lcionline Chapter 262 The Feud Between the Transport Commissioner and the Xie Family
Chapter 262 The Feud Between the Transport Commissioner and the Xie Family
Fifty thousand catties of grain was already the limit for this mill.
This mill can process 80 jin of wheat per hour with one millstone. If 50 millstones are working together, they can process about 4000 jin per hour.
There are still twelve hours until tomorrow morning. We'll work overtime through the night and hopefully finish Shen Shuli's order before the store opens tomorrow morning.
"Boss, do you sell these millstones?" Shen Shuli couldn't help but ask.
If she had such a millstone in her space, she wouldn't need to keep looking for a mill.
If she could buy these semi-automatic millstones, she could study them and manufacture a batch herself.
They will all be extremely useful in the future.
The shop owner smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, it's for sale, but the price isn't cheap."
"I'm sure you've noticed, young master, that our millstone is different from others, haven't you?"
"This is a craft passed down in my family. Even the official mills order their millstones from my family."
Upon hearing this, Shen Shuli's eyes lit up immediately!
She hadn't had high hopes, but the result was far beyond her expectations!
Shen Shuli sincerely said, "That's great! Please name your price. I will never haggle over any amount of silver, otherwise it would be disrespectful to the hard work of your craftsmen."
The boss was surprised that this boy, who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old, could say such things.
He was deeply moved.
Many people look down on these craftsmen and think they are greedy and charge too much.
But they simply cannot see the hardships and mental strain that the craftsmen endure day and night.
It's rare to find someone who understands them so well, and the boss has already decided to offer them the best price possible.
“Young master, our millstones have always cost one hundred taels of silver per set, but you are quite to my liking, so you only need to give me eighty taels.”
The boss didn't seem to care at all about losing money; his face and eyes were full of genuine smiles, showing that he was truly happy.
Shen Shuli had already decided not to haggle, but she couldn't refuse the other party's kindness and hurt their feelings.
"Boss, I'm actually buying this for someone else, so there's no need for a special discount. I wonder how many finished products you have in your shop? I'd like to buy them all and will pay you extra for your trouble. What do you think?"
The shop owner was surprised that the young boy not only didn't try to save money, but also wanted to buy all of his stock at once.
There are other orders here, so he dares not sell them all.
"Please forgive me, young master, but I can only give you four sets at most. The rest are other people's orders. We can make them within the agreed time. Any more and we will be in breach of contract."
Shen Shuli was very satisfied.
I thought I could only buy one set, but I ended up getting three extra sets!
"Alright, I won't make things difficult for the boss. Here's five hundred taels of silver; consider it an apology for taking someone else's order."
Shen Shuli readily took out five hundred taels of silver notes and stuffed them into the other party's hand, not giving him a chance to refuse.
"By the way, boss, I'd like to trouble your people to take these stone mills to the place where I just hauled the grain."
The shop owner was surprised by how generous and straightforward the young boy was, and grew to like him even more.
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony. I'll send someone to deliver the goods to you right away." The shop owner smiled and agreed, then immediately made the arrangements.
Shen Shuli waited in place for half an hour before the shop owner finally loaded all the millstones onto the cart.
The millstones were made of stone and were very heavy.
Their carts are all made of iron; otherwise, ordinary wooden carts wouldn't stand up to the strain.
It took two oxen to pull one tin cart, and four carts were needed to load the four sets of millstones.
Shen Shuli led the convoy to the location she designated and had the strong men help unload the goods.
They also gave each person a tael of silver as a reward for their hard work.
After everyone left, Shen Shuli quickly put all the millstones into her spatial storage.
These grinding discs are all fragmented parts and need to be assembled before they can be used.
The boss was worried that they, being laymen, wouldn't be able to assemble it, so he specially gave her the assembly drawings.
It's getting late.
Shen Shuli prepared to return to the inn.
She passed many shops along the way and found that everything related to food in the entire city was very expensive.
I only found out after making some inquiries.
There are very few places in the entire state suitable for growing grain, so most of the grain is transported back from outside.
Therefore, the price is very high.
However, the people in the city still lived a relatively comfortable life.
Quanzhou was a major salt-producing city, and there were many people who sold smuggled salt, which was rampant.
Therefore, commerce was very developed throughout the prefecture, and prices were very high, almost comparable to those in the capital.
Shen Shuli's eyes darted around.
She has no shortage of food, and the price of food here is five or six times higher than in ordinary prefectures. I wonder if she can exchange it for a large amount of salt.
She had no connections with salt dealers.
Furthermore, the government would certainly not engage in such large-scale transactions with private individuals openly.
We have to find the right approach.
After buying a lot of fresh snacks, Shen Shuli found a secluded spot to change back into women's clothing. After taking out the medicinal herbs she had purchased, she returned to the inn with a heavy heart.
Seeing that Xie Chengyuan had not yet returned.
Shen Shuli breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he didn't see that it took her so long to buy the medicinal herbs.
They arrived at Mu Wanjun's room.
She has produced quite a few medicines in just half a day.
"You're finally back! Why did you take so long?" Mu Wanjun asked Shen Shuli, glancing up at her while busy operating the equipment.
"I went to the mill, which took up some time."
Shen Shuli briefly explained the situation of the mill to her.
Mu Wanjun was surprised that Shen Shuli had done this and even gained a semi-automatic millstone, and she was very happy.
"We're really lucky. This thing will be an indispensable piece of equipment in the future," Mu Wanjun remarked.
"Quickly, give me some Dream Grass. I have a new idea that will definitely make the sleeping potion even more effective."
Upon hearing this, Shen Shuli immediately entered her spatial dimension to collect Dream Grass and gave it to her.
The empty spaces were then replanted with medicinal herbs, and the plants were watered with the spiritual spring water to promote their growth.
"Has Xie Chengyuan not returned yet?" Shen Shuli asked.
"I don't know." Mu Wanjun stayed in her room without going out, and no one came to disturb her.
The room is filled with modern medical and pharmaceutical equipment, which must never be seen by outsiders.
Shen Shuli stopped disturbing Mu Wanjun's pharmaceutical work. She lay on the soft couch, her consciousness sinking into the space, and began assembling the new toy millstone.
With the assembly instructions in hand, Shen Shuli quickly assembled a set.
However, there was no suitable place to put the stone mill in the space.
This millstone needs to be placed in a room with at least two floors in order to be used.
The lower level is where the power equipment is placed, while the upper level is where the flour is processed.
Shen Shuli assembled the upper and lower layers separately, and will do the final assembly when a suitable position is found.
After assembling all three stone mills, only the last set of loose parts remained.
Shen Shuli planned to keep this set of parts as a sample, and have it replicated once things settled down.
It's time to eat.
Shen Shuli gave Mu Wanjun a portion of food from her space and then left, leaving her to continue her work.
Everyone came out of their rooms and ate on the first floor of the inn.
Su Yunhai and Xue Bufan's group have returned from purchasing supplies.
They spent most of the day running around and only managed to buy a little over 500 jin of grain.
The main reason is that all the grain in the entire prefecture is transported from other places, and most of it is used to supply the people of the entire prefecture.
The Su family and other outsiders were not allowed to buy large quantities of grain in the city.
Otherwise, it would affect the lives of the people in the city.
Furthermore, this year's abnormal weather has resulted in extremely low grain yields in various regions, making it difficult for them to send grain here.
Therefore, the grain reserves in the whole prefecture were not much, and they were already lucky to be able to buy 500 jin.
After listening to Su Yunhai's explanation.
Everyone had mixed feelings.
They had only covered a third of the distance; there was still a long way to go.
If they couldn't buy food, they didn't know if they would survive to reach their destination.
At this moment, everyone's feelings are complicated.
Shen Shuli winked at Su Yunhai.
"Dad, when I went out shopping just now, I ran into a wealthy merchant who brought back a lot of grain from outside. I heard that the merchant is planning to sell it at a high price. Why don't we go and buy some?"
"Is this true?" Su Yunhai knew exactly what his daughter was up to, and immediately played along.
"Of course, but they're worried about being targeted by the government, so they only make their moves at night. We'll go out and see if we can buy them when there are fewer people around."
"That's wonderful!" Su Yunhai exclaimed with delight.
Upon hearing this, the other prisoners' eyes finally lit up.
"Is the silver we paid not enough? I have some left, Captain Su, could you help us buy some more?"
The prisoners who had more money immediately turned over, took out their money, and handed it to Su Yunhai.
The other prisoners who still had silver realized what was happening and quickly handed it over.
Xue Bufan looked at the various denominations of silver notes being stuffed into Su Yunhai's hand, his heart filled with complex emotions.
Every time he tried to buy them food, they would be stingy and refuse to give it to him, and he would have to use threats and inducements.
Unexpectedly, Su Yunhai was so proactive and gave him quite a lot of money.
Xue Bufan looked at Su Yunhai with resentment in his eyes, and felt a surge of jealousy in his heart.
After it was agreed upon.
Su Yunhai quickly invited everyone to eat together.
Everyone was finally in the mood to eat, and the atmosphere in the hall became much more relaxed.
Shen Shuli looked around at the entrance of the inn, but still couldn't see Xie Chengyuan.
'Could he have encountered some danger?' Shen Shuli couldn't help but worry.
She was about to go back to her room to tell her parents that she was going out to look for him when she saw a familiar figure walking towards her from the street corner.
It's Xie Chengyuan in disguise!
Shen Shuli looked delighted and quickly walked towards him.
After walking a few steps, he noticed that Xie Chengyuan was actually accompanied by another person.
It's time to fly high!
The smile on her face froze instantly.
Upon seeing Shen Shuli, Xie Chengyuan strode towards her. Noticing her strange expression, he quickly whispered an explanation in her ear.
"Don't worry, let's go back to the inn first."
Shen Shuli nodded reluctantly, but remained wary of Gao Fei.
Return to the inn.
Everyone had finished dinner and left to rest in their rooms.
"Let's talk in your room, and you can call your father along too," Xie Chengyuan said.
Shen Shuli has a private, top-tier suite, which makes it easier to discuss business.
"it is good."
Shen Shuli went back to her room early to boil water and make tea.
Regardless, Gao Fei was the Transport Commissioner, a man of great power and influence, and she had to treat him with the utmost respect.
Moreover, the other party is an enemy, so we must not offend them easily.
Shen Shuli quickly went to the next room to find Mu Wanjun.
"Ah Jun, stop for now. The Transport Commissioner Gao Fei has arrived. Let's put these things away to avoid any accidents," Shen Shuli said solemnly.