On the second floor of the teahouse, in Zhu An's private private room, Zhu Yuanzhang walked in with ease and asked with a smile.
"What delicious food have been prepared for us today?"
Zhu Ying said helplessly: "You have already eaten two rounds of the breakfast I have here. How can there be anything new?"
"Okay, Da Sun, you haven't eaten either, come on, let's eat together." Zhu Yuanzhang sat down and said directly.
Zhu Ying has adapted to the old man's social arrogance.
Not only did I talk to my eldest grandson, but I never paid the bill when I ate in the teahouse.
He eats and drinks for free, and treats himself as his grandson, and there is no one left.
Halfway through the meal, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly sighed: "We are eating delicious food here, but those people outside the city are even trying to rob the tree bark."
Zhu Ying rolled her eyes and said, "Old man, just say it directly. Why do you have to beat around the bush like this?"
"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. Yesterday I transferred twenty dan of grain to deal with the disaster."
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and immediately laughed happily.
Regarding the activities in the tea house, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally arranged for Jin Yiwei to pay more attention.
Just a few days ago, the tea house suddenly started purchasing large quantities of grain.
With so much food, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately felt that his eldest grandson might be hoarding goods.
After all, Da Sun is also a businessman.
It's not weird to do these things.
It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang found it difficult to accept it.
Just wanted to enlighten me.
I just didn't expect that I would get such a result just after I started asking questions.
But he misunderstood Dasun.
"We know that Da Sun is completely different from those evil-minded merchants."
Zhu Yuanzhang praised.
Zhu Ying took a bite of the steamed buns and sighed: "It's just a small effort, but it's just a drop in the bucket."
According to Zhu Ying's current view, everyone in the Ming Dynasty is almost equivalent to the level of his ancestors.
You may not be able to identify which refugee is one of your ancestors in future generations.
If your ancestors starved to death due to the butterfly effect, then you may not exist in future generations.
"Don't think so. Twenty shi is a lot of food. If you cook it into gruel, you will have to live for a lot of people."
Zhu Yuanzhang said with certainty.
In the Ming Dynasty, one stone was equivalent to about ninety-four kilograms in later generations. In Zhu Ying's hand, it was more than three thousand kilograms of grain.
Before the famine, one tael of silver could buy one stone of rice, and two guan of treasure money.
Nowadays, many grain merchants are hoarding goods, and prices have soared. Ten taels of silver and one stone are still worth nothing.
There are also many grain merchants who do not accept Ming Dynasty treasure notes.
Of course, it is not that they openly refuse to collect, but they directly declare that there is no food, and secretly trade with silver.
Now twenty guan notes cannot buy one stone of food.
In the market, the government is opening granaries to stabilize prices, but purchases are already restricted based on household registration.
Zhu Ying was able to get so much food to send out, but he secretly spent a lot of money.
"But it's just treating the symptoms but not the root cause." Zhu Ying said with emotion.
"These damn businessmen are like this every time there is a famine. We really want to kill them all with our own hands."
Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily.
"Save it, other people keep it in their homes and won't sell it. What can you do? If you really go and rob it, what's the difference between that and a bandit?"
Zhu Ying said.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded helplessly, even if he was the emperor, there was nothing he could do about this situation.
The only way is to print Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes and adjust grain from other places.
In fact, there are still kind-hearted grain merchants, but they are a mixed bag and difficult to identify.
Speaking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "My pity, Your Majesty, your hair has turned gray because of this famine. I feel really distressed when I see it."
"Looking at the historical records of the Tang and Song Dynasties, we can see that there were such famines. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Central Plains has been experiencing constant famines. I don't know if it is a punishment from God."
Zhu Ying heard this, hesitated for a moment, and after a slight silence, he said calmly: "In fact, as far as the food of the Ming Dynasty is concerned, the total amount of food is still enough to face various disasters."
"If everyone worked together to overcome the difficulties, there would not necessarily be so many refugees."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "This is the truth. It's just that the wine and meat of the Zhu family are smelly, and the roads are freezing to death. Which family would be willing to take out the food and share it with others."
"Actually, it's not like there's nothing we can do." Zhu Ying said calmly.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked: "If you have any ideas, please tell us."
He didn't expect Dasun to really come up with any good ideas.
However, in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, his grandson was the future Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so he was naturally extremely important in learning how to deal with famines.
After living abroad for so many years, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know how talented his eldest son was now.
This time I came here with the intention of taking an exam to get a feel for the school.
"The old man should be very clear about providing relief through work," Zhu Ying asked.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly and said, "Of course we know this."
Just yesterday morning, he ordered to summon 3,000 people to dig out the tomb of the great grandson in the form of work-for-relief.
It's just that Dasun's words didn't make him very satisfied. This method has been around since ancient times. After all, it was the responsibility of the Ming Dynasty officials and it didn't mean much.
"As long as it's clear, the method I'm talking about is the work-for-relief reform."
"Since ancient times, work-for-relief has been done by recruiting people from the government. If we think about it from another perspective, what would it be like if the civilian squires and nobles went to work-for-relief?" Zhu Ying said slowly.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned even more because he didn't understand.
For example, country roads are usually built by the village chiefs under the leadership of the villagers during the off-season. This is also true.
Seeing this, Zhu Ying thought for a while and explained again: "The official roads and post stations of the Ming Dynasty require a lot of money to repair every year."
"Suppose the repair work is handed over to the nobles and gentlemen, and then the government returns it in batches every year. Sir, do you think those nobles and gentlemen would agree with it?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was smart, but he asked incomprehensively: "I should agree with such a good thing, but in this way, after all, the government is still benefiting, so what is the difference from now."
Zhu Ying was speechless. The old man seemed to be really not very proficient in business. He had just finished talking and still didn't understand the meaning.
"Old man, the Ming Dynasty is not short of money, it is short of food."
"These groups of country gentlemen and nobles are given jobs from the government. They have to find someone to do it. If they find someone to do it, they will get food."
"The money given by the government is equivalent to the grain they provided. Calculated in this way, it is equivalent to the money the government spent to buy grain and get things done."
"The government has provided money, the gentry and nobles have provided food, and the people have a way of living. Isn't this matter settled?"
After a few words, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became enlightened and enlightened.
He quickly thought about the feasibility of this countermeasure in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was a brilliant idea.