Wei Zaode pondered for a while, and then asked, "How much white rice can you buy in Huguang for five million taels?" ”

Chen Rui thought for a while and said, "It's hard to say...... In the past, the price of Huguang rice was low, and at least five million stone white rice could be bought for five million taels. If this bit of rice can really be transported to the southeast, it can stabilize the price of rice a little. However, this year, Huguang is in chaos, but I am afraid that the price of rice will also rise, and it will be difficult to buy so much rice grain. ”

Wu Xiang snorted lightly when he heard this: "Why can't you receive it?" If they can't receive it, they will send troops to the countryside...... Millions of stones are to be obtained, otherwise the southeast side can be stable? The southeast is fundamental, the southeast is uneasy, how can the Ming Dynasty still prosper? ”

Imperial merchant Su Sheng shook his hand again and again: "I'm afraid it's too late...... Where is it so easy to go to the countryside to harvest rice? Every year, Huguang exports 10 or 20 million stone white rice to the south of the Yangtze River, and there are at least tens of thousands of people in Huguang who are busy together, and it is difficult to say whether these tens of thousands of people are still alive or not!

Without them, you can receive rice by sending troops? The Protector wouldn't want the New Army to go to the countryside to grab rice, right? ”

Before his words were taxed, Cao Youyi, the deputy military teacher, said, "How can you speak?" That's called Zheng, Zhengmi! The officials and soldiers were ordered by the imperial court to ask the common people if they wanted rice, could it be considered robbery? ”

Su Sheng was scolded by Cao Youyi, and he had nothing to say. Although he, an imperial businessman, has the trust of Prince Zhu, he is a businessman and not an official after all...... Moreover, can the emperor's family rob rice be called robbery? The whole world belongs to the emperor's family!

Ying Tianfu Yin Li Mingrui snorted lightly: "What about the matter of Longjiang Mixiang?" Now the rice merchants in Nanjing dare not open...... Can anyone give me a trick? The rice shop will be closed all the time, and there are millions of mouths in Nanjing! ”

Mipu Guan Zhang is afraid of being robbed, and the other is protesting against the imperial court's protection of northerner refugees!

Although Li Mingrui is a hero of overcoming difficulties, he is a native of Jiangxi and a big landowner, and his ass is naturally on the side of the rice merchants.

However, this matter is indeed the fault of the Xiaoling Wei New Army, why did it start a fight with the officials of Tianfu?

Wu Xiang snorted coldly: "There are still tens of thousands of northern troops inside and outside Nanjing!" In the event of a military rebellion......"

Ying Tianfu's officials are not good, they are too ruthless in Longjiang Mixiang, and they beat a group of northerners, refugees and military dependents, can the northerners in the new army of Xiaolingwei not be angry?

Wu Xiang didn't dare to pursue this matter, it was really going to make a big fuss, and the inside and outside of Nanjing City must not become a battlefield?

Wei Zaode snorted coldly, the questions raised by Li Mingrui and Wu Xiang are all fucking reasonable! There is no way for him, a prime minister like Zhuge Liang...... Who made him, Zhuge Liang, a Xibei product? The method was all thought of by the prince, and he was responsible for carrying the blame and leaving his name in history.

When he was sighing, Wu Nong's soft voice from Chen Zilong of the Cabinet Office suddenly came from outside the middle hall: "Shoufu, Jiangbei Urgent." ”

What's going on in Jiangbei again?

"Come on in!" Wei Zaode hurriedly called Chen Zilong in.

Chen Zilong is in his thirties, with a white face and long hair, a Chinese character face, and a burly figure, he doesn't look like a Wu Yue person at all, let alone a lyricist (he was a famous lyricist at that time, a great talent), but like a martial artist from the north.

Wei Zaode asked, "Wozi, what happened?" ”

"Shoufu, the governor of Jiangbei Road reported that there was a shortage of rice in Yangzhou and Huai'an, the price of rice rose to five yuan, hundreds of thousands of refugees had difficulty in food and clothing, and there was almost a civil uprising.

"No, no!" Wu Xiang shook his head again and again, "The Juntun Division doesn't have much rice to save, if you want to release it all, what will the soldiers eat?" ”

"Shoufu," Li Mingrui said, "If Governor Lu hadn't really had no choice, he wouldn't have made such a decision!" ”

Lu Zhenfei is a native of Quzhou County, Beizhili, and one of the leaders of the civil officials in the north of the DPRK, and Wei Zaode is considered to be a party - although there are still signboards of the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party, but the theme of the party struggle in the Ming Dynasty is no longer the villain of the Donglin Gentleman Fighting the Eunuch Party. It's a battle between the North and the South!

And Wei Zaode, Lu Zhenfei, and Hou Sui are the three leaders of the Beiren Party. On the other hand, Qian Qianyi, Chen Rui, and Lin Zengzhi are three southerner cabinet ministers.

Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Southern People's Party, sighed, "Let's ask for an order!" At the moment, I am afraid that only the prince can do it. ”

Li Mingrui said: "What if Nanjing's rice shop doesn't open? ”

Qian Qianyi glanced at Wei Zaode and said with a smile: "This matter is easy to do." First, martial law was declared...... Divert the new army from the Jiangbei battalion into the city to maintain order; Second, let the shopkeeper Su and Mr. Chen of the maritime business bank come forward to talk to the rice merchants and let them open for business. ”

Su Sheng is now the chief treasurer of Yanshang Bank, and the general manager of Maritime Bank Chen is Chen Yonghua's father, Chen Ding.

In today's southeast business world, Zheng Zhilong and below are the two best. The rice merchants in Jinling also had to borrow money and exchange money, which was inseparable from the support of the two banks.

In addition, Qian Qianyi will also secretly greet the ...... of such a thing as "boycott", which means a lot, but don't really annoy the prince, there is no good fruit to eat!

When Zhu Cihong received the concert jointly performed by the Cabinet Office and the Generalissimo's Office to invite him to return to the court, he had already returned to the Wuchang Palace. He was busy with the end and aftermath of the Huguang War, and at the same time had to worry about the Sichuan issue.

His military advisor Li Yan has been recalled from the front. Now the Huguang battlefield is divided into the northern and western fronts. Among them, the northern front is the main attack, and the western front is temporarily defended.

Zhu Cihong planned to concentrate on taking Xiangyang and Nanyang first-if Zhu Cihong didn't take these two mansions, he might be taken by Dolgon.

Therefore, Zhu Cihong ordered Wu Sanfu to unify the command of the war on the northern front, and dispatched two new army divisions plus Tang Fan's escort to attack Xiangyang and Nanyang with all his might.

The western front was handed over to Wu Guoyong to solve, and one of his divisions had to defend against the Dashun Army in the west of Jingzhou Mansion, and also had to be responsible for recovering the eastern part of Jingzhou Mansion and the western part of Chengtian Mansion, and the task was also quite heavy.

Zhu Cixun himself returned to Wuchang Mansion with his guard division and the troops of He Tengjiao, Chang Yanling, Jin Shenghuan, Daniel Zhang, Qiu Lei and others.

"Grab rice, boycott, food shortage......"

Zhu Cihong's fingers lightly tapped the music on the table, and his eyes swept over the faces of Li Yan and He Tengjiao, as if he was seeking the opinions of the two.

"Your Highness, order the military department to put grain...... Li Yan said, "Now that the lake is vast and stable, we can always find a way to get some grain." On the southeast side, don't mess up! ”

He Tengjiao frowned: "The autumn grain will not be available until September at the earliest...... It's only May, and it's still four months! How could a million stones last that long? His Royal Highness the Prince, the southeast is going to be chaotic! ”

"It's not messy!" Zhu Cihong said, "The solution is thought up by people...... There's always a way! He turned his head to look at Qiu Yu, Fang Yuegong and Liu Kongzhao again, "Has the matter of sending merchants to the countryside to harvest rice begun?" ”

"It's already started......."

"But it's slow!"

"Many rice merchants here in Wuchang have no capital!"

Zhu Cihong smiled: "Then pay them a deposit!" The two banks in Wuchang have millions of silver deposits, which is enough to support the circulation of the market...... The Jiangdu Stay-behind Division signed a contract with them and paid a deposit. With the contract, they were able to go and borrow from the two banks. ”

The five million taels of silver stored in the branches of the Maritime Commercial Bank and the Salt Commercial Bank in Wuchang were not entirely used to reward the army and support the Sichuan war - it was not enough to reward the army, and it was not enough to spend five million to fight Sichuan.

The five million taels were actually used to build a financial system – a system with two major banks at its core.

Zhu Cihong knows that banks sell credit, and the core of the bank-centered financial system is credit. And five million taels of silver were placed in the two bank vaults of Wuchang Mansion, which was enough for the two banks to establish credit in Huguang, where there was a shortage of cash (the money was robbed by Li Zicheng).

With the credit support of the two banks, the five million do not have to be given out at all, and the commercial system of Huguang can operate only by relying on the bank bills issued by the bank.

What the? Countrymen don't know silver tickets? Countrymen don't need silver! What they needed were handicrafts, cloth, farming implements, household goods, and perhaps some cattle. And the businessmen who sell these things are enough to be willing to trust the two major banks.