Chapter Twelve: A Mountain of Grain
On the second day, Zhao Xing sent Pei Yuanshao with dozens of villagers to take hundreds of sets of furniture to the county town. Before leaving, he specifically wrote a letter to Li Jinsi, instructing him in detail, fearing that if he was not in the city, the two brothers of the Li family would be at a disadvantage.
Don't look at Li Jin's small stature, he actually has a lot of cunning ideas. The day before, they waited left and right but didn't see Zhao Xing and Xu Wanting return to the store, so they quietly inquired around and found that the Zhang family's housekeeper was searching for people everywhere in the city. Li Jin thought about it and guessed seven or eight out of ten, so he didn't make a fuss and led several villagers to the Zhang family, found the butler, and transported back the grain that was used as deposit money to the furniture store.
The Zhang family's household was large and prosperous, but the housekeeper didn't say much, only repeatedly reminding him that he must deliver the furniture tomorrow. Li Jin thought naturally agreed, after all, the piles of furniture in Li Jia Village were real, and he had a bottom line in his heart.
Because Zhao Xing was entering Changzi County for the first time, Xu Wanting, a girl from a good family, had rarely appeared in public before. Moreover, the third son of the Zhang family that Zhao Xing hit was not a legitimate child, and Zhang Baiwan usually scolded him frequently, so the matter was quickly settled. By the time Pei Yuanshao brought the villagers into the city, people were almost forgetting about yesterday's incident. However, when they saw them shouting and dragging many wooden furniture to "Dafenqi" Furniture Store, people began to discuss it again.
Everyone says that since Miss Zhang, the daughter of Director Zhang's family, went to the county governor's mansion a few days ago and met the "handkerchief friend" - the county governor's daughter, she came back and coquettishly told her father about it. As a result, the servants in the Zhang household have been frantically searching all over town for some "Dafenqi" furniture. It is said that this strange name "Dafenqi" was actually seen by Miss Zhang on one of the legs of the "Youthful Beauty" tall cabinet used by the county governor's daughter.
At noon, people all over the city saw a group of villagers with "Dafen Flag" written on their clothes delivering ten sets of furniture to the Zhang Mansion. Later, it was heard that Old Master Zhang would boast to everyone he met: Dafen Flag brand furniture is great! Since using the "Rocking Comfort Chair", my waist no longer hurts, my back no longer aches...
With the first customer, naturally, all the big households in Changzi County came to buy new-style furniture. During this period, Zhao Xing also sent a few sets of furniture to Li Ting'an, the owner of Lijiazhuang Village, and his uncle Li Qing. Half a month later, Li Jin thought sold the last set of furniture in the county seat.
After deducting the cost of storefront and some people's expenses in the county town, it was calculated that the seller of furniture got back more than 58,000 stones of grain, and Zhao Xing himself could get more than 23,000 stones, enough for him and his mother to eat for three generations!
Those tenant farmers in the Li family's separate courtyard could also get 500 to 600 dan of grain according to their labor output. According to the living standard at that time, 600 dan of grain was enough for a five-person household to eat for six years (calculated at a high standard of 500 kilograms of grain per person per year).
"Xing Ge, can you return the money you owe me? Let's just forget about the grain," Li Jin Si said as he chased after Zhao Xing.
"Xiao Xing, why don't we sell some grain, exchange for some money, and go to 'Fen Yun Lou' to have a good celebration?" Li Jinwu smiled awkwardly.
"Wow, so much grain! I, Zhang Wangcai, have never seen this much in my life!" Zhang Wangcai exclaimed, his mouth watering.
"Now my family's Iron Cow has white steamed buns to eat." Li Erdou muttered.
"Look at you, this little bit of food is nothing! Follow me and good days are ahead..." Zhao Xing said with a smug face, shaking his head.
When all the tenants of Li's courtyard were at a loss, looking at the piles of grain on the square, Zhao Xing's heart was thinking further: historically, Shanxi produced good wine, one Fenjiu and one Zhuyeqing, which are both famous Chinese historical wines. The mode of operation with high profits from selling furniture is unsustainable, believing that it will not take long for many skilled craftsmen to make more, better and cheaper furniture under the inspiration of Zhao Xing's new-style furniture.
But the baijiu brewed in this era was not as clear and bright as it would be in later generations, nor did it have such a high alcohol content. After all, distillation and purification techniques were only used in brewing much later on. If one were to organize a group of skilled craftsmen, improve the technique for making baijiu, and grasp the core technology oneself, one could believe that before long, one would be able to earn a fortune.
Now that there is a large amount of grain, and the state has the best brewmasters, with ready-made breweries. As long as good wine is brewed, the small plan to lure the three kingdoms' fierce men to their doorstep with fine wine will be successful!
Thinking of this, Zhao Xing couldn't help but feel a surge of boldness, and he pulled Li Jin Si and Li Jin Wu, the two brothers, out of the crowd and rushed into his own study.
