Dahan first prince

Chapter 163 Hey!Stupid?
Following Chuntuo's guidance, Chen Ping looked through the bamboo slips displayed in the dozen or so wooden boxes in order, and Chen Ping finally sat back in his seat thoughtfully.

He closed his eyes and meditated for a long time, only to see that Chen Ping slowly opened his eyes and looked at Liu Ying with a little solemnity.

"At home."

After bowing to Liu Ying, Chen Ping raised his head towards the dozen or so wooden boxes in the center of the hall.

"The policy of 'the Shaofu official manages Guan Zhongliang rice' as mentioned by the family, I have roughly known it."

"Ranchen, there are still a few things I don't know, and I ask my family to explain it for me..."

After saying that, he saw Chen Ping stood up all the time, let out a long and leisurely sigh, and immediately turned to look at Xiao He who was sitting opposite him.

"Dare to ask Prime Minister Xiao."

"——Today's national treasury, in addition to the current year's salaries of courtiers and officials, local county and county officials, and the food and grass needed by His Majesty's army for three months, how much is the remaining food?"

"—and there is not much money in the mansion, but for the matter of grain and rice in the Shangguan camp of Yu's family, maybe there is money and food to help?"

Hearing Chen Ping's question, Xiao He couldn't help but heaved a long sigh, and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Qu Nihou came here with His Majesty's order, and asked him with the resources of the government and treasury. I dare not hide this from Qu Nihou."

"The treasury of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Mo Yan's 'surplus grain', is the Lumi of the official assistant, and the military rations of His Majesty's army, it can be said to be stretched!"

Saying that, Xiao He couldn't help but smiled bitterly again, and looked at Chen Ping with a self-deprecating face.

"Marquis Qu Ni perhaps forgot?"

"——When His Majesty's army went out to fight, in order to raise food and grass for the army to set out, the old man once reported to His Majesty: In the first few months of the year, half of the salary of the court and local officials will be temporarily paid."

"His Majesty's army set out, and since the autumn and September of last year, the battle began in Handan. It has been half a year since now."

"Only half a year old, the old man sent the treasury food to lose His Majesty's army, no less than five million shi..."

Speaking of this, Xiao He already showed his old face, but he couldn't help showing a trace of deep exhaustion and sorrow.

"Last year, the valleys in Guanzhong were not plentiful. The yield per mu in Weibei was only two and a half shi, and in Weinan it was only slightly more than two shi. All over Guanzhong, the yield of grain and rice was only more than [-] million shi."

"Your Majesty is benevolent and loves the people. He lightly pays taxes and imposes an agricultural tax of 'one out of fifteen'. In this way, the agricultural tax in Guanzhong last year was only more than [-] million shi."

"The more than [-] million stones are also for local counties and counties. According to the regulations, [-]% of them are kept for the maintenance of straight roads and post stations."

"Thus last year, the Guanzhong agricultural export tax entered the national treasury, but only 900 to [-] million shi..."

After saying that, Xiao He finally sighed with exhaustion, looked sideways at Liu Ying, and laughed at himself.

"The national treasury gets 900 shi of agricultural tax, and the salaries of Shanchaotang, county and county officials need more than half of it."

"Also, His Majesty's army has been out for half a year, and it has consumed more than 500 million shi of grain; and the war has not yet ended, and in the future, the old man will also transport grain and rice, a million shi, for His Majesty's army, thinking that the generals will be fed."

Expressing all the suffering in his heart, Xiao Hecai finally looked at Chen Ping again, his haggard eyes were filled with sorrow and helplessness.

"So that Marquis Qu Ni knows."

"——If the old man uses the 'half salary' to prepare for this year's autumn harvest, the local counties and courts have the salary of officials and officials, and the current treasury is already unable to supply the food and grass needed by His Majesty's army!"

"For now, I have to temporarily withdraw the salaries of officials and assistants, and give them to Your Majesty as military rations; in April, when the agricultural tax of Shu land 300 million shi goes into the treasury, then the salaries of officials and assistants will be cut off for the time being. Your Majesty's army will be cut off from food supplies. ..."

Following Xiao He's revealing of these fairly accurate data, the atmosphere in the hall became inexplicably silent.

Liu Ying was better. Knowing about the official grain management, these problems can basically be solved, so her complexion is not too heavy.

Chen Ping frowned tightly, and slammed his clenched hand on the table in front of him, his face full of worry.

"It has come to such a place......"

Hearing Chen Ping's slight murmur, Xiao He just gave another wry smile.

"The reason for this is that in the ninth year of the Han Dynasty, there was no war in the Kanto region, and the national treasury was a little overwhelmed with food."

"If this is not the case, I am afraid that in the first ten months of the year, the treasury will no longer be able to transport grain and rice, thinking that the grain and grass of His Majesty's army..."

Hearing Xiao He's cry again, Chen Ping's worried expression only deepened, and after thinking for a moment, he couldn't help raising his head slightly.

"The national treasury is like this, and the funds in the Shaofu..."

In the middle of speaking, without even saying the subject of the question, Chen Ping stopped talking happily, sat down and shook his head and sighed.

——The state treasury of the Xiangfu, no matter how poor it is, there is at least one "agricultural tax" that cannot be shaken and is sent to the state treasury every year.

Shaofu, although there is a mouth tax in name, but since the day when the three baht coin was born, the money in the Shaofu has basically been in a state of "only going out but not getting in"...
If it weren't for this, the oral taxes of millions of people every year would amount to tens of millions of dollars.

Even if the tens of millions of money is still a little pitifully small for the central court, but no matter what, it is tens of millions of dollars per year.

After accumulating a lot, saving for three to five years, and holding hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits, the Shaofu will not be able to afford the funds to build a Chang'an city until now.

Not to mention that in the past few years, not only did the Shaofu fail to save money, but under the order of the emperor Liu Bang, it melted copper and half taels into three bahts of lead...

Thinking of this, Chen Ping frowned and shook his head in self-concern, and finally turned sideways with worry on his face, and bowed his hands heavily to Liu Ying.

"Dare to ask the family."

"—Today's national treasury, even though the officials are in charge of their salaries, they have to let go of half of their power for the time being."

"There is little money in the mansion, let alone a single coin or a grain of rice."

"However, the family's policy of 'specializing in grain and rice' seems to need to be located in Guanzhong, where there are nearly [-] grain markets and nearly [-] granaries!?
"Where will the money and grain for setting up the grain market and building the granary come from?"

As he said that, Chen Ping bowed his head and pondered again, and asked again: "For the grain market, you need city officials; for granaries, you need warehouse officials."

"In addition to the city officials and storehouse officials, another soldier should be sent to the left and right to protect the stability of the granary."

"Where should the salaries of these city officials and warehouse officials come from, as well as the food and salaries of the soldiers guarding the warehouse?"

Having said that, Chen Ping raised his hand again, pointing to the dozen or so wooden boxes in front of him.

"On the other hand, I seem to have seen that the family wrote a letter on the bamboo slips, saying: The Shaofu specializes in grain and rice, which is almost the same as the grain merchant Mi Jia in the past. They all buy grain for the people after autumn, and spring and summer, the goods and grain are sold to the people. Food."

"Since that's the case, where will the money for the Shaofu's purchase of grain come from?"

Expressing all the doubts in his heart, Chen Ping finally stood up from his seat and bowed deeply to Liu Ying.

"The family proposes a policy of monopolizing grain and rice in order to calm the turmoil of grain prices in Guanzhong today; if it is implemented, it will make it possible for the community to no longer have the risk of turmoil in grain prices and the sorrow of the people."

"Such a good strategy that benefits the country and the people, I shouldn't say anything wrong; however, this time I return to Chang'an, I have your Majesty's order to 'inquire about the strategy'..."

"It's difficult to count here, and I have a mission, so I dare not not ask..."

After saying that, Chen Ping bowed his hands solemnly and bowed deeply to Liu Ying.

Hearing Chen Ping's question, Xiao He couldn't help turning his head with worry, and observed Liu Ying's expression changes.

But when Liu Ying heard Chen Ping's words, she smiled again, pointed her hand slightly at Xiao He, and said to Chen Ping: "Just now, Prime Minister Xiao also used this to count the difficulties, and asked each other."

"Qu Nihou's coming here is really a coincidence..."

After waiting for a teasing word, Liu Ying smiled and shook her head, signaling Chuntuo to help Chen Ping up.

When Chen Ping was helped back to his seat, and An Ran knelt down, Liu Ying sighed a little, and suddenly straightened her face.

"Since Xiao Xiang and Qu Nihou both asked this question, they are alone, so let's answer it together."

After saying a word in a serious tone, Liu Ying let out a breath, and immediately laughed at herself.

"The policy of official grain and rice management came from the moment when I knew that the price of grain in Guanzhong was booming, and it originated from the time when the grain merchant Mi Jiatun lived strangely in order to make huge profits."

"At that time, Gu only thought: Mi Jia, a grain merchant, was a person who was afraid of power but not virtuous, greedy but not sympathetic to the suffering of the people; therefore, the matter of grain and rice should be handled by the court."

"As for the details of the franchise, Gu also thought at that time: just buy grain for the people after autumn, store grain in the warehouse for winter, and sell it for people's food in spring and summer, that's all."

Having said that, Liu Ying smiled and shook her head again.

"However, after thinking about this strategy carefully, and trying to speak to the Shaofu, I will only know that this matter is definitely not so easy, and it can be done."

"——The grain merchant Mijia, if the money is abundant, he can buy the grain of a county; if it is not abundant, he can temporarily buy the grain of a village or a mile."

"However, if the Shaofu wants the government to manage the rice in Guanzhong, it is better to buy all the grain and rice produced in Guanzhong after the autumn harvest!"

"Today, Shaofu sells cheap grain in the south of Chang'an. The price of rice is 2000 renminbi; the price of grain is tens of thousands of renminbi, and the lunch box is [-] million renminbi!"

As she said that, Liu Ying's face became even more playful, and there was a little helplessness in her smile.

"2000 million yuan..."

"Hey······"

"Today, Shaofu imports taxes at the age of one year, but only two or thirty million yuan; the agricultural tax that the national treasury receives at the age of one year is no more than ten million stones of grain and rice."

"If you want to have enough money to buy grain with tens of thousands of stones, you may have to spend a thousand years' worth of income from the Shaofu, or the national treasury, all the agricultural taxes that you get at the age of ten..."

Liu Ying couldn't help but let out a long sigh when she said these words with an extremely helpless expression.

As the saying goes: Everything is difficult at the beginning.

This sentence is undoubtedly the most appropriate when it comes to business matters.

To put it bluntly, Shaofu's official grain management is to end up in Shaofu's official capacity and set up a state-owned enterprise similar to "Zhi Su Duwei".

And this state-owned enterprise needs to replace all the original grain merchants in Guanzhong to achieve a monopoly on the grain market in Guanzhong!

This is also the biggest difficulty and obstacle for the 'grain and rice franchise'.

——Monopoly requires spending money~
Even if Liu Ying uses official coercive means to forcibly clear the Guanzhong Grain Market, if Shaofu can seamlessly take over the big plate of "Guanzhong Grain Market", a huge start-up capital will be needed.

And in this start-up capital, just the item of "purchase" needs what Liu Ying just said: 2000 million yuan...
"Whoo~"

Breathing out with difficulty, Liu Ying finally pulled out her emotions from the previous state of depression and suffocation.

When looking at Chen Ping and Xiao He again, Liu Ying's eyes already had an unquestionable confidence.

"So lonely: If you want the Shaofu to specialize in the grain in Guanzhong, you can't buy grain from the people with money after autumn!"

Leaving this extremely absurd sentence without changing her face, Liu Ying leaned her upper body back a little with satisfaction, her eyes switching back and forth between Xiao He and Chen Ping.

Looking at the strange faces of the two of them in a short while, Liu Ying couldn't help but smile to herself.

"Hey!"

"It's really a shame for the young master to be a time traveler, and he doesn't even understand the operation mode of the bank?"

With a slander in the back, Liu Ying didn't give in anymore, but put all the grand plans in her heart in front of the dumbfounded Chen Ping and Xiao He.

"In my opinion, in the past, although grain merchants talked about 'goods and grain', they bought in autumn, stored in the East, and sold in spring and summer. What they did was to temporarily store grain for farmers."

"Gu has also found out: the reason why farmers sell the grain obtained from the farm at a low price to merchants after autumn, and then buy it back at a high price in the next spring and summer, but many of the farmers are poor and weak, and have no money to build granaries, Store the rice grain obtained from self-cultivation."

"Today I want to make the Shaofu officials manage grain and rice, but the Shaofu takes the former grain merchant Mi Jia and replaces it; what the Shaofu does is still store grain on behalf of the people."

"That is to 'storage grain on behalf of the people', how can you buy or sell it?"

Hearing that what Liu Ying said seemed absurd but actually made sense, Chen Ping and Xiao He both showed shock on their faces.

——Store grain on behalf of the people?
Together, Chen Ping and Xiao He lived to be more than a hundred years old. Have you ever heard the term "grain storage on behalf of the people"?

But after careful consideration, isn't that what Liu Ying said?

People can't save their own grain, so they can only sell it to grain merchants first, and when they want to eat, they can buy grain little by little with the money they got from selling grain and go home to eat.

And in this process, the businessman naturally relied on his dominant position to unscrupulously control the rise and fall of food prices.

During the autumn harvest, when they want to buy farmers' grain, the merchants will naturally lower the price crazily; in spring and summer, when they want to sell grain to the farmers, they will raise the price crazily.

In this way, the grain sold by farmers is eventually eaten back into their own stomachs.

But after this kind of buying and selling, the grain is sold by the merchant, and then stored in the warehouse for half a year, half of the grain sold by the farmers becomes the merchant's...
"Um······"

After pondering for a long time, and barely digesting the concept of 'storing grain on behalf of the people', Xiao He looked at Chen Ping, who was his opponent, with slightly hesitant eyes.

"What does Qu Nihou think?"

Just as he was deep in thought, when he heard that he asked a cold question with a smile, Chen Ping was taken aback for a moment, and then he quickly collected his expression.

"Grain storage on behalf of the people..."

"Um······"

After pondering for a long time, Chen Ping also looked at Xiao He with some hesitation.

"Although it is a little novel, it is true in detail."

"——In the past, what the grain merchant Mijia did was basically as the family said, but it was just 'storing grain on behalf of the people'..."

(End of this chapter)