Dahan first prince

Chapter 133 Speculation is a crime!
"My son, see the queen mother."

After reaching an agreement with Xiao He on the matter of "slave rations for officials and slaves in the Shaofu government", and then returning to the palace for two days, Liu Ying also came to Xuanshi hall as usual.

After the ceremony, Liu Ying unexpectedly saw her uncle Lu Shizhi next to her mother Lu Zhi.

With a faint smile, Liu Ying turned her body slightly and cupped her hands to Lu Shizhi.

"Nephew, met uncle..."

After spending the past few months together day and night in the Lianzhao area, the friendship between Liu Ying and Lu Shizhi can be said to have warmed up rapidly.

Nowadays, whenever it is not a formal occasion, Liu Ying seldom refers to Lu Shizhi as 'Jianchenghou', but as 'uncle'.

On the other hand, Lu Shizhi seemed a little unaccustomed to Liu Ying being called so intimately. As soon as Liu Ying finished speaking, Lu Shizhi turned his head quickly.

After seeing Lu Zhi's indifferent face, Lu Shizhi gave Liu Ying a little hesitation.

"At home."

With a gentle smile on her face, she nodded slightly to her uncle Lu Shizhi, and Liu Ying naturally walked to her mother Lu Zhi and sat down.

Sure enough, just as Liu Ying's buttocks were on the soft couch, and before she sat warm, she heard Lu Zhi's gentle and loving voice reaching Liu Ying's ears.

"The day before yesterday, Ying'er said that she wanted to go to the Prime Minister's mansion in person, and discuss with Marquis Feng about the rations of the servants of the young mansion."

"Why don't you tell your mother?"

Hearing the old lady's faintly sad question, Liu Ying only smiled gently, and looked at Lu Zhi with a submissive expression.

"I want to come here on the same day, and tell the queen mother about the Xiangfu."

"Something went wrong about the rations of the officials and slaves in the Hou Shaofu, and my son wanted to think about it first, and then come to the mother."

Hearing this, the sorrow and resentment on Lu Zhi's face disappeared immediately, replaced by an undisguised gratification and pride.

"In this way, Ying'er has come to the proclamation room, and she has already understood it?"

Liu Ying nodded in response, but did not answer, but turned her head slightly to look at her uncle Lu Shizhi who was not far away.

"The day before yesterday, the matter of my nephew entrusting my uncle, is there any clue?"

Seeing Liu Ying asking him a question suddenly, Lu Shizhi couldn't help straightening himself up.

"At home."

"The day before yesterday, I got an order from my family, so I went to Dongshi in person to ask about the price of grain and rice."

"Tian's Rice Shop in Dedong City said: The price of rice and stone is [-] yuan."

Having said this, doubts suddenly appeared on Lu Shizhi's face.

"However, yesterday, the private slave of the courtier's family went to Dongshi to ask each other. It is still Tianshi's rice shop in Dongshi. The price of rice has increased by [-] yuan per stone."

"I'm curious, so I went to ask in person again today. It's still Tian's rice shop in Dongshi, but the price of rice has reached eighteen hundred dollars..."

"Not only that, but I also sent two servants to share the money with three baht and half a tael, and they came back and forth."

"The servant who holds half a liang of money bought a stone of corn for [-] yuan."

"However, the servant with three baht of money went there, and the money in his hand was discovered. Tian's rice shop was erected and listed, saying that the rice was sold out, so it closed behind closed doors..."

After saying that, Lu Shizhi couldn't help but bowed to Liu Ying with a little anxiety.

"Today, the price of rice in Chang'an is rising by [-] yuan a day. If the family wants to buy rice with money in the market, they must hurry!"

"And if you want to buy grain, you should have enough money for Qin Banliang..."

Hearing Lu Shizhi's words that "the price of rice is [-] yuan a stone", Liu Ying was already a little worried.

I also heard from Lu Shizhi that the price of grain in Chang'an is rising at the rate of [-] yuan per shi almost every day. On Liu Ying's face, there is finally a touch of melancholy visible to the naked eye.

On the other hand, the grain merchants only recognized Qin Ban Liang's coins, but not the three baht coins minted by his father Liu Bang. Liu Ying was already mentally prepared.

——Let's not talk about Chang'an, even in Guanzhong, it's not a new thing that the people don't recognize the circulation ability of three baht coins.

"The price of food has risen too fast..."

While Liu Ying was thinking about it, she saw Lu Zhi holding Liu Ying's hand curiously, temporarily pulling Liu Ying's thoughts back to her eyes.

"However, the treasury has no grain, and Marquis Feng is still unable to allocate grain to the Shaofu. Ying'er wants to use money to buy grain in the market to relieve the Shaofu's current difficulties?"

Hearing this question, Liu Ying couldn't help shaking her head slightly, and then nodded slightly with a bitter face.

"Xiao Xiang is in charge of his father's army, and with more than 40 people's food and grass supplies, the national treasury is indeed a bit tight."

"However, Prime Minister Xiao did not refuse to allocate grain and rice. Thinking of the tightness of the state treasury, he discussed with Xiao: the state treasury pays half of the shortage of grain and rice in the Shaofu."

"The other half want to sell money, goods and food to the market."

Hearing Liu Ying's summary explanation, Lu Zhi thought for a moment, and finally nodded slowly.

"Yes······"

"Lu's nephew, old man, mostly went out with His Majesty, and the feudal country was farther than the Guandong. It was not a ten-month effort to lose his last year's rent and tax to enter the customs."

"The battle between Kuang Dai and Zhao is imminent, and there is a lot of turmoil in the Guandong. If grain is imported from outside the pass, it will be inconvenient..."

After saying these words with emotion on his face, Lu Zhi smiled encouragingly and nodded to Liu Ying again.

"Ying'er wants to sell money, goods and food in the market, it is indeed more appropriate."

Listening to the old lady's praise of herself without hesitation, Liu Ying forced herself to smile, and immediately lowered her head with a little distress.

Even if the old lady didn't say it, Liu Ying knew very well in her heart that there was another drawback in transporting grain from the Guandong to the Guanzhong.

——The food price in Kanto is more expensive than that in Guanzhong...
Instead of transporting the grain from Lu Shizhi, Lu Chan and other Lu's children's feudal states in Kanto to Guanzhong, it is better to sell the grain in Kanto and buy it now in Guanzhong. .

But Liu Ying really didn't quite understand why the price of food in Guanzhong is still rising rapidly at a rate of [-] yuan per stone now that the twelfth lunar month and winter are approaching!
After a moment of silence, Liu Ying frowned and looked at Lu Shizhi with a gloomy look.

"Dare to ask my uncle."

"—Compared with previous years, is there any difference in the increase in grain prices in Guanzhong today?"

Liu Ying really doesn't understand that the price of grain, already as high as [-] renminbi per shi, is still rising by [-] renminbi per day.

But when Lu Shizhi heard the words, he hesitated for a while and turned his head to look at his younger sister Lu Zhi.

After Lu Zhiwen nodded with a smile, Lu Shizhi bowed to Liu Ying.

"Maybe the family doesn't know."

"——Since the first year of the Han Dynasty, when His Majesty was able to return the Sanqin and took control of Guanzhong, the price of grain in Guanzhong has fluctuated more and more."

As he said that, Lu Shizhi's face also quietly showed a little sentimental color.

"Let's say that the year before last, Guanzhong was slightly droughty. After the autumn harvest, the price of rice and stone was [-] yuan."

"However, from the autumn and August of the ninth year of the Han Dynasty, the price of grain has risen to more than [-] yuan in stone!"

"In spring and March, the stone is [-] yuan, in summer and April, it is [-] yuan; in autumn and July, when the Supreme Emperor dies, and when the autumn harvest in Guanzhong is approaching, the price of grain starts from [-] yuan in summer and April, slowing down. down to a full two thousand renminbi per stone."

"As for the autumn harvest, when the people of Guanzhong sold grain to the merchants, the price of rice and stone was [-] yuan; since then, it has risen gradually, and the price is [-] yuan..."

Listening to Lu Shizhi's explanation, Liu Ying's annoyance on the face finally turned into reality little by little.

"The closer to the autumn harvest, the lower the price..."

"Isn't this what the grain merchant did deliberately?"

As she spoke, Liu Ying's brows were also tightly knit together.

"After the autumn harvest, it is the grain merchants who buy grain from the people, and the price is low; in spring and summer, when the people are green and yellow, it is the people who buy grain from the merchants, and the price is high."

"--So, is it possible that evil grain merchants deliberately do this, buying low and selling high, in order to exploit farmers?!"

Liu Ying's angry reprimand made Lu Shizhi bow his head slightly ashamed.

Seeing Liu Ying thinking for a while, she asked again: "In this case, after the autumn harvest, why did the people sell the harvested grain to such evil merchants?"

"Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to store and eat at home?"

Barely suppressing the anger in her chest and asking, Liu Ying's face was full of anger.

Liu Ying could understand the meaning of Lu Shizhi's words.

——After the autumn harvest, the common people leave some grain, and the rest will be sold at a low price to the merchants who buy the grain.

In the following year, the common people will use the money from the sale of grain to buy back the grain sold to the merchants at a price higher than 01:30, and use it as food for their families.

Once in and out, the grain merchants easily take away a small half, or even more than half, of the farmers' hard work for a year!

——When buying grain from farmers, the price is determined by the grain merchant; when it comes to selling grain to the common people, the grain price is still determined by the grain merchant!
Here, the operable space can be said to be vast!
The reason is very simple: the autumn harvest is over, I will pay you [-] yuan to buy your grain, will you sell it or not?
If you don't sell it, I'm in collusion with my colleagues, don't even try to sell your food!
In a few months, you will still sell me the grain for [-] renminbi, and I will return it to you for [-] renminbi. Will you buy it?
Not buying?

Love to buy or not!

I say hello to my colleagues, if you don’t buy it, your whole family will starve to death!

And this business model has a more popular and understandable name in later generations.

--monopoly!
Control the price by monopolizing the market, thereby lowering the cost infinitely and raising the selling price infinitely, so as to obtain almost unlimited profits!

But it is difficult for Liu Ying to understand: how is food monopolized?

Sell ​​it at a low price, and buy it back at a high price—just don’t sell it, and keep it for yourself, wouldn’t it be fine?

Liu Ying felt that she must have missed something crucial.

——The reason why people can only sell grain to grain merchants instead of keeping it at home.

Thinking of this, Liu Ying raised her head and stared into the depths of Lu Shizhi's gaze without looking sideways.

Lu Shizhi couldn't help feeling guilty when Liu Ying stared at him so directly.

After all kinds of thinking, he still said vaguely to himself: "I don't know why the people supply food to the merchants."

"However, last year, I heard that the son of the prince said: If you don't sell low-priced goods and grain merchants, you can build warehouses and store them if you don't pay the rent and tax of the country."

"The ministers calculated that it would cost nearly a hundred gold to build a warehouse that can store grain and rice of one hundred thousand shi?"

As he said that, Lu Shizhi raised his head slightly, but his eyes couldn't help avoiding it, and he didn't dare to look at Liu Ying at all.

"There are thousands of households in the city of Chenshi. When I first heard about the cost of building storage capacity, I was a little bit tongue-tied."

"As for the farmers in Guizhou, Xu also has no money to build warehouses..."

(End of this chapter)