I played as an assistant in ancient times

Chapter 278 Chance Encounter

"No, he will catch up with us. Let's go. Uncle Xiong and Brother Li will show us the way.

If the city gates are closed, you can stay in the city for one night." Shen Xiaoye specially left two people in the convoy to wait for Lu Guan, and took out their travel passes and gave them to them.

When Xiong and Li saw that there was a purse under the pass she handed over, they both felt that there was no other employer as considerate as them.

They were all the lowest-ranking soldiers. After being injured on the battlefield, they were unable to return to the extremely strict requirements of the Beijing camp. They returned to the military settlements outside the capital, but they had long since become unaccustomed to farming life.

So some people tried to do short-term work in Beijing, but there were not many employers willing to consider the employees.

And this time, everyone's food and accommodation are fully taken care of by the Shen family.

The two looked at each other and had already made up their minds. Half an hour before the city gates closed, they would go find Master Lu. "Don't worry, Miss Shen. We will catch up with the convoy as soon as Master Lu arrives."

"Okay, be careful." Such a big city, with all kinds of people coming from all directions. Without the reminder of the little black cat, Shen Xiaoye could feel the target chasing the convoy at any time.

There were soldiers patrolling everywhere in the city. She didn't think that people in the dark would rob openly, but she was worried that her people would be left alone and their money would be stolen by someone secretly.

After arranging everything in the city, Shen Xiaoye asked the guide to lead the convoy.

This time, eight carts entered the city, but seven left, leaving a total of eight hundred carts weighing only two thousand kilograms.

As soon as they left the city gate, she quickly asked everyone to spread the cloth from the first two carts.

Because the cart was light and used two mules and horses, the journey was much faster after the next stop. By noon, they had already traveled half the distance.

The group only rested for an hour at the small post station halfway along the way. After all, they had to ensure the physical strength of the mules and horses for the rest of the journey.

There was no inn with complete food and lodging near the post station. There were only some villagers carrying loads on their shoulders and selling cakes and meat.

The only two stalls that could offer hot food were also booked by the caravans that arrived early.

Fortunately, the guide Shen Xiaoye hired had reminded her earlier, so while boiling water to fry the multi-grain cakes, everyone also heated up the stewed mutton bought from Datong City.

In the autumn wind, twenty or thirty people were eating mutton around a steaming iron pot on the busy roadside. It was so tempting.

What's more, these guys even warmed up the wine to go with the meal. Wow, it was thick wine.

Although this place is only forty miles away from the bustling and prosperous Datong, the environment is completely different.

People passing by will involuntarily take two deep breaths. It's so torturous.

Look, someone who couldn't stand it came here following the smell.

The man was wearing a fine cotton jacket, a six-combination leather cap, and deerskin boots. His bronze face was full of smiles, and he spoke in a friendly manner: "Excuse me, is the manager here?"

"It's me. What can I do for you?" Geng Ge'er took Shen Xiaoye's bowl. The teenagers didn't drink alcohol, so Guard Chen scooped out the meat and soup from a small pot for them.

And let Shen Xiaoye pick wild vegetables and throw them into the pot to blanch them.

When the other party saw that it was a young girl of 19 years old who answered, he was not only slightly surprised, but after all, he was well-informed, so he immediately smiled and said, "I am a cloth merchant from Guanzhong, my surname is Shi and my name is Wan Huai.

I have been away from home for a long time and haven't tasted the authentic hometown wine for several days, so I came here to ask for a glass of wine.

I don’t know…” He arched his back, looking embarrassed but determined.

When Shen Cungeng heard that he was not here to ask about business, he immediately wanted to take over the conversation, but was gently pulled back by his cousin Erniu, "There are so many of us watching!"

At this moment, although Guard Chen and others were still holding their bowls, they all stopped and looked at Shi Wanhuai, which made the attendant behind him feel his scalp tingling.

Shen Xiaoye nodded slightly, indicating that what Erniu said was right. She said to Shi Wanhuai, "It's better to meet by chance than to be invited. We are from Shen's Cloth Shop in Northern Zhili. If you don't mind, please take a seat.

Well, there are no proper chairs, just stools. "

After saying that, he asked Zhuangzhuang to bring another stool, and said to Guard Chen: "Brother Chen, warm up a pot of wine and invite Master Shi to take a seat."

"Here I come." Guard Chen picked up the warmed wine and joined the small pot of rice.

The master boss thanked him repeatedly and happily joined in.

Lin Erniu also brought two new sets of bowls and chopsticks, but the attendant apologized and took the initiative to return to his own motorcade.

Shen Xiaoye would not hide away just because a customer came, otherwise she would not have to go out to discuss business in the future.

In fact, the dynasty was just beginning to be established, and there was a struggle for succession. The number of male adults in various places had already decreased. Nowadays, it was common for women to support the family business and for widows to remarry.

And she also wanted to see Shi Wanhuai's background, maybe there was a chance for cooperation.

Shi Wanhuai, on the other hand, was full of praise for the wine and meat. As the saying goes, the best food is the water from one's hometown.

As soon as he took a sip, he knew that this thick wine was definitely made from yellow rice and osmanthus wine made from Qin grain. The authentic one was hard to buy in Xuanda, and the price of one sent to northern Zhili was not cheap.

All of a sudden, he became more interested in Shen Xiaoye and the other young leaders. When both sides were willing to make friends, the conversation naturally became more and more interesting.

From this, Shi Wanhuai learned that the Shen family, like him, supplied goods to large merchants.

Shen Xiaoye also learned that the master had been buying cloth in the south and then selling it to the Guanzhong area.

However, because the pawnbrokers dealing with Nanbu are too exploitative, many people are trying to break this shackle.

After listening to this, Shen Cungeng said, "Master, maybe you can look for cloth in the north."

Shi Wanhuai shook his head, "I would like to, but I have a lot of goods on hand last time, so I have to sell them as soon as possible.

I finally heard that Dada was allowed to pay tribute and open a horse market this year, so I hurried here from Longxi.

Another thing is that the number of people who grow cotton and weave cloth in northern Zhili is not as many as in the south, so it is difficult to receive more than 100,000 pieces at a time."

Shen Cungeng and others were shocked when they heard this. One hundred thousand horses at a time, that means at least two times a year, which means two hundred thousand horses.

Shen Xiaoye said: "Your business is not small. If you have a license, you can sell it all in one horse market."

"It's easier said than done! Most of the families who have obtained the permit now were those who had received it when Taizu granted preferential treatment to Dadawa.

Although the horse market was suspended, their certificates were not taken away. "Shi Wanhuai thought that if he could get high-ranking officials in the capital, he would try every means to persuade the emperor to bring together the original merchants with certificates and other merchants and make a new selection.

He didn't know that his idea coincided with Shen Xiaoye's, and he said: "I see that you have very little cloth, but when you get outside the horse market, let me sell it to some big merchants."

"Don't bother, I don't mind taking the cloth to Xinghe, Yanghe, or even to the east of Xuanfu to sell." Shen Xiaoye could see with his own eyes that Master's convoy had a large number of carriages and horses, and guessed that he had brought tens of thousands of pieces of cloth, so it was better not to disrupt other people's business.

Shi Wanhuai did not force it. Based on the principle that the more friends the better, he settled for the second best and went with the Shen family convoy.

Shen Xiaoye naturally welcomed him.