Chapter 116 talks about conditions

British bluff

The former British Duke Zhang Weixian just passed last year, Zhang Zhiji is Zhang Weixian's eldest son, and after the death of his father, the British Duke is the first person in the Ming Dynasty

Yue Su came to the door to ask for a meeting, and as soon as the post was handed in, the British public announcement immediately greeted him in person

One is the most powerful official in the Ming Dynasty, and the other is the highest status of the Ming Dynasty

When the tea was placed, Zhang Zhiji asked his subordinates to retreat, and then said politely: "Lord Yue, you are the minister of Tuogu, you are the second assistant of the court, and you have always been busy with official business, why are you free today, come to our mansion to visit the door?"

"Sir, Su came to the door today, firstly, to see the Lord, and secondly, there is something I want to discuss with the Lord," Yue Su said with a light smile

"Oh? The matter that Lord Yue personally came to the door to discuss, it must not be a trivial matter, I don't know what it is, can I drive the adult to come to the door in person? Zhang Zhiji said politely, but he inevitably wondered in his heart, although his title is big, but he doesn't have much real power, the little power at hand, compared with Yue Su, is not a little bit worse Yue Su can find his own door, although it is an understatement, but Zhang Zhiji knows that it can never be a trivial matter

"This matter, mainly because of the current price of rice, today Su and His Majesty discussed, that the price of rice is too high, the people can not afford it, I hope to be able to effectively control but force the merchants to reduce the price, is not an effective measure, but it is possible to lead the merchants to join in a single breath, stop selling in a short time, in this way, there is really no benefit to the people So, I discussed with Your Majesty and decided to be able to select a few leading merchants, only these merchants are allowed to sell grain, other merchants, In the future, all sales will be prohibited, and these merchants who have the right to sell grain and rice must stand on the side of the imperial court and be able to think about the people," Yue Su said lightly

"It turns out that this is the case, although my Zhang family has some fields, and also collects some grain and rice every year, but they are also sold to rice merchants, and do not sell alone, Lord Yue also knows, our Zhang family has always been mainly selling silk goods, since the partnership with Ling Taishan, basically has almost contracted more than eighty percent of the silk goods in Beijing, as for other businesses, we basically do not touch," Zhang Zhiji said

What he said was true and false, he mainly wanted to see Yue Su's exact intentions Since the Zhang family cooperated with the Li family, the silk business in the capital has basically been monopolized by the two families, eighty percent of the business is in their hands, and the other family's business is really unbearable when it is squeezed, and he can't afford to provoke the British public, basically they are all closed, and there are a few nobles left, and there are still trades, but there are not many but the Zhang family, in addition to the silk goods, there are other transactions, there are restaurants, restaurants, tea shops and the like in the capital, as for the rice shop, There is also such a Zhang family's field, there is really a lot, the grain laid, of course, will not be less, now in this year, grain can be sold for a lot of money, how can the Zhang family let go of such an opportunity to make money, but also have to go with the flow, sell some high-priced grain

"There is no rice shop in the lord's house, so it doesn't matter, with the prestige and status of the lord, if you want to open it, it is not a matter of a sentence Now the emperor intends to choose seven people in the world, only these seven people, who have the right to sell grain The Ming Dynasty is so big, everyone has to eat grain, and divide the world's grain and rice business into seven parts, no matter which one gets this right to sell, there will be a lot of silver to earn the lord in the future, do you say yes?" Yue Su asked with a light smile

"Lord Yue, what do you mean, of course Benjue understands, what you said is good, but there are thousands of rice merchants in the world, so let seven families sell it, wouldn't it offend countless people, fortunately, Benjue's family has no rice shop, and it has no impact on Benjue," Zhang Zhiji said deliberately

Don't look at Zhang Zhiji's appearance of being thirty years old, but he speaks without leaking, because he sees that although this matter has great benefits, it is going to offend many people at the moment

Yue Su saw that Zhang Zhiji deliberately did not answer the question, so he went straight to the point and said: "Sir, these seven candidates, the emperor has the heart to choose one or two among the nobles, the British Duke is the number one person among the nobles, no matter how many you choose, the lord will be the first choice Therefore, Su Cai came to the door in person, wanting to discuss with the lord, hoping that the lord can be duty-bound."

"Lord Yue, anyone is willing to do the business of making money, but it is not the thirteen provinces in the world that can do everything, plus the nine-sided important town, in such a big place, only seven families are allowed to sell grain, and one family is responsible for at least two provinces, not to mention a year, how much grain do you need in a month? My Li family and Guitai Taishan cooperate in the silk goods in the capital, operating for several years, can not say that all the monopoly, needless to say that this food is not an outsider, we might as well open the skylight and say bright words, now the north is drought, food is in short supply, no matter which rice shop, there is not much food on hand Besides, the rice merchants who sell grain in the capital are either noble, or have the support of the central government, offending so many people at one time, even if it is my Li family, there is no courage If the court dares to issue such an order, I dare to believe, Half of the officials and nobles in Beijing will stand up against it, even if it is really enforced, all the rice shops in Beijing will be closed, where do you let my Zhang family get so much grain to sell, not to mention the two provinces, it is estimated that even the people in Beijing will not be able to feed "Zhang Zhiji saw that Yue Su was no longer hidden, and he no longer had to pretend to be confused After all, he had a cooperative relationship with the Li family, Yue Su was the son-in-law of the Li family, or the most powerful official at the moment, so he simply told the truth

"What the lord said, Su also took into account, if all the merchants were dedicated to the country, Su would not have thought of such a policy, but now there is a drought in the north, and the Liukou is in chaos all around, if the price of food cannot be stabilized, I am afraid that the chaos will get bigger and bigger, and there will be more and more Liukou, and finally I can't clean up the Lord is a first-class noble of the Ming Dynasty, the rise and fall of this country is more important than Su, so Su will be the first to board the gate of the Jue's mansion, hoping that the Lord can help Yue, overcome all kinds of hardships in front of him, and stabilize the price of grain." Yue Su said earnestly

"My lord's words are true, the rise and fall of this country, in addition to the emperor and the clan, should belong to our lords and nobles to stabilize the price of grain, in order to stabilize people's hearts, this point also knows this, you and I have a good livelihood to discuss this matter, I hope to come up with a complete way, for the emperor to share the worries" Zhang Zhiji is a noble son, when he was young, it was inevitable that he was the same as other nobles himself, he had a light heart, but as he grew older, he gradually became more stable in his thirties, and he was also familiar with Shi Teng, and he was familiar with the rise and fall of dynasties in history. Naturally, he also understands what Yue Su said, he doesn't think it's alarmist, he also cares about the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty, so that he still has a heart to make the country prosperous, he served as the governor of the left capital in the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, but there are several governors in the Governor's Mansion, and he is also a military attaché, even when he is fighting, he can't be of much use to work for the country, and it is really not his turn, right now, Zhang Zhiji thinks that this is an opportunity, as long as he can contribute to the court and share the worries of the emperor, he will definitely be valued, And the status of the Zhang family will become more and more lofty

"Now although the grain in the north is in short supply, but part of it is still in the hands of the nobles at all levels, just like the Guangenbo Liu family, there is its own rice line, of course, even if all the nobles' grain is added to a piece, it is not enough to cope with the supply of the whole Beijing for a year, not to mention that there are many nobles in the whole Zhili, and they also have to go to the south to buy grain, and they are transported to Beijing to sell the lord can go to the south to buy grain, and go back and forth by water, there are sailors of the imperial court in Tianjin, as long as the lord buys grain by boat, the imperial court can allocate half of the warships of the sailors, Or two-thirds of the warships are used by the lord, what does the lord think? Yue Su said sincerely

Now that Mao Youjian has led a warship from Fujian to Tianjin, you must know that you can travel day and night by water, hang up the sails and walk normally, and you will be able to reach the navy in ten days and eight days, and there are 180 large and small warships in the navy

"What the lord said is indeed a method, but when the grain arrives, what price does the lord want to sell this jue?" Zhang Zhiji asked

"According to the official price, one tael of silver and one stone," Yue Su said

"This ......" Zhang Zhiji sighed, and then said: "In terms of transportation, although there is the help of the imperial court sailor, but there is also a fee to break the fee, and now the price of rice in the south will definitely be affected by the north, one or two silver and a stone, I am afraid that I can't even collect it Although the adult gave the right to sell grain, but it is not easy to do, Ben Jue knows that the adult has always been iron-fisted, but it is difficult to report that it will not let the already chaotic world become a chaotic market trading, with its own rules, my Zhang family and Guitai Mountain have cooperated for so many years, So Benjue also learned a lot from it as long as the price is good, you can beat your peers, defeat other competitors, the silk business in the capital, it is because of this, it is slowly occupied by our two so, Benjue thinks, as long as there is a large amount of grain, and occupy the initiative in the price, even if other families sell food, then no one will buy it, and the price will be stable."

"What the lord said is very true, Su has gained a lot," Yue Su nodded

"My lord, Ben Jue is thinking, otherwise, the right of grain monopoly, the court can not give it to the market, and within a few years, it will slowly stabilize but the premise is the same, that is, the court supports me," Zhang Zhiji continued

"What kind of support?" Yue Su then said

"Now to buy grain in the south, the cost of light is also two or three taels of silver and one stone, if you let Benjue sell it at the price of one or two stones, it will not take half a year, you will have to pay for Benjue to go bankrupt and open a rice shop, people eat horses and feed also need wages, so I think so, this grain, I bought it for a few taels of silver, and then put the labor costs into it, and then sold it at this price, from which not even a penny is made If the adults feel that the people can't bear it, they have to sell it for one or two silver and one stone, then my Zhang family really can't bear it, unless the price difference between them, It will be supplemented by the imperial court," Zhang Zhiji said

"This ......" Yue Su took a deep breath, thinking in his heart, this Zhang Zhiji was right, he didn't think about it at the beginning, if he really followed his own ideas, I am afraid that there are few people who are willing to cooperate, no matter what, the imperial court will support one stone of rice, and the imperial court will take one or two taels of silver, in the city of Beijing, there will be one and a half million people alone, and one person and one stone of rice will cost one and a half million stones, and if the imperial court makes up the difference, it will be at least two and a half million taels of silver If Zhang Zhiji is allowed to share the entire Zhili, At the end of that year, it will take at least tens of millions of taels of silver to pay taxes in a year, and how much can the imperial court pay in a year, where can it withstand this

Seeing Yue Su's hesitation, Zhang Zhiji changed his words and said: "If you think that there is something difficult, you can go back and think about it first, or discuss it with the emperor again, and I also know that in a year, the amount of silver that the court will spend is too much, and it is really difficult to do it with the current situation of the Ming Dynasty."

"Okay, Rong Su go back and discuss it with the emperor" After Yue Su finished speaking, he stood up and was about to leave

But at this time, I heard Zhang Zhiji suddenly say: "My lord, if you discuss with the emperor, it is better to go to another person to discuss this person There is probably a good way."

"Oh?" When Yue Su heard this, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Who is it?" ”

"If you talk about doing business, the means of returning to Mount Tai are much higher than Benjue, and the wife and brother are not idle people, I have seen the two sides of the wife and brother, Yuan Chen's virtuous brother, by no means an idle person, how can Lord Yue let this ready-made living Zhuge not ask for advice" Speaking of this, Zhang Zhiji laughed

"Yes, yes, at this time, how can I forget him" Yue Su arched his hand and said: "Sir, Na Su will leave now, wait a few days, Su will come to the door again"

Zhiji stood up and said, "Benjue sends your lord"

After leaving Zhang's Mansion, Yue Su immediately instructed Jin Chan to go to Wuchang by water, and he must invite Li Yuanchen to Beijing as soon as possible, no matter what, he must also invite Li Yuanchen to come

Jin Cicada immediately received the order, brought more than a dozen guards, and then went on the road from Beijing to Wuchang, if you take the waterway, it is actually not difficult, there is the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the river goes south, that is

Not to mention that Jin Chan went to Wuchang, Yue Su was not idle here, and indirectly went to the Forbidden City, handed a sign in, and wanted to see the emperor

What is the use of seeing the emperor, the key is to see the queen mother, the queen mother learned that Yue Su would see her, and immediately summoned her to the royal room to see the driver

Accompanied by the edict eunuch to the imperial room, the queen mother and the emperor were waiting inside, they had seen the number of rites, the emperor gave the seat, and when Yue Su sat down, Zhang Yan asked: "Yue Qing's family, you have just left, and you have slowly asked to see you, but what progress has happened?" ”

"Back to the Queen Mother, the minister just went to the British Mansion, and when he saw the British Princess, he discussed it with him......" At that moment, Yue Su told the conversation between Shicai and the British Prince

After Zhang Yan listened, he said: "Qing family, the current price of rice is too expensive, if it can be sold at the cost price of two or three taels of stone as the British public said, the people can still barely maintain it, if the imperial court is allowed to subsidize tens of millions of taels of silver every year, the imperial court can't afford it at all, and borrow his warship to buy grain in the south, it's nothing, the British public family, loyal to the imperial court for generations, is still trustworthy, otherwise, the mourning family will call him to come and praise him, Then let him go to the south immediately to buy grain, as for discussing other methods with the Li family, Aiqing can also proceed as usual, after all, with the strength of the British on his own, it is impossible to buy so much grain, and transport some back first, with food, at least it can relieve some pressure on the imperial court."

"What the Queen Mother said is extremely true, in addition, the minister has another matter, he wants to discuss with the Queen Mother," Yue Su said again

"What else?" Zhang Yan asked

"Even if the British Duke goes to the south to buy grain, it will take time to come and go, and it will take some days for the Li family to enter Beijing, and it will definitely take a lot of time to set countermeasures and implement them During this time, I don't know what the price of food will be, especially in Beijing, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, there must be no chaos, and the minister is wondering, can the imperial court open a warehouse to release grain, and give porridge to those ordinary people every day" Yue Su proposed

"This ......" Zhang Yan thought for a while and said: "The imperial court now also has some grain and rice, and the imperial village also has some harvest, and the mourning family can take out half of it, so that more than half of it can be used to help the people, but it can't all be taken out after all, the palace also has to eat."

"The Queen Mother rest assured, you don't need all of them, the minister believes that it won't be long before there will be good news" said, Yue Su stood up, walked to the center and knelt on the ground, "Minister Yue Su on behalf of all the people in the capital, thank you to my emperor long live long live, long live the queen mother."

"Hurry up and get up, the people are the emperor's people, and they are also the people of the mourning family, the mourning family gives them some grain and rice, what is the difference between this and giving it to their own children" Zhang Yan hurriedly asked Yue Su to get up, and then sent a decree to summon the British public Zhang Zhiji into the palace

Let Zhang Zhiji enter the palace, it is nothing more than to praise his loyalty first, and then ordered him to go to the south to buy food, the warship of the Tianjin Navy Division, whatever he wants, but he must hurry up The Queen Mother issued an order, how could Zhang Zhiji be lazy, after receiving the order, he went home to arrange manpower, with millions of taels of silver, went to Tianjin, and went south by warship

Going to the south to buy grain, it takes time, naturally it is not without the golden cicada from Beijing to Wuchang, taking a boat day and night, but it is much less than the time to buy grain, after arriving, Li Yuanchen is also very happy, and immediately followed the golden cicada to Beijing, back and forth, it took twelve days

Li Yuanchen landed at Tongzhou Wharf, Yue Su actually came here to greet him in person, and when he saw his brother-in-law coming, Li Yuanchen secretly said in his heart: "My brother-in-law seems to be really in trouble, otherwise he wouldn't have come to pick me up in person."

"Yuanchen ......" Yue Su stepped forward and grabbed Li Yuanchen's hand, and said with a smile: "Looking forward to the stars and the moon, after all, I am looking forward to you, my brother is in trouble now, this time you must come up with a good idea for your brother."

"Brother-in-law, look at what you said, you and I are our own family, you don't have to be polite, what's the matter, although it is said, as long as the younger brother can do it, a definition is not to be shirked" Li Yuanchen said with a smile Regarding Yue Su's personality, Li Yuanchen still appreciates it, straight to the point, has one thing to say, and never pretentious

"This is not the place to talk, you and I get into the carriage and talk as we go," Yue Su said, taking Li Yuanchen's hand and walking in the direction of the carriage

"Good ......"

The carriage was not far from the shore, the two stepped forward, and after they sat down, Yue Su ordered them to go back to Beijing, followed by them, and closed the curtain of the carriage, Yue Su beat Li Haoquan to buy grain, and went to the British Mansion, from beginning to end to say that in the end, he bowed his hand to Li Yuanchen, "Virtuous brother, you must think of a good way for your brother."

"It turned out to be for this" Li Yuanchen laughed and said: "Brother-in-law, it is difficult to say that it is difficult to stabilize the price of rice, but it is easy to say, the key is how much benefit the court can give us"

"A businessman is a businessman, since the virtuous brother is straightforward, I don't drag the mud and water for my brother, what benefits do you want, but it doesn't matter, as long as you can do it for your brother, you must promise that even if you can't do it for your brother, you will ask the emperor to fight for your Li family" Yue Su said eagerly

"Doing business with my brother-in-law is also very happy, to be honest, the younger brother is not a person who offers a lot of money, especially in front of the brother-in-law, the price of the younger brother is very fair, first, the right of monopoly promised by the imperial court, must not be empty words; Second, this earl of my family is only my father's generation, and in my generation, he will be demoted, so the younger brother still wants to inherit the hat I don't know these two things, can my brother-in-law give it? Li Yuanchen said bluntly

"Brother is really real, and he didn't ask for a sky-high price, these two requests are not too much, for my brother to be able to agree," Yue Su said

"Okay, then let the little brother brew for a moment, and then say" After speaking, Li Yuanchen closed his eyes and considered it

It can be said that Li Yuanchen has been studying this matter all the way, he has asked Jin Chan, what is the matter with himself, where does Jin Cicada know the specific thing, when Yue Su and the Queen Mother and Zhang Zhiji were talking, he was not at the scene, just waiting outside for what, he couldn't say it clearly, he just told Li Haoquan about buying grain What kind of person Li Yuanchen was, after hearing this, he drew inferences from one another, and guessed that his brother-in-law invited him to come when he thought of the price of grain, and it was ten likely** It would be for this matter, so on the way, he was thinking, how to control the price of rice

Now that he listened to Yue Su's story, and then connected with what he had thought before, it didn't take long for Li Yuanchen to come up with a statement

"Brother-in-law, what the British public said is very right, the imperial court's forced distribution of the right to sell grain is bound to cause many adverse consequences, no matter what, it also needs the support of the imperial court As for how to support, Yuanchen can guarantee that there is no need for the imperial court to pay a silver or two, but what kind of support, I will tell my brother-in-law later, let's talk about the price ......of grain first" Li Yuanchen smiled mysteriously, looking at his appearance, Yue Su could completely think that Li Yuanchen was already a bamboo in his chest

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