Song Mingyue

Chapter 56 The Fish Hooked
The new moon is like a hook, the night is hazy, the river is windy, and the turbulent river during the day seems to have become quieter.

More than [-] grain ships were moored densely along the river bank, covering the river which was more than one mile wide and stretched for several miles.

The lights on the merchant ships gradually dimmed, and there were only a few wind lanterns left on each ship, swaying in the night wind. Except for the people on duty, most of the people on board fell asleep, even the largest merchant ship It also gradually quieted down.

The night was getting deeper and deeper, and it gradually reached the middle of the night. Those on duty also gathered together in twos and threes, chatting to pass the time, so as not to fall into drowsiness.

The surface of the river was dark, and no one noticed that on the outermost water surface of the merchant ship, a head popped out suddenly, followed by another, and then more than ten heads popped up one after another, one distance away from the outermost. The row of merchant ships is no more than ten feet.

It was still quiet on the merchant ship, only occasional chatter and laughter could be heard.

wow wow wow~
There was a soft sound of water, and the ten or so black shadows plunged into the water again and spread out, like swimming fish, each of them swam to the surrounding boats.

The black shadow closest to the merchant ship in the middle quickly swam under the side of the ship, popped its head out, looked up for a while, saw that the top of the head was dark, and immediately stopped hesitating, a black shadow suddenly flew out of its hand, dragging A long black line hung on the side of the boat.

The man tested the tightness of the silk rope, then grasped the silk rope and climbed up the hull skillfully and quickly. When he was about to reach the top, he clung to the hull and listened carefully for a while, making sure that there were no footsteps. Then turned over, gently landed under the ship's side, and put away the flying claws.

At this moment, two people walked over slowly holding a lantern, which made the person turn over in a hurry, landed on the mountain of grain bags, lifted the oilcloth covering it, and hid in it.

The two walked past him slowly with lanterns on, chatting softly as they walked.

"Go to sleep in half an hour, I'm sleepy." One of them said.

"Forget it, it's nothing more than mud, sand and rocks, what's there to see." Another person said.

"Hush...don't make a loud noise, this is your master's plan. Outsiders don't know, it's just that this merchant ship probably has [-] shi of rice grain. The purpose is to confuse the Zheng family and force them to sell grain at a low price to solve the grain shortage in Jiangning. .”

"My son's clever plan is a clever plan, but it's hard for me to wait..."

The two walked over while chatting, not knowing that there was a person beside them.

After the two of them left, the black shadow hiding under the tarpaulin untied a short knife from the tight-fitting leg, and severely cut a "grain bag" next to it. The dust sprayed, and the man was caught off guard and couldn't help but sneezed.

The man hastily wiped the dirt off his face, then pierced a "grain sack" on the right side, and what was exposed was still mud and sand, not even half a grain of rice. ,

After tying four or five bags around him one after another, the man put away the short knife, jumped out from under the oilcloth, tiptoed to the side of the boat, hooked the flying claws to the side of the boat, then grabbed the silk rope and turned over, along the side of the boat. Fly down.

After a while, more than ten black shadows gathered on the river again, talking in low voices, and then they all dived into the water and disappeared.

……

The price of grain has risen to 900 guan [-] shi, and it is still rising. Moreover, due to the continuous rise of grain price, just like the housing price after [-], the people in the city have started to go crazy, and they are rushing to buy.

As for the five thousand shi grains donated by Jiangnan Buddhism, there is not much left, and the situation is becoming more and more critical and chaotic.

At this moment, a piece of news came that shocked the entire Jiangning City.

Zhao, Wang, and Xie's three houses will transport 50 shi of rice grain from Jiangbei, and it will arrive at the Qinhuai River Ferry in three days. Each shi only needs two grains, and the price will not be raised.

This news was not only confirmed by Zhao, Wang, and Xie, but also by Wang Hanzhi, the magistrate of Jiangning.

This news quickly calmed people's hearts and stopped the looting of the people. People who had enough food for four or five days in their hands stopped panic buying, and even temporarily suppressed the rise in prices of meat, eggs, and vegetables.

It's just that some families are happy and some are sad. This news is not good news for those grain merchants of Zheng's faction who are hoarding.You must know that they listened to the Zheng family's instigation and rushed to buy and hoard rice grains desperately. Most of the rice grains were purchased at a high price of more than three pennies, and the average purchase price was between three pennies and three pennies.Now, although it has risen all the way from five to seven to five, it has only sold for less than [-]%. If it is suddenly forcibly dropped back to two and one stone, most people will lose money.

The grain merchants of Zheng's faction in Jiangning City panicked one after another, and ran to Zheng's mansion one by one, and the living room of Zheng's mansion was filled with anxious grain merchants.

Originally, they wanted to rely on the big tree of the Zheng family to make a fortune, hoping to raise the price of grain to more than ten guan. Many grain merchants bet all their belongings and frantically bought them. The grain merchants in the city hoarded more than one million shi of grain, and the Zheng family alone had 30 shi in stock.

Now if it falls back to two pennies and one stone, the grain merchants in Jiangning City will lose at least one million pennies, and the Zheng family will lose 34 pennies.Three to 40 guan, even if Zheng Jiafu can rival the country, it is still a traumatic effect.

Jiangning's grain merchants are in a hurry, and the Zheng family is even more anxious.

Three or four million pennies, although it hurts the muscles and bones, it can hardly hurt the vitality of the Zheng family.

The most important thing is that if the Zheng family loses this battle, the reputation of the Zheng family will plummet. No matter how powerful the Zheng family is politically, they will only be suppressed by the Wang, Zhao, and Xie families everywhere in the business war. , It is difficult to turn over.

Jingxinzhai.

Zheng An sat cross-legged on the futon, his eyes were slightly closed, his face was cloudy and uncertain.Zheng Qing, Zheng Hong, and the butler Li Gang stood beside them with their hands down, not daring to say a word.

"How's the news from Yinyi?" Zheng An asked.

"No news has come yet." Steward Li Gang said in a low voice.

Zheng An said in a deep voice: "Back then, Huang Wenhu was just a rascal and was almost hacked to death. If the old man hadn't rescued him and supported him, how would he be where he is today? Could it be that he really betrayed the old man and turned to his opponent?"

Li Gang said anxiously: "Let's wait for the news from the leader of the Yin gang, according to the villain's understanding of Huang Wenhu, he will definitely live up to the old officials."

Zheng An snorted coldly: "I hope so, if Huang Wenhu becomes a white-eyed wolf, I will be regarded as blind, but he can't live in peace."

A house slave led a capable man galloping towards the door, the man slowed down, walked in gently, and respectfully bowed to Zheng An: "Subordinate, Chen Liang, I greet the old leader. "

Zheng An's eyes suddenly opened, his gaze was like lightning, and he asked, "Master Chen, what's the news on the river?"

Chen Liang said in a low voice: "This subordinate personally brought people to investigate this matter. In the grain bags on the boat, there was no half grain of rice except sand... He waited for the three families, but it was just a bluff."

Zheng An's eyes brightened, his eyes were fixed, and he asked in a deep voice: "Have you ever found out clearly?"

"I have searched more than ten merchant ships, and they are all like this. It is absolutely true. Moreover, according to the investigation by the Jiangbei spies, there is no evidence that the Grain Gang has carried out large-scale grain shipments."

Hahaha~
Zheng An suddenly laughed: "A group of children dare to play tricks with Lao Tzu, not only spreading the wind around, but even the Jiangning Mansion followed suit. Such a big fight is really a bluff."

Zheng Qing, Zheng Hong, Li Gang and others on the side also laughed loudly.

After a long time, the laughter stopped, and Zheng An shouted in a deep voice: "Pass my order, the price of grain will be directly raised to ten guan and one stone, and it will not be sold for less than a penny!"

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)