I seek economic hegemony in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 371 Private loan sharking

Li Heng looked over and saw that there were many people lining up in front of him, and there were more than one queue.

"Go and have a look ahead."

Not long after, Li Heng led people to the front.

The crowd was still talking, and everyone had a nervous look on their face.

"Old man, what are you doing?" Li Heng stepped forward and asked.

The old man in shabby cloth turned around, looked at Li Heng, and said feebly: "Of course it's a loan."

"Borrow food?"

"There's nothing to eat."

After saying that, he ignored Li Heng.

For example, when paper money was issued excessively and food prices soared, Chang Pingsi sold a large amount of food to the private sector, recovered part of the currency, and increased the amount of private food.

After the development of the small-scale peasant economy in the Song Dynasty, landlords and farmers became tenant-renters, and landlords no longer needed to support tenants like they did during the Three Kingdoms period.

In good years, the price should be appropriately raised to buy rice to prevent low prices from hurting farmers.

The tenants were given a portion of the grain according to their quota, but this portion was so small that it was simply not enough to eat.

The targets of private loan sharking are ordinary people.

That is to say, “When the quantity is expensive, the market price is reduced, and when the quantity is cheap, the market price is increased.

The profit point of income generation comes from private loan sharking.

In times of famine, the price of rice can be reduced appropriately to stabilize prices and save the people.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Green Miao Method appeared.

This will lower food prices.

Zhuge Rong squinted at the wheat field in front of him and said: "Now is the time when the harvest is lean. The grain saved last year has probably been eaten up, and the new wheat has not yet matured."

Li Heng finally remembered that this phenomenon did exist at this time in ancient times.

The fundamental purpose of Wang Anshi's reform of the Green Miao Law was to further generate income for the Song Dynasty court.

Before Li Heng came back from Guanzhong, he mentioned to Zhuge Liang the establishment of Changping Division.

When selling rice, the price cannot be lower than the cost, and it is possible to make a profit.

It's just that the Changping Division he established was used to balance the skyrocketing food prices caused by excessive currency.

The so-called buying rice means raising the price of grain.

The Qingmiao Law established in the Tang Dynasty was mainly to generate income for the court.

When Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty carried out his political reform, he focused on reforming the Green Miao Law.

The Qingmiao method means that the imperial court established the Changping Division to hoard large amounts of grain reserves.

When the drought hits in April, farmers who have no food to eat will have no choice but to borrow money from landlords to buy food.

Landlords usually give monthly interest of more than 30%.

The tenants knew they could not afford to pay back, but they had to borrow.

The landlord knew that the tenants could not afford to repay and had no hope of repaying them all, so they had to repay as much as they could.

Landlords used this method to bind tenants to their fields, making it impossible for them to leave for life.

So, it was an economic means of controlling tenants.

This was very common in the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties after the economic collapse of Tang Manor.

Wang Anshi's Green Seed Law is to snatch the loan rights from private loan sharks.

Wang Anshi paid attention to making a profit, and the local governments provided loans to the people, and the people returned the money to the government.

The government earns interest from it.

The main reason for the failure of the Green Seed Law was that after the powerful people in the Song Dynasty obtained a tool to make money, they turned into bloodthirsty monsters.

Li Heng glanced at Zhuge Rong and asked doubtfully: "Was it the same in Jingzhou before?"

"Every year."

Li Heng said: "Even if we set up households and all the people, the food will not be enough to last for a year?"

The Song Dynasty was a period of small-scale peasant economy, where land could be bought and sold freely, land annexation was unprecedented, and most people became tenants.

The tenants did not have enough food to eat, but in this era, apart from establishing households to bring the people together, there were no tenants.

Why does this happen again?
Zhuge Rong said: "It stands to reason that the food for the people will be enough for a year, but Jiangling is the front line against Cao Wei and the taxation is heavy. Some things are inevitable."

"Uncle, are you saying this against your will?" "Why did the general say this?"

"Is it really unavoidable, or are some officials and wealthy people doing this deliberately, so that the people can borrow food from them so that they can control these people?"

Zhuge Rong's eyes twitched a few times, and he smiled bitterly and said: "Since the general knows, why bother asking the subordinates."

"Uncle, hasn't he always regarded the world as his own responsibility?" Li Heng asked back, "Don't you read that the people are more valuable than the king?"

Zhuge Rong was silent for a moment and suddenly said: "General, do you really believe that the people are more valuable than the king?"

"I believe."

"I didn't expect that the general who went on a killing spree in Yizhou and defeated Cao Wei and Sun Wu several times would still believe this."

Zhuge Rong's voice became obviously quieter.

Of course Li Heng believed it, but Li Heng also realized very clearly that in the eyes of ancient rulers, the people were just cattle and horses.

This is the helplessness of the agricultural era.

Li Heng explained a truth to Zhuge Liang many times: when commerce rises, whether they are officials or big businessmen, they must respect public opinion on the surface because they need consumers.

What Li Heng imagined was that when society develops to a certain level and materialism and humanism are accepted by the people of this land, people will find that, at least in a physiological sense, people are the same. .

No one is born with a rich bloodline.

At the same time, Li Heng also experienced firsthand how the big bureaucrats and children of aristocratic families in this era really thought about how they treated the people.

Zhuge Rong was considered a man with a good family education, and his character could surpass that of most people of this era.

But deep down in his heart, the common people are still just cattle and horses.

This means that they do not agree with Li Heng's current plan to divide the land equally, let alone a series of new business policies.

Because these will threaten their status.

It seems that before Wei is destroyed, something must be done, at least to limit the power of the upper class.

If the external conflicts disappear after Wei is destroyed, everything will be over.

Li Heng did not answer Zhuge Rong's words. He led the people and walked forward.

Under the big tree, there are some people setting up desks, holding brushes, and recording on paper.

Someone was handing out food nearby.

"Fifty kilograms of grain, and a total of two hundred kilograms of grain will be repaid in three months." A handsome man said gently.

"Yes, thank you very much."

The man said: "The person I want to thank you the most is Mr. Xie. It is because of his kindness that he is willing to lend you the food."

"Yes, thank you sir..."

"What a benevolent person." Li Heng came over on horseback, "Is Mr. Xie Xie Chong?"

"Who are you?"

"After three months, a total of two hundred pounds will be repaid, with a monthly interest of 50%. After the Xie family has been doing business for several years, the abacus has become louder and louder."

Li Heng did not reply to the man, but said to Zhuge Rong: "Didn't you say that there is no disaster in all counties?"

Zhuge Rong said: "This is a normal situation that occurs when there is a shortage of supplies, and it is not considered a disaster."

"Is fifty pounds of grain enough for one household?" Li Heng's eyes fell on the person who borrowed the grain.

The man immediately said: "That's enough for a month! The wheat will be ripe next month and there will be food to eat."

"How many people are in a household?"

"There are seven people in our family, and one of us went to Jiangling City Workshop."

"How many acres?"

"One hundred acres of land, sixty acres are planted, and the rest is resting."

“How much does one acre produce per year?”

"The annual output of one acre is about one hundred and fifty kilograms. One person enlisted in the army and was exempted from tax."

Li Heng asked again: "Why is there no surplus food after tax exemption, and why do we still need to borrow it now?"

"Last year during the war, the Wu army came and robbed a lot of food."

Li Heng's eyes fell on the others. Everyone looked haggard and their eyes were dull.

Li Heng glanced at Zhuge Rong, who smiled bitterly and said: "There is indeed a shortage of food in some places. Cao Wei and Sun Wu have blocked our main trade routes, so we are indeed short of food."

(End of this chapter)