Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 81 If there are no difficulties, create them!
Time flies by like a stream, and in the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the birch trees on both sides of the road had their branches and leaves wilted in the sun and drooped limply on both sides.

The cicadas deep in the woods were chirping loudly, and the local dogs on the street were lying on the ground, spitting out their flaming tongues.

In contrast to the heat, the price of salt is also rising.

Since Zhang Yunxiu and his party entered Korea, in just twenty days, the price of salt in the whole of Korea has reached thirty-two cents per pound.

In one month, it is twice as long as before.

Everyone has gone crazy. How much can you earn from farming in a year?
How can you make money quickly by hoarding salt?
So both common people and dignitaries joined in this battle.

At this time, in a small courtyard in Haizhou City, Li Ergou and seven or eight of his younger brothers were sitting around an eight-immortal table filled with delicious food, feasting on it.

With just this one move, they earned several hundred taels of silver.

Moreover, this momentum has not diminished at all and is still showing an upward trend.

Such a beautiful scene naturally calls for celebration.

After swallowing a mouthful of fat meat, Fatty Wang rubbed his greasy face, looked at Li Ergou, and said with a flattering smile: "Brother Ergou is really smart. We sold our house and land and stockpiled 60,000 kilograms of salt in advance. Once we sell it, we will all be big shopkeepers."

"Wow, now you know how powerful Brother Ergou is? Weren't you worried about losing before?" The skinny monkey nagged Fatty Wang with his elbow and sneered.

"I'm just worried that I won't be able to find a wife." Fatty Wang's fat face shrank, and he hummed like a wronged young wife.

"You're the only one who's worried, so aren't we worried?"

The skinny monkey was about to say something, but Li Ergou at the side waved his hand and stopped him, saying, "Alright, alright, we are all brothers. To be honest, we are not completely sure about this, and it is not unreasonable for the fat guy to worry."

Fatty Wang quickly cast a grateful glance towards Li Ergou, then ignored the gossip and just focused on eating.

In a short while, all the dishes on the table were gone.

Li Ergou burped for a long time, touched his stomach, and said to himself with a satisfied look, "Eating well, drinking enough, and sleeping with a wife, this is what life is all about."

"Okay, Brother Ergou has spoken, let's hurry up and leave so as not to delay Brother Ergou from doing his work." The skinny monkey chuckled, stood up, and waved his hands as if he was herding ducks, "Let's go, let's not delay Brother Ergou from doing his work."

Everyone laughed and walked out swaying.

Li Ergou felt a warm feeling in his heart, bared his teeth, walked around the main room and went straight to the inner room.

Inside, Min'er, wearing a bright floral robe, sat alone at the table, concentrating on eating the cakes on the table.

Seeing Li Ergou coming in, her face turned red, and she stood up to greet him, "Brother Ergou, do you want to eat?"

"No, we bought it for you, you can eat it by yourself."

Shaking his head, Li Ergou brought a stool and sat next to Min'er.

He supported his head with his left hand, half lying on the table, looking at Min'er's white neck with tenderness on his face.

"Why are you looking at me?" Min'er muttered with a red face.

"What? I can't stand looking at my own wife?" Li Ergou grinned and asked. "You idiot, who is your wife?" Min'er blushed and spat, then suddenly thought of something and suggested to Li Ergou: "Brother Ergou, why don't you sell all the salt?"

"As long as we make a move, we will have more than two thousand taels of silver. Each of you eight brothers can get at least a hundred taels. We will have earned enough."

Li Ergou smiled and shook his head.

"If you don't sell these things, when can you marry me?!" Min'er said with red eyes and a crying voice.

"Well, women are always short-sighted. Look, since we brothers got this salt, not only your neighbors, but even your father looks up to us."

"Otherwise, do you think you can come and live in our house?" Li Ergou gritted his teeth and said angrily.

Hearing this, Min Er tilted her head and thought for a while before nodding, "It seems so. This cake was also given by someone else. Now they are rushing to curry favor with you."

"That's right," Li Ergou hugged Min'er and said seriously, "People always flatter the powerful and look down on the weak. As long as we have weapons in our hands, others will not look down on us."

"What if the price of salt drops?" Min'er asked worriedly.

Li Ergou felt a chill in his heart, but he quickly waved his hands and refused, "It won't go down for a while, and I think it can go up a bit, trust my judgment."

"Yeah." Min'er's face turned red and she leaned on Li Ergou's shoulder with a happy look on her face.

the other side.

Zhang Yunxiu, who had already arrived in Seoul, found an inn to stay in, and then quickly called the key members around him together. When everyone was present, Zhang Yunxiu took the lead in saying, "Now, the price of salt is about thirty-three wen. We can sell a small amount of salt for thirty wen."

"Why?" Zhao Dazhuang asked immediately in confusion.

"Fishing is a two-way street. Let's push the price down first, and then you'll know how powerful it is." Zhang Yunxiu smiled at him and didn't explain any more. Instead, he looked at Han San and ordered, "First, distribute 2 million kilograms of salt to various places at a price of 30 cents. Be careful not to sell too much in one place to avoid causing panic."

"I understand." Han San nodded in agreement, and suddenly he became worried and said, "By the way, Master, the Japanese pirates' invasion is something that cannot be hidden forever. If the Japanese pirates had not invaded, the price of salt would have fallen sooner or later."

"Of course I know." Zhang Yunxiu smiled wickedly, "But we can definitely sell as much salt as possible before the price of salt collapses."

Most of his salt was bought at ten cents a pound.

As long as the price goes up to 40 or even 45 cents, he will sell it without hesitation.

He would sell as much as he could, and as long as the price was higher than ten cents, he would make a profit.

Han San seemed to understand something. He thought about it and suddenly came up with a vicious plan: "Sir, we can find some short soldiers, pretend to be Japanese pirates, take warships to the Korean side, and fire a few shots."

"Well, this is a good idea." Zhang Yunxiu raised his eyebrows and ordered, "There is no time to lose. Send someone back to Tianjin immediately and ask them to send out some warships."

If there are no Japanese pirates, then we will create them.

As long as he can stir up panic among the people, they will believe whatever he says.

Moreover, big merchants and noble lords of North Korea will also participate.

(End of this chapter)