Chapter 5: The only one who can turn the tide is General Chen

"The solidity of the rivers and mountains is not in danger in Germany!" Wang Jue looked at Li Jiancheng and said, "Your Majesty is benevolent, just Turkic naturally don't have to worry!" ”

Fang Xuanling looked at the serious Wang Jue, a sneer appeared on his face, and he watched quietly with the mentality of watching a good show.

Hearing Wang Jue, Wei Zheng began to spray Wang Jue wildly, talking about playing with his mouth, Wei Zheng's combat effectiveness was super strong, and Wang Jue was speechless.

Chen Ying ignored the controversy between Wang Qi and Wei Zheng, but turned around and walked to Fang Xuanling's side, and said lightly: "Fang Xuanling, what are you thinking?" ”

Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "Nothing! ”

This remark was insincere, and Chen Ying didn't care.

Chen Ying said lightly: "What do you think?" Isn't that explicit? ”

Fang Xuanling sighed lightly and said: "In the past, when King Qin was still there, it was Fang Mou's plan, Keming (Du Ruhui) and King Qin decided, and he would never be so prevaricated......"

Compared with Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng is indeed lacking a decisiveness.

Chen Ying looked at Fang Xuanling and said, "Do you think you helped Erlang fight for the world?" ”

Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "I have never had such arrogant thoughts!" ”

Chen Ying nodded and said: "That's it, your ability is all in general affairs and state affairs, if the strife ends today, it is where you can come in, in this case, what are you worried about?" ”

Fang Xuanling looked at Chen Ying and said, "Do you think that Your Majesty will reuse Fang?" ”

Chen Ying shook his head and said, "I don't know if I will use it, but if you don't show your talent and excellence, even if Your Majesty wants to use you, you can't block everyone's mouth."

Fang Xuanling shook his head lightly and said: "King Qin I is the hero, but unfortunately his luck is perverse, and he has lost his employment; Your Majesty looks at the world, but he has benevolence in his heart and is open-minded, but he doesn't know whether it is pretended or true! ”

"The king's benevolence has been blessed by the world!" Chen Ying smiled faintly: "Meat eaters, there are a few good people, sitting on the world, even if they pretend, it is also the blessing of the society." You can still pray for so much! ”

Fang Xuanling laughed self-deprecatingly: "I followed King Qin first, but now King Qin's life and death are uncertain, and if you descend to Your Majesty, you will definitely be infamous for being disloyal and unjust." ”

Chen Ying sneered and said, "What's the good of being a loyal minister?" ”

Fang Xuanling looked at Chen Ying.

Chen Ying smiled leisurely: "In ancient times, Fenglong and Bigan became loyal ministers, and took their own lives, can they gain the people of the world and the affairs of the world?" ”

Fang Xuanling subconsciously shook his head.

Chen Ying said with a smile: "Why do you have to do things that are not beneficial to others or yourself?" Just for a good reputation for loyalty? ”

He scoffed, "That thing, it's not worth a penny!" ”

Unconsciously, the controversy between the court and the central government actually involved Yang Guang, Wang Qi was angry and roared like thunder: "Emperor Yang of Sui is so happy, building the eastern capital, building the canal, conquering Goryeo three times, abusing the people's power, this is the chaos of the heroes......"

Wei Zheng sighed and said: "The purpose of building the Eastern Capital is to pass through the Kanto; The dredging of the canal is to communicate the north and the south; The three expeditions to Goryeo are to expand the territory, aren't these three things the right thing? ”

Li Jiancheng was stunned.

Wei Zheng continued: "Although Emperor Yang of Sui is stupid, what he does is clearly something that is meritorious in the present and beneficial in the future, but he has not done it well, what about us?" ”

Li Jiancheng was puzzled for a moment and did not respond.

Wei Zheng then sighed: "Taiyuan raised an army and killed Wang Wei and Gao Junya; The battle of Huoyi killed Song Laosheng; The battle of Chang'an killed the Yin Shishi; The battle of Longyou killed Xue Renguo; Later, he killed Li Mi...... The Battle of Luoyang, Wang Shichong, and the Battle of Hebei killed Dou Jiande, killing and killing, and killing all the Han family children......

Wei Zheng looked at Li Jiancheng and said, "Your Majesty, can this be considered a serious matter?" ”

Li Jiancheng groaned: "Xuancheng...... Do you have these thoughts...... But where to start? ”

Wei Zheng shook his head and said: "It is written on the inscription of the Emperor Taishang to raise troops, hang the people and fight crimes, comfort Li Shu, and govern the common people...... Now that there is a great drought in Guanzhong and the Turkic movements, you are actually thinking about peace, all these things should not be empty words......"

Wei Zheng's words are a bit heavy, now Li Jiancheng is the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and to deny Li Yuan is to deny the legitimacy of Li Jiancheng's throne.

Li Jiancheng said loudly: "Naturally, it's not empty words......

Wei Zheng said: "Isn't it empty talk? In the past few years, the people of Guanzhong have even sacrificed their overnight surplus food, just to have a peaceful birthday, but on such a day, did Datang give it to them? ”

Li Jiancheng looked at Wei Zheng in surprise.

Chen Ying sighed, Wei Zheng is still the same Wei Zheng in history, not only did he dare to spray Li Shimin, but Li Jiancheng also did not give face.

Li Jiancheng's cultivation is naturally better than Li Shimin's, Li Jiancheng bowed to Wei Zheng deeply, and then said sincerely: "Please also ask Xuancheng to teach me how to do it!" ”

Wei Zheng said: "The current problem, in fact, is the food problem, although the official and military warehouses are all sold out, but the people actually have a lot of grain in stock. However, the common people are narrow-sighted......"

In fact, there are some questions, and Wei Zheng is also a little confused.

Although the weather has been abnormal recently, there has been no rain for more than two consecutive months, delaying spring ploughing, but there has been no war in Guanzhong for three or four years, compared with the previous rulers, the Tang regime is actually very tolerant, and the people can easily save the surplus of rations in the stability of several consecutive years, and in terms of the current productivity of the Tang Dynasty, the peasants have two to three ordinary years, and they can save the next year's rations in addition to paying the grain tax. If there is a good harvest, the surplus grain of one year can almost prepare for a year's shortage. With a surplus, in addition to preparing for the famine at home, it may be sold to grain merchants for profit.

The new year has just begun, and not a single snow has fallen. It stands to reason that after the Chinese New Year, from March to May, this is a time when there is no success, and grain will inevitably rise.

However, after Li Jiancheng ascended the throne, he was still abnormal. The price of grain has continued to drop from 20 yuan of rice at the beginning of the year to 5 yuan of rice.

These people found that the grain in their hands was becoming less and less valuable, so they took advantage of the fact that the price of grain did not fall to the extreme, and hurriedly sold the grain in their hands.

However, with the severity of the drought, the situation was reversed, and the price of grain rose from 5 yuan to 50 yuan for rice, which has increased tenfold.

This is like the stock market in later generations, because the dealer is short of the stock market, the crazy shareholders suck blood, and now the private grain is evacuated, the whole Guanzhong is short of food, and the entire market is going up!

In other words, it's meat cutting season! The grain market is not a stock market, and everyone does not necessarily need to speculate in stocks, but everyone needs to eat.

In and out, almost all of the grain stored by the people was concentrated in the hands of grain merchants. As early as February, when Wei Zhengwei found the clue, his whole brow was furrowed, and he was looking forward to the change of the sky, because once the drought eased, as long as the people of Guanzhong did not hoard food crazily, then the food would be enough for the people of Guanzhong to eat.

But the heavens did not fulfill people's wishes, and everything reversed in a more severe direction.

"The price of grain in Guanzhong has risen to five times the usual amount!" Wei Zheng sighed and said: "The grain merchants have very few shots, and they limit that each person and household can only buy once a day, and now on the market, they have to queue up to buy some rations, and there is almost no price!"

"It seems that they don't have a lot of food in their hands." Li Jiancheng is the heir who has been personally cultivated by Li Yuan, although he is not from the bottom, but he knows a lot about people's livelihood and suffering, but he is not knowledgeable enough about business after all.

"Humph! It's not that they don't have food, but they're still waiting for food prices to continue to rise!" Wei Zheng sneered and said: "There are many grain merchants, Jingzhao Wei's family, Hongnong Yang's family, Qinghe Cui family, Zhaojun Li family, Boling Cui family, Fanyang Lu family, just a few of them, there should be enough 500,000 to 600,000 people to eat half a year's grain stockpile." ”

Li Jiancheng said with an extremely frightened look on his face: "There are so many!"

Wang Jue also felt a little unbelievable on the side and said, "Not so much." ”

Wei Zheng said without hesitation: "Yes." I've been staring at them for the past few years, and they just spit out some business in normal years, and in good harvest years, they just bring in new grain and old grain out, and in terms of the total number, it can almost be said that there is in and out! That's enough years to reach that number – maybe more!"

Wei Zheng was able to know this inside story, in fact, there was another reason - he held Li Jiancheng's secret power. Although Li Jiancheng's secret strength is not as good as Li Shimin's Hundred Cavalry Division, it is still more than enough to monitor a pass.

Of course, with Wei Zheng's career soaring in recent years, the Julu Wei clan also took root in Guanzhong, as an emerging nobleman, the Wei clan has more than 8,000 stone of grain in Guanzhong, you must know that the population of the entire Julu Wei clan in Guanzhong is less than 100 people, and 8,000 stone of grain is enough for them to eat for a hundred years.

When Li Jiancheng heard this, he roared angrily: "These profiteers! If they are willing to express the plight of the country, then our predicament will not be a predicament!"

Regarding the economy, Chen Ying has the most right to speak.

At this time, Chen Ying had to stand up and say: "Your Majesty, they have been waiting for three or four years, and what they are waiting for is today, such a large grain storage, insect and mildew prevention, handling, drying, replacing the old with a new one, and barn fire prevention, the manpower and material resources used are enough to double the cost of each bucket of grain." Now is the time to strike! After this year, there will definitely be a surplus of grain in Guanzhong in the coming year, and then the price of grain will be lower, and if there is another bumper harvest in Guanzhong, these people will all have to go bankrupt! This is the life of the family, how can it be possible to open a position to stabilize the price of grain for the sake of justice?"

Li Jiancheng said indignantly: "Aren't they making a fortune in the country!"

"Yes, it is difficult to make a fortune." Chen Ying said: "Usually rice is cheap and gold, so they collect rice at a low price, but now that rice is expensive and gold is cheap, it is time for them to collect gold." ”

Li Jiancheng said: "I also understand this truth, but I also have to have a degree to make money, and now the country is in difficulty, they still do such things, and when this country is their own country?" Feng Xiang, you will issue an order, give them a fair price, and let them open a warehouse to sell grain at this fair price. ”

Chen Ying was stunned and ordered the merchant to sell grain at the price in the order? This kind of "method" can only be imagined by martial artists, Chen Ying didn't expect Li Jiancheng to do this!

However, Chen Ying did not approve of this.

A country needs to be credible, although it is easier to do so. However, now compared to the later generations, the Shi clan holds the absolute control of the place, they have enough strength to confront the central government, and now the Guanzhong grain war is no longer a matter of any family lord, which involves the interests of the entire Guanzhong and Shandong nobles.

Once the imperial court and the gate valve are too stiff, and the officials from the family collectively pick the sons, there will be huge problems in the entire Tang Dynasty, and if there are no officials, the government will be paralyzed, and there will undoubtedly be chaos in the world. Li Jiancheng, the emperor's decree, could not leave Chang'an at all.

Not to mention the army, the imperial court can't take out food to feed the army, I'm afraid that the army will be the first to rebel.

Wei Zheng shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this method is useless, even if Your Majesty issues a holy decree, they will definitely shirk the lack of food......

"Do they dare to open it? Hmph......" Li Jiancheng said angrily: "I'll let the Twelve Guards go over now, and I'll smash their granaries open and see how they are!" With so much food, they can't hide it!"

Chen Ying was startled when he heard this, if he wanted to say that he would send troops to forcibly open a position, why should he go to the Twelve Guards army in person? Just send a general to turn around and sweep away, but in this way, the credibility of the Tang Dynasty in the clan gate valve is completely collapsed, Wang Shichong has done this, he was crazy to expand the army, there is no food, and he directly fell out with the Xingyang Zheng family, and the family and the gate valve of Henan Mansion let Wang Shichong rebel and leave.

Even if Wang Shiyun used the Fire Ox Formation to annihilate the 100,000 troops of the Tang Dynasty, he still did not reverse the disadvantage. Force is very useful, however, unless Li Jiancheng dares to learn from a certain Qing, completely shameless, and swept away with the three-light policy, then the Tang Dynasty will become like five dynasties and ten kingdoms, and it will fall apart immediately.

Chen Ying is absolutely unwilling to watch Li Jiancheng just ascend the throne, just like this, otherwise the Tang Dynasty will be finished. Losing the support of the gate valve and the Shi clan, Li Jiancheng's position will be shaken immediately, once Li Jiancheng dares to do this, the Shi clan will send the dead to rescue Li Yuan at all costs to clean up the mess.

Chen Ying said: "Your Majesty, this is not allowed!" ”

Everyone was secretly surprised, they all thought that it was either Pei Ju, or Chen Shuda, or Xiao Shiwen who stood up at this time, and at the last time it should be Yuwen Shiji.

didn't expect that it was Chen Ying who stood up against Li Jiancheng.

Although Hou Mo Chen Ying has been in infinite glory in recent years, their background is too poor, at best they are only second-rate clans, and except for Chen Ying, there is no one in the entire Hou Mo Chen clan who can handle it.

Chen Yingdao: "The struggle must be based on the rules, now they use commercial means, our Datang legislation is not secret, it deserves to be exploited by these grain merchants, when legislating in the future, we must be cautious!" ”

Hearing Chen Ying's words, although Li Jiancheng was angry that the businessman was unrighteous, he also knew that it was inappropriate to do so, Li Jiancheng asked, "With Chen Qing's intentions, what should we do now?"

"It's not that hard to solve this problem!" Chen Ying thought for a while and said: "The Tang Dynasty is so big and the area is so wide, although we have encountered a rare drought in Guanzhong, but there are more than 300 states in the world, and there are no more than 40 states in Guanzhong that have been affected by the disaster, less than one-eighth of the world. Take advantage of the Jianghuai or Bashu grain merchants, eager to enter the opportunity of Guanzhong, and use the Jianghuai, Hebei and Liaodong grain merchants to deal with the Guanzhong grain merchants! ”

Li Jiancheng asked hesitantly: "Is this method feasible?" ”

Fang Xuanling looked at Chen Ying in surprise, although this method is feasible, there is a prerequisite, that is, there must be sufficient resources to make Jianghuai, Bashu and Shandong clans feel profitable, otherwise this is the moon in the mirror.

The key is that now Chen Ying is also a good woman, it is difficult to cook without rice, although Chen Ying is rich, but there is no way to feed two or three million people in Guanzhong, these grains are not tens of thousands of stones, hundreds of thousands of stones, but millions of stones.

Although Chen Ying has achieved gratifying results in Tuntian in the Western Regions, the Western Regions are too far away, and no matter how much grain there is, he can't transport it at all.

Since it is barely transported, it is also a drop in the bucket, and ninety percent of the grain transported by land must be consumed on the road.

Fang Xuanling really couldn't figure out where Chen Ying's confidence came from.

Wei Zheng coughed, bowed down and said, "Dare to ask General Chen ......"

PS: The first chapter is sent today, and the first four thousand four, there will be more at night! At least 8000+ today