The heavens start from saving Daming

Chapter 21 Good People, Let’s Buy All the Emperor’s Salt

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the situation was turbulent, and there were as many heroes as stars.

And the most famous woman is naturally Qinhuai Bayan.

Li Yunze, who went to the south of the Yangtze River, never thought about collecting stamps. He came here wholeheartedly to save the Ming Dynasty.

After all, before dealing with the Tartars, he had to forcibly straighten out the internal problems of Ming Dynasty.

But the subordinates all saw that he was a greedy person, and desperately put girls beside him.

What the eldest brother likes, the younger brothers will send whatever they like, that is really an old tradition.

As an honest gentleman, in order to prevent Li Xiangjun from being implicated by those idiots in Fushe, he could only reluctantly accept the girl.

He did this to protect his sister, and he had no other intentions!

Li Xiangjun was placed in the backyard and handed over to Gu Hengbo to take care of him.

After all, they are colleagues, and there was still a little friendship in the past.

The rooms where the girls lived were connected together. Li Xiangjun, who was too nervous and panicked that night, listened to the teaching process in the next room all night.

In the early morning of the next day, although the sky was already bright, the spring breeze from last night sent a cool breath through the window.

Hearing the news of the eunuchs helping Li Yunze get up and then leaving, Li Xiangjun, who hadn't slept almost all night, finally stopped thickening and sighed like a fish bubbling.

Great news soon came from the Jiangnan side, and the salt shops in various places encountered a large-scale rush to buy.

Flipping through the pile of paperwork sent over, Li Yunze asked a question that seemed unbelievable to Wen Tiren.

"Is there anyone from the salt shop who took the opportunity to increase the price to make a profit?"

Wen Tirenxin said, is now the time to pay attention to this?The common people will feel uncomfortable if there is no salt for one day, and they will cause trouble if there is no salt for ten days.Ask why anyone is making a profit, what do you think?
He hurriedly looked through the documents sent by Jinyiwei from all over the country, and then found more than a dozen "salt shops in these places took the opportunity to increase the price and sell them."

"These."

Li Yunze shook more than a dozen documents in his hand, "Those who raise prices will chase after stolen goods and pay fines, and then they will be dismissed and never hired. The jobs they leave behind will be replaced by their neighbors. Be sure to find familiar neighbors. The one with gaps in it is the best. If there are salt shops all over the world, and those who do the same thing, they will all do the same."

The job passed down from generation to generation was gone, and it actually fell into the hands of neighbors who had hatred in the past.

Shrimp and pig heart, nothing more than that.

Li Yunze was never worried about buying salt or something.

Those sand sculptures simply don't understand how terrifying the scale of modern industrial production is.

What really needs to be strictly controlled is the behavior of taking advantage of price increases to make profits.

This will greatly damage the credibility of the court and the reputation of the emperor.Increase the burden on the people.

If Li Yunze wanted to save Daming, he had to do everything possible to lighten the burden on the common people, fearing that they would tear up their clothes in fear of starvation and cold, and shouted, "The princes and generals have something to say."

No matter how much supplies he gets and how many elite soldiers he trains, he cannot face the people of the whole world.

After responding, the majestic Wen Tiren bowed his head and asked, "Long live, there is a shortage of salt in salt shops everywhere, but the daily output of salt farms is limited. How should we deal with this matter?"

"Ai Qing." Li Yunze asked with a straight face, "Is there a good plan."

Wen Tiren, who was secretly happy, responded hastily, "I have three strategies to solve this matter."

"Oh?" Li Yunze said in his heart that you are telling me about the Three Kingdoms. "Come on."

Wen Tiren, who was full of energy, immediately began to show his talent.

"It is the best policy to send Jin Yiwei to arrest profiteers who are hoarding and hoarding in various places."

Li Yunze, who picked up the tea bowl, was noncommittal, "Yes."

"Intensify efforts to crack down on salt lords, clear up their hidden private salt and increase supply, this is the middle strategy."

Li Yunze, who took a sip of his tea, hummed softly.

"Increase the price of salt, so high that profiteers can't afford it, it's a bad idea."

What I have to say is that although Wen Tiren is a traitor, he still has potential.

These three strategies, up, middle and down, are also ways to deal with this wave of panic buying.

It's just that Li Yunze doesn't need to be so troublesome.

"Open a shop to do business, people spend money to buy salt, why arrest people. Besides, after the turmoil broke out, the common people came to buy it after hearing the news. Are the common people arrested together? Confused!"

"As for paying the salt lords, you treat the salt lords as leeks in the field, and you can cut them if you want? Where can you go to catch the salt lords in a hurry, and there is no prospect of confiscating private salt. Nonsense."

He put down the tea bowl and shook his head slightly. "Finally, the unified retail price has been fixed in the written word before. If it is changed from day to day, the price will be raised. Where does the imperial court decree come from?"

"Tell Cao Wenzhao to gather all the ships of the Yangtze River Navy to the largest wharf outside Yangzhou City."

Li Yunze yawned and got up, "I have plenty of salt. It's easy to stock up on salt, and I satisfy their preferences."

Daming's salt production is high enough to meet everyone's needs.

But that is the annual output, which needs to be produced day by day.Encountering short-term panic buying will inevitably lead to tight supply.

If it were someone else, they could only use warm and benevolent strategies to deal with it, and the result would undoubtedly be burnt out.

But on Li Yunze's side, this is nothing to worry about.

The largest wharf in Yangzhou City is in Guazhou in the south of the city, across the river from Zhenjiang on the other side of the river.

The pier, which was originally very lively, quickly became deserted because of the severance of the private salt business.

Many coolies who lived on the pier against the package also lost their livelihood.

During these days, apart from earning some money when transporting official salt, their income has been greatly reduced.

The dissatisfied contractors were still discussing how to deal with it when they suddenly received a big job.

"Everyone goes to the pier, there are all ships waiting to load salt!"

When the anti-package coolies rushed to the pier, they saw that the river was full of navy ships.

When everyone was still wondering what happened, the gate of Nuo Da's warehouse not far away opened, and the guards shouted, "Everyone come in and fight the bag! A bag is a penny!"

As soon as the price came out, the coolies cheered and rushed to the warehouse.

For these packers who rely on their strength for food, it is not a big deal to carry a hundred or eighty packs.

That was hundreds of Wen, enough to support the family for half a month.

When they ran into the warehouse, what they saw was a mountain of salt bags, so densely packed that they couldn't count them.

Nothing to say, line up and start working.

Hundreds of bale-carriers worked together, transporting salt bales like an assembly line, and it didn't take long for a ship to be filled.

The ship over there immediately set sail and went straight to the prescribed destination along the waterway.

There is also a team of Jinyiwei on board, responsible for escorting and supervising the whole process.

The second boat approached quickly, and the packers got busy again.

From the busy time after breakfast to the afternoon, the mountain of salt bags in the warehouse was finally completely emptied.

The contractors who received their wages looked at the closed warehouse and happily counted the copper coins to go home.

Then a sergeant stopped them, "What are you doing, come here to work!"

Everyone was surprised, the door of another warehouse was opened, and after entering, there were piles of salt bags again!

"Where did you get so much salt?"

In the past, even if Jiangchun Jianghang was the first to ship, it would not be possible to have so many.

The contractors worked hard, and finally three salt warehouses were emptied in the evening.

When they were about to go home for dinner with a big bag full of copper coins, another sergeant shouted, "There is still work tonight, is there anyone willing to do it?"

Numerous torches were lit around the pier, hunting under the night wind.

The door of the fourth warehouse opened, and it was also full of salt bags.

There are contractors who are so tired that they grit their teeth and want to make money.But he was held back by a smarter companion, "Silly, go back and fill your stomach first before you start working! Now I have no strength, and I can carry a few more bags."

The packers who came back from the meal struggled to empty the fourth salt warehouse.

They were all happy when they came home, and they definitely made a lot of money today.

Although they are all so tired that they can hardly walk, but strength is something that can be obtained after going home and sleeping, and it is better than anything else to exchange for copper coins.

In the early morning of the next day, the contractors who were still sleeping were awakened by the knocking on the door of their companions.

"There is work on the pier again, and it's still a penny a bag!"

When they arrived at the pier, they were surprised to find that the gates of the salt warehouses that had been emptied yesterday were all open, and the insides were filled with salt bags again.

The contractors looked at each other in blank dismay, "Where did you get so much salt?"

A few days later, a group of big merchants from Yingtianfu gathered together and shouted these words.

"Where did you get so much salt?"

After they started hoarding salt in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, the effect was indeed very good at the beginning. The stocks of salt shops in various places were wiped out, and the people who could not buy salt complained.

Even private salt, which had disappeared before, has flooded again.

But within a few days, a large amount of table salt of excellent quality was released to various places in the south of the Yangtze River along with the Navy's fleet.

The big merchants swept the goods again, but they were shocked to find that they swept more and more.

As long as you can afford silver and copper coins, I will give you as much as you want, and it is no problem to cover the entire ship for you.

Although the price of salt is cheap now, no matter how much the court sells, it is ten cents a catty.

And these local tyrants hold a huge amount of wealth in their hands.

But when the supply of goods reaches an almost infinity, the vast amount of wealth will also be spent.

"Master, our silver is almost used up, what should we do?"

"That's right, master, now that the common people see that the supply is sufficient, they don't buy private salt any more. What should we do if we can't sell the salt we hoarded?"

"Amitabha." The benevolent Master Hongdu proclaimed a Buddha's name, "Everyone, don't panic. Although the emperor keeps producing salt, the salt production in Daming is numerous, so it can't be created out of thin air. The poor monk thought that these might be The official salt was transported from Changlu and even Sichuan and Shu through the canal."

"Impossible." Someone retorted immediately, "My merchant ships run the canal all year round, and there is no news of a large number of salt ships going south."

"You don't have to take the canal, you can also take the sea."

"Now is not the time to talk about this. Now that we have no money, what should we do?"

"That's right, if the court continues to provide it like this, the salt we hoard will have to be sold until the year of the monkey?"

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, that master Hongdu said again, "All good people, please listen to my words."

"Salt production is finite, and the emperor can't make it out of thin air. No matter where the salt is obtained from, we just buy it. When there is no salt to come out, then even if we sell it for a catty and a penny, we can't buy it. There are people who want to buy."

"But there is no silver tael."

"Hehe~~~" Master Hongdu shook his long eyebrows with a very friendly smile, "I would like to contact temples in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, and I will pay you all."

To put it bluntly, this is a typical nine-out and thirteen-return.

Temples lend believers incense money and earn a lot of interest.If not, the mortgaged fields and mansions will be confiscated.

Regardless of whether they can pay back or not, they will make a lot of money.

Otherwise, those monks would eat fat heads and big ears one by one, live in temples painted with gold and silver, and have a large amount of bronze utensils, plus a large amount of temple land.

The largest banks in the south of the Yangtze River are the temples in various places.

Everyone hesitated, after all, the bank loan not only has interest, but also has to be mortgaged.

Master Hongdu smiled and nodded kindly, "You don't have to worry about it. We have as much gold, silver and copper as we want here, but the imperial court has a lot of salt. As long as the imperial court can't bear it, it will earn back at least several times!"

"Good people, let's buy up all the emperor's salt!"

(End of this chapter)