In this era, there was no yamen to manage prices. Although a certain husband in the early years had set up Changpingcang to balance prices, the new law was not implemented for long before it was abolished.
This results in food prices in a region being extremely unstable.
In good years, grain merchants collect grain at low prices, but they do not sell it out at low prices. Instead, they hoard excess grain and sell it at normal prices.
When grain prices skyrocket in disaster years or special circumstances, these grain merchants will sell the grain they have hoarded. Even if the new rice turns into old rice, the price at this time will be far higher than the usual new rice.
.
This is the principle of no businessman, no treachery.
It's not that there aren't good people among businessmen, it's just that good people can't make big money.
Now, the government wants to buy grain from grain merchants, and these grain merchants have to sell it. After all, the government is not as easy to bully as the common people. No matter how low the price the government offers to buy grain, these grain merchants have to hold their noses and sell it.
.
In this case, it is inevitable to lose some money.
But which businessman is willing to lose money for no reason? So in just one afternoon, the news that the government wanted to requisition grain on a large scale spread throughout Jiangdu.
Moreover, according to the rumor, the government is not buying grain, but "requisitioning grain."
When the news came out, it told the people of Jiangdu that the government was about to buy up all the food. Soon there would be a shortage of food in Jiangdu, thus creating panic and causing the people to rush to the grain and rice stores to buy food, or to hoard it.
food.
After all, the city of Jiangdu is already one of the few prosperous cities in Dachen. The people in the city have basically completed "urbanization", which means that most of them have no land in their names, even if they have land in the countryside.
, and I don’t know how to take care of it myself.
In this case, once the rice bank is short of food, the people of Jiangdu City will starve.
"What a profiteer..."
Shen Yi whispered.
Tian Laoba, who was sitting opposite Shen Yi, heard Shen Yi's words. He stretched out his hand to scratch his head and said, "Brother Shen, why didn't I understand these two sentences of yours?"
"What's not clear about this?"
Shen Qilang said calmly: "The grain merchants spread this news just because they want to tell the people of Jiangdu that Jiangdu will soon be short of food. Brother Tian can go to the Mihang Grain Store now to take a look. Some so-called"
"Smart people" are already queuing up at the entrance of the food store to buy food, ready to hoard food."
Tian Laoba was still a little puzzled, and he said: "If the imperial court insists on requisitioning grain from our Jiangdu, then those grain merchants will have no grain in their hands, and it is reasonable for the price to rise. No wonder them."
Shen Yi curled his lips disdainfully.
"Brother Tian, Jiangdu is just a prefecture of Dachen, not a province. If the imperial court really wants to go to war, how can it only mobilize food from Jiangdu prefecture?"
"No matter how much food the army wants, it will not be very large if it is distributed to various governments. It is impossible to take away all the food from Jiangdu's grain merchants. It's just that those grain merchants took the opportunity to cause trouble and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.
Just scratching the people."
Speaking of this, Shen Yi turned his eyes and suddenly thought of something. He took out a small piece of broken silver from his sleeve, placed it in front of Tian Laoba, and said: "Brother Tian, I will go back to the academy later.
, the gentleman from the academy has arranged a strategy. I’m afraid it won’t be easy for me to come out these two days. You can walk around outside for the next two days and help me inquire about the situation of this food requisition and..."
"And the changes in Jiangdu's food prices."
Shen Qilang lowered his eyebrows and said, "If anything happens, just write a note and send it to me in the academy. If it's urgent, you can go to the academy to find me."
Inquiring about information is what Tian Boping is good at. He reached out to touch the broken silver that Shen Yi put on the table, weighed it, and then said with a smile: "The whole Jiangdu City matter can't escape my eyes and ears. Brother Shen, don't worry.
, Brother must tell you clearly the cause and effect of this matter."
Shen Yi smiled at him and nodded, stood up to pay and left.
It was still noon, so there was no need to rush back to the academy, so after Shen Yi left the teahouse, he was ready to go home and take a look. As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the alley not far from his home, he saw Shen Ling, the third son of Shen, giving instructions.
He was driving a large truck with almost a dozen bags of grain piled on it.
It was already mid-May, and the weather was a bit hot. Shen Ling wiped the sweat from his forehead, pointed at the door of his house, and said, "That's the house, move everyone to that house."
Shen Yi was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and smiled at Shen Ling, "Third brother, what are you doing?"
Shen Sanlang wiped his forehead with his sleeve, then raised his head and saw clearly that it was his brother. He shook his head and said helplessly: "I heard that the imperial court is going to requisition grain from our Jiangdu, and I estimate that the price of rice will rise, so I will prepare more for my brother."
I kept some at home and went to the rice store in the afternoon to buy four shi of rice."
At this point, Shen Ling snorted and cursed: "Damn it, these profiteers, I just heard about it in the afternoon, and as soon as I went to buy grain, the price of rice more than doubled!"
Shen Yi looked at the large cart of grain behind Shen Ling, thoughtfully.
One stone of grain in Dachen is one hundred and fifty kilograms, and four stones of grain is six hundred kilograms. Apart from Shen Ling and his wife, there are only two servants in the Shen Ling family. One is the original old servant of the Shen family, and the other is Shen Yi.
A maid brought by my sister-in-law from her parents’ home.
There are only four people in total, and 600 kilograms of grain is enough to last for a year.
Shen Qilang smiled at Shen Ling and asked, "Third brother, how much did you spend on buying these grains?"
"According to the original price of rice, four shi of grain is about one tael of silver, which is enough for one tael of silver."
Shen Sanlang was angry and cursed: "These profiteers, for four shi of rice, they took a full two taels of silver from my brother!"
At this point, he said helplessly: "But I heard that the imperial court is going to requisition grain from our Jiangdu on a large scale. If Jiangdu is short of food, the price of food will rise at least until this year's autumn harvest, so we have to buy more."
It's only mid-May, and there are still several months before the autumn harvest. In Shen Yi's opinion, food prices will probably rise again, so he went back early to buy a cart of food.
Shen Yi's family is from a poor family, but Shen Ling's family is not a poor family. After all, Shen Ling's father is a serious magistrate of the county. Even if he is not very greedy for money, he can earn a little bit, which is enough for Shen Ling and his wife.
Already.
Two taels and eight cents...that is, two taels and a half.
Shen Yi stood in front of this large cart of food and narrowed his eyes slightly.
While Shen Yi was thinking, Shen Ling patted his brother on the shoulder and asked: "By the way, Lao Qi, you are not studying in the academy, why are you back home?"
"oh."
Shen Yi came back to his senses, smiled at his brother, and said: "Two days ago, I took the policy test in the academy, and I got a top grade. Sir, I will give you a few days off. I don't have to go back to the academy every day. I have no time today."
If it’s okay, just go home and take a look.”
"I just said that Lao Qi, you are a good student."
Shen Ling pulled Shen Yi's sleeves and said with a smile: "Just in time, I bought two hooves today and asked your sister-in-law to stew them for you."
While pulling Shen Yi's sleeve, he said: "Your sister-in-law made some snacks at home this morning. You can take some to the academy later and give them to Mr. Lu to try. This can be regarded as a thank you for her kindness."
Shen Yi was pulled towards his brother's house, then looked back at the grain cart behind him and suddenly smiled.
"Third brother, no matter whether the imperial court requisitions grain or not, if the price of grain continues to skyrocket, some profiteers will have their homes confiscated."