Daming: Brother, there is no future for monks, let's rebel

Chapter 471 Zhu Han's Miraculous Means
Zhu Han thought that Liu Song's reaction would be more intense.

As an honest official, if he doesn't respond to such high food prices, then there is a big problem.

It's just that Zhu Han didn't expect that Liu Song's reaction would be so strong.

Others may think that Liu Song's death here is just talk.

But Zhu Han knew that this little old man really did such a thing.

If this doesn't satisfy Liu Song, this guy will really die in front of him...

Although Zhu Han was not afraid, no matter how high Liu Song's reputation was, it was impossible to surpass him, and it was impossible to surpass Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although there would be a lot of trouble, for him, Zhu Han, it would not cause any injuries.

But once Liu Song dies, Yanjing's government affairs may not be easy to deal with
For the time being, Zhu Han never imagined that someone with ability and morality and Liu Song's dislike would come to contact him.

"Master Liu, don't be impulsive. This king is doing this for the benefit of the people in the disaster area." Zhu Han hurriedly explained.

"The grain of four taels of silver and one stone is also for the benefit of the disaster-stricken people in Datong?"

Liu Song curled his mouth in disdain: "My lord is happy to do this for the common people, please forgive me, I really don't understand."

Zhu Han is speechless, don't think that you are great because you are a loyal minister, you can mock me as a prince if you are a loyal minister.

Believe it or not, my king...

Well, Zhu Han really has no good way to deal with people like Liu Song.

After all, no matter what Liu Song does, it is true that there is no selfishness involved.

Sometimes, this person looks rigid and unreasonable. That's because Liu Song lives in this era, not because of his lack of ability.

"Master Liu." Zhu Han asked solemnly, "Do you think money is more important or human life in this situation?"

Liu Song said decisively: "Of course human life is important."

"But my lord, please don't change the subject. It's impossible for ordinary people to afford four taels of silver and one stone of grain. Even if life is more important than money, ordinary people don't have so much silver to buy grain."

Liu Song looked like I didn't read much, but don't try to fool me.

Zhu Han was relieved. Although Liu Song was very dissatisfied with his decision, he did not lose his mind after all.

Still know the truth.

At that moment, Zhu Han patiently explained: "Lord Liu also served as a local parental officer, so he must have also experienced famines, right?"

Liu Song still has a nose, not a nose, and an eye: "Of course, thanks to His Majesty's perseverance, this humble minister has also been in charge."

"Because of this, Wei Chen is more aware of the importance of maintaining food price stability in the face of a catastrophe."

"Only when food prices are stable can the hearts of the people be stabilized."

"Food is the most important thing for the people. If the price of food cannot be guaranteed, the people in the disaster area will be panicked, and the consequences will be disastrous."

Zhu Han nodded solemnly: "Master Liu is right. If possible, the most important thing for the court to do in a catastrophic year is to stabilize food prices."

"As long as food prices are stable, people's hearts will be gone."

Liu Song thought that Zhu Han had listened to his advice, and his face softened slightly: "Since the prince knows..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Han asked with a half-smile, "It's just that I don't know if Mr. Liu noticed it."

"In areas severely affected by the disaster, although the government can use its power to restrict the sale of grain by those grain merchants."

"But every time this happens, the food for those grain merchants suddenly becomes insufficient."

"They can only buy dozens of buckets of rice every day, and they won't sell an extra grain of rice."

"The government can control the price of grain, but if someone says there is no food, the government can never force them to continue selling grain, right?"

"There seems to be no grain in the grain store, and the common people can't buy it with money."

"But on the black market, there is a lot of food. In order to survive, ordinary people can only pay high prices to buy food on the black market."

"Moreover, the stricter the government's control, the higher the price of grain on the black market."

Zhu Han's words were like sharp knives piercing Liu Song's heart.

Because Liu Song understood that everything Zhu Han said was correct.

He has personally experienced these scenes.

The more the government controls grain prices, the higher the grain prices will be.

On the surface, the price is indeed under control. All grain shops will sell grain at the price set by the government.

But as Zhu Han said, those grain stores can't sell much in a day.

They sell as little as possible, and close the store if they sell a little.

"For these damned profiteers, the government will of course use thunderous means, and there must be no sympathy!" Liu Song roared murderously.

It's just that Liu Song sat back down in the middle of the conversation.

Of course he has done this kind of thing.

Directly use thunderous means to cut down those grain merchants who drive up grain prices, and even ransack their homes.

But the result?

Although he got a lot of food, the food was just a drop in the bucket for the people affected by the disaster.

Moreover, it also made those grain merchants more careful and cautious.

In this case, the price of grain on the black market has actually risen a bit.

Seeing that Liu Song had figured out the key point, Zhu Han patiently and persuasively said: "Master Liu, now you understand my king's painstaking efforts?"

"At this time, the most important thing is not the price of food."

"No matter how expensive food is, as long as there is food to sell, as long as food can be bought, everything will be fine."

"This king knows that you look down on businessmen. However, the group of businessmen is definitely the group with the strongest ability to act."

"Transporting the same food to the disaster area, the time and cost of those merchants will be far less than that of the imperial court."

After a pause to allow Liu Song some time to digest, Zhu Han continued: "Of course, the premise is that these businessmen can make money, and the profits they make are something they would never even dare to think about."

"In order to make money, these people can do anything."

"Believe it or not, as soon as this price appears, all the merchants in Ming Dynasty will try their best to transport the grain to Datong."

"As long as there is enough food, the price is not a problem at all."

Liu Song seemed to understand something vaguely, but the Confucian education he had received for many years made him really unacceptable. This kind of practice of putting profit first in everything.

"But my lord, even if there is enough food, how can the people in the disaster-stricken area afford such a high price."

But Zhu Han laughed: "Lord Liu, you have served as a magistrate anyway."

"Whether the common people can afford the price of food depends on whether there is enough food in the local area."

"If there is so much food that you can't sell it all, what do you think will happen?"

This time, Liu Song understood Zhu Han's meaning after thinking for a while, and said pleasantly, "I understand, my lord. Since the grain has been transported to Datong, those merchants are naturally unwilling to reconcile and transport the grain back."

"In order to sell the grain as soon as possible, they will naturally choose to lower the price."

"Wait..." Liu Song seemed to think of something suddenly, and then he said in a difficult way: "But my lord, haven't you already said that the minimum price of grain shipped to Datong is four taels of silver? "

"Of course the grain merchants desperately shipped grain to Datong because of this temptation, but the minimum price set by the government is there, and they can't just lower the price casually."

Zhu Han was really speechless against an honest person like Liu Song.

Sure enough, ability is one thing, and brain is another.

"Master Liu, the price set by our government is too low. Those merchants can take advantage of the loopholes and sell the grain at a high price."

"Since this is the case, our official price is too high, and they can naturally find a way to let the common people buy food at a price far lower than the official price."

"At this time, the only thing our government has to do is to turn a blind eye."

Liu Song frowned slightly: "But my lord, will those merchants be dissatisfied with this?"

Hearing Liu Song's worries, Zhu Han sneered and said, "According to the current price, even if they only sell it for half a month, they can still make a lot of money. If this is still dissatisfied with the court, it is because they don't know Anyway."

At this point, Liu Song finally understood Zhu Han's "hard work".

Before, Liu Song thought that Zhu Han was deceived by lard, and when the people of Datong were in disaster, he still wanted to make money for the country.

Only now did I understand that Zhu Han had other intentions in doing so.

After all, he has served as a local parent officer, and he is not one of those nerds who can only study hard.

It soon became clear that money and human life were more important.

As soon as this official price appears, it can indeed attract a large number of merchants to transport grain to Datong.

As long as there is enough food, there will naturally be more people who can survive.

Although Liu Song still can't accept it emotionally, as long as the people can survive, he can barely figure it out.

After thinking about it, Liu Song's old face turned slightly red.

For the sake of the people of Datong, His Royal Highness even gave up his own reputation.

But he ran in front of the King of England and threatened His Highness the King of England with death or life, which was really inappropriate.

"My minister is reckless, please forgive me, my lord." Liu Song stood up and bowed deeply to Zhu Han in apology.

Zhu Han waved his hands angrily: "It's okay, get up. This king knows that Mr. Liu has no other intentions, just worried about the people of Datong."

If it weren't for knowing Liu Song's temper, other officials would have dared to jump out and sing against him at such a critical moment.

Zhu Han really doesn't mind, it's a profound lesson for those guys who invite their names to buy straight.

Liu Song sat down again, still regretting a bit: "Your lord's use of profit as bait this time has indeed greatly solved the food crisis in Datong."

"It's just the first period of time. I'm afraid the people will have a difficult time."

After all, the price of four taels of silver and one stone of grain, even Liu Song, as an official, felt that it was a bit ridiculously high.

Hearing Liu Song's words, Zhu Han blinked in confusion: "What does Master Liu mean by that?"

Liu Song was also taken aback: "The prince's food for four taels of silver and one stone is not something that ordinary people can consume."

"Before the grain merchants lower their prices, the common people must of course tighten their belts."

When Zhu Han heard this, he immediately said angrily: "I said Liu Song, you are a parent official for nothing."

Hearing Zhu Han's evaluation of himself, Liu Song was a little unconvinced immediately.

Although he doesn't feel that he is a talented person.

But I think that when I was in the local office, I did my best and never dared to slack off.

No matter where he left his post, Liu Song's official voice has always been quite good.

Now, the achievements he has made in the past are worthless by Zhu Han.

Liu Song naturally felt very unconvinced.

Judging from Liu Song's expression, Zhu Han knew what he was thinking, and immediately said angrily: "This king said you, you are still not convinced, are you?"

"We are the government, why should the common people buy food at the original price?"

"In order to compete for the places of these ten suppliers, those grain merchants have sharpened their heads and squeezed in with donations."

"Their donations are for the people in the disaster area."

"For those people who are really in need, the imperial court can use the grain donated by the grain merchants to distribute them directly."

"And for those people who have a certain amount of property but are not so wealthy, the imperial court can also give them a certain amount of subsidies when they buy grain."

"In this way, although they still spend more on buying food than usual, it will not be much more."

"In addition, the imperial court now has so many projects to do, and directly recruits workers in Datong to provide relief with work."

"At the same time as paying wages, let them have a meal, so that those who can consume the most food in the family will greatly reduce the food consumption."

"With such a combination of measures, the burden on the people is naturally much greater than before the disaster, but it is still within the tolerance of the people."

"You said, why do you want the common people to spend four taels of silver to buy the most expensive food?"

Liu Song only felt as if there was a thunderbolt, which struck down from the sky above, and just penetrated himself.

It turned out to be like this, and it can still be like this.

If things can really proceed as Zhu Han said.

Although food is very expensive, it seems that the burden of the common people is not as big as imagined.

The disaster in Datong this time was far more serious than the disasters that Liu Song had experienced before.

Liu Song also thought that even if the court handled it properly this time, it would hurt the bones.

But after Zhu Han's continuous fighting, such a severe drought seems to be nothing at all.

In the past, the court often had to invest a lot of manpower and material resources in disaster relief, and the effect was not very good.

But in the hands of Zhu Handi, he just raised the price of grain casually.

At first, Liu Song thought that the price should be borne by the common people.

However, in fact, the common people don't need so much money to buy food at all.

Although the government also needs to pay some money to buy food.

But the money used to be paid by the government.

Moreover, once the famine came, the grain merchants were almost on the opposite side of the government.

Now he has become a good helper of the government.

A win-win situation.

(End of this chapter)