Heavenly Dao Formula

Baihe City Changjia Grain Shop.

The shopkeeper was sitting in front of the counter, looking bored at the pouring rain outside the street.

Not to mention customers in this weather, there are very few pedestrians.

However, even without this heavy rain, the situation would not be much different - the new year is the off-season for business, and the food stockpiled before the Chinese New Year should be enough for a while, and it will basically not get better until the second half of the year. The peak season is obviously summer and winter, one before harvest and one for winter storage.

On the contrary, in autumn, because the grain is mature and harvested, there are too many people who sell it loosely, and the pressure of competition in grain shops is high, so they cannot sell at any price. During this period, you generally only need to pay attention to the purchase of low prices.

Although there is no need to worry about selling food at any time, there is still a difference between high prices and low prices. Earlier, when the Jinxia Army deployed a massive formation outside Baihe City to attack the city, the shopkeeper was secretly delighted. The common people were afraid that there would be nothing to eat during the war. As long as they fought for a month or two, the price of food would still skyrocket? Unexpectedly, in less than a day, the prefect announced his surrender, which really disappointed him.

Except for the addition of an office branch on Jiuli Street, Baihe City has not felt any changes from before.

At this time, the welcome bell at the door jingled lightly.

A man walked quickly into the house.

Rainwater dripped down his coir raincoat, forming puddles on the ground. Obviously he walked in a hurry, even in the heavy rain, he couldn't avoid it.

oh? Finally, there is a business.

The shopkeeper straightened up, "Guest officer, do you want to buy grain? There are rice in the store, as well as ground flour and finely beaten noodles. If you want to buy oil, I also have a lot here."

The man took off his bamboo hat and revealed his face. He was a strong man in his thirties. Put it in the home of ordinary people, that is the undisputed head of the family.

Hmm...they don't look like servants. Such customers usually buy in small quantities, and they don't choose high-priced good rice. Thinking in his heart, the shopkeeper has already taken out a pinch of yellow rice from under the counter, intending to show it to the guests.

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

It's a small business, but it's better than nothing. People in this business often pay attention to an omen, and being able to welcome a customer on such a rare rainy day is a good omen in itself.

"I want it."

Sure enough, the other party nodded.

"Okay, how much do you want?"

"Five or six hundred."

"Okay, I'll go right now—" The manager was stunned for a moment, "How much?"

"Six hundred catties. Don't you have any here?" The man reported an exact figure again.

Of course there are six hundred catties, if a grain shop can't even get six hundred catties of goods, wouldn't it be a joke? The shopkeeper just didn't expect that this person's appetite would be so big that most people can only buy a few dozen taels for yellow rice.

"Guest officer, are you sure? Six hundred catties of grain is a bit heavy."

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

After seeing the money, the shopkeeper's doubts disappeared, "Hey, it's natural. I'll help you arrange it right away—hey, Wood, come to work!"

After busy half an hour seeing off the guests, he couldn't help grinning.

This transaction is very smooth. Although the price of yellow rice is low, the profit is not low at all. In addition to the large volume of shipments, this price may not be a one-day sales in the off-season.

I thought that today's business was over, but two hours later, another customer walked into the grain store in the slightly less rain.

"Shopkeeper, do you have polished rice?"

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

"Let's get 800 catties. Flour is also about 100 catties."

"Eight hundred?" The shopkeeper subconsciously repeated.

"Master wants to retreat and cultivate himself. He told me to buy more food and store it in the village. Is there any problem?" The other party's temper was obviously not very good, and his brows were already frowned.

It turned out that it was for the consumption of the entire Zhuangzi, the shopkeeper suddenly realized, but it is quite rare that the Zhuangzi does not farm the land himself. "No problem, there is no problem at all, I will help you to weigh and pack it."

Eight hundred catties is already half of the refined grain stock.

But this is just the warehouse of the grain shop, and there is still a full amount of goods in the big warehouse of the Chang family. The shopkeeper looked at the half-empty warehouse and smiled happily. There is no doubt that if the grain store sells more, he can also earn more. Such a business is naturally desirable.

It seems that we have to go to Dacang to replenish the goods in advance, the shopkeeper secretly said. Never expected that the first heavy rain day after the year would actually be an auspicious day.

...

Such a scene did not only appear in the Changjia grain shop.

The large and small grain shops in Baihe City all ushered in a good harvest today.

And much the same for the next week, as if good luck was on the line of business.

Everyone gradually discovered that this year's peak season seemed to be brought forward.

In fact, it wasn't just White River City.

The same changes are happening in Anshen, another big city, and in some counties and towns.

Food has become a hot commodity.

...

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

"This mine...is different from other places?"

The leader looked carefully for a while before opening his mouth.

"What's that thing that keeps moving?"

No one can answer.

Even if they are not people with shallow knowledge.

At the entrance of the mine, a long cloth belt was erected. This cloth belt is almost thousands of steps long, not only connecting several mine openings together, but also leading directly to the storage yard area. More importantly, the cloth belt is movable - it keeps running in one direction, sending the mineral materials piled on it to the storage yard in an endless stream. Concentrate in one place.

And facilities like this, there are still several places under construction-when the remaining cloth belts are completed, the entire mine may not need a few people to carry them, and the heavy mineral materials will be automatically collected into the storage yard.

It doesn't look complicated, but because everyone is an expert, they know that it definitely has hidden secrets. Whether it is the cloth belt that can prevent the mineral material from being cut, or the rollers that can continue to rotate, it is beyond the reach of ordinary people. .

Of course, this is not the only strange place. For example, in places where physical labor is required, many workers seem to be not locals, or even people from the six continental countries. Their hair ranged from blond to dark brown, and their faces were somewhat West Pole.

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

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 Chaotang, but now it is all owned by Jinxia City."

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

"I have already checked. There is only a small guard stationed in the mine, and the number will not exceed twenty. There are sentries on the side of the mountain, but the defense is not tight." The man continued, "But in the county town It’s hard to say what’s going on here, maybe the Jinxia Army guards it personally.”

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