Zheng Kaicheng said: "My lord, I suggest that the grain purchased at low prices be sold on a large scale to southern Beizhili and northern Henan. These places are experiencing constant famines. It is said that the price of food has risen to several taels per dan. However, due to the breakdown of order, thieves are rampant.
Ordinary grain merchants simply don't dare to sell grain there. When ordinary grain merchants get there, the grain will be robbed by thieves or hungry people before the grain is sold."
"The trade that is impossible for ordinary merchants is not difficult for us. The bandit army cannot cross the Yellow River, and only controls Kaifeng in the far north. If we sell grain in Henan, north of the Yellow River, we will definitely gain
Success. As long as we send the Tiger Army to protect the food transport team, we can deter ordinary thieves."
After hearing Zheng Kaicheng's words, everyone's eyes lit up.
Hong Chengchou also said: "My lord, I agree with the opinion of the Chief Military Officer. Although it is important to control and store grain in troubled times, more than 10 million acres of new fields in Liaodong will be put into production next year. The grain output next year will be
It will cost tens of millions. We purchase a large amount of cheap grain from the private sector, and it is not cost-effective to let the grain rot in the warehouse. We still have to find a way out for this grain."
"Selling grain to the disaster area can not only make money, but also alleviate the disaster and allow some people in the disaster area to eat. The spring wheat in Liaodong Province is not delicious and no one eats it in our territory, but it is sold to the disaster area.
, but it is the best cheap disaster relief food.”
Several other officials also agreed, agreeing with Zheng Kaicheng's words and supporting selling grain to the disaster areas.
Li Zhi heard everyone's words and nodded.
"Okay, let's send some troops to escort the grain team and sell the grain purchased at low prices to the disaster area north of the Yellow River."
####
On August 26, in Zhangde Prefecture, Henan Province, Mr. Wei was sitting on a grain truck transporting grain, looking at the dark wilderness in the distance, and took a breath.
"Sandou, do you think there are many victims in that dark place who are looking at our grain trucks and coveting them?"
This time, after the Duke of Tianjin purchased a large amount of cheap grain from the private sector, he organized an army to escort the grain and sell it to the disaster area. Boss Wei's company was mobilized and was ordered to protect 500 grain trucks and sell the grain to the most dangerous place in Zhangjiang, Henan.
Defu.
Zhangde Mansion is only across the Yellow River from the city of Kaifeng where the intruders came. Since the intruders did not cross the Yellow River, Zhangde Mansion was still under the control of the government and army. But it was only when Boss Wei arrived at this place that he realized that there was
How depressed. Along the way, Boss Wei saw only skinny victims, deserted towns, abandoned villages, and from time to time, groups of "starving people" could be seen on both sides of the road.
Those hungry people were called hungry people, but they were actually no different from thieves. If it weren't for the two hundred company soldiers protecting the food team, those hungry people would have swarmed up and robbed them all.
When he arrived in Henan, Mr. Wei felt like hell on earth. Every few miles on the road, he could see the bones of hungry people that had been eaten clean by crows.
The young soldier who was called "Steamed Bun" by Boss Wei heard Boss Wei's words, looked at the dark night in the distance, and sniffed.
"Monitor, please stop thinking about it, I won't be able to sleep if I think about it."
Boss Wei looked at the bonfires arranged by the grain team in a circle outside and sighed. In order to prevent thieves from attacking the camp at night, the grain transportation team placed twenty-seven bonfires near the grain transportation team. With these bonfires,
The riflemen can kill thieves attacking the camp from a distance at night without getting into chaotic hand-to-hand combat.
Changing the loaded rifle from his left shoulder to his right shoulder, Boss Wei said: "Sandou, why do you think Henan has been hit by disasters for four or five years in a row? I heard about Henan's disasters five years ago, and it's still like this now.
It’s been so many years, but the situation has not been good every year?”
Steamed Bun was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't understand this either."
Boss Wei frowned and was thinking about it when he heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Henan is no longer a problem of natural disasters, but a problem of the complete collapse of the entire order!"
Boss Wei turned around and saw the company commander "Old Man Han".
Old Man Han held three cigarettes in his hand and threw one each to Boss Wei and the steamed buns. Boss Wei and the steamed buns quickly caught them.
This kind of cigarettes was originally produced by people organized by the Duke of Guo. Because the craftsmanship was simple, it was quickly learned by private businessmen. Today, there are several cigarette factories in Tianjin, including "Ruihe", "Fanjiazhuang" and "Xiaokang", etc.
There are several popular brands. The cigarettes that the company commander threw to Boss Wei were "Fanjiazhuang" brand cigarettes.
Without waiting for the company commander to say anything, Steamed Bun ran to the bonfire, picked a piece of burning wood from the bonfire and lit the cigarette. Then he ran back and used the cigarette in his hand to light the cigarettes for the company commander and Boss Wei.
Company Commander Han took a puff of his cigarette and said: "At the beginning, the chaos in Henan was really due to the drought. But after two years of chaos, the order in Henan completely collapsed."
"I heard people say that in fact, Henan's economy was good in the 17th and 18th years of Chongzhen's reign. In those two years, many Henan people who had survived the drought and locust plague harvested food. Originally, with the harvest of food, the people could feed themselves.
, order will gradually improve. But the officials and gentry who had been in the city for two years to eat and store grain jumped out and wanted to collect the land tax and land rent that had not been received during the disaster year."
"Of course, those cunning and unscrupulous people will not be exploited in this way. Those who are exploited are the most honest farmers. But honest farmers also need to eat to survive. In the end, those honest farmers who are oppressed will have to deal with this.
If you get the land tax and land rent, you will go hungry, so you will stop working."
"In fact, where is the issue of land tax and land rent? This is the same hungry officials, gentry and farmers fighting for food for survival. The gentry are afraid of another famine and want to save some life-saving food, regardless of the life and death of the farmers.
When they are struggling for survival, the ugliest faces of those traitors are revealed. Those honest farmers cannot defeat the government and gentry, and the result is that they will starve even in good years, or even starve to death."
"Anyway, we have to starve even in good years. There is no way to survive anyway, so we might as well do the opposite. In the end, the farmers quit, and many people were forced to become thieves. Li Zicheng shouted the slogan of not paying grain,
The farmers in Henan stopped farming and followed Li Zicheng into the city to rob the officials."
"As a result, there are fewer and fewer people farming, and more and more hungry people. The more hungry people there are, the more the gentry intensifies their efforts to snatch food from the most honest farmers. When honest people are oppressed, they turn to thieves and farmers.
There are even fewer people living in the area, and this is a vicious cycle. The whole of Henan has completely turned into a colosseum."
Hearing the words of the company commander, Boss Wei and Mantou were a little shocked. They held the cigarettes for a long time without taking a puff, and finally there was a long ash stuck on the end of the cigarette.
"In the final analysis, it is still a question of order. Shaanxi was also known as a famine in the 16th year of Chongzhen, but Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, used thunderous means to mobilize hundreds of thousands of refugees to work in the fields. As a result, they achieved a bumper harvest and fed countless hungry people. It can be seen that as long as social order is restored, the so-called famine will
You can get through it."
Old Man Han looked at the grain truck behind him and said: "We bring in cheap grain so that the gentry can eat enough and have grain in stock. Then they will not rob farmers of their grain rations regardless of the consequences. This can alleviate this problem a little."
