Similar to Guang'an's existence in Suizhou Prefecture, Suizhou's presence in Huguang is also extremely thin and far from comparable to important towns such as Xiangfan and Wuchang. Even the size and population of the city are less than half of those big cities.

However, in the past few days, Suizhou City has become the focus of attention of countless people in Huguang, and many boats, carriages and horses are constantly rushing here from the second route of the water and land. Among them are freight boats and chariots full of goods, and like the current team, they are all comfortable carriages to attract customers.

Li Ling, who was sitting in the middle of the team, could clearly see the outline of this ordinary state city when he opened the curtain. It was truly ordinary. It was not as desolate and dilapidated as some cities in the southwest or northern borders, nor as prosperous and towering as important towns in the Yangtze River and Nanjing, but it was just an ordinary ancient city that could be seen everywhere.

Because there have been too many similar caravans coming to Suizhou recently, and the government has made arrangements, so when they entered the city gate, they did not get too picky and kept the difficulties. They only checked and paid ten cents of city gate tax per person, and the team was unblocked and entered Suizhou Prefecture City.

After entering the city, they did not need to find inns everywhere as before. Some of the guys who fought in front of the station were waiting at the intersection and led the team to a pretty good inn in the east of the city. It was also on this road that Li Ling learned that they had been here a few days ago and sent someone to fight in front of the station. Otherwise, they would have to sleep in the big shops in those broken feet shops.

Because there were too many foreign merchants coming to Suizhou this time, and most of them were generous and they almost booked all the inns with good environment and comfortable living. The Yunlai Inn they stayed in was the last inn that could have vacated so many courtyard rooms, but even so, many of the people who accompanied them could only live in the small shops next to them with grievance.

Of course, Li Ling would not bother with these trivial matters. They had a group of about ten people, but they occupied the largest cross-campus, which was completely different from other businessmen.

After entering the inn and resting for less than half an hour, Shu Wenqing attracted the two of them to come over with a serious expression. As soon as he saw Li Ling, he panicked: "Boss Ling, the situation here is getting worse and worse. Even the famous Hu family in Wuchang City has sent people to come. It is said that they will make a lot of money this time..."

"Oh?" Li Ling raised his eyebrows when he heard this. He had heard of the Hu family in Wuchang. This family is not only very famous in the shopping mall, but also has a deep background in the officialdom. It is even half an imperial merchant. It is said that it seems to be related to the palace. The Imperial City Department had suspected that they might be the legendary prince's God of Wealth, but in the end there was no conclusive evidence.

"The land in Suizhou cannot produce gold, why are they interested?" Li Ling asked casually, but the three people in front of him couldn't say what they said, so they could only smile bitterly and shake their heads, and then said: "In fact, not only are there in Wuchang, but also in Xiangfan, Cai Fan, and the two major families sent people. Compared with them, our wealth is really not worth mentioning. So everything depends on Boss Ling!"

"It's okay, even if they have some official backgrounds, I'm not afraid of them. Sometimes the things in the mall are not about the forces, nor about who has more money, but about the timing. With me here, you will never suffer any loss." Li Ling still looked confident, which made Shu Wenqing and others feel a little relieved.

Seeing that they looked a little relieved, Li Ling said again: "You are here just in time. I have something to do. You need to do it."

"Sir, please give me instructions."

"I want to know in detail the situation of the people in Suizhou since this year, the overall population, how many people flee elsewhere, and how many people flee from other places. Also, I also want a serving of various necessary supplies on the market, such as the price changes of firewood, rice, oil and salt, and the more detailed the better."

Although I was a little puzzled about why Li Ling wanted so many data, since there was an appointment before, Shu Wenqing did not refuse and immediately agreed: "Based on the relationship and connections of us in Suizhou City, these trivial numbers can be found, but it will take some time."

"I'll give you three days." Li Ling raised three fingers and said, "As far as the current situation is concerned, we won't have much time left. If I expected it, since the Fan family of Cai has come, they will not compete with merchants like you in a regular manner. I'm afraid they will put pressure on the relevant people and let this transaction start early."

"Ah? Is this possible? It was clearly scheduled for April 15th, but it was still half a month away..." One of the merchants said in surprise.

"Do you think they are all as good as me? If they cannot turn the power in their hands into advantages, how can they make a lot of money?" Li Ling curled his lips disdainfully and waved his hands again, "Okay, you will do what I want. These are the keys to whether we can make profits from it!"

Seeing that he had said everything, Shu Wenqing and the others did not dare to question it anymore, and after agreeing repeatedly, they left again. Li Ling also stood up, greeted Li Moyun, went out together, went around the city, and learned about the situation after the disaster in Suizhou and the current situation of the people.

...

Compared with the depression of Guang'an County, the situation in Suizhou, as the prefecture, is much better. At least there are no refugees gathered around the city and outside the city, and the streets and alleys are in order. However, there are still a little pedestrians on the road, but there are still many officers and soldiers patrolling the streets.

Li Ling and his friends walked past the street at will. Many shops were closed, but the doors were still open, and no customers came to the door. In addition, they walked to the end of the long street where the inn was located and saw two grain and rice shops still operating, but the price of grain on the signs outside was shocked. A bucket of rice was actually priced at 32 cents, which was higher than that of Li Ling at the time of Guang'an.

Of course, there is also a gap between retail and wholesale. In addition, the rice sold here is naturally much more expensive than the millet he bought. But even so, such sky-high food can still scare away more than 90% of the people, so the two grain shops are empty and almost deserted.

Seeing that there was no more things on the street, Li Ling simply turned into a tavern with a small presence. After sitting down, he called out, "Waiter, bring some of the wine and food you have in your store."

The tavern is as bleak as other shops. When they see a customer coming, they all feel energetic from the shopkeeper to the client. Especially the latter, they ran over, nodded and bowed, and laughed apologized: "You two guests are here. Don't look at my small shop, whether it's the best food or food in Suizhou City, especially the Zuihuchun we brewed, which is even more unique in Suizhou. But the price is a bit expensive."

"As long as the wine is good, you are not afraid of the price." Li Ling waved his hand indifferently and asked him to bring the good wine and food over. The guy was even more happy. He agreed and soon went to the kitchen to deliver the message, and then quickly delivered a pot of wine.

He didn't lie. Before the wine was poured out of the pot, the intoxicating fragrance continued to emerge. After Li Ling poured two glasses for himself and Li Moyun, he saw that the wine was extremely colored but pure. He couldn't help but drink a small sip, then nodded and praised: "Good wine! I'll prepare another jar for me later and take it back, and count it for the meal money."

"Okay!" The guy was overjoyed when he saw his heroic spirit. After agreeing, he still flattered him, "The guest official really knows wine. Our wine is made of three steamed and three brewed. It uses pure grain, which is not mixed with water at all. It is naturally better than ordinary water wine. After you drink it, you no longer want to drink other wines."

This is naturally exaggerated, and Li Ling didn't take it seriously, just nodded casually: "It's indeed a good wine. But I'm a little surprised. Since the wine here is so wonderful, why is the business not good? Could it be that your dishes are not good?"

"You are wronged to our shop now. Although we dare not call some of our specialty dishes, they taste good. Even the prefect, the prefect had eaten them before, and they praised them all. But now..." At this point, he thought of something, and then stopped talking, saying that the dishes were almost ready, and rushed to the kitchen again.

Seeing this, Li Ling raised his eyebrows and gave Li Moyun a wink, who nodded understandingly.

After a while, the guy brought a tray of four dishes and delivered them. While setting them on the table, he introduced them casually. They were all local characteristics of Suizhou, and it was quite attractive just by looking at the dishes.

Just as he finished everything and wanted to put away the pallet and leave, Li Ling stopped him: "Wait, why did you leave before you finished your words? What's wrong with your tavern business now that has caused such a big impact?"

"This..." The guy looked at the shopkeeper over there with some concern and said with a smile: "Customer, I am a servant who runs the hall. I really don't dare to talk nonsense. Don't make things difficult for me..." As he said that, he wanted to pull back again, but he didn't expect that Li Moyun would just move his body and he could not break free after he pulled it.

Just when he was panicked and wanted to yell, Li Moyun put another ingot of silver in his hand: "If you answer my son, this silver is yours."
Chapter completed!