"Why did the price of rice suddenly collapse?" Chongzhen said, "The food in Nanzhi will not be enough to eat. This year, many farmlands have been converted to cotton, mulberry seedlings and other cash crops. There will definitely not be enough food to eat. The autumn grain harvest will be good.
It’s still not enough, so it’s normal for rice prices to fall a little, but it’s very unusual for rice prices to plummet to five cents.”
"My son also feels that it is very strange." Zhu Cixiang said deeply.
"Looking back now, there must be grain merchants behind it."
"When the new rice from Hangzhou and Jiaxing came on the market, the price of rice dropped to three cents."
"Then grain merchants everywhere began to hesitate to sell, and rice prices began to turn upward again."
"By the end of the winter month, the price of rice in Songjiang Prefecture has risen to two liang and one stone."
"But even if it's two liang and one stone, the rice shops in Songjiang Prefecture can't open their supply."
"Now those farmers who have switched to cotton and mulberry seedlings are in serious trouble. Then there are many farmers in Songjiang Prefecture who no longer grow rice. Because the price of rice has skyrocketed, they have started to gather in groups to cause trouble."
"These are businessmen." Chongzhen hummed, "Give them a little sunshine and they will shine."
If this wave of suppression cannot be suppressed, there will definitely be the Ming Dynasty version of "Jiang Ni Jun", "Garlic Ni Jun" and "Bean Ni Wan", and the commodity economy that has just flourished will be messed up in an instant.
Fortunately, Chongzhen has already made preparations early, and the Chamber of Commerce is preparing for this.
However, before using the trump card of the Chamber of Commerce, Chongzhen decided to attack these grain merchants first.
It is said that barbarians are afraid of force and have no morals. In fact, businessmen are just like idiots. It is useless to reason with businessmen, and harsh punishments are also useless. They dare to trample all laws in the world with 300% profit. The only thing is
What can make businessmen obey is the power of capital that is more powerful than them.
Why can Wall Street dominate the capital market?
It's because Wall Street has a unique level of large capital.
Therefore, this time Chongzhen wanted to use the power of capital to bloodbath the grain merchants.
Then, through the bloody heads of grain merchants, I warned the gentry and merchants of the Ming Dynasty to follow me obediently. If I eat meat, you can also get a mouthful of soup to drink, but if anyone dares to smash the pot, I will stew you and eat meat!
At that moment, Chongzhen asked Zhu Cihong again: "Hang'er, have you ever estimated how much autumn grain Nanzhi has harvested this year?"
"Yes, I have made an estimate." Zhu Cixi still did a detailed homework on this, "This year, the autumn grain planting area in southern Zhili is about 40 million acres. Based on the calculation of two stones per mu, the autumn grain should be no less than 8,000 acres."
Ten Thousand Stones."
"The current population of South Zhili is about 30 million, of which about 20 million are large and 10 million are small."
"The big mouth needs 3.6 shi of rations per year, and the small mouth needs 1.8 shi, so South Zhili needs a total of 90 million shi of rations. There is indeed a gap of 10 million shi, but the problem is not big."
Speaking of this meal, Zhu Cihong said again: "There will definitely be no food shortage."
Chongzhen asked again: "Have you ever investigated how many big grain merchants there are in Nanzhi?"
Zhu Cixiang said: "There are three main big grain merchants. One is the Mao family in Rugao, Yangzhou, the second is the Xu family in Huating, Songjiang, and the third is the Qian family in Changshu, Suzhou. The hoarding in Songjiang Prefecture is led by these three big grain merchants."
"It's them again." Chongzhen asked again, "Where are the Wang family in Xiuning and the Hu family in She County? Are they involved?"
"No." Zhu Cixi replied eloquently, "The Xiuning Wang family and Shexian Hu family mainly sell grain between Huguang and Nanzhi. The local grain in Nanzhi has been controlled by fraudsters, Xu family, Qian family and other large grain merchants. Huizhou
Although the influence of merchants is not small in Nanzhili, it is difficult for them to intervene in the local grain business of Nanzhili."
"This is easy to handle." Chongzhen said happily.
"Let's wait until Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi come back."
…
Ten days passed quickly.
On the night of New Year's Eve, Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi finally returned to Nanjing, and with them came the first batch of treasures worth five million.
Chongzhen still met with the two people in Yilun Hall.
After paying homage, Chongzhen asked: "How is Huguang's food dominance going?"
Wang Pingshan said respectfully: "Back to the Holy Spirit, when the grassroots and others left Wuchang, more than a hundred small and large grain merchants headed by the Wang family in Hengyang had already purchased more than 70 million shi of new grain, and the water conservancy grain bank had taken in two taels of new grain.
Tens of millions of stones.”
"More than seventy million shi?" Chongzhen asked, "At what price did you pay for these grains?"
"Most of them are between four and five taels of silver." Wang Pingshan said, "Huguang grain merchants spent more than 30 million taels of silver."
"More than 30 million taels?" Zhu Cijiong was surprised when he heard this, and said in silence, "Where did the Huguang grain merchants get the money?"
Wang Pingshan shook his head and said: "The Huguang grain merchants raised only more than 15 million yuan themselves, and borrowed 15 million yuan from the Water Conservancy and Grain Bank at 5 cents, and they used grain as collateral."
Chongzhen asked in astonishment: "The water conservancy and food bank doesn't seem to have enough money, right?"
Wang Pingshan said nervously: "The common people sold some of their treasures in Wuchang Mansion, collected 5 million taels, and temporarily lent it to the Water Conservancy and Grain Bank for free."
"Very good." Chongzhen nodded happily.
As long as Huguang grain merchants borrow money from the Water Conservancy and Grain Bank and use grain as collateral, this wave will be stable.
Next, the water conservancy and grain bank only needs to release grain to suppress grain prices. Once Huguang grain merchants cannot raise more money to protect the market, the grain market will collapse.
At that time, the Water Conservancy and Grain Bank can take the IOU and take away all the grain at a very low price. More than a hundred large and small grain merchants in Huguang will not be able to leave even a grain of grain, and they will still owe the Water Conservancy and Grain Bank at least five dollars.
One million taels of silver, this debt was enough to bankrupt more than a hundred grain merchants in Huguang.
In other words, with Chongzhen's actions, the water conservancy and grain bank accounted for 90 million yuan of surplus grain this year in Huguang Province without paying out a penny, and the people who sold the grain did not suffer any loss.
The only unlucky ones are the more than 100 large and small grain merchants in Huguang.
This is the scary thing about big capital, it eats people without spitting out their bones.
The next thing Chongzhen wanted to eat was the large and small grain merchants in southern Zhili.
Chongzhen said: "Wang Pingshan, Hu Renzhi, don't be in a hurry to transfer that batch of treasures, and seize the time to sell grain from Huguang to South Zhili. Now the price of grain in South Zhili has generally risen to three liang and one stone. You can sell it for two
Two, the large and small grain dealers in South Zhili will definitely try their best to eat in order to maintain the price of grain."
"You just traffic in grains in batches."
"Don't do too much at once, give them time to raise money."
"By the time you have trafficked about 10 million taels to various prefectures in Nanzhili, these grain merchants in Nanzhili have already owed each bank at least 10 million taels. At this time, if you suddenly increase the amount of grain trafficking, I will not
We will ask the Huangming Times to publish an article and join forces to suppress the price of grain, causing these grain merchants in Nanzhi to lose everything."
"According to the order." Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi stood up and said, "The common people will return to Huguang after this."
After watching Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi leave, Chongzhen also stood up and prepared to visit the firearms department's workshop again.
The last time he went to the Firearms Department, Chongzhen personally made modifications to the aerodynamic layout of the Shencannon. In addition to appropriately reducing the aspect ratio of the main wings, he also strengthened the tail fins.
The reason why previous artillery guns performed Brownian motion was because the tail fin area was not enough.
The longitudinal and lateral stability of the Shencannon is mainly achieved through the tail. If the tail is not stable, it will definitely only undergo Brownian motion.
However, before Chongzhen could go out, Ma Mingluan and Zhu Shunshui came to the door.
The two of them were accompanied by Xu Guo, a bookseller from She County, and an ink maker and engraver from Xu's printing shop. These two craftsmen were obviously old people from the printing shop and were quite old.
"Your Majesty, the first edition of banknotes has been printed. Please judge it."
Ma Mingluan handed over the first edition of the banknotes that had just been printed by the printing house.
Chongzhen reached out and took the banknotes. There were seven in total, with denominations of one yuan, two yuan, five yuan, ten yuan, two hundred yuan, five hundred yuan and one hundred yuan. One hundred yuan was the largest denomination.
A denomination of one hundred yuan is enough to meet transaction needs of less than 10,000 yuan.
After all, 10,000 yuan is only a hundred sheets, and they are not very thick when stacked.
As for larger fund transactions, gold tickets can be issued directly by the bank.
A golden ticket is actually a silver ticket from another time and space. It needs to be issued temporarily and can be redeemed immediately.
Chongzhen touched the front and back respectively, and it felt very good. He must have spent a lot of money on it.
Xu Guo said proudly: "Your Majesty, the banknote paper is made from the secret mulberry paper of our Xu family paper mill. I dare not say that other paper mills will not be able to make such mulberry paper, but if you want to make it,
It is impossible to produce mulberry paper with the same feel, so the paper level alone can eliminate most profiteers."
Not long ago, Xu Guo donated a household official named Wailang, who is now considered an official.
"There is also this ink." Xu Guo added, "It was prepared by our master He Jiu himself. Not only is the color clear, it does not smear or melt when exposed to water. The key is that it has tiny bulges."
Chongzhen touched it carefully and felt a grainy texture.
Xu Guo continued: "Of course, in addition to the paper and ink, the most important thing is the line of secret words hidden in the pattern on the reverse side. This is Master Ma Wu's unique skill and cannot be copied by others."
After saying that, Xu Guo handed Chongzhen a magnifying glass and pointed out the secret words to Chongzhen.
With the help of a magnifying glass, Chongzhen indeed found a line of small words among the patterns on the back.
If you don't use a magnifying glass, you will only think that this is a slightly thicker dark green line. But if you look carefully with a magnifying glass, you will find that it is actually a line of words: Bingxu Year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
Xu Guo continued: "Your Majesty, it is difficult enough to create such a fine miniature carving. It is even more difficult to imitate another person's carving technique on such a fine miniature carving.
It is absolutely impossible to imitate Master Ma Wu's miniature carvings, because Master Ma Wu is not only good at carving, but also good at calligraphy!"
I have to admit that Xu Guo really spent a lot of money this time. With these three guarantees, it is almost impossible to fake it.
"Okay!" Chongzhen nodded happily and said, "Then let's print a large number of copies according to this layout. Also, Master Ma Wu and Master He Jiu will live in Qingliangfang from now on, and the printing shop of the banknotes will also be moved to Qingliang.
This year, we will launch a new version of banknotes every two years and replace all the old banknotes to avoid counterfeiting."
"Accept the decree." Xu Guochang bowed to the ground.
…
A carriage parked quietly outside the side door of the Qian's Mansion on Tongji Street.
The thick cotton curtain opened, and a middle-aged man wearing an elegant Hangzhou silk blouse and a melon-skin hat inlaid with emeralds stepped out of the carriage.
"Mr. Xu, please come inside."
"The master has already given instructions to the young man."
"When Mr. Xu arrives, he will be taken directly to the study."
A steward of the Qian family immediately came forward enthusiastically.
It is said that the prime minister is a seventh-rank official, but the steward in Qian Ge's hometown was particularly attentive to Xu Yuanwai, which shows that Xu Yuanwai is not an ordinary person.
"Thank you, butler Wang has been waiting for you for a long time."
Xu Yuanwai's hand was a big ingot of silver.
The steward weighed it in his sleeves and found at least fifty taels.
At that moment, the steward led Xu Yuanwai to the door of the study room with a smile on his face.
"I came to Xu Ersui late at the end of my studies to pay my respects to Mr. Xu." Foreign Minister Xu Yuan bowed to him.
"Xu Xiaoyou is here, come in." Qian Qianyi put down his brush and motioned for Xu Er to come in.
Seeing Xu Ersui walking in, Liu Rushi, who was just adding some incense to the incense burner, retreated behind the screen.
After the greetings, Xu Er then asked: "Mr. Ge, I heard that the Holy Emperor has returned to Beijing in triumph, but I don't know what the Holy Emperor thinks of the food shortage in the various prefectures in Nanzhi?"
The Xu family of Huating was still panicked.
Although there were hundreds of grain merchants gathered, and even the Prime Minister of the Cabinet as a backer, even the Xu family of Huating was in a panic when faced with Chongzhen who was determined to kill and had the aura of "Meishan Enlightenment".
"The Lord did not mention this matter after he returned to Beijing." Qian Qianyi waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, little friend Xu. There are so many major matters in the Ministry of Internal Affairs waiting for the Lord to deal with. How can he have time to care about the affairs of the common people?"
"What Mr. Ge said is absolutely true." Xu Er then heard this and his heart dropped back to his stomach.
After saying that, Xu Ersui took out a deposit receipt of Royal Bank and gently placed it on the desk.
"Mr. Ge, these are the bonuses for the winter and twelfth lunar months." Xu Er said, "Wan Jin has asked the accountant to calculate it in advance and sent it to Mr. Ge on a special trip."
Qian Qianyi took a look and read fifty thousand taels.
"Oh, this is so embarrassing." Qian Qianyi said with a dazzled smile, "I just pulled the strings from it. I really can't afford such a gift, so please take it back as soon as possible."
Xu Er then waved his hand and said: "If it weren't for the help of the elders, the grain merchants in all the provinces in Southern Zhili would not be able to advance and retreat together, so this big business would not be possible. A small bonus is really hard to express my gratitude. I just hope
Mr. Ge, please don’t be dissatisfied with the young man.”
"Hey, if that's the case, I'm going to be disrespectful." Qian Qianyi stopped being pretentious. Who would think it was too much money?
After chatting a few more words, Qian Qianyi picked up the tea cup and took a sip. Seeing this, Xu Er immediately stood up and left.
As soon as Xu Ersui left, Liu Rushi came out from behind the screen and said, "Master, you'd better try not to get involved with these grain merchants. I think the Holy One may not let them go easily."
"Madam, you are worrying too much." Qian Qianyi said with a smile, "How can a husband get involved in these things?"
"It's best not to mix things up." Liu Rushi said, "The current emperor has great ambitions, and he can be called a good emperor who truly cares about the poor people. He will not let the grain merchants do whatever they want."
