Reborn as a Cube Man in the Late Ming Dynasty

About half an hour.

After gathering the information, the trusted confidant returned to the house.

"Hmm~ Tell me, what exactly happened?" Fan Yong'an completely relaxed and said softly.

"A new shop has opened in the city, specializing in flour. Almost all the common people are flocking there to buy flour," the confidant paused, swallowed, and said cautiously, "That flour sells for ten coins per pound!"

"How much???" x2

Fan Yong'an and Wang asked in unison.

"Ten, ten coins per pound," the confidant said with a mournful face.

"Did I tell you to gather information like this?" Fan Yong'an sat up abruptly, looking at his trusted confidant with a look of astonishment.

His eyes were full of distrust, and he said angrily, "Use your brain to think for yourself. Did you mishear me?"

"My lord, I absolutely did not lie to you. I even went to that shop to check, and it really is ten coins per pound!" the confidant said firmly.

Fan Yong'an's eyes flickered as he asked, "Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

"Everything I said is true. If you don't believe me, you can send someone else to check," the confidant said nervously.

Lying about this kind of thing would bring no benefit, especially since this person is a trusted confidant, so there is even less need to lie.

In other words, it's true that it cost ten coins per pound.

Could it be that some naive young master has come out to help the poor?

But it can't be that naive, can it? How rich must this family be?

Wait, they're selling flour? Could it be...?

"Did that newly opened shop become a believer in a god?" Fan Yong'an asked thoughtfully, frowning.

"Your Excellency is wise," the confidant said in surprise, "that shop does indeed worship a deity, but the statue is wrapped in red cloth and its face is not shown. I heard it is a wild god that has not been officially recognized."

That matches up!

Fan Yong'an suddenly understood, and he sneered.

Only a bunch of brainless cultists would do something so stupid in order to spread their faith.

"This approach is just too stupid," he said with a wry smile.

Did they really think that after Wang Er robbed Chengcheng, the nobles in the city would have no money left?

Or perhaps they thought that the little bit of food they had looted was enough to supply an entire city?

"Naive, so naive!" Fan Yong'an laughed heartily, then turned to look at Madam Wang and said leisurely, "Madam, it seems we don't even need to lift a finger; someone else will take care of things for them."

"That would be perfect," Madam Wang chuckled softly. She lowered her voice and said slowly, "Husband, I'm going back to my room to rest now."

It's best for her, a woman, not to get involved in business matters.

She stood up and left the room.

"What are the reactions from the other companies?" Fan Yong'an gently stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and asked.

The confidant bowed and said, "There's no response yet; only civilians are crowding in front of the shop."

"These old foxes haven't figured out the background of those bandits yet, and they're afraid of offending powerful people. Otherwise, they would have already snatched all this flour!" Fan Yong'an said coldly.

It costs ten coins per jin, and a shi (a unit of dry measure) is only a little over one tael of silver, less than two taels.

Haha, in that rich land of Jiangnan, rice costs four or five taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure).

Not to mention Shaanxi, a land suffering from severe drought, where even a single stone could cost dozens of taels of silver!

There are no transportation costs. As long as you buy them and stockpile them, the price will go back up once the bandits' flour is sold out.

The bandits' grain couldn't possibly be more than the silver of those families.

If that were true, so many people wouldn't have starved to death in Shaanxi.

Moreover, even if they can't be sold locally, they can still make a profit by selling them in other parts of Shaanxi. It's a highly profitable business!

Over time, they made quite a bit of money!

"These cultists are always a problem. My Fan family can't be the first one; we need someone to be the first to be targeted," Fan Yong'an muttered to himself.

"If I'm not mistaken, those families will probably send people out to find out the details of that cult. Go spread the word that they are just ordinary bandits from Liu Family Village. They stole the flour and have no powerful backing."

Everything I said was the truth.

Of course he wouldn't say that this was a den of cultists; if he did, no one would dare to be the first to say it!

This sense of righteousness was also given to them. The bandits' grain was obtained by looting, and it was clearly priced, so they could naturally buy it.

Fan Yong'an grinned and said, "Someone will inevitably be unable to resist taking the first bite. Once the leader is here, why worry about the followers?"

"Our Fan family will not buy directly from that shop to avoid getting involved in any scandals. We will send people out and buy from ordinary people at a 20% markup. If they don't want that, we will double the price!"

"Before you return, travel to other prefectures as much as possible, but be careful not to reveal your identity," Fan Yong'an said calmly.

The Fan family owned land in various markets, and their transactions were discreet, making them difficult to detect.

Although it's troublesome, it only means earning less money. Compared to the huge problem of cult members, this small profit is completely negligible.

"I will take care of it immediately and will certainly not fail in my mission!" the trusted confidant said with a serious expression.

"By the way, since the price of grain has dropped, we don't need to pay so much in wages. It's not good to let them sit idle," Fan Yong'an said matter-of-factly. "You should know what to do, right?"

"This..." The confidant stammered, burying his head in his hands, and slowly said, "Simply reduce their wages?"

"You've followed me for so long, and it's all been for nothing?" Fan Yong'an sneered.

"Go and spread the word that the Fan family's business has been suffering heavy losses lately and they might kick people out. Of course, don't actually kick them out yet. After a while, change your tune and say they won't kick people out, but they'll reduce their wages by half. When it's time to pay wages, only pay them 70%! Anyone who doesn't agree can forget about working!"

In the end, they can only be thankful that they were clever enough to keep their jobs.

"If rival families hear about this and spread it..." the confidant hesitated before speaking.

"You don't think we're the only ones doing this, do you?" Fan Yong'an said expressionlessly, "These are the rules we stick to."

He wasn't too worried about cultists, but he wasn't too concerned about those with responsibilities.

With such cheap food, they wouldn't, and dared not, get angry.

At this critical juncture, all they can think about is earning more money, fearing that the flour will be sold out and they dare not lose their jobs.

"Understood, sir!" the confidant nodded in agreement.

"Go."

Only Fan Yong'an remained in the room. He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and slowly paced around the room.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!" He laughed wildly for a long time before finally stopping.

Fan Yong'an shook his head and said sarcastically, "I never expected this. I never expected these guys to dig their own grave."

That's good too, it solves the problem with Fan Wenshi's side as well.

"Heh, if the food supplies run out, the people won't blame us for selling at high prices. After all, the price has always been like this. They'll only blame you for selling too cheaply and taking advantage of the situation!"

He grinned maliciously and muttered to himself, "Even if this statue were placed in the City God Temple, it would be smashed to pieces by the angry crowd!"

I wasted so many days worrying.

Cultists?

They're just a bunch of brainless idiots.

Sell ​​it, go ahead and sell it.

In the end, I'll be the one who profits.

The longer you sell, the more we earn.

Your supplies will eventually run out.

Before that, it would be best to have more, and even more!

"Hehehe, I don't even have anywhere to spend this money!!!"