Therefore, the two of them did not dare to speak to Lao Liu until His Highness said that they could sell the grain to Japan. They suddenly felt that this was also a solution.
It's not like they haven't considered selling Jiangnan's grain to other provinces to stabilize grain prices by changing the relationship between supply and demand. However, Jiangnan's grain prices are already extremely high, and with the freight charges, they will lose money wherever they sell.
Moreover, Emperor Hongwu had been frivolous in corvee and insignificant in taxes, and had been encouraging land reclamation for more than ten years. People in all provinces had enjoyed the dividends from the early days of the dynasty, and every family's land could not be cultivated. How could there be any food shortages?
Now that I heard that there is an opportunity to sell grain at a high price, can Zhu He's eyes not light up?
"Japan has a population of eight to nine million. If they all eat our food, the supply will definitely exceed demand." He swallowed and said, "But if you sell food to Japan, Your Highness will be scolded again."
"Yes, those rotten scholars are always looking at His Highness, and they are still trying to find fault with you." Shen Rong also nodded.
"Don't worry about them. Can you stop farming when you hear the cries of crickets? I'll take care of it from the court." His Highness the King of Chu waved his hand nonchalantly:
"Besides, we don't really want to let the Japanese people live a good life. We want them to be highly dependent on us economically. So we don't have to feed the whole of Japan. It's enough to let them import 10% of their food."
"That's it..." Shen and Rong understood that what His Highness meant was to keep Japan's food in short supply and always need to be supplemented by imports. In this way, only 10% of the share can be used to control food prices.
Both of them are veterans in business, and they naturally know that as long as you can create a situation of food shortage, food prices will rise to the sky. It is definitely not as gentle as if the food shortage is 10%, the price will only increase by 10%. Instead, it will rise to 10%. Twenty percent of the people cannot afford food.
"That's right." Zhu Zhen nodded and said: "If they are highly dependent on us economically, it will be difficult for them to be independent politically. This is why Japan should be turned into a source of raw materials for us."
"Coupled with the embargo and dumping, it is enough to completely lock their development and make them linger in the most elementary stage forever." He clenched his fist and said confidently: "This is the most brilliant method!"
"Yes, Your Highness is wise." After hearing King Chu's theory, the two of them couldn't help but admire him. His Highness's invisible hand is enough to strangle the throat of any country and make them suffocate in confusion.
~~
"As for the issue of food stamps, I have thought about it. In any case, the value of food stamps has dropped by half in a short period of time, which has caused real losses to the people."
After talking about Japan's issues, Lao Liu finally returned to domestic issues. He told the two of them categorically: "We can't just care about temporary gains and losses, we must take responsibility. We can't let the people suffer huge losses because they believe in us. Loss. Otherwise, who will trust us again in the future?"
"Once our credit goes bankrupt, the food stamps we have worked so hard for will be completely gone. We will suffer the biggest loss." Lao Liu said earnestly: "Do you think this is true?"
"Yes, His Highness said that." The two of them were secretly ashamed. Fortunately, they didn't say it out loud just now. His Highness really wouldn't agree.
"Then how should we solve the problem of devaluation of food stamps?" The two asked for advice again.
"Solve it from the root." Zhu Zhen said solemnly: "Now it seems that food cannot be used as hard currency to guarantee the value of food stamps."
"Yes, I used to think that food in Jiangnan was precious. Who would have thought that there would be times when food prices plummeted." The two nodded in deep agreement.
"So we need to exchange grain for hard currency!" Lao Liu said solemnly: "I will return to China soon, and then I will go to Suzhou to solve this problem personally!"
"I have caused trouble to His Highness." The two of them quickly apologized, but they both breathed a sigh of relief. I don't know when they started to build up a blind confidence in Lao Liu.
It seems that as long as he takes action, there is no problem that cannot be solved.
~~
In fact, the officials of the Shogunate once had similar confidence in their third generation.
Until they suffered the defeat of Kanmon Strait.
The huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves and the complete crushing of the defeat seriously shook the confidence of all the people of the Northern Dynasties. They began to deeply doubt whether the Sandaime could still lead them to defeat the powerful enemy and unify Kyushu this time.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu also knew this very well, so he didn't care about anything and wanted to quickly build a battleship as big as the Ming army to restore people's confidence.
With his support at all costs, in just three months, the construction of the Bakugou's first new battleship, the Hatai Maru, was completed.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was very happy and invited the guardian daimyo from all over the country to attend the launching ceremony of the "First Maru" and see with his own eyes this huge ship that could rival the Ming army.
They will know that the General is still omnipotent.
Then assign them tasks by the way, let them all go back and follow the instructions, and build a powerful fleet in the shortest possible time...
~~
On May 15th, the weather was fine, and the landscape of Lake Bipa was as beautiful as black and white.
Up and down the Tang Bridge on the Hunan side, there were a forest of flags and a bustling crowd.
The dignitaries and dignitaries of the Northern Dynasties and the great names from all over the world gathered together. Even His Majesty the Emperor, who usually did not show his face, was invited by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
But today no one is the protagonist. The protagonist today is the brand new giant ship standing quietly on the shore, blocking out the sky and the sun.
The monarchs and ministers of the Northern Dynasty looked up excitedly at this giant ship built by the Japanese themselves, and felt proud. The whole place was filled with praises of "Suguo Yi", "Si Guo Yi".
Of course, they will not forget to send a flood of flattery to the builder of this giant ship, Ashikaga Shogun.
Hearing the words "born Ashikaga Shogun", "Yamato savior", "omnipotent Sandaime" and so on, I was extremely satisfied with Ashikaga Yoshitsune.
Since the defeat in the Kanmon Strait, he hasn't heard these praises for a long time, and they are missing.
It wasn't until the chief of ceremonies sounded the gong that everyone stopped sighing and applauding, and General Ashikaga also opened his slightly narrowed eyes. Everyone looked at the giant ship with enthusiastic eyes. The exciting moment of launching the ship has arrived!
The Japanese didn't know how to build a dry dock. They used the slipway method taught to them by the Song Dynasty. Simply put, they built ships on a slope near the water.
When building a ship, dozens or hundreds of logs are used to support the hull. After the construction is completed, the ground is covered with grease and rolling logs, and then the support is removed. The ship will slide into the water along the slope under the action of its own gravity.
A ship like this is too huge and has a flat bottom, so it often requires human and animal power to assist in towing.
General Ashikaga has made sufficient preparations. He has prepared a hundred cattle just for dragging ropes!
No matter what today, he will send the 'No. 1 pill' into the water.
