mtl008 Chapter 148: Jin Buys Water, the Heart-beating Villagers of Wangjia Village
Chapter 148: Jin Buys Water, the Heart-beating Villagers of Wangjia Village
The sun is shining brightly, making people feel warm.
Different from the scorching heat of the past few days.
The temperature today is around 20 degrees Celsius.
Occasionally, a gentle breeze would blow, and the news of crossing Pingyuan County allowed everyone to release the pent-up anger in their hearts.
"Which way are you going?" Village chief Wang Dakuo came to Shen Qian's carriage and asked Shen Qian inside.
Shen Qian took a look and saw two boundary markers marking the fork in the road.
Going to the right, you will see Yunshan County, which represents the mountains.
Going to the left, you will see Ducheng County, which represents the prosperous place of Daliang. As the name suggests, Liangdu, the capital of Daliang, is located here.
Shen Qian thought of the advice given by Liang Daguan before leaving, and said to the village chief Wang Dakuo:
"Let's go to the capital."
"Go straight to Liangdu."
"Okay!" Wang Dakuo nodded repeatedly when he saw Shen Qian was determined.
"Then let's go a little further ahead, completely into Liangdu County, and then rest."
"Yeah." Shen Qian's calm voice came from the carriage.
Wang Dakuo ran around the village with the news.
After this period of time, some households in the village with less water storage are actually short of water.
But with the help of neighbors, everyone is doing pretty well.
But this journey was very hard for the Northern Chamber of Commerce that followed behind.
Beside Wei Liangping, a guard licked his dry lips and reported to Wei Liangping:
"Master, we really can't hold on any longer."
"Now my lungs feel hot when I breathe, and my throat is so dry it's cracking."
"If that doesn't work, go buy some water from the people in Wangjia Village ahead."
Wei Liangping's heart skipped a beat when he heard the guard's suggestion.
Last time I bought water, the other party forced me to buy it.
He directly sold the water for 30,000 taels of silver to himself.
As a result, after drinking the water here, I soon encountered a big river.
All the other members ran to the river to replenish water.
The guard suggested buying water yesterday, but he thought they should wait a little longer.
This dragged on for the entire day.
They themselves also lost their water supply.
Just like those guards, if they don’t replenish their water, they will probably collapse here.
But he still wanted to take another gamble. What if he continued walking and found a place to get water not far ahead?
What if...I wasted money again?
Not reconciled.
But those idle horses had already been ridden away by his second sons and servants.
There are simply no extra horses available to go around and gather information.
Wei Liangping felt so angry when he thought of his missing second son and servants.
But the person is gone, so there is no point in him hating him.
"Buy it." Wei Liangping took a deep breath and uttered two words.
Suddenly, the guards' eyes once again shone with hope.
Wei Liangping gathered several merchants together.
When the matter of buying water was mentioned, everyone nodded.
But Zou Chu, the head of the Zou family, said:
"We can't pay another 30,000 taels this time. We're doing business...making money isn't that easy."
"Okay!" Everyone, including Wei Liangping, nodded in agreement to his proposal.
The team continued to move forward.
The sun had been up for two hours, but the people in front showed no sign of stopping.
This made the guards resentful:
"If I don't drink some water, I feel like I'm going to pass out from the sun."
"Can someone help me get my weapon? My throat feels like it's going to split when I try to breathe."
"No, no, my throat hurts so much when I breathe."
"..."
I watched as a team of guards fell down.
Lying on the ground, his life or death unknown.
This is a team fleeing south, and there are too many people following behind them. If some of them fall, it will inevitably slow down the speed of everyone else.
In a short while, only three or four hundred people were left from the team of thousands of people.
Wei Liangping looked at the guards lying on the ground and sucked his teeth.
What kind of guys did I hire to protect my safety?
Weren't you all very motivated during training before?
Why are they all wilted now?
Thinking of this, Wei Liangping's face looked unhappy.
Fortunately, after walking for another quarter of an hour, the team from Wangjia Village in front stopped under the bright sunshine.
And they set up camp just as they did before.
Seeing this, Wei Liangping hurried over with a group of servants.
This time he has learned his lesson.
He didn't communicate with the villagers at all.
He didn't think these villagers would sell water directly to him, so he took people to find Shen Qian.
"Ms. Wang Shen, can you sell us some water?" Wei Liangping brought his men to Wang Shen's carriage and asked the person in the carriage in a flattering manner.
As a businessman, even a high-ranking businessman, he is bound to flatter.
After all, social status is there.
"Not for sale." Shen Qian got off the carriage.
He resolutely rejected Wei Liangping and his group.
She was not familiar with Ducheng County and could not sell the villagers' water at will, otherwise they would have no water to drink later and they would be the ones in trouble.
Besides, after more than ten days, although there were abundant reserves before, each household now only has a little more than one jar of water.
Even my own water is in short supply.
After all, we have to supply more than a hundred people.
"Mrs. Wang Shen, Old Lady Wang, Sister Shen!"
"We've come all the way here, covering your rear. Even if we don't get any credit, we've worked hard."
"Seeing those guards collapse on the road due to thirst, you can't just stand by and watch them die." Wei Liangping moved his feet and moved about one meter in front of Shen Qian, keeping a good distance. He tried his best to get Shen Qian to sell them some water.
Moreover, the more Shen Qian refused.
The clearer he is.
There was no water replenishment during this period.
In this case, he would rather buy more water.
After all, during a drought, water represents life. Without water, people will really die of thirst.
"The price is one hundred taels per jar. I won't argue." Wei Liangping said loudly when he saw Shen Qian still shaking her head.
This time, Shen Qian finally responded:
"Even if it's one thousand taels per jar, I won't sell it to you."
"Everyone here is from my village. They sold their water but didn't refill it. They're dying of thirst... No amount of money can buy it back."
When Wei Liangping heard Shen Qian's firm rejection of him, he immediately clenched his teeth.
He is a businessman.
Everything comes first.
He didn't believe that Shen Qian was really such a noble person. He only believed one thing: she was not worth enough.
The price I offered did not meet the other party's expectations.
If the price for a jar was 12,000 taels of silver, he didn't believe that the other party would not sell the water.
But... ten thousand taels of silver in exchange for a jar of water, is he crazy?
That's thousands of acres of fertile farmland.
After thinking it over again and again, Wei Liangping glanced at the people behind him and said:
"Three hundred taels a jar, we only want one hundred jars."
"how?"
In response to Wei Liangping's question, Shen Qian chuckled.
He was able to buy water with 30,000 taels of silver just by giving it out immediately. He truly deserves to be a wealthy businessman and landlord.
But he had miscalculated.
Shen Qian shook her head again:
"Sorry, I told you I wouldn't sell you a jar of water for 1,000 taels."
As Shen Qian finished speaking, Wei Liangping's face turned grim:
This woman's eating manners are so ugly.
One jar of water costs one thousand taels, and one hundred jars would cost one hundred thousand taels of silver.
She is not afraid of overeating herself.
On the other hand, the villagers of Wangjia Village, upon hearing Shen Qian's refusal again, all showed expressions of disbelief on their faces:
"Three hundred taels... for a jar, and you refused?"
"Mrs. Wang Shen is so stupid! Such a high price is enough to buy ten of my lives."
"Sell it, sell it! My rotten life is not worth so much money."
"..."
Their voices were far away and quiet.
Otherwise, if Wei Liangping heard it, he would definitely change his target and go after them to acquire it separately.
It’s just a pity... Wei Liangping thought they were a solid team, and no one would sell water to him unless Shen Qian asked.
"Then one jar is worth a thousand taels!"
"One hundred jars. I hope Sister Shen will show mercy and give us a chance to survive." Wei Liangping exchanged glances with the merchants behind him and found that everyone was nodding. Then he gritted his teeth and compromised with Shen Qian.