Datang: Beat Tang Taizong violently at the beginning

Chapter 498
Although Li Mo left, the contest between Song Shouyi and Du Ruhui in the side hall had really begun!
"Since His Royal Highness asked you to discuss this matter, you must be the confidant of King Yan!"

Song Shouyi stroked his beard and said with a smile, he is a great Confucian in the world, with a great reputation. If King Yan came to negotiate with him in person, he could use the name of King Yan to suppress him, but this person in front of him is unknown. Song Shouyi is confident that he can counter this person!
"Patriarch Song is too polite. His name is not worth mentioning. Sir, since he is a great Confucian in the world, he must have a heart of benevolence and righteousness. Now that the people of the three realms are suffering from disasters, and you are from Luoyang, you must naturally not want to see the people of Luoyang suffer. Although His Royal Highness King Yan is burdened with 600 million relief funds this time, there are so many people in the three realms. With the current price of food in Luoyang City, even His Royal Highness Yan King may not be able to afford it..."

Du Ruhui nodded and smiled, feeling aggrieved and asking for perfection: "I don't know if the great Confucianism can reduce it for the sake of the common people of the three realms!"

Hearing this, Song Shouyi smiled even more: "I don't know how much you want!"

"Don't dare to embarrass the Patriarch. I heard that before Luoyang, the price of rice was five Wen a catty, and the price of rice was four Wen a catty. I really dare not embarrass the Patriarch. I am willing to increase the price by [-]%, and the rice price is eight Wen a catty." Jin, the face price is seven Wen, I don't know what the family thinks!"

Du Ruhui also said with a smile at this moment, but Song Shouyi was caught off guard!
This Great Confucian Song was stunned for a moment!

Luoyang is the granary of the Central Plains. Before the disaster, the price of grain was indeed a few cents a catty, but now the price of rice has soared to [-] cents a catty, and the price of noodles has also skyrocketed to [-] cents a catty!

Even if the price is increased by [-]% according to what the person in front of him said, even the highest price of rice is only eight cents a catty, which is four times the difference from the current price of thirty cents!
How dare this person open his mouth to say such a thing?
"Your Excellency, are you joking? Although the old man is old, he is not so stupid!"

Song Shouyi's face suddenly turned cold. If he hadn't been in the governor's mansion right now, Song Shouyi would have lost his temper a long time ago. This is simply making fun of him!
With such a food price, if a cooperation is really reached, even if they can earn more than in previous years, how much more can they earn?

Compared with several times or even ten times the profit, there is a big difference between a few percent profit and a few times or even ten times the profit!
"Of course I don't dare to joke, but someone has already agreed to such a condition. If the Patriarch disagrees, there is nothing I can do!"

The smile on Du Ruhui's face remained unchanged, and he still said with the same expression,
"impossible!"

However, regarding Du Ruhui's words, Song Shouyi directly said that it was impossible,
If it is a normal year, Luoyang's grain can be sold at this price, which is enough to make them happy.

But now is a year of catastrophe and hunger, and it is not only Luoyang that is affected, but the entire Henan area, the entire Shandong area, and the entire Sandao area. Tens of millions of acres will have no harvest this year!

Therefore, there will be a shortage of food in the three lands this year. If the backups from previous years are not brought out, this year's court will definitely have big problems!

But for these big landlords who hold a lot of grain, it is okay to get grain, but it is absolutely impossible to get grain out at the price of the usual year.
Now that the price of grain in Luoyang City has soared to such an extent, someone suddenly asked them to sell grain at a four-fold price, how could they possibly agree?
This is simply digging their flesh and drinking their blood!

"Nothing is impossible!"

Du Ruhui still smiled and said: "Patriarch, don't forget that drought and locust disasters don't happen every year, and such a catastrophe is rare in a hundred years. Some people want the position of imperial grain merchant, but they don't know how much smarter than Patriarch! "

Du Ruhui was still expressionless, but when he lied, no one could see the slightest flaw.

"Imperial Grain Merchant!"

Song Shouyi was taken aback for a moment, this word has not appeared for a long time,
The so-called imperial grain merchants mean that the imperial court actively buys grain from the people!
The merchants who are responsible for purchasing private grain and actively providing grain to the imperial court are called imperial grain merchants!

To put it simply, the imperial grain merchants are doing business between the imperial court and the people. Based on the size of the imperial court, this transaction must be huge and immeasurable.

Whoever can take a share of this will definitely make a lot of money, and it will be the kind that makes a lot of money every year!
"The chaotic times of the Sui and Tang Dynasties have just ended. If the unification is underway today, the national power of the Tang Dynasty will surely flourish. This is the beginning of the dynasty's prosperity, and no one can stop it!"

"Nowadays, the locust plague in the land of the three realms is serious, but it is not impossible to eliminate. King Yan came to the land of the three realms to relieve the disaster in person, and brought 600 million relief silver. The land of the three realms will not be chaotic!"

"But now that the Tang Dynasty was established at the beginning, the four directions are staring at each other, and the imperial court must be in short supply of food and grass. However, the king of Qin has formulated a tax of [-] taxes, and the imperial court must be short of food. In addition to the drought and locust plagues in the three lands this year, the matter of imperial food must be brought up as soon as possible. schedule!"

Du Ruhui said in a deep voice, the things he said are true and false, but they are not bad!

Li Shimin's taxation policy of one forty taxes is now promulgated throughout the world, and it will definitely not be changed in a short time!

Even if it is to be changed, it will be when the political situation in the Tang Dynasty is completely stabilized. It is definitely not the time when Li Shimin needs the support of the people of the world.
Changing the taxation policy rashly, if this happens, Li Shimin's hard-won popularity may lose most of it in an instant.

A tax of one forty taxes is too little for the imperial court to receive usable silver from the national treasury.

This is also the main reason why Datang treasury will be in deficit every year.

It is because the money collected is too little, but there are too many places to spend money. King Qin's army went out and spent money like water, but after every land was conquered, the taxes collected were far from enough to support this kind of expenses!

Without the support of God of Wealth like Du Ruhui, no one would be able to settle the account of the household department!

But now Du Ruhui has been squeezed out of the position of Minister of the Household Department,
Coupled with the large-scale drought and locust plagues in the land of three realms this year, not only was the imperial court unable to collect a large amount of taxes from the land of three realms,
Moreover, so much money was added to the Land of the Three Paths, even Du Ruhui would not be able to settle this account!
And the most important thing is that when the Tang Dynasty is still in need of soldiers, the barbarians from all over the world are staring at them,

So where do the military supplies for these troops guarding the frontier come from? The treasury is already empty, so it is impossible for the frontier army to go to war hungry, right?

(End of this chapter)