Sui and Tang Dynasties: Awakening the Supreme Skills at the Beginning

Li Zhen looked at everyone and said, "All of you go out and find the village heads and double the price."

Li Erhai and others took the order and left.

The Cui family is now very powerful in Chang'an, but if the benefits reach a certain level, he doesn't believe that those village heads can still sit still?

As long as he gives enough, the Cui family will not allow them to sell grain, which is blocking someone's way to wealth. Since ancient times, blocking someone's way to wealth is like killing their parents. Now the Cui family is blocking the heads of each village from making money, so when the time comes to liquidate the Cui family, the pressure will be much less.

Although doing so would make his purchase costs much higher, it is actually nothing compared to his huge profits from brewing wine!

Half an hour later, the ten people returned, each of them looking listless and dejected.

Li Erhai said, "Boss, no one dares to sell. They are all afraid of the Cui family."

"Go again!"

Li Zhen raised his eyebrows: "Raise the price three times this time and tell them that if anyone agrees, the contract will be signed immediately and the payment will be in cash."

The ten people left again.

Another half hour passed, and the ten people returned again, each with a sad face and listless look.

Li Erhai said with a sad face: "Boss, those village heads are very tempted, but no one dares to sell, or they are afraid of revenge from the Cui family. Boss, what should we do?"

Everyone looked at Li Zhen.

"What's the hurry? Let me think about it."

Li Zhen waved his hand and fell into deep thought.

At this time, a man with a wretched look stepped forward and asked, "Sir, do you want to buy food?"

"Ah? You have it?"

Before Li Zhen could answer, Li Erhai replied, looking the man up and down.

The man came forward and approached Li Zhen. "I have grain here. Less than a thousand stones is no problem. And I don't want three times the price, just the market price!"

Li Zhen sneered, "Others don't dare to sell me food, why are you not afraid? And the price is so low?"

The man turned his head and looked around. Seeing that no one noticed them, he lowered his voice and said, "This is old grain, stored in Yongfeng Warehouse."

Yongfeng Granary was first built in the third year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty. It had a storage capacity of over 100 million jin and was one of the largest granaries at that time.

"I have a relative working at Yongfeng Warehouse, and now I want to exchange grain for some money. If you want, I can help you make the contact!"

Li Zhen frowned.

Now it seems that this man was helping his relatives sell stolen goods. He didn't expect that the incident of reselling state assets in his previous life would come to haunt him. Unless it is absolutely necessary, Li Zhen still doesn't want to go down this path.

Of course, if something goes wrong during this process, the trouble will be huge. The lightest punishment will be exile or banishment thousands of miles away.

And looking at the look of this person, he seems timid and doesn't want to do anything big. Could this be a trick?

Li Zhen thought of this and was about to speak.

But the man took a step forward and continued.

"If you think it's too expensive, we can still negotiate the price. I can give you a penny lower per bushel. Besides, the wine made from old grain is just as good as that made from new grain."

Li Zhen frowned, "I'll think about it."

"Sir, no one in the entire Chang'an County dares to sell grain to you. You have no choice but to come to me!"

Li Zhen pondered for a while and was about to speak.

At this moment, a loud shout was heard, and the man became furious when he heard it.

"Sir, don't trust him. He's a big liar who specializes in defrauding merchants from other places!"

A man came over holding a child, followed by a woman.

The man who claimed to be selling old grain turned around and ran away when he saw this, cursing loudly.

"Mr. Zhang, you always ruin my plans. You deserve to be the one to suffer the worst locust plague in Zhangjia Village!"

Upon hearing that it was a liar, Li Zhiyong became furious and was about to get up and chase him, but Li Zhen waved his hand to stop him, stood up and said to the man.

"How is the child? Has the fever gone down?"

"Plop, plop!"

The man and the woman knelt down and kowtowed to Li Zhen to express their gratitude.

"Thank you for your help, my benefactor. The child is fine now. The doctor gave him some medicine and he is no longer feverish after taking it."

"Just hope the child recovers!"

Li Zhen pulled up the man and his wife, put his hand on the child's forehead and tested the temperature. It was no longer so hot, and Li Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

"I haven't asked for your name yet?"

"My surname is Zhang, and my given name is Zhang Erniu. Because I'm the eldest, people call me Zhang Da!"

Zhang Dazhan answered timidly, and then pointed to the woman beside him, "This is my wife, Li. I am the head of Xiaozhang Village."

The woman knelt down again and kowtowed to Li Zhen.

Li Zhen quickly waved his hand and said no need.

The woman stood up, grinning, but lowered her head in embarrassment.

In the Tang Dynasty, people's customs were uncivilized and the mortality rate among children was high. People generally believed that children with humble names were easier to raise, so many people were named pigs, cows, and sheep!

Li Zhen looked at Zhang Da's clothes and said in surprise, "People say that the current village heads are all very wealthy, how come you are like this?"

Li Zhiyong, Li Erhai and others also became curious. How could a village chief not even come up with ten taels of silver? This was too shabby!

"Boss, there's something I haven't told you."

Li Erhai next to him added.

"There are actually 19 villages in Liujiatai Township, but because of the locust plague in Xiaozhang Village for many years, the villagers in the village can't survive."

Zhang Da smiled bitterly, "It's not that we have no harvest at all, it's just that the locust plague is so severe that after paying taxes to the government, we don't have enough to eat."

"In the face of the locust plague, what measures have you taken?"

Li Zhen asked curiously.

"What else can we do? Since ancient times, locusts have been divine insects from heaven. They cannot be killed!"

Zhang Da looked helpless and answered honestly.

"You don't want to kill them, but you can watch them eat up all your food?"

Li Zhen frowned and said coldly.

"Foolishness!"

Li Zhen shouted coldly.

Zhang Da was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a plop, shaking all over.

"Take me to your fields to have a look? I'm more interested in locusts. Maybe I can find a way to deal with them."

Li Zhen ordered.

Zhang's eyes lit up and he quickly stood up, handed the child to the woman behind him, and led the way.

“Kill the locusts!”

Li Zhiyong, Li Erhai and others behind him were shocked.

It’s just a matter of spending a little more money to buy food. But if you can’t buy it, do you have to kill locusts in farmers’ fields?

Besides, if locusts were so easy to kill, would we have to wait until now?

"Sir, I heard that you are the owner of a wine shop in Chang'an City. You came here to buy grain, but you were blocked by the Cui family, so you couldn't buy it, right?"

Zhang Da then sighed and said, "Young Master saved my son and has done me a great favor. Logically speaking, if the locust plague in our village wasn't so severe, I would have sold it to you even if the Cui family had stopped me!"

"But now, every household has no surplus food, the fields are full of locusts, and there is no hope for food next year. You should not waste your time and go to a more distant area as soon as possible!"

"Yes, Boss!"

Li Zhiyong and others advised softly.

"It's not something that can be done overnight to eliminate locusts. Our winery is about to start brewing, so we should think of other ways. If all else fails, just keep raising the price. I don't believe that no one will be tempted by money!"

"Yes, Boss!"

Li Erhai next to him also gave earnest advice.

The people who were brought with them, including Wang Qingshan, Wang Dabo and others, just watched from the side without trying to persuade them.

In their hearts, Li Zhen is their leader. They will attack wherever Li Zhen points without blinking an eye.

Li Zhen smiled slightly, "I have a method to kill locusts here, it works quickly, you should give it a try!"