Su He returned to the Qin Palace and called Wang Zhongce to discuss the policy of lowering food prices.
Now the grain reserves are abundant, and there is winter wheat, so we can be sure that the grain reserves will be even richer next year.
Su He wanted to lower food prices, so he discussed with Wang Zhongce what to do so that the impact would be the lowest.
Autumn harvests in various places are basically completed, and it is the time when farmers pay taxes and payments. The Grain Reserves Bureau announces the date for unified grain purchase prices.
If you want to lower the price of grain, you must lower the price of grain purchase, otherwise the Qin Palace will not be able to bear it.
Wang Zhongce looked at the grain storage data reported from various places.
Hanzhong County and Baoji Prefecture reported actual autumn harvest data.
These statistics are all conducted by township officials.
Without an official system that goes deep into the countryside, there is no way to obtain such in-depth data.
Sichuan's data are only estimates.
The cement road from Hanzhong to Sichuan has not been built yet.
On regular mountain roads, horses run very slowly.
The post office adopts the expedited transportation method of changing horses and people.
It takes nearly twenty days to deliver official documents from Rongcheng, Sichuan to Hanzhong.
Wang Zhongce read the grain storage data and found that these are real storage data.
The most important task of the newly established metropolitan procuratorates in various places is to investigate the granaries in various places.
Severely punishing more than 100 rats can ensure that the accuracy of grain storage data is at least 95%.
Wang Zhongce read the data, considered it and said: "Your Highness, King Qin, Sichuan is truly a land of abundance.
The grain production of Sichuan alone can feed the population of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and there is still a surplus of grain.
Coupled with winter wheat and Sichuan's ongoing canal construction program, next year's grain output will be even higher.
Should we open up grain brewing?
Nowadays, a large amount of silver coins are consumed every month when importing liquor from Huguang.
The tax on alcohol is very high and the price is very expensive, but it still cannot stop people’s enthusiasm for drinking.”
Su He looked at the current grain reserve data and thought that slightly liberalizing winemaking would not have much impact on the grain reserves.
Grain is not a storable commodity. It will mold and deteriorate within three to five years.
"Zhongce, the cabinet issued a policy to allow grain brewing.
However, grain winemaking must be restricted, each winery has a quota, and private winemaking is prohibited.
They lacked technology, consumed more grains, and easily brewed poisonous wine.
Fully liberalize the brewing of sweet potato wine and other alcoholic beverages.”
Su He saw so many grain reserves under the rule of the Qin Palace.
The Ming Dynasty blocked them again and entered Sichuan to destroy the rice fields as long as they did not defeat the Qin army.
From now on, under the rule of the Prince of Qin, we will no longer have to worry about food.
Wang Zhongce looked at the harvest data and counted the silver coins for harvesting grain.
He frowned, thinking about how to solve the problem of shortage of silver coins.
"Your Highness King Qin, I think we should lower the purchase price of grain.
In addition to farmers paying taxes and payments, 40% of the grain is given to officials.
They usually keep 12% of the remaining 60% of grain for their own use and breeding.
Other grains can only be sold to the Grain Reserve Bureau.
We pay real money to buy grain from farmers.
Let us first calculate that the silver coins in the hands of farmers can be circulated and promote the development of industry and commerce.
But the reality is that we have been severely slapped in the face.
Farmers have had a hard time these years. Even if they have some money in their hands, they don’t save it in the bank and choose to dig holes and bury it themselves.
They have these silver coins in their hands, preparing to deal with unknown risks in the future.
As a result, a large part of the silver coins minted by banks were deposited in the hands of farmers and had no effective circulation."
Su He also knew about this matter, and bank president Feng Chunxiao reported this issue to him many times.
If it weren't for the large-scale trade in textiles, a lot of money would be earned from Huguang and other areas.
Several more silver mines were discovered, and large quantities of silver were mined and refined into silver coins.
The supply of silver coins from banks to society can barely keep up with the rate of appreciation of commodities.
When Su He heard Wang Zhongce mention this matter again, he had to find a way to solve it.
Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty’s money would be buried underground by the gentry, and their money would be buried underground by the peasants.
If money cannot be circulated, it will lose its meaning and become a collection.
To change this situation, the first step is to lower the purchase price of grain.
The second is to mobilize farmers and let them spend their money actively.
They make money flow while gaining benefits.
Su He thought about the methods of future generations and compared them with the current situation.
While he was thinking, he also discussed the food price issue with Wang Zhongce.
"The purchase price of grain will definitely drop. At that time, only Hanzhong Prefecture will produce grain.
There is a severe drought in Baoji and there is not much food output.
Sichuan was not defeated again.
In order to stabilize the farmers in Hanzhong, we greatly increased the purchase price of grain compared with the price paid by the gentry.
When the purchase price of grain is reduced, the sales price of grain should also be lowered. Now the price of grain is too expensive, and ordinary families cannot afford it."
When Su He talked about the purchase price of grain, he thought of the secretariat's survey report on the city's citizens.
There are already citizens in the city, and with the development of industrialization, there are more workers.
They do not grow their own food. Even if they are allocated land, they cannot adapt to the fatigue of farming, and their agricultural output is not high.
They entrusted their land to farms for cultivation.
All proceeds and taxes go to the farm.
They can terminate the contract at any time, and if they can no longer survive in the city, they still have a piece of land in the countryside that belongs to them.
If the land has not been planted personally for ten years, it will be reclaimed by the managed farm.
People in the city mainly rely on buying food from major grain stores.
The investigation report submitted by Qian Mingyi showed a very typical family, which could represent most of the poor families in the city.
Workers doing heavy manual labor in a cement factory.
He supports a family of five, and the monthly food expenses account for 60% of his salary.
This is still the maximum time I eat eggs once a month. I usually eat cheap vegetables such as radishes and cabbage.
The most important reason is that food prices are too expensive now.
Su He and Wang Zhongce based on the current cost of farmers growing food.
The monthly income of an ordinary worker in the city and the cost of purchasing food are controlled below 30% of his salary.
Finally, they calculated the purchasing and selling prices of various grains.
Each government can make some appropriate increases and decreases based on the local conditions in its own region.
If the adjustment range exceeds 5%, it needs to be reported to the provincial governor for approval.
Any adjustment exceeding 10% must be reported to the cabinet for approval.
Grain purchase price.
One hundred kilograms of staple food and one tael of silver coins.
One hundred pounds of sweet potatoes, 300 copper coins.
Grain sales price.
100 kilograms of rice or flour, 1 tael of silver coin and 500 copper coins.
100 pounds of sweet potatoes, 500 copper coins.
The selling price of grain has basically reached half of what it was before.
Grain purchase prices have also been adjusted on a large scale.
Wang Zhongce looked at the new price and asked with some worry: "Your Highness King Qin, the citizens in the city will definitely be happy about this adjustment in food prices.
When farmers in the countryside see this price, they will definitely yell at the government."
"It's okay." Su He said calmly, "The unified price we offer for purchasing grain is much higher than the price the gentry pays for grain.
The people here in Hanzhong County are just a little restless, and they still deeply remember how the gentry squeezed them.
It's simpler in Sichuan, but now the information flow is underdeveloped.
For the first time in Sichuan, grain harvesting was unified, and farmers saw the first time the government unified grain purchase prices.
With such a high price, the people there will definitely be happy."
When Wang Zhongce saw Su He's calm look, he always felt that something was wrong.
He looked at Su He and said solemnly:
"His Royal Highness King Qin, this matter is placed on me, and I will publicize to the outside world that I strongly advocate lowering the purchase price of grain.
Even if I am scolded, I cannot let Your Highness, King Qin, damage your reputation."
Su He heard Wang Zhongce say that he wanted to take the blame.
He suddenly thought of something. He could just find someone to take the blame for it. No matter how outrageous it was, if someone took the blame, public opinion would not be able to affect him.
Just this time, Shi Xi, an official of the Grain Reserves Bureau, reported Gao Xuanming, the director of the Grain Reserves Bureau.
He used old grain that was about to go moldy and replaced it with new grain in the grain depot.
When the old grain became moldy, the old grain was sold to the company on the grounds of improper storage for use in making industrial alcohol.
Through this method of stealing, a large amount of silver coins was embezzled, amounting to more than 100,000 taels of silver coins.
Li Yuanzheng, the censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, has already submitted the investigation results to Su He.
The contents reported by Shixi are all true.
Gao Xuanming took a concubine, who led him to become addicted to gambling.
His gambling addiction is getting bigger and bigger, and he owes more money. He is also afraid that the other party will report him, which will lead to his dismissal from office.
This is the only way to embezzle a large amount of silver coins.
It was just a little greedy at first, but then it got bigger and bigger, and it was so big that I couldn't stop it.
Su He has asked the Metropolitan Procuratorate to arrest Gao Xuanming, and at the same time asked Su Yan to command the Criminal Department to destroy the hidden casino in Hanzhong City.
In the brothel, he raised his noble hand and let the horse go.
As long as no Han women are used, brothels can operate normally.
Su He maintains a strong high-pressure attitude towards gangs and casinos.
Promotion of local government officials and subordinate officials of branches of the Ministry of Justice.
Whether gangs and casinos are eliminated is an important assessment indicator.
Su He has been asking the Metropolitan Procuratorate to send supervisory censors to inspect various places.
If local officials are found to be inactive, they should be interviewed immediately. If they fail to act, they will be dismissed from their posts.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate also accepts reports from the public and can report anyone.
The "Laws of the King of Qin" punishes false accusations by sitting down.
Unless the people are forced to do so and there is concrete evidence, they will not report it.
The cabinet cannot control the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Wang Zhongce still does not know the details of this matter, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate has not announced this case.
Su He told Wang Zhongce about the case.
After Wang Zhongce heard this, his eyes lit up and he said: "Your Highness, King Qin, we can definitely let Gao Xuanming take the blame. I already have an idea.
Let Hanzhong Newspaper cooperate with me, and I will definitely be able to guide public opinion towards Gao Xuanming."
Su He listened to Wang Zhongce's plan.
He asked with some confusion: "Zhong Ce, your plan is too fake. Does anyone really believe it?"
Wang Zhongce smiled and said: "Your Highness, King Qin, you don't know how much the people hate corrupt officials.
If corrupt officials take the blame, the people will believe it."
After Wang Zhongce finished explaining his plan, he still frowned and asked: "Your Highness, King Qin, the purchase price of grain has decreased, and we also need to spend a lot of money.
The reduction in grain purchase prices can be blamed on Gao Xuanming.
If we don't spend real money to buy grain, the government's credibility will be ruined.
We took out a lot of money, but the farmers still buried it in the ground.
No matter how much money we have, we can't survive even a few years if we do this.
Once our development speed slows down and there are no more silver coins to support the Qin army in fighting, the consequences of defeat will be terrible.
We are not like the Ming Dynasty, where money from overseas Western barbarians was continuously transported to the southeastern region.
It costs money to develop industry and it costs money to train soldiers.
It costs money to educate primary school students, and it costs money to build water conservancy roads.
There is no place in any government office where money is not spent."
Su He looked at Wang Zhongce's anxious look.
He said in a relaxed tone: "I have already thought of a way."
The solution Su He came up with was to allow rural areas to vigorously develop by-product industries such as breeding and small-scale light industries.
The strength of the farmers alone was too weak, so under the guidance of the township government, they were allowed to set up cooperatives.
Share risks and gain benefits together.
First let the township offices and county offices purchase products from farmers' cooperatives.
You can prepay a certain amount of funds through an order.
Let the cooperative grow and develop.
Every village has its own unique features.
According to the local conditions of each place, as long as they don't mess around, these rural cooperatives will definitely survive.
As they grow stronger, they can transform into formal companies.
In the event of poor management and bankruptcy, the farmers of the cooperative will also bear the losses.
With the support of the government, as long as they are not messed up, these cooperatives will not be able to develop into companies.
It won't go bankrupt or be heavily in debt.
In areas with many mulberry forests, small silk-cutting factories were opened.
In areas with abundant bamboo forests, processing factories were opened.
Make some small items such as tables, chairs, benches, and bamboo-framed umbrellas.
With a little capital, you can recruit craftsmen and start more technical factories such as paper mills.
Even if they don't know anything, every farmer can raise some chickens, ducks and pigs.
When Wang Zhongce heard Su He's thoughts, he was stunned and stunned.
"Your Highness, King Qin, is this okay?"
Su He replied seriously: "You have to believe in the creativity of farmers.
As long as we relax regulation on this group, allow them to open factories, and provide some guidance on their behavior.
A large number of village-run enterprises will definitely emerge to balance our current situation of too much heavy industry and insufficient light industry."
Su He had already planned in his mind that the companies established by the Qin Prince's Palace would focus on heavy industry and monopoly industries.
Heavy industry investment brings huge returns, but the technical requirements required are too high.
The people simply cannot bear it, so the Qin Palace can only continue to invest.
Certain industries naturally have monopoly attributes. Once they are liberalized to the private sector, they will be poaching the Qin Palace.
For example, in the salt industry of the Ming Dynasty, salt sales were a highly monopolized industry.
This industry was not government-run and was left to the salt merchants, which resulted in a large loss of salt taxes and profits during the Ming Dynasty.
…………………………
Ding Wannian took the initiative to invite Yang Wencai to the restaurant for a drink.
"Brother Yang, how have you been doing during this time?
Have all the maidservants you bought succeeded in making blind dates?"
Yang Wencai said proudly: "All the blind dates were successful. I will go home and tell my niece Xu.
The next day, a large group of soldiers on vacation came to the ancestral temple.
Now soldiers are excellent blind dates.
At least it can give them a stable home.
If the head of the family really dies unfortunately, she will be guaranteed for the rest of her life.
Nowadays, it is very easy for widows of martyrs to remarry with their children and find a new home.
At least they are not a burden to the remarried family, and they do not have to pay to support other people's children.
I personally made a name for myself through this incident, and "Hanzhong Weekly" published an article praising my behavior.
I have now become a role model for all businessmen to imitate.
With this aura around me, no wise official will target me.
Some of the troublesome little devils from the government will no longer bother me, and the benefits to me are obvious."
After Yang Wencai finished talking about this, he said in frustration: "We will never do business in Huguang again.
I wasted time because of a blind date, so I sent a confidant to Huguang to do business, but I came back with a huge loss.
The new governor of the Ming Dynasty took office, and the Han River was managed by a man named Zuo Liangyu, who was greedy and greedy.
I am doing these small businesses and there is no way I can withstand his blackmail.
House seemingly endless rain.
It is also very difficult to do business safely in Hanzhong now.
Raw silk from Sichuan has impacted the market here in Hanzhong.
My silk-cutting factory is ready to be resold, and there is no way I can beat those Sichuan merchants.
They are also involved in the textile business. These people have strong funds, and we, a small business, have no way to compete with them."
Yang Wencai lamented his situation and it was not good to have a halo around him.
Some side-effects methods that were commonly used in the past cannot be used now.
Relying on serious means, his strength cannot compete with Shu merchants.
Ding Wannian also said with emotion: "My son-in-law is the Prime Minister of the Prince of Qin, and those Shu merchants gave my son-in-law face.
The rice mill I built in the main grain producing area of Sichuan was not targeted.
But the power of Shu merchants is rising rapidly, which is an indisputable fact.
Sichuan is a huge area, and Shu merchants have abundant capital.
If we merchants in Hanzhong don't unite, how can we compete with these merchants from Shu who are already united?"
Ding Wannian will not underestimate Shu merchants. Due to problems such as difficult roads, Shu merchants have a low reputation in the entire Ming Dynasty.
But in places around Sichuan, the name of Shu merchants is well known.
No one can ignore the existence of this merchant force.
His Highness the King of Qin's high-pressure actions against the gentry in Sichuan.
It hit some Shu merchants who were originally gentry.
His Highness the King of Qin's cruel methods frightened many Shu merchants, and these Shu merchants began to go dormant.
When the Shu merchants discovered that the Ming Dynasty had no hope of retaking Sichuan.
The Prince of Qin's Mansion did not have high requirements for merchants as long as they paid taxes on time.
These Shu merchants tried to understand the bottom line of the Qin Palace, and they began to become active.
Yang Wencai took a sip of wine and said depressedly: "We here in Hanzhong just have different people.
There are former scholarly families, and there are newly rising dignitaries.
There are also those of us businessmen who have taken advantage of the situation.
If all parties look down on each other, how can they be united?"
Yang Wencai took another sip of wine, his expression returned to normal, and he avoided talking about this topic.
"Brother Ding, have you seen today's newspaper?
These policies are closely related to your business, and the purchase and sale prices of grain have dropped significantly."
Ding Wannian also took a sip of wine and said: "The Prince of Qin's Mansion has mandated the price of grain. Now the price of grain has returned to the normal price of grain in the Wanli period.
Coupled with cheap salt, people's lives will get better and better.
Businessmen like us who open grain processing plants earn lower profits.
However, grain trade mainly involves volume and the unit price is relatively low, so it has little impact on me.
This time I saw that the Prince of Qin had liberalized the processing of wine. I wanted to buy the patent and find someone to partner with me to set up a winery.
You also know that the profit from wine is really amazing, more than ten times higher than the profit from food."
When Yang Wencai heard Ding Wannian's invitation, he was a little moved. His business was in a trough, and Brother Ding was willing to give him a hand.
"Thank you, Brother Ding, for the invitation. I am willing to invest in this winery."
…………………………
Qiao Zhenghua came home from get off work. At this time, most workers in the factory had gone off work.
The glass factory produces a batch of glass on a trial basis.
He used his reputation to ask for some pieces of glass.
Now he was familiar with the feel of glass, and he didn't pay attention to the off-duty time when he was in the state.
As soon as he got home, he saw his wife hiring a donkey cart to carry grain to the house, including ten big sacks.
"Hulled rice can only be stored for one year, so why buy so much?"
"Master, what do you know? This is the new rice from the Ding family. It uses the latest air-drying technology and can be stored for two years.
Nowadays, a bag of rice costs only three taels of silver coins. In the past, a bag of rice cost six taels of silver coins.
Your monthly salary is only more than ten taels of silver coins. Taking advantage of the price reduction of rice, I must stock up on more."
Qiao Zhenghua said speechlessly: "Didn't you say that if you become literate during this period, you won't even read the newspapers you bought?
His Highness the King of Qin issued an order to regulate the price of rice. From now on, the price of rice and flour will be one and a half silver coins per hundred pounds."
Mrs. Qiao Zhenghua covered her mouth and said in surprise: "It's so cheap. This is the price that my mother could only buy when she was young.
Ever since I was a child, rice has not been so cheap in Hanzhong City.
What to do with the rice I bought? It would be a huge loss to return it now."
Qiao Zhenhua waved his hand and said: "There is no need to retreat, your husband and I are about to see great development in our careers.
Then I can acquire more land, we can move to a bigger house, and the patent application can really be approved.
At that time, our family will hire some nursing homes and female workers. The family will have more people and we will need more rice to eat."
"Master, you are so awesome. I'm going to buy a live chicken right now and make your favorite chicken stew for you tonight."
Qiao Zhenghua watched his mother-in-law go to the nearby market to buy chickens.
He walked into the house, took out the tools in the house, and continued to try to grind the glass.
Research better mirror grinding techniques to prepare for application as an expert.
He was awarded the title of Lord because of this skill.
He used crystal to grind hundreds of telescope lenses, and the quality of the telescopes he ground was very good.
The telescopes he processed were very popular among senior officers of the Qin Army.
"Is Huazi at home?"
Qiao Zhenghua walked out of the room and saw his acquaintance Uncle Zhou entering the house carrying a piece of jade.
"Hua Zi, I'm here to trouble you again. This is a piece of jade I dug in the mountains before.
My son is getting married soon and I want to build him a cement wedding house.
The price of food is so low this year, I can only ask you to process this piece of jade into a bracelet and sell it to your son for his wedding."
Qiao Zhenghua happily took the jade stone.
According to his rules, there is no charge for processing jade, the genuine product is given to the employer, and he keeps the scraps.
He moved skillfully and quickly produced two pairs of Kodama bracelets, one large and one small.
"Uncle Zhou, my skills haven't deteriorated!
Wrap your bracelet, it's a nice piece of jade."
Uncle Zhou took the jade bracelet and sighed: "Gao Xuanming, who suffered a thousand blows, turned out to be a spy of the Ming Dynasty.
Last year, His Highness the King of Qin set a grain purchase price, but he secretly raised the grain purchase price.
He wanted to make the King of Qin renege on his promise and encourage the people to rebel.
His Highness the King of Qin kept his promise and recognized such a high grain purchase price without blinking an eye.
It was only this year that the purchase price that Gao Xuanming maliciously raised was lowered.
This purchase price is much more conscientious than the previous Ming gentry."
Qiao Zhenghua sends away the nagging Uncle Zhou.
He doesn't know what impact the reduction in purchase price will have on these farmers?
All he knew was that the price of food in the city had dropped, and his family could enjoy a meal of meat every once in a while.