Great Blue Night Watchman

The next day, the snow finally stopped. A gust of wind blew by. The river beach was as cold as an ice kiln. The water on the riverside formed large pieces of ice. The snow on the ground lost its softness and became hard. Several old people stood on crutches. On the river bank, everyone is shivering with cold. The sun has come out, but it is still so cold. Tonight is a tragic night on the river bank. One hundred thousand refugees have no oil in their stomachs and no clothes around them. In this long night, Who can guarantee that they can get through?

"Teacher, don't worry. Brother Lin said that two ships of coal will be coming soon. Let's sell one ship and keep the other. We will give one to each household on the riverbank to spend this long night." Zeng Shigui comforted one of the old men.

"Shigui, you have become a civil servant, but you still think about the people on the riverbank. We uncles and uncles are very happy in our hearts. However, this is the way the world is. Good people struggle to survive, and bad people gain power... I am afraid that some things cannot be like yours. What you wish for..."

The old man who spoke was called Li Ping'an. He was originally a teacher from Zezhou and had been living here for more than 20 years. Zeng Shigui was also the one who initiated his studies. Zeng Shigui always called him his mentor, even though at this moment his His degree is far above that of his mentor, and he is still called that.

"Yes, noble man, coal briquettes are a sacred item for heating. They have been sold in the city for 4 coins each, and it is hard to find a coal. Even if your brother Lin is very capable, there is no way he can directly get two ships. Even if he If you can really get coal, you will immediately become a guest of wealthy businessmen in Jicheng. People will rush to stuff money into his hands, so why should he give it to us idiots on credit at a low price? "

These common people talked to each other, and Zeng Shigui's daughter-in-law Xiuniang and sister-in-law Mei Niang gradually became less firm.

What these old people said is right.

What kind of scarce commodity is coal? As long as you enter Jicheng during this season, you will be robbed by merchants, so you don’t have to worry about sales.

Think about it, he can obviously sell it for 2 to 3 pieces of silver each, so why should he sell it to you river beach refugees at a hundred times lower price? And you, a riverbank refugee, don’t have any money, so they have to give you credit.

Is there a hole in someone’s head?

There were hundreds of people in the audience, but Zeng Shigui was the only one who was firm. His reason was: Brother Lin said it himself, and he will definitely keep his word!

Li Ping'an let out a long sigh: "Shigui, I'm already half a hundred years old. Even if I can't survive this winter, it doesn't matter. If such a day comes, I will entrust Po Jun to you and let him be a book boy for you. "

"Teacher..."

Li Ping'an smiled sadly: "You called me my mentor for twenty years. In fact, I also know that I have no ability to teach you anything. There are many things that may actually lead you astray. When you get old, I will leave you a Big baggage..."

Suddenly, the crowd there became noisy. Zeng Shigui suddenly raised his head and shouted: "Brother Lin!"

When he shouted, thousands of people on the beach all stared in the direction he was looking.

Brother Lin? Is the person who came here the great benefactor Zeng Shigui mentioned?

Is he really here?

"Brother Zeng!" Lin Su and An Ye walked through the crowd and came to Zeng Shigui's side.

Suddenly there was light in Li Ping'an's eyes: "This... this is Mr. Lin that the official said? Mr. Huiyuan of the Huichang Examination?"

"Exactly!" Zeng Shigui said: "Brother Lin, this is my mentor Li Ping'an. Shigui's success today depends entirely on the care of his mentor and these uncles."

Lin Su bowed deeply: "I have met Mr. Li!"

Li Ping'an returned the greeting tremblingly: "I don't dare to use the honorific title of 'Sir' to Hui Yuan Gong. I have also heard officials say that Mr. Lin taught him strategy and poetry, which is also a benefit to him."

Lin Su helped him up: "Today, thousands of people have gathered on the river beach. Things will be easy to handle. The coal has been transported. Just follow the established plan."

He raised his gaze to the river surface. Two large boats suddenly appeared on the river surface, rushing towards this side. The entire river beach completely exploded...

The boat slowly docked, and a woman was the first to jump onto the river beach and ran to Lin Su: "Master..."

There were tears in her eyes.

"Sister Chen, why did you come here in person?"

Sister Chen's heart was filled with emotions. Your enemy asked me why I came here in person? Don’t you know how people have been suffering these past few days? How could I not come in person? Even if my legs are broken, even if I can't walk, I have to crawl over...

"Look, Uncle Deng and the others are here too." Sister Chen pointed to the bow. A row of veterans stood neatly on the bow. They were Uncle Deng, Dai Zong, Qian Songhai and others. They were all here. More than twenty people.

Lin Su smiled: "Haha, several heads of the coal factory are here, that's great, Uncle Dai, come here!"

Dai Zong jumped off the boat and came to Lin Su's side: "Young Master."

"Sister Chen has always been responsible for you in matters related to the coal factory. I have never expressed an opinion. I am in charge today. Do you have any objections?" Lin Su said.

Dai Zong smiled: "Young Master is joking, please give me an order!"

"Okay!" Lin Su said: "On the riverbank refugees' side, ten representatives will be elected to form a business team, and the coal plant will sign an agreement with them..."

Lin Su had three orders in total.

Article 1: The price of coal is 2 cents per hundred, and the first batch of 200,000 briquettes is on credit. When the second batch of coal arrives, the balance due from the first batch will be paid off.

Article 2: After that, 200,000 briquettes will be supplied every three days, and the price will be implemented accordingly.

Article 3: Regarding transportation, considering that the refugees in Jiangtan currently have no transportation capacity, the coal factory will deliver coal ten times, and the freight will be borne by Jiangtan. Afterwards, Jiangtan will find its own transport ship and transport it to Haining. Coal, forming a long-term cooperative relationship.

After the order was announced, everyone was silent and their hearts were pounding. Is this true? is it possible?

Zeng Shigui was also surprised: "Brother Lin, it's not just these two ships? Is there another one behind?"

Lin Su smiled and said: "Since it is a long-term cooperation, how can it only be two ships? Let's sign a three-year agreement based on the standard of 200,000 briquettes every three days!"

Zeng Shigui smiled, Li Ping'an burst into laughter, and Mei Niang jumped eight feet high, almost going crazy with joy...

Dai Zong was surrounded by them and signed an agreement. Thousands of refugees started to unload the coal from the ship. The cold river beach suddenly became as lively as a busy city...

Zeng Shigui was so excited that he wanted to talk to Lin Su, but he stopped when he saw Lin Su walking on the river embankment with Sister Chen who was coming.

Sister Chen walked past the river embankment with complicated thoughts: "Sir, this river beach is almost exactly the same as the Haining river beach in the past."

"No! Haining River Beach is much better than here."

"Because there is a young master there!" Sister Chen's beautiful eyes moved gently.

"No! Because there are resources there!"

resource? Coal, cement?

Yes, coal does not appear out of thin air, and limestone is not cabbage. Haining River Beach has two treasure mountains, so it can be different every day. Without these, Lin Su, even with all his abilities, can't do anything about it.

But it’s different here. The river beach here is very narrow. The refugees basically live on the mountainside. The mountain is bare and there are very few trees (probably they have been cut down). There is only one long river beach. During the flood season, It's all submerged in water, and you can't even grow sweet potatoes. Not even the gods can do it in this ghostly place.

"Then what should they... do?"

Lin Sudao: "This is a typical place that is not suitable for human habitation. For places that are not suitable for habitation, the best way is to relocate. It is the stupidest way to live with nature."

"Master, you want to move these people to Haining River Beach?"

"There is a problem with moving them all. The Haining River Beach cannot accommodate too many people, and there are still too many refugees in the world. If millions of refugees move in all at once, Haining River Beach will have a big problem, so , this hole cannot be opened casually, the people here should just be second-rate dealers and barely survive..."

This is the only way to go. By giving them the right to sell coal, they will have an additional source of income. This amount of money cannot make a hundred thousand refugees live a good life, but it also gives them the most basic way to survive. Line, this is actually the best result that the refugees can think of.

Sister Chen didn't dwell on this, and looked around quietly: "Where is she?"

"who?"

"The person who has been with you all the way..."

Lin Su smiled: "It may be behind you, or it may be behind me. Anyway, when she doesn't want others to see her, we can't see her."

With a slight curl of Sister Chen's lips, I knew she was nearby. Otherwise, you would have put your hand inside my clothes when there was no one around.

The riverbank refugees began a new day that changed their destiny.

Lin Su bid farewell to Zeng Shigui and his wife and returned to Haining with the ship.

Then it was lively.

Jicheng refugees in Jiangtan established a sales team headed by Li Ping'an to receive coal shipped from Haining. They divided the coal into two, with half distributed to the entire Jiangtan. There are more than 20,000 households in Jiangtan, and each household 4 to 5, this is the guarantee that they will not freeze to death in the next few coldest days.

As for the remaining 100,000 briquettes, they directly entered the Jicheng market.

2 cents of silver each!

Merchants in Jicheng were huddled together, and the briquettes were cooking in a fierce fire. The price of briquettes in some places had exceeded 4 cents a piece. Suddenly, a large number of briquettes appeared, costing only 2 cents each.

What is this concept? The price of coal has directly reached one-twentieth of the market price!

Not 1/2, but 1/20!

The news spread throughout the streets and alleys in a matter of seconds. People at various coal buying points stopped trading at the same time as if they had been immobilized. Suddenly, with a bang, the flow of people turned around and rushed towards the river beach.

On the river beach, hundreds of refugees stood in front of a large pile of coal briquettes. Li Pingan announced in public that coal is a life-saving material in the severe winter. We take saving lives as our principle and do not dare to increase prices indiscriminately. We sell them at a fair price. Each one costs 2 cents of silver. Purchases are limited to 10 yuan per person for emergencies, so don’t eat too much and take too much.

Even though each person was limited to buying only 10 yuan, but surrounded by tens of thousands of people in Jicheng, it took less than two hours for all the 100,000 briquettes to be sold out, and the merchants in the city didn't even react.

Jiangtan coal was gone, and a large group of people came one after another. Zeng Shigui came forward in person to explain to the villagers that the coal this time was only 100,000 yuan, and it was gone. There would be another batch three days later, and it was still the same price. Everyone insisted. a few days...

The Lei family, a wealthy family in the city, was stunned when they heard the news.

When the head of the Chen family heard the news, he jumped, C! There are still 3,000 pieces of coal in my warehouse, which I bought for 2 coins a piece. Now the price is 2 cents, which means that I haven’t even moved my butt, so I am still losing 90%?

The He family was even more furious. His family had finally signed an agreement with Haining to supply 50,000 pieces of coal every day. He also wanted to make a fortune from this business. The homeless people on the riverbank jumped out and took their business directly. Damn it, his price is 2 cents of silver, and he announced that it will be available in a few days. Who would pay ten times the price to buy from him?

You idiots, that's not how business works. If you mess with my money, I'll kill your people!

The head of the He family, He Cangjin, stormed into the prefect's house angrily...

At Li Ping'an's house in Jiangtan, Zeng Shigui, Xiu Niang, Mei Niang and others all had their faces flushed, and the rest of the people were jumping with excitement. In just two hours, they received a full two thousand taels of silver!

White money is placed on the table, three big bags full!

"This pack is 500 taels!" Zeng Shigui said: "This is the cost of the first batch of coal. The coal price is 400 taels, plus 100 taels for shipping. The remaining 1,500 taels, my teacher, what do you want to do?"

"We still need to leave 500 taels as payment for the second batch of goods. Although Mr. Lin said that we can postpone the payment, that is his benevolence. We cannot feel comfortable taking advantage of this. From now on, the payment for goods will still be settled in the current period. We must not owe them a single cent from the coal plant.”

"Yes!" The refugee representatives next to them all nodded.

"This one thousand taels is today's profit. There are 21,000 households living on the riverbank. Each household will be given 4 cents of silver to tide over the difficulties. Everyone has had heating these days, but heating alone is not enough. A little bit of food..."

Suddenly, a young man from outside rushed in: "Uncle Li, Mr. Zeng, the prefect Zhang came with a group of government servants, followed by the boss He from the city..."

The expressions of several people in the room changed at the same time.

Boss He raised the price of coal to 4 cents a piece, and Jiang Tan sold the coal to 2 cents a piece. This of course cut off his wealth. As the saying goes, cutting off someone's money is like killing one's parents. Everyone agreed that Boss He would definitely come to cause trouble, but when things came to pass, they were still afraid, because the prefect also came, and it was a common understanding in everyone's bones that the people would not fight with the officials.

"Don't be afraid! The prefect is here and you have to reason with me." Zeng Shigui stepped forward.

As soon as the government officials arrived, the refugees on both sides all avoided it, with fear on their faces. The magistrate took the lead and strode to the coal sales point in front. The thatched door curtain of the coal sales point was lifted, and Zeng Shigui strode out: "Student Zeng Shigui, I have met the prefect!" He bowed deeply.

He has already lifted people up and does not need to kneel down, but only needs to salute.

"Zeng Shigui!" Magistrate Zhang said coldly: "Ten merchants in the city have jointly sued you for disturbing the market order, maliciously suppressing coal prices, and causing them to lose all their money. Is there anything you can do about it?"

"Students admit the suppression of coal prices! But the malicious intent is still good intention, how can adults not notice it?" Zeng Shigui was neither humble nor overbearing.