Chapter seven hundred and eighty fifth export bad breath
"Your Highness, King Yan, this is a deposit of 300,000 gu, and one million shi of grain will be shipped initially. Subsequent amounts will be transferred to the account of Peking Bank one after another. Please rest assured, Your Highness."
Zhu Di looked at the Ministry of Revenue official in front of him and took a helpless breath.
If it had been anyone else, no matter what, it would have cost a lot of money. If you want to take such a small deposit and transport the grain away, that would be impossible no matter what.
After so many years, Zhu Di has never suffered a loss.
But when Zhu Biao opened his mouth, he really had no choice.
Among the few people Zhu Di can't deal with these days, the eldest brother Zhu Biao is definitely one of them, and he is also the one who ranks very high.
To be honest, Zhu Di's rapid development and growth in recent years is definitely inseparable from Zhu Biao's indulgence.
Without Zhu Biao's nod, even Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma would not be able to open the door for Zhu Di. Do you want to see the children kill each other?
What's more, Zhu Biao leads so many people, and they can all come out to stumble Zhu Di.
But I'm sorry, Zhu Biao did nothing and even indulged Zhu Di and allowed him to do whatever he wanted.
Although Zhu Di is a bit of a mess, he is not stupid.
The eldest brother protects him from the wind and rain. If he doesn't repay his kindness, everyone in the world will tear him to pieces.
"Okay, this is what the prince brother ordered, there is nothing wrong with it... But I have to remind you that the food has been transported away. This is also the result of my hard work. You must handle it carefully, be sure to be safe, and don't allow any leakage.
error!"
The officials from the Ministry of Revenue immediately nodded and said: "Thank you, King Yan, for the advice. Please rest assured, Your Highness, we know what's going on!"
After the explanation was completed, the officials boarded the canal and gave the order, and the ship loaded with grain headed south along the Grand Canal.
There were also some grain ships, simply loaded with grain from Liaodong, heading south from Dagu to Zhejiang and Fujian.
It has always been grain from the south that was shipped to the north to support the military expenditures of the Nine Borders.
When did the North actually have excess grain that could be transported to the South?
Isn't this a dream?
Who knew that what could only happen in this dream would actually become a reality.
Even Zhu Biao had no way of predicting this impact. He had to go to Zhongshu Province to keep an eye on it and deal with it immediately if any problems arose.
Compared with Zhu Biao's anxiety, after Zhang Ximeng returned to Beijing, he stayed at home and had nothing to do. He cooked some meals for his wife every day, while Jiang Nan worked every day and could eat the meals cooked by her husband when she got home.
A joke I made back then really came true.
As expected, Jiang Nan was working outside to support Zhang Ximeng.
"You should go out and do something! Or write some books! You have to do something!" Jiang Nan said: "If you waste your time like this, those who admire you will be disappointed."
Zhang Ximeng laughed loudly, "What can I do now? I'd better wait until we see the outcome, then I'll write something and summarize it, that's it."
Jiang Nan was startled for a moment, then said: "How far will it go? Can you predict it?"
Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Since you asked, we might as well deduce it... First of all, tell me, is the food shortage problem that has existed over the years really not enough food produced?"
Jiang Nan chuckled, "I am in charge of the Ministry of Commerce after all. The number of registered firms now is only less than half of the actual amount. There are too many private properties that cannot be recorded at all, especially in Huguang, Bashu, and Lingnan.
It was everywhere. I kept writing to various places, asking them to conduct a thorough investigation of the trading houses within the territory, and even sent officials there to conduct a thorough investigation. But in the end, the effect was limited. The Ming Dynasty was really too big, with too many economic activities, and it was not there at all.
It is within the control of the imperial court."
Zhang Ximeng was not surprised at all by his wife's complaint, and even took it for granted.
It is not uncommon for an economy that exists among the people and cannot be counted, let alone the Ming Dynasty, even in later generations. Some large South Asian countries with poor management standards have more than 90% of the labor force, and they cannot be included in national statistics.
One billion livestock is well deserved.
With Daming's current state, is he definitely stronger than a certain third brother?
It’s really hard to say.
"We want to develop industry and commerce, but there is always a strong force resisting at the local level. As for the people, men farm and women weave as much as possible to be self-sufficient, unwilling to buy goods and reduce expenses... This has been going on for thousands of years
There is nothing to say about the tradition. The equalization of land that I promoted was to compromise with this basic base and meet their demands, and then the Ming Dynasty came into being."
"Now if we want to get out of this predicament, we must act towards this situation."
Jiang Nan thought for a while and said: "But we have issued the most stringent land equalization order and no land annexation is allowed. So is the current approach still useful?"
Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Land is the foundation. With fields, we can grow food. This ensures the basic needs of more than 90% of the people and prevents big troubles. Don't forget that on this basis, men farm and women weave.
There are many merchants, such as grain merchants, who rely on their own financial resources to collect agricultural surplus from ordinary people. While amassing wealth, they also form closed areas."
"So we say that men farm and women weave, there are layers... The lowest level is the husband and wife. Men farm and women weave to meet the needs of food and clothing and purchase as few goods as possible. The upper layer may be a county town.
In the county, there are blacksmith furnaces, livestock markets, cloth shops, and grain stores. They form another layer, and so on, until it reaches a province, or several provinces... In short, our Ming Dynasty is
Shrouded in layers.”
Jiang Nan chewed Zhang Ximeng's words and couldn't help but nod, "I roughly understand that if you want to develop industry and commerce, you need enough markets, sufficient raw materials, and abundant labor. But now the Ming Dynasty is resisting at all levels.
The development of industry and commerce restricts the circulation of goods. Only by opening up this situation through the impact of commodities in Peking can we achieve a national chess game?"
Zhang Ximeng nodded with a smile, "Madam is really amazing!"
Jiang Nan couldn't help but smile, "Who am I? The master is the real master. After so many years of planning, it's finally time to reap the rewards. No wonder I heard that the master is humming a little tune while cooking. You are really good."
It’s so joyful!”
Zhang Ximeng sighed lightly: "That's just my estimate. It's hard to say whether it can be done smoothly, so we still have to wait and see!"
…
The first batch of grain from Peiping arrived in Yingtian.
After the inventory, sales started on the third day.
Four hundred and seventy treasures per stone!
You can buy two stones for less than a regular banknote.
When this price was posted, it caused quite a shock.
According to the official price of the Ming Dynasty, one tael of gold can be exchanged for approximately ten taels of silver, and one tael of silver can be exchanged for approximately two taels of treasure banknotes.
There will be some differences in currency values in different places, but probably not much.
In the past, during good harvest years, when grain was put on the market, one tael of silver could buy about three shi of grain. When the harvest was lean, at most, only two shi of grain could be purchased.
In other words, when the price of grain was the most expensive in the Ming Dynasty, it was almost a penny to buy one stone of grain.
Now it's better, two stones of gold can buy more food than usual!
The shock it brought can be imagined.
Some smart people think there won’t be a food problem, right?
Is it old grain? Or is it moldy?
Otherwise, how could it be sold so cheaply?
Some people don't believe it, but there are people who are willing to be the first to eat crabs.
They walked into the grain store and carried out a stone of grain.
When they got it, many people were stunned when they saw the grain, and immediately turned around and asked for another stone!
Some people even rushed to buy them.
Food in the north, especially in Liaodong, only grows one season of rice, which has a long growth cycle, sufficient accumulated nutrients, and high protein content.
In ancient times, northerners were tall and strong, which was related to the protein content in food. Of course, in later generations, meat was eaten casually, so this difference was not obvious. The height of young people in the south also increased rapidly.
But one thing is true, the food from the north does taste better.
High quality and low price. If a bargain falls from the sky, how can you not pick it up?
For a time, Beiping Grain, or Liaodong Grain, became famous in Yingtian, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and several other major cities and quickly seized the market.
The original grain merchants were simply caught off guard when faced with this situation.
What to do? Lower the price?
But the problem is that when the price dropped to the same price as Beiping grain, they lost money.
And even if it is reduced, it may not be able to outsell others?
Why did the business of just sitting and counting money disappear all of a sudden?
For a time, the grain market was filled with grief and chaos.
Not surprisingly, Zhu Di was cursed again, saying that he disrupted the market and acted recklessly, which was the disaster of the Ming Dynasty.
Someone has already published an article in the newspaper, asking the court to punish Zhu Di and stop the food supply in Peiping. Otherwise, the world will be in chaos and the people will not be able to live.
"Hahaha!"
After seeing this article, Zhu Biao laughed so hard that tears came out and he kept patting the table.
good!
It’s so good!
"Prime Minister Sun, I have been holding this breath in my stomach for several years, and it has finally come out."
Sun Yan saw this and was very happy.
The feud between them and the grain merchants has long been forged... The last time we inspected warehouses in various places, there was a large deficit. Then the price of grain skyrocketed, and the people were miserable.
It even almost ruined the major task of checking the deficit.
Since then, Zhu Biao has noticed that there are indeed a large number of powerful grain merchants who buy low and sell high, making huge profits.
Moreover, he also took advantage of the court's investigation of the deficit to make a fortune and interfere with state affairs.
If this was Zhu Yuanzhang, he would have killed a lot of people on the charge of hoarding.
After all, Zhu Biao was kind and didn't do this.
Moreover, Li Shanchang had already been dismissed that time. If he went on a killing spree, the consequences would be too great and he would not be able to bear it.
Now, the opportunity has finally matured. Food from Peiping has arrived, and the time has finally come to reshuffle the cards.
"Food is such an important thing, it must be in the hands of the imperial court. This battle can only be won but not defeated!" Zhu Biao glanced at Sun Yan and asked: "Prime Minister Sun, can the food in our hands be enough?"
Sun Yan smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness, in the past, Peiping needed grain from the south of the Yangtze River!"
Zhu Biao suddenly took a breath, seemed to understand what Sun Yan meant, and nodded heavily!
At almost the same time, someone also quietly arrived at Wang Guangyang's residence and found the Right Prime Minister.
"You have to help me no matter what. The salt has been taken away. How can we make money if we can't even hold grain?"
Wang Guangyang's face turned dark and he said angrily: "Don't ask me! This is something decided by His Highness the Crown Prince. His Majesty and Grand Master Zhang are on top. No matter what, it's not my turn to take care of it. Don't you have so much money? Compensate.
What can I do?"
(End of chapter)
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