Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 174

Wang Xiaolie finished the letter and handed it to Chen Yuyi who was at the side.Said: "Yang Shen sent a letter saying that the price of wheat in Ezhou is about [-] wen a dou. But the weather there is hot and humid, and the wheat produced is not as good as ours. It's just that several grain merchants have been keeping down the price, and they want us to sell it for [-] wen a dou. them."

Chen Yuyi just read the letter.He said: "The price of wheat in the Xiangyang market has reached [-] cents a bucket these days, which is already too low. If the price cannot be raised, the farmers will not get much profit if the harvest is bumper."

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "The grain merchants in the city sell it for [-] yuan, how much money can the peasants get from selling it to the grain merchant? Fifteen yuan? Ten yuan? We have reduced taxes and eliminated the tyrants. In the end, the farmers did not benefit. It’s not hard work in vain.”

Chen Yuyi said: "Ezhou is not the only one with grain merchants in the world! Why don't you tell Yang Shen that if the grain merchants are still unwilling, let him go to other places to have a look. The price of wheat in Zhejiang and Zhejiang is soaring. If you don't believe it, no one will make money like this. !"

Wang Xiaolie stood up and sighed: "Actually, it is very likely that no one has done it. Counselor, do you think that the three grain merchants who came to Xiangyang to do business with us are just the three of them? Yang Shenxin said that one Ship merchants, a grain merchant in Ezhou, a grain merchant in Wuchang, they are selected by the grain merchants centered in Ezhou. The grain can only be sold by water, if not sold to the grain merchants in Ezhou, who else can they sell to? Near Xiangyang, only Jiangling and Yuezhou can be reached by water. The price of food there is low, and there is no shortage of food."

Walking to the window, Wang Xiaolie looked out the window.

The weather in June is the hottest time of the year.The vegetation is lush outside, and the cicadas are singing non-stop.The two or three cats kept in the government office lay lazily on the ground, motionless.

In this era, the guild system was implemented, with one state and one county, and every industry had a guild.Usually, the government uses guilds to directly manage commercial activities.For example, in Kaifeng Mansion, the prices of common goods on the market are negotiated by the government and the guild every day, and no one dares to violate it.This will help the government reduce administrative procedures and save manpower and material resources.Of course, the harm to the economy is another question.But at this time, the guild is easy for merchants to organize, and it is difficult for the government of their own state to deal with it.

After thinking and thinking, Wang Xiaolie said: "No matter what Yang Shen does, we must collect the grain in Xiangyang, Dengzhou, and Tangzhou at a suitable price. We can't let the farmers harvest more in harvest years. food, but no money.”

Chen Yuyi said: "Will the Xinyang Army not accept it?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "There is no waterway in Xinyang, so there is no other way for now. When we have money, let Zhang Jun take it."

Chen Yuyi nodded.At this time, there is no waterway, so what money is there to make in transporting grain for thousands of miles?In the Taiping era, the price of land transportation was calculated as a hundred catties of goods, and a hundred miles would cost one hundred Wen.However, the waterway is thirty wen upstream and ten wen downstream, which is too far apart.It is not smooth now, and prices vary from place to place, but the general trend has not changed.The only grain that Wang Xiaohun could sell was Xiangyang, Dengzhou, Tangzhou and the Guanghua Army with good waterways.

Wang Xiaolie said: "There must be a yamen for selling grain. In the past, Changping was promoted by various parties, but now I have to find another way. I have always wanted to build supply and marketing cooperatives in various states. I just took advantage of this incident to build supply and marketing cooperatives first. Say it again."

Chen Yuyi asked: "I have heard about the supply and marketing cooperatives for a long time, but I don't know how to do it. If you supply and sell, you naturally know what to do, but you don't know the specific regulations."

Wang Xiaolie smiled and said: "To put it bluntly, it is such a government-run commune that collects local products from all over the country and transports them to other places. Many things are worthless locally, but once they go outside, they are worth a hundred times. They used to rely on merchants, but now It seems that businessmen are unreliable."

Chen Yuyi nodded: "So that's the case! This matter has a lot to do!"

Of course there is much to be done.The supply and marketing cooperatives at this time are larger-scale cooperatives according to the practice at this time, which is different from the supply and marketing cooperatives of later generations.But there is one thing in common, that is, they mainly serve rural areas.As a strategic material, grain is actually not suitable for management by supply and marketing cooperatives.It's just that now Wang Xiaolie only manages a few states, and there are no grain depots, and the commercial grain belongs to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The role of supply and marketing cooperatives is too great for rural areas.In later generations, agricultural and sideline products from various places were mainly purchased by supply and marketing cooperatives, and the market suddenly expanded to the whole country.Daily retail sales in rural areas are also mainly provided by supply and marketing cooperatives.For many rural Chinese, they used to go to supply and marketing cooperatives to buy things, and went to consignment outlets in the village.Rural children make soy sauce with bottles, and many of them go to consignment stores.

Not only in China, the supply and marketing cooperative is an international organization, and it exists in many countries.It is almost a necessary organization in the process of economic development.The Song Dynasty was an era when the club economy was developed, and it was not abrupt to establish a supply and marketing cooperative.

Coming out of the yamen, Chen Yuyi bought a bream, cut a catty of meat, bought a jug of wine, and took it home.Last month's salary was just issued yesterday, and I have money in hand these days, so I can comfort myself.

When we got home, the two sons were reading in the yard.Seeing his father brought back wine and meat, his eyes lit up.

The salary Wang Xiaolie gave Chen Yuyi was twenty guan a month, and he had no other money or things.Fortunately, Chen Yuyi doesn't have many family members, twenty guan is enough for a family.After several months of peaceful life, the family members completely washed away the bumps on the way south.

Madam greeted her, took the fish and said, "How do you buy wine and meat today?"

Chen Yuyi said: "I got my salary yesterday, today I bought some wine and meat to celebrate. You can steam this fish with some soy sauce. A few days ago I was at a restaurant by the river and ate their steamed fish. It was really delicious!"

Madam smiled and said, "Where do I have the craftsmanship of a restaurant? It will be steamed in a while, so don't think it tastes bad."

While talking, the two brought the fish, wine and meat into the kitchen.Madam was picking up the fish, while Chen Yuyi was watching.

After washing the fish, Madam sighed: "In Xiangyang Mansion, observation is very good for us. There are twenty guanqian per month, which is much more than when you were a wine supervisor in Chenliu. It's just this observation. You have a bad temper and are not allowed to hire people easily. You are educated to be an official, and I come from a wealthy family, how can I do so many chores at home? As before, hiring two maids at home, I don’t know how easy it is!”

Chen Yuyi said: "Wang Guan is different from other people. It is true that there are many rules that people don't understand. However, after a few months, I think Wang Guan's meaning is still for the sake of the people. Now those who work in the city and those who work in the countryside It’s not like in the past when we were often bullied by the master. It’s really not as convenient as it used to be for people like us, and there’s nothing wrong with it. To be honest, in the past few months, our family has no worries about food and clothing, and we do things together in our free time. Housework, but feel more warm."

The lady smiled, took the fish and put it on the grate without saying anything.

Wang Xiaolie's rule is really different from other places.As it gained a firm foothold in several states, many measures came out, making the officials below confused.For example, hiring people. Now there are clubs in the city, and all the hired people join the club.Whoever wants to hire someone should no longer rely on the employee, but go to the meeting.After hiring a person, the contract must be signed by the person on duty in the club, and twenty paper money will be charged.If servants are beaten and scolded, wages are not paid, and so on, they will come forward in the meeting.The master's house is not afraid of servants, what tricks can the poor ghost do?But in the face of such a private government-supervised meeting, he dared not be presumptuous.

The same goes for the countryside.They have farm tools and even fields, but they have a surplus of labor, and there are also people who hire other people to plant land.It is strictly stipulated that those who have their own farm tools, after paying the tax, account for six of them who harvest and cultivate the land, and four for the main household.Those who don't have farm tools themselves do it the other way round.If you don't have farm tools, land, or even a house, you can do the same.The head of the family either takes care of the meals and pays wages every month.Or just pay wages and let the servants cook for themselves.These workers earn tens of pennies a day, which is always more than a month.

Like in Xiangyang City, there are more than a dozen meetings for those who want to work as servants.The official government of each meeting stipulates that no more than 50 people are allowed. If there are too many, the government will come forward and organize another one.

Chen Yuyi could see that with these meetings, it was not easy to hire someone with such financial resources as himself.The price is high, and you can no longer treat the servants as you like in the past.It's better not to hire and save trouble.

Wang Xiaolie is a different person, doing different things from others.Chen Yuyi slowly got used to it.People who have read poetry and books know that it is not easy for the people.What do you say when you are an official and cherish the common people?

Although there is no servant, he and his wife are doing household chores, which sometimes annoys them.But the two have more opportunities to be together, and there is a different kind of warmth.This kind of life may be like fireworks, this is the world.

(End of this chapter)