marquis of jingan

Chapter 30

In this era, there is no yamen that manages prices. Although a certain gentleman set up a permanent warehouse to balance prices in the early years, the new law was abolished not long after it was implemented.

This has led to extremely unstable food prices in a region.

In good years, grain merchants collect grain at a low price, but they don’t sell it out at a low price. Instead, they hoard surplus grain and sell it at normal prices.

When the price of grain soars in a disaster year or when special circumstances arise, these grain merchants will sell the stored grain. Even if the new rice becomes old rice, the price will be far higher than the usual new rice at this time. .

This is the principle of no business, no evil.

It's not that there are no good people among businessmen, it's just that good people can't make a lot of money.

Now, if the government wants to buy grain from grain merchants, these grain merchants have to sell it. After all, the government is not as easy to bully as the ordinary people. Even if the government buys grain at a lower price, these grain merchants have to hold their noses and sell it .

In this case, it is inevitable to lose some money.

But which businessman is willing to lose money for no reason?So in just one afternoon, the news of the government's large-scale grain requisition spread throughout Jiangdu.

And in the rumors, it was not the government buying grain, but "grain collection".

When this news came out, it was to tell the people in Jiangdu that the government was about to buy all the food, and soon there would be a shortage of food in Jiangdu, which created panic and made the people scramble to go to the grain store to buy food, or hoard food .

After all, the city of Jiangdu is already one of the few prosperous cities in Dachen. The people in the city have basically completed "urbanization", which means that most of them have no land under their names, even if they have land in the countryside. , I will not take care of it myself.

In this case, once the rice line is short of food, the people in the entire Jiangdu City will go hungry.

"What a profiteer..."

Shen Yi muttered in a low voice.

Tian Laoba, who was sitting opposite Shen Yi, heard Shen Yi's muttering, stretched out his hand and scratched his head, and said, "Brother Shen, why didn't I understand your two words?"

"There's nothing I don't understand."

Shen Qilang said lightly: "The news from the grain merchants is nothing more than to tell the people in Jiangdu that Jiangdu will soon be short of grain. Brother Tian can go to the rice line and grain store to have a look. Some so-called "smart" "People", they are already queuing up at the entrance of the food store to buy food, ready to stockpile food."

Tian Laoba was still a little puzzled, and he said: "If the imperial court insists on collecting grain from our Jiangdu, then those grain merchants will have no grain, and the price increase is also a reasonable thing, no wonder they."

Shen Yi curled his lips in disdain.

"Brother Tian, ​​Jiangdu is just a mansion of Dachen, not a province. If the imperial court really wants to fight, how can it be possible to only mobilize food from Jiangdu's mansion?"

"No matter how much food the army needs, it won't be too much if it is distributed among the various governments. It is impossible to take away all the food from Jiangdu's grain merchants. It's just that those grain merchants took advantage of this opportunity to make trouble. Just scratch the people."

Having said that, Shen Yi turned his eyes, and suddenly thought of something, he took out a small piece of broken silver from his sleeve, put it in front of Tian Laoba, and said: "Brother Tian, ​​I will go back to the academy later , the master of the academy gave me a strategy, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come out these two days, you can go outside for a few more days, and help me find out about the situation of this food collection and..."

"And the changes in Jiangdu's grain prices."

Shen Qilang lowered his eyebrows and said: "If there is any situation, just write a note and send it to the academy. If it is urgent, you can go to the academy to find me."

Inquiring about news is what Tian Boping is best at. He reached out his hand to touch the broken silver that Shen Yi put on the table, weighed it, and then said with a smile on his face: "The whole Jiangdu city can't escape my eyes and ears. Brother Shen, don't worry. , brother will definitely let you know the cause and effect of this matter clearly."

Shen Yi smiled and nodded at him, got up to check out and left.

It was still noon, so there was no need to hurry back to the academy, so after Shen Yi left the teahouse, he was going to go home and have a look. As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the alley not far from his home, he saw the third son of Shen Ling, directing Driving a large cart, there were almost a dozen bags of grain piled up on the cart.

It was mid-May now, and the weather was hot and dry. Shen Ling wiped the sweat from his forehead, pointed to the door of his own house, and said, "It's that family, move to that house."

Shen Yi was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and smiled at Shen Ling, "Third brother, what are you doing?"

Shen Sanlang wiped his forehead with his sleeve, and looked up to see clearly that it was his brother. He shook his head and said helplessly: "I heard that the imperial court will collect grain from our Jiangdu, and it is estimated that the price of rice will rise, so I will prepare more for my brother." Prepare some at home, and go to the rice store in the afternoon to buy four shi rice."

Speaking of this, Shen Ling snorted and scolded: "Damn, these profiteers, I only heard the news this afternoon. Just when I went to buy grain, the price of rice has more than doubled!"

Shen Yi looked at the large cart of grain behind Shen Ling, thoughtfully.

One stone of grain in Dachen is 150 catties, and four grains of grain is [-] catties. Apart from Shen Ling and his wife, there are only two servants in Shen Ling's family. Come maid.

There are only four people in total, and six hundred catties of grain is enough for a year.

Shen Qilang smiled at Shen Ling, and asked, "Third brother, how much did you spend on these grains?"

"According to the original price of rice, four shi of grain is about one tael of silver, which is worth one or two taels of money."

Shen Sanlang was angry, and scolded: "These profiteers, four shimi took a full two taels of silver from my brother!"

Speaking of this, he said helplessly: "But I heard that the imperial court will collect grain from our Jiangdu on a large scale. If there is a shortage of grain in Jiangdu, the price of grain will at least rise until the autumn harvest this year, so we have to buy more."

It's only mid-May now, and there are still several months before the autumn harvest. In Shen Yi's opinion, the price of grain will probably rise again later, so he went to buy a cart of grain early and came back.

Shen Yi's family is from a poor family, but Shen Ling's family is not considered a poor family. After all, Shen Ling's father is in Renzhi County. , No matter what, it was enough for Shen Ling's young couple.

Two twenty-eight dollars... that is, two and a half.

Standing in front of this large cart of grain, Shen Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.

While Shen Yi was thinking, Shen Ling patted his brother on the shoulder and asked, "By the way, Lao Qi, why did you come home when you didn't study in the academy?"

"Oh."

Shen Yi came back to his senses, smiled at his elder brother, and said: "Two days ago, I was studying policy theory in the academy, and my younger brother got a top grade. The master gave the younger brother a few days off. I don't have to go back to the academy every day these days. I have nothing to do today. Let’s go home and have a look.”

"I said that you are the seed of reading, Lao Qi."

Shen Ling pulled Shen Yi's sleeve, said with a smile: "It's just right, I bought two hoofs today, and let your sister-in-law stew them for you."

While pulling Shen Yi's sleeve, he said: "Your sister-in-law made some snacks at home in the morning, and you can take some to the academy later and give it to Master Lu to taste. It is also a thank you for your kindness."

Shen Yi was dragged towards his brother's house, then looked back at the grain truck behind him, and suddenly smiled.

"Third brother, no matter whether the imperial court expropriates grain or not, if the price of grain continues to skyrocket, some profiteers will have their homes ransacked."

(End of this chapter)