The Tyrant's Cannon Fodder Queen[Transmigration Book]

This time, the second prince, the third prince and the sixth prince followed the prince out of Beijing.

The prince and the third prince traveled with the emperor to various places several times when they were children, and they were not very surprised by the scenery along the way.

The second prince lived in the house for 20 years, and he didn't care about the scenery outside his monastic abode at all, and he was very calm along the way.

Therefore, the most excited one is the sixth prince.

On both sides of the canal, many farmers watched the mighty imperial grain ship.

The sixth prince also stood curiously at the bow of the boat, looking at the peasants from a distance.

"Why are they all dressed so frugally?" The sixth prince asked Xue Yao, "Is this a farmer from the disaster-stricken county?"

Xue Yao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, this is the border of Shandong, how can the peasants dress like ordinary people in the capital?

What's more, these peasants wear coarse linen clothes that are not too bright, and they don't even have patches, which means that the living conditions are still passable.

Originally wanted to explain truthfully that this was a normal life of the people, but seeing the little face of the sixth prince who was concerned about the country and the people, Xue Yao couldn't bear to shatter his imagination of the country being rich and the people strong, so he could only coax him: "These peasants spend their days You have to go to the fields to work, if you go to the field wearing silk brocade clothes, if you don’t pay attention, you will get muddy or even rub your clothes, it’s a waste of good materials, it’s not as convenient as wearing linen.”

"So that's how it is!" The sixth prince became happy again.

In an age when information is not circulated, the young little prince who has no experience is just so easy to deceive.

The prince and his party plan to go to Zhejiang to buy grain, because the prices in Jinling are slightly higher than those in Hangzhou.

Xue Yao and the accompanying purchasing eunuchs persuaded the prince to compare prices, so the grain ship first landed in Jinling.

The customs and customs in the south of the Yangtze River are quite different from those in the north.

Talented scholars are romantic and beauties are graceful.

The people in Jinling City seem to live a beat slower than the people in the capital city, and there is a leisurely and lazy atmosphere everywhere.

In the restaurants lined up on both sides of the Qinhuai River, the accompaniment of pipa and guqin and melodious singing of women can be heard from time to time.

The third prince's eyes widened when he heard this, and he said that he would stay in Jinling City for a few days and negotiate the price with the local grain merchants.

But when he got off the boat, he went to the most famous brothel to negotiate the price.

The prince sent purchasing eunuchs to go to the food store with Xue Yao to find out the news, and the sixth prince also actively asked to go with him.

Since Xue Yao was reborn, it was the first time he set foot on his hometown of Jinling, which was his hometown in Nanjing in his previous life.

The landscape of his hometown is completely different from that of his time.

There are more bright and dust-free blue sky, clear green water, simple and elegant restaurants and shops, but few high-rise buildings in the future.

The accent is still cordial.

In Xue Yao's view, Nanjing's dialect is not too difficult to understand, at least there is no foreign-like difference like that of Suzhou and Zhejiang.

Unexpectedly, the sixth prince couldn't understand, and curiously asked him what the people around him were saying along the way.

The eunuchs purchased by the inner court are authentic people from the capital city. Because of their many years of official business and contact with many local businessmen, they can understand the Jinling dialect, but the eunuchs themselves cannot speak the Jinling dialect.

This gave Xue Yao a headache.

He led a group of old men from the capital to negotiate prices with grain merchants in Jinling. From time to time, the sixth prince asked curiously, "What is the boss talking about?"

Even if the competition of several grain merchants is provoked, the starting price will be higher, and it will naturally take more time to grind hard.

Xue Yao couldn't afford it at all.

The value of the sense of security on the little chubby boy's side is like a time bomb, which explodes in his mind from time to time, and he may fall down by jumping off a building someday.

He had to make a quick decision, return to Beijing as soon as he finished his work, and serve the insecure little counselor Baolong Aotian Fat Cub.

After thinking for a while, Xue Yao smiled at the sixth prince, "Your Highness is visiting Jinling for the first time. Why don't you go to the restaurant to order a play first, taste our Qinhuai charm, and leave the business to me and Eunuch Liu to discuss."

The sixth prince was full of ambitions, of course he had no intention of having fun, but he changed his mind, thinking that he was young and inexperienced, which might affect Xue Yao and the others' business talks.

He had guessed that Xue Yao might just be tactfully persuading him not to get involved in the business.

The sixth prince's excitement was immediately extinguished, but he also knew that he had no experience in this field, which might delay the business.

So he scratched the back of his head, raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Coincidentally, I also want to go to the restaurant to have a look, so I will leave the business to you. I'll be lazy and go to a play first. Don't tell big brother!"

Xue Yao keenly caught the slight change on the sixth prince's face from excitement to disappointment to feigned joy, and immediately blamed himself in his heart.

Nuan Baobao is completely different from that bratty little chubby boy.

At such a time, he would find an excuse to dismiss the sixth prince, and he would definitely be able to guess the reason, thinking that Xue Yao thought he was in the way.

But it was too late to repent, Xue Yao assigned a group of disguised attendants to accompany the sixth prince to the market to have fun, and led the experienced purchasing eunuchs to the "battlefield".

Before going to the big grain store, the group first went to the small grain store in the market to test the market price.

The retail price of high-grade rice is 650 Wen a stone, the middle price is [-] Wen, and the low-grade rice ranges from [-] to [-] Wen.

There are also inferior old rice and insect rice, the price is almost half sold and half free.

If you buy more than ten shi of medium rice, you will get one shi of inferior rice for free, which can be used to feed livestock and poultry.

On this trip, the prince will buy 150 million shi of grain.

Xue Yao's plan was to pay the price of low-grade rice for middle-grade rice.

If the price cannot be reached, the rice will be mixed according to the proportion, and the middle-grade rice and the low-grade rice will be purchased.

After all, the people in the disaster-stricken counties are not too picky about the quality of rice. The most important thing is not to die of hunger, and the amount of food must be the first priority.

While on the boat, Xue Yao had already inquired about the number of people in the disaster-stricken county.

After calculating several drafts, he planned to buy medium rice at a price of five hundred cash.

This is enough for the people in the disaster-stricken county to survive the disaster for one and a half years. It can be said that it is more than enough, which is a full 40 shi more than the grain purchased by the prince in the original book.

With such a goal in mind, Xue Yao was the first to visit the third-ranked grain store in Jinling, planning to practice his words first, before going to negotiate business with the largest grain store.

Before negotiating big business with grain companies, you usually need the help of a local intermediary to build a bridge.

The intermediary needs to get a commission according to the business share, so they will take the initiative to stand on the side of the merchants and guard against profiteers who deceive foreigners.

But the prince's business is too big, and the commission for the middleman is a huge sum of money.

Thinking that anyway, he had experience in purchasing eunuchs, so he saved the step of finding an intermediary. Xue Yao himself was not afraid of tigers as a newborn calf, so he did it alone.

Leading a group of people into the food store, the clerk immediately greeted him with a smile on his face.

Just as Xue Yao was about to speak, the experienced Eunuch Liu told the guy with a straight face: "Our master has a big deal to discuss with your bank, please come out."

The clerk was overwhelmed by Eunuch Liu's aura, nodded and bowed his head and replied: "Our boss is not in the store, I will invite the shopkeeper to come!"

"Hmm—" Eunuch Liu replied blankly.

Xue Yao admired the fat eunuch's aura.

After all, he is an old eunuch who is serious about purchasing. He speaks a Beijing accent, but does not show the crampedness of foreign visitors at all, and has an air of anti-customer.

When discussing business, you still have to put on airs. The humble and polite gentleman's demeanor is not suitable for all occasions.

The shopkeeper of the food bank quickly came to the lobby on the first floor and invited everyone to sit down.

Hearing that it was a businessman with a capital accent, the shopkeeper guessed that a big deal had arrived, otherwise he would not have traveled so far to do business.

To Xue Yao's surprise, although the shopkeeper's hospitality attitude was polite, he was not particularly positive. He just invited them to drink tea with a warm smile, and chatted about some trivial matters in the grain business, waiting for them to speak about the business themselves.

Xue Yao didn't waste time, and after drinking half a cup of tea, he said to the shopkeeper in an authentic Jinling accent: "My house is receiving distinguished guests from the capital, and they want to come to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to discuss a big business."

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "I have already seen that, thanking you for taking care of the business of our Mingfang Grain Bank, it would be a waste of time for you, so I will tell the truth."

"A few days ago, a group of grain merchants came from Zhejiang and took away most of the grain from our Suzhou warehouse! Judging by the demeanor of your masters, the business to be discussed may be bigger than that of Zhejiang merchants. I am afraid that our grain store has stock insufficient."

Xue Yao's heart skipped a beat, with an ominous premonition.

Zhejiang merchants harvest grain?

No wonder in the original book, all the prince's food was purchased from Hangzhou. It turns out that the Jiangsu grain store was "looted" by Zhejiang merchants first.

The two places are lands of fish and rice, and there is somewhat of a competitive relationship. Zhejiang businessmen logically say that it is impossible to take care of the business of Jiangsu businessmen.

If so much grain is collected and cannot be sold out, and the deadline expires, it will be inferior rice and inferior rice.

Then why did Zhejiang merchants come to Jiangsu to collect grain?

Xue Yao had an intuition that this matter was strange, but he still asked calmly: "How much food can your bank provide in total now?"

The shopkeeper didn't drag his feet, and directly calculated an account for Xue Yao: "The stock in our granary is just enough for our one-year retail business, and the market price of selling it to the common people must have been inquired about. If you need it, Our grain bank can provide up to 570 shi of grain—[-]% of high-grade rice, [-]% of medium-grade rice, all of which will be given to you at the price of [-] ren! I only hope that if you want to buy grain next year, you must take care of our Mingfang business."

This is very true. The grain bank's inventory is only enough for this year's business, and it is reasonable to say that it can be sold at the market price.

It is indeed very interesting to be willing to take out [-] shi grains and sell them at the price of inferior rice.

However, Eunuch Liu did not accept this favor, and sneered sarcastically: "Fifty thousand shi? You underestimate our business too much! Since your bank can't provide much food, let's go to another house to see it first." look."

"Sir—" Xue Yao hurriedly stood up, asking Eunuch Liu to take a step to speak.

In the original book, it seems strange to buy 120 million shi of grain at a high price at the end, but Xue Yao has fully understood it now!

Eunuch Liu has not yet realized the seriousness of the matter. In the original book, he must have offended the owners of various grain stores in Jinling all over the place, thinking that since Zhejiang has collected so much grain, he is not afraid that he will not be able to buy it.

As a result, it became narrower and narrower, and eventually the prince was severely slaughtered by Zhejiang grain merchants.

Xue Yao had mixed feelings. At first he thought that the purchasing eunuch had experience and style, but now he realized that experience and style might have affected his judgment.

In the current situation, half of the grain hoarded by the Jiangsu Grain Bank has been taken away. Naturally, local merchants will no longer sell grain below the market price.

And this shopkeeper is willing to give such a preferential price, which can be said to be a big loss, and it is entirely for the long-term business in the future.

In the original book, the price of grain purchased by the prince was nearly 670 pax, and most of it was inferior rice.

That is to say, the prince collected a bunch of low-grade rice at the price of medium-grade rice.

And the shopkeeper of this grain store is really loyal enough to sell them middle and high-grade rice at the price of low-grade rice, but the stock is limited and the portion is a little less.

Eunuch Liu is so sarcastic at the moment, it is too thoughtless.

Xue Yao pulled him aside to analyze the situation, and said: "570 Wen is definitely a price of conscience. We have to make friends with the shopkeeper, and we must also buy [-] Shi of grain."

But Eunuch Liu waved his hands with a disdainful smile, and said, "Don't be impatient, my lord, don't be fooled by these profiteers! How old is our business? Are you afraid that we won't get the price of conscience? Our family is not the first! The second time I bought grain and rice for the imperial court, 150 million shi of grain, let's go to a well-stocked grain store to get the goods, medium rice, at most five hundred cash, why should I take such superficial affection from him?"

Knowing that he was young and inexperienced, Xue Yao persuaded him patiently: "Elder-in-law, we are not sure if the other family has enough stock, it is best to have food at a good price, and we will take it all, just in case. "

Eunuch Liu smiled even more like a Maitreya Buddha: "Oh, my young master, you are too afraid of troubles. The emperor is blessed with thousands of lands, and the harvests are abundant everywhere. How can His Highness be short of 150 million shi of grain? You Just look at it!"

Xue Yao almost wanted to slap the fat eunuch to wake him up. It is estimated that in the original book, it was because of the blind arrogance of the purchasing eunuch that the prince ended up losing more than 40 shi of grain!