Chapter 342: Zhang San comes to visit (asking for monthly votes)
Hoarding means buying up urgently needed supplies and driving up prices.
In the capital city, the merchants, in twos and threes, stocked up a large amount of firewood.
But when the Qunying Chamber of Commerce took action, they contacted the government and directly set up a card at the city gate.
Any vendors who come into the city to sell firewood will have completed their purchase directly at the city gate, leaving no chance for those unscrupulous businessmen.
In the capital city, the Qunying Chamber of Commerce will not carry out acquisitions and give those merchants the opportunity to harvest the wool.
"This is going to kill us. If we act like this and collude with government and businessmen, there is no way out for us."
"Stop complaining and take action quickly. Now the price of firewood per load has been falling. This group of British Chamber of Commerce is really doing harm to others, trading at a loss and making a profit."
"Unless the firewood in the city is reduced, the Qunying Chamber of Commerce has determined that it will not stop purchasing. This time, we have suffered a huge loss. We waited in vain to buy it at a high price. Now it is all in our hands. According to the current price, we must sell it quickly."
"Humph, I told you a long time ago not to do such things here in the capital. The Ming Dynasty is so vast, it is worth fighting here. The only way for us to survive is to go out and stay away from the capital."
"It makes sense. I also think that the Qunying Chamber of Commerce has too much power in the capital. After what happened before, we no longer have the power to compete."
There was a wailing in the business district.
Once the purchase of firewood started, it became a craze.
Even if the harvest is small, the family still has hundreds of loads that have not been used.
The Qunying Chamber of Commerce's operation was equivalent to cutting off their escape route. They could not hold on for even a day. Starting from the next day, the market in the capital began to sell firewood on a large scale.
Due to too many shipments in a short period of time, the lowest price has reached ten cents per load, which is simply unimaginable.
Not to mention this winter, even in summer when the price is at its lowest, it still costs 25 cents per load. It is now considered a direct collapse.
"Winter is coming, and the weather will only get colder and colder every year from now on. We need to prepare and make plans for the severe winter as early as possible."
In Kunning Palace, Zhu Ying stood at the door of the hall, wearing a waistcoat, looking at the cold wind howling outside and said.
With such cold weather, it may start to snow in a few days.
Ye Yueqing was accompanying him. After some hesitation, he asked, "With the weather like this, has His Highness considered transporting the black wheat from the Western Regions?"
At present, the entire Qunying Chamber of Commerce has been completely handed over to Ye Yueqing's control.
In fact, it is wrong to say that. Not long after Zhu Ying founded the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, he has always been the hands-off shopkeeper.
Now Ye Yueqing is very clear about the family background of Qunying Chamber of Commerce.
Zhu Ying frowned slightly when he heard this.
Black wheat is a major weapon in Zhu Ying's hands. This grain is weak in winter and can grow in cold winters. It can be said to be a supreme treasure now and even in the future Little Ice Age.
Together with black wheat, there is Northeastern black soil.
The black soil in the Northeast is the most fertile land in the world, and it is very suitable for growing wheat. In addition to the severe winter season, it is a perfect match with black wheat.
The reason why Zhu Ying has not used black wheat until now is that he has told the old man about the black soil in Northeast China.
There are also considerations of its own in this.
The branches of the Northeastern Black Soil were mainly located in the two provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang in later generations, which is currently the Liaodong and Nuergandusi of the Ming Dynasty.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, General Naha of the Yuan Dynasty came out and gathered 200,000 troops in Jinshan to occupy Nuergandusi and other areas.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it occupied Liaodong. In the eighth year of Hongwu, Naha invaded Liaodong. His troops reached Jinzhou and were defeated by the Liaodong capital guards Ma Yun and Ye Wang. After that, they invaded Liaodong many times and were defeated by the Ming army.
In the 20th year of Hongwu, Feng Sheng led an army of 200,000 to force Jinshan, which was known as the Battle of Jinshan in history. He sent his old Yuan general Nai Ci to Naha to appease him. Naha saw that the situation could no longer change, so he surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.
After his surrender, Zhu Yuanzhang personally granted Naha the title of Marquis of Haixi and gave him an iron certificate and elixir book.
In the 21st year of Hongwu, Naha set out from Fu Youde to conquer Yunnan. He died in a boat in Wuchang on the way and was buried in Nanjing. Zichahan changed his position to attack the Marquis of Shenyang. By this time, Liaodong and Nuergandusi were completely under the control of the Ming Dynasty.
However, in Liaodong, there are many indigenous people in Nuergandusi, including Han, Mongolian, and Jurchen, and many other ethnic groups live together, making it difficult to directly control them.
The Jisi Guard was established under the principle of "using the barbarians to control the barbarians". By appointing the leaders of various ministries as the chiefs of the guard, they regularly paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty and traded with each other to achieve control over the northeastern region.
In this case, if black wheat is transported over, it can be planted on a large area on black soil.
Zhu Ying had no doubt that those Mongols and Jurchens would break away from the rule of the Ming Dynasty without hesitation, establish themselves as kings, and occupy the black soil.
After thinking again and again, Zhu Ying said: "Instruct those in the Western Regions to remove all the black wheat grain and keep some of it, and transport the rest to the capital."
"Let's put this matter aside for the time being. The situation in Nuergandusi is complicated, so we can only figure it out slowly."
Ye Yueqing nodded lightly.
Zhu Ying was calculating in her heart.
If you want to completely control Nuer Gandusi, you will need at least 300,000 troops, and they will be a standing army.
Without an army of 300,000, it would be difficult to defend the black soil grain.
At least hundreds of thousands of people must be moved there to cultivate the black soil.
Tens of thousands of cattle must be prepared.
In Liaodong, Nuergandusi is mostly on plains, and a large number of war horses are also indispensable.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ying felt a little headache.
But leaving the black soil unused made Zhu Ying even more uncomfortable.
That was two million miles of land. In later generations, it also accounted for one-fifth of the country's grain production, and Beidahuang became Beidacang from then on.
Today, there are more than 60 million people in the Ming Dynasty. Although there are some deviations in planting, the yields of sweet potatoes, potatoes, wheat, and corn are huge.
As long as enough land is reclaimed, it can almost solve the food problem for 70% to 80% of the Ming Dynasty's population.
If nothing else, the population in the north will see a surge, and there will no longer be any need to rely too heavily on the south.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty solved the problem of food, the population soared, and Zhu Ying's overseas vassal strategy was added to it.
It is simply difficult to estimate how powerful the Ming Dynasty will be in the future.
It is only a matter of time before it surpasses the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ying strode forward. He wanted to have a good conversation with the old man on how to completely control the Liaodong and Nuergandusi areas.
The previous use of barbarians to control barbarians was due to insufficient manpower and the desolate and barren location. In Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, as long as there was stability there and no trouble, that would be enough.
But now, it will be completely different.
At noon, in front of Zhengyang Gate.
Zhu Di waited in the cold wind with dozens of personal guards and cavalry, as well as the panting eldest son Zhu Gaochi.
As time passed, and it was almost time, a line of carriages finally appeared in the distance.
"My mother is here."
Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but speak.
"As a father, he is not blind yet, so he can naturally see clearly."
Zhu Di said casually.
Zhu Gaochi was accustomed to his father's tone.
Soon, the carriage came nearby. When the guards in front saw King Zhu Di of Yan, they began to control the carriage to slow down, and then stopped ten feet away in front of Zhu Di.
"Meet His Highness King Yan."
The guards turned over and knelt on one knee.
Two more riders came over, dismounted gracefully, and said, "I have met my father."
These are Zhu Di's other two legitimate sons, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui.
After Zhu Di nodded lightly, he ignored it and turned his eyes to the carriage.
As the curtain opened, a dignified woman appeared from the carriage. Zhu Di's eyes lit up and he quickly stepped forward and said, "Yihua."
To the west of the Qinhuai River is the rich area of the Ming Dynasty.
"Are you sure it's the Lu family?"
Zhang San asked in a deep voice.
"Boss, I'm probably not wrong. The yamen reported secretly that the head of the Lu family, Lu Hongzhi, often goes to various houses with his eldest granddaughter Lu Shuang."
"On the surface, it seems that he purchased rouge, gouache, silk and satin for his granddaughter Lu Shuang. However, according to the records, he purchased too much. The amount purchased was enough for dozens of women."
"This alone does not raise any suspicion. However, some brothers have seen Lu Shuang without heavy makeup. This is a little unreasonable."
"After checking among the shops, Lu Hongzhi always said that he would buy something for his granddaughter, once every two or three days, about an hour each time. And when the Beggar Gang was arrested yesterday, Lu Hongzhi and his granddaughter Lu Shuang were also in the shop."
The brother next to Zhang San said in detail.
These brothers, all dressed in brocade robes, were the first trusted guards who followed Zhu Ying to the capital.
Now Zhang San has been promoted to a thousand households, and the rest are a few hundred households, and the others are doing well.
The current Jinyiwei is divided into three parts.
In terms of status, Jiang Wei was the highest, and in terms of actual power, Song Zhong was the greatest.
If we want to talk about status, it is Zhang San who has been Zhu Ying's personal guard before.
And after experiencing the test of imprisonment, even Zhu Yuanzhang favored Zhang San.
It's just that Zhu Ying currently lives in the palace, which is a little different from before, so Zhang San has a lot of leisure time.
There is no need to worry about Jin Yiwei's affairs. On weekdays, he just hangs around the teahouse with Jin Yiwei.
After being idle for so long, I finally waited for my boss's order to conduct a thorough investigation on the top brass of the Beggar Gang.
The brothers headed by Zhang San were immediately full of energy. Even the biting cold wind did not hinder them in any way.
Finally, I have something to do, and I must do it beautifully.
"Without any real evidence, it would be too abrupt to come directly to the door like this. Considering that the Lu family is also a scholarly family."
Zhang San said with a frown.
After all, he had not been in Jinyiwei for a long time, and he did not have such a domineering mentality.
And because I have followed His Highness Taisun for a long time, I am also a little particular about many aspects.
Of course, if His Highness Taisun himself is involved, it will naturally be another matter.
"Boss, they are all doing this. What kind of evidence do they need? When the time comes, they will be arrested and interrogated in prison, and all the evidence will come."
"That's right, boss, we are still under the direct supervision of His Highness the Grand Sun. Even if we act arrogantly, who dares to control us? Just break down the door and arrest everyone first."
"This old man Lu is so sneaky and acting suspiciously. It's definitely not groundless. He must be a high-ranking member of the Beggar Clan."
Zhang San listened to the brothers shouting and shouted: "Quiet, everyone!"
After hearing the leader's loud shout, everyone became quiet.
"How did His Majesty Taisun tell us that we should not let a bad person go, nor should we wrongly accuse a good person. Look at you, you are going to destroy someone's family just by guessing?"
"No matter which family they belong to, after they are all arrested and imprisoned, even if they are innocent, they will have to be forcibly punished. His Highness Taisun asked me to wait for the Jinyi Guard. Is that just to act like Meng Lang? Is it in vain to respect the king's law?"
Zhang San said sharply.
Everyone looked at each other.
Looking back, after entering Jinyiwei, it seems that everyone has really started to drift away. They no longer have the respect and caution they once had. Walking on the road on weekdays, I wish I had my nostrils turned up in the air.
The good ones have not learned anything, and the bad ones have learned everything.
Some people have already begun to accept the filial piety from those below.
In the silence, a tall man stood up and said in a deep voice: "What the boss said makes sense. We brothers were all dazzled by the colorful flowers in the capital. Even I followed him to Yihongyuan.
When I have free time all day long, I hug my little lady."
"His Royal Highness Taisun has arranged a house for us, and we eat and drink in the teahouse. We act like a libertine every day. Boss, I don't want to live like this anymore. I will listen to you and follow you from now on."
As soon as these words came out, most of the ten people were ashamed.
It can be said that they eat, drink and have fun every day, visit brothels, go to brothels, and listen to books.
Even though I was wearing this skin, I was not given any money.
The former dragon-slaying warrior has become an evil dragon.
Zhang San didn't think much about it. He looked at the burly man and said, "Hey, you two cow. I told you that you have gained a lot of weight during this period. It turned out that you are living a good life."
"Okay, don't leave any ink marks. Follow me to visit the Lu family first."
Many brothers did not expect their leader to let go so much. They felt extremely guilty and secretly vowed to start a new life. There was emotion in their eyes.
The door of the Lu family's mansion is closed.
Bang bang bang!
"Open the door quickly!"
The two cows came forward, hammered the door loudly, and then shouted loudly.
Soon the sound of footsteps came, the door opened, and a young man appeared. He was just about to complain a few words, but when he saw more than ten people wearing clothes in front of him, he immediately covered his mouth.
"Sending a message, Zhang San, a member of the Jinyi Guard Qianhu, was ordered to come to investigate."
Zhang San said in a deep voice.
How could the young man dare to be careless? He quickly opened the door of the house and said, "Masters, please come quickly. I will go and inform the master immediately."
He didn't dare to let Jin Yiwei wait at the door. What was originally fine would turn into trouble.
After entering the door, the servants and maids saw the appearance of more than ten people in uniforms, and there was a sudden uproar.
In the backyard, Lu Hongzhi gathered the younger members of the clan and was giving lectures.
"Recently, the capital has been in a state of turmoil and the situation is turbulent. All descendants of the Lu family must be cautious and cautious. When encountering trouble, they should take a step back and never make grudges with others."
"Anyone who violates this rule or brings trouble to the clan will be expelled from the Lu family!"
After the words fell, a voice came from far outside the door: "Master!! Master!!"
Lu Hongzhi's already frowned brows deepened, and a bad premonition emanated from his heart.
I saw a servant, panting and running over, and said quickly: "Master, there are more than ten, more than ten imperial guards coming outside!!!"——