Dingjiangshan

Because of the help of Jiang Xiaohan's booklet, Uncle Rong simply gave Ning Huaijin Zhang's identity document as a grain merchant this time.The owner of the identity document was also from Huaiyu's pawnshop, and Ning Huaijin hadn't been out of the house since Ning Huaijin arrived in Pingjiang, so Ning Huaijin was very relieved to use it.

Wei Ji pretended to be his servant, erased his imperial surname when he went out, and only called Ning Huaijin "Young Master".

On the surface, Anqing Mansion is like a pool of still water, the merchants operate as usual, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, nothing can be seen.

Ning Huaijin checked the "accounts" at Huaiyu's pawn shop for two days. Unfortunately, Ning Zheng hadn't made any progress for so many years. He also surrounded Anqing Mansion into an iron bucket. Get news from the palace.

It is only said that Ning Zheng seems to care about the concubine's child very much. After the concubine became pregnant, he brought the mother and younger sister of the concubine's family into the palace to accompany and raise the fetus.

Moreover, Ning Huaijin didn't know if he didn't come. The connection between Beijing and the fief was weak in the past ten years, so he didn't know that Ning Zheng had changed a princess.

Originally, the concubine passed away due to illness four years ago, and the one who is now pregnant with a child is Ning Zheng's continuation, the youngest daughter of Anqing's former prefect.

Ning Huaijin was surprised for a while when he heard the news. He had been in Beijing all these years, but he had never heard of such a major incident in Anqing Mansion.He also tried to recall the appearance of Ning Zheng's original princess, but found that he couldn't remember it.

This is no wonder, Ning Zheng is more than twenty years older than Ning Yan, and married earlier.In the past ten years, the confidants of Ning Zheng's lineage have been transferred away early, and the old ones are old. It seems that there are not many left in Beijing. If Ning Zheng does not report to Beijing, it is normal that they have not received the news .

Logically speaking, it is normal for the prince to renew his strings, and there are not many royal relatives who can really keep their filial piety for their first wife for three years, so there is really no need to hide things from Beijing.It's just that although Ning Huaijin felt that something was wrong, Ning Zheng regarded the main cities of Wang's Mansion and Anqing Mansion very closely, and he didn't dare to inquire about these back houses under the eyes of the other party.

Ning Huaijin thought about it, so she sent a letter to the governor of Pingjiang, asking him to talk to Ning Yan next time when he submitted the paper.

The news was delivered too much to cover up, Ning Yan knew that it was Ning Huaijin who did it after a little thought, and instead gave Ning Yan a "handle" that could be used to make fun of in the future.

It's a pity that when Prince Gong left Beijing, his mind was in a state of confusion, and he didn't think too much about making up random excuses, so that when it came time to send a letter, he could only use other people's hands to bite the bullet and make this excuse go away.

Ning Huaijin has been wandering around the wharf of Anqing Mansion for two or three days, and has become familiar with most of the local gangsters and boatmen.

Ning Huaijin is not yet in her thirties this year, handsome and young, she only said that she was ordered by her family to come out to practice and do business alone to collect bills, but no one was suspicious.

When he first came to Anqing Mansion two days ago, he was just in time for a cargo ship to enter the wharf. There were a lot of guys, boatmen, and shopkeepers who came to buy the right goods on the wharf. It's all in the way on the side of the road.

Ning Huaijin looked at it coldly for a day, and when she went back the next day, she picked a medium-sized boat and helped unload the cargo with Wei Ji.

When unloading goods on the pier, it was busy, most of them were led by the bosses to work with a bunch of fellows, and there were many strangers, no one noticed Ning Huaijin, and they all thought it was the other guy who brought them.It wasn't until the two large ships full of cargo were unloaded and the wages were counted that the guys didn't realize that Ning Huaijin was such a person.

He had experienced in the army when he was young, and he had been pampered and pampered for so many years, and he didn't lose his limbs. After working with others for a day, he easily got acquainted with these hard-working guys.

After the unloading of the goods, the shopkeepers of each family went to count the goods and settle the money. The guys were free, and one of the older ones called Ning Huaijin to drink herbal tea at the tea shed by the pier.

"It's a gloomy day, why did the little shopkeeper come out to look at the goods in person." The guy poured a bowl of herbal tea into his belly, wiped his mouth, and said, "What a pain."

"It's not from my family, I just came out to see the world." Ning Huaijin smiled, and didn't dislike the greasy tea bowl, and drank half a bowl: "My father said, business, you can't just sit Doing calculations at home, what is going on outside, how to transport goods, and how much to transport in one ship are all knowledge, so let me come out and study hard.”

The guy laughed, nodded, gave a thumbs up, and said: "The old shopkeeper is right, he is right. Doing business is originally a kung fu of preventing small things from happening, and the family has a big business, and it can't stand being foolish and squandering."

"It's just a little shopkeeper." The guy said, "I saw you wandering around here twice, and I don't know what you're here for. This pier looks big, but it's only doing some official business such as food, salt and iron." Goods, such rare things as silk and tea are not unloaded here. I see that you are well dressed, and I don’t know what kind of business your family is in... Don’t go to the wrong place.”

This is an unexpected harvest, Ning Huaijin thought.

The cargo ships he saw in the past two days were all covered with linoleum cloth and packed in those big bamboo baskets, which were so heavy that they couldn't be seen.

"Really." Ning Huaijin smiled, took another sip of herbal tea from the bowl, and said, "My family is in the food business. I heard that the Anqing Mansion has been doing well in the past two years, so my father asked me to come and have a look. , can you store up some food?"

"Ah, that's too bad." The boss shook his head regretfully, and said, "Little shopkeeper, you may have to make a trip for nothing."

Ning Huaijin thought about it and asked, "What?"

"Anqing Mansion has not sold food outside at all since last year." The guy untied the pipe from his waist, pointed at the pier from a distance, and said, "Little shopkeeper, have you seen those ships? They came from several prefectures in Huainan. Anqing has to sell food from outside, so how can I sell it to you."

"How could this happen?" Ning Huaijin said: "I also went to the countryside two days ago and asked the farmers there. They all said that the grain production was good last year, and the grain price was lowered because of the good harvest."

"The little shopkeeper went to Liumu Village in the west." The guy said.

Ning Huaijin recalled Jiang Xiaohan's booklet, nodded, and wondered, "How do you know?"

"Around Anqing Mansion, apart from the subordinate counties and townships, there are two large villages on the east and west sides that can produce the most grain." The gang leader tapped the upper of the shoe with a dry tobacco pole, shaking the remaining lit tobacco leaves inside. After falling cleanly, he sighed: "Actually, let me tell you the truth, I am from Liumu Village."

The guy said, pointing to the guys who were sitting by the pier enjoying the cool water, and said: "They all belong to our village. Last year's harvest was good, but the price of grain was low. The family couldn't pay the rent, so they were forced to pay the rent." With several mu of land, I can only come out to do some manual work to subsidize the family."

Ning Huaijin didn't expect to meet the real suffering lord just by wandering around, and she was not prepared, so she could only say dryly: "The cheapness of food is also good, save the money for daily rice purchases, earn a few years, and redeem the land return."

He only wanted to comfort him, but he didn't want the guy to shake his head and sighed heavily.

"It's not that easy, little shopkeeper, you can tell by looking at this huge boat, not to mention the cheap food prices, it's not easy for Anqing Mansion to have enough food now." What kind of Vulcan, at the beginning of the year, the granary where the government collected grain was set ablaze by sparks, and the fire blazed for most of the night before people discovered that the grain and grass in it had been burnt clean in one go, and nothing There is nothing left—no, this year’s grain hasn’t come down yet, so we can only rely on buying it from outside.”

——Buy a lot of grain.

Ning Huaijin was keenly aware of something, he turned his head and exchanged glances with Wei Ji.

Ning Huaijin doesn't believe in nonsense such as burning warehouses, and Ning Zheng will never suffer, not to mention whether the granary guards will be negligent, but just say that if such a big thing happens in Anqing Mansion, one It is impossible for Ning Zheng not to write to the capital to ask for a grain adjustment after setting fire to the entire mansion's food and grass for a whole year.

Although Ning Yan didn't deal with him very much, he couldn't ignore the local people and acted rationally. Even for the sake of his brothers, he still had to transfer food from the surrounding prefectures. There was no need for him to spend so much money. Go out and buy by boat.

The purpose of lowering the price of grain and invading the fields is to make money, while it is said that the granary was burned down to store up grain.

——What does Ning Zheng want to do?

Ning Huaijin's eyes were slightly cold, and she sneered from the bottom of her heart.

Ruan Yin and Ning Zheng, mother and son, are so loyal to each other that they still have such rebellious thoughts to this day. I don't know whether it should be said that they are daring or that they are whimsical.

The guy didn't notice his strangeness, and was still complaining to himself: "Our village is already like this. Most of the capable boys come out to sell some strength, so that they can earn some rice for the family. Dongtou is better. , at least relying on the Dongshan land, so you don’t have to come out to do hard work.”

Ning Huaijin came back to her senses and subconsciously asked, "Where?"

"Oh, it's at the bottom of Dongshan Mountain. Our prince has designated a piece of land there." The guy didn't care much, and said, "It's fenced off, and no one else is allowed to enter. Many young and middle-aged people in Dongtou village were expropriated." There is a lot to be paid for taking care of that land, two qian a month, which is enough for the family to spend."

"How big is that place?" Ning Huaijin asked.

"Ouch..." The guy scratched his head and said, "I don't know, it doesn't seem to be very big, but it's hard to say if it's surrounded by the bottom of the mountain."

Ning Huaijin recalled the terrain around Anqing Mansion. He probably had an impression of the mountain in Dongshan. It was not far from Anqing Mansion, and the side near the main city happened to be on the dark side. It looks like it can grow crops.

"This big brother." Ning Huaijin signaled Wei Ji to pour tea for him, and asked with a smile: "How can there be any crops grown in the mountains, you are bluffing me."

"How can this be bluffing, little shopkeeper." The boss shook his head disapprovingly, and said, "We all know that the land is not planted with crops, but with several kinds of medicinal materials—it is said that the little princess is not in good health. , needs to use medicines all the year round to replenish her body. But the medicine she takes is not grown here in Anqing Mansion, so the prince allocated a piece of land and brought back the medicinal plants from the far side of Yuanjiang Mansion, and planted them for her alone."