The eldest son of the red mansion

Only Fan Kang shook his head when he heard their optimistic views.

Who knew that Fan Kang's performance was noticed by Jia Ke, "Fan Kang, don't shake your head there, stand up and say something."

Seeing that Jia Ke had already found out, Fan Kang could only stand up and say, "According to my inference, Arslen Khan will definitely go south this autumn."

"Oh, why?"

"My lord, Arslen Khan is also a hero with a high self-esteem, but he has been repeatedly defeated by the lord, so he must not be angry. This time Arslen Khan pacified the Western Regions and conquered dozens of countries. The morale of the soldiers under his command must be high, and he has obtained many slaves and mercenaries from the Western Regions. Arslen Khan thinks that he can fight the lord now. With his character, he must not wait to recover his vitality. The lord fought a battle."

Jia Ke nodded after hearing this. Fan Kang, as expected of his chief strategist, analyzed the matter clearly and logically, exactly as he thought in his heart.

After listening to Fan Kang's words, the other military ministers also began to be a little shaken by what he said.

Jia Ke then asked Peng Bi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, "Can our food and grass support hundreds of thousands of soldiers to fight?"

Peng Bi thought about it for a while, and then said after careful consideration: "My lord, this year we have a bumper harvest all over the country. I think the harvested food should be enough, but the Ministry of Household Affairs needs to do a careful calculation."

Jia Ke pondered for a while, and then said directly to Sun Yan: "Your Military Aircraft Department will now give orders to the household department to raise food and grass from now on. By autumn, I will be able to stockpile 50 soldiers and provide food for half a year of combat."

After hearing this, Sun Yan frowned a little, but still said resolutely: "My lord, there is nothing wrong with the matter of food and grass. Even if I rob, I can still raise food for my lord."

After hearing this, Jia Ke said with a smile: "Whether you want to grab it or not, it has not reached this point. If the court is in trouble, it is not impossible to solve it."

Sun Yan didn't think there was any way to raise so much food without hurting his bones, but since Jia Ke said it, he still had to ask: "My lord, isn't there something already going on?"

Jia Ke nodded with a smile, then stood up and walked among them and said, "Although the imperial court has some difficulties, those rich men in the folk are very rich. , the food and grass for the 50 million army can be easily raised."

Tian Ye, the military minister who just came back from the south, couldn't believe it after hearing Jia Ke's words. He had seen the stinginess of these rich people in the south, and it was simply a fantasy to ask them to pay so much food.

So Tian Ye asked in disbelief, "What good plan does the prime minister have?"

"It's not a smart way. This time I'm going north, and I won't leave after taking the land. With so much fertile land stretching as far as the eye can see, how can I sell it for some money?"

After listening to Jia Ke's words, Sun Yan and the others suddenly realized that if it is said that what these rich landowners are most concerned about, it is naturally the land.As long as the land is exchanged with them for food, are you afraid that they will not agree?

Jia Ke actually had this idea long ago. He thought that he would nationalize as much land as possible in the interior of the Central Plains, and then rent it out to common people who had been swept away. , As for their lack of manpower to cultivate, it is not easy to capture all the natives and treat them as slaves.

This time when Jia Ke went north, he wanted to do a pilot project in the north to see if it would be successful. If it was successful, then the land in the south that had three common customs every year would naturally be able to sell for a lot of money, and there was no shortage of arable land in the densely populated area. people.

Now that Sun Yan had relaxed his mind, they naturally knew that there would be no problem raising food and grass this time. Now that they had relaxed their minds, they began to think about how to defeat the Tatars. It is impossible to appease these old rich landlords who have paid for it.

Sun Yan thought for a while, since he had already decided to sell the land captured by the North during the victory, there must be a price, "My lord, what price will the land in the North be sold at?"

Jia Ke thought for a while, and was a little undecided. He was also afraid of losing money in this transaction.

"Fan Kang, what do you think?"

Fan Kang rolled his eyes when he heard Jia Ke ask again, but he couldn't help but answer, "My lord, the land in our Central Plains is about eight taels to twelve taels, and the land we seized in the north should not be cultivated yet." , then it can only be sold as wasteland, so the price in the Central Plains is four or five taels."

Fan Kang didn't speak anymore when he said this. This was to leave room for Jia Ke to express himself. As a subordinate, could he really compare himself to his lord?

After listening to Fan Kang's introduction, Jia Ke nodded, "It seems that if we sell too much, those rich landowners won't obediently pay for grain."

After Jia Ke finished saying this, she thought about it carefully. That time, she wanted to give these rich landowners a little bit of sweetness, so the land should not be sold at too high a price, so that they could devote themselves to producing food and money. And if there is a war in the future, they will definitely participate actively.

"Let's see it this way. The land in the north is sold as 150 catties of grain per mu. What do you think?"

The next few military ministers looked at each other, and then nodded. The price Jia Ke offered was extremely low, and those local rich men would flock to it.

Seeing that everyone had already nodded in agreement, Jia Ke ordered like Sun Yan: "Leave this matter to the Military Aircraft Department. You arrange to disclose the news to those rich landowners, and then collect the food uniformly, and then give them a receipt." .”

After listening to Jia Ke's instructions, Sun Yan immediately said, "My lord, we always have a limit. Otherwise, these rich people must be crazy when they hear such cheap land. How can we sell so much land to them?"

Jia Ke thought about it for a while, and the outcome of this trip to the north is unpredictable. Although Jia Ke expected to capture some land, it would be a drop in the bucket to satisfy the appetites of the rich people in the world.

"Then sell 500 million mu of land and test the waters first. Don't have so much land handed over by then, and the court will be embarrassed."

Chapter 561 Land

From this day on, in places unknown to the common people, the rich and powerful of those parties began to get together in the capital for some reason.

Many of these people came from various places, such as Shanxi merchants in Shanxi, Anhui merchants and salt merchants in Lianghuai, and those big families in Jiangnan.

After these people came to the capital, they didn't go to the flower streets and willow alleys to enjoy themselves, but got together in small groups and discussed something with each other.

And the most important of these people are the leaders of the three major business gangs. Every time there is turmoil in the court, the three of them are the first to come out.

The Shanxi merchants were headed by George Yong of the Qiao family, the Anhui merchants were headed by Bao Shufang, and the salt merchants were headed by Wang Yinggeng.

This time is no exception. In the Zhuangyuan building in the capital, the three major business gangs have already booked the Zhuangyuan building today, just for their three leaders to come here to gather.

Before noon, these three people arrived one after another. They entered the innermost private room, asked all the servants and entourage to retreat according to the usual practice, and then set up a banquet before starting to discuss matters.

Wang Yinggeng was the youngest of the three, so he was a little impatient, so he asked directly, "Is what happened this time true?"

George Yong looked at this impatient salt merchant and shook his head, "Don't be so anxious, let's drink first, and it's not too late to discuss things after we're full."

"Okay, my brother, I'm not in the mood to drink now. I'm almost done discussing things, and then I can eat as I like. That's the only way to be happy. Otherwise, I will always have things in my heart, and the meal will not be delicious."

Bao Shufang looked at him helplessly, "In that case, let's discuss things first."

George Yong could only nod his head, and then said: "I have received news from the senior officials in the court that Arslen Khan has returned from the west, and he has brought back a large number of slaves and mercenaries. I am afraid that he will not let it go this year." .”

Wang Yinggeng then asked: "What does that general in the court mean?"

George Yong picked up a glass of wine and took a sip, then said, "What else can you mean? Naturally, we have to go north to resist."

Bao Shufang was much older than the two of them, so he fell silent after hearing this.If someone else goes north, the old man is not optimistic, but he is still somewhat sure about Jia Ke.

Because Jia Ke has been invincible since his debut, and he has never lost even against the Tatar Jia Ke.

"If this is the case, then going north this time should not be defeated."

As the leader of the three of them, George Yong naturally saw the situation very clearly, "I also agree with the old gentleman, our prime minister was killed on the battlefield, and this time going north is to gather the strength of the whole country. It is sure to be able to hit the ground running and succeed in no time."

Wang Yinggeng was not thinking about this, "If this is the case, then it seems that the imperial court did not lie to us, and this time it will definitely get a lot of land."

Although Wang Yinggeng was the leader of the salt merchants, the land in the south of the Yangtze River was very precious, and most of it was in the hands of aristocratic families. Although they were rich, they didn't buy much land.

In ancient China, the land was regarded as the lifeblood. If it was not at the last moment, the land would never be sold.

Therefore, although these salt merchants are rich, the current government officials are pretty good, and there is no chance for them to plunder. Therefore, although they have spent a lot of money over the years, they have not bought much land.

This time, Jia Ke gave them a bad check, but they thought it was an opportunity. If the court could win, then a large piece of land in the north was waiting for them to collect.

Although Bao Shufang was optimistic about Jia Ke, he still didn't want to take risks when he was too old. "This is not the same as doing business. When the battle is fierce and dangerous, it may change at any time. I think it's better to be cautious."

George Yong sat there with the wine and kept thinking. He is not thinking about the land and the victory or defeat of the court, but the changes in the future situation of the court.