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Chapter 346

But a smile appeared on Wei Yuanzhong's face.

He made a gesture to signal the servants to take a rest, then bowed to Wang Hua, and said, "I'm old, I'll see you from now on."

After speaking, he left full of melancholy.

Wang Hua didn't speak either, and watched him go away, without saying a word for a long time, and then worshiped Di Renjie with Xiao Yaxuan.

After sending Xiao Yaxuan away, it was about to enter July, but at this time the Luoshui surged, the river broke through the Luodi, and more than [-] households on both sides of the Luoshui were washed away by the flood.

Even Painter Wang once accumulated half a person's depth of water, and many things were submerged.Nanshi also received a foot of stagnant water.This is an important place in Gyeonggi, and the imperial court immediately organized manpower to plug the gap and appease the refugees.But with the occurrence of this incident, the price of rice rose sharply, from more than 100 yuan, to more than 230 yuan, to more than [-] yuan, and then soared all the way to more than [-] yuan, and did not stop until [-] yuan.

The ministers were all dumbfounded. This was not the time when Wang Hua besieged Luoyang. It was just the panic in Luoyang city, and the temporary price increase. Not only Luoyang, but other places also rose due to floods.First, the price of rice in Zhengzhou was close to the [-]-wen mark, and then the price of rice in Guanzhong rose sharply. From the Weishui River to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the price of rice in many places was close to the [-]-wen mark, or had already broken the [-]-wen mark.

This is the catastrophic event.

Why is it that when Lao Wu envied Li Shimin, every bucket of rice often fluctuated around five Wen.Because rice is cheap, calculated at the current value, rice is only a few cents per catty, so cheap, most people can naturally eat enough.The common people will not rebel when they are full.It can become more than 200 Wen, and it has become seven or eight yuan a catty of rice. Can you imagine how many ordinary people can afford it?
There was no need for Wang Hua to go to the court to explain the reason, the ministers, even Li Xian knew the reason.After the rice merchants raised the price of rice in the spring with the help of Wang Hua's siege, the price of rice remained at around [-] Wen after the summer harvest.

It doesn't have much to do with Wang Hua, it's just that Wang Hua gave them a reason, a wedge.Why this is so, I also understand that it is mainly cotton.Wang Hua told Li Xian many times that the focus is on Longyou, which is an animal husbandry area, not a major grain-growing area.Li Xian also conveyed it like others.However, the success of Li Xianhuang Village in Guanzhong has let many people know that it is not only grown in Longyou.Of course Longyou is a good place, the place is open, the land price is cheap, and the tax is low.However, there are many inconveniences in Longyou, which is far away from the Central Plains and the transportation cost is expensive.The second is that all ethnic groups are mixed, and they fall and rebel from time to time, without a stable foundation.The third is that the management is difficult, and because of the distance, not many tenants are willing to go.

So last year alone, not only Longyou began to be covered with Han people's footprints, but from the Weishui River to the Yellow River, and even to the Huaihe River Basin, many people took cotton seeds and planted them.Of course, due to the large amount of planting, the price of cotton cloth has dropped sharply. The price of high-quality fine cotton cloth has dropped from more than [-] yuan to more than [-] yuan per piece, and the price of ordinary cotton cloth has dropped from [-] yuan to [-] yuan.Even the price of linen has dropped a lot.

But for cotton farmers, it is still huge profits.The income of one mu of land in the best fertile land is only two or three shi. The selling price of their land is not the price of rice in Luoyang. They can sell more than 20 yuan, at most fifteen yuan.There is no harvest of half a penny.But what about cotton?

So more people planted this year.

It’s not that the world is completely white. The imperial court has also strengthened management, such as imposing heavier taxes on cotton fields, adding part of the income to grain farmers, and reducing taxes on a small number of grain farmers to forcefully control the proportion of cotton and grain planting. It's not really that ministers eat dry food.But the decree is always one thing, and the implementation is always another matter.For example, the ninth class in the Tang Dynasty.When the Wang family did not rise, they actually paid no less tax than the Zheng family and the Yu family.Instead, because of the change of the decree, the following is a mess.

Moreover, in the period of regime change and change.

Therefore, food shortages are likely to occur. Why does the word "possible" appear?Because Jiangnan was not greatly affected by this shock wave, it was also the main grain base of the Tang Dynasty.

But it is this possibility that dominates the instability of price factors.There is a serious leverage effect in the market economy.It is far from the fact that if ten people harvest the grain of twenty people this year, then the price of grain will drop by half.If the imperial court comes forward, coupled with the operations of some big families, it may fall a little bit, and if it is pushed down, it may fall three or four times.The reverse is even more serious.

If there is a shortage, it would be a big problem for ten people to harvest food for nine people.What about the other person?Starve him to death?This is unrealistic.Or it will be divided equally, and ten people will not be able to eat enough.This is even more tense, and if it is deliberately promoted, it cannot be said that if there is a [-]% shortage of food, the price will increase by [-]%, on the contrary, it will increase several times, or even ten times.This is the situation now, Wang Hua gave a wedge.Many places on both sides of the Yellow River were flooded, which further fueled the momentum of the skyrocketing.

Now there is no complete set of capital principles, but that doesn't mean the officials don't know about it. It's possible that even Li Xian knows the reason.

But what to do?After all, it is now a private economy, as long as it can be sold, even if it is sold for five hundred yuan per bucket of rice, the court has nothing to do.If the edict is issued forcefully, well, my family has no more food, so I won't sell it, and it may cause even greater panic.Or find out, since the hoarders are all from families with backgrounds, how to check?Once you check it, it will be a big trouble.

But what made the minister depressed was that even if he had the guts, he didn't dare to speak to Li Xian.It was not obvious last year, but with the bumper cotton harvest this year, the price of cloth will drop.How many people will wear new clothes once it drops to five cents per piece of cloth.And because of the appearance of cotton-padded jackets, how many fewer poor people in the north will freeze to death in winter?This is also merit.

As for the enrichment of the people, no one would think about it. Although cotton is huge profits, such huge profits are taken by various landlords, and there are almost no poor people who really benefit.Moreover, because of the huge profits of cotton, there have been many cases of forcible annexation of fields in various places, which has caused headaches for officials in various states and counties.There are also many forced slave purchases. In short, the world is raging.It is conceivable that after July, when the cotton flowers are officially picked, there will be more "missing" people in various places.

You can't blame Li Xian, Li Xian has good intentions.If the problem of grain and cotton is solved, the income of the court will be ignored, but it will not only solve the problem of clothing for the common people, because from cotton to cloth is also a delicate process that requires a lot of labor.Women could then enter the various cotton mills and bring income to the family.Benefit the country and the people.

But it is not entirely true that merchants are driven by profit, not only merchants join in the game, but also common clan landlords from all over the world, famous families and surnames, even royal relatives, also join in because of huge profits.

What do you propose?It can't be served from top to bottom, even if Li Shimin is alive, he doesn't have such courage.

Of course, when the price of rice rose from more than [-] yuan to more than [-] yuan, Wang Hua was not the only one who expected the consequences, and there were many wise people in the court.Just like Wu Sansi has no wisdom?It's just that wisdom is used in the wrong place.This situation had been expected a long time ago, so Li Xian also issued an edict to go to the south of the Yangtze River to transfer grain to Luoyang to balance the price of rice.

However, this wave of price hikes is different from the original wave of price increases in some areas, and it is almost spreading across the country.According to news from various places, the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River has also risen accordingly. This time, the imperial court will go to the south of the Yangtze River to transfer grain, and there may not be a satisfactory news.

Another way is to open Luoyang Hanjia warehouse and forcefully hedge the price to the market.Although the Tang Dynasty was not as absurd as the Sui Dynasty, Luoyang stored grain that could feed the world for decades, but hundreds of millions of catties of grain were often stored in hundreds of granaries (the largest grain storage base in the Tang Dynasty was in Luoyang, because of the convenience of the Luoshui and the Yellow River, and although Chang'an has the Weishui, the tonnage of ships that can pass is much smaller. There are also some granaries in other places, but the scale is quite small. This is slightly different from the Song Dynasty).

But this is not a way. Forcibly circulated to the market, but how to ensure that the food will be handed over to the people who really need it?Instead of being annexed by some powerful people?Conversely, it didn't work, and it also turned the property of the state into private property in an instant.There is a way to deliver it to the people in need.What if food is still scarce after autumn?Is the treasury going to buy high-priced grain reserves again?
Or let Han Jiacang be empty?If that's the case, it is estimated that even Lao Wu would feel uneasy when he stayed on the hospital bed.

In the past few days at the court meeting, one could imagine that the ministers were either frowning, or came up with unwritten ideas, and the court was arguing like a vegetable market.

Li Xian is not a wise leader, and he has no idea after hearing it.

Or cotton planting is wrong, but why did you hear a lot of praise before?

It's not that cotton planting is wrong. The main reason is that everyone has not faced the impact of good cotton and the huge profits that exist in cotton now.Once cotton is really popularized, the price will drop and grain will return, which is inevitable in a market economy.

But this time the crisis was indeed related to cotton. This flood in history also caused a lot of trouble for the Tang Dynasty, but it was not as embarrassing as it is now.

Li Xian couldn't figure it out, so he thought about it, ran to Shangyang Palace, and asked his wise old mother.

Not to mention, now their mother-child relationship has improved a lot, especially stimulated by Wang Hua, a courtier can be filial to his mother, Li Xian feels somewhat ashamed and uneasy.Of course, he mostly followed Wang Hua to Shangyang Palace to listen to stories.And Wu Zetian was in a coma for a long time last time, and almost didn't wake up. Knowing that his time was short, his injustice gradually faded.It is also related to the fact that Wang Hua told the story five or six times in the palace, which somewhat comforted the old lady's wounded heart.It was this transition that made the old lady resign herself to her fate.

Walking around a lot, Wu Zetian also looked away a little bit, and the relationship between mother and child began to turn from cold to warm.

Hearing Li Xian's report, Wu Zetian thought for a while and said, "There is nothing I can do about Aijia."

Li Xian was dumbfounded when he heard this, his old mother is useless, what should I do?People depend on food, and food is the foundation of the country. If the people in the world cannot eat food, it will be dangerous.

Wu Zetian said again: "But the Ai family recommends someone to you who can help you overcome this difficulty."

"who?"

"Wang Hua, if you still have doubts, just pretend to be a homeless person and say nothing."

"No, Queen Mother, it's Wang Hua who doesn't want to assist his ministers," Li Xian muttered.

"It's not that he doesn't want to help, it's that he keeps a low profile. How about this, you pass the decree again, saying that the Ai family wants to hear the story," Wu Zetian glanced at him.There was one more thing she didn't say, even Wang Hua didn't know, it wasn't that Wang Hua didn't want to help, but that Li Xian hadn't shown enough to make Wang Hua feel at ease, and entered the court.This point is the same as the timing in Wang Hua's mind.But if Li Xian wanted to use Wang Hua with confidence, he might have to wait until he was dead.

Li Xian knew that Wu Zetian's story was false, so he persuaded Wang Hua to be true.Immediately agreed happily.

But after thinking about it, I was dizzy to death. Is it true that talented people have to be like Zhuge Liang, who have to invite three times and four times before they are willing to come out of the mountain?
After a while, Wang Hua entered Shangyang Palace, along with Shangguan Xiaowan and several secretaries. Wang Hua started talking about Jia Baoyu's encounter with a ghost last time, until Qingwen tore off the fan and looked at the sky, and then it ended.

Just as Wang Hua was about to get up to say goodbye, Wu Zetian said, "Wang Hua, go to court tomorrow morning."

Wang Hua was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Li Xian, and immediately understood, without any expression on his face, he said: "The minister leads the order."

just left.

Li Xian still asked Wu Zetian suspiciously: "Mother, you didn't explain clearly to Wang Hua."

Wu Zetian said: "If you live in a high temple, you will worry about the people; if you are far away from the rivers and lakes, you will worry about the king. If Wang Hua still needs to be explained clearly by Aijia, you can do it. Don't expect him to have any ideas. Go to Bar."

Li Xian still didn't understand.But had to get up and leave.

Early the next morning, Wang Hua really put on the real fifth-rank official uniform and arrived at Tianjin Bridge.It was still dark at this time, and although June had passed, the sky was still drizzling.The water in Luoshui was still choppy. The two small islets under the Tianjin Bridge were submerged in many places, and some trees were submerged in the water.This made some ministers look at it, and their eyes were full of worry.

But when I saw Wang Hua, I was very surprised.

But Wang Hua's face was indifferent, looking at his nose with his eyes, his nose at his mouth, as if he was not close to strangers, so it was not easy to ask.

The eunuch announced the decree, and the minister entered the court.

Li Xian opened his mouth and said: "Floods are flooding and food prices have skyrocketed. My dear friends, now I have thought of a good plan."

Many ministers immediately bowed their heads after hearing this, and some ministers continued to show their merits, but none of their ideas were effective, and were immediately refuted by other ministers.After a while, the hall became cold.

Li Xian looked at Wang Hua and said, "Wang Qing."

Wang Hua walked out of the train with a wat in his hand and responded, "The minister is here."

Li Xian said: "Right now, food prices are rising wildly in various places. Seventeen prefectures in the north and south of Henan are hit by floods, with as many as 10,000+ households affected. Do you have a good plan?"

Wang Hua didn't answer, he looked at his official uniform.Li Xian was stunned, did he want to take the opportunity to ask an official to do it?It's not that he was not given an official position, Guan Jian didn't do it.Not only Li Xian, but other ministers also had this idea.

Wang Hua immediately said, "Yes."

"Please tell me," Li Xian said happily.

But Wang Hua didn't say anything, he first said in front of Wei Anshi and Yang Zaisi: "As the order of Zhongshu, you assist the emperor's administration, I ask two distinguished ministers, how do you assist the emperor's administration? I only see this going on, In two years, countless hungry people across the world will rise up."

Wei Anshi is the order of Zhongshu, and Yang Zaisi is the order of Zhongshu, who is in charge of the military and state affairs, and the post of emperor.

Wang Hua's question made the two of them speechless.

Wei Yuanzhong closed his eyes, that didn't work either, Wang Hua had already walked in front of him, looking down at Wei Yuanzhong.Unlike the Song Dynasty, the ranks of the Tang Dynasty were sitting.Wang Hua said: "Wei Xianggong, I heard that you were outstanding in politics in Lingnan, why did you return to the capital?"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, the old Wei was so highly regarded by the world, why did he stay in Lingnan for the rest of his life as a county lieutenant?It doesn't match Wei Yuanzhong's talent either.

Wang Hua also said: "Food prices have been rising for several months, and there are already signs of today. However, officials from all over the country either sit idly by, or are ignorant, or interact with each other. May I ask Mr. Wei, as a servant, The cashier is the emperor's order, and the chief clerk is the official, why do these officials ignore it?"

Wei Yuanzhong didn't answer either, and smiled wryly in his heart. Maybe according to Wang Hua's statement, at least 90.00% of the officials in the world are unqualified. Could it be that they are all dismissed?
Wang Hua came to Doulu Qinwang again, with complicated eyes. Speaking of him as Li Dan's man, Wang Hua should be even more sarcastic, but he is the elder of Princess Doulu, and Princess Doulu is Xiao Yuzhen. foster mother.For Xiao Yuzhen, Wang Hua felt very guilty in his heart.

But he still said: "Mr. Doulu, in his position, he wants to manage his affairs. If he keeps a low profile, he has to resign his position like me and ignore it."

He directly said that he kept a low profile and was indeed an "honest gentleman", which made everyone dumbfounded.But there is a reason for Wang Hua's words. Doulu Qinwang regards himself as his servant and dare not interfere with political affairs.Since then, the chief executives of the provinces of the Tang Dynasty have been left and right, and they are no longer the real prime ministers.

But Wang Hua bypassed the left servant and shot Tang Xiujing, which made everyone laugh and cry. It is well known that Lao Tang and Wang Hua have a good relationship.

Wang Hua came to the Minister of War Zong Chuke.Zong Chuke was stunned. I was in charge of military affairs and had nothing to do with me.He heard Wang Hua say to him: "Zong Shangshu, if the grain price keeps going like this, have you considered what kind of grain to distribute to the soldiers who have been stationed everywhere?"

Zong Chuke was dumbfounded and could not speak.

Wang Hua kept counting the chief officials of the six ministries of the three provinces and Yushitai together, and then he stood in the center of the hall and said, "May I ask you, Your Majesty is not like Yang Guang and Hu Hai, but why did this crisis occur, and why is it like If this continues, you will soon turn His Majesty into Yang Guang and Hu Hai."

They all felt that Wang Hua's alarmist words were alarmist, but they couldn't refute them.If food prices keep going like this, within a few years, the people will not be able to live on, and there will really be wars everywhere, and even the appearance of national subjugation.

"Yesterday the emperor asked me to go to court early, and I know what the emperor means. However, I have to say something. If there is no instruction from your majesty and the emperor this morning, I would not even go to the court. Because what I see is only strife. Do it today After becoming Yuanwailang, I want to be a doctor tomorrow. After being a doctor, I want to be a servant. After being a servant, I want to be a minister. After being a minister, I want to be a prime minister. After being a prime minister, I want to be a prince. But I have no talent, so I attack each other. Conspiracy and flattery, even arbitrarily abolishing the lord as a courtier, so as to seek personal glory and wealth."

Even Jing Hun and the others attacked again.

Jing Hun stood aside, his face uncertain, but he forbearance did not refute.Looking at it now, it's just that Wang Hua has an idea. After all, national affairs are the priority. If you don't have an idea, let's take a look later.

Li Xian couldn't sit still on the dragon chair, he didn't know what Wang Hua wanted to do?Could it be that all the ministers in the court were dismissed before he was willing to make an idea.It happened that Wang Hua's gaze also turned to him, so she cupped her hands quietly, with a begging expression.

Wang Hua almost laughed, he couldn't say that Li Xian was stupid and kind, now that the court has stabilized, especially since Zhang Jianzhi left, he breathed a sigh of relief and didn't want to change much.

Wang Hua said again: "It's not that I'm deliberately picking on everyone's thorns, trying to seek political power in their positions. When you think about how to flatter each other and seek your own position, you should also think about your respective responsibilities."

Although Wang Hua planned to make a high-profile comeback, he gave Li Xian a face. At this point, he stopped talking and did not continue.

Looking at Li Xian, he said: "Since Your Majesty and the Emperor summoned His Majesty to go to court early, I have to fulfill my responsibilities. I can transfer 200 million shi of grain to Luoyang at the end of the year, and put it into the warehouse at [-] Wen per bucket. But there is one condition, In order not to affect our total grain output, these grains are transported from abroad. Therefore, there must be no checkpoints on the road to block the speed, or make every effort to make things difficult, or impose tariffs."

It is impossible for food prices to fall back to more than [-] yuan now.The price Wang Hua said was very reasonable.In this regard, the ministers also somewhat believed that besides the Tang Dynasty, there were other countries such as Chenla, Linyi, Tianzhu, and other countries. They also heard about the Wang family's sea boats, but they suspected that Wang Hua transferred grain from foreign countries to the Tang Dynasty, and the price was only [-] Wen, is the cost enough?

But this is the matter of the Wang family, so they don't need to worry, anyway, the Wang family seems to make a lot of money a year, and Wang Hua also likes to post money.They are used to it.

But Wang Hua has Wang Hua's idea. His family can raise more than 100 million buckets of grain, and other grains can be transported from the Tang Dynasty to small countries such as Linyi and Shuichenla. One hundred thousand shi of grain should not be a big problem, and there is even a little profit to be made from the grain transported from the south.This is also calculated repeatedly with Xiao Yaxuan.Even without Wu Zetian's request this time, this arrangement will continue.In order to cover people's eyes and ears, Xiao Yaxuan went to the south and already transferred half of the ships that cooperated with Baolinzhai.

"Therefore, we can open up the grain from Hanjiacang and sell it to the public at a price of 45 or [-] yuan per bucket, and suppress some rice merchants who are hoarding."

"But how to distribute it?" Li Xian asked.Ministers have thought about this method for a long time, but it is not satisfactory.

The corner of Wang Hua's mouth raised a smile, and he remembered something that had been dusty for a long time.

This kind of confident smile caused all the ministers to have various thoughts, some were ashamed, some were jealous, some were hatred.

(End of this chapter)