Chapter 242 Chongzhen has also become a food cooker
Beijing, in the Forbidden City.
Recently.
Zhu Youjian is in a very good mood, smiling and full of energy every day.
Because he got rich.
The internal funds became abundant again.
The amount of money and grain sent from the Jiangnan area alone is as much as 10 million, of which the grain is 5 million shi and the money is 5 million silver dollars, each accounting for half.
The harvest at the Ministry of Revenue is also very good, because the south also has a bumper harvest. This year's annual income will reach 30 million yuan, but it will be slow to arrive, and it will take several months.
But no matter what.
Zhu Youjian's hands have obviously become looser.
Before the money and food from the Ministry of Revenue were spent, the civil servants would not come to blackmail him for the time being, so his ears were much cleaner.
As for the 24 overseas manors (i.e. Prince Manor, Princess Manor), tens of thousands of young people were sent. After more than three months of construction, a lot of good news came. Maybe by the end of the year, the first manor will be sent.
A batch has been harvested - the income from these manors will not be sent to the internal funds. He, Zhu Youjian, can only get a small amount of dividends, but it is also something to be happy about.
also!
At the beginning of September this month, Fang Yizhi, who had worked in the royal farm for another year, lost more than 20 kilograms and was tanned like an old farmer. He returned to the capital and entered the palace. After meeting Emperor Zhu Youjian
, he knelt on the ground, cried with excitement, and then gave him a surprise.
The Royal Farm has a great harvest!
In the face of continuous drought in the north, Fang Yizhi overcame countless difficulties and adopted various reform measures. He finally realized that man could conquer nature and snatched this rare harvest from the uncooperative God.
For example, the number of royal farms was reduced from one thousand to only five hundred through cancellation or merger.
More than 8 million acres of land unsuitable for farming were abandoned (or converted into pasture land), and only 10 million acres of farmland with irrigation conditions were cultivated intensively.
During a very difficult period, at the request of the emperor, 80,000 young men were mobilized and sent to colonize overseas. Not only did this increase additional expenses, it also lost some valuable manpower and reduced overall work efficiency.
But after taking amazing courage and making great efforts, he solved countless difficulties and troubles.
The bank loan of five million silver dollars was completely wiped out by Fang Yizhihua, and not a penny was left.
In exchange, a full 33.5 million shi of food was obtained.
In addition to the rations consumed by the 5 million villagers and raising livestock, 3.5 million shi of wheat can be freed up to be sent to the capital and included in the emperor's internal funds.
And based on the current food prices in Beijing.
Even if these are shelled wheat, the price is still 2.5 silver dollars to 3 silver dollars per stone, with a total value of about 10 million silver dollars.
Just sell them all.
Not only is it enough to repay the bank loan interest of 5.5 million silver dollars.
You can also make a net profit of more than three million silver dollars.
So Fang Yizhi was so excited that he shed tears and said: "Your Majesty, I did it. I did not betray your Majesty's trust. I was not defeated by natural disasters. Instead, I snatched food from the tiger's mouth and achieved a bumper harvest this year. Your Majesty, I did not let you down this time."
?”
"Okay, Mi Zhi, thank you for your hard work. I didn't misjudge the person. I knew you were my Marquis of Wu. No matter how difficult it is, you will never let me down. Get up, get up quickly."
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【Chongzhen owes me one billion taels】 【】
Zhu Youjian quickly pulled Fang Yizhi up, offered him a seat, and held his hand. The monarch and his ministers talked for a long time, and were moved to tears many times. "Loyal minister, loyal minister, if a loyal minister like Fang Yizhi is
, if there are about a hundred, Ming Dynasty will have hope, ZTE can be fully realized, and he will not have to be so hard and anxious.
"His Majesty."
Later in the conversation, Fang Yizhi suggested: "After these 3.5 million shi of wheat are delivered to the capital, sell them as soon as possible and repay the loan owed to Tianxiatong Bank. Next year, I will find a way to give away 5 million shi."
Shi’s grain is in the internal funds, and there are also a large number of cattle, sheep, and pigs. Next year, it will definitely be a better harvest year!”
Fang Yizhi carries out his longing.
"Okay, I'll wait and see, and I believe Aiqing will be able to do it."
Zhu Youjian was very happy, and immediately gave Fang Yizhi a lot of nourishing food, and told him to take a good rest for a while and not to exhaust his body.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Fang Yizhi looked touched, and after thanking him repeatedly, he left the palace with great satisfaction.
…
to late September.
The 3.5 million stones of wheat shipped from the royal farm have all been sent to the internal funds.
Plus the 5 million stones of grain sent from Xujiazhuang.
Today, the total amount of grain in the internal funds has reached 8.5 million dan. It is no exaggeration to describe it as a mountain.
But at this time, Emperor Zhu Youjian did not seem to follow Fang Yizhi's suggestion and sell all or part of the grain. Instead, he continued to hoard it in his hands with no intention of selling it.
By the way, what's going on?
The price of food on the market is now high, especially in the capital. Fine grains such as rice and wheat have risen to 4 silver dollars/stone, and coarse grains such as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. also cost 2 silver dollars/stone. As long as you sell all the grains in hand,
Zhu Youjian can get at least 20 million silver dollars!
Even if you only sell 5 million stones, you can get about 15 million silver dollars.
Faced with such an astonishing sum of money, why didn't he consider selling grain?
Because the bachelors of the cabinet, the civil servants in the court, and even the military ministers and nobles came to find him one after another and persuaded him not to throw away the food and wait for a while.
Chief Assistant Wen Tiren said: "Your Majesty, Xujiazhuang's cheap grain sales point in the capital throws out 30,000 shi of cheap grain every day, which is enough to feed millions of people in the capital. Why worry about the people not being able to buy grain? Wait until Xujiazhuang's surplus grain is sold out.
, Your Majesty, it won’t be too late to sell grain again, since the grain is stored in the granary and will not rot or be destroyed.”
Qian Shisheng, a bachelor, said: "Your Majesty is selling the grain now. When the surplus grain in Xujiazhuang is exhausted, where will the people in the capital buy low-priced grain? If the people can't buy grain, big trouble will happen, wouldn't your Majesty?
No response measures? Why not wait a little longer and wait and see for a while."
Hou Xun, Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said: "Now the self-sufficiency rate in food in the north is 60%. Xujiazhuang has shipped nearly 200 million shi of grain, which is enough to feed all the people in the north. The millions of shi of grain in your majesty's internal funds are even more than enough for the people of the capital."
After a year of eating, if a large amount of grain is thrown away, the price of grain will definitely plummet, and the internal funds will suffer huge losses."
The persuasion of these bachelors and ministers was relatively tactful.
Several distinguished nobles approached Zhu Youjian's ear and used the most straightforward tone to induce them:
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【Chongzhen owes me one billion taels】 【】
"Your Majesty, the price of food in the capital will definitely rise to more than 5 silver dollars per stone in two or three months, or even as high as 8 silver dollars or 10 silver dollars. Why are you in such a hurry to sell food?"
"If you sell grain now, Your Majesty can earn at most 10 to 20 million silver dollars. What if the price of grain rises to 5 silver dollars? Your Majesty can earn 40 million silver dollars, which is more than double the difference!"
"Don't you, Your Majesty, just want to make more money and have more money?"
"In fact, there is no shortage of food in the hands of the people. I have seen that some people have stored hundreds or even thousands of catties of food in their homes, which is enough for a year or two, but they still line up every day to buy it. However, for people who have no money, no matter how low the price of food is,
We can’t afford it, so we have to travel to Nanyang or find other ways to survive. Even if the price of food rises tenfold, not many people will starve to death.”
"Your Majesty, you must not throw away the food. Since Xujiazhuang has great capabilities, let Xujiazhuang transport more food. If there is not so much food, don't stop us from making a fortune. Since Your Majesty has the most food, he will definitely make the most money.
!”
Faced with so much temptation and persuasion.
A big question mark popped up in Zhu Youjian's mind: If the price of grain is raised to as high as 8 silver dollars or 10 silver dollars per stone, and the common people cannot afford it, who will take over in the end?
The answer I received was: Whoever needs the grain the most will take over. Maybe Xujiazhuang bought the grain back at a high price. In short, it is entirely up to them to decide how high the grain price will be before next summer's harvest!
In fact, Zhu Youjian knew very well that if food prices were too high, the people who would be most harmed would definitely be the middle and lower classes. However, Xujiazhuang had sufficient food reserves and was even so luxurious that he used meat instead of food. How could he become a leek?
?
Therefore, it is absolutely not okay to listen to these ministers and nobles.
A large amount of grain can be sold. Given the size of the market in Beijing, there is a real possibility that supply will exceed demand, causing prices to plummet, so selling must be done slowly.
However, the low-price grain selling point in Xujiazhuang sells grain every day. Why is he in such a hurry?
It is best to wait until the surplus grain in Xujiazhuang is exhausted and the market price of grain is more suitable, for example, 4 silver yuan/stone, and then slowly sell it for 5 million stones. This is the most ideal.
It can be said that at this moment, Zhu Youjian's mentality was close to that of a less greedy food speculator, who just wanted to make a little more money.
…
Time has entered October.
Winter has entered in the north, and it has even begun to cool down and snow in some places.
In winter, when the weather is cold and the ground is covered with ice and snow, it will be very difficult for transportation.
At this time, Xujiazhuang also despaired of controlling grain prices in the north and did not want to struggle anymore. He simply sold off a large amount of his surplus grain in the northern market starting from October 1st.
An average of 10 million stones are sold every day!
The price has been reduced to about 15 Wen/jin, and coarse grains are even cheaper.
Until October 10th.
A total of 100 million stones of surplus food were sold!
Then they closed all the low-price grain sales points in the north and simply chose to lie down.
So the carnival stage for food speculators has arrived.
Take the price of wheat in Beijing as an example.
On October 11th, the market price was 5 silver dollars/stone.
On the 12th, 5.5 silver dollars/stone.
On the 13th, it rose to 6 silver dollars.
By the 20th, it had soared to 10 silver dollars/stone.
When the price of a certain commodity on the market continues to rise, holders will be reluctant to sell it, and the food thrown into the market will be snapped up quickly and run into the hands of long sellers.
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【Chongzhen owes me one billion taels】 【】
At this time, Zhu Youjian could sell off the grain in his internal funds at five or ten thousand stones a day, because there would always be someone to take over to maintain the high price of grain. However, Zhu Youjian not only did not sell a single grain of grain, but spent a lot of money on it.
He lost more than 5 million silver dollars and bought 1.5 million shi of grain from a certain merchant at a price of less than 3.5 silver dollars/stone, increasing the amount of grain in his internal funds to 10 million shi.
That is to say, all the silver coins were exchanged for grain.
What, what's going on? Why did he buy so much grain?
In other words, why are you hoarding so much food?
Of course it's to make money.
Nowadays, the price of grain has generally risen to 10 silver yuan/stone, and Zhu Youjian has 10 million shi of grain in his hands. As long as he can sell it all at a high price, wouldn't he be able to make as much as 100 million silver yuan? Wouldn't this make him a fortune?
Not only can it pay off all the debts owed to Xujiazhuang.
There are still tens of millions of silver dollars left, enough to train 200,000 new troops, enough to carry out reforms... there are so many things that can be done.
As for the biggest victims of high food prices, Zhu Youjian also figured it out. They are indeed not ordinary people, but people who speculate in food. Whoever can successfully cash out at the highest point will be the winner. Whoever fails to escape will be the winner.
Whoever takes over is the loser.
The only way to solve the problem is through grain speculation next year or the year after.
It's just that there are rumors that this year's grain prices can reach as high as 20 silver dollars/stone. There is no need to rush to cash out. There is still a lot of room for growth.
It was these rumors that made Zhu Youjian temporarily suppress the idea of selling grain, and planned to wait and see for a few more days, perhaps waiting for the most suitable time to sell. Besides, it was only for a few days, and many people would not starve to death.
By this time, Zhu Youjian had become a qualified grain speculator and was completely familiar with and understood the rules. He did not think that the people would be greatly affected because grain prices would eventually fall.
…
October 22nd, Shaanxi, Fengxiang Prefecture, Baoji County.
Faced with endlessly rising food prices.
"Brothers, kill profiteers, kill corrupt officials, and seize food! They won't give us a way to survive, and we, the special ones, have rebelled again today!"
Luo Rucai, who originally planned to remain anonymous and become an ordinary citizen, faced the sky-high price of 15 silver dollars per stone, so he had to gather a group of old brothers, raised their swords and guns, and mobilized 100,000 poor people to attack the county in an instant and kill all the profiteers and corrupt officials.
, actually seized a huge amount of food that could last for more than a year.