up. They stood still and were shot at by the government soldiers hiding on the roof. Soon, the streets were full of corpses. .Baoqi bent her bow and set an arrow at Gao Cheng, the leader of the rebel army, and shot at the enemy's throat. Before Gao Cheng could even make a sound, he fell to the ground.

Seeing that the momentum was not good, the other rebels turned their heads and fled outside the city. On the outskirts of the city was Dazhuang Village, and then outside was Sanhua Village. All villages had dug tunnels that could be connected. Ting Shuang greeted the villagers in advance. Hearing the order, he jumped out of the field tunnel to block the enemy.

The rebels had already been routed and fled around, surrounded and ambushed by the villagers, beaten to pieces by the defenders who chased them out, and were wiped out.

Baoqi touched the captured Hongyi cannon and showed a long-lost smile. Now he has the capital to make contributions.

"Aren't you happy?" Ting Shuang also smiled.

"Of course, this victory is thanks to your idea of ​​using landmines to deal with it. Otherwise, if the artillery bombards us, we will all be doomed." Baoqi praised generously.

Ting Shuang stood with her hands behind her back, looking at the sky at a 45-degree angle, with a standard pretentious look: "The country is so beautiful, it attracts countless heroes..."

A chickadee flew over his head and dropped a piece of shit blankly. Ting Shuang wiped the shit off his head and glared at the bird. He turned to look for a slingshot or a bow and arrow for revenge. Before he could find the guy, the bird had already flown away.

Xiao Mian, even if you run fast, I am an animal protectionist, so I don't want to know you.

Baoqi on the side laughed uncontrollably, and Ting Shuang just turned his anger on him and punched him.

Baoqi grabbed his fist with a grasping hand, easily grabbed him and pressed him under her body, breathing hot breath on his face, itching.Ting Shuang struggled for a while, but felt a violent heartbeat from the opponent, and suddenly her body softened, and she couldn't move anymore.

"What do you want to do?" Ting Shuang made a pure little white rabbit.

"It goes without saying, of course I want to molest you." Baoqi blinked her eyes like a big bad wolf.

Ting Shuang was speechless, this guy, don't say so bluntly if you want to be rude.

"Are you trying to call for help?" Baoqi's smile was indescribably wicked, "Call it, no one will answer you if you yell out your throat."

Ting Shuang was about to faint with white sweat. Did this guy also wear it?Please don't be so ridiculous, okay?

"I won't follow you." Ting Shuang also thundered back.

"Then I won't force you." Baoqi suddenly put away her smile and turned serious, let him go and stood up.Xindao: Sooner or later, I will let you take the initiative to hook me up, you are a small sample, and you still want to take a fight, and you will have a good taste when I have made achievements and can stand shoulder to shoulder with you.

Ting Shuang despised him with a gloomy face, he was so unattractive.

After the fight, there is more to do.The surrounding states and counties donated money for protection one after another. Baoqi handed over the rear to Tingshuang, and led his troops to take advantage of the victory to pursue, take advantage of the situation to recover Kaifeng, and quickly clear the rebels in the province.

The next problem is the shortage of food, which coincides with the war and the lean season, so the food is very tight.

Ting Hui felt that the opportunity to make a fortune had come again. During the war, grain was extremely precious. In previous years, the price of one stone, one cent, and three cents had unexpectedly increased to sixty-seven tael, and now there are grain shops selling it for seven tael.At that time, Ting Shuang successively hoarded thousands of shi of grain and hid them in the cave. Now that he got nearly [-] taels of silver, Ting Hui was so excited that he couldn't sleep.

Ting Shuang felt it necessary to pour cold water on him and said, "Where do you think the foundation of our business is?"

"Of course it's in Changping County." Ting Hui answered honestly.

"Since our family is based in Changping County, can we do things that cause public outrage?"

Ting Hui knew that he was going to criticize himself for not being far-sighted again, so he bowed his head and remained silent.

"Food is so scarce now, we can make a lot of money by hoarding, but many people will starve to death and cause public outrage. Can our family still gain a foothold here?" Ting Shuang taught him, "Money can never be earned, Take a long view, wait for the world to be peaceful, what kind of business can’t be done? Raising prices at this time will not only provoke public outrage, but the imperial court will also severely crack down on it.”

Ting Shuang explained the principle to him: "Remember, we rely on the calm market to do business, so maintaining the market to help the government should be done even at a loss. This is to put capital down."

"I understand." Ting Hui understood the spirit, which is to help the officers and soldiers maintain the place, even if there is no benefit.

Ting Shuang put the stored grain on the market, the price was only slightly higher than in previous years, which was still within the range of the common people, and the common people in the city went to his grain store to buy grain.Because of the war, farming was missed, and the harvest in the field would not be good. When Ting Shuang knew that his own grain could not support the summer grain harvest, he lowered the price of grain to sell grain, which meant forcing other grain households to lower the price. At that time, he would try his best to stabilize the grain price. As long as the food price is stable, other things can be said, and the market will be able to maintain it by then.

But something unexpected happened again.

Ting Hui reported: "Some people buy hundreds of catties, or even thousands of catties. If this continues, our grain store will be sold out in a short time."

Ting Shuang understood after thinking about it, and couldn't help scolding: "You bastard, after buying up my grain, they can raise the price to make huge profits."

Ting Hui suggested: "Tell Baoqi to send troops to deal with those leading profiteers."

"No." Ting Shuang immediately refused, let Baoqi handle this matter, and then use a few bloody heads to frighten others, he really doesn't want to, let alone frighten a few unscrupulous merchants, what should ordinary people do?Some wealthy people also hoarded food, only caring about their own lives and disregarding others. This kind of selfishness shown in times of crisis, he can't change it, he can only find another way.