"Father, you don't know. I heard that before Yang Peng's memorial was disclosed half a month ago, Yang Peng had secretly started to collect grain. He bought 300,000 stones of rice and noodles in Beizhili, and bought some in Zhejiang.
He bought 500,000 shi of rice and 300,000 shi in Fujian. The grain merchants in the market didn’t react yet and sold it to him at a fair price.”
"But such a large purchase cannot be concealed, and the news spread quickly." "In the past few days, news came from the capital, and Yang Peng's reply to the official memorial was revealed. From now on, everyone in the world knows that Yang Peng wants to buy enough
Ten million taels of silver would buy out several provinces in the south. Which Jin gentry who has grain would not raise the price and make things difficult for him? In addition, he reported his family name in the newspaper and said that he had more than 30 million taels of silver. I am afraid that there is no Jin gentry.
I will let him go."
Zhang Keli thought for a long time, nodded and said, "We as a family can't do this. I'll go to Mr. Zheng's place to have a look and see what everyone's attitude is." Zhang Keli changed his clothes and rode in a sedan to Mr. Zheng's residence.
As soon as they arrived at the door of Zheng's house, the disciples of Zheng's house laughed and said: "Mr. Zhang is here too, so all the people in Suzhou house are here!"
Zhang Keli was stunned for a moment, then followed the family into the second hall. When he walked into the second hall, he found that the famous gentry of Suzhou Prefecture, including the prefect of Suzhou, had gathered, and they were all drinking tea there with smiles on their faces.
Zhang Keli thought about it for a while, then sat on a chair and heard Zheng Gong say loudly: "This time Yang Peng was so smart that he advertised in the newspaper that he had 30 million silver. Can we let him go? The gentry over there in Jinling have already organized themselves.
Not only did we not let out a grain of our own rice, we also tried our best to buy the surplus grain from small grain merchants in the market. This time we will increase the price of grain in South Zhili to five taels and one stone, so that Yang Peng will lose all his money."
On the sixth day of July, in the courtyard of the Shen family in Fucheng, Qingzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province, Shen Congdao, the head of the Shen family, held a note from the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture, but he felt that the note was so fragile that he could hardly lift it.
The Shen family has been hoarding food this month to the point of exhausting their family wealth. The Shen family has more than 6,000 acres of land and more than 100 households of tenant farmers. This land brings him more than 7,000 taels of land rent every year. As a scholar, Shen Congdao
Of course, the students do not pay land tax. However, the Shen family has a large business and a large expense. In addition to the money they pay to the magistrate and the county magistrate every year, the Shen family has only accumulated more than 30,000 taels of silver in more than ten years.
Shen Congdao used almost all of the more than 30,000 taels of silver to hoard rice and noodles. The granary in the backyard of Shen's family was filled with warehouses of rice and noodles. Last month, Yang Peng published an article in the newspaper, saying that he had more than 3,000 taels of silver.
For ten thousand taels of silver, it was necessary to buy more than ten million stones of silver in the coastal provinces. At this time, the gentry in several coastal provinces became active. Under the organization of famous officials, the gentry bought grain and hoarded it in preparation for the time.
Sold to Yang Peng at a high price.
In the southern provinces, the gentry still had some reservations and only promoted large-scale transactions. I heard that in southern Zhili, people went to the gentry's grain stores to buy more than ten kilograms of rice for their own use, but the gentry still sold it at the price of three liang and one stone, that is,
One cent and six cents of silver per kilogram of rice. But if it is a large purchase of more than five thousand kilograms, the price will be five liang and one stone.
This is a naked price inversion, that is, the wholesale price is higher than the retail price, which is a clear trap for Yang Peng. Most of the accumulated grain is in the gentry's granary. As long as the gentry unites in thinking and does not sell it outside, they will soon sell the grain in bulk transactions.
The price went up. The limited surplus grain on the market in the southern provinces was bought up by the gentry. The gentry set up a dragon gate array, waiting to blackmail Li Zhi when he came to buy grain.
In Shandong, the destination of this disaster relief, the gentry were even more ferocious. The 10,000 gentry in Shandong did not want to see Yang Peng successfully take over Shandong for disaster relief. The famine in Shandong was a trivial matter, and those who died were poor farmers who had no food reserves.
If Yang Peng were allowed to successfully carry out disaster relief and take over Shandong, the gentry would be completely doomed as soon as he collects the land tax in a few years.
The gentry in Shandong all contributed money and effort to raise the price of grain. Everyone expected that there would be no harvest in Shandong in the next year. The market in Shandong was already very tight for grain, so the price of grain soared as soon as the incitement began. At the beginning, the gentry in Shandong still wanted to raise the price of grain.
Some were frightened, fearing that the King of Yan would suddenly put a butcher's knife on the necks of the gentry who were hoarding grain. But seeing the prices rising little by little, the Huben division in Jinan did not make any move. The gentry in Shandong gradually became bolder.
The gentry in Shandong not only stopped supplying grain to the market, but also purchased grain on the market at a high price. The price of grain reached six taels and one stone. The farmers who plowed the fields were okay. The farmers ate their own grain. Although the grain was not harvested this year.
, but last year’s harvest has not been finished yet, and the province can survive until August or September. But the citizens in the towns are unlucky, having to buy food at two or three times the original price. The monthly money from work is not enough to buy rice.
, the family’s savings are about to be exhausted.
All the prefectures and counties in Shandong were filled with complaints. The citizens hated the gentry who hoarded food. Some people even wrote the ballads of King Yan on both sides of the street. The two lines of black characters scared the gentry all over the city and searched them, and finally arrested them.
A twelve-year-old Meng boy came out and was whipped.
The citizens' savings were disappearing rapidly, and the life of the gentry was also somewhat unsustainable. The food price, which was expected to be easily controlled, was constantly hit at the end of June, and it almost felt like it could not be sustained. I don't know who, in
There was a large-scale sell-off of grain in the market, dumping it towards the gentry who took over the food at a high price.
For example, in Qingzhou Prefecture, a mysterious force brought more than 300,000 shi of grain and kept selling it. Although it was southern businessmen with different identities each time who brought rice to sell, Shen Congdao knew that it was definitely a group of people.
.This group of people sold grain on a large scale at a price lower than that of the gentry grain stores. If the Qingzhou gentry did not buy them all, the grain prices that had been raised with great difficulty would collapse.
The gentry in Qingzhou Prefecture were frightened by the mysterious seller, and no one took the initiative to take over. The gentry went to the magistrate's office every day these days, and the prefect assigned a share to take over the grain sold on the market.
However, the gentry all understood that the price of grain across the country was at a high level, and this selling force was unsustainable. As long as they ate these grains to last until the next famine, they would be able to sell grain for ten taels of silver per stone, not to mention six taels of silver.
Those people had no choice but to sell iron to get money to buy it.
So every time the prefect assigned various gentry to take over the business, all the gentry gritted their teeth and paid for it. The mysterious businessman dumped a huge amount of grain in Qingzhou City, but the price of grain in Qingzhou has always remained at six liang and one stone. But that mysterious businessman seemed to
It is a test of the endurance of the Qingzhou gentry. They will ship to you almost as much as you accept.
Today, Shen Congdao received another note from the prefect. In order to avoid detection, only the two characters "eight hundred" were written on the note. The prefect asked Shen Congdao to go to the market to pick up eight hundred shi of grain. Eight hundred shi is more than four thousand.
Two pieces of silver, Shen Congdao looked at this piece of paper, and his head was covered with sweat. The Shen family's money had been completely used up. In addition to the seven thousand stones of grain in the granary, Shen Congdao only had the house deed and the land deed.
What would Shen Congdao buy for these 800 shi of grain?
But Shen Congdao knew that this was the next step. Nowadays, the gentry in Qingzhou have grains bought at high prices piled up in their homes. If the price of grain falls without support, the gentry in Qingzhou will lose a lot of family property. This will Who is the mysterious businessman, and why is he so ruthless? He is facing off against the gentry of Qingzhou.
Next to Shen Congdao, Mr. Shen's accountant took a breath and said: "Master, hold on, you must hold on! As long as you hold on for another month, the farmers' food will be exhausted. By then Yang Peng will have to All the money we spent on purchasing food at high prices for disaster relief will fly back."
"Not only that, we also want to make a big profit. All the grain we bought for five taels and five yuan was sold to Yang Peng for six to seven taels and one shi." Shen Congdao wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded. . He was thinking about where to borrow these four thousand taels when he saw his servant Shen San running in with sweat on his face.
"Master, the merchants who sell grain to the market have said that they will also accept the house deeds. We can use the house deeds as money to buy them grain." Want the house too? These merchants want the life of the Shen family. Shen Congdao seems to be When he heard the bad news, his face turned pale and he fell heavily on his chair.
On the ninth day of July, Yang Peng and his generals and officials sat happily in the "Shou Zheng Hall" of Prince Yan's Mansion, discussing disaster relief matters. Taking advantage of the east wind of disaster relief, Yang Peng arranged for the gentry who were always against him to work together, and now he has achieved great success. Sheng. The gentry had no morals. They knew full well that there was a severe drought in Shandong and they wanted to drive up food prices. They wanted to use this despicable method to bankrupt Yang Peng and make Yang Peng's disaster relief efforts fail. In the end, they all fell into the trap set by Yang Peng.
At the end of May, when Yang Peng had not replied to the officials about his decision to provide disaster relief, he bought one million shi of cheap grain from the southern provinces and transported it back to Cangzhou by ship. At that time, the gentry in the world did not even know that Yang Peng wanted to provide disaster relief. Peng also purchased the grains in many provinces, so the purchase price of these grains was very affordable, with an average of only 2, 25 yuan per stone.
Of course, Yang Peng not only has this one million shi of grain in his hands. Yang Peng also grabbed 350,000 shi of grain in Liu Xianglong's Beigang and Dinghai City. In addition, last year, the land lease in Hsinchu was shipped to Tianjing New City, and there were also 100,000 shi of grain. More than 400,000 shi of rice. So at that time Yang Peng had 2.8 million shi of food on hand.
With enough food in hand as a bargaining chip, Yang Peng replied to the officials and promised them that he would take on the responsibility for disaster relief in Shandong. Soon, the memorial was revealed after being approved by the officials, and the whole world was shocked. The gentry then knew that Yang Peng wanted to provide disaster relief, and they all knew that Yang Peng wanted to buy grain.
A memorial alone was not enough to convince the gentry that disaster relief was true to its word. Yang Peng even promoted his ability to provide disaster relief through announcements, boasting that he had 30 million silver. In private, Yang Peng spread the news through Han Jinxin's secret guards. , let the gentry know that they have begun to purchase grain.
With a multi-pronged approach, all the gentry in the coastal provinces were fooled. The gentry all felt that as long as the price of grain was raised, Yang Peng would have no choice but to buy grain at a high price. Otherwise, how could the disaster relief be provided? The enemy Yang Peng's 30 million taels of silver were all worth it. The principle of profit. The gentry rushed to the grain market crazily to drive up the price of grain, dreaming of earning Yang Peng's money.
In Shandong, the gentry directly raised the price of grain to sixty-two yuan and one stone, and they were very cruel. However, Yang Peng was not prepared to rely on the grain purchased on the market for disaster relief. Yang Peng pinned his disaster relief measures on the output of Hsinchu, Taiwan. . So when the gentry pushed the price of grain to the highest level, Yang Peng started shipping. 2.8 million shi of grain was thrown to the market, especially to Shandong, where the price of grain was the highest.
The gentry fantasized about extorting Yang Peng by raising prices. They resisted tenaciously under Yang Peng's selling pressure and took the initiative to "take over" for Yang Peng. Some gentry in Shandong even mortgaged their mansions and sold iron to hoard grain. As a result, Yang Peng
All the 2.8 million shi of grain were sold at high prices to these "market making" gentry.
Because of their greed and shamelessness, these gentry did not hesitate to fall into Yang Peng's trap. Gao Ligong, the "ambassador of the Overseas Affairs Office of the Shogunate", was busy buying and selling grain in the north and south of the Yangtze River under Yang Peng's orders, which was the most difficult. He was already thin.
He lost a few pounds. But after winning the "food price war", he was very energetic. He took a sip of tea and said loudly:
"Your Majesty, most of our grain was dumped in Shandong this time. Some were sold for five taels and five taels, and some were sold for five taels. The average selling price was about five taels and three taels. Based on the cost price of two taels and five taels, we
The two hundred and eighty shi of grain earned me a full 7,800,000 taels of silver."
Hearing Gao Ligong's words, everyone in the Shouzheng Hall's eyes lit up. Seven million eight hundred thousand taels of silver, which was a huge amount of money that had never been seen in the Cangzhou area. Even if he defeated Liu Xianglong, Yang Peng could only grab more than six hundred and twenty.
Ten thousand taels of silver. Unexpectedly, he set up a trap for the gentry to get through, and the gentry sent Yang Peng 7.8 million taels of silver.
With this money, Yang Peng made back at least half of the cost of Shandong disaster relief. Everyone looked at each other for a while and laughed. Gao Ligong looked at everyone with a smile and said: "This is just what we earned.
In order to stabilize grain prices, the gentry in the south spent at least several million taels of silver to buy grain from the common people at high prices. All of this money flowed from the gentry's treasury into the pockets of the common people."
"Thanks to your lord's strategizing, we not only made money this time, but also did a good deed that benefited the people." Everyone looked at each other, their eyes full of smiles. These gentry who have no bottom line are shameless because of their greed.
A huge amount of money was lost. Ye Qi Guanyin let out a laugh and said loudly: "Brother! Now we are waiting for the sweet potatoes from Taiwan to be shipped, and the price of food will be severely reduced. The gentry who are crazy about hoarding food will be bankrupted. Wait until these are ready to be distributed.
The gentry who are facing a national financial crisis will probably be willing to hang themselves if they know that we can provide food for disaster relief by ourselves!"
Yang Peng looked at the scenery outside the hall and nodded with a smile. On the dock in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Zheng Hui looked at the batches of sweet potatoes being loaded onto the ship, feeling very high-spirited.
I have been working hard in Taiwan for four years according to the arrangements of King Yan, and now it is finally time to harvest. Zheng Hui was originally a cashier in a tavern, barely able to make ends meet. But after following Yang Peng, he was promoted by Yang Peng and rose to the top in a few years.
In the past, Zheng Hui was already the commander-in-chief of the capital, and he was able to stand out as a general.
Because of Zheng Hui's outstanding performance, Yang Peng promoted all Zheng Hui's brothers and sisters. Now Zheng Hui's relatives are holding important positions that they did not dare to dream of before following Yang Peng, and they are all rich. Zheng Hui is very grateful to King Yan Yang Peng
.But compared to the high rank and salary that King Yan gave him, Zheng Hui felt more accomplished by contributing to King Yan's cause. Since the beginning of June, all 15,000 hectares of fertile land in Taiwan have been planted with sweet potatoes.
The harvest of summer potatoes this season will provide ammunition for disaster relief in Shandong and lay a solid foundation for King Yan to take control of Shandong.
Sweet potatoes are not popular in the south of the Yangtze River, and the yield in the north is very low. But on the red soil of Fujian and Taiwan, the yield per mu of sweet potatoes is far better than that of rice. "It was first planted in Zhangjun, gradually spread to Quanzhou, and gradually reached Pu (Tian)
". Its vines spread and spread, covering the entire red soil belt in southern Fujian. A note from a contemporary records: "They are planted everywhere, and things are plentiful and cheap. They eat three meals a day, and the common people depend on it."
Of course, the sugar content of sweet potatoes is very low. The calories provided by 5 taels per pound of sweet potatoes are only equivalent to 5 taels of rice. Therefore, although the sweet potatoes in Hsinchu produce 1,500 jins per mu in summer, they are only equivalent to 500 jins of rice.
Calories. It is sheer nonsense to say that the annual yield of sweet potatoes in the 20th century was only more than a thousand kilograms per mu. More than a thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes are only equivalent to a few hundred kilograms of rice. If the yield is so low, who would grow it?
Growing crops that cause abdominal discomfort after eating?
There is one season of spring potatoes and one season of summer potatoes. One acre of sweet potato field in Hsinchu can harvest four thousand kilograms, which is equivalent to more than one thousand kilograms of rice. The calories it provides are still far better than planting rice. Summer potatoes planted in June will not mature until September.
People in Shandong may not have food in August, and there is a one-month lag in between. Fortunately, Hsinchu has planted hundreds of thousands of acres of sweet potatoes in the past few years, and has more than two million kilograms of sweet potatoes in stock, which can help Shandong victims get through the disaster.
After August.
I think after this time, King Yan will definitely use him more seriously! Seeing the carts of sweet potatoes being transported, Zheng Hui was filled with ambition.
On July 11th, Liu Mengqi stood on the lucky boat loaded with sweet potatoes and sighed. Liu Mengqi was transporting sweet potatoes for her enemy Yan Wang Yang Peng. After the collapse of Liu Xianglong's power, Liu Mengqi changed from the "Prince" of the "Fujian King" to
Although Yang Peng gave Liu Mengqi one hundred taels of silver to start a small business, Liu Mengqi had been living in a private house in Quanzhou, getting drunk every day and living in dreams.
Although a man is capable of stretching and bending, Liu Mengqi cannot adapt to the reality of the family's decline in such a short period of time. Although Liu Mengqi is a scholar, it was obtained cheaply by Liu Mengqi's teacher who communicated with the county magistrate. Liu Mengqi actually did not read much.
Book of Saints. What Liu Mengqi longs for in her heart is to gallop on the sea like Liu Xianglong and establish a career as a man.
But after the Liu family was defeated by Yang Peng, Liu Mengqi's dream was shattered along with the Liu family. It would be impossible for the Liu family to make a comeback. If Liu Mengqi became a pirate again or ran into the sea, she would probably be killed mercilessly by Yang Peng.
Liu Mengqi did not want to be a rotten scholar who shook his head, nor was he willing to be a small businessman who bargained for a few pennies every day. After Liu Xianglong died of illness, he had been depressed and drunk every day. Liu Mengqi's performance made his mother and younger siblings very disappointed.
, these relatives originally hoped that Liu Mengqi would cheer up and revive the Liu family.
Until Yang Peng's people approached Liu Mengqi and asked Liu Mengqi to contact the ship to transport sweet potatoes for King Yan. Sweet potatoes are low in calories, and living on sweet potatoes requires a large amount of food. Yang Peng will transport more than 30 million kilograms of sweet potatoes to Shandong this time.
, it is impossible to do this just by relying on the 63 merchant ships and ten armored ships owned by Yang Peng. Relying on Yang Peng's own merchant ships, Yang Peng can only transport more than 10 million shi of grain in a year.
Relying only on ship transportation, the people of Shandong will starve to death, so Yang Peng must hire external merchant ships. Of course, Yang Peng can contact the navy in Dengzhou and Shandong, and hundreds of sailing ships can be mobilized. But Yang Peng knows those navy
The officers and soldiers were sluggish, the ships were in dilapidated condition, and the boatman's skills were crude, and something might go wrong if they traveled far to sea.
So Yang Peng thought of Liu Mengqi. Although he did not kill Liu Mengqi's father Liu Xianglong, Liu Xianglong died because of himself. Moreover, the sailors of the Liu family are all experienced water thieves with excellent skills. If Liu Mengqi is allowed to take the lead, more than a hundred people can be mobilized.
A 5,000-ton Dafu ship transports sweet potatoes for Yang Peng, which can ensure that the transportation is foolproof.
Yang Peng sent Gao Ligong to find Liu Mengqi, who was drunk every day, and told him his idea. Yang Peng promised to give each of the boatmen hired by the Liu family 2 taels and 5 taels of silver per month, and the leader 3 taels and 7 cents per month. This time
The transportation lasted for a year, and Yang Peng paid each ship a "shipping fee" of 1,500 taels.
When Liu Mengqi heard this proposal, she threw down her wine bowl without saying a word and agreed. After Liu Xianglong's death, the Liu family fell apart, and all the sailors in the Liu family had no food and clothing. They had no capital to run away to sea, and they wanted to be pirates because they were afraid of Yang Peng coming to destroy them. Now Yang Peng
Peng gave the sailors of the Liu family a way to survive, so of course Liu Mengqi had to lead the sailors to work.
For Liu Mengqi, this is a good opportunity to revive the Liu family. Although the Liu family can no longer dominate the sea as before, even if it is a transportation brigade attached to Yang Peng, it is much better than the whole family falling apart, right? So Liu Mengqi
With a conflicting mood, he summoned one hundred and forty-six Dafu ships worth 5,000 materials, and twenty-five boatmen for each ship. Yang Peng would not allow the Liu family's fleet to be re-armed, so on board
Except for the lack of cannons, gunners and sailors, twenty-five boatmen were enough to operate the ship.
In fact, most of the blessing ships sailed with the wind, and rarely went to sea during the seasons when the wind direction was unstable. They could not run the sea non-stop for 365 days like the ships. Because the blessing ships were easily blown by the wind when the wind direction was unstable.
If you go outside the waterway, you will be in trouble if you get lost or hit a rock.
Yang Peng's solution was to use the seventy-three ships as tugboats for later generations. Each ship used a cable to drag two Fu ships forward. The cable pulled from the ship was tied to the main mast of a Fu ship, and then tied
Go to the main mast of a fu ship at the back. With the ship towing in front, the fu ship can move forward steadily on the channel like a ship, and its speed can also be increased a lot.
King Yan Yang Peng proposed and Liu Mengqi agreed. He understood that this was what Yang Peng meant for him to forget the past and start over. Of course Liu Mengqi still hated Yang Peng in her heart: Yang Peng defeated the Liu family and made him rise from the high clouds.
Falling into the mud. But now she has to rely on Yang Peng's breathing to keep the Liu family fed, and Liu Mengqi has to abandon this hatred. Liu Mengqi thought of her mother's words: "Everyone has their own position, what's the point of hatred
Woolen cloth?"
In fact, a few days after joining Yang Peng's fleet, Liu Mengqi understood Yang Peng's methods of doing things, and even admired Yang Peng, King of Yan. Liu Mengqi knew that Yang Peng's disaster relief in Shandong was entirely carried out with private funds. The people of Shandong will have a better future.
All the food he eats for a year will be free food provided by Yang Peng, King of Yan. How great is Yang Peng’s ability to save more than 10 million people by one person? What kind of world would Shandong be like without Yang Peng?
hell?
Before sailing, Liu Mengqi stayed in Hsinchu for a few days and learned a lot about the local situation. Liu Mengqi knew that Yang Peng asked all Hsinchu farmers to grow sweet potatoes this time, and also used private funds to purchase sweet potatoes from Hsinchu farmers. Excluding 60% of the land rent
, 40% of the output of farmers in Hsinchu belongs to the farmers themselves. Yang Peng purchases these sweet potatoes from the farmers at the price of three yuan and one stone.
In this way, a farmer who grows twenty acres of sweet potatoes for one year will get the same income of fifty taels as growing rice. Although Yang Peng controls Hsinchu, he loves his people like his own children and will never let his people suffer. Liu Mengqi also
Having eaten sweet potatoes, I know that more than 10 million people in Shandong need to eat at least more than 30 million kilo of sweet potatoes a year to avoid starving to death. Calculated at the price of three qian per shi, Yang Peng’s disaster relief will cost nearly 10 million taels of silver.
.This money was all paid by Yang Peng himself.
Yang Peng was not only good at using new crops to do things that others could not do, but he was also so generous to the people, which surprised Liu Mengqi. To say that Yang Peng was a hero would not be enough to describe the greatness of this disaster relief effort. Liu Mengqi was also a heroic person,
He felt that Yang Peng could even be considered a hero, a hero who saved the country and the people.
Compared with a hero like Yang Peng, his father Liu Xianglong's background and behavior seemed very dirty. Liu Mengqi was sitting on the boat deck on the poop, and in a daze she seemed to have forgotten her hatred for King Yan, and actually admired Yang Peng.
The ship in front made a long whistle sound and slowly sailed out of Hsinchu Port, dragging two lucky boats to Shandong. The lucky boat Liu Mengqi was on raised its hard sail, and as the ship cut through the waves, it sailed onto a brand new road.
channel. Liu Mengqi's younger brother Liu Du's eyes were moist. He grabbed Liu Mengqi's sleeve and said, "Brother! Our Liu family is alive again!" After sighing, Liu Mengqi looked at the Liu family flying high on the fortune ship.
Daqi. Although he felt aggrieved, and even though he was just a transport team, he had allowed the Liu family to survive no matter what.
What happened after all? Let’s look at the breakdown next time.