Life in the world of film and television

Chapter 434 Soaring Prices and People's Livelihood

Arriving in Hankou by motorboat, under the escort of the guards, Li Mu learned about the local price level in a low-key manner, and sighed silently.

Although the battle ahead has been won, there is no surprise that prices are still on the rise, especially for people's livelihood supplies.

Denominated in silver dollars, the price of one stone of rice has reached about 20 silver dollars, and one stone is equivalent to 120 catties.

In conversion, one silver dollar can only buy six catties of rice.

Compared with rice, wheat is cheaper, and it is also expensive. It is priced in silver dollars, and a load of wheat is worth nine silver dollars.

One load is equivalent to one hundred catties, and one silver dollar can only buy eleven catties of wheat.

The price of soybeans has also risen sharply. Before the war, the price of soybeans was 11 silver dollars per load, but now it has risen to [-] silver dollars per load.

It is equivalent to one silver dollar and nine catties, which is a little cheaper than rice and more expensive than wheat.

Compared with before the war, the prices of these major grains have increased by more than 50.00%.

However, this is just the beginning, and the price will be higher in the future.Not to mention that this is denominated in silver dollars. If it is denominated in legal currency, the price will skyrocket as the currency depreciates indiscriminately.

Feeling the domestic food price, but also thinking of the international market, he sent a telegram to the Far East Commercial Bank, asking them to send a copy of the current food price in the international market.

Rice costs around US$45 per ton; wheat is cheaper at around US$28 per ton; as for soybeans, it costs US$39 per ton, almost catching up with the price of rice.

According to the current exchange rate, converted into silver dollars.

108 silver dollars per ton of rice; 67 silver dollars per ton of wheat; 93 silver dollars per ton of soybeans.

Domestic food prices are twice as high as those in the international market.

While Li Mu was feeling emotional, he also knew that this was normal.Even before the outbreak of the war, for so many years in the Republic of China, international food prices have always been cheaper than domestic ones.

Whether it was the Beiyang period or Guofu, foreign rice and wheat were imported to suppress domestic food prices, and the results were good.Basically, as soon as these foreign rice and foreign wheat come in, domestic food prices will fall off a cliff.

However, importing grain from abroad requires foreign exchange, which can be afforded by the financial situation of Beiyang and Guofu.Only when domestic disasters reduce production and high grain prices, import a batch to suppress domestic grain prices.

……

For this reason, Li Mu specially found out the grain prices in the past years of the Republic of China to find out.

In the first few years of the Republic of China, grain prices were relatively stable, and the price of rice hovered between 6.42 and 7.40 yuan per stone.

In the ninth year of the Republic of China, there was drought on both sides of the Yellow River, and in the tenth year of the Republic of China, the Yangtze River Basin was flooded, and the drought and floods were intertwined. In the past two years, the price of rice rose to 9.61 yuan and 9.68 yuan per stone respectively.

In the end, it did not break through 10 yuan.

Until the locust plague occurred in the 16th year of the Republic of China, the price of rice rose.In addition, under the influence of the world capitalist economic crisis, the price of silver fell, and the Chinese currency based on the silver standard depreciated accordingly. By the 18th year of the Republic of China, each stone of japonica rice exceeded 15 yuan.In the 19th year of the Republic of China, food prices continued to rise, reaching a maximum of more than 20 yuan, causing social unrest.

The "Grain Committee" was composed of agricultural economic experts, grain merchants and representatives sent by relevant authorities to discuss the import of foreign rice, and decided to start selling cheap rice in early May.It lasted for 5 months and ended at the end of September. After autumn, the price of rice tended to ease in Xinmideng City.

Twenty years after the Republic of China, the capitalist countries headed by the United States encountered an economic crisis. In order to get rid of the economic crisis, they implemented a dumping policy. A large amount of foreign rice poured into the grain market, and the price of rice fell.

The January 21th Incident broke out in the 9st year of the Republic of China. The Japanese army invaded Songhu, and the rice market was at a standstill. However, after the resumption of the market, a large amount of foreign rice poured in, and the price of rice turned down again. By the end of the year, the price of rice fell to 23 yuan per stone.In the summer of the 8rd year of the Republic of China, with the influx of foreign rice from time to time, the lowest price was less than [-] yuan.

In July of the 23rd year of the Republic of China, Jiangsu and Zhejiang suffered from a severe drought, the inland rivers dried up, the waterways were not smooth, the supply of grain decreased, and the rice per stone rose to more than 7 yuan.In the first half of the 10th year of the Republic of China, the price of rice was as high as 24 yuan in four months. In November, the disaster-stricken Jiangsu and Zhejiang production areas came to Shanghai to purchase grain, and grain prices rose again.

But soon foreign rice flooded in again, and the price dropped.In the 25th year of the Republic of China, it was once less than 10 yuan. In the 26th year of the Republic of China, that is, last year, before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, a stone of rice was only 11 to 12 yuan.

It has been less than a year since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the import channels are not smooth, and the domestic food price cannot be stabilized. Coupled with the panic caused by the war, one stone has risen to 20 yuan.

As for wheat, from the establishment of the Republic of China to the Anti-Japanese War, the price of wheat has been stable and low.From the first year of the Republic of China to the 13th year, the price of wheat per Dan has been hovering between 3.81 and 5.14 yuan.

民国14～19年，上升到5.73～6.35元。民国20年以后，由于进口了大量洋小麦。小麦供多求少，价格下落2.71元每担的低谷。

It is equivalent to one silver dollar to buy 37 catties of wheat.

After July of the 23rd year of the Republic of China, affected by the rising price of wheat in the international market, the country suffered another drought, which caused the price of wheat to rise again.In the 7th year of the Republic of China, the price of wheat continued to rise. In winter, the price of wheat in the international market skyrocketed.

By last year, that is, in the 26th year of the Republic of China, the price of wheat had risen to a maximum of 6.07 yuan per load.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the import channels were blocked, coupled with domestic panic, grain merchants gathered, and the price of wheat rose further, to the current price of 9 silver dollars per load.

大豆价格相对稳定，批发价每担一直维持在5～6元之间。民国19年一度超过6元。10月转为下降。民国22年起进入3.5～4.5元的低谷。民国24年，回升到5元以上。到抗战前夕，大豆批发价达到每担6.5元。

Today, it has risen to 11 silver dollars per load.

After staying in Hankou for a day, the business of bristle and tung oil stopped, and there was no material to be sold abroad. I only brought the money from the last sale of the material and rushed to Singapore again.

After arriving at the place and receiving part of the ordered equipment, Li Mu thought for a moment and decided to use half of the space to purchase food this time.

Although Nanyang is a grain-producing area, the recent influx of people has greatly increased its consumption. Coupled with the consumption of the army, it is already necessary to purchase from other places.

This has also led to the recent increase in food prices in Nanyang, which is almost catching up with Wuhan's level.

To buy grain from other places, the freight cost is not small. Even if some cheap grain can be purchased from the place of origin, the price of transporting it back to Nanyang will not be low.

The population of Nanyang has now exceeded 700 million, of which 200 million came here in the past year. Without land, they can only buy food from the market.

The high food price has also had a great impact on the life and even survival of these people.

Purchase some grain from abroad, while making money, and at the same time curb the price of grain in Nanyang area.

……

One cubic meter of space can hold about [-] kilograms of grain, and [-] cubic meters can hold [-] tons of grain.

This time Li Mu prepared [-] cubic meters of space to buy grain.

With the assistance of the Far East Commercial Bank, [-] tons of rice and [-] tons of wheat were purchased.

Four thousand tons of soybeans were also purchased. Soybeans can be used not only for food, but also for tofu and bean sprouts. In this day and age, they are considered good dishes.

A total of more than 2 tons of grain cost less than 90 US dollars.

For the remaining 25.8 cubic meters of space, Li Mu spent another [-] US dollars to purchase [-] barrels of [-] liters of gasoline, and several thousand tons of gunpowder raw materials and steel, plus some machinery and equipment, to fill the space. Full.

Before returning to China, Li Mu ordered another batch of inland river gunboats.

Ten ships with a displacement of 150 tons; ten ships with a displacement of [-] tons; ten ships with a displacement of [-] tons, a total of [-] ships, the total price is about [-] million US dollars.

It's expensive, but it's still very useful.

……

After returning to Nanyang, Li Mu specially set up a grain business, and set up a dozen grain stores in Nanyang City and the following counties, selling grain at a [-]% discount on the market price.

Once opened, it caused a great sensation, especially those low-level people who had fled from other places or moved here, all of them were overjoyed.

The continuous rise in food prices is too heavy a burden for them.Although in the Nanyang area, Li Mu started many big projects, as long as he has the strength, there is no shortage of places to make money.But it can only maintain food and clothing. If the price of food continues to rise, it will not be able to maintain food and clothing.

Seeing that the flames of war are getting hotter and hotter, and the price of food is getting higher and higher, but there is no downward trend, everyone is very worried.But there is no way. It is extremely rare to find a stable place in a chaotic world.

Now I suddenly heard that in order to curb the price of grain, the government office sells grain at [-]% off the market price. Although it is only one and a half times cheaper, it is a rare good thing for the people. It can finally reduce the burden. Looking forward to it.

This also led to the fact that a dozen grain stores had just opened, and a huge queue immediately formed at the door.

In just two days, more than 6000 tons of grain were sold. In this way, people who bought grain on the third day still formed a long queue.

The people's enthusiasm for buying grain was beyond Li Mu's expectation.

It is also true to think about it. In addition to the original local population, more than 200 million people have flooded in from other places in the past year. How much food do more than 200 million people need to consume in a day.

Even if there is enough food locally to supply some, there is still a big gap.Moreover, as the flames of war spread, there will be an influx of people fleeing the flames of war, and the demand for food will be even greater.

This is a problem that has to be faced.

On the third day, seeing that people's enthusiasm for buying grain continued unabated, Li Mu had no choice but to restrict purchases, and he could only buy fifty catties at a time.For a family, fifty catties of grain is enough for a period of time.

What he did was not to restrict people from buying food, but he just had to wait in line once more if he wanted to buy more.The main purpose is to restrict some merchants and take the opportunity to purchase cheap food from here to hoard.With this limitation, there is not much room to exploit.

In fact, it's not impossible to set the price of food at a lower level. It can be directly set at [-]%, [-]% or even lower than the market price.

Collect low-priced food from here and transport it to other places for sale.

It is not easy for him to transport food from abroad, and it takes a lot of time to go back and forth. Although he can earn a lot, if it is replaced by military supplies, he can earn even more money.

The main reason is to consider the local people's livelihood before purchasing food from abroad to stabilize prices.

If traders catch a loophole and buy low-priced food from the local area and transport it to other places for sale, the loss outweighs the gain.

[-]% off, just a good price, collected from the local, and then transported to other places, the manpower and material resources used in this process are no different from the market price, and naturally there is no profit, so there are no vendors to do it.

……

Restricting purchases was indeed a good strategy. On the third day, the grain sales volume was only over 1000 tons, and Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

Including soybeans, a total of more than 2 tons of grain was purchased from abroad. According to the sales method of the previous two days, it would be gone in five or six days.

Now the daily sales volume of more than 1000 tons finally gave him time to purchase.

There was no way, Li Mu got on the motorboat to Wuhan that night, and he wanted to continue to go to Singapore to purchase food.

This time, Li Mu purchased 1.5 tons of rice, 2.8 tons of wheat, and 5000 tons of soybeans.

A total of 4.8 tons cost 160 million US dollars, which is equivalent to 1.65 tons of gold. Food that seems cheap is actually not cheap.

Back in Nanyang, with this batch of grain supplements, more than a dozen grain stores can finally last for a month.

At this time, Li Mu once again paid attention to the issue of people's livelihood.Those who have gone through untold hardships and fled with their families, can they have something to eat here?Can it survive?

In the next few days, accompanied by the guards, he visited around in a low-key manner, and the situation was not optimistic.

The stable environment, good government and prices in Nanyang attracted more people.

Although he has launched many large projects to recruit workers as much as possible so that everyone can earn a wage and have food to eat, many newcomers still encounter serious problems in survival.

Those who have some wealth, or have knowledge and skills are okay, but those who are at the bottom or who have fled are really miserable.Struggling on the death line all the time, it is really common for people to starve to death these days.

The main reason is that the existing jobs are still not enough.

On the same day, when he returned to Yu Garden, Li Mu convened another meeting with relevant personnel. The topic was how to keep these people alive.Of course it won't work for nothing, and we can only continue to work on the project.

Subsequently, under Li Mu's leadership, more than a dozen large brick factories and cement factories were newly established in Nanyang.

These technologies have long been popular in China. As long as there is enough manpower, it is quite simple, and there are more workers hired.

In addition, dozens of large and small factories were newly established, such as five or six flour mills, three or four soybean product factories, several fruit canning factories...

Of course, infrastructure is the place that absorbs the most labor. Several hidden places were selected and the construction of several secret airports was restarted.

Near Nanyang City, Li Mu started another civil aviation airport construction work, this time in an aboveboard manner.As for whether it will be used in the future, it is hard to say, anyway, it can attract labor.

In addition, in the depths of the mountains, the construction of more than a dozen arsenals has also begun. Including roads, water and electricity, it is another big project.

Although I don't know when it will be used, as long as the factory building and supporting facilities are completed, the machine can be brought in in the future, and production can be started immediately.

Not only that, but there is also a big project to build a granary.Next, he will choose some suitable places and build dozens of large granaries. There will be a shortage of food in the country in the future, and this needs to be prepared in advance.

So many projects have started, even causing a small-scale labor shortage. Many local farmers have also started to do small jobs.

Li Mu has a lot of legal currency, but he can afford so many people.

(End of this chapter)