Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 185 Trading at a Loss

"Your Majesty, I have just heard the news that many grain stores in the capital have been sold out, and the remaining grain stores have started to raise prices again, and they are selling in limited quantities. The outside is already a little crazy to grab grain!" Xue Guoguan played worriedly Said, "Let's not talk about the 20 refugees right now, even on the capital's side, there may be food shortages, and there may be troubles!"

After finishing speaking, he immediately presented a memorial with both hands, and the servant sent it to Emperor Chongzhen.

It seems that Shanxi merchants are doing tricks, or other black-hearted people want to make money for the country!Emperor Chongzhen thought about it, so he opened the memorial first and read it.

Generally speaking, one tael of silver can buy two stones of grain. Of course, this is a thing of the past.In the last years of Chongzhen, one liang of silver could buy one shi of grain, which was considered pretty good.Now that it has just passed through the ravages of Jianlu, in the past few days, the capital's food has already relied on two taels of silver and one stone of food.But now, Emperor Chongzhen saw what was reported in the memorial, and there was already four taels of silver and one stone of grain outside, and there was a limited number of sales every day, and as soon as the shop opened, it was quickly sold out.

This kind of high-priced food is definitely not affordable for the people at the bottom.Of course, those powerful families have the habit of hoarding food, and when encountering such a situation, they will not act to be taken advantage of.Only those who do not go up or down, in the words of future generations, are middle-class families who have to buy this high-priced food.

As a result, originally relatively well-to-do families often fell into the bottom class after such a suffering.If it is outside the city, it is actually the same. Some middle peasants and rich peasants who originally had land and lived a decent life will also lose everything because of the turmoil.

Emperor Chongzhen was naturally angry after reading it, but he was already prepared, and he didn't seem particularly angry. After closing the memorial, he looked at Xue Guoguan and asked, "What countermeasures does Xue Qing have?"

To be honest, Xue Guoguan was a little surprised by Emperor Chongzhen's unhurried attitude.It was also because of this that he hesitated for a while about the countermeasures he had planned, should he speak out?
If the emperor is angry, furious or something, then it is definitely okay to speak out.But now...

But when he saw that the emperor had been staring at him, he ignored him and said directly: "Your Majesty, I thought that the first thing is to transfer grain from the south of the Yangtze River to the north as soon as possible, and the second is to check the account books of those grain shops so that they Sell ​​grain according to the purchase price, and those who dare to violate it will be severely punished, so as to stabilize the grain price!"

Behind the big grain merchants, there must be official backgrounds.Although Xue Guoguan was not afraid of them, he still wanted to be reasonable, so he first suggested checking the accounts and letting them sell at the cost price.Even so, he, the Chief Assistant, would definitely offend those people.However, he didn't care too much.Otherwise, he would not have suggested that the emperor borrow money from all rich people.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard what he said, he couldn't help laughing, this Xue Guoguan was really not as sophisticated as Wen Tiren when it came to world affairs and human relationships.Check the account books of those grain merchants?Believe it or not, there are several sets of account books waiting for those grains.If you reason with him, he will cry poverty to you, saying that this costs money, and that costs money, anyway, they are all costs. Believe it or not, if you look back, you will find that they are still trading at a loss and are trying to accumulate virtue!
However, Xue Guoguan still needs to be encouraged, so he said to Xue Guoguan: "The matter of transferring grain from the south of the Yangtze River is indeed to be done. According to the usual practice, Xue Qing will send it to the Jiangnan side. As for the grain merchants in the capital, I have been keeping an eye on them for a long time, so Xue Qing can just watch over this matter."

To be honest, Xue Guoguan is not a brainless person who can become the chief assistant.It's just that there are only two people in the cabinet now, Yang Sichang is in charge of military affairs, and Xue Guoguan is basically responsible for other things, so he is so busy.Especially the recent impeachment of this and the impeachment of that, there have been waves one after another.No matter what, he had to draft a ticket first.But even if he was extremely busy, the speed with which he finished processing the memorial could not keep up with the speed with which the Secretary of General Administration sent the memorial to the cabinet.

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he looked at Xue Guoguan's tired look and said with concern: "I have also heard about the pile of cabinet memorials. In this way, after you go back, you can sort out the recent memorials about impeachment according to the matter. People and other things should be sorted and put away. No need to invoice them, just send them directly to the Supervisor of Ceremonies. In this way, I believe Xue Qing will be less tired!"

Hearing these words from the emperor, Xue Guoguan was a little ashamed.The emperor not only noticed the food problem long ago, but also knew his own difficulties, so he reduced a lot of things for his own sake.It's really a blessing to be a courtier to be like this with your father!

So Xue Guoguan thanked him sincerely, wiped his sweat, and hurried back to the cabinet to handle government affairs.

Seeing him come back in a hurry, Yang Sichang was secretly happy: this first assistant is not so easy to be!hehe!
But on the surface, he seemed to be concerned and approached him and asked: "Is the emperor very angry? Is it accurate? I have too many things to do here. I'm afraid I won't be able to do them." .”

When Xue Guoguan heard this, he turned his head and glanced at him and asked, "Now the affairs of King Qin's army are all under the direct control of the emperor, and they have also been incorporated into the Yumajian. What else do you have to do?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang immediately turned back, picked up a few memorials and said: "Look, there are countless casualties among soldiers and civilians in Jizhen, Baoding, Shandong and other places. These things must be dealt with in the aftermath! Also, The emperor has organized many generals from all over the country into the Forbidden Army, so their original defense also has to worry about it! Also, the King Qin Army, which has not been reorganized this time, needs to have regulations on how to deal with it. For example, Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, said that when he returned to defend Yunjin, he encountered bandits. He was asking how to calculate 150 level six beheadings..."

Hearing that he was still chattering, Xue Guoguan interrupted impatiently: "It's alright, alright, you can go about your business. We don't need to worry about food matters, the emperor has his own decision!"

Hearing this, Yang Sichang couldn't help being a little surprised. He thought that the emperor had been busy with the affairs of the three major battalions under the Yumajian, and even the three commanders of Qin Wangjun hadn't had time to deal with it, so they could still manage it with distractions. Food thing?

But looking back and thinking about it, it seems that I think of the emperor as the previous one again.Today's emperor seems to be very different, faintly, he really has a bit of the demeanor of the legendary Taizu.Could it be that the Taizu fell into a dream and really taught the emperor something?

However, this food crisis does not seem to be so easy to solve.At least it would be too late to mobilize food from Jiangnan.

After the war, food has always been the top priority. Yang Sichang had expected it a long time ago, but after being reprimanded by the emperor several times, he was determined to let the emperor know that some things cannot be done by relying on a certain barbarian, and something must be done. It is good for a courtier like him to assist.But now that Xue Manzi is the chief assistant, it depends on your ability!
Hehe, let's wait and see about the food crisis this time!
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was indeed busy with food matters.Cao Huachun, the admiral of the East Factory, and Li Ruolian, the commander of Jinyiwei, were summoned successively to ask them about the things they were asked to investigate.After knowing it in his mind, he went back to the harem and went to find Queen Zhou.

"What? Open a military uniform workshop?" Queen Zhou couldn't help but confirm with a little surprise when she heard Emperor Chongzhen's intention.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said: "That's right, isn't the palace weaving? I thought, let's make military uniforms for the three major battalions under the Yumajian."

In fact, the military uniforms of the Ming Dynasty were not produced uniformly.Rather, each department is different.Some are made by the Ministry of War with merchants, some are distributed directly, and some are made by the families of soldiers themselves.As for the military uniforms of the Son of Heaven Army, the eunuch Wang Zhixin, who was in charge of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, had his people make it himself. Not to mention cutting corners, some military uniforms were also used. As a result, many soldiers had only one set of military uniforms, which had to be repaired for three years. Wear it for three years.

"Your Majesty, it's not impossible." Queen Zhou frowned and said, "But there are not so many raw materials in the palace, and there are not so many people!"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he smiled and said, "You just need to buy the raw materials. This time, a lot of silver was confiscated. The money is not a problem. As for the people, it is easy to solve. At present, there are more than [-] refugees who need to be resettled. Their hometown has been destroyed, and the imperial court is still unable to let them return home. Therefore, the palace can send people to pick out female workers, and set up a workshop outside the palace to let them make military uniforms first, which can kill two birds with one stone!"

Upon hearing this, Queen Zhou understood that the emperor's main purpose was to solve the problem of the two hundred thousand refugees.

Therefore, she nodded and immediately agreed.

One thing she didn't know was that Emperor Chongzhen actually had another purpose in doing this, which was to set up a state-owned enterprise for military uniforms, which was in the textile industry, and would expand its business in the future.

This is done because the basic materials of life such as food and cotton must have state-owned enterprises as the mainstay.

Then, Emperor Chongzhen came to the Yumajian barracks again.But this time, he did not go to see all the soldiers.It's just to summon all the general soldiers in the Yamen.

Only two days later, the emperor came over. As the emperor said before, he would come often to visit. This made all the soldiers very excited, and they all lined up on both sides in high spirits.

Emperor Chongzhen first asked them about the placement of the soldiers, how they felt in the new barracks, and whether there was a shortage or something. In short, he showed his caring side.In this regard, the answers of the various commanders are naturally no problem, thank you for the emperor's concern.

After a brief chat, Emperor Chongzhen began to explain the main purpose of his visit this time: "Currently, all armies are still short of personnel. I am here this time to solve this problem for you!"

According to the establishment, the Yongwei Battalion has about 2 people, the Panshi Battalion has about 5000 people, and the Hussar Battalion has about 5 people; the total strength of these three battalions is about 1 horses.However, the number of people reorganized from King Qin's army, plus the original remaining troops, was less than [-] in total, and there was still a shortfall of more than [-].

At this time, when they heard that the emperor was coming to replenish the soldiers, these general soldiers were of course very concerned. They looked at the emperor quickly, with anticipation in their eyes, wondering what elites the emperor would call over?At least in their opinion, their three battalions will be the most elite of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor's powerful force. Such an army must naturally be elite.

However, Emperor Chongzhen was obviously going to disappoint them.I heard him say to the generals: "Qing and others rescued more than [-] people from Jianlu. These people, both men and women, are young and strong. I believe that they must want to avenge Jianlu. This time , I will give them a chance to recruit three major battalions to train hard, and one day they will be able to go to the battlefield, avenge the Jianlu with their own hands, and conquer Liaodong. I believe that they will come as good soldiers and will not let me down. expect!"

Hearing this, the general soldiers who were a little disappointed at first thought about it carefully, and felt that the emperor's words were not unreasonable.Of course, they have seen the rescued people, and they know that they are indeed young and strong.Selecting [-] people out of [-] people seems to be considered a careful selection.

Thinking of this, they became happy again, and quickly responded that they would train them well.Sun Yingyuan even said: "Your Majesty is wise, veterans lead recruits, and most of them are veterans. The general believes that these recruits will be available soon."

Emperor Chongzhen actually thought so too, so he said to them: "As soon as possible, you will go out of Beijing with the people in the palace to pick people early tomorrow morning."

Speaking of this, he also said bluntly: "These two hundred thousand people must be resettled. In this way, the army and the palace can accommodate a lot of them, and I can feel more relieved."

Hearing this, these general soldiers immediately responded to the emperor's kindness.

However, Emperor Chongzhen had another meaning that he didn't say, that is, these people hated Jianlu deeply, so they must also hate Shanxi merchants deeply.When looking back, send this army to search Shanxi merchants.No matter what other people don't say, at least these soldiers transformed from refugees will definitely not show mercy to Shanxi merchants.

In order to get rid of the Shanxi Merchants Group in one fell swoop, and to obtain as much stolen money and goods as possible from the Shanxi Merchants, Emperor Chongzhen racked his brains and slowly laid out the layout step by step.

Originally, he wanted to divert some of these refugees to form a construction corps to build houses, roads, water conservancy, etc.But looking back, in this era, free labor was needed for these things. Even if there were large fortifications, laborers would be dispatched. If laborers are not needed at this time, it seems a bit ahead of the times to set up a construction corps specifically to do this.More importantly, if there are too many things at hand, if you spread too much at once, you may be overwhelmed, resulting in some things not being standardized from the beginning, which will lead to bad things.

Of course, he also considered that the places ravaged by Jian captives were all ruins, and these young and strong men and women could not be used for other purposes, they still had to go back and become the main force in rebuilding their hometown.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen gave up this idea.Seeing that it was already dusk, he sent an order to Jin Yiwei Commander Li Ruolian and Dongchang Admiral Cao Huachun to meet together. After other matters were arranged, it was time to act.

(End of this chapter)