Chapter 363 The expiration date of the note
After leaving the Prime Minister's Mansion, Feng Yong looked up at the sky and saw the rippling spring sun. The sun shone on him, making him extremely warm.
The streets and alleys of Jincheng are quite lively with people coming and going, but there seems to be a sense of worry and urgency in this bustle.
The news of the Southern Expedition is like a dark cloud, seeming to weigh on everyone in Jincheng.
This has just relieved the Yiling defeat three years ago, and the imperial court is about to use troops again. It would be a lie to say that there is no worry and fear in my heart.
Feng Yong walked through this ancient city with five or six parts.
I walked to the door of a grain store and saw that not many people were coming in or out. I stretched my head and looked inside. There were a lot of sacks inside, which looked like they should be grain.
There are also some bags that have been opened, revealing the white rice inside.
“Shopkeeper, what’s the price of food in this store?”
"Noble man, this stone of wheat costs one bushel. If it is millet, it is more expensive, and half a bushel more."
The shopkeeper of the grain store saw that Feng Yong was dressed in an extraordinary way and that there were several people following behind him. He knew that this person must be an unusual person, so he hurriedly bowed and smiled to greet him.
"This price..." Feng Yong raised his eyebrows, "Compared with the year before, it's a little worse."
“It’s far from it. I said a few years ago that it would be as much as three cents and one stone.”
The shopkeeper looked at Feng Yong carefully with a questioning look on his face, not knowing what he was thinking.
Feng Yong touched his body and took out a felt cloth note, with a look of regret on his face, "I haven't exchanged this note for the felt cloth yet. It seems that I can't buy it today. I'll come back later."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
“Your honor, please wait!” The shopkeeper’s sharp eyes saw the notes in Feng Yong’s hand, and he quickly stopped and came forward, “Is this Hanzhong’s woolen cloth notes in your hand?”
“Exactly, what’s the matter?”
“Can I let the villain have a look?”
"Give."
Feng Yong handed over the ticket.
The shopkeeper took it carefully, first put it in front of his nose and smelled the fragrance of the ink, and then carefully looked at the words "Fifty pieces of fine woolen cloth, change on sight" on it.
Turning it over again and looking at the back, I saw the words on the back: "It expires at the unitary hour on May 30th, and it will be invalid after expiration."
There is also a line of weird symbols in the bottom corner that are incomprehensible.
“It is indeed true. This kind of paper and this kind of calligraphy and ink cannot be imitated by others, and it has not expired and can be used.”
The shopkeeper nodded and said.
Feng Yong was slightly dissatisfied, "What you say is so rude. Go to the store in Jincheng that specializes in changing woolen cloth. This ticket can be exchanged for fifty pieces of woolen cloth. How can it not be true?"
Nonsense, this is the third batch of bills that I personally saw printed. How could it be fake?
“Yes, yes, the villain is a **** and said the wrong thing.”
The shopkeeper smiled apologetically and handed the bill back, "If you really want to buy food, you don't need to exchange for cloth. You can just buy it directly with this bill."
“Oh? Just a piece of paper, directly exchanged for food?”
Feng Yong flicked the bills with his fingers and asked.
The shopkeeper watched Feng Tulie playing the notes with a crisp, clicking sound, and his eyelids twitched. He was really worried that the gentleman in front of him had damaged the notes - this was worth fifty bolts of woolen cloth!
“You can change it!”
The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly, "If you use this ticket to buy food, I can get it cheaper."
“Oh? What’s the point of this?”
"If you really want to hear it, noble man, please go inside and drink some water, and I will explain it in detail."
Seeing the note in Feng Yong's hand, the shopkeeper finally believed that the man in front of him was really a high-roller.
Who doesn’t know that Hanzhong’s woolen cloth tickets are hard to find in Jincheng nowadays? A note with a face value of fifty bolts of woolen cloth is worth at least a hundred bolts of other cloths.
Those who have woolen cloth notes in their hands are not simple people.
“Forget it, I’ll just listen to what you have to say.”
Feng Yong walked into the store, sat down at the shopkeeper’s invitation, and asked, “Why can I buy it cheaper with this ticket?”
The shopkeeper personally poured a bowl of water and delivered it to Feng Yong. Then he went back and sat opposite Feng Yong. "Don't nobles come to Jincheng often?"
“How do you know?”
“If you come to Jincheng often, how could you not know that Hanzhong’s woolen cloth bills are most useful in Jincheng?”
The shopkeeper smiled and explained, "On a ticket, it says how much woolen cloth can be exchanged for, which is exactly how much woolen cloth can be exchanged for. It is not ambiguous at all. This woolen cloth is a rare commodity. There is no way to buy it, even if you want to buy it, you can't."
There are only a few hundred looms, and the raw materials are seasonal and not available year-round, so the shipment volume is inherently small.
The woolen cloth that can be made must be supplied to the entire Han Dynasty, and a large part of it was probably circulated by Zhuge Laoyao to Wei and Wu last year. Of course, it is a rare commodity.
There will be a premium for rare items, of course.
"I see."
Feng Yong nodded, "According to what you said, if you hold this ticket, wouldn't you be able to go to all the shops in Jincheng?"
“Not to mention Quan Jincheng, even some counties close to Jincheng, you can go there.”
The shopkeeper smiled and said, with a look of regret on his face, "But it's close to Jincheng, and it won't work any further away. After all, this ticket has a time limit. After the time limit, it will be invalid. I don't know what Hanzhong What people think."
What else can you think about? Of course, it is because papermaking technology and printing technology must be continuously improved.
Although it seems that no one can imitate it now, it does not mean that you can sit back and relax.
Only when the three technologies of ink making, paper making, and printing are fully mature and become extremely difficult for others to imitate, can this expiration date be relaxed.
"This is not something we outsiders can know." Feng Yong smiled and then said, "In that case, I will just use this ticket to buy it."
With that, he handed over the ticket and continued, "I have just come from out of town and am not very familiar with Jincheng. I heard that the Prime Minister was about to march south, and I thought that the price of food in Jincheng would be like the year before last. It’s skyrocketed like that. I didn’t expect it to be so cheap.”
“I don’t dare to go up.”
The shopkeeper stretched out his hand to take the note, feeling very happy. When Feng Yong said this, he was willing to explain a few more words, "It was because the price increase was too sharp the year before last, but who knew it was a rumor, and in the end it caused a lot of harm." Everyone has to close their doors.”
“Last year, there was another big harvest in Shu, and no one was short of food. Besides, Nanzhong…”
The shopkeeper smacked his lips towards the south, with a look of disdain in his eyes, "How many laborers were sold to Hanzhong last year? The rebels couldn't even defeat the people of the militia. Once the imperial army passes by, is there any need to say whether we will win or lose?"
He said, shaking his head, "So the price of food cannot rise that much. The current price is only because it was during the lean period. If the nobles had come two or three months later, I'm afraid it would have been even lower."
Feng Yong nodded and said, "In the past two years, the Han Dynasty has indeed harvested a lot of food. Then Feng Langjun...hey!"
Without saying anything, he just glanced at the shopkeeper.
Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper's expression changed, and he laughed and said, "This Feng Langjun... haha!"
Feng Tubeng saw that the shopkeeper also imitated him and said this, but he refused to say more. He couldn't help but was startled and thought to himself, I can't talk about myself. What do you mean?
But he didn't know that the shopkeeper was the same, and he didn't know how to comment on Feng Langjun, a man from Jincheng who had mixed reputations.
To say that he is good, as a grain seller, the shopkeeper must not want to say it out loud. He is about to go to war, and the price of grain does not dare to increase. It is all thanks to him. How can it be better?
But if you want to say that he is bad, you cannot say it in front of others.
How many people had enough to eat last year because of him? If I cursed someone here, and if word spread, would this food store still be open?
(End of this chapter)