Chapter 722: Let's see who can hold it

The collection of taxes by the imperial court has always been based on the true color and the folded color, the true color is the correct collection of rice, wheat and beans, etc., and the folded color is paid in money. When the Ming treasure banknote was just issued, the banknote could be worth two stone rice, but the treasure banknote was issued indiscriminately, and gradually fell into the same situation as waste paper, Yongle recuperated in the early years because of the wind and rain in the world, and the treasure banknote was thirty times, that is, more than 300 copper coins can buy rice and one stone, and since the three northern expeditions and the Jiaolu year after year, the military grain treasury has been consumed hugely, and now the rice price in the north and south is almost about seven or eight hundred yuan a stone, which has made many people complain.

Therefore, the rice store suddenly rose to 200 yuan per rice, and if it weren't for the fact that all the rice shops had put up a sign that there was little left in the stock of grain and those who wanted to buy it quickly, they were afraid that the angry people would have to smash the rice store. At this time, I heard that the government sold rice at a price of 150 yuan a bucket, and there was a long queue at the Guide Gate and the Five Immortals Gate, and a group of people selling grain were still talking about it.

"If it weren't for Brother Liu, you stopped me just now, I would have called everyone to smash that black-hearted rice line at that time!"

"Brother, don't I know yet? My second child is doing miscellaneous work in the rice industry, and he knows it very well. I heard that there is really not much grain in this rice shop, and the whole shop is twenty or thirty stones, and it will have to be closed after it is sold. It's not just this one, it's everything else. In the past few years, Guangdong has suffered disasters in the summer, and there is no surplus grain in this rice shop......"

"Liu Laosan, you actually help those black-hearted seeds speak? It's not that I haven't seen those peasants in the countryside send grain into the city by boat, and when it was harvested last autumn, the price of these black-hearted seeds was 400 yuan per stone! But now they are selling for 2,000 yuan per stone, and they say that there is no surplus food...... If it is really so scarce, where will the government's food come from? ”

"But who knows how long the government can sell grain here......"

In the long queue to the west of the Guide Gate, several men in coarse cloth shirts shouted for a while, and a loud gong sounded on the road, followed by a messenger shouting: "Everyone listen, the government government is ordered by the domain secretary Yamen to start selling rice from now on." This is the grain transferred by the chief secretary and the government from the granary of the neighboring state capital, and the rice is 150 yuan, and each person is limited to one stone...... But if you still want to buy it, it's very easy, you can queue up again! This food is abundant, you don't have to rush to this hour and a half today, maybe come back tomorrow, this food price is cheaper! ”

I shouted back and forth twice, and hundreds of people in line heard and heard clearly. In the past, when the price of grain was high, this government did not have no rice and rice, but it has always been a limited amount, and now the limit is certainly a stone, but what do people say, if you want to buy it again, you can just queue up! And listening to the tone of those words, it seems to say that it will be cheaper and cheaper in the future! As a result, the people sent by the grain store in the crowd were suddenly a little dumbfounded. As they bought the food with their own hands, and saw that the people who had lined up again bought the second food, three or four people soon quietly left the Guide Gate.

"Did you really hear me, did the officers really say that?"

"It's true! The little one also saw a number of people around the messenger asking questions, and he answered them all one by one, and the little one saw with his own eyes that many people lined up to buy the second time, and still bought food. ”

"When you came back, how many people had already bought food?"

"Back to my lord, there are about six or seven hundred people, and some of them bought it twice. At this time, seeing that there is enough food, people have already gone back one after another. ”

In the main hall of the Xu family's mansion, when he heard the guy from the rice shop tell what he had seen and heard in the grain buying team today, Xu Zhengping immediately felt a heavy crisis. This time, the price was raised by the three largest rice shops in Guangzhou, and in order to avoid arousing public anger, he deliberately let people release the news, saying that the rice store was short of grain, and it was only yesterday's effort, there was already a rice store that closed its doors after selling 100 stone of rice, and only this morning continued to open the door on the grounds that the goods had arrived, in order to avoid the government's strong intervention. Now no one has come to investigate this, but as soon as the government sells grain like this, his wishful thinking will not work.

Xu Daya, who was just executed a few days ago, was just a side branch of the Xu family, not a character, but as soon as this person died, the way to sell young men and girls to those merchants was cut off, and he would not be able to transfer money for a while to offer to Gu Xingzu, the Marquis of Zhenyuan. If he couldn't get a sum of money on grain this time, all the money he used to store grain a few days ago would have been wasted!

"Send some people over and buy me food and see how much food there is over there! Let's see who can hold it! ”

While others were speculating about how much the government had invested this time, the planner of the matter was now handling official affairs in the second hall of the political secretary's yamen, and the executor of the matter was chatting with a few people who came this time. Due to the unusually hot weather in Guangzhou all year round, the windows on all sides of the house are wide open, and the wooden fan automatically turns on the wind when the living water brought in from the bottom of the building pushes the machine. Several large rattan chairs surround a carved fir tall table, but each sits in a different position. Some sit with their feet crossed, some only sit next to half of their buttocks, and some have waists as straight as a pair of big guests. Only the three people in the corner are still concentrating on making tea with a purple clay pot.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the families that had been inherited for a long time were often defeated, and the nobles of the Hongwu Dynasty were also in decline, so Zhang Zhuo, who had lived in the family since he was a child, and then experienced the leap and fall of the family, was naturally regarded as a model of demeanor by a group of vassal and elegant businessmen. At this moment, Zhang Zhuo saw Fang Jing put down the teapot, and Li Guoxiu and Rui Yixiang also retreated to the side and sat down, so he bowed slightly to the three of them, took a small and delicate purple sand teacup, and raised his hand to the rest. For a while, all the people on all sides nodded and thanked each other, and then they each took one.

"After this catastrophe, you can do your best to help the temple with compassion. If Guangdong can produce a few more talented people, it is also a blessing for your generosity and enthusiasm. However, since the money has been raised, you have to worry a lot about how to plan, how to renovate, how to hire people, etc. It's all good money, and if some people even their hands go, then it's not interesting. ”

Roads, bridges, temples, bell towers...... But whenever the government wants to repair something, it is commonplace to apportionment to merchants, so the merchants in the house are all human spirits, at first, when Fang Jing brought two small ones to the door to let them lose the money to repair the tribute courtyard, they all cried for a while, so that the three of them were not depressed. However, when Zhang Zhuo sent someone to deliver a letter a few days ago, their attitude immediately changed greatly, you 200 yuan, I 300 yuan, all of them were very enthusiastic, and within a few days, the two thousand yuan money was all together.

Therefore, Zhang Zhuo actually said that they should be in charge of the use of the money from the Tribute Academy, and everyone couldn't help but look at each other. In the end, it was Chu Fat who knew the most, and immediately said with a smile: "The adults really lifted us." That being the case, everyone must urge those people to be honest and make sure to repair the Tribute Monastery well! ”

Although he said that his face was coarse and fat, his heart was fine, and when he saw Zhang Zhuo nodding with a smile, he asked tentatively: "I heard that now the government and the domain department are selling grain in the Five Immortals Gate of Guide Gate, which is a first-class virtue and politics." It's just that the grass people tell the truth, those three grain stores have hoarded a lot of grain before, and they are waiting for a sum now, if they send someone to buy all the grain from the government, how can it be good? ”

Zhang Zuo glanced at everyone and saw that everyone showed concerned expressions, and knew that these people were very curious about whether the government could really suppress the high grain prices this time, and whether it could really make those top wealthy businessmen suffer a big loss. Thinking that Zhang Yue could actually get through the door over there, he casually closed the fan and said confidently: "If these people have this ability, they might as well let people buy it." In the next few days, grain will continue to be transported to Guangzhou, and everyone can wait and see. As long as one or two months have passed, everyone should know that Huguang has a good season this year, and it happens to be a bumper harvest! ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room immediately echoed them, with a smile on their faces, and their hearts were happy. Chu Fatzi glanced at the general manager of Wuyue Commercial Bank who came to persuade him to take over, and he was extremely happy, so he took the opportunity to say again: "Since my lord is so sure, then we can rest assured." It's just that everyone is a businessman in Guangdong, and they all want to do something, if the yamen is in trouble, the grass people still have 500 stone of grain, all of which can be lent out! ”

Everyone knows that Chu Fatzi seems to be honest, but in fact, he never does things that are not profitable, and as soon as he took the lead, others pondered that those wealthy businessmen had offended the political secretary, and they also expressed their willingness to "borrow grain". However, in the face of their enthusiasm, Zhang Zhuo shook his head with a smile: "If it is that time, I will have to borrow from you." However, what I want to ask you for now is not to borrow food, but to allow you to do another favor when it is important. ”

An impatient businessman hurriedly asked, "What busy?" ”

"Buy grain."

In the whole five days, the grain sold in the two places of the Five Immortal Gates of Guide Gate was 3,500 stones, far more than Xu Zhengping and the other two grain stores had expected. Ordinary people found that although the price of grain did not drop, they could buy grain as long as they lined up, but after two or three days, the previous panic gradually disappeared, and most of the people queuing up to buy rice were men from three grain stores and invited helpers. So, of the 3,500 stone grain, they ate half of it. Rao is like this, when they saw the grain boats coming from the Pearl River every day, and the big trucks delivering grain at the city gate of Guangzhou, the three families gradually became a little unbearable.

So, on the morning of the sixth day, the wooden signs hanging high at the entrances of the three grain stores were also replaced with the price of 150 yuan for doumi. However, in the morning they had just put up such a sign, and in the afternoon, the price of rice in Guide Gate and Wuxian Gate was immediately changed to 140 yuan for dou rice. For a while, there was a lot of discussion in the city, and there were many people who thought that rice was expensive at first, but now they were moved by the drop in grain prices, and went to the two city gates to buy rice with their pockets, so the three rice shops could no longer be said to be deserted, and there was simply no customer.

"In the past seven days, they have now sold at least 10,000 stone of grain, of which we have collected at least 5,000 stone! If it goes on like this, our treasury will not be able to pile up, and how much capital will it cost! ”

Xu Zhengping was angry at the guy who came to report the accounts for a while, and finally gasped and said, "You go back and tell them that it will be reduced to one hundred and thirty yuan of doumi." Now that the grain prices in all the prefectures and prefectures of Guangdong are very high, I don't believe that they will follow the price reduction, and the political secretary and the yamen don't have so much money to lose! They can't stand it! ”

Since Xu Ji Grain Store has reduced its price, the other two companies have no choice but to follow up because they see that the limelight is wrong, so it really brings a lot of business, and there is an endless stream of medium-sized families who buy grain with dozens of stones and dozens of stones every day. However, before they could rejoice that they had finally stabilized their position this time, news came from the Guide Gate and the Five Immortal Gates.

The price of rice has dropped to 120 yuan!

Guangdong is adjacent to Jiangxi, Guangxi, Huguang, and the bordering plots are not grain producing areas, so the huge Guangdong usually relies on self-sufficiency. Now that the military rations are requisitioned and distributed and natural disasters occur, this is naturally a door-to-door business. And the three largest grain merchants all have deep backgrounds, and they have been trading this rice and grain for many years, so they put on such a posture of holding together, and naturally no one can compete with them. But who would have thought that when the price of grain was at its highest, the chief secretary suddenly announced that the whole city was flat, and it fell again and again to the point where it is now.

At this time, even the common people knew that the government was carrying the grain line. The government sells grain and the grain store rice prices are-for-tat, one side is two hundred yuan for rice, and the other side is one hundred and five dollars for rice; When the grain line drops to one hundred and five buckets of rice, it is already one hundred and fourteen buckets of rice here; And now it's one hundred and two, and it's still falling. There were even discussions in the streets and alleys that the grain bank initially ordered the grain bank to pretend to be ordinary people to buy grain, hoping that the government would not have enough grain. However, although they were desperately trying to collect the grain that was in Pingguang for almost one hundred and two hundred stones, the government seemed to have sufficient stocks, and now except for the Xu family, the other two families did not dare to rashly collect any more grain.

For more than two months, the level of the feudal division has never been interrupted for a day, and seeing that the price of grain is falling day by day, the people who were originally crowded to buy grain have gradually become much more relieved, and the number of people who go to the government and grain stores to buy grain has gradually decreased. Seeing that not only did the grain price in Guangzhou Prefecture drop to 90 yuan per rice, but the grain prices in other prefectures and counties also fell to the normal level before the disaster, the three grain merchants all wanted to cry without tears. And it was only at this time that Xu Zhengfang got a piece of news that made him almost faint.

Previously, the grain sold by the Guangzhou Mansion and the Domain's Yamen was all the inventory of the various guards of the Metropolitan Division!

Who would have thought that the Dusi Yamen, who had always swept the snow in front of the door with the feudal division, would take the risk to help at such a time. In this month, the Dusi transferred all the grain stocks of more than 20,000 stone to the two prefectures of Zhaoqing in Guangzhou to the feudal division Pingguang, and then gradually bought the grain back at a parity price from the grain store through other channels, which was equivalent to changing the grain in the warehouse. In this one entry and one out, the Dusi Yamen received at least two or three thousand yuan, but the grain merchants not only did not make money, but ended up in a deficit.

Just when Xu Zheng gritted his teeth and planned to fight again to raise the price of grain, Zhang Qian, the new governor and eunuch of the city boss, finally arrived, and in addition to the previous envoys of He Zhengdan, there were also a group of grain ships from Huguang.

This year's new rice has finally arrived.