Chapter 395 Harvest Time
After the news of Ji's semi-colonial announcement of one hundred cents per dou of grain spread, the people of Nanyang were stunned. When they woke up, they were ecstatic.
"What kind of charity is this, Ji Daxiu?"
"What are you calling Ji Daxiu? From now on we should call him Ji Dashanren!"
Because the person who announced the reduction in grain prices was Ji Wuyin, all the praises from the people went to Ji Wuyin.
However, all the grain merchants, those holding large amounts of grain in their hands, were wailing.
The reduction in food prices means that they lose more from the food in their hands.
They just wanted to wait and see, but they didn't expect that the longer they delayed, the more they would lose.
Each of these people cursed the Ji family and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce for being dishonest, and at the same time regretted not selling the food in their hands earlier.
Those who had cut off their meat, such as Tao Xun, and the grain merchants who had sold off their grain under Tao Xun's influence, were extremely grateful that they were running fast.
The contrast between the two waves of grain merchants is sharp.
"I really envy you." They have food in their hands, but now they are all worried.
"I advise you to throw it away as soon as possible." Anyway, when you come to Nanyang, you can cut your head with a knife and retract your head with a knife. If you cut it off early, you will be relieved.
"But if we sell it at this price, we will lose too much."
"Believe it or not, if you don't sell it now, you will lose more next time?"
"Are you saying that food prices are going to go down?"
"Who knows? The Ji's Company and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce have joined forces and are coming in force. They may even push the price of food downwards."
"No? Are you still pressing?"
"What are they trying to do? Can the Ji family and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce endure such a loss?"
"You are taking care of others. If you are worried about others, why not worry about yourself."
…
At this time, Che Mansion was simply going through a violent storm.
Che Jiuming smashed up the entire house and lost his temper.
After he felt a little better, he summoned the old accountant of Che Mansion to talk.
"Calculate the money and food we have."
The old accountant said, "Before the Luoyang branch of the Ji Chamber of Commerce announced the sale of cheap grain, the master had a total of 9.4 million shi of grain and 450,000 taels of silver in his name."
"During the period when food prices were 120 taels, we ate 180,000 taels of food for six days in a row. Including labor costs, we spent a total of 220,000 taels."
"Excluding the expenses of this period and the repayment of the young master's gambling debt. At present, we have 1.12 million dan of food and 150,000 taels of silver in cash."
Che Jiuming listened carefully. He knew very well that after this round of price cuts, his assets had shrunk by more than 200,000 taels again. This is equivalent to the entire fortune of a medium-sized merchant. When he thought of this, his heart sank.
"I owe Liu's Bank 800,000 taels. If you add interest, it's 854,000 taels. Master, what should we do next?" The old accountant's voice was also very heavy. The situation is very critical now. If you don't pay attention, , will go bankrupt.
The old accountant advised him, "Keep the green hills here, so you don't have to worry about running out of firewood."
Che Jiuming silently calculated an account in his mind. If they wanted to repay the money they owed Liu's Bank at this time, they would have to sell at least 700,000 shi of grain. Then all his assets were only 450,000 shi of grain.
After finishing the calculation, he didn't say anything. How could he still have Qingshan?
At this time, the concierge came to report, "Sir, Shopkeeper Lin and Shopkeeper Mo would like to see you."
These two people were his followers. Che Jiuming nodded, "Invite them in."
The old accountant on the side was worried. As the saying goes, good fortune never comes in pairs, and misfortune never comes alone. Shopkeepers Lin and Mo came to visit at this time, so I'm afraid something bad might happen.
Sure enough, as soon as the two entered the door, they cried and begged Che Jiu Ming, "President Che, in order to respond to your call and advance and retreat with you, we all borrowed money from Liu's Bank, and then all the money was used for food. Food."
"Now the Ji family has lowered the price of grain to one hundred cents a dou, and we are all facing the edge of insolvency. President Che, you have to help us."
"Yes, people from Liu's Bank came to our door just now. They need us to deposit a deposit into the bank. Otherwise, they will be forced to perform the contract if we become insolvent. They gave us three days, Chairman Che, Can you help us?"
The two of them begged and kept their posture very low. They were not as big as Che Jiu Ming's family, so they borrowed 800,000 taels from Liu's Bank at once. The two of them borrowed 200,000 taels and 300,000 taels respectively. two.
I originally thought I would take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune and double my assets, but I didn’t expect that I would go bankrupt!
They regret it now, so much that their intestines are green with regret.
Che Jiuming looked embarrassed, "I can't protect myself in this situation, and I really don't have the energy to help you." It's a joke, it's already this time, how can he lend out the small amount of money?
Shopkeeper Lin and Shopkeeper Mo looked at each other with ugly expressions on their faces. They didn't expect that Che Jiuming would turn his back on him!
Che Jiuming added, "However, listen to me, with this grain price, the common people will definitely be restless. Can Ji's Branch cope with the surging demand for grain purchases from the common people? So, money I think you can borrow it from your relatives until you get through this period."
The two came with high hopes, but failed to borrow money and could only leave in despair.
But they listened to Che Jiuming's words and decided to believe him again. At this point, there was nothing they could do if they didn't believe him.
The two of them were lucky enough to go back and borrow money from their relatives and friends. Unfortunately, they had already borrowed from all their relatives, and even those who were able to help them didn't want to lend them money.
When the Ji branch really sold a large amount of grain to the people at the price of 100 wen per bucket, the foreign grain merchants who had grain on hand could not sit still.
These people found Ji Dashao and Wu Ren through their friends and wanted to sell them the grain on hand at one time.
This time, the Ji family business and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Alliance did not purchase the grain on their hands at the price of 100 wen per bucket, but lowered the price and only offered a price of 95 wen per bucket.
At this time, they entered the harvest period and would not be soft-handed. The reason why they bought the grain of Tao Xun and others at a price of 120 wen was because they were optimistic about them and did not lower the price, just as making friends.
The price-cutting behavior of the Ji family business and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce Alliance made the grain merchants who came to inquire angry, and they thought it would be better to sell it themselves.
Countless grain merchants from other places chose to sell their grain, which led to a squeeze.
Grain prices were seen falling step by step, 100 wen per dou, 98 wen per dou, 96 wen...
The lowest price was 95 wen, and there was no more below, so grain merchants were reluctant to sell.
And if the price was lower than 95 wen per dou, they might as well sell it all to the Ji family and the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce.