A fluctuation in grain prices, the people lost, and the grain merchants also lost.

Who earns it?

- Liu Hong!

At a price of 85 yuan per stone, Shaofu sold about 100,000 yuan of grain and took back 8.5 million yuan.

Subsequently, the price of grain in Guanzhong dropped to eighty-two yuan; Under Liu Hong's instructions, Shaofu took the 8.5 million yuan and bought the grain in the market at a price of 82 yuan.

Inside and out, Shaofu didn't spend a penny, not to mention, there were thousands of stones of grain for no reason!

As a result, Liu Hong has greater confidence in the implementation of the grain protection price policy: As long as the Shaofu guarantees at any time that it can throw grain into the market in unlimited quantities at a price of 85 yuan, the grain price in Guanzhong will actually be limited to less than 85 yuan.

With the upper limit in place, the next step is naturally to set a lower limit - to ensure that the Shaofu can buy unlimited amounts of grain at a price of 75 or even 80 yuan.

In this way, after the autumn harvest, the peasants who thought that the grain merchants were bidding too low would naturally sell the grain to the Shaofu; When the green and yellow are not available, the people will also buy low-priced grain from Shaofu to eat.

The price of grain is related to the people's hearts, even if he loses money, Liu Hong will inevitably do it without hesitation.

In fact, instead of losing money, this move will allow Shaofu to get a little meager gain.

- Because Liu Hong didn't want the grain price to be at a constant value, he just drew a range.

After the autumn harvest, the people sold to Shaofu, naturally at the lower limit of 75 yuan, and when they bought, they bought at the upper limit of 85 yuan.

Even if the storage cost is calculated, Shaofu has a purchase difference of ten dollars to earn; What's more, the storage cost of the government is almost equal to zero.

- There is no grain protection price, the granary of Shaofu and the granary of Guanzhong are still there, and they still need to be guarded by the commissioner, eating the money issued by the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The profit rate of more than 10 percent is higher than the current rate of '15 taxes and 1 yen'; if the Shaofu or the central government can occupy the whole grain market, then the state's fiscal revenue will at least double!

Anyway, if the country doesn't earn this money, it also has to be made by businessmen, and it is not as comfortable as Liu Hong eating it and developing the country.

What's more, the agricultural tax, which has to be handed over to the state treasury, is in the hands of the prime minister!

Every time the money in the treasury moves, it must be explained to the hundred officials in the court.

Shaofu is Liu Hongdi's small treasury, and Liu Hong has 100% of the disposal of the money that enters Shaofu!

With money, no one can care about Liu Hong, whether he wants to build dozens of horse farms to explode cavalry or develop farm tools.

From now on, if grain merchants want to do grain business, they can only compete with Shaofu for the market - buying at a price higher than 75 yuan and selling at a price lower than 85 yuan.

As a result, there are only two options left for grain merchants: either to make less than 10 percent of the profits, or to change careers.

Let the grain merchants change careers, which is Liu Hongdi's purpose - compared with the salt and iron official camp, in the feudal era, grain should be controlled by the government!

Compared with edible salt and iron used to make tools, food is undoubtedly irreplaceable for the people.

Controlling food prices is equivalent to controlling the hearts of the people; Stabilizing food prices is equivalent to stabilizing people's hearts.

However, Liu Hong still needs to consider the specific price range of grain protection prices and communicate with professionals.

- After all, whether Shaofu really has no cost to store grain, and without grain merchants, whether the country has the ability to fully control the grain market, Liu Hong is not very clear.

While he was thinking about it, a man walked into the rice shop, carefully rummaged through the cloth bag containing the corn, and after checking whether it was mixed with the rest of the grains, the man clapped his hands and stared at the corn bag that had just been 'checked': "I want to buy rice." ”

"Take it from this bag and ask for a stone."

As he spoke, the man's gaze never took off his eyes, in a cloth bag containing corn.

Then a small room came out of the hall, weighed it in the shape of a bamboo shovel, took out the corn in the bag little by little, and poured it into the wooden box on the side.

The box was roughly trapezoidal, about half a meter high, and the length and width were similar.

After waiting for the corn to arch up in the box, the servant pushed along the box with the bamboo shovel in his hand, and the extra corn fell on the linen cloth under the box.

"See, but it's a chip of rice, and you have never been missing."

Seeing that the man nodded, the little servant skillfully tilted the square box, and under the man's close gaze, poured the corn in the square box into the cloth bag handed over by the man.

"Well, eighty-two dollars of corn stone."

The man carefully pulled out the remaining grains of corn from the square box and put them into a cloth bag, and then took out a string of eight-baht coins strung with string from his arms.

Then, under Liu Hong's confused gaze, the man took out ten eight-baht coins from the string, and took out two three-baht coins with silver and white light from his arms, and handed them to the little guy with a little weakness.

The little guy who accepted the ten eight-baht coins as usual, his face changed greatly the moment he saw the two three-baht coins, and he hurriedly grabbed the man's hand.

Then, the little servant shouted to the back of the shop, "Master! Someone has money to lose! ”

The man suddenly panicked: "No, it's not a flawed money, this money is three baht, with two pieces, it's worth two baht..."

The little servant ignored the man's explanation at all, and clutched the man's sleeve tightly, staring at the man's panicked face with a fierce look.

At this time, Liu Hong noticed that the man's face was a little familiar...

※※※※※※※※※※

Following He Guangsu to the East Market, he stopped in a remote alley, and after He Guangsu trembled and saluted, Liu Hong curiously raised his doubts.

And the farce of Fang Cai finally ended with He Guangsu paying eleven eight baht coins, and the shopkeeper gave him an extra seven liters of rice.

"Why do you want to make money?"

A defective coin is a coin whose size or copper content does not meet numismatic standards and is not sufficient to be called a 'coin', and can also be understood as a counterfeit.

If you make money, according to the Han law, you will be fined four taels!

The two three-baht coins that He Guangsu had just taken out were the worst of the flawed coins—coins minted with 99 percent lead and 1 percent yellow object that might have been copper.

Logically speaking, no one will be willing to accept such money at all, so no one will do it; It is impossible for He Guangsu to risk being fined four taels of gold, that is, more than 2,000 yuan, to use counterfeit money.

But He Guangsu's answer undoubtedly opened Liu Hong's eyes!

——After grain prices officially fell back to the normal level, He Guangsu went to Tianshi to work for half a month; According to the market rate, the standard of 50 yuan a day, He Guangsu received a salary of nearly 800 yuan.

However, the 800 coins He Guangsu got were not 100 8-baht coins, but more than 80 8-baht coins, and hundreds of 3-baht coins that were as good as that!

What made Liu Hong feel even more incredible was that He Guangsu was not angry at all about Tian's bullying, but felt that most of the wages Tian gave him were paid in eight baht, which was already very reliable...

When Liu Hong asked the reason, he learned that the batch of three-baht coins was not minted by the Tian family at all, but the three-baht coins minted and issued by Gaozu Liu Bang more than 20 years ago...

This kind of 'counterfeit money' that is so obvious that it can no longer be obvious, Tian can't spend it at all, and can only transfer it to the low-level people like He Guangsu, who have no right to speak and can only accept it.

In other words, He Guangsu, who was supposed to get 800 yuan in wages, actually only got about 650 yuan in 'real money' and more than 300 yuan in 'defective money'.

When Liu Hong asked how He Guangsu planned to deal with these flawed money, He Guangsu was full of bitterness and replied: Smelt it into money and sell it to the You Fang Warlock...

At this time, Liu Hong knew why he could think of the unification of the money system, Daddy Emperor Hui didn't expect it, his grandmother Empress Lu didn't expect it, and even the people in the court didn't think of it.

In fact, I am afraid that these people are well aware of the harm of the three baht coins, but they have to pretend to be deaf and dumb, sit back and watch the bitter fruits planted by Liu Bang, and finally be swallowed by the people at the bottom and tears...

If Liu Hong does not speculate with the greatest malice; The military officials of the Chinese Dynasty and the nobles are very likely to have hoarded a large amount of lead three-baht coins in their hands, and little by little they are like the hands of the people at the bottom.

Even Empress Lu, who 'forbidden' the three-baht coin, may not have failed to privately make three baht of lead money in order to improve the country's financial situation to 'enrich' the national treasury...

This makes Liu Hong, if he wants to unify the currency market, he must first face a problem: how to deal with the old money that is now circulating and in the market.

Even if you have eight baht coins and half a tael of Qin, there will be at least more than half of the copper content, and you can get a lot of copper after melting and casting; What should Liu Hong do with this kind of lead three-baht coin made by Liu Bang?

After pondering for a long time, Liu Hong could only bow his head in frustration: I'm afraid that when the day comes, Liu Hong can only bury his head in the sand, when these counterfeit coins don't exist...

Because once Liu Hong ordered: the money minted by Gaozu can also be exchanged for new money, and the 'flawed money' in the world will never disappear one day - there will always be smart people who make three baht coins out of lead in exchange for the new money implemented by Liu Hong.

And the trick that is going on in the internal history, Liu Hong also got the answer from He Guangsu's casual cry.

- The Yamen of the Inner History, in the past few days, has been guarding outside the East City to collect taxes!

Its theoretical basis is the "Golden Cloth Law" promoted by Lu Hou; The banner was 'Emperor Gaozu forbade merchants to ride in cars, grain merchants, and also merchants!' ’

But in terms of specific implementation, it is very interesting: the officials of the internal history did not go to the merchants who sold grain to collect taxes, but instead stood at the gate of the East Market, looking for the people who bought grain to collect taxes, one stone at a time!

When you do the math, it's one hundred and twenty dollars!

In other words, in the past period, the price of grain in Chang'an City remained at about 80 yuan, but in order to buy a stone of grain, the people had to spend nearly 200 yuan!

And although the people are angry, they can't afford to provoke the government after all; Coupled with the price of two hundred dollars a stone, it is indeed much lower than the more than four hundred dollars some time ago; more, and pinched his nose to recognize the 'grain tax' collected by the internal history.

This made Liu Hong stunned - the officials of the feudal era have developed to this point?

Shaking his head, Liu Hong denied his conjecture - in most cases, feudal officials should not dare to exploit the people so blatantly; The grain tax in the internal history is at most a temporary decision made by Liu Jie in order to release grain for Shaofu.

In this regard, Liu Hong can be said to have no way - the tax collection work of Neishi is likely to have stopped!

“”