A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 664 Food
The imperial court had already told them that it was prepared to deal with the drought. As for whether those insects who did not listen to the advice and insisted on going their own way would be unlucky, that was not a concern of Wang Xuanjing and Li Shimin.

Business matters are best resolved by commercial means.

Just after Wang Xuanjing submitted the letter, the price of food in Guanzhong began to rise steadily. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there have been continuous wars, so the price of food is not low, only about a hundred cents for a bucket of food.

Later, after the introduction of the new currency, the price of food dropped a bit, and a bucket of food cost 70 cents.

The price is only slightly higher and within the normal range.

However, since entering the first year of Zhenguan, the price of food in Guanzhong has been steadily increasing. Just after March, the price of food in Chang'an City had already risen to the point where it cost a hundred dollars per dou of rice.

Grain prices have returned to the previous level. Li Shimin led tens of thousands of civil and military officials from the imperial court to patrol the eastern capital. After a large number of large grain consumers left Guanzhong, grain prices in Guanzhong dropped.

But in just half a month, food prices rose again. Then, in April and May, food prices began to soar.

In May, the price of grain has already risen to 200 yuan per bucket of rice. In the past, at this time, because the summer grain harvest gradually began, the price of grain would drop a bit, and it would continue to drop until the grain tax was paid, and then it would recover.

However, due to drought this year, many places have experienced crop failure. As news of crop failure comes from more and more places, food prices are soaring like wild horses running wild.

Because the stock has been used up, and there will be no food for the next year, the people will have no choice but to sell their land, sell their children, or flee.

After Wang Xuanjing returned to Chang'an, he quickly arrived at a granary outside the city.

What's more, people's hearts are floating.

Nowadays, Minzhuang is a good job. Although the court does not give money, it distributes two handfuls of grain every day. This grain is enough for the whole family to barely fill their stomachs.

Because of Sanmenxia, ​​the imperial court could only transport grain from Luoyang by land. However, land transportation took a long time and the roads were difficult to travel, so a large amount of food was piled up in Luoyang.

The imperial court deliberately hired a large number of people because it was worried that the people would have no money to buy food, so it recruited a large number of people through work-for-relief methods.

Soon it reached the point where it was astonishing to pay a thousand dollars for a bucket of rice, and it was not even possible to buy food at this price.

Wang Xuanjing didn't stay in Luoyang long. After hearing that Chang'an was worth a thousand dollars, he immediately returned to Chang'an. In fact, in the first year of the drought, most people had a surplus of food in their hands, and food was not in short supply.

Even at night, the place is still very busy. In order to transport grain, the imperial court recruited a large number of people.

After Wang Xuanjing followed Li Shimin to Luoyang, the eastern capital, the civil and military officials quickly settled down in Luoyang. At this time, on the Yellow River, a large amount of grain transported from the south of the Yangtze River was blocked here.

Because of the drought, the imperial court issued a special order to reduce or reduce this year's grain taxes. In fact, the burden on the people was not heavy, but the locust plague after the drought was a big problem.

Wang Xuanjing arrived at Weihecang under the darkness of night.

In these years and years, it is much more affordable than giving out money. At this time, even if you give out money, the people will not be able to buy food with the money.

This granary contains the grain that the imperial court has transported over the past period of time. Although the road is difficult to travel on, the imperial court had predicted this in advance, so the preparations are still sufficient.

Wang Xuanjing stood outside the granary. It was already dusk and the wind had become a bit cool.

Zhang Jian finally finished his work and hurried over.

During this period of time in the imperial court, water transportation and granaries were the busiest. There was too much food being stored and distributed, so he had to work day and night. "I'm so late, I hope the Prime Minister will forgive me!" Zhang Jian said with his hands in hand. Although his face looked tired, he was still smiling.

"Zhang Qing is a commoner in the world, how can I not know this? It doesn't have to be like this." Wang Xuanjing helped him up, and then asked: "I wonder if the matter of sending grain has been done properly?"

"Prime Minister, please come with me." Zhang Jian wiped his sweat and led Wang Xuanjing into the warehouse, which was about to be full.

Zhang Jian pointed to the grain in the granary and said: "A granary like this can store about 10,000 dan of grain. There are now twenty-three such granaries here."

"It's almost enough to feed the people of Chang'an City for two months."

During the Liu and Song dynasties, a great sage wrote: "When there is severe drought and hunger, people eat each other."

"There was a similar situation during the Xiangan period. Not long ago, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty acted recklessly, which eventually led to wars in the world, people dying of hunger, and bones exposed in the wild. All these things seemed to be happening before our eyes."

"And now that we have this granary, Guanzhong is worry-free!"

Zhang Jian was an official who came all the way from the last years of the Sui Dynasty. He had seen the cruelty of the last years of the dynasty and knew the suffering of the people. Although he was not as eloquent and literary as those officials above the court, he always thought of the people and worked for their benefit.

This is also the reason why Wang Xuanjing handed over this granary to Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian looked at the mountains of grain and sighed: "Prime Minister, food is the most important thing for the people. These grains are transported by the imperial court. Some people will say that the grain transportation is difficult and the imperial treasury is empty. Even if it is to provide disaster relief, it will only If we can provide some relief, the rest of the food should be sold. But if this is the case, the price of food will be very high. How can the people be stable? "

"Just like in the last years of Liu Song Dynasty, there were tens of thousands of dollars fighting for rice."

"The imperial court has made great profits, but the whole world is indeed exposed to the wild, and there is no rooster crow for thousands of miles."

Wang Xuan nodded and said, "What Zhang Qing said is true. I have reported it to Your Majesty. This batch of grain will definitely not be sold at a high price."

"How much do we sell this grain at?" Zhang Jian asked.

"Without the labor and transportation, as well as the original value of the grain, the court is prepared to sell this batch of grain for a hundred to a hundred and fifty yuan per dou of rice!" Wang Xuanjing said.

"Besides these, no one in Guanzhong can buy a bucket of grain for seventy cents a day." Wang Xuanjing did this completely to take care of the people.

A family of six people could use no more than three or four bushels of dendrobium in a day, and a bucket of grain was more than enough. The remaining grain was planned to be sold by the court at a rate of 100 to 150 yuan, in order to prevent people from hoarding goods.

"Your Majesty is merciful!" Zhang Jian was surprised when he heard the price Wang Xuanjing said. Seventy cents per bucket of rice, this price is even lower than last year.

You know, this is a year of disaster, and now the food supply on the streets has increased to 1,500 dollars. That's one thousand, five hundred yuan for a bucket of rice.

It was more than twenty times the price mentioned by Wang Xuanjing.

Even based on this price, the imperial court is still losing money. Zhang Jian knew that the imperial court's treasury was not rich, but he did not expect that the imperial court would be so determined.

Wang Xuanjing smiled and said, "The price of buying a commoner can actually be reduced by ten coins, but the remaining grain for sale will be more expensive."

(End of this chapter)