Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 417

"Why did the price of rice suddenly collapse?" Chongzhen said, "Nanzhi's grain would have been enough to eat. This year, many farmlands have been planted with cash crops such as cotton and mulberry seedlings. There must be no enough grain. The autumn grain harvest will be bumper. It is still not enough, so it is normal for the price of rice to drop a little, but it is very unusual for the price to drop to five yuan."

"My son also thinks it's very strange." Zhu Cihong said deeply.

"Thinking about it now, there must be a grain merchant behind the scenes."

"When the new rice in Hangzhou and Jiaxing went on the market, the price of rice dropped to three cents."

"Then grain merchants from all over the country began to hesitate to sell, and rice prices began to turn around again."

"By the end of Dongyue, the price of rice in Songjiang Prefecture has risen to two taels per stone."

"But even if it's two taels and one stone, the rice shops in Songjiang Prefecture can't open the supply."

"Now those farmers who have changed to cotton and mulberry seedlings are in bad luck. Then there are many farmers in Songjiang Prefecture who no longer grow rice. Because of the skyrocketing price of rice, they began to gather crowds to make trouble."

"This is a businessman." Chongzhen snorted, "Give some sunshine and they will be brilliant."

If this wave cannot be suppressed, there will definitely be a Ming version of "Jiang Youjun", "Garlic You Ruthless" and "Dou You Wan", and the commodity economy that has just flourished will be disrupted in an instant.

Fortunately, Chongzhen had already made preparations early, and the Chamber of Commerce was prepared for this.

However, before using the trump card of the chamber of commerce, Chongzhen decided to use these grain merchants first.

It is said that the barbarians are fearful of power and have no morals. In fact, businessmen are also like dicks. It is useless to reason with businessmen, and neither are harsh punishments and harsh laws. They dare to trample on all the laws of the world with [-]% profits. What makes businessmen submissive is the power of capital stronger than them.

Why can Wall Street dominate the capital market?
It is because Wall Street has the only big capital.

Therefore, this time Chongzhen will use the power of capital to wash the grain merchants.

Then through the bloody heads of all the grain merchants, I warned the gentry and merchants of Ming Dynasty to follow me obediently. If I eat meat, you can also have a mouthful of soup, but if anyone dares to smash the pot, I will stew you and eat meat!

At that moment, Chongzhen asked Zhu Cihong again: "Rang'er, have you estimated how much autumn grain has been harvested in Nanzhi this year?"

"Yes, I have estimated it." Zhu Cihong still did a detailed homework on this, "This year, the autumn grain planting area in Nanzhili is about 4000 million mu. Based on the calculation of two shi per mu, the autumn grain should not be less than 8000 million shi. .”

"The existing population in Nanzhili is about 3000 million, of which about 2000 million are large and 1000 million are small."

"Big mouths need 3.6 shi a year for rations, and small mouths need 1.8 shi. So Nanzhili needs a total of 9000 million shi for rations. There is indeed a gap of 1000 million shi here, but it is not a big problem."

Speaking of this meal, Zhu Cihong said again: "There will never be a food shortage."

Chongzhen asked again: "Then have you investigated how many major grain merchants are there in Nanzhi?"

Zhu Cihong said: "There are mainly three big grain merchants. One is the Mao family in Rugao, Yangzhou, the second is the Xu family in Huating, Songjiang, and the Qian family in Changshu, Suzhou. The hoarding in Songjiang Mansion is led by these three big grain merchants."

"It's them again." Chongzhen asked again, "Where are the Wang family in Xiuning and the Hu family in She County? Are you involved?"

"No." Zhu Cihong replied fluently, "The Wang family in Xiuning and the Hu family in Shexian mainly sell grain from Huguang to Nanzhi. Although the power of merchants in Nanzhili is not small, it is difficult to intervene in the local grain business in Nanzhili."

"It's easy to handle." Chongzhen said happily.

"Let's talk about it after Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi come back."

……

Ten days passed quickly.

On the night of the New Year's Eve, Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi finally returned to Nanjing. They returned to Nanjing with the first batch of treasures worth 500 million.

Chongzhen still received the two of them in Yilun Hall.

After paying homage, Chongzhen asked, "How is Huguang's grain overlord doing?"

Wang Pingshan respectfully said: "Return to the Lord, when Caomin and others left Wuchang, more than 100 large and small grain merchants headed by Hengyang Wang's family had already bought more than 7000 million shi of new grain, and the water conservancy grain bank had bought 2000 million shi .”

"More than 7000 million shi?" Chongzhen said, "At what price are these grains bought?"

"Most of them are between four and five renminbi." Wang Pingshan said, "Huguang grain merchants spent more than 3000 million taels of silver."

"More than 3000 million taels?" Zhu Cijiong was taken aback when he heard the words, and lost his voice, "Where did the Huguang grain merchants get the money?"

Wang Pingshan shook his head and said, "The Huguang grain merchants only raised more than 500 million yuan, and borrowed 500 million yuan from the water conservancy and grain bank at a five-cent profit, and the grain was used as collateral."

Chongzhen asked in amazement: "It seems that the money of the Water Conservancy and Grain Bank is not enough?"

Wang Pingshan said embarrassingly: "Caomin sold some of the treasures in Wuchang Mansion, collected 500 million taels and temporarily lent them to the Water Conservancy and Grain Bank for free."

"Very good." Chongzhen nodded happily.

As long as Huguang grain merchants borrow money from the water conservancy and grain bank and use the grain as collateral, this wave will be stable.

Next, the water conservancy grain bank only needs to release the grain to suppress the price of grain. Once the Huguang grain merchants cannot raise more money to protect the market, the grain hegemony will collapse.

At that time, the water conservancy grain bank will be able to take the IOU and pay off all the grain at a very low price. The more than a hundred large and small grain merchants in Huguang will not have a single grain left, and they will owe at least 500 to the water conservancy grain bank. Ten thousand taels of color silver, this debt is enough to bankrupt more than a hundred grain merchants in Huguang.

In other words, after Chongzhen made such a fuss, the water conservancy and grain bank did not pay a penny, and it ate 9000 million shi of surplus grain in Huguang province this year, and the people who sold the grain did not suffer.

The only unlucky ones are the more than [-] large and small grain merchants in Huguang.

This is the scary thing about big capital, it can eat people without spitting out their bones.

Next, what Chongzhen wanted to eat was the large and small grain merchants in Nanzhili.

Chongzhen said: "Wang Pingshan, Hu Renzhi, don't be in a hurry to transfer those treasures, and seize the time to sell grain from Huguang to South Zhili. Now the price of grain in South Zhili has generally risen to three taels and one stone. You sell two Two, the large and small grain merchants in southern Zhili will definitely eat it desperately in order to protect the price of grain."

"You are trafficking food in batches."

"Don't take too much at a time, give them time to raise money."

"By the time you have transported about 1000 million shi to the prefectures of Nanzhili, these grain merchants in Nanzhili have owed at least 1000 million taels to each bank. At this time, if you suddenly increase the amount of grain sold, I will also Let the Huangming Times publish an article, join hands to suppress the price of grain, and let these grain merchants in Nanzhi also lose their fortunes."

"Observe the order." Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi got up and said, "Caomin will return to Huguang after this."

Watching Wang Pingshan and Hu Renzhi leave, Chongzhen also got up, ready to go to the firearms department's workshop again.

When he went to the Firearms Department last time, Chongzhen himself made modifications to the aerodynamic layout of the God Cannon, in addition to appropriately reducing the aspect ratio of the main wing, and strengthening the tail.

The reason why the previous God Cannon did Brownian motion was because the tail area was not enough.

The vertical and lateral stability of the God Cannon is mainly achieved through the tail. If the tail is not stable, it will definitely only do Brownian motion.

However, before Chongzhen could go out, Ma Mingpao and Zhu Shunshui came to him.

Along with the two came Xu Guo, a bookseller from Shexian County, and an inksmith and engraver from Xu's printing workshop. These two craftsmen were obviously old people from the printing workshop, and they were not young.

"Your Majesty, the first edition of banknotes has already been printed, please give me your order."

Ma Mingpao handed over the first edition of banknotes just printed by the book printing house.

Chongzhen reached out to take the banknotes, there were seven in total, with denominations of one yuan, two yuan, five yuan, ten yuan, twenty twenty yuan, five ten yuan and one hundred yuan, with one hundred yuan being the largest denomination.

A denomination of [-] yuan is enough to meet the transaction needs of less than [-] yuan.

After all, 1 yuan is only a hundred sheets, and the stacking is not very thick.

As for a larger amount of capital transactions, the bank can directly issue a gold ticket.

Gold tickets are actually silver tickets in another time and space, which need to be issued temporarily and redeemed immediately.

Chongzhen touched the front and back respectively, and the feel is still very good, it should be a big investment.

Xu Guo said proudly: "My lord, the paper for the bank notes is the secret mulberry paper made by our Xu family paper workshop. I dare not say that other paper workshops will not be able to make such mulberry paper, but if you want to make It is absolutely impossible to produce mulberry paper with the same feel, so the level of paper alone can put an end to most profiteers."

Not long ago, Xu Guo donated a member of the household department, Wailang, who is now considered an official.

"There is also this ink." Xu Guo said again, "It was prepared by our master He Jiu. Not only is the color clear, it will not smear or melt when exposed to water, and the key is there are first-class tiny protrusions."

Chongzhen touched it carefully, and indeed felt grainy.

Xu Guo continued: "Of course, apart from paper and ink, the most important thing is a line of coded characters hidden in the pattern on the reverse side. This is the unique skill of Master Ma Wu, and no one else can imitate it."

After finishing speaking, Xu Guo handed Chongzhen a magnifying glass, and then pointed out the secret characters to Chongzhen.

With the help of a magnifying glass, Chongzhen really found a line of small characters from the patterns on the back.

If you don't use a magnifying glass, you will only think that this is a slightly thicker dark green line, but when you look carefully with a magnifying glass, you find that it is written in one line: Chongzhen Bingxu Year of Ming Dynasty.

Xu Guo went on to say: "My lord, such a fine miniature carving is already difficult enough, but it is even more difficult to imitate another person's carving technique on such a fine miniature carving, and if you want to It is absolutely impossible to imitate the miniature carvings of Master Ma Wu, because Master Ma Wu is not only good at carving, but also good at calligraphy!"

It has to be admitted that Xu Guo really spent all his money this time. With these triple guarantees, it is almost impossible to forge.

"Okay!" Chongzhen nodded happily, "Then let's print a large number of them according to this layout. Also, Master Ma Wu and Master He Jiu will live in Qingliangfang from now on, and the printing workshop of bank notes will also be moved to Qingliang." This year, a new version of banknotes will be released every two years to replace all the old banknotes to avoid counterfeiting."

"Leadership." Xu Guochang bowed to the ground.

……

A carriage quietly parked outside the side door of the Qian Mansion on Tongji Street.

The thick cotton curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man wearing an elegant hang silk shirt and a melon skin hat inlaid with emeralds and jade came out of the carriage.

"Commissioner Xu please come inside quickly."

"The master has already ordered the villain."

"Mr. Xu will lead him directly to the study when he arrives."

A steward of the Qian family immediately came forward to greet him graciously.

It is said that the prime minister is a seventh-rank official, but the steward of Qian Ge's hometown is extraordinarily considerate to this Yuanwai Xu, which shows that this Yuanwai Xu is not an ordinary person.

"I've been waiting for a long time, butler Wang."

When Xu Yuanwai put his hand together, it was a large ingot of silver.

The steward weighed it in his sleeve, at least 50 taels.

At that moment, the steward led Xu Yuanwai to the door of the study with a smile on his face.

"At the end of the school, I came to Xu Ersui late, and I paid my respects to the elders of the pavilion." Foreign Minister Xu Yuan bowed to him.

"Xu Xiaoyou is here, come in." Qian Qianyi put down the brush and motioned for Xu Er to enter.

Seeing Xu Er come in, Liu Rushi who just added incense to the censer retreated behind the screen.

After exchanging pleasantries, Xu Er asked: "Old Ge, I heard that the Holy Majesty has returned to Beijing triumphantly, but I don't know what the Holy Majesty thinks about the food shortage in the Nanzhi prefectures?"

Huating's Xu family was still in a panic.

Although hundreds of grain merchants were assembled, and even the cabinet ministers were backed, even the Huating Xu family panicked in the face of Chongzhen, who was decisive in killing and had the aura of "enlightenment from Meishan Mountain".

"The Holy Majesty didn't mention this matter after he returned to Beijing." Qian Qianyi waved his hand and said, "Xu Xiaoyou don't have to worry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has so many important matters waiting for the Holy Majesty to deal with, how can he have the time to care about Shengdou Xiaomin?"

"Elder Ge's words are very true." Xu Er's heart sank when he heard the words.

After finishing speaking, Xu Er took out another certificate of deposit of the Royal Bank, and gently placed it on the desk.

"Elder Ge, this is the bonus for the winter moon and the twelfth lunar month." Xu Er said, "I have asked the accountant to calculate it in advance, and sent it to the elder specially."

Qian Qianyi glanced at it, and it said 5 taels.

"Oh, how embarrassing this is." Qian Qianyi said with a smile on his face, "This old man just got off the line from it. I really can't afford such a gift. Please take it back quickly."

Xu Ersui waved his hand and said, "If it weren't for the elders of Ge to connect, the grain merchants in the various prefectures of Nanzhili would definitely not be able to advance and retreat together. In this way, this big business would not be possible. A little bonus is really hard to express my gratitude. I just hope Master Ge, don't think too little."

"Oh, since that's the case, the old man will be disrespectful." Qian Qianyi is no longer hypocritical, who would think too much money?
After saying a few more gossips, Qian Qianyi took a sip from his teacup, and Xu Er immediately got up to leave when he saw this.

As soon as Xu Ersui left, Liu Rushi came out from behind the screen and said, "Master, you should try not to get involved with these grain merchants. The concubine thinks that the Holy One will not let them go easily."

"Ma'am, you are worrying too much." Qian Qianyi said with a smile, "How can a husband get involved in these things?"

"It's best not to mix it up." Liu Rushi said, "The current emperor has great ambitions, and he can be said to be a good emperor who truly cares about the poor people. He will not let the grain merchant come here."

(End of this chapter)