Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1330
In the city of Chang'an, with the opening of grain warehouses by the imperial court of the Kingdom of Jin, the price of grain in the city gradually stabilized, but it remained at about double the normal price, and showed a trend of falling back and then continuing to rise slowly.

Although the price was much higher than usual, and it was growing slowly, the people near Chang'an saw the government releasing grain, and the Jin Kingdom court began to intervene. After having a backbone, the mood gradually stabilized, and the turmoil of grabbing grain gradually subsided.

However, this does not mean that the crisis in Guanzhong is over. In fact, the situation in the entire Jin Kingdom is still in a mess.

Large cotton farmers all over the country, cotton is unsalable, cotton farmers are bankrupt, unable to buy food, and starvation will soon break out, various workshops will close down, hired workers will lose their jobs, tens of thousands of people will lose their livelihoods, businesses and banks will close down, and the Jin Kingdom Next year's taxes are worrying, and that's all the problem.

If the tax of the Kingdom of Jin dropped from 1000 million to 400 million, it would be a headache to think about it. The warlords of the nearly 30 army of the Kingdom of Jin would not be able to afford the expenses, and the entire court would not be able to function at all.

This time, the grain reserves of the Kingdom of Jin will definitely be exhausted, and after the economy has been hit hard, the entire Guanzhong land is in disarray, and all industries are in depression.

With such a crisis in the Kingdom of Jin, the cabinet has to bear a huge responsibility, and several academicians are not as tough as before, allowing Hauge to regain a little bit of the initiative.

However, this kind of gloomy political victory did not make Hauge happy at all.Now that he was facing a collapsed situation, he did not take advantage of the momentum to chase down Meng Qiaofang, Han Chaoxuan and others, but sat down to discuss how to clean up the mess.

Although the cabinet is responsible this time, Hauge has the support of public opinion for their handling of them, but Hauge's power has declined after all. He left Meng Qiaofang and others, and it is difficult to control and deal with the current situation, so Hauge can only let them go. horse.

Under the current circumstances, the court of the Kingdom of Jin must have national policies and plans to stabilize people's hearts, so a big discussion is very necessary.

In Chang'an City, the Imperial Palace, and the Hall of Qinzheng, Hauge was sitting on the throne, and nearly 30 senior officials of the fourth rank or above, including the ministers of the sixth department, officials from Dali Temple and Jiantai, all participated together, holding ivory wats , standing on both sides of the palace.

At this time, Yu Yin wrote to the Ministry of Households and stood in the center of the hall, holding an ivory wat, and said: "Your Majesty, the price of grain is a reassurance. In the counties where the situation is the worst, warehouses have also been opened to release grain, basically bringing the price of grain back to three taels per shi.”

Hauge nodded. He was trying his best to restore the calm in Guanzhong. "The decision of the Ministry of Household Affairs is still timely. Food is the heart of the people. Once the price of food is controlled, the hearts of the army and the people will be stable, and violent turmoil will be avoided."

Jin Guo's fine work has received news that the Ming army is deploying troops on a large scale, and the intention to attack Guanzhong by taking advantage of the situation is already quite obvious.

At the moment of the current war, the court of the Kingdom of Jin cannot demonstrate the ability to stabilize food prices and Guanzhong, which will have a fatal impact on the morale of the army.

Hauge paused for a while, then added: "I heard reports from the Xuanjingwei that there are rumors and complaints in Chang'an City. This crisis is caused by the officials and gentry competing for profit with the people and wantonly replanting cotton. You guys Have you heard?"

If there was no threat from the Ming Dynasty, this would be an important opportunity for Hauge to seize power, but due to the imminent war, he had to give up this opportunity to change the political structure of the Kingdom of Jin.

Meng Qiaofang came out holding the ivory wat and said: "Your Majesty, there are such voices in the city. This crisis was designed by the Ming Dynasty, and the officials and gentry are also the victims. Those who spread such rumors obviously have ulterior motives. I have sent people to search, Catch them."

Meng Qiaofang was still a little nervous, afraid that Hauge would make a fuss about it, so she stood up and established her personality first. The main responsibility lay with the Ming Dynasty. They were too despicable, and officials and gentry were also one of the victims.

With him, the king of the county, set the tone first, and I believe that no one will dare to come out to overthrow his statement, otherwise he will be an enemy of the official and gentry group of Jin Kingdom.

Hauge frowned. After receiving the information about the dispatch of troops from the Ming army, he had already calmed down, knowing that now was not the time to deal with Han officials.

At this time, he glanced at Meng Qiaofang, and said coldly: "Meng Qing is right, but arresting those who spread rumors is not enough, the court must also step up publicity, showing that this incident was completely designed by Ming people to trick everyone. The wealth of gold has come to harm the people in Guanzhong, making the people hate the Ming Dynasty and the imperial court. In addition, when opening warehouses to release grain, we should publicize the court's favor. Right now is the autumn of Dajin's survival. I hope that the imperial court can unite with the people Together, we will fight against the violence!"

"Your Majesty is holy!" Meng Qiaofang breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. Hauge said that it means that the matter has been settled and the officials and the cabinet will not be held accountable. He quickly took the lead in saluting, and many officials also bowed down to salute , Shan shouted, "Long live my emperor, long live, long live."

After finishing the ceremony, Hauge looked at Yu Yin again and said, "Qing Yu, please continue."

Although Meng Qiaofang and the others were not held accountable, Hauge's dissatisfaction with them has not been eliminated, so the task of stabilizing Guanzhong and revitalizing Jin Kingdom's business was handed over to Yu Yin.

Yu Yin nodded, "Your Majesty, although the food price is stable now, there are still a large number of cotton farmers and unemployed workers who cannot afford cheap food. If the imperial court sends food relief, the financial resources of the imperial court will be a drop in the bucket. In addition, the workshop closed down and the hired workers lost their jobs. , It will also affect my future business and next year's financial income of Daikin, and the strategy of the imperial court to develop the Silk Road will also fail because of the closure of a large number of workshops."

"Does the Ministry of Households have any strategies to change the current situation." Hauge frowned. "From the intelligence point of view, there must be a big war in the near future. If the imperial court's taxes are reduced, there will be big problems."

Yu Yin raised his head, looked at Hauge, and saluted: "Your Majesty, only the imperial court comes out to rescue the market, so that we can have a chance to get through this crisis smoothly."

"The court rescued the market?" Hauge asked, "How? The Qing family just said it."

Yu Yin took out a memorial from his sleeve and presented it, "The minister has drawn up a strategy."

Hauge asked the waiter next to him to take the booklet and unfold it for viewing, while Yu Yin explained: "The first strategy of the minister is to make a bid from the household department to buy the cotton cloth piled up in the market at a normal price, so that the workshop can get a certain amount of money. Funds to maintain a certain level of production, solve the livelihood of some employees, and save some workshops for future full restoration.”

Haug looked at the memorial, raised his head, and asked, "Now that the cotton cloth in Guanzhong is piled up like a mountain, do you still want to continue production?"

Han Chaoxuan in the hall frowned, "How much silver do you need to buy cotton cloth at the market price? The Ming army is eyeing the Kanto, and the court is not rich. The silver is used to buy cloth, what about the military pay for fighting against the enemy?"

Han Chaoxuan is the minister of war, and hundreds of thousands of troops are waiting to be fed. He must first ensure the stability of the army.

If there is a problem with the support of the army, Guanzhong is well governed and the crisis is resolved, but the Ming army is allowed to come in, that is to make wedding dresses for others.

Yu Yin saluted Hauge first, then looked at Han Chaoxuan, and replied, "Don't worry, Prime Minister Han, the money spent by the court can be recovered. The reason why the price of cotton cloth in Guanzhong plummeted was because it couldn't be sold for a while. The supply exceeds demand, so they pile up like a mountain, and no one cares about them. However, at the current price of cotton cloth, it is still sold to the Western Regions, Mongolia, and Qinghai. It is just that my transportation capacity to the merchants is insufficient, and the cost is not much, so I cannot organize large-scale production. Therefore, the goods in Guanzhong cannot be evacuated or emptied in a short period of time. If the imperial court comes forward to purchase these cloths and organize human transportation, it should be able to transport these goods to other places for sale, or exchange some cattle and sheep to ease the situation in Guanzhong. There is not enough food."

After hearing this, Hauge seemed to understand a little bit, "Yu Qing means that after the imperial court buys it, it will organize manual transportation to transport the cloth from Guanzhong, but can it really be sold?"

Yu Yin nodded, "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the price of cloth in Guanzhong has dropped to [-] yuan per piece, but the production area of ​​cotton cloth in the south of the Yangtze River in Ming Dynasty is still at [-] yuan per piece. Although the price of cotton in the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions has fallen, Because it doesn’t produce cotton cloth, it’s still in the right-growing range. The Ming Dynasty took control and lowered the price of cotton, but we can still ship it to the west.”

After the crisis, all the firms in Guanzhong were hit, and their commercial activities came to a standstill. Many firms owed a lot of money, and they were unable to organize caravans and continue to trade.

This time reflects the correctness of the Kingdom of Jin to open up the Silk Road. If there is no Silk Road to the west, the Kingdom of Jin can only trade with the Ming Dynasty, and as long as the Ming army seals the pass, the goods of the Kingdom of Jin will have no market. , can only be sold to the Ming Dynasty at a low price, but now that there is the Silk Road, they have another road.

Yu Yin's plan is to inject funds from the court of the Kingdom of Jin to transport the cotton cloth from Guanzhong to the Western Regions, Mongolia, and even the Mughals for sale.Although the workshops are still suffering huge losses, they can withdraw part of the funds and continue to operate after all, while the Jin Kingdom’s court has not lost much, and they can return some cattle and sheep to make up for the lack of food.

Hauge nodded, raised his hand and said, "Qing Yu continued."

Yu Yin said: "As long as the cotton cloth is shipped out of Guanzhong, the price of the cloth will gradually rise. After the workshop resumes, the cotton in the hands of the people can be gradually sold. Once the cotton is sold, they can buy grain by themselves, reducing the court's burden." Relief expenses."

This is also a good thing for the gentry, so no one objects.

Yu Yin went on to say, "Of course, the damage caused by this crisis is too great, and the imperial court can only help part of it, and it is impossible to return to the previous level. Therefore, the imperial court still needs to re-plan the planting and control the cotton planting within a reasonable range. and organize the unemployed workers to help the imperial court build fortifications, and slowly get through the current crisis with some labor."

Hauge nodded slightly, very satisfied with Yu Yin's strategy, so he looked through the memorial again, but raised his head and asked, "Why didn't the imperial court explain how much investment the court needs in Yu Qing's memorial?"

Yu Yin bowed and said: "Because of the huge amount, the Ministry of Household Affairs has not yet come up with a specific amount, but according to my estimate, the imperial government needs to allocate at least 300 million yuan to save the market!"

When the minister heard this number, there was an uproar...

(End of this chapter)