Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 582 On Taihang Mountain
Shanxi Duliangdao Zhangji has been living a very moist life recently.

Although Shanxi suffered great damage after the rebellion by Jiang Yu and others, and there were even two locust plagues this year, which affected the grain harvest, but these were indifferent to Zhang Ji.

He is now the governor of the grain road and also the post post road, holding the power of a province's grain road.

The more wars and famines, the more valuable the food in his hands.

The autumn harvest has already begun. Although due to drought, locust plagues, and the impact of war this autumn, the grain planting in Shanxi has not resumed, and the output is far lower than in previous years. However, the grain harvest season is here again, and it is time for him to stretch out his hands and make money roll in. .

In the past autumn and this summer, Zhang Ji has made a lot of money. Not only has he paid off the 3 taels of Beijing debts and private debts he borrowed, but he also has more than 5 taels of silver besides expenses.

When I first came here, I had to deal with many parties. Now that the relationship is stable, now is the time to make money with peace of mind.

Before officially opening the scales to collect grain, Zhang Ji also specially invited the confidantes of various partners to come to secret discussions, including the governor, the governor's children, staff, generals of the garrison, and even the shopkeepers of several big imperial merchants, etc. .

"Master, there are people coming from the mountains."

Zhang Ji was very satisfied with the talks with the representatives of each company. Everyone has had a cooperative relationship for a year. The previous cooperation was very pleasant and they are willing to continue.

Regarding the collection of autumn grain in Shanxi, they all agreed with the new method proposed by Zhang Ji.In general, it is to first ask all the people to pay food in their own colors, and collect food by mu.

In the past, one tael of silver was deducted from the land tax per mu, and then other services were discounted at two cents and two cents per mu, and three cents were added to each mu. Adding [-]% ​​to fire consumption, [-]% to [-]% and [-]% to [-]% and [-]% to [-]% for the balance, etc., and [-]% for transportation, wear and tear, staff food expenses, transportation fees, and registration paper and pen fees. .

Therefore, four cents and nine are actually added, and one tael, two cents and five are added, so it is one tael, seven cents and four.

Of course, this is only on the surface. They had other ways to get money last year.

For example, some tampering with Fama, using old Fama or even fake Fama directly, plus the methods of those officials when weighing, 100 taels of silver can get three taels on Fama, and then tampering with Fama when weighing, etc. I can get five taels.

The silver is collected to collect the silver, but how can the common people have so much silver in their hands?

So last year, Zhang Ji’s method was to deliberately suppress the purchase price of grain before the tax was collected, and the common people would not sell it to them at a low price, because it was purchased by a government-designated grain merchant and could not be sold to others.

Originally, a stone of grain was worth a few taels of silver, but they could force it down to one tael.The people exchange grain for silver to pay taxes, and they have to fiddle with the silver scales and weights, and even make another one on the fineness.

In the end, the people were actually corrupted too much.

After Zhang Ji collected the silver, he re-melted it and mixed it with lead secretly to reduce the fineness of the silver ingots, and then made a fortune.

Anyway, this matter has become an alliance of interests, from the governor to the local prefect, the garrison general, etc., all have a share.

But this year, Zhang Ji felt that the amount of money was still insufficient, so he proposed a new method of grain collection.

This year, the true nature of the collection is to collect grain directly by mu.

But it's not as simple as simply collecting food.

The previously set silver conversion standard is one tael per mu, two cents for small silver, and various expenses, etc., and finally one tael per mu and seven cents for four. But it also increases consumption envy and so on.

This year it is called grain requisition, but it is not calculated according to how much grain is levied per mu as before, but according to the one tael and seven cents collected last year.

Zhang Ji intends to convert the one tael to seven quarters into grain first, and convert it into seven buckets and four liters of grain at a low price. In fact, it is impossible to have grain of one tael and one stone now, and the price of grain in Shanxi must be at least three Two stones.

But he paid grain at the rate of one tael and one stone in advance, so one mu had to pay one stone, seven buckets and four liters of grain.

However, the so-called natural grain collection is also false.

Zhang Ji first converted the land silver into real grain, and then asked the people to pay the silver at the market price. Previously, one stone was discounted for one tael, but now the market price is set at one stone for three taels of silver. This conversion, originally one mu of silver was paid one tael July [-]th, now it has become five taels of money and two cents.

Triple it.

But this is not over, because what Zhang Ji wants is food, and food is more valuable.

So just like last year, before the money was paid, he would buy the money he got from big households, grain merchants, and ordinary people, and he would pay two taels of silver for one stone of grain, and he would be short of a penny.

Common people's grain is converted into silver, five taels and two taels of money, but buying from the common people is one or nine taels of money and one tael.

I made three times the price difference from the common people before, and now I have to make another one.

This brain is exhausted.

Some of the bought food was delivered to the capital, some was supplied to the army, and some was purchased by the military bank. The price for the army was five taels and one stone.

Anyway, in order to make money, Zhang Ji was extremely crazy and bold.

But everyone from top to bottom opened up the joints for him, shared the money together, and naturally covered it up together.

But the greedy Zhang Ji doesn't know what it means to accept as soon as he sees it.

He secretly made a deal with the Ming army boldly.

Hearing that friends came from the mountains, he entertained them himself.

This friend from the mountains actually came from the Taihang Mountains. He was Yang Guohai, the nephew of Tu Guobao, the governor of Tianjin in the Ming Dynasty.

The two secretly hooked up last year.

Yang Guohai sells private salt to Zhang Ji, and Zhang Ji sells grain to Tu Guobao.

The salt in exchange was sold in Shanxi and other places to make another fortune.

"How much salt did Brother Yang bring this time?" Zhang Ji asked with a smile.

"Five thousand stone salt, just outside Jingxing Niangzi Pass."

"Still according to the old rules, one stone of salt is exchanged for one stone of grain?" Zhang Ji asked.

During the reign of Chongzhen, the price of salt was not expensive. In Huaiyang and Susong, where salt was produced, a hundred catties of salt cost only two renminbi at the beginning of Chongzhen.

Salt is several times cheaper than grain.

Of course, Huaiyang Susong belongs to the salt producing area, and the salt is cheap.In the interior, especially Shaanxi salt is more expensive, Huazhou salt sold for nine taels of silver per hundred catties at its peak.

Because Shanxi has a large salt pond like Jiechi, the price of salt is not expensive in Taiping years, no more than one tael of silver per hundred catties.

Salt is cheaper than grain.

But now the Ming army controls the coastal salt-producing areas, and in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places controlled by the Tartars, the supply of salt is insufficient, and the price of this salt is very high.

The salt and grain trade between Zhang Ji and Yang Guohai last year was directly one-to-one. The two parties traded in the Niangziguan area, with one hand for the salt and the other for the grain.

Tu Guobao and Yang Guohai are not short of salt, but they are short of food. They are now active in the Taihang and Zhending areas. Shanxi Rebel Army Zhang Ding also joins them.

Salt for food is still relatively cost-effective.

"Five thousand stones is too little."

"This is just the first batch. As long as Mr. Zhang can get food, we can get as much salt as we want."

"it is good."

"Your Excellency, can you really get more food?" Yang Guohai said that he recently heard some rumors that it was Zhang Ji's food collection plan, and he felt a little unbelievable. Is this kind of collection possible?

"What can't you do?"

"My lord folds left and right for an acre of land. In the end, I get five taels of silver for an acre of land. Can the common people pay it? Let alone the situation in Shanxi in the past two years?"

But Zhang Ji just stroked his beard and smiled, "What is the price of grain in the north now? In fact, Brother Yang, you also know that it is more than ten taels of silver in Beijing, so no matter how much it is discounted, it is more than five taels per mu. room."

He doesn't care whether the tax is paid or not, anyway, get a higher number first, which is to leave room for those unscrupulous people to bargain, and there will definitely be some who will not be able to pay. Just right.

He doesn't care about the life and death of the people, no matter whether he pays five taels and two silvers per mu for the common people, or distributes grain to large merchants and only pays one taels and nine silvers per stone, the purpose is only to make money.

The Shanxi merchants headed by the Eight Great Imperial Merchants can give him at least five or six taels of grain when he gets the grain.

Before and after, it is six or seven times the silver to start with.

And he got the salt from Yang Guohai, and he could earn several times the profit by reselling it.

Although it is said that he also studied hard for 20 years and passed the Jinshi examination, and has read sage books for many years, but these years of ups and downs in the officialdom, he has long understood the officialdom, and being an official is for money.

If you have money, you can go to the door, you can go to the government, go to the fat vacancies, and get more money, then you can make connections, find bigger backers, get promoted to higher officials, get fatter vacancies, and earn more money. Much money.

When the fishing is almost done, you can return to your hometown and enjoy it with peace of mind.

As for the rest, don't worry about what to do.

If you have the right not to use it, it will become invalid after the expiration date.

This superintendent is a fat job, and he can only work for three years at most, so he has to give up his position to others. If he doesn't hurry up to make money, he will lose his chance if he waits.

"Master Zhang, can you get some horses? Next time we want to exchange salt for some horses." Yang Guohai said bluntly.

Zhang Ji glanced at Yang Guohai. He actually knew the identity of the man opposite him. He was the nephew of the big traitor Tu Guobao.

Local national treasure Yang Guohai and other activities were carried out in Baoding, Zhending, and Taihang, Hebei. Although they did not occupy the big cities, they were not small, especially they were able to communicate with the coast for smuggling.

Zhang Ji also knows that Tu Guobao is just a partial teacher, and that he can make trouble like this in Hebei, it is by no means how powerful he can fight, just like himself, the grain governor of Shanxi, who does business with him secretly, among the officials and generals in Hebei, he must There are also many people who secretly colluded with Tu Guobao.

"Marco is not easy to handle."

"We exchange salt. The market price of a good horse is only more than 12 taels, and generally only [-] taels are enough for a war horse. How about we exchange two rock salt for a horse?"

"I don't have any horses."

"Will Shanxi merchants still lack horses?"

Zhang Ji smiled, "I'll give it a try. If I can get a horse, I can exchange an ordinary horse for three stones of salt, or a good horse for six stones of salt?"

Yang Guohai secretly scolded that this collection is really greedy, it's too much to pluck the feathers, this is obviously because he has to charge [-]% of the handling fee for passing it.

"An ordinary horse is two stones and a half of salt, and a good horse is five stones of salt. An ordinary horse can earn at least half a stone of salt. At the current price, this half of rock salt is worth several taels, not a lot."

Zhang Ji laughed, "I also need to manage up and down, well, let's make it so."

But Yang Guohai said again, "There is one more thing I want to discuss with Mr. Zhang. You see, we have cooperated so well. Mr. Zhang is here in Shanxi. If you know some news that is not good for us, for example, soldiers from Shanxi are going to enter Hebei through Jingxing. Could you let us know in advance?"

"this······"

"Master Zhang, our business is very profitable, and we hope to have a long-term cooperation, right?"

Zhang Ji stroked his beard and nodded slightly. Such partners are still hard to come by, and he hopes to get more salt through them, not to mention there is a big horse sale now.

"A word is settled!"

"It's a word."

(End of this chapter)