Rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 173 The Risks of Cutting Leeks
In September of the second year of Zhongping, three major events occurred in Hebei. Liu Hezuo asked the emperor to open the Yenching Academy, and Hanling Emperor Liu Hong personally presented a plaque to show the mighty grace of the emperor.

Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army, sent an envoy to the capital and wrote a letter begging for surrender. The Emperor Ling was overjoyed and worshiped Zhang Yan as the general of Zhonglang, who was in charge of all the valleys in Hebei. Since then, the bandits in Hebei have been pacified.

The third is the skyrocketing price of grain, because the government collected grain to supplement the treasury, and the autumn grain doubled in January. After the surrender of the Black Mountain bandits, grain merchants from all over the country also started to move, gathering Fan Yang at the fastest speed, and grain everywhere Pile up.

I thought Yenching Academy would be the most lively event, but it was overshadowed by the sudden soaring food prices. Everyone in Fanyang City was talking about food prices. Fortunately, the autumn food has already come down at this time, otherwise I don’t know how much there will be People will starve and suffer from cold.

At the beginning of October, the grain price had risen to nearly [-] yuan. At this time, Liu Hecai rushed to Fanyang from Guangyang County. He came with more than a dozen carts. According to people familiar with the matter, they were all raised from various government treasuries. Money, used to buy food.

As these vehicles entered Fan Yang's barracks, Fan Yang's grain prices rose sharply the next day, breaking through one thousand yuan. Fortunately, it was only in Fanyang City.

In the government office, Liu He listened to Qiao Yong's report, he was speechless secretly, and sighed: "The prosperity of the world is all for profit, and the world is full of hustle and bustle, all for profit!"

"General, Fan Yang is in danger!" Cheng Yu, who had just taken up the post of Fan Yang County Magistrate, hurried over before his butt was hot.

Last month, Liu Yu heard that Cheng Yu, whom he had recommended, had come to Fanyang, and planned to transfer him to Yuyang to manage the salt and iron affairs. Liu He suggested that Wei You be sent there. He is from Youbeiping and is more suitable for communicating with the locals. Cheng Yu replaced Wei You as the county magistrate of Fanyang.

Cheng Yu's new official took office three times. Within half a month, he solved more than a dozen major cases of Fan Yang in one go. At the same time, he purges the officials. He is deeply loved by the people. He is preparing to organize the autumn harvest. Unexpectedly, the price of food has soared and it has completely lost control. .

Liu He asked Cheng Yu to sit down, and said with a smile, "Sir, don't panic, I just want to attract grain merchants from all over the world with high prices, so that I can receive grain to fill the treasury!"

"But such a high price..." Cheng Yu clapped his hands: "I'm afraid the general will not be able to pay for the dozen or so carts."

"Who said that what I brought in the car was money?" Liu He took a sip of tea, and said slowly: "I brought the stove and Nirvana, and I planned to make money."

"Make money?" Cheng Yu was taken aback. There was not enough money to collect food, so what else could he use to make money, and asked, "Then, is the food still collected?"

"Accept, why don't you accept it?" Liu He nodded and said with a smile: "When the price of grain comes down, we will accept it."

"How can the price of food be reduced, unless..." Cheng Yu stood up anxiously, and suddenly saw Liu He's expression calm, and then looked at Qiao Yong and the others next to him, and suddenly understood something, and asked in surprise: "General, should you Could it be intentional manipulation of food prices?"

"Sir, you are talented!" Liu He nodded slightly. People like Cheng Yu are very smart in politics and strategy, but they are still a lot worse in business. They never put their minds on this kind of opportunistic things, so they seem A little dull.

"I'm just worried about this!" Cheng Yu looked at Liu He and asked, "The general wants to lower the price of grain after the grain merchants arrive. At that time, the mountains are high and the roads are far away. Don't sell it at a low price, but if you do this, I'm afraid it will arouse resentment from all over the world!"

Liu He sneered and said, "Businessmen seek profit, and they come here for profit. If they can't make money, it's because too much food has caused the price to drop. It's not a matter of course that there are profits and losses in business?"

Cheng Yu smiled wryly, shook his head helplessly, and said slowly: "It is abominable for merchants to drive up prices, but the general has never thought that behind those big merchants, their identities and backgrounds are all extraordinary, and they are all wealthy families. The general plotted against him, so there was resentment, and in the future... it might be bad for the general."

Liu He frowned slightly, and asked Qiao Yong, "How many aristocratic families are there in the grain merchants in Fanyang?"

Qiao Yong replied: "There are five families in Jizhou. The Cui family and the Yan family are here. They are still buying grain. The Mi family in Xuzhou and the Wei family in Yanzhou arrived yesterday. I heard that the Kuai family in Nanyang and the Zhang family in Jiangdong Home, the chariots and horses have already arrived in Anping, and they will arrive soon."

Cheng Yu was shocked when he heard the words: "In this way, does the general want to break his trust in the world?"

After listening to Qiao Yong's report, Liu He also fell into deep thought. This time, he just wanted to attract the nearby grain merchants and harvest a batch of leeks. He didn't expect such a big commotion. This has nothing to do with the surrender of the Montenegro Army. Thieves, these grain merchants dare to rest assured to transport the grain.

According to Qiao Yong's knowledge, in Jingzhou, which was not affected by the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the price of autumn grain this year is only more than 200 yuan, and the price of Fanyang's grain is more than [-] yuan.

I can't help but think of what Marx said in "Das Kapital". If capital has 50.00% profit, it will take risks; for [-]% profit, it dares to trample on all human laws; It dares to commit any crime, even risking being hanged.

Fan Yang's grain price has already exceeded [-]% of the profit, which is indeed an extremely unstable situation. Although Cheng Yu doesn't understand economics, he is already aware of the crisis.

The middle class of society in the Han Dynasty was controlled by aristocratic families. Liu He naturally understood the power of these people. During the Three Kingdoms period, the rise of the Cao, Liu, and Sun families all depended on the support of the aristocratic families.

The most typical example is Chen Deng and his son. For the benefit of the family, no matter who you come to, they will find ways to plot secretly, which is impossible to guard against.

Just like what Cheng Yu said, if you want to conquer the world in the future, if you offend the aristocratic family now, it will be difficult for you to move forward. Isn't this losing the watermelon and picking up the sesame seeds?
This time, the family has been calculated, not to mention fighting the world in the future, even if they want to buy food next time, I am afraid that no one will trust Liu He again, and even lose their trust in other aspects.
It can make a ruthless person like Cheng Yu worry, which shows the seriousness of the situation.

After a long time, Liu He took a deep breath, suddenly picked up his teacup and said: "The noble family is like this tea, but it needs to be boiled in spring water to show its value. The people are like this clear spring. A bowl of tea is compared to a pool of water." , which is more important?"

Cheng Yu was stunned, then laughed and said, "Of course it's a pool of water. You don't need to drink tea, but you have to drink water."

Liu He nodded, stood up and walked to the door, slowly poured out the tea in the cup, and said with emotion: "How many people have been cheated by these aristocratic families? Sooner or later, they will be offended. What I want from now on... is The heart of the people, not the heart of the family."

"General!" Cheng Yu stood up abruptly, looking at Liu He's back in surprise, his eyes sparkling.

"Report—my lord, it's not good, the big thing is not good!" At this moment, Gao Wang stumbled in from the outside, sweating profusely.

(End of this chapter)