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Chapter 749
In Luoyang Palace.

Li Chongjiu was examining the memorial presented by Xue Wanshu, and asked Xue Wanshu: "Is the information you got in this memorial really accurate?"

Xue Wanshu said to Li Chongjiu very confidently at the moment: "Reporting to Your Majesty, this news was given by our three grain merchants in Chang'an who are inclined to our army, and Cao Wen from the Department of Rumors has also confirmed it."

Li Chongjiu read the memorial carefully again and said: "Since this is the case, this memorial is very meaningful to us."

Xue Wanshu lowered his head and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, this time Li Yuan used Changping Warehouse of the Capital Division to replenish grain for the army on Litang North Road, and the Changping Warehouse was already half empty. In addition, judging from the report, the poor harvest in Guanzhong this year is basically It can be confirmed that there are 23 county magistrates in Guanzhong who have submitted memorials to the Ministry of Education, saying that they cannot pay half of the usual taxes. Li Yuan issued a letter denouncing it, and we have carefully copied a copy of the memorial.”

"In addition, according to the investigation of people from the Department of Rumors, because people in the Tang Dynasty don't like to eat wheat, so after Li Yuan founded the country, although he vigorously encouraged folk farming and warfare, he did not vigorously promote wheat among the people to obtain spring and autumn harvests like our Great Zhao. Most of Li Tang’s fields are still millet, beams, and wheat are only a part, so this year Guanzhong is a disaster, and the corn harvest has caused a sharp rise in private grain prices.”

Li Chongjiu knows that corn is still the mainstream planting product at this time, but the disadvantage of corn is that it is not only not resistant to cold, but also has low yield.This low yield is compared with that of wheat. The yield of corn is pitifully low. In ancient times, people in Guanzhong generally did not grow wheat. In the Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu once urged Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to plant wheat extensively, and the people in Guanzhong planted a little wheat. .

However, people in Guanzhong still like to grow corn for no other reason than to eat two words.In the eyes of people at that time, sorghum was the top food, corn was the middle food, and wheat and other grains were also the bottom food, which were collectively called miscellaneous grains.On this point, Li Yuan also showed clear love and hatred. It was written in the Tang law that the main taxation was corn, and when corn was insufficient, it was supplemented by miscellaneous grains.

Historically, wheat was largely promoted in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, when it was changed to the two-tax law, and the imperial court allowed wheat to be collected as a land tax.

But Zhao Guo is different. Li Chongjiu is one step ahead of the times. When he was in Huaihuang and Yuyi Towns, he vigorously promoted the planting of spring and winter wheat. The local Goguryeo and Khitan military households worked hard to reclaim wheat fields and plant them.

This year, Li Chongjiu is going to listen to Lin Dangfeng and Ji Chuan's opinions, and encourage the people in Hebei and Shandong to use soybean and wheat rotations to farm. The imperial court is willing to supply the people with wheat seeds at [-]% of the market price.As for the newly occupied Jianghuai and Yangtze River basins, Li Chongjiu's Zhongshu Province is also discussing how to use preferential methods to promote the local people and carry out double-cropping of rice and wheat, which is also imperative.

On this point, Li Chongjiu agrees with the officials of Zhongshu Province. Food is the most important thing for the people. Although Zhao State has Luokou warehouse, Liyang warehouse, and an endless supply of military rations, for an agricultural country, farming is always king.

In order to cope with such a bad year this year, Li Tang undoubtedly worked very hard, and the grain and rice from Jianghuai could not supply Guanzhong.The grain in Guanzhong can only travel across mountains and rivers, and it is transported from Henan to Guanzhong, which has the effect of a drop in the bucket.

For Guanzhong, which is short of food and grass, the output of its own fields is the most important. However, the long-term war caused severe damage in Guanzhong. Li Tang also established Chang'an as the capital, which led to an increase in the population of Guanzhong. Qinchuan, which was eight hundred miles away in the past, It is far from being able to supply the food of the people in Guanzhong, and now the autumn grain harvest is a foregone conclusion.

In addition, Li Tang has a single economy of corn and sorghum. Relatively speaking, Zhao’s harvest this year is also sluggish. There is a severe drought in Shandong and a little locust plague in Hebei, but the lives of the people are relatively easy, because Li Chongjiu exempted Hebei For Shandong's land tax this year, the common people only need to support themselves.

Xue Wan said: "There are still two months before the harvest of autumn grain, but the price of grain in Guanzhong has reached [-] yuan a dou, and in Chang'an even [-] yuan a dou. And Youjing is only [-] yuan a dou, even if it is because In Hebei and Shandong, where there were wars last year and locusts and droughts this year, the price of food is only [-] to [-] yuan a bucket."

Li Chongjiu heard that he had a rough estimate of the price of grain. When he first captured Youjing, the price of grain in the north was also very high. He tried his best to maintain it at [-] yuan a bucket. In this way, the great famine did not break out among the people, causing the people of Youjing to starve die.

But now in Chang'an, Guanzhong has reached [-] or [-] yuan. The people who suffer the most are the lowest class people, not to mention that Li Tang's taxes are not low. Under such pressure, the only way for the people to choose is to go into exile.

Li Chongjiu looked at Xue Wan and said: "So what you mean is to persuade me to order the merchants in Chang'an who favor my big Zhao to copy grain and then pile up the grain?"

Xue Wanshu nodded and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I estimate that I will prepare 50 yuan of money for half a year's grain collection, and first release the news that my big Zhao will have a big war against Li Tang this fall. The price will inevitably continue to be pushed up because of the news of the war, and then we will buy more and sweep up the grain when the price of grain falls during the autumn harvest. It is estimated that after half a year, the price of grain in Chang'an can be pushed up to more than [-] yuan per bucket."

After hearing this, Li Chongjiu said: "This trick is really vicious, but with 50 guan, do you think I'm rich? In this year's war, our treasury of Dazhao is also empty."

Xue Wan said: "Your Majesty can use this year's public debt to pay off. In short, this matter is imperative."

Li Chongjiu said with a smile: "This public debt is my loan from the people. It is not my money. You want to raise the price of food, and we don't profit from it. The loss is not small. This is purely based on hurting people." , and at the expense of others, if the 50 guan is not paid next year, I will be accused by thousands of people immediately."

Xue Wanshu lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty's worries will have to wait until next year at least, but I think Li Yuan may not even survive this year. Your Majesty, this is the way to defeat others without fighting. If the price of food is high, Guanzhong will inevitably be exhausted. Li Tang has complaints in his heart, so Li Yuan's ruling power in Guanzhong will inevitably fall, and the people will turn their backs on Li Yuan. If I were Li Yuan, I would have no other choice to resolve this predicament except to move the capital to Bashu and temporarily avoid Jingxiang."

Li Chongjiu nodded and said: "However, the Li family and his son are not incompetent. We fry food, and they will definitely find out. We must find a few more merchants and buy them separately. I am sure this is feasible, and I will hand it over to Lin Dangfeng. Cao Wen and the three of you will do it together, remember to proceed with caution."

Xue Wanshu immediately saluted and said, "No."

PS: There is a BUG in the click, the author has been fucking unable to access the backstage.

(End of this chapter)