Bai Shan smiled slightly and asked: "Selling a lot of old grain at this time can indeed lower the price of new grain, but the world is interconnected. It's not like Longzhou's grain can't go out, and there are also other grain merchants coming in.
The price of food suppressed by dumping old grain to the people is only temporary, so why do local grain merchants choose the worst path?"
The scribes were stunned for a moment and then said, "Perhaps drinking poison to quench thirst?"
"No matter what it is, in any case, the people who are injured are the people who farm the land." Another scribe sighed: "Oh, it is the farmers who are injured when the food harvest is poor, and it is the farmers who are injured when the food harvest is good."
"Brother, you are too pessimistic," Bai Shan said with a smile: "A good harvest is much better than a poor harvest. Although the price of each dou of grain sold is less than before, each household has harvested more grain, which could not fill their stomachs before."
People can now have a full stomach, people who could only eat gruel before can now eat white rice, everything is going in a good direction, why be pessimistic?"
Zhou Man nodded, "Besides, low food prices also have advantages. Ordinary people can spend less money to satisfy their hunger, and the remaining money can be used for other purposes, such as medical treatment, reading, and tasting delicious food..."
"That's true, but now that grain stores are lowering prices, farmers are still suffering..."
Bai Shan nodded, "That's right. We can suggest that the governor's office and the county government purchase grain to stabilize prices."
Three scribes: "...I and others are speaking softly, I am afraid that the Lord and others will not accept it."
Bai Shan looked them up and down and asked, "Are you students from a government school or a county school?"
"We are students from a government school."
Bai Shan then smiled and said, "That's easy. Students from both the government school and the county school have the right to advise the governor and county magistrate."
There was this rule, but few actually followed it. The three scribes looked at each other and said nothing.
Bai Shan only gave a suggestion, it was up to them how to do it.
After eating and buying some small things, the group returned to the inn where they were staying. The child was already sleepy. Bai Shan and the others handed the child to his servants to take him down to wash up, while he found a table in the lobby below to sit down.
"It's okay to have low food prices, but it's not good to have low food prices." Yin You turned to Bai Shan and asked, "Are you going to take care of this?"
Bai Shandao: "I will give a small discount and ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to order various places to build warehouses to purchase grain and stabilize prices."
He paused and then said: "Since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, grain warehouses have been purchased in various places to stabilize prices, but there are not many new buildings. Now that the national treasury is full and grain production is high, more grain warehouses can be built. Not only can prices be stabilized, but also prices can be stabilized.
Coping with Disasters.”
Yin Youdao: "Actually, I was thinking along the way, why did we have to arrive at Qizhou before boarding the ship? It is said that Chang'an has the Wei River and the rivers are connected. If the Jialing River can pass through, why can't the Wei River?"
Bai Shan raised his eyebrows, "You mean water transport?"
Yin You nodded, "If water transportation can be smoothed, food prices in various places will be more stable, and the probability of things like Longzhou happening will be smaller."
Bai Erlang said: "I saw it when I was in the Hanlin Academy. The water transportation of this dynasty is basically inherited from the previous dynasty, but except for the Grand Canal, the water transportation of other waterways is basically stagnant. No one manages the rivers and waterways.
There is a blockage, and water transportation cannot be operated at all.”
"Then just open it," Zhou Man said: "Water is everywhere, and our Dajin water network is densely covered. If water transportation flourishes and connects the entire Dajin with rivers, then when we go to other places in the future, won't we be able to do it like
It’s the same as going from Qizhou to Yongzhou, three to five hundred miles a day?”
Bai Shan thoughtfully said, "Where the water is deep and fast, it is possible to travel thousands of miles in one day."
"Yes, yes, then we can go to distant places during a longer vacation." You can take the opportunity to dig some more things.
"Then this chapter needs to be written carefully. Is it the first one or two?"
Bai Erlang: "Such a big thing, you can't write it down in one sentence, right?"
Bai Shan frowned, "I'm afraid it will be too eye-catching for me to give two discounts in a row, and I'm on vacation at the moment."
He looked at Bai Erlang.
Zhou Man and Yin You also looked at Bai Erlang.
Bai Erlang slowly moved behind Mingda. Mingda moved away and said to him: "It's time for you to make a contribution to my promotion."
"...Which letter should I write?"
"Let's take the water transport letter," Bai Shan said: "Didn't you see the relevant records in the Hanlin Academy?"
"But I only looked through it when I was looking for information for my colleagues, so I can't remember much of it."
"It's okay. You should give a general idea first. The Ministry of Industry will take the lead in the specific discussion and implementation," Bai Shan said, "I didn't say I would let you take charge, I just let you take the lead."
Bai Erlang breathed a sigh of relief, but after a moment of silence he said: "But I haven't written a book for a long time. How can I write about such a big thing?"
Zhou Man said: "Let Bai Shan give you a reference."
Bai Erlang can only be driven to the shelf.
The next day they returned to Mianzhou from Longzhou. The distance was not far and could be reached in one day. They stayed in Mianzhou for one night and then returned to Qili Village.
In one day, Bai Shan wrote down all the details for purchasing grain and stabilizing prices, and Bai Erlang got started.
Bai Shan felt that he didn't have the energy or time to write when he returned to Qili Village. He could only lock him in the carriage and have an in-depth discussion with him, and asked him to write down the key points.
Finished."
Bai Erlang nodded in agreement, but the actual situation was that this was impossible.
The Bai family asked their servants to go home and notify them in advance, so as soon as the group arrived at the entrance of the village, Mr. Bai's family and Zhou Lang and Zhou Lang led the people in the village to come up. When the carriage stopped, the people in the carriage had not yet got off.
Everyone knelt down and cheered, but stretched their necks and raised their faces and asked, "Where is the princess? Where is the princess? What does the princess look like?"
The villagers suddenly knelt down, and Mr. Bai couldn't react. He bent his knees and hesitated for a moment between kneeling or not.
Bai Erlang had already jumped out of the car and quickly ran forward to stop him. He stopped the village chief and others by the way and said, "Don't kneel, don't kneel. The princess doesn't pay attention to these false etiquette."
Mingda supported the palace maid's hand and got out of the car, quickly raised his hand and said: "Excuse me, please get up quickly."
Everyone then stood up and saw the princess's face in amazement, "This is the princess, she looks so handsome."
"It's so white. It's as white as Man Bao from Lao Zhou's family. It's just a little thinner and not as round and beautiful as Man Bao."
"I think princesses are more beautiful, like fairies."
Zhou Man and Bai Shan took the children down and came forward, "Brother Village Chief, why are you all stuck here?"
"Oh, this is a full treasure!"
"It's Manbao. He's grown so big?"
"This is the young master of the Bai family. He has grown up and become more and more handsome!"
"The last time I saw them, they were still young. They had just gotten engaged. Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Are they no longer old?"
"Man Bao, where is your father?"
The villagers crowded around, and everyone had many questions. Zhou Man's voice suddenly became mute, and he didn't know who to answer first.