When Liu Feng returned to the Prime Minister's Mansion, he got off the carriage and walked into the gate, only to see Yang Mi talking to an official.
Liu Feng looked at the official again, and he seemed vaguely familiar. After thinking for a moment, he remembered that he was an official and businessman stationed in Chang'an, named Qiao Silang.
At this time, Yang Mi saw Liu Feng and hurriedly brought Qiao Silang forward to greet him and said, "To inform the Prime Minister, Qiao Silang has just arrived and brought back fifteen thousand old money."
Liu Feng sighed, "I have enough money now. What I want is food. If you bring back fifteen thousand shi of food, I will immediately promote you to the position of Minister of Household Affairs."
Qiao Silang said apologetically: "The Jin army has blocked the trade route, and no supplies can be transported in!"
"I know this. Now I can only buy it from their official hands, but there is no news at all."
Yang Mi quickly said: "Xiangguo, I have received the news. The Jin army promised to sell 20,000 shi of grain to us, but there are additional conditions!"
The Chang'an court set up a liaison office in Luoyang, and Yang Mi was responsible for contacting them.
Liu Feng perked up and asked quickly: "What are the additional conditions?"
"Their additional conditions are twenty thousand shi of grain in exchange for five million kilograms of quicklime."
"What do you mean, I don't have to give them gold?"
"No, the grain trade is grain trade, and quicklime is quicklime. The price of grain is based on three hundred taels of gold. We have to pay 6,000 taels of gold, and the other party pays us 10,000 taels for five million kilograms of quicklime."
"Three hundred coins a dou?"
Liu Feng's eyes suddenly widened, "You are mistaken! Isn't the grain thirty cents per dou?"
Yang Mi shook his head, "They said there were too many refugees and they didn't have enough food themselves, so they raised the price."
Liu Feng felt as if he had bitten the gall of a pig, and his mouth was filled with unspeakable pain. Before, Guo Song promised to supply them with unlimited grain at a price of thirty cents per dou, so they did not consider implementing military settlements. Now the sowing season has passed.
, the price of food increased tenfold, and the quantity was also restricted.
Liu Feng gritted his teeth with hatred. The price of coarse grain in Chang'an was thirty cents per dou, but he sold it to them for three hundred cents, which was an increase of ten times. In new money, it was three thousand cents per dou, which was one cent more expensive than the current market price of two thousand cents per dou.
Thousands of coins means that the market price will continue to rise, which is simply adding fuel to the flames. He really doesn't want to buy it, but he can't do it if he doesn't. Without some food reserves, the army will be in chaos.
Yang Mi continued: "The other party will not provide us with food until they receive two million kilograms of quicklime."
Liu Feng was very helpless and asked: "How long will it take?"
"I was just asking Qiao Silang. He said that he just rented a dozen large cargo ships to transport quicklime to Chang'an for sale. If time is urgent, he will transport the quicklime directly to Puyang, which only takes a few days."
Liu Feng nodded, what a coincidence. He immediately said to Yang Mi: "You are responsible for arranging this matter as soon as possible. Let the twenty thousand shi of grain be used as military rations! Those bastards are not good at fighting, but they are very good at eating. They have to eat it in a day
One pound of rice and 20,000 shi of grain are only enough for them to eat for twenty days."
...........
Liu Feng returned to his official room. As soon as he sat down, someone reported, "Here comes the general!"
General Xiang is Liu Feng's brother-in-law Xiang Fei. Before the Liu family became prosperous, he was a small officer. After the Liu family became prosperous, he also followed the rise and was named General Qianniuwei.
Wanjiumen Army.
After Qiu Jingzhong's rebellion ended, Zhu Si's 300,000 army had been reduced to 120,000, leaving only 50,000 Tiger Guards, 30,000 Leopard Guards, 30,000 Ox Guards and 10,000 Palace Guards.
The 30,000-strong Niu Guard Army is Liu Feng's last resort and is controlled by Xiang Fei.
Liu Feng stood up and came out, only to see Xiang Fei walking towards him with a sullen face. Liu Feng felt a little nervous. Xiao Wanding was putting pressure on him. He didn't care, but if his brother-in-law Xiang Fei put pressure on him, he couldn't bear it.
Liu Feng laughed twice and said a very unworthy joke, "Brother-in-law, why are you so sullen? Who owes you money and refuses to pay it back?"
Xiang Fei is about fifty years old and has a very rude appearance. He was born with a big nose and his face is like a statue with rough edges. In fact, he is also very rude. His family was originally a pig dealer and he has a close relationship with the butcher Liu family.
That's why he married Liu Feng's eldest sister.
Xiang Fei walked into Liu Feng's study and sat down. He waved his hand and said, "I'm a little thirsty. Here's a bowl of wine!"
Liu Feng quickly asked the maid to bring a large bowl of water and wine. Xiang Fei picked up the wine bowl and drank it all. He threw the bowl to the maid, burped heavily, farted twice, and then said to Liu Feng: "
Brother-in-law comes to you for two things!"
"Brother-in-law, please tell me, I will definitely do it for you!"
"I want to exchange for some gold, do you have any?"
Liu Feng also knew about his brother-in-law's family background. If a person wanted to exchange for gold, it would not be just a small amount. He asked cautiously: "How much does my brother-in-law want to exchange for?"
Xiang Fei stretched out three fingers and said, "Three million yuan in exchange for 150,000 taels of gold!"
Although Liu Feng was mentally prepared, he was still shocked. It was not because Xiang Fei could give out three million yuan. He knew that his brother-in-law was rich. Which of the four major families in Luoyang, Liu, Xiao, Xiang and Wang, would take it?
Don’t have a few million dollars?
What surprised Liu Feng was that his brother-in-law was so evil that he wanted to exchange gold for gold according to the official price. The official price comparison was one tael of silver for two guan of new money, and one tael of gold for 20 guan of new money. But this price comparison was not even used by the government itself.
, it is only used when buying grain and salt from Chang'an. My brother-in-law wants to exchange it for gold at the official price. How is that possible?
Reluctant to give up, Liu Feng didn't dare to refuse outright, so he had to tactfully say: "There really isn't that much gold now, how about I personally exchange 10,000 taels of gold with my brother-in-law?"
Xiang Fei sneered and said, "Don't think I'm a fool. Empress Xiao just issued an order on behalf of the emperor to move the two hundred thousand taels of gold from the inner treasury to the left treasury. Do you dare to say that you don't have gold?"
"My eldest brother, that gold is used to buy grain and salt. We are preparing to buy 150,000 shi of grain from Chang'an, which requires 50,000 taels of gold, and we also need to buy 30,000 taels of salt. It's not that my younger brother is unwilling.
If I exchange it for you, the army will have no rations."
Xiang Fei raised his eyebrows like a thick brush, "I don't understand. Are you people stupid for being officials? You actually buy food from the enemy country. Why don't you grow your own food? There are more than a dozen counties in Henan Prefecture, and several
You can’t grow wheat even if you spend 100,000 shi?”
"I will definitely grow some myself, but brother-in-law, you also know that growing food takes time. Besides, half of the cultivated land is abandoned now. How much food will we have in the end?"
Liu Feng is telling the truth. The reason why half of the land in Henan Prefecture has been abandoned is not because there are no farmers. Half of the people in Luoyang City and the counties below have fled, but the farmers in the countryside have basically not fled, and the land that has been abandoned is mainly
Farmers own land.
This is a very strange phenomenon, and it makes sense and is very simple. Henan Prefecture has always been an area hardest hit by land annexation. There are hundreds of manors, large and small. The owners of the manors are basically relatives of the emperor and dignitaries in the court. Guangzhu
Si owns more than a dozen imperial estates. Their land is tax-free, but farmers' land is subject to heavy taxes. This year's tax is particularly heavy. In the past, half of the grain harvested every year was taxed, but this year it is 80% of the grain harvested.
Being taxed away.
The agricultural tax law enacted by Zhu Si is to levy taxes based on the amount of harvest. The tax will be more when the grain is harvested, and the tax will be less when the grain is not collected. This starting point is not bad, and it will not exhaust the harvest.
Because the tax collection this year is too harsh, 80% of the harvested grain will be taxed. Farmers have simply stopped planting. Without a harvest, they naturally do not have to pay taxes.
The farmers had a way to deal with it. They all went to rent farmland in the manor. Because it was tax-free, they only had to pay 50% of the rent, and the rest of the food was theirs.
By the time the Luoyang court discovered this problem, it was already too late for winter wheat. The time for sowing had already passed. They had no choice but to buy grain from Chang'an. Guo Song also agreed to sell grain to them at the price of thirty cents per dou.
Price, unlimited supply.
As a result, Zhu Si gave up the idea of letting the army plant beans in spring to supplement the food supply. However, when it was too late to plant anything, Chang'an began to increase prices and limit food supply, and Liu Feng realized that they had been fooled.
"You mean you don't intend to exchange one tael of gold for me?" Xiang Fei's face became even more gloomy.
Liu Feng did not dare to offend him, so he had no choice but to say: "Gold is needed to buy grain and salt. If I move, Xiao Wanding will catch me, otherwise my brother-in-law can exchange it for copper coins! I still have a lot of old money in my hand."
"Copper coins... are fine too!"
Xiang Fei could see that Liu Feng really didn't dare to touch gold. In fact, he didn't expect to exchange it for gold. Gold was just a bargaining tool for him. What he wanted was the price. The price of old and new copper coins was one to ten. He
Can't accept it.
Xiang Fei pretended to be reluctant and agreed, "Then the price will be one to two!"
Liu Feng was shocked. He couldn't get this price himself, so how could he give it to Xiang Fei?
He shook his head quickly, "The price in the market outside is one to ten. The most I can give my brother-in-law is a little cheaper, seven to one."
"One to five! I won't change it if it's lower than this price. It's up to you!"
Liu Feng really still wanted to rely on Zhong Xiangfei, so he had to grit his teeth and said: "Okay! But I can only give you 200,000 yuan in old money at most."
Xiang Fei narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Then we have made an agreement. I will send the money in the evening."
"Brother-in-law, is there anything else you can do?"
"Another matter is official business. Soldiers have reported to me that they have received their salaries, but prices have risen so much that they can't buy anything with their salaries. Even the price of visiting a brothel has increased. It only takes two or three visits.
No, the wavering of military morale is a big problem. You must pay attention to this matter and resolve it as soon as possible."
If Xiao Wanding's request could be ignored by Liu Feng, Liu Feng had to pay attention to Xiang Fei's request.
But he was also very troubled. There was a shortage of supplies in the market. Even if he was a clever woman, he could not make ends meet. Liu Feng sighed and said, "Brother-in-law, it's not that I don't want to solve it. The problem now is that I use the land of Henan Prefecture to support an army of 120,000 people.
There are still so many people to feed, how can there be so many supplies, and what’s worse is that there is so much new money now, how can prices in the market not rise?”
Xiang Fei said coldly: "What you are talking about has nothing to do with me. I only want the army to be stable. Otherwise, if there is a riot in the army, we will all be in trouble!"