The capital is lively, and in the south of the Yangtze River, it is a sad face.

There was a bumper harvest of early rice throughout the south.

The harvest was more than 30% more than usual.

As a result, the price of rice fell directly.

At this time, the imperial court, which was supposed to purchase a large amount of grain to regulate grain prices, issued an order to reduce the purchase of half of the grain.

(Because there is no need to supply military rations)

Now, the price is even lower.

And now, it is not the time for a full harvest, once the grain is harvested, a large number of new grain will be on the market.

I'm afraid that in some places, the price of rice will even be as low as a dozen wen a bucket (ten buckets for a load).

Yan Xu's mouth, who was circling in the study, bubbled rapidly.

But no one paid attention to the many urgent letters sent to the capital, and he also knew that he couldn't rely on the imperial court.

Moreover, after Wei Zhao's disappearance, his position was also in jeopardy.

At the beginning, Chu Yu transferred him to the governor of Jiangnan, which was of a temporary nature, and there was no formal handover with Qi Tianao, and the original governor of Lianghuai was dismissed.

It was also fortunate that during the flood last year, he made great efforts to relieve the disaster and won the cooperation of Jiangnan officials.

But as long as the court said a word, his temporary position as the governor of Jiangnan was gone.

Judging from the news from the capital, those people didn't move him now, just because they hadn't had time yet.

The position in the capital has not yet been snatched.

Therefore, it is impossible to expect that someone in the court will listen to him and speak for him.

And because he is the temporary governor, he has no right to use it privately.

Of course, even if he could use it, there wouldn't be much silver in this mansion.

When last year's floods were over, he scrutinized the previous accounts, which were so detailed that they didn't seem to see any problems.

But he has been in Hangzhou for so long, and he has also seen the neighborhood and learned some about people's livelihood.

Not to mention those wealthy families, maritime giants, even ordinary families have extra money.

This Jiangnan wealth is beyond the imagination of the capital.

Moreover, Jiangnan does not pay much taxes, how can it be a state of loss every year?

To say that Qi Tianao is not greedy for money, he wrote it backwards.

It's a pity that this year's spring tax has been shipped out before the harvest, otherwise, even if he is dismissed, he will use the money to buy grain first and put it in the warehouse to level the price of grain!

"Master, there are people out there asking to see you." An old servant came in and said.

"Who?" Yan Xu said impatiently.

"He said that it was the old acquaintance of the master, surnamed Chen, and called Zhuxi."

Yan Xu was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said, "Please, please!" ”

This Chen Zhu, after the case of the Wang family in Yangzhou last year, said that they wanted to drink together, and he was appointed governor of Lianghuai and ran to find him, but the figure disappeared, saying that he continued to travel.

So much so that he tried to consult with someone, but couldn't find anyone.

"I'll go and ask for it myself." Yan Xu shouted, and simply rushed out of the study by himself.

"Yo, Lord Yan." Mr. Zhuxi stood at the door and watched Yan Xu rush out directly, raising his eyebrows and smiling.

Before the voice fell, Yan Xu grabbed his arm and dragged him directly inside.

"Hey, Lord Yan, I don't have this hobby." Mr. Zhuxi exclaimed.

Yan Xu didn't bother to care about him, so he directly dragged him into the study and said, "Hurry up, give me a way!" ”

Mr. Zhuxi flicked his sleeves and said, "I'm here to ask you for a drink, what can I do?" Could it be that you are a governor of Jiangnan, and you even have to think of a way to drink? ”

"Okay, it's impossible for you not to know what's going on outside now, the rice hurts the peasants!" Yan Xu stomped his feet.

"Huh?" Mr. Zhuxi didn't understand: "What you said, rice cheapness hurts farmers but not farmers, but I heard that last year's flood, the Jiangnan Hao clan annexed a large amount of land, and this year is a bumper harvest." ”

Yan Xu was stunned for a moment and said, "What do you mean?" ”

"You don't know?" Mr. Zhuxi raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "Didn't you hype up the good deeds of His Royal Highness the Five Princes last year, saying that the Five Princes said that they would move those wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River to donate money and materials?" I thought that you also knew about the transaction between the five princes and the wealthy families in Jiangnan. ”

Yan Xu's face changed suddenly, and after the change, he stiffened again, and then sat down dejectedly and said, "I was fooled by this matter." ”

Although he is straightforward, he is not stupid, and he also learned some things later.

It's just that he really didn't expect that the fifth prince would actually make such a deal with the wealthy family in Jiangnan.

"I don't blame you." Looking at his expression, Mr. Zhuxi put away his sarcasm and said: "When you first arrived, you were anxious about the disaster, and you would never have thought that those wealthy families were taking the opportunity to annex land, and the five princes were smart, so as to blackmail the wealthy families in Jiangnan to donate money and materials to earn reputation, and when you saw those wealthy families taking money and things, you naturally wouldn't think of what those people did." ”

Yan Xu let out a long sigh.

"Alright, don't sigh, don't go get the wine yet." Mr. Zhuxi's last sentence was said to the old servant outside.

Yan Xu waved his hand to let people retreat, and then bowed to Mr. Zhuxi and said, "Brother Chen help me." ”

"You are bent on what the people think." Mr. Zhuxi sighed and said, "Do you know that the Han family came back to the sea ship earlier?" ”

Yan Xu was stunned for a moment and said, "I know, two are back." ”

He was also heavily taxed.

The two ships were worth 500,000 taels of silver, and he directly collected 300,000 taels of silver.

At that time, the housekeeper of the Han family said that he didn't have the cash to pay taxes, and the Ji family helped him out.

I heard that the Ji family bought all the goods later, and then formed a caravan to transport them to the capital.

"Then do you know that most of those wealthy families last year paid lip service, but only the Han family really poured out and donated everything." Mr. Zhuxi sighed.

But you, like others, thought that the Han family was pretending, and watched the Han family being treated without making a sound.

Yan Xu was stunned again.

There was a look of ridicule on his face.

"Well, you also know that if the price of food falls like this now, ordinary people will have no way to live, and those fields will be swallowed up again." Mr. Zhuxi said: "Now, the only way to persuade the giant businessmen is to come forward to buy grain. ”

"Jiangnan Hao, who wants to do such a thing?" Yan Xu smiled bitterly.

Those wealthy families already have thousands of acres of fertile land, and this year's output is also unusually large, and their own grain has nowhere to go, so how can they pay money to buy grain?

It is better to take the opportunity to annex the land.

As soon as his voice fell, looking at Mr. Zhuxi's unfathomable appearance, Yan Xu's mind flashed, and he said, "Han family? ”

However, didn't I hear that the two brothers of the Han family couldn't survive it, sold a lot of properties, and even moved away?

"Yes, there are more than two ships coming back from the Han family this time." Mr. Zhuxi raised his hand and pressed Yan Xu and said, "Could it be that Chengdu has let you be exploited?" The price is too high, and it directly requires sixty percent of the cash to pay taxes, this lack of morality, is it your own thought? ”

Yan Xu was stunned.

"That's the idea of someone to fight the Han family, so I use you to levy heavy taxes, and I don't want the Han family to use the sea ship that came back to turn over." Mr. Zhuxi sighed and said, "The other party is much smarter than you!" ”