Chapter 402 Undercurrent

Chang's grain shop in Baihe City.

The shopkeeper was sitting at the counter, bored and watching the pouring rain outside the street.

In this weather, not to mention customers, even pedestrians were few and far between.

However, even if there was no rainstorm, the situation would not be much different - the post-New Year is the off-season for business, and the grain stored before the New Year should be enough for a long time, and it will basically get better in the second half of the month. The peak season is obviously summer and winter, one before the harvest, and the other for winter storage.

In autumn, because the grain is ripe and harvested, there are too many people selling it, and the grain shop is under great competition and cannot sell it at a high price. During this period, you only need to pay attention to buying at a low price.

Although grain is never hard to sell, there is still a difference between high and low prices. When the Jinxia Army set up a battle array outside Baihe City and attacked the city, the shopkeeper was secretly happy. The people were afraid of having no food during the war. As long as the war lasted for one or two months, wouldn't the grain price soar to the sky? But he didn't expect that the governor would surrender in less than a day, which really disappointed him.

Now, except for the addition of a branch of the Affairs Bureau on Jiuli Street, Baihe City did not feel any changes from before.

At this time, the bell at the door rang.

A man walked into the house quickly.

Rain dripped down his raincoat and accumulated into a small puddle on the ground. Obviously he was in a hurry and didn't care to avoid it even in the heavy rain.

Oh? Finally, there is business.

The shopkeeper stood up, "Sir, do you want to buy food? The store has rice and yellow rice, as well as ground flour and fine noodles. If you want to buy oil, I have a lot here."

The man took off his hat and revealed his face. He was a strong man in his thirties. In an ordinary family, he would be the undisputed head of the family.

Well... he doesn't look like a servant. Such customers usually buy in small quantities and will not choose those high-priced good rice. The shopkeeper thought to himself and had already taken out a handful of yellow rice from under the counter, intending to show it to the customer.

The so-called yellow rice is rice that is more than two and a half years old.

Although the business is small, it is better than nothing. People in this industry often pay attention to an omen. It is a good omen to welcome a customer on such a rare rainy day.

"I want it."

As expected, the other party nodded.

"Okay, how much do you want?"

"Five or six hundred."

"Okay, I'll go now--" The manager was stunned, "How much?"

"Six hundred kilograms. Don't you have it here?" The man reported an exact number again.

Six hundred kilograms, of course, if a grain store can't even take out six hundred kilograms of goods, wouldn't it be a joke? The shopkeeper just didn't expect that this person's appetite would be so big. Most people would only buy a few dozen taels of yellow rice.

"Sir, are you sure? Six hundred kilograms of grain is a bit heavy."

The man took out a cloth bag and dumped it on the counter. It was full of copper coins and silver coins. "Do you have a car here to help transport it?"

After seeing the money, the shopkeeper's doubts disappeared, "Hey, of course. I'll arrange it for you right away - Hey, Mu Tou, come to work!"

After busying himself for half an hour to send the guests away, he couldn't help grinning.

This deal was very smooth. Although the price of yellow rice was low, the profit was not low at all. In addition, the shipment volume was large, and the price of this order was probably not the sales volume of one day in the off-season.

I thought today's business would end here, but unexpectedly, two hours later, another customer walked into the grain shop in the slightly lighter rain.

"Shopkeeper, do you have refined rice?"

"Yes, yes, yes, how much do you want?"

"Give me eight hundred kilograms. Flour should also be about one hundred."

"Eight hundred?" The shopkeeper repeated subconsciously.

"The master wants to retreat and cultivate himself, and he told me to buy more grain to store in the farm. Is there any problem?" The other party's temper was obviously not very good, and his brows were already frowning.

It turned out that it was for the consumption of the entire farm, the shopkeeper suddenly realized, but it was rare for this farm not to farm itself. "No problem, no problem at all, I will help you weigh and pack it."

Eight hundred kilograms, half of the inventory of refined grain.

But this is just the warehouse of the grain shop. The large warehouse of the Chang family still has sufficient goods. The shopkeeper looked at the half-empty warehouse and smiled in his heart. There is no doubt that if the grain shop sells more, he can also make more money. Such business is naturally what he wants.

It seems that he has to go to the warehouse to replenish the stock in advance, the shopkeeper said secretly. I never expected that the first heavy rain after the New Year would actually be a good day.

...

Such a scene is not only seen in the Chang family grain shop.

The grain shops of all sizes in Baihe City have ushered in a good harvest today.

And the next week is almost the same, as if good luck is favoring this business.

Everyone gradually discovered that this year's peak season seemed to have come earlier.

In fact, it was not just Baihe City.

In another big city, Anshen, and some counties and towns, the same changes were also happening.

Grain has become a hot-selling product.

...

In Baisha County, several middle-aged men dressed as herbal farmers climbed a high slope and looked down at a busy mine.

"This mine... seems different from other mines?"

The leader looked at it carefully for a long time before speaking.

"What is that thing that keeps moving?"

No one could answer.

Even though they were not people with little experience.

At the entrance of the mine, a long cloth belt is set up. This cloth belt is almost a thousand steps long, not only connecting several mine entrances together, but also directly leading to the yard area. More importantly, the cloth belt is movable - it keeps running in one direction, sending the ore piled on it to the yard in an endless stream. People can easily gather the ore in one place by just waving the shovel back and forth a few times.

And there are several facilities like this under construction - when the remaining cloth belts are completed, the entire mine will not need a few people to carry the heavy ore automatically to the yard.

It doesn't look complicated, but because everyone is an expert, they know that it definitely has a mystery. Whether it is the cloth belt that can prevent the ore from being cut or the rollers that can rotate continuously, it is not something that ordinary people can achieve.

Of course, there are more strange places. For example, in places where hard work is required, many workers do not seem to be locals, or even people from the six countries on the mainland. Their hair ranges from golden to dark brown, and their faces have some shadows of the people of the West.

The treatment of these guys is also worse than that of ordinary laborers, and there are chains on their feet, which is obviously a way to deal with criminals.

When did Jinxia City get such a group of coolies?

"Write it down. The Privy Council may be interested in these things." The leader ordered.

"I remember that there is only one mine in Shenzhou, right?" Another person said, "Originally, the pig iron produced here should be allocated by the court, but now it all belongs to Jinxia City."

"That's right, so just investigating it will definitely not satisfy the higher-ups," the leader's voice gradually became colder, "It will be a great achievement to stop it completely."

"I have checked it out. There is only a small-scale guard stationed at the mine, with no more than 20 people. There are sentries on the mountainside, but the defense is not tight." The man continued, "But the situation in the county is hard to say, maybe the Jinxia Army is guarding it personally."

"Don't worry, they can only defend against external enemies, but not internal cracks." The leader said confidently, "I have witnessed such a situation many times."