Chapter 352 Red-Capped Merchant

Ziling, the study room on the palace of the king of Chu.

Xiang Zhuang is holding a meeting in front of the emperor, the topic is how to solve the problem of food shortage, in addition to Ling Yin Xianghe, there are also the upper doctor Wu She, Wei General Bi Shu and Bai Lixian and others.

Food shortages have indeed become the number one problem plaguing the Chu State.

Look at Liu Bang, who just sent an army of five or six hundred thousand to fight a big battle with the Huns, and he didn't breathe, and immediately sent hundreds of thousands of troops to prepare to attack Jingxiang, and then look at the Chu State, it was not easy to praise one million stone of grain after ten years of savings, but the two battles of Bashu and Huainan were defeated, and they almost bottomed out.

Although Bashu is said to be a granary, all the stored grain has been transported to Xianyang, and the Chu army has not caught any oil and water.

There is grain in Jiangling, but Du Hong's old horseman actually burned down the warehouse before the city was broken, and there was no loss of ordnance and materials in Jiangling City, but the five or six hundred thousand stone grain accumulated in the warehouse was all turned into ashes, if it weren't for this, how could the Chu State in the Battle of Jingxiang also levy more than ten or two hundred thousand troops.

Xiang Zhuang pondered for a moment and said, "In the battle of Jingxiang, in the end, I still have to levy a large army. ”

In the battle of Jingxiang, although the Chu army was waiting for work, there were strong cities to defend, and Gao Chu was in charge, but if the Han State launched hundreds of thousands of troops to attack, as well as Peng Yue's Liang State army, it is really difficult to say whether the Chu army can hold it.

Moreover, saving troops is like fighting fires, and the state of Chu must be ready to send troops now.

Bi Shu waved at Xiang Zhuang and said: "King, it is not a problem to recruit government soldiers, the government soldiers of the five counties of Jiangdong have been replenished, and with just one edict, 200,000 troops can be summoned within half a month!" ”

"Wait, wait, wait." Xiang He shook his hand sharply and said, "200,000 troops?!" King, now there are tens of thousands of stone grain left in Taicang, this is already summer, this storm is coming, this bit of food has to be kept for emergency relief, at this time to recruit 200,000 troops, what do the soldiers eat? Ministers can't change food. ”

Xiang Zhuang smiled bitterly: "The widow didn't say that he wanted to pay grain from Taicang?" Besides, how can these tens of thousands of stones of grain be enough? ”

Xiang He said: "If you don't pay grain from Taicang, where will the grain come from?" Since the implementation of the reforms, the relationship between the major families and the county scholars in Jiangdong and the imperial court has been very stiff, and it is probably impossible to borrow grain from them, and if you forcibly requisition grain or buy it in large quantities from the market, it will definitely cause unrest in the hearts of the people and the soaring price of grain in Chu. ”

Xiang Zhuang nodded silently, it is absolutely impossible to forcibly collect grain, now the change of the Chu State has just achieved some results, and the people have slowly recognized the new law, at this time, you can't do the stupid thing of killing chickens and taking eggs, even if it is to collect grain from the family and the Shi family, the family and the Shi are also the people of the Chu State, and they are also the elite of the people, how can they be offended casually?

However, the other half of Xiang reminded Xiang Zhuang that why not buy grain from the people?

It is definitely not possible to buy grain from the Ziling grain market alone, the Ziling grain market is not large, and the daily transaction volume is only a few thousand stones, and you buy them all, and the officials, gentry, family members and handicraftsmen in Ziling City will have nothing to eat, so it will definitely lead to the distortion of the grain market and the soaring price of grain, which is definitely not good.

However, it is completely possible to buy grain from the whole Jiangdong and even the entire Chu State.

The tax rate of Chu is one of ten taxes, in other words, the grain that the people hand over to the treasury is only one-tenth of the harvest, so although the treasury is tight, but the people have surplus grain at home.

Not only Jiangdong, but also the people of the four counties of Jingxiang and Bashu probably also have a lot of surplus grain. Of course, it is one thing for the people to have surplus food in their hands, and it is another thing for them to be willing to sell it.

In ancient China, the main economic model was the small-scale peasant economy, the so-called small-scale peasant economy, that is, every household could produce almost all the necessities of life, they farmed their own land, weaved their own cloth, raised their own chickens and ducks, they almost did not need to buy goods from the market to improve their lives, in this case, they would not sell excess rations.

For example, the current Han State, Qi State, Zhao State, Liang State, Yan State, etc., are all small-scale peasant economies, and in these countries, if the government wants to buy grain from the people, it is basically wishful thinking!

Xiang Zhuang had never thought of this before, and it was also based on such inertial thinking.

But in fact, the state of Chu is an exception, the state of Chu from the beginning of the reform of the law to vigorously reward industry and commerce, after ten years of development, the state of Chu industry and commerce has been quite developed, not only the style, type, quality of goods have made great progress, and with the emergence of large handicraft workshops, commodity prices have also dropped significantly.

In the state of Chu, the people grow their own hemp and weave cloth, which is far less than buying directly from the market, growing their own grain and making wine, and it is far less cheap than buying the liquor from the liquor factory directly, and the taste is pure, and the rest such as farm tools, paper, books, tableware, etc., can only be purchased from the market, but these all need currency, and the barter trade has died out.

Therefore, the willingness of the people of Chu to sell their surplus rations was much stronger, and they could only buy goods from the market to improve their lives by selling the surplus rations into currency.

In other words, the state of Chu is not without grain, but it is scattered among the people, and the common people are also willing to sell grain.

However, purchasing surplus grain from the hands of the people is a huge and complicated job, and letting government agencies such as counties, counties, townships, and pavilions do this is inefficient, not to mention the low efficiency, officials at all levels will definitely take the opportunity to fill their pockets, this is definitely not possible, Xiang Zhuang suddenly jumped out of his mind with a word - red-top businessman!

Compared with officials in government agencies, businessmen are more able to endure hardships and work more efficiently!

Moreover, doing business with merchants is financially clear, eliminating the risk of greed and deduction, how much food the merchant provides, how much gold the court pays, and every penny is worth the goods, which is clear and clear.

In the history of China, the status of merchants was extremely low, and it was not until the end of the Manchu Dynasty that red-capped merchants appeared.

The so-called red-top businessmen are special businessmen with official backgrounds, such as Da Shengkui, in the early Qing Dynasty, when Kangxi conquered Dzungaria, the three founders of Da Shengkui were allowed to trade with the army, and finally developed and monopolized the trade with Mongolia, such as Hu Xueyan, because of the strong support of Zuo Zongtang, and finally became the richest man in Huaxia at that time!

The reason why these red-top businessmen were able to make a fortune is inseparable from the support of the government, but in turn, these red-top businessmen have also given great help to the government.

For example, Kangxi's conquest of Dzungaria, if it weren't for the fact that many merchants and hawkers traded with the army, I am afraid that even the supply of military rations would be a problem, and Dzungaria might not be able to defeat it, and Zuo Zongtang, if it weren't for Hu Xueyan's borrowing and strong support, he would not have been able to form a foreign gun team, and it would have been impossible for him to recover Xinjiang later.

Today's Chu State, commerce is gradually prospering, especially after the bounties and pensions of meritorious soldiers and fallen soldiers are issued, the commerce of the four counties of Jiangdong has seen unprecedented prosperity, and the prosperity of commerce is followed by a surge in taxes, so the treasury of Chu is not bad for money, at least the funds for purchasing grain are definitely not a problem.

According to the current price of grain, one stone of rice is 100 yuan, and one gold coin can buy 20 stone!

If all the money in the treasury is used to buy grain, at least 200 million stone can be bought!

Of course, this is only an ideal state, and all the gold coins in the treasury should never be put on the market. ..., just like the economic stimulus plan of Huaxia in later generations, you can theoretically print unlimited banknotes, but how many banknotes can actually be put on the market is another matter, four trillion does not mean that you can put it on the market.

Xiang Zhuang issued nearly 10 million gold coins to the meritorious soldiers and fallen soldiers, which is equivalent to a stimulus plan of 4 trillion yuan, which will inevitably cause inflation in the market.

However, it should be possible to take out more than 100,000 or 200,000 gold and buy one or two million stone grain.

So, who will be this red item merchant? Xiang Zhuang immediately had a slender figure in his mind.

At that moment, Xiang Zhuang said to the ministers: "Okay, let's discuss here today, you all go back first." ”

Xiang He, Wu She, and the others looked at each other, so they didn't discuss it at the beginning? However, no one questioned anything, and at that moment all the ministers got up and said goodbye, and Xiang Zhuang instructed Jin Xiang again: "Zicheng, you will go to the Bashu Post House now, invite Mrs. Qin to come over, and say that the widow has something urgent to discuss with her." ”

##########

The so-called Bashu Post House, in fact, is specially used to entertain Bashu officials, Haoqiang post house, set accommodation, dining in one of the official service institutions.

In the backyard room, Mrs. Qin was embroidering brocade robes.

The maid Yu'er exclaimed as she put down her hand: "Madam, your hands are so skillful. ”

Mrs. Qin smiled slightly, but didn't say anything, Yu'er touched the smooth brocade forging, and said, "This material is really slippery, it should be the best Shu brocade, right?" A lot of words, but also style, it seems to be a brocade robe worn by a man, madam, should you have a good match, and then embroider this brocade robe to show him his heart, right? Quite a few words"

"Dead girl, what nonsense are you talking about?" Mrs. Qin said angrily, "This is embroidered for the king." ”

"The King?" Yu'er was stunned, and then chuckled, "No wonder Madam has been entering the palace a lot lately, hehe." ”

"Dead girl, what are you thinking about?" Mrs. Qin glanced at Yu'er, and said more and more coquettishly, "I embroidered this brocade robe for the king, isn't it for the Qin family?" If the king can allow the Qin family to operate a winemaking workshop in Bashu, then the Qin family will have another industry, and it will be just around the corner to regain its former glory. ”

Yu'er looked Mrs. Qin up and down a few times, and said with a smile: "Madam, you send yourself to the palace with a fragrant wash, which is much better than sending a brocade robe, hehe." ”

"You dead girl, see if I don't tear your mouth." Mrs. Qin was ashamed and reached out to grab Yu'er.

When the master and servant were arguing, the voice of the old servant Qin Fu suddenly came from outside the door: "Madam, the king invites you to enter the palace, and the tiger and the middle lang generals have already been waiting outside the post house." ”

###########

ps: I'm sorry, I'm late......,