Qian Sule asked: "But right now, you can't use troops in Fujian?" ”

Wu Zheng smiled, "I don't need to send troops, has my father-in-law forgotten that there is still a Yongli Emperor in the south?" I heard that Zheng Sen had already written allegiance to Emperor Yongli, and that Duoduo was dead, and that the Qing court was missing a general, so it would not be so easy for the Qing army to easily capture Guangzhou. ”

"What do you mean...... Do you want to secretly support Emperor Yongli? If His Majesty wants to know about this, I'm afraid it will be ....... ”

"Nothing is impossible. The enemy of the enemy is the friend, Your Majesty can figure it out. Even if you can't figure it out, what can you do to me? ”

Wu Zheng's compelling momentum has been unconsciously exuded.

……。

At this time, Hangzhou Mansion was not calm.

The composition of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce is mainly based on Mo Yiqing's debt-to-equity businessmen who were proposed by Mo Yiqing after Mo Yiqing was obsessed with Mo and the defeat of the grain price war at that time.

After the consent of Wu Zheng, the Chamber of Commerce spread to all parts of the south of the Yangtze River, absorbing capital, and now the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce in addition to Hangzhou businessmen, accounts for more shares, Xinzhou Longyou Business Gang, Suzhou Dongting Business Gang, Ningbo Yinxian Hall.

The struggle between the major merchant gangs in the south of the Yangtze River and the Jin merchants and Shandong merchants in the north has a long history.

After the Qing army entered the customs, the southward movement of the northern capital made the Jiangnan merchant gang face the catastrophe of annihilation.

This is also a major reason why Jiangnan has been able to resist the Qing army for decades in history.

Everyone knows that wars are fought with money, and without funds, any resistance is at best short-lived and does not last long.

Therefore, the emergence of Wu Zheng's forces made the Jiangnan Merchant Gang breathe a sigh of relief.

Because Jiangnan is defended, this means that the Jin merchants and Shandong merchants cannot go south, otherwise, the eight imperial merchants with the title of Huang Taiji are enough to devour the merchants in Jiangnan.

Although Wu Zheng collected commercial taxes in Jiangnan by forceful means, in the face of the oppression of his own survival, Jiangnan merchants still supported and funded Wu Zheng's forces.

Of course, under Wu Zheng's follow-up policy, the interests of Jiangnan merchants were still not reduced, but because the commerce and trade of the three provinces were more prosperous than before, they made a lot of profits, which is equivalent to the concept of "small profits but quick turnover".

This is the result of a virtuous cycle.

It stands to reason that Wu Zheng's influence continues to expand, and the war has been won continuously, and the major merchant gangs in Jiangnan should support Wu Zheng more.

But today, the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce has happened that all major business gangs gathered at the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce to lodge a strong protest against Mo Zhinian.

They elected Xi Benzhen, a member of the Dongting merchant gang, as the leader, and strongly protested against the General's Mansion's control of grain prices in Hangzhou.

There is no right or wrong cause for this.

After the grain price war two years ago, Wu Zheng ordered the implementation of strict grain price control in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Songjiang, and used one tael of silver and one stone and five buckets (one bucket is about 20 catties, that is, 15 buckets) of japonica rice as the market grain price.

But two years have passed, not to mention anything else, the soldiers' salaries and pensions for the fallen soldiers issued by the General's Mansion to the people of the three provinces alone are as high as 3 million taels.

In two years, the additional distribution of three million taels is obviously a huge impact on the market of Sanfu.

Originally, the bank attracted the idle money in the hands of the people with an annual interest rate of 10%, and the silver on the market was quite controllable.

However, as the money bank began to complete the initial accumulation of funds, the interest rate gradually dropped to half a percent of the annual interest, and the attraction to the people was no longer high.

As a result, the people's daily spending on land and houses gradually increased.

The consequence is that everything is rising, land prices, housing prices, daily necessities, luxury goods, etc., even with labor, the increase is still quite large.

But the problem is that food prices are not rising, so they cannot rise.

Who dares to rise?

The major merchant gangs are indeed too rich to count, but in the face of the government and the army, they are as fragile as an egg.

It is indeed a good thing for the people that the price of food does not rise, because no matter how poor the person is, he should have enough to eat.

One tael of silver can buy fifteen buckets (about three hundred catties), and the minimum wage in the land of the three mansions has reached two taels a month.

There is no way, Wu Zheng opened workshops, ports, and shipyards, and the people in the land of Sanfu can only be willing to do things, and there is basically no such thing as unemployment.

But the problem is that due to the prosperity of tea and sericulture, the grain output of these three provinces cannot meet their own needs.

Then the food has to be bought from the surrounding area.

As the prices of goods in the three prefectures continue to rise, the prices of grain in the surrounding areas are also rising due to large needs, and the profits from grain sales become thinner and thinner, until they are reversed at a loss.

Since it's a loss, don't do it.

But the question is, these grain merchants are used to buying and selling grain, how many shops and manpower, the so-called ship is difficult to turn around, how can it be transferred to other businesses for a while?

At the beginning, the major merchant gangs were still holding on, using other business profits to subsidize grain trading, but after a few months, they couldn't hold on, which led to today's gathering place and strong protests.

Of course, there is no way to be obsessed, he can make his own decisions about other things, but he really can't make decisions about food prices.

So he appeased everyone and told them to wait for Wu Zheng to come back and then discuss.

But the businessmen are unwilling to leave, and every day of delay is a huge loss, you know, in the land of Sanfu, millions of people, how much rice is consumed in a day?

So, they stayed at the guild hall and the inn, claiming that they would not leave until the matter was settled.

……。

Mo returned home with a sad face, and he didn't even have the heart to eat.

Indeed, it's nerve-wracking.

Wu Zheng is now leading the army to fight outside, and if there is a bad trouble, and a fire breaks out in the backyard, then the problem will be serious.

Seeing Mo Yiqing, who was sad about his grandfather, after asking what happened.

She smiled and said, "This matter is not difficult, it is nothing more than a matter of silver, why should Grandpa bother?" ”

Mo Zhinian shook his head and said: "This is a matter of silver, the price of grain is set by the general, and I told it at that time, no matter what the circumstances, the price of grain must be stabilized, and if the price of grain is stable, the people's will will be determined." ”

Mo Yiqing said: "Since the price of grain cannot rise, then subsidize the grain merchants." ”

Mo Zhinian frowned and said, "Where does the silver come from?" Millions of people in Sanfu will get tens of thousands of stone grain a day, and if one stone of grain rises by one percent, it will cost tens of thousands of taels a day. ”

"Compared with the stability of the three mansions, tens of thousands of taels of silver a day are worth it." Mo Yiqing said solemnly, "Besides, there was news before that the imperial court had already negotiated peace with the Qing court, and it would not be too long for the general to return to Hangzhou, even if it was ten days and half a month, that is, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, which would be paid in advance by the financial secretary first, and then make a decision." ”

Mo Zhinian was a little moved, and he asked, "According to what you said, what kind of subsidy method?" Is it necessary to record the grain entering the city at the gates of each city in each county of the three prefectures, and then distribute it according to the quantity? I'm afraid this is too cumbersome, besides, if there are unscrupulous merchants who hoard grain into the city and don't sell it, won't they make them greedy for subsidized silver in vain? ”