Nanming Yiming

Chapter 175 Suzhou Grain War
Soon, the news of Qian Mo's appointment as governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and his engagement to Princess Anhua spread throughout Hangzhou.

With the rise of Qian Mo's status, there was an endless stream of people who came to curry favor.

The threshold of Yue State's mansion was almost leveled, and there were people everywhere who came to congratulate and give gifts.Qian Mo could only ask someone to post a notice: Everyone is welcome to donate to the chief envoy's office, and the Yue government will no longer accept congratulatory gifts from anyone.

At this time, the sect informed Liu Ziheng, a representative of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce, and Xu Wentong, a representative of Huizhou merchants, to come to congratulate Duke Yue on his engagement to Princess Anhua.

Qian Mo said that the purpose of not receiving congratulatory gifts is to avoid being disturbed by those small businessmen. These two are his important partners and core supporters in the business world, and they have come from afar, so it is naturally impossible to miss them.

The two exchanged pleasantries first, and then congratulated Qian Mo and Princess Anhua.

Xu Wentong said: "I would like to report to the Duke of Yue that this time the army of the Manchu and Qing dynasties was short of food and grass, and Shanxi Shanxi merchants were ordered to raise funds. There was no such a large amount of food and grass in the north. Therefore, the Shanxi Jin merchants headed by the eight imperial merchants went to Yangzhou and Nanjing. The land bought grain in a big way, and now the price of grain in the two places has risen to 2 taels of silver per stone."

Liu Ziheng also said: "The price of grain in Suzhou has also been rising recently. Some people are buying wildly. We released grain to lower the price, but only slightly slowed down the momentum. Now it has risen to 1 tael and 2 taels of silver per stone."

Normally, food is only 5 qian and silver a stone, but now that wars are happening frequently, and the torrential rain in northern Zhejiang has affected summer grain, it is inevitable that grain will rise.However, Qian Mo himself has been speculating on grain, so naturally he will not leave opportunities for profiteers to speculate. The governor's office has already purchased a large amount of grain from North Korea, Nanyang and other places.

Moreover, merchants who had a good relationship with the Governor's Mansion also took the initiative to put out their grain reserves and put them on the market. Under the Governor's Mansion's rule, there was no shortage of grain, so the price of grain has been stable at between 6 and 8 taels of silver per stone of grain.

Qian Mo asked suspiciously: "How did the food price in Suzhou rise so fast? Now that there is enough food in the market, and the governor's government has already mortgaged many people to borrow food, it stands to reason that the price of food cannot rise to 1 tael or 2 renminbi." One stone."

"You mean that Shanxi Shanxi merchants purchased grain in Nanjing and Yangzhou, resulting in a difference in grain prices, which in disguise drove up the grain price in Suzhou?"

Liu Ziheng said: "Duke Yue did put a lot of grain on the market in advance, and borrowed grain from the people affected by the disaster, so the market will not buy a lot because of the lack of grain."

"But now Shanxi Shanxi merchants are desperately raising the price of grain. I suspect that someone is colluding with them to buy from Suzhou at a low price and then transfer it to Yangzhou, Nanjing and other places to sell at a high price."

Xu Wentong said: "The price of grain in Yangzhou and Nanjing may still rise. These Shanxi merchants are probably not only trying to raise grain for the Qing Dynasty, but also want to take the opportunity to make a fortune."

Qian Mo pondered for a while, and said, "Thank you for your reminder, I understand now."

Then he said to Liu Ziheng: "President Liu, you can inform the grain merchants in Suzhou not to participate in this fried grain incident; it is already difficult for your Suzhou grain merchants to control the price of grain in the current situation. The government will take action."

He also said to Xu Wentong: "Brother Xu, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Since those Shanxi merchants want to fry grain, you might as well pay them a high price. They need a large amount of grain, so there must be no extra grain to use." To hype, I'm afraid it's the idea of ​​transporting grain from my Suzhou, and I will definitely not let their tricks succeed.

After sending the two away, Qian Mo quickly found Qian Buer and Liu Yichen.

First of all, the border blockade was strengthened to prohibit the flow of any materials to the Qing control area.Then the governor's office issued a grain embargo order, and the flow of grain of more than 1 shi was not allowed between the various governments.

Secondly, 50 taels of silver and 100 million shi of grain were mobilized from the treasury of the chief envoy to Suzhou.

After Liu Ziheng returned to Suzhou, he hurriedly called a meeting of wealthy businessmen in Suzhou City.

At this time, Wang Yuanhua, a large grain merchant in Suzhou City, said: "President Liu, the grain prices in Nanjing and Yangzhou have gone crazy. Those Shanxi merchants are desperately collecting grain, and it has risen to 3 taels of silver per stone; the grain price in Suzhou City is ours. I can't control it anymore."

Liu Ziheng said: "You don't need to worry. The Duke of Yue promised that the governor's government will intervene in this commercial war. We don't have to forcefully stabilize the price of grain; but food is a controlled commodity. Don't be confused and follow suit. Once the governor's government It was discovered that sending food to the Qing ruled area was an act of enlisting the enemy, and the governor's government's method of punishing traitors must be clear to all of you."

Originally, this kind of time was a good time for businessmen like them to take advantage of the opportunity to fry food and annex the land, but it is a pity that the Duke of Yue thinks ahead of them in everything.First, a large amount of grain was mobilized to make the market sufficient; then the governor’s government borrowed grain from the people who could not afford seeds and rations.

Even if the borrowed grain is not repaid in the second year, the governor's government will take back your land at the market price. If the government does this, it will cut off their way of annexing the land at a low price.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. The obvious methods are not good, so the gang of squires gang up with the local ruffians to threaten the people and not allow them to borrow food from the government.

As a result, the Governor's Office only used the word "catch" for people like ruffians. As long as these ruffians were caught extorting once, they would be arrested and sent to Tianmu Mountain to mine.

And the squires who instigated them behind the scenes were all ransacked, their property was confiscated, and they were all sent to Tianmu Mountain.

To be honest, the Governor's Mansion of Jiangsu and Zhejiang seldom killed people, and the Governor's Mansion would not be able to cut off a few heads in the next year, but those green-skinned rogues were almost extinct.

Moreover, although the governor’s government has not abolished corvee, the projects assigned by the governor’s government are all in charge of food. Although there are no wages, there are rewards. You will get rewards only if you complete your work on time and with quality assurance, and more rewards for overfulfilling.

Under the rule of the Governor's Mansion, if you want to engage in crooked ways, it will basically not work; but normal business is still good, there is neither malicious extortion by the government, nor troubles from local ruffians, so serious businessmen support the Governor's Mansion.

Of course, there is a prerequisite, that is, you must abide by the government's various prohibitions.

At this time, if anyone maliciously buys grain and raises the price of grain, it will obviously be difficult for the governor's government; their businessmen love money, but they don't need to fight with their lives, otherwise, no matter how much money you earn, it will be for the governor's government saved.

Wang Yuanhua shook his head helplessly. It seemed that he could only miss this great opportunity to make money.

So he said: "President Liu, don't worry, since we have chosen to stand on the side of the Duke of Yue, we will naturally not do the kind of thing that eats and smashes the pot."

After Wang Yuanhua returned to the mansion, he immediately summoned his brother-in-law Shi Kun, and said to him: "I can't help you with the grain collection this time. The Duke of Yue has already known about this matter, and the governor's mansion will soon Intervene."

But Shi Kun said: "Brother-in-law, you should know that Yangzhou's grain is already 3 taels of silver a stone, so I might as well give you an idea, at least it has to be raised to 5 taels."

"As long as the price of grain in Suzhou can be raised, the profit will be too great. Even if we can't consume the grain in Suzhou, it will be a huge profit to get it to Yangzhou."

Hearing this, Wang Yuanhua frowned even more, and sternly reprimanded: "Don't play with fire, you boy. If the governor's office finds out that you smuggled grain to Yangzhou, you don't even have enough heads to chop off!"

"You have already received 20 shi of grain. I advise you to accept it as soon as you see it. The Duke of Yue is not an ordinary Ming official. He is good at doing business. The financial resources of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Governor's Office are not something you can resist, including those behind you. those Shanxi merchants."

Wang Yuanhua still doesn't know what kind of virtue his brother-in-law is. Where does he have the financial resources and courage to play these things?Before the governor's office did not make a move, Wang Yuanhua dared to use his own channels to help him.Today Liu Ziheng clearly brought Qian Mo's warning to them. If he doesn't know how to advance or retreat, then he will know how to live or die.

After leaving Wang Yuanhua's mansion, Shi Kun disappeared into the night.

The next day in Suzhou, the news spread that the food in Yangzhou and Nanjing had risen to 4 taels a stone. Although the people in Suzhou were not short of food, many people started to panic and wanted to stock up on food while the price was not high. food.

So the price of grain in Suzhou began to rise wildly. In the morning, it was still 1 tael and 5 taels of silver per stone, and in the afternoon it rose to 1 tael and 8 taels.
In Zuixianju, Shi Kun said to a person beside him: "Mr. Fan, the food price has risen to 2 taels and 5 silver per stone this morning, but the government has started to intervene, and a large amount of food has been put on the market. Now the food price has been controlled by them." It's down to 2 taels of silver."

Mr. Fan said lightly: "The Governor's Office of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is indeed different from other Ming armies. They have strict control over food, and it is expected to intervene."

"Since they want to stabilize the price, let them release grain. I want to see how much grain they can have?"

With the intervention of the governor's office, the supply of grain in the Suzhou market was sufficient, and the people who bought grain stopped looting, and the price of grain soon stabilized.

At the same time, Shi Kun and others were also desperately purchasing grain. A large amount of grain was brought in every day in Suzhou City, but almost all of it was collected.

However, it seemed that the food in Suzhou would never be finished. At this time, Mr. Fan seemed not so calm. He asked, "How many taels do we have?"

Shi Kun said: "We have collected 80 shi of grain. We only have 10 taels of silver left, which is definitely not enough to continue sweeping away the grain tomorrow."

Mr. Fan gasped. This time he brought 150 million taels of silver to Suzhou. He did not expect that there was so much food in Suzhou City.

As the head of the eight imperial merchants, the Fan family naturally has strong financial resources, and they still have a lot of money in Yangzhou.But now the Ming army has completely blocked the Yangtze River and Taihu Lake, turning Suzhou into an isolated island. Now he can't get money in, and food can't get out.

So he said with a heartbeat: "My Fan family still has a large amount of property in Suzhou worth 50 taels of silver. Go find Liu Ziheng now and tell me that I am willing to sell at 6% of the price, but I must sell it in cash. With the strength of Suzhou merchants, it should not be a problem to spend 30 taels of silver."

"Scatter everyone out tomorrow and encourage the common people to go to shoot food together. I don't believe that their food will not bottom out."

Knowing that Shi Kun was selling property at a low price, Liu Yichen knew that their money was running out, and it seemed that the time for a decisive battle had come.

He didn't expect these people to be so troublesome, and they actually bought a full 80 shi of grain. Fortunately, 30 shi of which was originally from the Suzhou market, and they still have 50 shi in their hands.

But just in case, Liu Yichen asked Hangzhou and Jiaxing to bring another 10 shi over anyway.

Sure enough, early in the morning, the news that "the price of grain in Nanjing has risen to 5 taels a stone" spread wildly, and the people of Suzhou City once again lined up to buy grain.

A scholar saw people queuing up to buy food and thought they were funny, so he asked a neighbor: "Uncle Wang, is your family's ration not enough, and the high price of 2 taels a stone is still waiting in line to buy?"

Uncle Wang said: "The food at home is enough for the time being. Didn't you hear that the price in Nanjing has risen to 5 taels a stone? I want to prepare a little before the price in Suzhou has not risen too far."

The scholar said with a smile: "The grain in Hangzhou City is only 8 renminbi a stone. Isn't it a waste of money for you to buy rice at a high price? Even if the price of grain is really high in the future, we can still borrow grain from the government and wait for the autumn harvest." Just return the food to the government.”

Uncle Wang pondered for a while and said, "Aren't we afraid that the government will not have enough food, and we won't be able to borrow food at that time?"

The scholar said: "Didn't you see the long-shaped rice on the market? This is the Champa rice that the government transported from Nanyang. I heard that there is still a large amount of Korean rice. Now that the sea route is open, how much grain is needed? How much is there? Are you afraid that the government will run out of food?"

"If the government really didn't have enough food, it would have already restricted the amount of food that each person can buy, and can you buy as much as you want?"

Uncle Wang thought yes, am I spending unjustly money and buying rice at a high price? Why do I join in the fun?
Everyone is not a fool, and soon the crowd grabbing food gradually dispersed.

After hearing the news, Shi Kun quickly found Mr. Fan and said, "It's bad, the people in Suzhou no longer follow the trend to buy grain, and now we can only buy it by ourselves."

Mr. Fan understood that now he could only make a last-ditch effort, and he said: "Splash out the last 40 taels of silver, success or failure depends on it!"

When Shi Kun and the others came back with 20 shi of grain, he knew that he had completely failed this time.

Liu Yichen found that almost no one was buying grain in the market anymore, so he began to cut the price tentatively, 1 tael 8, 1 tael 5, but after the price reduction, there were still not many people buying, and soon the grain price in Suzhou fell to 8 taels of silver normal price.

Mr. Fan's face was ashen. He never expected that Qian Mo would transport a large amount of grain from Nanyang and North Korea in advance, and he paid 150 million taels of cash and 50 taels of property in exchange for the 100 million shi of grain.Now if these grains are sold, it is equivalent to a loss of 120 million taels.

But it’s too late if he doesn’t do it. He rents the warehouses where he stores the grain, and the daily rent and labor are silver; and it’s raining again. If the grain gets damp and mildewed, he’s afraid he’ll lose everything!

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(End of this chapter)