"This news is absolutely accurate. Now, the palace's granaries are closed. I have also inquired about the newly opened granaries. They are all opened by wealthy landlords!"
"They are the people who help us collect grain. At this time, those people's business is particularly good. I heard that the Ministry of Revenue even gave them a ten-year business qualification certificate!"
"This! How can this be so good!"
The servant said anxiously.
ordinary!
The grain merchant sat down on his chair. How could things develop like this?
What is going on in His Royal Highness’s mind? He can think of all kinds of damaging moves!
"That's not right! Can't the profit be higher than 50%?
They should be selling it for forty-five cents per catty, why are they selling it for sixty cents per catty?"
asked the grain merchant.
"It seems that it is a special period, and His Highness the Crown Prince has given special permission. As soon as the special period is over, the price of food will return to forty cents per catty."
The servant said in a deep voice.
Creak!
After hearing this, the grain merchant clenched his fists. No matter whether it was forty-five cents per catty of grain or sixty cents per catty of grain, the common people could afford it.
However, in the past few days, they kept buying food, but no money came into their accounts, and they were about to be unable to survive.
"Damn it! This dog prince is just doing all kinds of things. Do you really think that all of us are weak persimmons?"
"You should spread the word now. The grain grown by the common people this year must be sold to us by the landowners after harvesting it. Otherwise, we will no longer harvest their grain in the future!"
The grain merchant roared angrily, wanting to use this method to force the people to sell all this year's grain to them.
"Master, I'm afraid this won't work. The court has the choice of the people's food. Moreover, the court has an agreement with the landlords. The court will pay more for the food the landlords receive!"
"In this way, no matter what we do, we will not be able to affect those landlords!"
The servant said in a deep voice.
this!
The grain merchants felt that their hearts were being pinched so hard that they could not break free. As a result, their last means of countermeasures were gone.
"Still! Is there any other news?"
asked the grain merchant.
"There is none now, but according to the news from the Ministry of Revenue, it will be difficult to sell our grain!"
"Moreover, if we want to apply for a business qualification certificate, we will probably be targeted. Those in the Ministry of Accounts are becoming more and more dissatisfied with us!"
The servant said in a deep voice.
Creak!
After hearing this, the grain merchant clenched his fists and really wanted to fight the prince!
"Also, there are many employees who don't have leadership salaries this month..."
The servant said in a deep voice.
"kindness?
How is it possible?
I have asked the housekeeper to pay this month’s salary! Someone! Go and call the housekeeper!”
The grain merchant said angrily.
The man hurried out and called the housekeeper in.
"Didn't I ask you to pay guys' salaries?
Why haven’t many people received it yet?”
asked the grain merchant.
The housekeeper said unhurriedly: "Sir, all the servants in our house have received their salaries. Those who have not received their salaries are the store clerks!"
"Now that the shops are closed, it's normal for them to have no jobs and no wages. The most important thing is that our family's money consumption is huge, and we don't have much money left!"
"The brothers who guard the granary cannot default on their money, nor can the servants in the mansion. In order to save money, I can only do this!"
“Is the family almost out of money?
Impossible! My family has a big business, even if there is no income, it will be enough for ten years!"
Grain merchants are in a hurry!
The amount of money he has earned over the years ranges from one million taels to five hundred thousand taels. Even if he does nothing, it is enough to last him several lifetimes!
"Master, you have been collecting grain during this period. This is a huge expense. The grain cannot be sold. In order to prevent the grain from getting damp, I had to strengthen the granary!"
"Not to mention, we have so many servants in our house, and we have to spend thousands of taels of silver every month!"
"We used to have money in our account every month, and the money was just small amounts. Now that we have completely cut off our source of income, we can't spend it sparingly!"
The housekeeper said in a deep voice.
well!
After hearing what the steward said, the grain merchant sighed. It seemed that he was the one who lost in the war with the prince, but he was not willing to accept it!
"Sir, I have something to say. I don't know whether to say it or not."
The housekeeper said solemnly.
"you say!"
The grain merchant said solemnly.
"Although the conditions proposed by His Highness the Crown Prince are harsh, they leave us with enough profit margin. As long as we continue to sell food, we can maintain our family business and prevent our family from falling into ruin!"
"Moreover, in the past, in order to win military supplies orders from the imperial court, we had to spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to establish relationships. Now, we only need to bid, and as long as we are selected, it will be a two-year order contract.
!”
"With this contract, we will have a fixed income within two years, which is more stable than before. It saves you from spending hundreds of thousands to establish relationships. In fact, we haven't lost much!"
"Moreover, after all, this business is a legal and legitimate business. In the future, if any officials want to threaten you with this, it will be impossible!"
The housekeeper said solemnly.
kindness!
The grain merchant suddenly opened his eyes wide. Why didn't he think of this?
Not to mention anything else, as long as they get one of those ten orders, they will not be threatened by anyone and will have a stable income within two years!
"Why didn't you tell me these words earlier?"
The grain merchant said solemnly.
"This... the villain was worried at first!"
The housekeeper said solemnly.
The grain merchant didn't bother to talk to the housekeeper, and quickly asked people to go to the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs. They wanted to apply for a business qualification certificate and sell grain.
At the same time, they no longer collect grain at high prices. When officials from the Ministry of Revenue saw that the big grain merchants had also compromised, they naturally would not deliberately make things difficult for them and applied for business qualification certificates for them.
Of course, they were not allowed to sell grain for 60 cents per catty, but had to sell it for 45 cents per catty. In order to quickly withdraw funds and sell the backlog of grain in their hands, these grain merchants lowered the price to 40 cents.
Two cents a pound.
Landowners also followed suit and lowered prices. For a time, the problem of food shortage in the Ming Dynasty was completely solved, and there was more food on the market.
On Ni Yuanlu's side, after settling the matter in Chizhou Prefecture, he continued to check the granaries elsewhere. Everywhere he went, there were granaries with sufficient food.
After all, after wiping out three aristocratic families and killing one prefect, even if there were shortages in the rest of the granaries, they were all replenished honestly!
Later, Lin Fan sent people to take away most of this food and replenish it to the army.