"Why did the price of rice suddenly collapse?" Chongzhen said, "Nanzhi's grain will be enough to eat, this year many farmland has been planted with cotton, mulberry seedlings and other cash crops, the grain is definitely not enough to eat, the autumn grain harvest is still not enough, so it is normal for the price of rice to fall a little, but it is very unusual to plummet to five yuan." ”

"Erchen also felt very strange." Zhu Cihong said thoughtfully.

"Looking back now, there must have been grain merchants behind the scenes."

"When the new rice in Hangzhou and Jiaxing went on the market, the price of rice fell to three dollars."

"Then grain merchants everywhere began to reluctantly sell, and the price of rice began to turn upwards again."

"By the end of the winter month, the price of rice in Songjiang Province had risen to two taels and one stone."

"But even if it's two taels and one stone, the rice shops in Songjiang Mansion can't be open to supply."

"Now the farmers who have switched to cotton and mulberry seedlings have fallen into bad luck, and then there are many farmers in Songjiang Province who no longer grow rice, because the price of rice has skyrocketed, and they have begun to gather to make trouble."

"This is a merchant." Chongzhen snorted, "Give them a little sunshine and they will be brilliant." ”

If this wave can't be suppressed, there will definitely be a Ming version of "Jiang You Army", "Garlic You Ruthless" and "Beans You Play", and the commodity economy that has just flourished will be messed up in an instant.

Fortunately, Chongzhen had already prepared for this, and the Chamber of Commerce was prepared for this.

However, before using the trump card of the Chamber of Commerce, Chongzhen decided to use these grain merchants first.

It is said that barbarians are afraid of power and do not have virtue, in fact, businessmen are also a dick, it is useless to reason with businessmen, and it is equally useless to punish and punish harsh laws, and they dare to trample on all the laws of the world with 300% profits, and the only thing that can make businessmen bow down is the capital force that is stronger than them.

Why can Wall Street call for wind and rain in the capital market?

It's because Wall Street has a unique level of big capital.

Therefore, this time, Chongzhen wants to use the power of capital to wash the grain merchants.

Then through the bloody heads of the grain merchants, he warned the gentlemen and merchants of the Ming Dynasty to follow me obediently, I eat meat, and you can also get a mouthful of soup to drink, but if anyone dares to smash the pot, I will stew you and eat meat!

At that moment, Chongzhen asked Zhu Cihong again: "Hong'er, have you estimated how much autumn grain Nanzhi has received this year?" ”

"Yes, Erchen has estimated." Zhu Cihong still did meticulous homework on this, "This year, the autumn grain planting area in Nanzhili is about 40 million mu, and according to the calculation of two stones per mu, the autumn grain should not be less than 80 million stones. ”

"There are about 30 million mouths in Nanzhili, of which about 20 million are large mouths and 10 million are small mouths."

"The large mouth needs 3.6 stone of rations a year, and the small mouth needs 1.8 stones, so Nanzhili needs a total of 90 million stone of rations, and there is indeed a gap of 10 million stones here, but it is not a big problem."

Speaking of this, Zhu Cihong said again: "There will be no food shortage." ”

Chongzhen asked again: "Then have you investigated, how many big grain merchants are there in Nanzhi?" ”

Zhu Cihong said: "There are three main grain merchants, one is the impostor family of Rugao in Yangzhou, the other is the Xu family of Songjiang Huating, and then the Qian family in Changshu, Suzhou. ”

"It's them again." Chongzhen asked again, "What about the Xiuning Wang family and the She County Hu family?" Got involved? ”

"Nope." Zhu Cihong replied like a stream, "Xiuning Wang's family and Shexian Hu's family mainly sell grain between Huguang and Nanzhi, and the local grain in Nanzhi has been controlled by big grain merchants such as the Mao family, the Xu family, and the Qian family, and although the power of the Hui merchants in Nanzhi is not small, it is difficult to meddle in the local grain business in Nanzhili. ”

"That's going to do it." Chongzhen said happily.

"Let's wait for Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi to come back."

……

Ten days passed quickly.

On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi finally returned to Nanjing, and the first batch of treasures worth five million returned to Nanjing with the two.

Chongzhen still met the two in Yilun Hall.

After the big ceremony, Chongzhen asked: "How is Huguang's grain hegemony doing?" ”

Wang Pingshan said respectfully: "Back to the Holy Place, when the grass people left Wuchang, more than 100 large and small grain merchants led by the Hengyang Wang family had already eaten more than 70 million stone of new grain, and the water conservancy grain silver number had eaten 20 million stones. ”

"More than 70 million stones?" Chongzhen said, "At what price are these grains eaten?" ”

"Mostly between four and five dollars." Wang Pingshan said, "Huguang grain merchants spent more than 30 million taels of silver. ”

"More than 30 million taels?" Zhu Cijiong was taken aback when he heard this, and said in a lost voice, "Where did the Huguang grain merchant get the silver?" ”

Wang Pingshan shook his head and said: "The grain merchants in Huguang only raised more than 15 million yuan in silver, and they borrowed 15 million yuan from the water conservancy grain silver account with a five-cent interest, and it was a mortgage made of grain. ”

Chongzhen was stunned and asked, "It seems that the silver of the Water Conservancy Grain Silver is not enough, right?" ”

Wang Pingshan said: "The grass people sold some of the treasures in Wuchang Mansion, scraped together 5 million taels and temporarily lent them to the water conservancy grain silver number free of charge. ”

"Good." Chongzhen nodded happily.

As long as the Huguang grain merchants borrowed silver from the water conservancy grain silver and used the grain as collateral, the wave would be stable.

Next, the water conservancy grain silver only needs to release the grain and suppress the grain price to the death, once the Huguang grain merchants can't raise more silver to protect the plate, the grain hegemony will collapse.

When the time comes, the Water Conservancy Grain Silver will be able to take the IOU and take away all the grain at a very low price, and the more than 100 large and small grain merchants in Huguang will not have a single grain left, not to mention that they will also owe at least 5 million taels of silver to the Water Conservancy Grain Silver Account, and this debt will be enough to bankrupt the more than 100 grain merchants in Huguang.

In other words, as soon as Chongzhen pounded like this, he did not have a penny of silver for water conservancy and grain, and he ate 90 million stone of surplus grain in Huguang Province this year, and the people who sold grain did not suffer a loss.

The only unlucky ones were the more than 100 large and small grain merchants in Huguang.

This is the terrible thing about big capital, eating people without spitting out bones.

Next, what Chongzhen wants to eat is the large and small grain merchants in Nanzhili.

Chongzhen said: "Wang Pingshan, Hu Renzhi, don't rush to transfer that batch of treasures, hurry up and sell grain from Huguang to Nanzhili, now the grain price in Nanzhili has generally risen to three taels and one stone, you sell two taels, and the large and small grain merchants in Nanzhili will definitely eat desperately in order to ensure the price of grain." ”

"You're just selling grain in batches."

"Don't do too much at once, give them time to raise money."

"When you have trafficked about 10 million stone to the Nanzhi provinces, these grain merchants in Nanzhili have already owed at least 10 million taels of silver to each family, and if you suddenly increase the amount of grain trafficking, I will also let the Huangming Times publish articles to jointly suppress the price of grain, so that these grain merchants in Nanzhi will also lose their money."

"Yes." Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi got up and said, "The grass people will return to Huguang when they wait for this." ”

Seeing Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi leaving, Chongzhen also got up and prepared to go to the workshop of the Firearms Department again.

The last time he went to the firearms department, Chongzhen personally modified the aerodynamic layout of the god artillery, in addition to appropriately reducing the aspect ratio of the main wing, and then strengthening the tail.

The reason why the previous God artillery did Brownian motion was because the tail area was not enough.

The longitudinal and transverse stability of the God Artillery is mainly achieved by the tail, and if the tail cannot be stabilized, it can only do Brownian motion.

However, before Chongzhen went out, Ma Mingluo and Zhu Shunshui came to the door.

Along with the two of them, there were also Xu Guo, a bookseller from She County, and the inkers and carvers of Xu's Printing Workshop, these two craftsmen were obviously old men in the printing workshop, and they were not young.

"Holy Lord, the first version of the silver ticket has been printed, and I would like to ask you to make a holy judgment."

Ma Mingluo handed over the first edition of the silver ticket that had just been printed by the printing shop.

Chongzhen stretched out his hand to take the silver tickets, a total of seven, the denominations were one yuan, two yuan, Wu yuan, Shi Yuan, two Shi Yuan, Wu Shi Yuan and one hundred yuan, one hundred yuan is the largest denomination.

The denomination of one hundred yuan is enough to meet the transaction needs of less than 10,000 yuan.

After all, 10,000 yuan is only a hundred, and it is not much thicker when stacked.

As for larger capital transactions, gold bills can be issued directly by the silver number.

The golden ticket is actually a silver ticket of another time and space, which needs to be issued temporarily, and it can be redeemed immediately after use.

Chongzhen touched the front and back respectively, and the feeling was still very good, it should be a bloody investment.

Xu Guo said proudly: "On the sage, the silver ticket paper is made of the secret mulberry paper of our Xu family paper mill, and the minister does not dare to say that other paper mills must not be able to make such mulberry paper, but it is impossible to make mulberry paper with the same feel, so the paper alone can eliminate most of the profiteers." ”

Xu Guo donated a member of the household department not long ago, and now he is also an official.

"And this ink." Xu Guo said, "It was made by our master He Jiu himself, not only the color is clear, it does not melt when it encounters water, and the key is that there is a small bulge." ”

Chongzhen touched it carefully, and he did feel grainy.

Xu Guo continued: "Of course, in addition to paper and ink, the most important thing is a line of secret characters hidden in the reverse pattern, which is the unique skill of Master Ma Wu, and others can't imitate it." ”

After speaking, Xu Guo handed Chongzhen a magnifying glass, and then pointed out the secret words to Chongzhen.

With the help of a magnifying glass, Chongzhen really found a line of small characters from the pattern on the back.

If you don't use a magnifying glass, you will only think that this is a slightly thicker dark green line, but if you look carefully with a magnifying glass, you will find that it is a line of words: Chongzhen Bingxu Year of the Ming Dynasty.

Xu Guo continued: "Saint, such a fine miniature carving is difficult enough, and it is even more difficult to imitate another person's carving technique exactly the same on such a fine miniature carving, and it is impossible to imitate the miniature carving of Master Mawu, because Master Ma Wu is not only good at carving, but also good at calligraphy!" ”

I have to admit that Xu Guo really made a bloody investment this time, and with these three guarantees, it is almost impossible to forge it.

"Good!" Chongzhen nodded happily and said, "Then print a large number of them according to this layout, and also, Master Ma Wu and Master He Jiu will live in Qingliangfang in the future, and the printing workshop of the silver ticket will also be relocated to Qingliangfang, and a new version of the silver ticket will be launched every two years this year, and all the old silver tickets will be replaced to avoid forgery." ”

"Command." Xu Guochang shook to the ground.

……

A horse-drawn carriage quietly stopped outside the side gate of the Qian Di on Tongji Street.

The thick cotton curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man dressed in an elegant Hangzhou silk shirt and a hat inlaid with emerald jade melon skin stepped out of the carriage.

"Xu Yuan, please come inside."

"The lord has already instructed the villain."

"When Xu Yuan arrives, he will take him directly to the study."

A steward of the Qian family immediately greeted him attentively.

It is said that the prime minister is a seven-grade official in front of the door, but the steward of Qian Ge's hometown is particularly attentive to this Xu Yuanwai, which shows that this Xu Yuanwai is not an ordinary person.

"You've been waiting for a long time."

As soon as Xu Yuanwai got his hands on it, he was a big ingot of silver.

The steward checked his sleeve, to say the least, fifty taels.

At that moment, the steward smiled and led Xu Yuanwai to the door of the study.

"At the end of school, I will enter Xu Ersui and meet the elder." Foreign Minister Xu Yuan greeted him.

"Xu Xiaoyou is here, come in." Qian Qianyi put down the brush and motioned for Xu Er to enter.

Seeing Xu Er walk in, Liu Ru, who had just added good incense to the incense burner, retreated behind the screen.

After the greetings, Xu Er asked: "Elder Ge, I heard that the Holy Lord has returned to Beijing in triumph, but I don't know what the Holy Driver thinks of the food shortage in the Nanzhi Prefectures?" ”

The Huating Xu family was still panicked.

Although hundreds of grain merchants have been gathered, and there are even cabinet assistants as backers, but in the face of Chongzhen, who is determined to kill and has the aura of "coal mountain enlightenment", even the Huating Xu family is also panicked.

"The saint did not mention this matter after returning to Beijing." Qian Qianyi waved his hand and said, "Xu Xiaoyou doesn't have to worry, there are so many important matters waiting to be dealt with by the Holy Lord, where does he have the time to take care of the affairs of the Xiaomin." ”

"What the elder said is extremely true." Xu Er's heart fell back into his stomach when he heard this.

After speaking, Xu Er then took out a deposit receipt with a royal silver number and gently placed it on the desk.

"Ge Lao, this is the bonus of the winter moon and the wax moon." Xu Er said, "Late Jin has already made the account room calculate in advance, and made a special trip to send it to the elder pavilion. ”

Qian Qianyi glanced at it, and it was written with 50,000 taels.

"Oops, that's embarrassing." Qian Qianyi said with a dazzled smile, "The old man is just pulling the line from it, and he really can't afford such a gift, please take it back quickly." ”

Xu Er waved his hand and said: "If it weren't for the elder of the pavilion, it would be impossible for the grain merchants of the various prefectures in Nanzhili to advance and retreat together, so it would not be possible to do this big business. ”

"Oh, if that's the case, the old man will be disrespectful." Qian Qianyi is no longer hypocritical, who would think that there is more silver?

After a few more gossips, Qian Qianyi picked up the teacup and took a sip, and Xu Er immediately got up to say goodbye when he saw this.

As soon as Xu Er left, Liu Ru walked out from behind the screen and said, "Master, you still try not to get involved with these grain merchants, the concubine thinks that the saint may not let them go easily." ”

"Madame, you're too worried." Qian Qianyi said with a smile, "How can a husband get involved in these things." ”

"It's best if it's not blended." Liu said, "Today's saint has great ambitions, and he can be called a good emperor who truly cares for the poor people, and he will not come from the grain merchants." ”

(End of chapter)