Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 96 Macroeconomic Control
"As for the means by which the local grain gentry and grain merchants took the opportunity to speculate and stockpile grain and make huge profits, I asked some insiders to investigate and inquire last night. It is mixed with moldy grain and sand, and at the same time, they bought the small officials to buy the grain and mix it with the grain, so it is difficult to find out who did it, and make a lot of money from it. This minister thinks that it is possible to appoint the chief The yamen, where the responsibilities lie, if they don’t transfer to others in the middle, they will restrain themselves.”

When everyone repeatedly heard Ye Chen mention that an insider was called to investigate and inquire, Zhao Pu, Zhao Guangyi, Luo Gongming and the others felt deeply ashamed. They had been in high positions for many years and were used to sitting in the house with a group of officials and aides. Discuss, but no longer have the consciousness to find insiders to conduct investigations and inquiries, especially in such a tight time situation.

In fact, this is a common problem in official circles. Since ancient times, people who have been officials for a long time will suffer from this disease. That's why there is a saying that great people in later generations said: "Without investigation, there is no right to speak." 'Used to warn officials at all levels.

"In view of this situation, I believe that the origin and name of the grain seller can be directly indicated on the grain package. If adulteration is checked, you will be charged. In this way, the delivery speed will not only be much faster, but also in a hurry. Now, it's hard for them to think of other ways to cheat."

"In addition, as far as I know, if the grain merchants want to cheat, they can also tamper with the payment. The information provided by the third envoy to the minister mentioned that the transshipment department, the delivery department, etc. usually buy grain, and there are money barter and There are two methods of bartering. Bartering with money is simple, and bartering is to use documents such as official notices and certificates. Or alum, tea, fragrant medicine, salt, cloth, ivory and other items can pay for grain prices. In this way, The price is not easy to determine, and then through Jiarao,

Overestimation, overestimation and other means of manipulation..."

"Hoarding is the most important means of profit-making. Grain merchants only seek high prices. If the price in other places is high and the local price is low, they will try to sell it to other places. If the local grain is in short supply, the government prohibits foreign shipments and prevents They just closed the warehouse and did not sell it, procrastinating and waiting until the price of grain soared before they opened the warehouse to make huge profits."

"But the imperial court is not a bandit, and the imperial court cannot come to grab people's own food. In view of this situation, the minister believes that it is inappropriate for the imperial court to keep the matter of raising a large amount of grain secret. The imperial court does not want to make this matter public. There is panic, and people’s hearts are fluctuating. The second is that they are worried that grain merchants are hoarding and raising prices and are reluctant to sell. Therefore, this matter can be made public. Of course, the reason for raising grain cannot be truthfully announced, and a reasonable reason must be thought of.”

Zhao Guangyi nodded in agreement, and interjected: "What Uncle Xiangfu said is true. Once the grain is requisitioned wantonly, even if the court doesn't say anything, the common people and grain merchants will guess how much. Seriously, instead of this, it is better to disclose to the people that Kaifeng Mansion urgently needs a large amount of food. Of course, as Xiang Fu Boru said, what is the reason and how much food is lacking, among them... need to plan further."

"That's right! In this way, the imperial court can also let the local state and county officials know that the situation is serious. At this time, even if they are usually slack, they will cheer up and dare not take too much profit from it or delay it. In addition, the imperial court will issue relevant official documents to make local states and counties clearly stipulate strict laws and codes to curb the rise in food prices. The capital will start to raise prices from now on, and food prices will rise again and again, which will lure many The grain merchants and wealthy gentry who have the conditions to transport them by themselves do everything possible to transport grain to Kaifeng, even faster and more attentive than the government's water transport. Don't underestimate their energy. As far as I know, for the sake of profit, those big grains Once the merchants take action, their power may surprise even the imperial court. I am afraid that they will account for a considerable share of the grain transportation in Kaifeng this time." Luo Gongming then said solemnly.

What he said was also what Ye Chen said next.All the ministers present were extremely intelligent, and their experience far surpassed Ye Chen's in many aspects. Ye Chen gave them an idea, opened up the matter and explained the difficulties one by one.Everyone can prescribe the right medicine and propose many solutions.

Chu Zhaofu was surprised and said: "The price is going to be raised now? In this way, the people in the capital will complain."

Zhao Kuangyin suddenly sneered and said, "Compared to starving them to death after more than two months, it's a good deal to let them spend a few more pennies now."

Ye Chen smiled slightly and said: "What your Majesty said is very true. There is no such thing as perfect in this world. It is normal for some people to be dissatisfied with anything. You must know that people's eyes are not bright most of the time. And you have to wait until the people understand and support you, then you don’t have to do anything. You have to make a decision when it’s time to make a decision. Only in this way can you attract merchants from all over the world to spare no effort to transport grain to Kaifeng.”

Zhao Kuangyin was deeply impressed by Ye Chen's novel statement that 'people's eyes are not bright most of the time', and nodded approvingly.

Lu Yuqing, who had been silent all this time, suddenly snorted coldly, and said: "What Uncle Xiang Fu said is absolutely absurd. According to what you said, countless families in the capital are about to break down to buy grain. Knowing that Kaifeng is short of grain, they robbed it like crazy. I don’t know how high the food price will be. I remember that when I was a child, there was a severe drought in Central Plains, and there was no harvest. Some people used two ingots of gold ingots to exchange for two steamed buns, and even exchanged their wives and daughters for half a liter of grain. Tens of thousands of people starved to death. Ye Chen, do you want such a tragedy to appear in the capital?"

Before Ye Chen could say anything, Zhao Pu looked at Lu Yuqing and shook his head, Zhao Guangyi showed a sneer at the corner of his mouth, Luo Gongming's expression remained unchanged, but there was a faint smile in his eyes.Zhao Kuangyin frowned slightly, with a look of disappointment.

Ye Chen saw everyone's expressions in his eyes. He was originally angry, but it dissipated. He ignored Lu Yuqing and said to himself: "How much food is lacking in the imperial court? The wording in the announcement will naturally be thoughtful. Don't forget, the grain merchant At the same time that they were transporting grain, the imperial court’s water transport was also transporting grain. When their grain arrived, the grain stored in Kaifeng plus the grain shipped by the imperial court during this period, then... the imperial court could sell the grain at a fair price, Even the price lower than the par price has opened up the supply to the common people, and it is not so easy for the grain merchants to raise the price. At that time, can the grain merchants still put the grain in the warehouse to rot? What's more, at the last moment, they If you don’t know the current affairs, His Majesty will use the power of thunder to forcibly expropriate their food at a fair price, and then sell it to the people.”

Although Ye Chen deliberately ignored Lu Yuqing, these words also explained Lu Yuqing's words of criticism.

Lu Yuqing's face turned red when he heard the words. He was in a hurry to attack Ye Chen just now, he didn't think carefully about the problem, and what he said was too level-headed. For his status as deputy prime minister, he was an embarrassment.He hurriedly lowered his head to hide his embarrassment, but he couldn't help feeling an inexplicable hatred towards Ye Chen in his heart.In his opinion, it was all caused by Ye Chen.

At this time, Zhao Kuangyin's eyes lit up, and he said: "Food is the most important thing for the people. The law Ye Qing said is for the righteousness of the people and the great benefit of the country. From my point of view, for those profiteers who hoard and have no conscience , these punishments are still light.”

At this time, Zhao Puhe and Zhao Guangyi were amazed in their hearts. Regardless of Ye Chen's intelligence, this far-sighted thinking is not something ordinary people can possess.

Ye Chen was tall and straight like a gun, looked at everyone's reaction, smiled on his face and said nothing, thinking that this is the simplest method in the macro-control of the future government after years of verification, and what's wrong with the court, the court can't cheat people what.

"The problem of the local government, the local grain gentry and the grain merchants has been solved. As long as the various measures mentioned just now are implemented, enough grain can be raised within a month. Now there is only one last problem left, what about that?" It is how to transport the food to the capital in the remaining month or so."

At this time, Zhao Kuangyin had already relaxed a lot, and said affectionately: "Ye Qing has a good plan for the transportation of grain. Before that, the Zhengshitang, the third envoy, and the Kaifeng government all mentioned that it was difficult to transport the grain within more than a month. When we arrive in Kaifeng, how will Ye Qing solve this matter?"

Ye Chen has a plan in his mind. Last night, he had repeatedly discussed this matter with Zhou Jie, the leader of the Cao Gang. Inspired by it, and combined with the experience of later generations, he really came up with a solution.

"Officials! The difficulties in river transportation have been mentioned by Mr. Zhao, Mr. Fu Yin, and Mr. Luo before. At present, the Song Dynasty mainly adopts the segmented transfer method passed down from the previous dynasty. Due to the different water levels in various river sections First, if the grain ship has to go down the river all the time, the probability of overturning and entering the water is too high. In order to reduce losses, people invented the segmental transfer method during the Tang Dynasty. That is, in places with large water level differences, a wharf is built on the upper and lower sides. When the upstream ship arrives, it unloads the cargo at the upper pier, then transports it to the downstream pier with a donkey cart, and then Lifu loads the new ship and continues driving until the next place where the water level drops greatly.”

"This method greatly reduces the risk of river transportation. Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, this method of transportation has been followed. Generally speaking, the current river transportation can still meet Kaifeng's grain needs in this way. But this time This time, because the time is too short, it is obviously not enough. As for how to speed up the efficiency of the river transportation, I have the following major and ten minor methods, a total of eleven methods. They are..."

Among these eleven methods, Ye Chen heard ten small methods from Zhou Jie. Zhou Jie is worthy of being the leader of the Cao Gang, and he is actually No. 1 in the Great Song Dynasty in this trip. It's the kind that works for a reason.

(End of this chapter)