Chapter 549 Low-Price Food

It was precisely because they knew what they wanted that the first business chosen by Good and others was neither gold, silver, jewelry, nor specialties such as fur and rhino horns.

The silver gentlemen prepared for a long time and even ordered a batch of professional transport ships. The first thing they did was to transport grain.

The large amount of fertile land in the colony and the large plains outside the Silver City are very suitable for large-scale planting.

Coupled with mechanized and animal-powered planting, and a large number of tools driven silently, the colony has a bumper harvest every year.

The prices of food and cash crops are very low in the colony, and there is a lot of wealth.

The colony has long been freed from the situation of relying on local food exports.

But on the other hand, no one does the food import business.

Because the added value is too low, transporting a ship of food earns a few hundred gold coins, transporting a ship of slaves earns thousands of gold coins, and other specialties are even higher.

As long as there is no problem with the brain, they will choose to transport other specialties.

Everyone goes to the colony to make money, not to do charity.

So the silver gentlemen seized this first gap, which neither caused a rebound in the market nor grasped the pain point very well.

Just when Franz was planning his first business, the grain of the silver gentlemen had been transported to the mainland.

In the imperial capital, twenty new grain stores were opened in succession.

The silver gentlemen were very low-key. Although these grain stores had a unified signboard and the signboard of the silver grain store, they only opened with a few firecrackers.

The stores were their own properties, and they all chose densely populated civilian areas.

The nobles had their own channels for grain, and would not buy grain from unfamiliar sources on the market.

Only civilians were the buyers of such large-scale livelihood business.

…

Benjamin was an ordinary factory worker, a family of five, all living outside the city of Plan.

He was originally a farmer, but in recent years, farming has become increasingly poor, and economic reasons have led farmers like him to enter the factory.

Fortunately, in Plan, under the eyes of the emperor, the treatment of workers is not bad.

A family of five can still survive.

However, this kind of low-income family is very sensitive to prices, especially food.

The price of rice on the market is around ten copper coins, and the food consumed by a family of five in a year is around three gold coins. If other food expenses are added, food alone accounts for 30% to 40% of the annual expenditure.

Such a life is more than twice as good as before the establishment of the empire.

At least they can eat and wear warm clothes, and have a future.

When Benjamin got off work today, he saw a new grain store opened at the door of his house.

Silver grain store!

Buying food was not originally his job.

The wife at home would worry about such things, but the price of food has risen recently, and he couldn't help but turn in when he passed by.

This newly opened grain store is of average size, with three storefronts connected, and wooden grain baskets filled with different grains.

Rice, flour, grains, noodles, these common staple foods are all available.

Benjamin stood in front of the outermost rice, the grains were full and white in color, and it looked good.

Although he doesn't usually buy food, he still knows the price.

His wife is always nagging, and she was complaining about the price increase of food two days ago.

This kind of good quality food costs at least 12 copper coins per pound.

But the wooden sign clearly says eight copper coins per pound.

Benjamin thought he had read it wrong, and asked the clerk to confirm that it was eight copper coins per pound.

Is there a discount for the new store?

He no longer hesitated, and hurried home to get money and stock up a batch of low-priced food.

There are many people like Benjamin, who are not as picky as the nobles and ask about the origin of food.

Cheap is the only standard.

Besides, the quality of food in the colony is not bad.

Compared with other peers in the market, the price of the Silver Grain Store is about 30% to 40% lower.

If it were other industries, they would never dare to reduce the price like this, breaking the unspoken rules, and I'm afraid that Dagu would not be able to protect them.

But food is different. If Dagu has some ambition, he will support the Silver Grain Store to the end.

The market is prosperous, and after all, there are still people, and the citizens have money.

Lowering the cost of living is of great significance to stability.

Good and others believe that the master of the empire is not a short-sighted person.

And they did not overestimate their own capabilities. The twenty grain shops unified the price, and the daily shipments were limited, and their own supply could keep up.

When the transportation capacity came up, they would slowly expand the scale and cut the meat with a soft knife.

…

"Bang!"

Sir John threw the teacup hard on the ground and shouted angrily: "This is destroying the market and malicious competition.

Who allowed them to lower the price? Aren't they making money?"

Good thought that he was low-key and would not attract other people's attention.

But where is this place? This is the imperial capital.

All walks of life have long formed conventions and are deeply rooted.

Once outsiders intervene, it will inevitably cause a chain reaction.

The grain of the twenty grain shops is generally not large, but the local forces react quickly.

In less than a day, the so-called silver gentleman information appeared in Sir John's hands.

He even knew that Good and others had contact with Dagu.

"Mayor Dagu has always been honest, and he should have no interest in collusion with these country bumpkins from the colonies.

However, if the grain price is reduced, it must be supported by Mayor Dagu, and it cannot be done casually." Sir John is very clear about the trouble here.

The interest relationship is still ordinary, but the political benefits are different.

The former can still collude, but what can the latter do to make up for its losses?

Unless the price is reduced, what is the difference between this and Baiyin Grain Bank? What else is going on?

Sir John was angry and helpless, but he didn't dare to take action, and he was unwilling to do anything if he didn't.

At the price of Baiyin Grain Bank, his profit is very slim. Those bumpkins are obviously good at calculating, otherwise they will really have to fight if the price falls below the cost price.

After much thought, Sir John decided not to lower the price.

There are only about twenty grain stores, so the impact is limited.

Just wait for others to bite the bullet and earn less.

The empire is so big, where can the food be transported and not be sold?

If you want to make less money, there is no way.

However, a direct attack would not work, so it did not prevent him from making some small moves.

"Is the food in the colonies safe? Come here... find someone to post a few articles. I think the food security in the colonies is not guaranteed, and we cannot let the people of the empire be harmed.

By the way, do it in private so that no one can catch you. "

After all, Sir John and others were local snakes with many tricks, and they immediately used public opinion to attack the silver trading bank.

As for price reduction, that is impossible.

But one thing is that the price of food in the Imperial City has been rising recently. After such a commotion, it will naturally not rise again.

For Good and others, what they do is not without value.