"Teacher, the grain transported from Yangzhou today has risen to seven wen a catty, and if you count the freight, it will cost almost ten wen."

"Because there is no waterway in the Huguang area, you can only take the official road, so the transportation cost is higher, and the price of grain from the Huguang area has also risen to 12 wen a catty."

Tong Yuan had to report to Liu Jin every day on the latest grain prices from the south, because of the famine in the three northern provinces, which in turn led to the rise of grain prices in the entire northern region.

In this era, when the output of land is extremely limited, food is extremely precious.

Ordinary people often can only barely get by, and once there is a year of famine, there will be a famine immediately.

Especially in the northern region, where there are many people and little land, coupled with the fact that after a long period of development, the natural conditions are poor, and the ability to cope with natural disasters is far less than that of the south, so the famine in the northern region has always been the most serious.

Now there is a famine in the three northern provinces, and the neighboring provinces or regions of Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, which are in the north, actually have no surplus grain to be transported at all, and can only transport grain from Huguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in the south.

Not to mention the two Guangzhou, Fujian, and Yunnan and Guizhou in the south, these places are far away, and at this time in the Ming Dynasty, the cost of transporting grain is so high that the ten catties of grain transported to the capital may not be able to leave one catty.

Therefore, Liu Jin asked Tong Yuan to grasp the two lines of Huguang and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are the real granaries of the Ming Dynasty, where the land is fertile, the sun and precipitation are abundant, and rice planting can be double-cropped a year, and there is excess grain that can be transported out.

"Well, continue to let people watch, and continue to hang out our signs, and our people will continue to look around for grain merchants to buy grain, and we must show that we have a lot of money, as long as there is grain, we will buy it regardless of their price, and buy it on a large scale."

After listening to Tong Yuan's report, Liu Jin nodded, and then thought about it and commanded.

"But, Master, these grain merchants are now clearly targeting us, and it is difficult for us to buy grain on a large scale now, and no one will buy us if we continue to find someone to buy grain."

Tong Yuan said very puzzled, he didn't quite understand what Liu Jin's plan was.

"You can do what I say, you won't sell it to us, and we want to show that we are in dire need of food."

Liu Jin said with a slight smile.

"Yes."

Tong Yuan nodded hurriedly and said.

When Tong Yuan retreated, Liu Jin took out a map, which was drawn by Liu Jin with the memories of later generations combined with some maps collected now.

"I don't know if there is a bumper harvest of grain on the side of North Korea and the Japanese country?"

Liu Jin's eyes were locked on the side of North Korea and the Wa Kingdom, and now he was sure that someone was deliberately targeting him, originally this famine raised the price of grain, and it was not too unusual to hoard Qiju, after all, this is the nature of businessmen, as long as there are several times the benefits, there is nothing they dare not do.

But raising the price is raising the price, and the grain can only make money if it is sold at a high price, so if someone buys it, it will naturally be sold, and the current situation is that Liu Jin has no way to buy grain on a large scale.

It seems that there is an invisible hand restraining Liu Jin, although he still leaves Liu Jin with a breath and does not strangle him, but Liu Jin can already feel it obviously.

Liu Jin's industries in the capital and Tianjin are very large, and the number of workers is extremely large, so in the past, he would reserve grain, and he also had long-term cooperation with some grain merchants.

But now the grain reserves are about to run out, and the food that can be bought every day is very limited, so it won't take too long for the grain reserves in Liu Jin's hands to run out, and the other party can use the grain to hang Liu Jin all the time, and the grain sold to Liu Jin every day is good, only enough for one or two days.

When it was needed, he suddenly choked Liu Jin's neck, and he was really sad at that time.

Liu Jin walked back and forth in his study, constantly thinking carefully about countermeasures, and carefully considering all aspects clearly, so as not to omit what he did not consider.

From later generations, Liu Jin knows the cruelty of the struggle in this era, in this era of imperial power, once it fails, it is still a small matter to kill the head and lose a small life, and it is possible to implicate the whole family, and the nine clans are possible.

Xishan Coal Industry, Glass Factory and Tianjin, there are more than 30,000 people who rely on their own food, and they also plan to build a cement road from Beijing to Tianjin.

Once there is a problem with this food, when someone takes the opportunity to fan the flames and make something happen, their spokesperson in the court will come out to talk again, and there is no difference between pinching themselves to death and pinching an ant to death.

So you have to be careful, be careful, be careful.

Liu Jin kept saying this to himself in his heart.

"I remember that in the future, if you set off from Tianjin to the Wa Kingdom, it will take about 50 hours, that is, about 2 days, and if you go back and forth, it will take about 5 days."

"The speed of ships in later generations is much faster than that of today, but half a month should be enough time for a round trip to North Korea."

"The carrying capacity of a Fu ship can exceed 500 tons, and it should be enough to send five Fu ships to transport grain to and from North Korea, and it will be possible to collect a large amount of grain in two trips in a month."

Thinking of this, Liu Jin's frowning brows also loosened slightly, and then a smile appeared on his face: "If you want to cut off my food, this time I will make you lose all your money." ”

"Presumably, there should not be much food in your hands, otherwise the food from the south would not have risen so fast, and no one was prepared for this famine, nor did they expect it."

"You slowly stock up on grain, and the more you have, the better."

"Well, we still have to let people continue to raise the price of grain from the south and increase your costs, it's still early, everyone still has some surplus grain in their hands, and in a few months, everyone's food in their hands will be eaten, and when the famine really breaks out, it will be time for a decisive battle."

Thinking of this, Liu Jin didn't hesitate any longer, taking Zhao Erhu and Zhang Hu, Liu Jin also walked towards Tianjin Maritime Academy, studying and training for so long, it was time for these students of the Maritime Academy to go to the sea for a walk.