Chapter 493 Turning Hands into Clouds, Turning Hands into Rain
Chapter 493: Turn your hand to become clouds, turn your hand to become rain
Author: The best is like no water
Chapter 493: Turn your hand to become clouds, turn your hand to become rain
Niu Xianke was just a very ordinary person among the vast number of famous officials in the Tang Dynasty.
Although there are records about this person in both the New Tang Book and the Old Tang Book, there are even records about him in Zizhi Tongjian, a book by Sima Hun, who is less famous.
But that’s it.
After all, among the famous officials in the Tang Dynasty who were as bright as a galaxy, which one has not been recorded?
Niu Xianke was born into a poor family. Don't get me wrong, the so-called poor family means that the ancestors were rich, but now they are in poverty, so they are called a poor family.
For example, Niu Xianke's father served as the governor of Jingzhou, and he was a high-ranking official.
As for ordinary people in the real sense, those who have land and houses are just common people, which is what is commonly known as the common people who are demoted to common people.
In other words, even if the people at the top are down, unlucky, or demoted, they are still an existence that is beyond the reach of most ordinary people.
Of course, common people are usually called common people.
If the family has no house or land, it is called a refugee, that is, a refugee.
Those who have no house, no land, and no work to do, that is, unemployed people, are called hooligans.
Taken together, those without houses, land, or jobs in Datang are hooligans.
Niu Xianke came from a poor family, which was much higher than the starting point of Sanwu people.
At the very least, he can work as a subordinate in the county town. However, such seemingly humble local officials are beyond the reach of most common people and hooligans.
With the connections left over from his father who once served as governor, he was able to work his way up from a minor official to a county official, then to be an assistant official in the fields of Longyou Ying, then moved to Taozhou Sima, and became a judge in Hexi Jiedushi, and was appreciated by the Hexi Jiedushi.
After his boss entered the court as prime minister, he became the new governor of Hexi Province on the recommendation of his boss, and now he is the prime minister of the court.
On the whole, this is not a change of fate for the common people, but a re-emergence of a poor family.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Also in the study room, the difference is that Niu Xianke's ability to conceal his emotions and anger is obviously not as good as Li Linfu's.
He looked slightly anxious and said, "Your Majesty, what is going on?"
Although Niu Xianke is submissive and takes Li Linfu as his priority in everything, it does not mean that he is really a waste.
Historically, the Hebian method to alleviate the food shortage in Chang'an City was proposed and implemented by Niu Xianke.
If he can accomplish this task in such an environment, who dares to say that he is incapable?
Since he has the ability, he can naturally see that Li Sanlang is setting up obstacles for the prince.
He didn't know and didn't want to know what was going on between the emperor and the prince.
This could lead to the delay or even failure of the Hebian Law, leading to the human tragedy of starving to death, which he could not accept under any circumstances.
Li Yunze simply ignored the topic and asked directly, "Old Niu, if you were to promote He Bian Fa, how would you act?"
Niu Xianke, who was stunned for a moment, did not hide anything and said directly, "I should have discussed it with the big family."
He also explained to Li Yunze in detail, "I have been a subordinate, and I know the dirty tricks those people use. If they want to increase prices, that's fine, but I will cut off their access."
Li Yunze nodded and said, "Start with the grain store?"
"That's right."
Niu Xianke smiled while stroking his palms, "These grain stores naturally have dirty things to do. As long as they are carefully controlled, the owners behind them can naturally make concessions. As long as everyone is united, it will not be difficult to promote this matter."
Just like what Niu Xianke said, he had been a subordinate and knew how to deal with these evil-minded people.
Moreover, as the prime minister, he was promoting it, and Li Sanlang secretly supported it. At the same time, the increase in price was also an explanation to the big investors, so he could naturally promote it.
But now it was no longer possible. The emperor took the initiative to cause trouble, and many things changed unexpectedly. Things that were not difficult at first naturally became difficult.
Li Yunze didn't talk nonsense and said very simply, "I wonder if Mr. Niu would be willing to help me with the peace and purchase of the law?"
Niu Xianke was a little embarrassed when he asked this question. This was tantamount to directly offending the emperor.
For Niu Xianke, who had always been cautious, he was unwilling to offend the emperor from the bottom of his heart.
Looking at the hesitant Niu Xianke, Li Yunze stood up with a calm expression, "It turns out that the people in Guanzhong are not that important in Niu Gong's eyes. If that's the case, then I'll take my leave."
If this big hat is thrown down, Niu Xianke can't carry it.
He smiled helplessly and stepped forward to grab Li Yunze's clothes. "Prince, why is this necessary? Alas, I am willing to do my best for the people of Guanzhong."
When he said these words, Niu Xianke looked obviously much older.
"In that case, the people of Guanzhong and Jianghuai would like to thank Mr. Niu."
"Huh?" Niu Xianke wondered, "What does this have to do with the people of Jianghuai?"
Li Yunze smiled slightly, "Now I need Niu Gong's help to convert the wealth that promotes He Bianfa into rice and grain due from Jianghuai."
The Tang Dynasty also had water transportation. Before the implementation of the Hebian Law, rice grains from the Jianghuai River were transported to Luoyang through waterways, and then transported to Chang'an City.
The consumption along the way is several times that of the He Bian method.
The first step in Li Yunze's plan was to use the help of the two prime ministers to convert the goods originally used to implement the Hebian method in the Guanzhong area into rice grains payable in the Jianghuai area.
The only reason for doing this is that local food prices are extremely high, with a bucket of rice generally costing more than 20 yuan.
Whether these operating techniques are feasible or not depends mainly on whether the prime minister in charge of the government supports them.
Supporting the prince to do this kind of thing when Li Sanlang has already started to make trouble will naturally offend the emperor.
This is the reason why Li Linfu wanted Niu Xianke to come forward.
Niu Xianke hesitated for a while and finally agreed.
In the days that followed, Li Yunze took Li Bai, Du Fu and others on a sightseeing trip, and also met Yan Zhenqing, Wu Daozi and others to have fun together, as if he had forgotten about Bian Fa.
After receiving the notice, Li Sanlang didn't care about it. After the autumn harvest and the purchase method failed, he naturally had plenty of ways to teach the disobedient prince.
What he didn't know was that Cen, Gao Shi and others had already gone to Jianghuai with the people from the Ministry of Revenue along with the documents and manpower.
Things went very smoothly. The price of grain in Jianghuai was as high as twenty-three cents per dou of rice, but Li Yunze sold it for twenty-three cents per dou of rice, and quickly recovered several times the amount of money.
After hearing the news, Niu Xianke couldn't help but come to the East Palace in person to talk to Li Yunze.
"Your Highness," said the worried Niu Xianke, "All the grain turned over in the Jianghuai area has been sold. If the peace purchase method in Guanzhong fails, it will be a big deal."
The food that was supposed to be brought to Chang'an City turned into wealth. If these goods could not buy enough food, the crown prince's position might not be preserved.
"Niu is worried about public affairs."
Li Yunze smiled and asked Niu Xianke to sit down and drink tea, "Now the goods are on the way back. With such a lot of goods, can't we buy five million dendrobium of rice and grain?"
Niu Xianke thought about it carefully and realized that the truth of the matter is that if you offer several times the price, you can buy any amount of food.
After all, there is actually no shortage of food in Guanzhong, it just lacks the power of the imperial court to spend money to buy food.
Niu Xianke, who breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Li Yunze with complicated eyes: "Your Highness, this year may be able to go by this way, but if His Majesty asks you to take charge of this matter next year, what will you do? This kind of speculation is the first time.
It can also be said that it is done without restraint, but
next year"
What he wanted to say was that the emperor would never give him another chance to open this hole next year.
"next year?"
Li Yunze had a smile on his face, but in his heart he was thinking, 'There's no need for next year. Before next year's autumn harvest, someone else should sit on the dragon throne.'
"Who knows what will happen next year? Let's talk about next year."
Whether it was Li Linfu or Niu Xianke, what they were thinking about was that after Li Yunze brought back the goods, he would secretly discuss with the big families and buy enough grain at a high price. That would be the end of the matter this time.
Although Li Sanlang stipulated that he could only buy grain at a price no higher than 20% of the market price, he just made deals secretly, and naturally he would not exceed the price openly.
It's a pity that they all thought wrong, Li Yunze had no intention of stopping at this point.
You have worked so hard to earn so much money, but in the end it was given to these big investors?
He is crazy.
Without the backing of the Space-Time Gate, Li Yunze would definitely choose to give up and even recruit more people to expand his strength through private discussions with big players.
But he has trump cards, so he doesn't care about these. He simply wants to trick these big players. (Mainly for the sake of reading, the part of compromising with profiteers is naturally not as fun as fighting against profiteers.)
Gao Shi and others escorted the goods to Dongdu, and did not continue to Guanzhong, but directly started buying grain locally.
In Dongdu, like Guanzhong, grain prices were suppressed to five cents per dou of rice for political purposes.
In fact, you can't buy food at this price, so you have to go to the black market to buy high-priced food.
Of course, Li Yunze would not let anyone buy grain at high prices on the black market. He first obtained the documents for purchasing old grain from various warehouses in Dongdu through Li Linfu and Niu Xianke, and then purchased grain from the people near Dongdu.
There was actually a lot of food in the Tang Dynasty, and a large number of granaries were built near Dongdu.
Grain is not a stone and can be stored for many years.
After a certain period of time, the grain will gradually turn into old grain, and later even into rotten grain.
Therefore, it is very normal for the grain stored in the warehouse to be replaced regularly.
Neither Li Linfu nor Niu Xianke thought about Li Yunze's real plan. They just thought that he wanted to buy a batch of grain and bring it back as a base for packing.
Therefore, not only were documents generously provided, but they were even given the help of mobilizing corvees along the way for transportation.
It wasn't until large-scale grain shipments began to arrive that the two people who learned the news were completely dumbfounded.
The rice grains Li Yunze shipped back from Dongdu were not only in quantity beyond imagination, but also not old grains in quality.
It's very simple to do this. Just take the prime minister's documents and gold and go directly to the supervisor in charge of the granary.
If someone refuses to accept the gold, then write down his name and wait for reuse in the future, and then go to another warehouse.
Anyway, there are many granaries around Luoyang City.
When I bought grain in Luoyang, I strictly followed the five cents per pound of rice stipulated by the court. There was even a considerate granary manager who took the gold and took the initiative to say that old grain should not be sold at such a high price and should be cheaper.
Gao Shi and others declined the kindness of these supervisors, and then recorded their names in a small notebook for His Royal Highness to use in the future.
The price of food for large households will definitely increase, but who cares how much the food of the imperial court can be sold for?
After going back and forth with documents from the prime ministers, the food Li Yunze had at this time was enough to meet the needs of the next few years, not to mention this year.
It's just that after all, the information gap is used to deceive the court, which Li Yunze disdains.
After transporting the food and property back, he planned to trick the big families in the pass.
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