Nanshan Temple, the front yard is quiet and quiet, while the back yard is very lively.

When he learned that the rice price in Lianzhou City finally reached 4 taels per stone, the dozen gentry stayed here immediately celebrated, and everyone's faces were filled with bright smiles.

In fact, when the news of a strong wind in Leizhou Prefecture came, they guessed that there would be such a day. Now the long-awaited goal has finally been achieved, and it has also been favored by God, which has also increased their confidence.

From seven cents per stone to four taels per stone in the past, the profit gap is so exciting. Especially this disaster is lasting. As long as they can reach an offensive and defensive alliance, they can seize the richest amount from hundreds of thousands of people in western Guangdong.

profit.

"Haha... I finally arrived!"

Zheng Menfu laughed overjoyed, because he was stocking up with a total of 3,000 stones of rice and grain. If he released it now, it would be more than 10,000 taels of silver.

Not only that, as long as he releases this batch of grain, Mr. Jiang will also send him 10,000 stones of grain, so there is no need to worry that he has no food to sell in Gaozhou City.

Of course, their group of people also have to pay a certain price, that is, to waste the land under their name and intensify the atmosphere of food tension.

But where food comes from is undoubtedly the biggest question.

The answer is actually very simple. Rice and grain come from overseas. This is not a secret. Many Guangdong merchants know that Siam rice is very cheap, nearly half of the cheaper than here.

In recent years, this import channel has been suddenly interrupted, and it is difficult to see Siam rice again on the market.

There are three main reasons here: First, the sea ban policy is tightened and the officials headed by Wang Bai, deputy envoy of Guangdong's submission of the sea route, require huge costs; second, pirates on the western front of the South Ocean are rampant, and the risk of transportation has increased greatly.

The ships are often looted, thus losing all their money; thirdly, rice merchants are usually controlled by local forces, and they do not allow such cheap Siamese rice to seize the market.

It is precisely these many reasons that have overlapped together that the channels for Siam rice to flow into Guangdong are blocked, and many people even forget Siam rice.

But all these problems were solved by the brave and powerful General Jiang.

Now Jiang Yuanwai has a large amount of cheap Siamese rice in his hands. As long as the rice price market in Guangdong can maintain a relatively high price, he will be able to obtain a considerable profit at that time.

Nowadays, Jiang Yuanwai is equivalent to general dealers, and they are sub-dealers. Faced with this market with strong demand and abundant profits, how can they not be ecstatic?

Mr. Jiang sat upright on the head seat, with a deep smile on his face, and savoring tea and watching the squire on both sides of the celebrating. Obviously, he was the real big winner.

As long as the plan goes smoothly and the rice and grain he has in his hands can be cashed out smoothly, he can at least make a profit of 200,000 and will become the biggest wealthy in Guangdong and Guangxi.

"Release the rice!"

With a command, the gentry who had been staying in Nanshan Temple waiting for the opportunity finally took action. They compiled books and went home, ordering their families to sell the accumulated rice and grain, and all of them were fixed at a sky-high price of one stone.

On this day, with Huazhou as the center, a large number of rice stockings appeared in the surrounding counties, cities and towns. However, the price was terrifying and even made people feel urged to smash a store.

This "slap a date" is the crystallization of China's wisdom. Although they have hanged a high price of "four twelve and one stone", they clearly show that the price will not rise again.

The price of rice and grain will not rise again, which can indeed soothe the emotions of some people and give some small families with relatively wealthy families a hope of survival.

The people of this era are indeed very simple and do not talk about freedom or quality of life. As long as they can keep them alive, this is enough to meet their needs.

The dozen people led by Jiang Yuanwai are all powerful gentry and have certain foundations in the local area. Taking Shicheng County as an example, these gentry are local tyrants, and can often call hundreds of people, so how could they be a small person.

Can a small juren and a county magistrate control it?

It is precisely because the court was unable to provide disaster relief and the government was weak, the rice prices in various places gradually lost their restrictions, and these gentry squeezed out the wealth of local people through high prices of rice.

As for the court, they prefer to look at the problem from the overall situation and prefer to adopt the strategy of "grasping the big and letting go of the small". As long as there are no refugees in western Guangdong, the court or the Guangdong Provincial Government Office will not care whether the people eat high-priced food.

Or so, except for western Guangdong, many places in Guangdong and Guangxi have appeared in many places where big merchants took the opportunity to seize disaster wealth. They hoarded rice and grain to push up rice prices to make profits.

But there will be an exception for anything.

Chen Dazhu is a rice merchant in Leizhou City. He was planning to sell the stored rice and grain for 4 taels per stone. As a result, the sign was just hung out, and the official officer from the government office came to the door immediately and closed the store and took people on the spot.

"Why do you catch people?"

"That law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that my rice cannot be sold for one stone or four taels?"

"You let go of me, I want to sue you, I want to go to the inspector to sue you!"

...

Although Chen Dazhu was forcibly taken away by the official, he shouted unwillingly and shouted with great resentment.

"Clog his mouth and take him away!"

But no matter how he shouted, even though he moved out of the patrol, it could not change his fate of being sent to the prison. The Iron Captain gave a cold order.

Leizhou Government has made clear regulations on this action of raising rice prices, and must be severely punished. At least in Leizhou City, no one is qualified to challenge Lin Lei Gong's authority.

"Good catch! This business is so terrible!"

"This kind of person really deserves to behead his head. Four taels and one stone will kill us!"

"Hey! There are more and more disaster victims now. I am afraid that our Leizhou City will not be able to support it for long!"

"Isn't it? If you continue to waste this now, you will have to eat up even if the rice and grain in the warehouse are piled up like a mountain!"

...

The onlookers applauded Chen Tiezhu, but they also felt worried. After all, there were too many refugees coming to Leizhou City.

In order to maintain low-priced grain, the government office has always relied on the Changping Warehouse of the government office and the county office to maintain low-priced grain, while the cunning rice merchants have been reluctant to sell it.

The same is true. The government’s rice and grain are gradually decreasing. If it weren’t for the continuous supply of fish from Leizhou Bay to Tuleizhou City, the rice and grain would have been empty long ago.

Although Leizhou Prefecture still maintains an extremely low price of rice and grain, concerns are slowly spreading, and no one dares to be optimistic about the future.

Leizhou Prefecture, Haikang County Government Office is in the house.

The magistrate Wei Guozhong and Dai Beihe, who had just been promoted to magistrate, sat around the table, and both of them showed sad faces. In particular, the official uniform of the magistrate Wei Guozhong of Haikang lost its original luster, the edges and corners had been severely worn, and even became black.

He was sloppy, and looked thin and tired, his eyes were bloodshot, his lips were dry, and his face looked a bit sick.

Over the years, he has worked diligently on the affairs of all county governments.

Since the beginning of this disaster, he has not slept for a few days. While he has settled a large number of refugees who have flocked to Leizhou City, he has helped the people of Hikang resume production as soon as possible.

As the situation gradually improved, he suddenly encountered this strong wind. A large number of buildings in Haikang County were destroyed and the official roads were also blocked, which forced him to get busy day and night.

Just now, he went outside the city to check the damage to the villagers' houses, and he really couldn't rest for a moment.

But he understood that the worst situation had not yet occurred. As more and more refugees flocked to Leizhou City, the grain in the Fucang and County Cang were gradually exhausted, and the most difficult time would eventually come.

.

"Prime Minister Dai Tong, how many days can the food last?" Wei Guozhong's mouth was dry and he asked while pouring tea.

After Dai Beihe was promoted from Leizhou Prefecture to Tongzhi, he was in charge of food affairs. He first sighed, and then replied bitterly: "It's probably four or five days left!"

"What are the instructions before leaving? What should we do if the rice and grain are exhausted? What are the regulations?" Wei Guozhong took a sip of tea and asked seriously.

Things were worse than expected. He had just returned from outside the city, but was told that Lord Fu Zun had left Leizhou City. The sudden departure of the backbone caused Wei Guozhong's pressure to rise suddenly, and he suddenly felt no secret in his heart.

When Lin Xuran was there, he felt that Lin Lei Gong was holding back everything, but now it seemed that everything was pressing on him.

Dai Beihe shook his head slowly, and then said seriously: "He said that no matter what method he took, he must appease the people and put the interests of the people first. He will find a way to deal with rice and grain!"

"The whole of Guangdong is short of food, and even Leizhouwei is not enough to eat. Where can I get food?" Wei Guozhong was stunned in his heart and immediately expressed his concerns.

This disaster is not just in Leizhou, but in western Guangdong and Guangxi, where food is short of food everywhere. Now the court has no food relief, and the governor has no measures. They have no concerns and hopes.

When he thought of the food incident, he sighed heavily, and he seemed to have been several years old.

Although Dai Beihe knew this was the reason, he maintained trust in Lin Qingran and said in a stable tone: "Master Fuzun is Wen Kuijun, a rare talent in our Ming Dynasty in a century, and it cannot be judged by reason. Maybe he can really think of it.

Let’s find a way to stabilize the people of Leizhou City first!”

"I hope so!" Wei Guozhong nodded softly, and then said seriously: "As long as there is food, it is not difficult to stabilize the people! I am afraid that the food will be exhausted and the people will not be full, so that something big will happen!

”

The problem is back again, and the core of everything is ultimately food.

But at this moment, a clerk ran in panic to report: "Sir Qi, Liu Baihu sent someone to report just now, and the inspector and the censor had already arrived at Chaotianmen!"

When they heard this news, the two of them looked at each other and had a vague premonition.

The inspector censor took Zhao Yong down, and the spearhead was obviously directed at Lin Qingran. Now that Lin Qingran had just left, he immediately arrived in Leizhou City, and this matter was filled with a sense of conspiracy.

The military system in the Ming Dynasty adopted the leadership model of eunuchs and civil servants, and the guards and supervision were the most respected.

In the first year of Hongxi, Wang An was appointed as the eunuch in Gansu, which kicked off the eunuchs' heads-up town. During the Zhengtong period, there were eunuchs in all provinces and towns, and their control was limited to military affairs, and later it was extended to local administration and rights.

Heavy.

After the establishment of the general of the garrison, the general was appointed as the Duke, Hou, Bo, and the governor. This was not only a general power factory, but also a respected status, which made the general easily out of control of the central government. In order to control the general's power, the Ming court

The local supervisor was sent to the local government, and the eunuchs had to bribe the buyer with 150,000 taels of silver in order to win the battle between Guangdong and Guangxi.

In Guangdong, the system of eunuchs in the town, governors of Guangdong and Guangxi, and general officers guarding Guangdong and Guangxi has lasted for a long time. Among them, eunuchs in the town are the first, and they sit in the middle when the General Office is discussing affairs. The governor and general officers sit on the left and right.

Guangdong pays more and more local products to the court every year, and are handled by eunuchs from Guangdong and Guangxi. The tributes include: honey-fried fruits, rattan silk, carved lacquer utensils, seafood, cloth, medicinal materials, silver boxes, wine utensils, etc. "More than 80

". The various disadvantages caused by tribute are greater than those of the dynasties before the Ming Dynasty.

However, when it was this dynasty, Jiajing excluded the eunuchs and retreated under the instigation of civil servants.

In the leap month of the tenth year of Jiajing, Guangdong and other eunuchs were abolished. Although the eunuchs in the general town of Guangdong and Guangxi were once re-established (it was re-established from September to July of the leap month of the leap month of Jiajing)), it was laid off in less than a year.

At this point, most of the military affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi were coordinated by the Governor General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

In some places, such as Haibei Bingbei Dao and Qiongzhou Bingbei Dao, they have become relatively independent individuals. Although they only control the strength of one or two guards, they have strong autonomous capabilities and are the highest commander of a unit of force.

official.

It is precisely because the Ming Dynasty emphasized civil servants over military officials. The actual commander of the army was often a civil servant. Many military generals actually had to obey the orders of civil servants, and they were often commanded by civil servants. The greatest fame was often the civil servants.

Lin Qingran was the prefect of Leizhou and served as the preparatory office of Haibei. He was undoubtedly a civil servant who suppressed military generals. He had the power to command military troops, but he was led by the Governor General of Guangdong and Guangxi and controlled by Wang Jin, the Governor General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

This disaster undoubtedly brought extremely adverse effects. Yaomin was ready to move again, but he didn't know whether he saw the opportunity or was involved in the high-priced rice. They also came out of the village and actually wanted to capture Gaozhou City.

The same is true. Lin Qingran suddenly received an order from the Governor General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, asking him, the Haibei soldier, to prepare for the road to rush to Gaozhou Prefecture. Although he felt a vague smell of conspiracy, he had to go there and take the Leizhou Guard's primordial tax.
Chapter completed!