Chapter 6: Hugh blames me for my unscrupulous means

Chang'an's grain mainly depends on the Guanzhong Plain, although the Guanzhong Plain is known as a land of abundance, but after all, it is small and has a limited capacity, and once the population expands beyond its carrying capacity, or encounters a drought, there will be a food shortage.

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, due to the wars of the past dynasties and the development of the capital, the resources had been exhausted, and the output was not enough to supply Chang'an. In addition, the Guanzhong Plain is small and densely populated, and it is difficult to support a large number of bureaucrats and aristocrats.

Once there is a famine in the Guanzhong region, the price of transporting grain from the eastern region to Chang'an is quite heavy. In order to solve the problem of Caoyun in Guanzhong, Emperor Wen of Sui excavated the Guangtong Canal. But the problem has still not been fundamentally solved. In a famine in 594 AD, Emperor Wen of Sui was forced to go to Luoyang again to eat, so he also became the first "Son of Heaven" in the history of our country.

Chen Ying naturally knows the solution to the problem, but this solution is not without a price, of course, Chen Ying also has selfish intentions. The population of the Tang Dynasty was very unevenly distributed, with only 15 million people in the early Tang Dynasty, and it is estimated that there will be no more than 20 million people with the addition of shade households and hidden households. However, one-fifth of the population is concentrated in the Guanzhong area.

In fact, the Guanzhong region accounts for only 0.38 percent of the entire territory of Datang.

This is very unreasonable, after all, Guanzhong does not have a very developed transportation network like later generations, which can be transported from land, sea and air.

The population of Guanzhong seriously exceeded the number of years that the land could bear, and the food shortage that occurred in the early Tang Dynasty appeared more than once in the entire history of the Tang Dynasty, in April of the first year of Yongchun, when there was a famine in Guanzhong, and people in Chang'an City were cannibalistic. Even the emperor's retinue was starved to death. It can be said that this was a great escape. This is also the real reason why Wu Zetian was able to successfully move the capital to Luoyang at that time.

When it came to Zhongzong, Guanzhong was famine again, and the ministers begged the emperor to come to Luoyang again, but Tang Zhongzong refused, he said, "How can there be an evil son of heaven chasing grain?" ”。 However, when the grain was transported to Chang'an, it was at the cost of the lives of the vast number of people.

In the time of Tang Dezong, there was a famine again in Chang'an, the forbidden army had no food to eat, only to beg on the streets, and later the grain arrived in the capital, Tang Dezong ran to the East Palace and said to the prince, "The rice has arrived in Shaanxi, and my father and son have leftover." ”

This time there was a food shortage, and Chen Ying wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to migrate people outside the Guanzhong, whether it was the Western Regions or Liaodong, which was much stronger than in Guanzhong.

After all, Chen Ying has no way to control the weather, and in such a continuous drought, human means of fighting drought seem insignificant.

A huge map, on which Chen Ying compiled a detailed grain output and the inventory of the official warehouse, because of the appearance of this map, the ministers were clear at a glance.

Although Guanzhong has suffered a rare drought, it is inevitable that the grain harvest will fail today. Due to the grain merchants' covert tricks, they drained the private grain stocks in the Guanzhong market, and turned the grain into a more monopolized rare resource.

Chen Ying pointed to several grain concentration areas in the Tang Dynasty, such as Bashu, Jianghuai, Hedong and Hebei: "The first way is to change the defense of the Twelve Guards Army in Guanzhong, and let the soldiers take the money from the Tang Tongli Qianzhuang and change the defense to Hebei, Hedong, and Bashu." The minister has made calculations, in addition to the left and right guards and the left and right guards of the four armies do not move, the other eight guards a total of 100,000 generals, mules and horses can migrate out of the pass, one to go for half a year, Chang'an will save 100,000 horses and horses of food consumption, is expected to save about 800,000 stone of food! ”

"Wait!" Li Jiancheng interrupted Chen Ying's words and said, "You said that you don't send money or food? ”

Chen Ying nodded and said, "Yes!" ”

Wei Zheng couldn't help but said angrily: "General Chen, do you know what the consequences of doing this are!" What will the soldiers think when they find out that they can't even buy a bucket of rice with the little subsidy they get! Once their state of mind changes, will they still sacrifice their lives to fight when they go to war in the future? This is a major event that shakes the foundation of the country! How can you handle it so ridiculously!"

Although Wei Zheng is a famous minister and a historical celebrity, Chen Ying is not a person without temper, so he snorted and said, "Wei Xuancheng, according to you, what should I do?"

Wei Zheng was speechless.

In fact, Wei Zheng's idea coincided with Li Jiancheng's, and he gave the order directly, which was rude.

Although the army can be used to snatch the grain in the hands of the grain merchants and solve the food crisis. However, these grain merchants have suffered huge losses, and they can do anything, especially the situation in the East Turks is becoming more and more confusing.

Although Wei Zheng and Li Jiancheng could not imagine the crisis after the country's reputation went bankrupt, Chen Ying could see it.

It was precisely because he could see it that he tried his best to prevent Li Jiancheng from taking such a simple method. When the imperial court encounters a famine, its first reaction is to use knives to rob those grain merchants, but in the future, in the financial crisis, is it necessary to use knives to rob the people and rich households? If this is done, the credibility of the imperial court will immediately go bankrupt, and if the government is not trusted by the people, will anyone obey the decrees?

How can the local governments still implement their policies, and will they not fall into anarchism?

Chen Ying smiled faintly: "This food crisis in Guanzhong has actually sounded a wake-up call for us, and the safety of Datang's society is definitely not something that can be clearly explained by the solidity of the rivers and mountains in virtue and not in danger." ”

Wang Jue hurriedly said: "General Chen, why don't you transfer grain from Hedong and Bashu to Beijing?" ”

"There is grain in Bashu, there is grain in Hedong, and there is grain in Luoyang, but these grains are just far water for Guanzhong, how can they quench their thirst?" Chen Ying said solemnly: "This is not to transport some goods, but to transport the rations of two or three million people!" Grain Bashu to Chang'an, the fastest also takes more than a month, this more than a month, the food consumed on the road, need to prepare three or four times more materials, our treasury is now empty can starve to death of mice, where can we withstand the waste on the way? And from here to transport over, the cost is almost doubled, if we enter the market according to the cost, still can't solve the problem of food prices in Guanzhong, we are holding a virtual shell to pretend to be very strong, but close the door to tell the truth, in fact, there are many internal problems, food price problems, affect the whole body, if it is so easy to solve, why should I worry here!"

He said such a long speech, but he suppressed all the ministers, and there were many people who were not convinced that Chen Ying was fighting, but if you want to say that the princes of the Manchu Dynasty dare not be convinced that Chen Ying assisted in handling government affairs and taking care of the economy and people's livelihood, there was not one.

Li Jiancheng saw that it was getting late, and the problem had not been completely solved, so he waved his hand and said, "Retreat!" ”

Chen Ying hurriedly retreated.

However, Li Jiancheng said: "Chen Qing and Wei Qing stay!" ”

Li Jiancheng knew that Chen Ying was not easy, and there were many people, and there were one or more clan lords standing behind these grain merchants.

When the ministers dispersed, Fang Xuanling stayed.

Fang Xuanling was very curious about how Chen Ying solved this thorny problem.

Li Jiancheng, Chen Ying, Wei Zhengfang, and Xuanling moved to the imperial study, and Gong E and the eunuch sent tea and pastries, Li Jiancheng pointed to the pastries and said, "You are also hungry, first pad the mat!" ”

Speaking of this, Li Jiancheng's voice softened a lot, looked at Chen Ying, and said in a consultative tone: "The food crisis is naturally difficult, but with Chen Qing's ingenuity, there must be a way, right?" ”

Chen Ying listened to Li Jiancheng speak in this tone, and then he had no choice but to think of a way, and sighed: "To cook and stir-fry, you have to have rice first, we are not having a problem with the dish now, but there is no rice to cook." The current difficulty lies in the fact that we must first find money and food. When you have money and food in your hands, things are easy to do. ”

Li Jiancheng looked at Chen Ying and said, "Datang Tongli Qianzhuang, can you borrow a little?" ”

"It's not that hard." Chen Ying smiled bitterly: "But some of the problems can't be solved!" ”

Li Jiancheng lowered his head and muttered: "Chen Qing is right, this matter is really difficult. But it's hard to return, everyone works together, and we have to get along with each other. There are so many difficulties, we have all overcome them together, can we get stuck here after victory? ”

Chen Ying nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise, in fact, it is really not difficult to solve the food crisis in Guanzhong!" The transfer of the 12 guards army in Guanzhong is just one of the strategies, which can alleviate the shortage of millions of stone food. Secondly, it is to organize the migration of proletarian people, when the ministers go out of the town in the Western Regions to protect most of the capitals, the land of the Western Regions has reclaimed more than 15 million mu of grain fields, if 500,000 households can be migrated, at least 2 million stone grain gap can be solved! ”

Wei Zheng shook his head and said: "But Guanzhong is the foundation of the imperial court, if Guanzhong is weak, wouldn't it be turmoil in the world?" ”

Chen Ying suddenly looked at Li Jiancheng and said, "Your Majesty, there are no outsiders now, the minister wants to ask, do you hate these grain merchants?" ”

"How can you not hate!" Hearing this, Li Jiancheng said without hesitation: "I want to pump their tendons, pick their skin, and drink their blood!" ”

Chen Ying smiled and said, "Your Majesty, do you want to let them lose all their money?" ”

Li Jiancheng said: "How can you not want to? ”

Chen Ying looked at Wei Zheng and said: "The price of fighting rice is fifty yuan, do grain merchants eat as much as they want?" ”

Wei Zheng nodded and said: "These grain merchants have a lot of money, they hire homeless people, broken households, and shady households, servants and hidden households in their homes to come forward to buy the cheap grain distributed by the official warehouse, and every 10,000 stone of rice grain released by the official warehouse, seven or eight out of ten will be eaten by these grain merchants, and only one or two percent can be sent to the people!" ”

Hearing this, Chen Ying smiled and said, "How many stone grains are there in the official warehouse?" ”

Wei Zheng stretched out two hands.

Chen Ying asked, "One million stones!" ”

Wei Zheng shook his head and said, "It's only 550,000 stones!" ”

Although 550,000 stone of grain sounds like a lot, with the plan of three liters of grain per person, one million people in Chang'an City can barely consume it for less than 20 days, and if the supply is halved, it can barely be consumed for 40 days. For the capital of a country, this grain reserve is already very dangerous.

"Since they are lawless, then don't blame me for being unscrupulous!" Chen Yingdao: "The clans, vassal kings, and princes of the Tang Royal Business Alliance should also have a lot of grain, right?" ”

Li Jiancheng nodded and said, "It's useless, they won't take it out to save me!" ”

Chen Ying smiled and said: "This is an opportunity to make a fortune, if they don't want to, after this village, there is no such shop, why don't Your Majesty convene a meeting of the Royal Business Alliance and let the vassal kings choose for themselves?" ”

Li Jiancheng nodded and said, "Xuan Ling, you go and arrange, I want to set up a banquet in the Linhu Hall of the Taiji Palace!" ”

That night, the first general meeting of shareholders of the Datang Royal Business Alliance was held in Linhu Palace, and the meeting was a closed-door meeting, and the specific details are unknown.

Beginning the next day, the Guanzhong Guancang began to continue to release grain, but the parity was increased by five cents per bucket.

Reach fifty wen!

A total of 30,000 stone of grain was distributed to the official warehouse this time, but it was immediately sold out before noon.

The next day, the official warehouses in Guanzhong still put grain at a flat price, and the same price was raised to 5 wen and a bucket, reaching 60 yuan per bucket, although the price rose a lot, but the enthusiasm of the people to buy grain did not decrease in the slightest, but intensified. Many people actually queued up overnight, waiting to buy food.

……

Chen Ying returned to Chenjiabao with a tired expression, and Li Xiuning was teasing her daughter Li Ruoxi.

Watching Chen Ying go back, Li Xiuning looked at Chen Ying and was about to get up.

Chen Ying stretched out his arms, hugged Li Ruoxi and said with a smile: "Good daughter, my little princess, let Daddy hug me!" ”

Li Ruoxi didn't give Chen Ying the face of being a father at all, and her mouth pursed, crying.

Chen Ying hugged Li Ruoxi with the beard on the side of his mouth, and rubbed Li Ruoxi's little face affectionately, Li Ruoxi was very itchy by Chen Ying's beard, and laughed unconsciously.

The family is very harmonious, quiet and sweet.

However, Ashnasimo outside the door was thoughtful.

He pushed Guo Luo on the side and said, "Guo Luo, did you hear that?" ”

Guo Luo asked puzzledly, "What did you hear?" ”

Ashina Simo lowered his voice and whispered: "Just now, the Lord called the little lady a little princess!" ”

Hearing this, Guo Luo's face changed greatly: "Shut up!" ”

In this era, only the emperor's daughter could be called a princess, or the emperor's sister. However, Chen Ying was a human being in two lifetimes, and in later generations, people usually called their sons young masters and daughters called little princesses.

Ashina Simo looked at Guo Luo inexplicably, pointed at Guo Luo and said, "What's the drop, you are blocked by phlegm......

Before he could speak, Guo Luo said to the surrounding guards: "You haven't heard anything, understand?" ”

The guards looked serious, and said seriously: "Humble and understand!" ”

Guo Luo looked at Ashina Simo and said, "You come with me!" ”

……

In an inconspicuous gambling house in Anrenfang, Chang'an City, all the famous grain merchants in Guanzhong are included.

An old man wrapped in a cloak sat in the first place, looking coldly at the oily-faced, fat-headed, big-eared grain merchants below.

A powerful attendant said to the old man in black: "The head of the Qiyu meeting, I have already found out, Chen Ying convened the kings of the Chang'an clan, I don't know what method he used, said that the kings of Chang'an, and now Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, and Li Xiaogong, the king of Zhaojun, have all opened the treasury, transported the grain, and transported all the grain into the official warehouse!" ”

The old man in black said in a hoarse voice: "The kings of Chang'an do have some grain in their homes, they may have thirty or fifty thousand stones, or thousands of stones, and they can hoard millions of stones of grain. However, to solve the food crisis in Guanzhong, is it enough to have only one million stones of grain? ”

The grain merchants laughed when they heard this.

They've already done the math. The official warehouse plus the kings' grain storage, but only 1.55 million stones, minus the grain consumed in the past two days, they still have a maximum of 1.47 million stones, which sounds like a lot of grain, but these grains can also be consumed until two or three months later, at that time, it is the time when the green and yellow are not available.

The old man in black said: "We will eat as much food as they have!" ”

A grain merchant cried and said: "There is too much grain to eat, and the families have no money in their hands now!" ”

"If you don't have any money, then borrow from Chen Ying, doesn't his Tongli Money Bank only need 20% interest to borrow? We use our fields, real estate, shops, and everything that can be pledged to borrow money from Tongli Bank, and then borrow millions of yuan, and we will eat all the grain they have! ”

The morale of the grain merchants was greatly boosted.

They applauded.

Others have questioned that the risk is too high.

The old man in black smiled faintly: "As long as we take out the grain in Guanzhong, won't we have the final say on the price of grain in the future?" ”

PS: Recommend a book, the first iron ride under the stars!