unclear

Chapter 181 Ripped Face

A month later, when the fleet of the bandit-suppressing admiral Yamen appeared again in Hangzhou Bay, the price of grain ushered in the darkest moment. In one day, it dropped from seven silver coins per stone to five coins. The soldiers were bleeding like rivers, and even serious grain merchants were covered in bruises.

At this time, the market once again showed its ruthless side. There were still few people buying the new rice that cost five cents of silver and one stone. Everyone was waiting and watching to see if it could be turned into four cents of silver or three cents of silver. Don't take advantage of the bastard if you can. !

"...You guys should also come and take a look and help me think about how to best deal with it."

When Wang An ran into Wenyuan Pavilion with a stack of memorials from the prefectures of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang and Huguang, the emperor was practicing calligraphy with Zuo Guangdou and Jin Shijun, the newly promoted Zhongshushe people.He flipped through a few books and indicated that they could also participate in the discussion.

Zhongshu Sheren is affiliated to the Zhongshu Department of the cabinet, starting from the seventh rank. The nature of the job is a bit like an office clerk, doing some copying and writing work.A bit like a secretary, he also helped the emperor write edicts, imperial edicts, jade plates, as well as transcribe and translate books.

But despite their low rank, they can often see the emperor. As the saying goes, those who are near the water and towers get the moon first, and the chance of promotion will also increase.For example, if you are good at writing, painting, literary talent, flattering, etc., you may be favored by the emperor and skyrocket.

Zuo Guangdou and Jin Shijun were not chosen for key training. Hong Tao just wanted to know more about the thinking patterns of officials at all levels, and he happened to know the names of these two people.

"The ministers have only been in the court for a short period of time, and they dare not discuss national affairs indiscriminately!" Jin Shijun read quickly. After flipping through a few books, he knew what the emperor wanted to ask, but he did not comply, citing lack of experience and lack of position. Hidden.

"Time is short and sometimes there are advantages to short time. Since it is a national event, everyone should do their part. Compared with the common people, you are already an official of the court. How can you be evasive about such a big event!"

A naughty little guy who knows the way of being an official. This is Hong Tao's initial evaluation of Jin Shijun.But given time, it is often this kind of official who is stable and has no faults or merits who can eventually be promoted step by step.

"...Wei Chen thinks it's not surprising that businessmen are pursuing profits and hoarding money. It's just that they chose the wrong time and misjudged the form. Thunder, rain and dew are all God's grace. They are self-inflicted and cannot blame your majesty."

Seeing that it was not easy to fool him, Jin Shijun thought for a while and expressed his views on the content of the memorial.It was full of reports on the current situation from officials in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan and Guangzhou. In addition to explaining from various aspects that the food shortage was rapidly easing, the most worrying thing was.

In less than a month, tragedies of family destruction and death occurred all over the country, not because of rampant banditry or because the government forced the people to rebel, but because of suicide.Many grain merchants, wealthy households, and landowners borrowed loan sharks and mortgaged their properties and acres in order to hoard more grain. As a result, they lost all their money and went to a dead end.

"It's all nonsense, you're so slippery! Come on, tell me. If you're just as evasive as him, stop talking!"

It's a pity that Hong Tao is still not satisfied. Thunder, rain and dew are all God's grace. What is his own opinion?But you can't hear the truth if you force yourself to do it, so you simply turn your target to Zuo Guangdou, who is still reading the memorial carefully.

"Did your Majesty really buy the food from Nanyang and the West?" Zuo Guangdou didn't play tricks, but he didn't give an answer, but asked back.

"Yes, there are about seven or eight countries. I can't remember exactly how the Fo Lang robots operate them."

"We dare to ask again, what about the flood and drought conditions in various places when we purchased grain?" "The grain was purchased after the "New Disaster Relief Law" was promulgated last year. At that time, although there were disasters in various places, it was not obvious." Hong Tao faced questions that became more and more sharp. Instead, he smiled and answered every question without hesitation.

"His Majesty knew that there would be a grain shortage, prepared countermeasures in advance, and then deliberately showed weakness. He waited until the grain merchants fell into the trap before closing the net. He only used 80 shi of rice to drive grain prices to the bottom.

If Wei Chen's calculation is correct, His Majesty spent less than 100 million taels on disaster relief, and the remaining shortfall was made up by grain merchants. The result was better than spending 300 million taels. "

But Zuo Guangdou couldn't laugh. There were a lot of discussions in the court about the inside story of the grain shortage, but most of them were baseless speculations.Today, I finally heard the truth from the emperor's mouth, and my heart felt cold.

In order to fight with the ministers, the emperor deliberately laid traps waiting for the prey to step on. He also used the verbal and written criticism between "Ban Yue Tan" and "Dong Lin Xun Leo" to mobilize public opinion. When the price of food could no longer rise, he suddenly took action and used extreme measures. The small price brought food prices back to the bottom.

"Dong Lin Xun Leo" was also fooled. Without the back-and-forth between it and "Half Moon Talk", the atmosphere would not have been so perfect, making people completely lose their vigilance, including myself.

Almost all the links are conspiracies. So far, no one knows why the Flemish people and the Nanyang countries are helping each other, let alone that there is not that much rice from Nanyang and the West. Everyone has been deceived by the emperor.

It was such an emperor who was full of scheming, but in the end he gained the love of many people, especially the victims of the disaster who came back from the dead. From then on, every family would worship him.

But all this is incompatible with the image of a wise king that he has built up since childhood. Watching the victims endure the suffering for several more months, and then watching many grain merchants die, is too cold-blooded, too insidious and too wicked. He is not an emperor at all. The character you should have.

"The idea is probably correct, but the numbers are not very accurate. The second time the fleet arrived in Hangzhou, it only loaded 10 shi of rice, and the rest was wood, which was also purchased from Nanyang at a very low price. It will soon become more Big ocean ship.

It’s not that I am stingy with money and deliberately play tricks to gain fame, but the Southeast Asian countries are not rich either, their farming methods are very backward, and their rice yield is not high.Coupled with the extremely hot and humid climate, it is impossible to store much without a sturdy and durable warehouse.

But it doesn't matter. I have more large-scale ships. From now on, I can purchase rice from Southeast Asia and the West all year round. It is not impossible to build local warehouses for storage.I hope they will never be needed, but I have to be prepared. "

Talking about this series of serial Ji Hongtao was very enthusiastic and even told the inside story that should not be told. Even though Wang An kept winking, he remained unmoved.

"Your Majesty is wise, and with a little plan, you can control all the little guys in the palm of your hand, and the ministers and others can't catch them."

But Jin Shijun, who was standing below and listening to the lecture, became more and more frightened as he listened. How could a seventh-rank official be qualified to hear such a high-level secret?If you listen to someone you shouldn't, the consequences will be very serious.But Zuo Guangdou's posture showed no sign of consciousness, so he had no choice but to come in and make jokes in person, hoping it would stop there.

(End of this chapter)