readx; This year's grain output has indeed decreased, first of all, the opening of overseas markets, Shandong's textile industry is booming, and the sugar industry and other industries in the south are also developing rapidly. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

This has led to an expansion of the planting area of cash crops, and there is indeed an outflow of labor this year because there are so many projects and construction sites everywhere.

At the same time, the number of immigrants is also large, and after emigrating overseas, it is not possible to produce production for a while.

Another very important reason is that Zhao Yan is implementing agricultural reforms, and Shandong used to be self-sufficient in grain, but since the reform last year, Shandong's grain planting area has shrunk by one-third, and has been replaced by peanuts, soybeans and other crops.

The main direction of agricultural reform is to change from grain production to meat production, and at the same time to change to agricultural division of labor.

Shandong has changed from a grain production area to a cotton, soybean and flower production area, as well as a silage production area dominated by corn and alfalfa.

Liaodong has become a new commercial grain producing area, and at the same time, this commercial grain producing area is changing to the direction of meat production.

This year, the grain output in eastern Liaoning has increased, but it has not been transported to the inland areas for a while.

Affected by grain production, the price of commercial grain has risen by 20 percent, although the above factors exist, and although the amount of precious metals has increased, it is still very abnormal.

After all, in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty has gradually settled down, and the thieves and prisoners have been completely eliminated, and the bandits have gradually disappeared under the suppression of the armed police forces in various provinces.

Water conservancy facilities have also been strengthened, agricultural production is much better than in previous years during the turmoil, and grain production is higher, but food prices have risen.

Under investigation, the intelligence department found that Jiangnan grain merchants were hoarding grain.

And it's not a simple hoard, it's a general hoard. Shandong's commodity grain imports decreased, and grain prices rose by 20 percent.

In the Jiangnan region, grain prices in individual cities have risen by 30 to 40 percent.

Zhao Yan was extremely nervous in Zhaojiabao, and convened a joint meeting of the Ministry of Armed Forces, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Administration, and the Ministry of Commerce on the same day.

"The Ministry of Intelligence continues to monitor food prices in the cities and reports any situation as soon as it happens." Zhao Yan said to Liang Zhengsheng, Minister of Intelligence.

"Yes." Liang Zhengsheng nodded and said, the intelligence network of the Ministry of Intelligence has spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, and there is monitoring in all fields, but it is relatively simple to monitor the food prices in various cities. At the same time, the telegraph has now been involved in the surrounding provinces, and the transmission of information has become more convenient.

"The Ministry of Commerce immediately mobilized grain transportation from the Northeast and North Korea, and the ones close to the railway line were transported to the railway station to wait for the passage of the railway, and then transported to the customs by rail, and the areas far away from the railway line were transported to the port, and transported back to the port of Shandong by sea, and the Ministry of Administration cooperated." Zhao Yan said to Zhang Buyun and Zhao Quan.

"In addition, the grain bank under the Ministry of Commerce immediately opened a position to stabilize the grain price, and the intelligence department then monitored the grain price, if the grain price was not successfully suppressed, you must identify the merchants who hoarded the grain." Zhao Yan said.

"Yes."

"After the Ministry of Intelligence determines the list of merchants who continue to hoard grain after opening the warehouse, it is handed over to the Ministry of Armed Forces, and the Ministry of Armed Forces is dispatched to arrest illegal traders and confiscate the hoarded grain."

"In what name?"

"Hoarding goods is strange and disrupts the normal order of the market."

…… Soon Zhao Yan instructed the response plan, and all departments immediately took separate actions, and the Zhaojiapu Telegraph Office continued to issue orders to the outside world.

The Ministry of Commerce and the Administration Department began to mobilize grain in eastern Liaodong, and it was already July at this time, and the autumn harvest would arrive in January, and it was necessary to ensure the stability of the price of commercial grain during this month.

After Zhao Yan issued a plan to regulate grain prices, he was not worried about any twists and turns in grain prices.

The degree of urbanization in this era is not high, although it is already the first in the world, and the relatively high urbanization areas are mainly in Jiangnan and Shandong.

Jiangnan is a traditionally prosperous area, and this time the merchants hoarded grain mainly in Jiangnan.

In areas such as rural areas and townships, people generally have enough food to eat for a year at home, and no matter how much the price of grain soars outside, it will not affect those areas.

The area that needs to be regulated is very small, mainly the Jiangnan area.

At the same time as mobilizing grain, the Jimin Grain Bank opened warehouses in various cities in the south of the Yangtze River to release grain, and the price was directly pushed down.

The actions of the Jimin Grain Bank have indeed paid off in a short period of time, and grain prices in various areas south of the Yangtze River have returned to normal levels within three days.

However, what was next a big surprise was that food prices rose again.

And the rate of rise is so rapid that it far exceeds the previous speed, rising by nearly 50% in less than a week.

Just when the price of grain was swishing upward, Zhaojiabao's contact with various places in the south of the Yangtze River was very frequent, and the telegraph had been set up in Nanzhili, and the communication became very fast.

After an investigation by the Ministry of Intelligence, the grain released by the Jimin Grain Bank was purchased by grain merchants in various places by various means within 10 days, which was the main reason for the rise in grain prices.

Within a week, the Ministry of Intelligence successively compiled hundreds of lists of grain merchants, and after removing the duplicate lists, it officially locked down 23 grain merchants.

These 23 grain banks and Jimin grain banks have been grudging for a long time.

The management of Jimin Grain Bank is becoming more and more exquisite, the most important thing is the continuous decline in transportation costs, and at the same time, Jimin Grain Bank has a perfect intelligence system, which can know the fluctuations of grain prices in various places earlier than other grain merchants.

At the same time, Jimin Grain Bank is different from ordinary grain stores, Jimin Grain Bank does not expect to make money at all, and usually Jimin Grain Bank buys high and sells low.

When the price of grain in a certain place plummets, the Jimin Grain Bank will raise the price to protect the interests of grain and farmers, and when the price of grain in a certain place soars, it will open a warehouse to release grain to stabilize the price.

In the past, other grain banks could not compete with Jimin Grain Bank at all, so they had to operate according to the lines drawn by Jimin Grain Bank, although there were still profits, but the previous situation of huge profits was gone.

In the past, it was not without grain merchants who had resisted Jimin Grain Bank, but these grain merchants fundamentally competed with the growing behemoth of Jimin Grain Bank.

For example, hoarding grain to raise prices, the Jimin Grain Guild will immediately mobilize grain from warehouses in neighboring prefectures and counties to quickly stabilize grain prices.

If the grain merchants who hoard grain continue to resist and continue to buy the grain from the Jimin Grain Bank, then the Jimin Grain Bank will mobilize more grain to come, and the grain merchants will not be able to eat it. Under this method, those grain merchants who tried to resist one by one collapsed and ended up at a loss.

In the past, these grain merchants played a very slippery way of hoarding goods, the most important thing was in the affected areas, but if a certain place was affected, the Jimin Grain Bank directly provided disaster relief, and they had nothing to do.

As for other means, such as colluding with the government to open a knife on the Jimin Grain Store, it is simply wishful thinking, every grain store is equipped with guards, and it is impossible to lift the signboard of the Jimin Grain Store by force, as for the administrative means, who does not know that the Jimin Grain Store is Zhao Yan's industry, and it is not a death search to move the Jimin Grain Bank?

However, this time it was different, because Zhao Yan carried out agricultural tax reform in the five provinces, which had shaken the interests of the landlord class, and the upper classes such as landlords, bureaucrats, and aristocrats in the Jiangnan region were united.

In the process of union, these grain merchants also formed an alliance and decided to complete the next big one.

Six large grain banks in the Jiangnan area have contacted 17 small and medium-sized grain banks one after another, and at the same time, millions of taels of funds have been raised from guild halls in various places.

In the middle of the summer harvest and autumn harvest, if you plan to do a big ticket, you will have to do a vote in the green and yellow stage after the autumn harvest.

Under the actions of these 23 grain banks, it quickly evolved into a large-scale price increase turmoil. This time the price increase is not limited to one county and one place, but has gradually spread to Shandong.

…… Nanjing, Qinhuai River.

The river houses on both banks, carved railings and painted thresholds, silk barriers, ten-mile bead curtains.

Towards the end of the evening, the Qinhuai River golden stone, silk and bamboo, the sound of the piano flute stirring gradually faded, and the small houses on the riverside were selling all kinds of flowers and plants used as spices, as well as perfumes sold by merchants from Shandong, etc.

Qin Huaihe's singers have paid for it.

On a luxurious lightboat, more than a dozen luxuriously dressed businessmen are drinking in the boat, tasting the delicacies of the mountains and seas, and there are songs to accompany the wine.

"Brother Zhang, your Zhang's grain store can swallow a lot of goods this time!" A businessman dressed in fancy clothes smiled and smiled at a fat man next to him.

"Each other, each other, Brother Lin, I'm afraid your Fu Ji grain store has swallowed more than the little brother this time!" The fat man said.

"Hey, it's all a trifle."

"Hey, hey! We will swallow as much grain as he has brought in to help the people, and see how much grain they have to adjust. ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, having said that, the autumn harvest will be in another month, and if the grain cannot be sold in this month, it will be a big loss."

"Don't worry, the Jimin grain store can't last a month, although they have hoarded a lot of grain in Daming, but it is impossible to transport it all to Jiangnan, and now there is a panic outside, but how long will it take, and the rest of the food in our hands is not just earned?" The fat man said.

"What Brother Zhang said is very true, it's a pity that the price of grain in the north can't be raised, if the price of grain can be raised in Shandong, then it will make a lot of money, although Shandong is not richer than Jiangnan, but the people are richer than Jiangnan."

"Everyone, don't be delusional, Shandong is not short of grain at all, it is said that Liaodong and North Korea have already begun to produce grain during the summer harvest this year, and we have no foundation in Shandong, so it is impossible to raise the price of grain in Shandong." One of them said.

Everyone couldn't help but nod, they still had this self-knowledge.

Although it is said that the people of Shandong are rich, they lack a foundation in Shandong, and they have not formed a network at all, and they still lack basic conditions if they want to make waves in Shandong.

"It won't be long before the Jimin Grain Bank can't hold on. Now there are still people waiting to buy the grain of the Jimin Grain Bank, and when there is no food to buy, the people in the states and counties of Jiangnan will rush to buy food, and then it is the time to make money, now money is not a problem, if you have no money, you can go to the guild hall to borrow some, we are rich people in the Jiangnan guild hall. ”

"Huh! Then we'll wait to see the show. ”

The so-called guild hall is an organization formed by Yang Sichang to contact the old forces in various places, and the members of the guild are either rich or powerful.

(To be continued)