Zhu Nao

a month later.

A mighty caravan came to the gate of Yuzhou City, but was stopped by the officers and soldiers guarding the city.

The officers and soldiers looked at the caravan, and saw a young man with a handsome face and a boy with a stern expression walking in the front.These two people are strangers, but their demeanor is very extraordinary.He asked, "Is there any ultimatum?"

The young man took his time and took out the ultimatum and handed it over.

The officers and soldiers opened it and took a look: "From Langzhou? What kind of goods are they bringing? Open the box and let us check it."

The young man took out a silver ingot from his sleeve, stuffed it into the officer's hand, and said with a smile: "Brother officer, we are in a hurry, please check it quickly."

The officer and soldier weighed the ingot of silver, showed a satisfied smile, waved his hand, and asked his subordinates to check it.The officers and soldiers simply checked the first two boxes, and there was nothing wrong with them, and they didn't check the latter ones.

The caravan headed towards the city.

Fang didn't go far, and saw two people waiting at the intersection ahead.Judging by the clothes of those two people, they should be a rich man and his servant.When the two saw the team, their eyes lit up, and they rushed over. The rich man gave a simple salute to Zhu Nao, and said in a low voice, "Xiao Min has seen Zhuzhou Mu."

Zhu Nao raised his eyebrows: "You recognize me?"

The man hurriedly said: "I have been to Langzhou before, and I drank tea in a teahouse with my younger brother and some friends. Zhuzhou Mu happened to be there that day. My younger brother introduced Zhuzhou Mu to me."

Zhu Nao had a half-smile, "Didn't you say a lot of bad things about me?"

The man sneered: "My younger brother... has a bad temper, but he is not a bad person. He has caused Zhuzhou Mu trouble."

Junao shook his head disapprovingly.

This rich man is Li Shen's cousin Li Xiang.Li Xiang has been doing business in Yuzhou, has several shops in Yuzhou, and has some contacts in the government.This time when Zhu Nao came to Yuzhou, he sent him a message in advance, asking him to receive him and help him with some affairs.

Li Xiang led Zhu Nao's team to the residence: "I heard the news that you are going to open a grain store, but I didn't expect Zhu Zhou Mu to come in person."

Zhu Nao said: "Recently during the slack season, there are not many things going on in the state capital, so I just came out to see the scene of Yuzhou." He also said, "Don't call me an official, and don't tell others about it."

Li Xiang immediately made a gesture of shutting his mouth: "Okay, I understand."

The purpose of Zhu Nao's visit this time is naturally to bring the grain bank's business to Yuzhou.This is the first attempt. If it goes well, the grain shop will be pushed to the whole Sichuan in the future.Therefore, the trip to Yuzhou is very important.It just so happened that the state capital was not busy recently, so he handed over the government affairs to Dou Ziyi to take care of it temporarily, and came here himself.

As they walked, they observed the scene on the street.

Li Xiang said in embarrassment: "Isn't this place far worse than Langzhou? My business here is almost out of business. Maybe next year I will sell all the shops in Yuzhou and go to Langzhou to join my younger brother. "

It's not that he said this to please Zhu Nao, the difference between Yuzhou and Langzhou can be seen at a glance.

If you want to judge whether the law and order of a city is good or bad, you only need to look at the number of refugees and beggars who have nothing to do on both sides of the street.In Langzhou, even if you search the whole city, you can't find one or two beggars.Rich or poor, everyone has something to do.But in Yuzhou City, several ragged refugees can be seen on every street.Some people sat idly by the side of the road in a daze, while others eyed the passers-by with mischievous eyes, and they seemed to have bad intentions at first glance.

After walking not far, there was a noise of fighting ahead.Li Xiang hurriedly sent his servant to run over to look at it, and the servant returned after a while.

"Young Master Zhu, Young Master Li, take a detour. There are more than a dozen people fighting in front."

Li Xiang hurriedly led the crowd to another road: "Let's go from here."

Junao asked, "Does this happen often?"

Li Xiang shook his head: "It happens quite often. People's hearts are floating!"

Zhu Nao let out a "huh" and didn't say anything else.

After a while, Li Xiang brought everyone to his house.He had a big house in Yuzhou, and rented another one nearby, which was enough for Zhu Nao's men and goods to temporarily accommodate.Although he is Li Shen's cousin, Li Xiang and Li Shen have completely different temperaments. He is very meticulous and appropriate in doing things, and quickly helps Zhu Nao to settle everything.

It was just noon now, Li Xiang also ordered people to prepare meals and snacks in advance, the caravan people were eating in the yard, Zhu Nao still had something to discuss with Li Xiang, so he brought Cheng Jingzhe together with Li Xiang room, eating and chatting.

After sitting down, Li Xiang asked, "Zhuzhou Mu, I heard that you are here this time to open a grain shop?"

Zhu Nao nodded: "That's right. I wonder how many people in Yuzhou are in the grain business?"

"Not many. Now in Yuzhou City, there is only one big grain merchant, and the shop is in the south of the city. The rest are small merchants and hawkers, and the shops can't be sold. They can only set up stalls in the market every day to sell The stalls will be closed." Li Xiang sighed, "Do you know why those small traders can't do business? It's not because they don't know how to operate, but because Yuzhou government is very strict and refuses to allow them to operate!"

Junao raised his eyebrows: "Oh?"

"Do you know why? Because the biggest grain merchant in the city is Wang Zhoumu's brother-in-law!" Li Xiang frowned when he mentioned this, "The past few years have been in recession, natural disasters and man-made disasters, food shortages everywhere, food prices It has been doubled several times. It is profitable here, so they rely on their connections to cut off this business. Among the eight states in Shu, our Yuzhou has the highest grain price. Every time I go back to other places to buy goods, I have to pay Let the caravan bring some food back. Even if the travel expenses are included, the food in other states is much cheaper than ours. I do business, feed so many people, and eat so much food, I can’t live on any longer.”

After complaining, he said worriedly: "Zhuzhou Mu, you want to start a food business, but it's very difficult to get the official approval. If you can't get the approval, the following things will be difficult."

Anyone who wants to do business must obtain government approval.Otherwise, if you buy the shop, you will buy it for nothing, and you can only leave it vacant.In the current situation, it is obviously impossible for the state government to casually approve them to operate grain in Yuzhou.

As long as they can't pass this test, they will die before they leave the school, and there is no need to think about the largest grain company in Sichuan.

Jing Zhe frowned upon hearing this, but Zhu Nao was in no rush.He asked: "I heard that Wang Zhoumu has more than one wife, right?"

Li Xiang was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly said: "Not only. There are five of them."

Zhu Nao said: "Is there anyone who is more favored, and who is not easy to deal with this brother's wife who runs a grain shop?"

Li Xiang: "..."

He never expected that as soon as Zhu Nao came up, he would put his mind on Wang Zhoumu's housework, stuttered, and then said: "Yes, there should be, there is... I have heard that several wives compete for favor information……"

Zhu Nao said with a smile: "Then trouble you, find out for me in detail, which lady is the most favored and likes to compete for favor the most. Then find out what she likes, and I will back up and send it to you later."

Li Xiang opened his mouth: "...Okay, okay."

After a pause, he said again: "What if this road doesn't work?"

Zhu Naoyun took a sip of tea calmly: "If you can't achieve it, then change the method. Sow dissension, use force to attack force, cause conflicts, combine horizontal and vertical... There are many ways. Since this Wangzhou Mu only needs to get through People who have connections can do whatever they want, which is much easier than I thought."

Li Xiang: "..."

Originally, he thought the most difficult stage, but after Zhu Nao said so, it turned out to be a good thing?

He imagined the scene of a fire in Wang Zhoumu's backyard, and couldn't help but took out his silk scarf to wipe his sweat.This Zhuzhou Mu is really a ruthless character that lives up to his reputation!

After eating, Li Xiang hurried to find someone to make some connections.

Zhu Nao returned to the room, and after a while, Cheng Jingzhe knocked on the door with a package in his arms.

"Young master, these are your clothes." Jing Zhe put down the burden on the table, "Young master, do you want to take a nap?"

"Don't sleep anymore." Zhu Nao said, "Let's go for a walk in the city while it's still early. I want to go to the south of the city to see that brother-in-law's grain shop."

Jing Zhe hurriedly said, turned around and walked out: "I'll order a few people to accompany me."

He was stopped by Junao before he walked out the door: "You don't need to call, you just follow me. There are too many people, but it will attract people's attention."

Jing Zhe was taken aback: "This... Young Master, this is Yuzhou."

Of course he will try his best to protect Zhu Nao, but when he came all the way just now, he also saw that the law and order in Yuzhou is really not very good.In case someone gathers a crowd to make trouble again, he might not be able to protect Zhu Nao well with his own strength.

Zhu Nao unwrapped the package, took out two pieces of clothes, and threw one to Cheng Jingzhe: "Wearing this will save your life more than any number of followers."

Jing Zhe hastily reached out to catch it, unfolded it, and found it was a tattered old dress.The clothes were covered with patches, and there was an air of poverty that hit the face.

Jing Zhe: "..."

Sure enough, it is life-saving.

……

After a cup of tea, Zhu Nao, who had changed his clothes, took Cheng Jingzhe out.

……

In the south of the city, there was a long queue at the window of the largest grain shop in Yuzhou, and Lou Yi, the shopkeeper of the grain shop, was sitting in front of the window to collect money.

This grain shop is different from other shops. Although the shop is large, it is not open. There is only one window that opens to the outside. There is a table by the window, and Lou Yi sits behind the table.Customers can't enter the store to choose, so they can only hand over the money to Lou Yi. After receiving the money, Lou Yi turns around and greets the shop assistant, who will weigh and pack the food and send it out.

Outside the window, the line was several meters long.The weather has been getting colder recently, and the severe cold is coming. Many people have run out of grain at home, so they can only go to the grain shop to buy.

While collecting the money, Lou Yi yelled into the shop.

"Five liters of rice!"

"Two liters of rice!"

"Three liters of soybeans!"

Bag after bag of packed food was sent out by the staff and handed over to the guests.Before the guest could open the bag to check it, he was sent away, and the next guest went to the window.

After receiving a sum of money, Lou Yi looked up, only to see a poorly dressed man standing outside the window.It's winter, and this man is still wearing sackcloth and bunts, so he can tell at a glance that he is a handyman working for people in the city.

Lou Yi asked in a bad tone, "What do you want?"

The man rummaged in his pocket for a long time, and finally handed over a handful of copper coins with callused hands: "I want to buy some beans..."

He handed over the money very slowly, as if he was reluctant to hand over the money.Lou Yi snatched it away, counted roughly, then turned around and shouted, "One liter of soybeans!"

The man was a little anxious: "I can only buy one liter with this money?"

Lou Yi looked at him coldly: "How many liters do you want to buy for such a small amount? It's cold, and the price of food has risen again, don't you know?"

After a while, a bag of wrapped beans was sent out.Lou Yi pushed in front of the man, ready to greet the next guest.

The man picked up the beans, a small bag, which didn't hold much weight at all.He said with a mournful face, "Master Lou, this is too little, let's pack some more."

Lou Yi waved impatiently: "Hurry up, the people behind are waiting."

The man begged bitterly: "I have a child in my family, this is really not enough."

Lou Yi has already started to roll his eyes: "If you don't have money, go make money! We are here for business, not for charity!"

With a helpless expression on his face, the man dawdled by the window, refusing to leave.There was a guy standing outside the grain shop, who specialized in dealing with customers who were bargaining, and stepped forward upon seeing this, intending to drag the man away.

However, before the chasing guy approached, a young man and a teenager at the back suddenly came up and blocked the guy's way.

The young man went to the window, and persuaded the man who bought the beans earnestly and earnestly: "This shopkeeper is right, you have to be polite when doing business, and you can buy as much as you want. If he adds more weight to you, the other customers will have to buy more." what to do?"

The bean-buying man was stunned, and Lou Yi was also taken aback.Although the young man who spoke was poorly dressed, his face was very handsome, and the words he spoke were very pleasant.He hurriedly echoed: "Exactly! Did you hear what others said? You can buy as many things as you want. If you buy it, leave now, don't mess around here!"

The young man turned to Lou Yi and said with a smile, "The shopkeeper must be an honest person if he is so disciplined in his business."

Lou Yi was praised by others, she was a little proud, and stroked her beard: "It should be, it should be."

The bean-buying man wants to cry but has no tears.He couldn't afford any more money, but with such a small amount of food brought back, the family would definitely be unbearably hungry.What can I do?

While hesitating, the young man turned around again, stretched out his hand to him, and asked gently: "Would you mind showing me this bag of beans?"

Before the man could react, he had already handed over the beans spontaneously.

Zhu Nao supported it with his hand, only moved his wrist up and down, and his brows twitched slightly.He opened the paper bag and looked at it again.There is no need to look closely at a bag of beans, there are obviously a lot of yellow and black inside, and there is a lot of mud mixed in.

When Lou Yi saw his movements, she couldn't help being startled, and said vigilantly, "What are you doing?"

Zhu Nao rewrapped the paper bag and said with a smile: "I see that this bag of beans is not enough. Did some guy in the store shake his hand when he weighed it? Since the shopkeeper Lou is a person who abides by the rules, he must be able to put the beans in the bag. The missing portions are made up."

Lou Yi: "..."

Things changed so quickly, he was dumbfounded, and just as he didn't know how to react, Zhu Nao said again: "Doesn't the shopkeeper believe it? Take a scale and weigh it, and it will be clear. One liter of beans weighs three catties, but the stuff here is only Two catties sixty-seven taels."

Before Lou Yi had time to speak, a waiter in the store heard the movement outside and came over to watch the commotion.The young man next to Zhu Nao suddenly leaned on the window and jumped, with long arms and legs, he even snatched the scale from the guy's hand.

Lou Yi was stunned, and the guy holding the scale was dumbfounded looking at his empty hands.

Zhu Nao deftly put the beans on the weighing pan, turned the weight, and it was just right, two catties and six liang, exactly as he estimated.He smiled, and pushed the weighing pan back onto the counter: "Look, shopkeeper, this weight is really bad."

There was an uproar around.

The shop was originally facing the outside, and a few people stayed at the window for a while, and the queue behind and passers-by on the road surrounded many people one after another to watch the fun.They all started pointing.

Lou Yi's face turned blue and purple, turned around and slapped the guy first: "Who told you to come here?"

That guy didn't know that there was someone out there who was so skilled that he would snatch the weighing pan, so he covered his head pitifully, and quickly took the scale back.

Lou Yi turned around again and stared at Zhu Nao.

Of course he knew that there was a shortage in the store.Weighing and packaging are done in the shop instead of in front of customers, in order to make a fuss about the weight and quality.This was an old trick in the store, it was nothing at all, but the bad thing was that he responded to Zhu Nao's compliment just now.If he turned his back on him now, it would be a bit of a slap in the face for himself.But if he admits it, he doesn't care about a few taels of food. What if everyone makes trouble in the future?

He was angry and annoyed, wishing he could swallow Zhu Nao alive who provoked this matter.He hesitated for a moment, then became cruel, and finally gave up his face. The rascal said: "Who is short of weight? You must have tampered with it!"

Zhu Nao said calmly: "Shopkeeper, this is not fair. You handed out the food, and the scale is your buddy's scale. Where can we mess with it?"

Lou Yi was so angry that her teeth were itching, and she started to mess around again: "You must be in the same group, you want to blackmail me? Someone, get them out!"

The guy who had been waiting by the side hurried forward and was about to go to Rajunao.However, his hand was still in the air, but Cheng Jingzhe grabbed his wrist.The guy was quite surprised, and wanted to pull his arm out, but Cheng Jingzhe's hands were like iron tongs, pinching him completely still.Seeing that Cheng Jingzhe was clearly a young man, but his strength was so great, the guy couldn't help showing a horrified expression.

Zhu Nao shook his head: "Shopkeeper, I see you are handsome, why are you so unreasonable?"

Lou Yi: "..." He would rather this person scold him.But what this person said was even more disgusting than cursing.If he persisted in being unreasonable, wouldn't he be rejected for his appearance?Why don't you make people play rogues?

There are more and more onlookers, and the onlookers naturally know what is right and wrong.Finally someone couldn't stand it.

An old man stood up and said, "Young man, are you from a foreign land? This grain store has always been like this. If the things you buy are not short of catties, you will be damned."

The old man took the lead, and immediately more people joined in their support.

"I bought three catties of rice last time, and I lost three taels. I asked them, but they refused to admit it, and beat them back, saying that I blackmailed them."

"Me too! I buy five catties of noodles every time, and the amount they give is getting smaller and smaller. I used to buy a bag that lasted for two months, but now I buy a bag and eat it up in just over a month!"

"What's a lack of catties or taels? Every time the grain is mixed with a lot of silt. Is there any business like this?"

"That's right. The price keeps going up all day long, so you're a profiteer!"

This is the largest grain store in the city, and there are few small vendors in the market that can't be grabbed, so most people in the city have bought grain here, and they have all suffered losses and been cheated.Everyone said something to me, it was just to say a few words for the sake of justice, the more they said, the more excited the group became.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of hand, Lou Yi finally couldn't bear it anymore, and shouted loudly: "If you don't buy it, get out of here!! If you continue to make trouble here, I will call the officials to arrest you all!"

As soon as these words came out, the noisy street fell silent instantly.People looked at each other with expressions of fear.

Seeing that this trick worked, Lou Yi immediately took advantage of the victory to chase after him: "Get out! Get out! Don't come to buy food if you can, and no one will care about you if you starve to death!" Pointing at the bean-buying man, he said, "You take the lead in making trouble. Don't you want to go to jail?!"

The man who bought the beans was suddenly terrified: "No, no, I don't have one, don't let the officials catch me..."

He took a few steps back, remembered something, snatched the beans from Junao's hand, and said tremblingly: "I, I, I, I don't want it anymore. I'll go back first!"

Both Zhu Nao and Cheng Jingzhe were startled and frowned slightly.

The man snatched back the beans, turned around and ran away.Cheng Jingzhe wanted to chase, Zhu Nao held him down and shook his head, but he didn't chase after him.

Everyone was still gathered outside the store, Lou Yi said arrogantly: "He is gone, who else wants to make trouble? If you are not afraid of officials, just come!"

The owner has already left, and there is no justice in this matter after all.People looked at each other, the anger receded, and what was left was forbearance and sadness.

People gradually dispersed.

It was not only the onlookers who dispersed, but also the customers who had previously lined up to buy food, and they also dispersed.People have known for a long time that this grain store is not kind, but because they have no choice, they can only endure it.However, in today's trouble, although they were unable to seek justice, the anger that had been suppressed for a long time broke out.Most of the guests who are still angry and will not starve to death for the time being leave in anger and express their protest in their own way.

Lou Yi was quite proud to see the rioting crowd dispersed, but when she turned her head and saw that the guests had all left, she was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly became furious.He turned his head "swish", staring at Zhu Nao and Cheng Jingzhe fiercely.

"Are you here to find fault?"

Junao looked innocent.This really wronged him, this store is so bad, it is lacking in quality, the quality is low, the shopkeeper is still arrogant, he didn't drive away the customers, so how can we find fault?

Lou Yi gritted her teeth: "If it wasn't for finding fault, you don't buy anything, what are you doing here?!"

Zhu Nao raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile, "Buying things...you can buy them. I'm afraid the business is too big, and you, the shopkeeper, can't make the decision."

Lou Yi was stunned.

He stayed there for a moment, annoyed and annoyed, and scolded: "Go away, poor man! I won't sell you anything!"

But Zhu Nao said leisurely: "I said it, it's not up to you to decide this matter. Please go back and send a message to your boss, and ask him, is this shop for 50 taels of silver?"

Lou Yi still wanted to curse, but became dumbfounded after hearing this.Buying a store? ?Is this man a lunatic? !

"You you you... 50 taels of silver, have you ever seen so much money!" Lou Yi stuttered angrily, "Do you know who our boss is, you?"

Zhu Nao spread his hands: "No matter who it is, your boss must not be very good at doing business. In this case, if you give me the storefront as soon as possible, I will do him a favor. After a while, I'm afraid it will be 30 taels." Can't sell it anymore."

Lou Yi: "..."

He had never seen such a crazy lunatic before. He waved his fist and said, "Get out! If you don't get out, I will really report to the police!"

Zhu Nao smiled slightly: "Remember to tell your boss." After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked away with Cheng Jingzhe.

Lou Yi rolled her eyes frantically behind them, so much that her eyes almost couldn't come back.50 taels, 30 taels?He should throw their shop's ledger in that lunatic's face and let him take a good look at how much money this shop can make in a day.I'm afraid this lunatic has never seen so much money in his life!