There are many places like Xuanwumen Caishikou, which started selling sea fish from Tianjin all over the capital at the same time. The price of sea fish meat for one penny per kilogram instantly caused a huge earthquake in the whole capital.
In a secret house somewhere in the capital, Hu Wanan was leisurely drinking tea and reading a book when a man who looked like a housekeeper hurried over.
"How's the investigation going?"
Hu Wanan also asked calmly when he saw the person.
"It has been found out that there are a total of ten marine fish sales points inside and outside the capital. The amount of marine fish accumulated is extremely huge. The fish in each place is probably no less than 100,000 catties, and the total amount of marine fish exceeds one million catties."
Hu Wanan's butler, Hu Yining, who was also from a branch of the Hu family of Huizhou merchants, quickly replied.
"More than a million catties of sea fish?"
"Where did they get these sea fish?"
When Hu Wanan heard this, he couldn't help but frown. One million catties of marine fish was definitely not a small number. He really couldn't figure out where on earth so many marine fish came from in the capital.
"I don't know~"
Hu Yining shook his head, then seemed to remember something, and said quickly: "By the way, I remembered something. News came from Tianjin some time ago that there are ships in Tianjin that can catch a million kilograms of marine fish in a day.
These sea fish shouldn’t come from Tianjin, right?”
In fact, Hu Wanan has been paying attention to the news in Tianjin. The grain merchants in Tianjin have also spread the news about the ships going fishing in Tianjin.
It’s just that Hu Wanan didn’t believe the news at all. What kind of boat could catch a million catties of sea fish in a day? Although there were fish in the sea, how could it be possible to catch a million catties of sea fish in a day?
So when he first saw the news, he didn't pay attention at all. He thought the news was too absurd and unbelievable. How could it be possible to catch a million kilograms of sea fish in one day?
For people in this era, as long as they have some common sense and have not seen it with their own eyes, it is difficult to believe what is happening in Tianjin. The same is true for Hu Wanan.
"It's more than 100 kilometers from Tianjin to the capital. It will take at least a few days to transport the sea fish. Will the fish stink?"
Another reason why Hu Wanan is not concerned is that even if Tianjin can catch a lot of marine fish, it is irrelevant to the overall situation, because the transportation and transportation in this era are very backward. Since the marine fish is a fish, it is difficult to preserve it.
, it has little impact on the overall situation at all.
"I went to check it myself. These sea fish are very fresh. They should have been caught yesterday."
Hu Yining quickly added.
"What was salvaged yesterday?"
"Tianjin, the closest city to the capital, is more than 100 kilometers away. How did they transport it here?"
Hu Wanan suddenly frowned and began to think hard. Then he quickly shook his head and stopped thinking about these irrelevant things.
"Did the message come from above?"
"Someone has already sent a message. Let us find out where these fish come from as soon as possible."
"Well, you go handle this matter. Go to Tianjin yourself and find out these things. If it's just a million catties of sea fish, it doesn't matter. It's not enough to consume here in the capital for one day."
"I would like to see how many sea fish they have."
Hu Wanan thought for a while, then thought about it and explained it to Hu Yining.
The next day, there were still hundreds of four-wheeled carriages arriving in the capital from Tianjin, once again transporting millions of kilograms of marine fish. It was still at the same position as yesterday, and the meat of marine fish was once again sold for a penny per catty.
.
For two consecutive days, people in the capital could buy sea fish for a penny a pound, and the hungry people in and around the capital finally felt a little relieved.
At the same time, because the meat of this sea fish is very cheap, one penny per pound, even though the meat of this sea fish is far inferior to grain-based wheat and rice to satisfy hunger, it is still meat and food, and it can satisfy hunger.
The purchase limit for one person is three kilograms, and a family of two and two couples can buy six kilograms of meat a day. This is basically enough for a family of several people to sustain themselves. Although they are not full, they will definitely not starve to death.
In the afternoon of the next day, Hu Yining returned to the capital again from Tianjin and reported to Hu Wanan what he saw and heard in Tianjin.
"A boat can catch more than 100,000 kilograms of marine fish in one day?"
"Concrete road?"
"Can a four-wheeled carriage travel fifty kilometers in an hour?"
"Five million catties of rice?"
"Three million taels of silver?"
After Hu Wanan listened to Hu Yining's report in detail, he could no longer remain calm.
Originally, he was sure of victory. He held a huge amount of grain in his hands. He controlled the entire capital and the grain surrounding Tianjin, holding the biggest bargaining chip in the famine years.
In addition, there are people in the court who cooperate, not only to make a huge profit after this famine, but also to achieve great things for the princes in the court.
But now, if one million kilograms of marine fish are shipped to Tianjin every day, this means that even if there is no food, these one million kilograms of marine fish are enough to survive.
Once food from the south is shipped to the capital on a large scale, all his plans will collapse in an instant with a two-pronged approach.
And he now knows that Liu Jin still has five million kilograms of rice purchased from North Korea. Once these five million kilograms of rice are put on the market, the price of food in the entire capital will collapse instantly.
The reason why it has not been released yet is that Hu Wanan estimates that Liu Jin seems to be waiting for something, maybe because the time is not ripe, or maybe he is keeping it as a trump card.
"We can't go on like this. We must prevent Haiyu from entering Beijing, otherwise our efforts will be wasted and we will die without a burial place."
Hu Wanan quickly realized something, pondered for a while, and immediately knew what to do next.
As long as the fish in the sea does not enter the capital, the people in the capital still need to eat the food in his hands, and the chips in his hands can be used. As long as the famine can continue to spread, and the DPRK and China continue to ask Hongzhi
There is no problem for the emperor to exert pressure and want to complete his plan.
Originally, according to the plan, these hungry people inside and outside the capital should explode in these two days. The sudden arrival of sea fish is like a basin of cold water pouring over, making the powder keg of the capital instantly cool down, so now he
What we have to do is to prevent Haiyu from entering Beijing and continue to let this powder keg brew until it completely explodes.
"You should contact them immediately and explain the matter in detail, and they will know what to do."