"If this much food cannot be sold, it will only last for two or three months at most, and it will go bad!"
"Although we are big grain merchants, not all warehouses can store grain for a long time. Your Highness, the Crown Prince, does this. Aren't you afraid of early divine punishment?"
"I suggest that we burn all the food now. Humph! Even if the food is thrown away, I won't let the people eat it!"
"Hmph! This is a good idea. Let's first fill up all the granaries that can store food for a long time, and then burn the excess food in public!"
…
The grain merchants were driven into panic and decided to burn all the grain. This matter soon reached Lin Fan's ears.
"Your Highness, what should we do about this matter? The grain merchants are all in panic. They are shouting one by one that they want to burn the grain in front of everyone!"
An official from the Ministry of Revenue said anxiously.
After hearing this, Lin Fan looked at the official from the Ministry of Revenue and said coldly: "How should I resolve this matter? Your people from the Ministry of Revenue actually came to ask me?"
Forehead……
The official from the Ministry of Revenue was at a loss for words and said in a deep voice: "His Royal Highness, this kind of thing has happened in the past. The way we handled it was just like we didn't see it!"
"After all, this is people's own food. Although we are court officials, we cannot interfere in people's private affairs. But this time it is different. There is really too much food burned!"
"Wei Chen is here this time. It is because Ni Shangshu Fei Ge sent a letter to Wei Chen, asking him to come and ask His Highness the Crown Prince whether to lift the punishment on the grain merchants!"
When Lin Fan heard what this man said, he smiled instead of getting angry.
"Haha! If the prince lifts the punishment on those grain merchants, they will think that the prince is afraid of them, and they will intensify the punishment!"
"In the future, if those grain merchants threaten me with grain again, won't I have to make concessions?
Humph! I don’t care how many grain merchants I have, but any grain merchant dares to burn grain and execute him in public!"
Lin Fan said with a sneer.
this!
The officials of the Ministry of Revenue were frightened by Lin Fan's decision. If this order was really announced, the entire Ming Dynasty would really be in chaos.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid this is inappropriate. The grain merchants bought the grain with their own money. They have the power to dispose of it. If the court interferes, wouldn't it mean that they will be blamed again?"
the official advised.
Lin Fan looked at him with a sneer and asked: "They have a lot of gold and silver in their family. As long as they don't evade taxes and it's legal income, I will naturally not care about it!"
"But food doesn't work! The food is grown by the people themselves and can save lives. They can buy and sell it, but they can't burn it!"
"Huh! Aren't they going to make trouble?
You go back and draft a message now, saying that food is the foundation of the world, and anyone who dares to burn it will punish the nine tribes!"
“Don’t they want to continue selling food?
It was announced in the memorandum that they are allowed to continue selling grain, but the price of grain must be strictly controlled!"
"The profit cannot exceed 50% of the cost price of the grain. I have left half of the profit to them. If they are not satisfied yet, don't blame me for being cruel!"
In the future world, the profit of food will be even lower, less than 10%. However, at that time, the products are abundant, and the logistics is extremely fast, the profit is low, and the mobility of food is high, but you can earn more.
In this era, the logistics speed is too slow and the transportation cost is too high. Therefore, the profit of grain must be guaranteed to be above 50% so that small grain merchants can survive.
"This... Your Majesty, your Majesty may not agree to your regulations."
The official from the Ministry of Revenue said in a deep voice.
"kindness?
Are you questioning this prince?
If you are asked to do it, just do it, and don’t get in the eyes of this prince here!”
Lin Fan said coldly.
"This is!"
The man said in a deep voice and hurriedly retreated.
An hour later, the Ministry of Revenue issued this proclamation, and sent people 800 miles to various places in the Ming Dynasty. For a time, the officials everywhere took action.
Grain merchants piled grain in the square and prepared to destroy it in public.
There were no less than a thousand people gathered on the square, all staring at the mountains of food piled on the square. The rice jars in their homes were all empty, but there were so many here!
Some people looked at the grain with eyes full of longing. At the same time, when they looked at the grain merchants, their eyes were full of anger.
"Haha! Everyone, you have also seen that these grains could have been sold to you, but because His Highness the Crown Prince has his own way, he will not let us sell it!"
"So, we have no choice but to pile up the food and prepare to burn it here. Alas! In fact, we don't want to do that!"
"It would be a good thing if you could all buy it and fill your stomachs! What a pity! Selling grain now is illegal!"
The grain merchants looked at the people around them and said proudly.
The people around him clenched their fists when they heard what the grain merchant said.
"You have raised the price of food so high that even if we want to buy it, we can't afford it!"
"Yes! You are all black-hearted businessmen. His Highness the Crown Prince wants to punish you, so you burn the food. Do you still have humanity?
Are you still human?"
"Bah! You people are so evil to the end. We can't afford the food at such a high price. Even if you burn it, it's your own loss!"
The people cursed angrily.
Among these people, some have good family backgrounds and can afford to buy food.
"Alas! Your Highness the Crown Prince did not consider this matter very carefully. What a good food. If it is all burned, what will we people eat?"
"There are more than a dozen people in my family, and we can only eat one meal a day these days. If this continues, we will all starve to death!"
"Brother, you'd better not burn these grains and sell them to us. If we don't tell anyone, who will know?
Everyone, please say it right!"
Someone yelled.
"Hmph! This matter is the fault of His Highness the Crown Prince. What mistake did the grain merchants make?
They actually weren’t allowed to sell grain!”
"We are all touching our own consciences. If these grain dealers hadn't sold grain to us, would we have enough to eat?"
"Although we grow food, our food cannot be stored for a long time. Don't we still need people like them to help us store food?"
Someone in the crowd shouted.
These people were arranged by the grain merchants. The emotions of the people around him were instantly aroused, and they all believed that His Highness was the cause of this matter.
When the grain merchants saw that the people were getting excited, they laughed even more sinisterly and said in a deep voice: "Everyone! Don't blame me for this. If the grain is not burned, it will also rot! We have no other choice!"