Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 426
In the early spring of February, the cold food is approaching, the climate is warming up, and Jiankang City is also recovering.

The refugees who were resettled in the refugee camps were only a part of Jiankang's population, and there were many so-called good families scattered in the city.However, due to the lack of various supplies, they could barely make ends meet in the past cold winter. With the successive demolition of Changganli and other areas, these people are now gathered on both sides of the Qinhuai River.

The materials transported from Wuzhong solved the urgent need of capital shortage.Now on both sides of the Qinhuai River, bamboo sheds and water rafts are built everywhere, and trucks are parked on the bank, filled with money and silk.As soon as a cargo ship comes from the river, there will be a large number of people swarming up, ready to loot the deal.

A bucket of rice costs hundreds of dollars, and a bucket of salt costs thousands of dollars. As long as there are goods in this waterway, there is no need to worry about the market or the price.Those who were lucky enough to scramble to buy the goods simply and neatly got rid of the goods, and then some servants would use ox carts and bamboo rafts to carry them to the city, or use them for themselves, or resell them.

Due to the shortage of materials, the market in Jiankang City is now in chaos for more than one mile, and the goods are priced at two prices.Such a chaotic market will inevitably lead to the bankruptcy of a large number of small people's homes, and those who participate in hoarding can take advantage of this to make a lot of profits, and secondly, they can take advantage of the chaos to hide the population on a large scale, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

In this matter, the imperial court has no right to speak at all. Because of the bad central finance, the right to speak to the market is almost zero, and it can only watch those who hold capital make trouble.

Shen Zhezi rode on a horse and walked slowly along the Qinhuai River. Along with him were Yu Manzhi and Shen Yun, and behind him was the ox cart that Princess Xingnan was riding on.

Looking at both sides of the noisy river, Yu Manzhi sighed while shaking the horsewhip in his hand: "At first, I only thought that military disasters were the biggest evil in the world, but now I realize that there are so many ways to kill people in this world that there is no need for two swords. My family entered the market yesterday. Buying rice, does the son-in-law know how much it costs for a bucket of rice? It’s a thousand and five! These unscrupulous merchants simply don’t give people a way to survive! Usually, stone rice is not worth this price, so what’s the benefit for them if they disturb the world!”

When Shen Zhezi heard this emotion, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Now he is buying all kinds of goods, but in fact there are only three sources, Beijing, Wuzhong and Jiangzhou.Among them, there is no need to think deeply about the capital and Wuzhong. They are the Wuzhong Business Alliance led by the Shen family, plus Yu Tiao and his group of hermit overseas Chinese.

On the other hand, Jiangzhou also had a large number of business travelers transporting supplies northward, but they were all stuck near Gushu by Yu Yi from Xuancheng.To put it bluntly, a considerable part of the reason why the prices in the capital are so chaotic today is that the Shen family and the Yu family are fueling the flames.Yu Manzhi scolded the bald donkey in front of the monk, and scolded his own father by the way, but Shen Zhezi didn't know how to answer.

Shen Yun didn't know that his family was benefiting a lot now, but because most of the merchants on the waterway spoke Wu Yin, his emotions were inevitably biased, and he said after hearing the words: "Yu Changmin, you are a veteran, I see The price of goods in Duzhong is high, so we can see that these business travelers going north is a huge waste of labor! Not to mention the price of rice in Duzhong, even in my hometown, at the beginning of the year, it was worth a hundred dollars! If there were no business travelers coming north, people in Duzhong would starve to death. More!"

"Ha, Shen Xiaowu, you are sophistrying! You also said that the price of rice in your hometown is only a hundred yuan, and even if it is two or three times as profitable to transport goods from north to south, isn't it enough for them to earn? How many times is it now? It is more than ten times. !"

Yu Manzhi said angrily: "In my opinion, these profiteers who disregard people's livelihood and hoard goods for sale should all be killed! Earlier, the rebel army ransacked Jiangdong, and they could search for money and food without any expense!"

Seeing that this man, who feels the poverty of the people and hates evil like hatred, has even the idea of ​​killing his father, Shen Zhezi said: "What's the use of arguing about these things? It's nature for businessmen to go high and avoid low ones. The price of rice at the gate It's only six or seven hundred yuan, and it's more than a thousand yuan near Dazheng. People have what they need, and people have what they want. If it is really necessary to go to the stage of mobilizing troops, go out along Dazheng, kill them all, and leave no one alive. , naturally there is no need for rice.”

Hearing this, both of them stopped talking and stopped arguing.

It's not like Shen Zhezi didn't have such worries like Yu Manzhi's. Although the prices in the capital are chaotic, they are actually within the controllable range.More than half a year has passed since the end of the counter-insurgency, and goods from all over Jiangdong have actually been mobilized here, including local families in Gyeonggi, who have actually hoarded a lot of supplies.

The current shortage of materials is actually just man-made.Yu Yi was upstream, Shangmeng and Yinjue were downstream, including Shen Zhezi's communication with people from all over the country when he rescued Han Huang, and they all joined forces to carry out a small-scale blockade of Jiankang around the New Year's Eve.

The reason for doing this, of course, is one aspect of profit.As the main battlefield of the previous rebellion, Xuancheng, Gushu, Wuhu and other places along the Dajiang River suffered more damage than Jiankang.Yu Yi himself is not a strong airborne person, and if he wants to quickly open up the situation, he needs a lot of money and food.

The Shen family, including Yu Tiao himself, even if they have accumulated money, they cannot help without a bottom line.Besides, this hole is really too big, and even the Shen family will suffer a lot if they want to fill it up with the efforts of each family.Not to mention that Shen Zhezi is not directly in charge of Yuzhou today, even if Shen Zhezi went, he couldn't play like this.

Although it is immoral to send money to the country, it has to be admitted that this is a very good opportunity.If Yu Yi can't quickly open up the situation and spread the stall, then the hidden dangers left behind are definitely not what a little moral satisfaction can make up for.

Of course, it is impossible to create such a situation just for profit.While squeezing people's wealth by manipulating prices, it is also expanding the depth and potential of the Jiankang market.

People, or ordinary people, after suffering a catastrophe, the stress response is to try their best to hoard, shrink back, and avoid communicating with the outside world, so as to avoid risks.In this way, no matter how many people there are in Jiankang City, each family will be isolated and become lifeless.Without two or three years of recuperation, it is impossible to be active again.

Once such a situation occurs, those who have capital and strength will use this method to engulf others and strengthen themselves.

By manipulating prices, Shen Zhezi is not only targeting the families of ordinary people, but also those scholars who take advantage of the opportunity to be second-hand dealers and profit from up and down.He has been waiting for a critical point. When those people hoard to a certain extent, the torrent of supplies that have been accumulated for a long time will immediately rush into Jiankang, suppressing prices in a very short time.

Of course, this will cause a large number of small people to go bankrupt, but they are not desperate. The refugee camps in Dunan have been open to accept the affected people.Through such means, more populations can be directly controlled.

The economic basis for the survival of the gentry is population and land. As long as the distribution of social resources does not change, no matter how clean the killing is, the subsequent rise will be the same.With the premise of building a new capital, Shen Zhezi dared to accept no matter how many people were searched.Chaos is only temporary, as long as these people are stuffed into jobs, society will not be chaotic!

Of course, these considerations, young people like Yu Manzhi and Shen Yun, have limited vision, even if they explain it to them, they may not be able to understand it.Shen Zhezi can be regarded as doing good deeds without leaving a name. While making profits, he will increase the number of people directly controlled by the court.As long as there are people, everything is possible, no matter ancient or modern!
A group of people walked along the Qinhuai River all the way to the vicinity of Danyang County, where the Xie family now lives.

As soon as he turned into the alley, Xie Yi, who had been waiting eagerly for a long time, rushed up to meet him, and said with a smile, "The humble house, the streets and alleys are secluded, and I'm worried that my son-in-law can't find the way."

This is of course a humble remark. Shen Zhezi and the others traveled all the way, with servants from the Xie family leading the way.However, the place where Xie's family lives is indeed a bit remote. It is located at the back of the city in the east of the city.When turning into the alley, Princess Xingnan had to get out of the car and changed to a cloth chariot.

"Xie Er, you are considered a wealthy person, how did you settle down in such a remote place?"

After the group got off the horse, Yu Manzhi stood on tiptoe in the alley and looked around. The water in the uneven street had already covered his boots, and the environment here was indeed not good.

"Yu San, you have become more precious since you returned to the capital. You didn't dare to talk so much nonsense when you were lying in the mud pit a year ago!"

Xie Yi stepped forward and laughed, and the friendship between each other was also fortune-telling, and they were neither embarrassed by the shabby living quarters nor dissatisfied by Yu Manzhi's complaints.

Shen Zhezi handed the reins to the family behind him, and also thanked the house a lot.Although the location of this house is not good, the area is not small, but the streets and alleys are too cramped, and there are even people building shacks in the alleys, which makes it feel messy to look at.

In fact, Xie’s family is not the only one. The situation of many overseas Chinese with old surnames from the south in Jiankang City is not good. The Wuyi Lane, which has been quite famous until later generations, has a number of locations, such as Wangge Gaomen. After all, they are a minority.If it wasn't for the dowry brought by the princess, Shen Zhezi would have to wait for a date to live in Bird Clothes Lane.

Because the alley was narrow, the group continued to move forward. Xie Yi introduced by the way that the uncrowned young man who was following him was his direct brother Xie Ju Xie Huzi.

Shen Zhezi and Xie Yi are familiar, but this is the first time to visit Xie's house, so it is also the first time to see this Xie Huzi.

The Xie family has a strong atmosphere, and this Xie Huzi is also dressed like a celebrity nowadays, with a loose cloak, and in this chilly spring day, there is a cold draft in the hall, and his nose is a little red from the cold, but he still looks dignified, and his appearance is similar to Xie Yi, With a square head and big face, he looks very upright.

Because the princesses came together, Xie Huzi went home to report the news first, and Shen Zhezi was fine. Princess Danyang always had to put on a welcoming etiquette when she came to the house.

Seeing the princess also coming, Xie Yi couldn't help being a little surprised, and said repeatedly: "It's just a small gathering at home, why dare the princess come in person."

"Wuyi and I are already close family members. It is also appropriate to visit the elders in the mansion."

Shen Zhezi laughed, then looked up, there were several people walking in front of Xie's house, the leaders were Xie Yi's father Xie Po and his cousin Xie Shang.

(End of this chapter)