Time entered the summer of 1646 A.D., and the originally turbulent world seemed to be afraid of the remaining heat, and actually quieted down.

The Qing army fought again and again, destroyed Li Zicheng, and after defeating Mobei Mongolia, it needed to take a breath and digest the territory, plus the Eight Banners Lord couldn't stand the heat in the south, so there was no big move.

After Zhang Xianzhong won Hanzhong, it was not easy to subdue Liu Zongmin, and Wu Sangui did not have the support of the Qing army, so the two sides could only hold on to each other, and no one dared to start a war rashly.

After the conflict between Gao Yihuan and the Ming Dynasty, the two sides reached a compromise, the Wei Wu army lived in the southwest of Wuchang, and there were forts to control the river, Zuo Liangyu trembled, and also did not dare to provoke trouble.

For a time, the world's arms subsided, giving the people a rare opportunity to breathe.

Yuezhou City is a city under the rule of Gao Yihuan, and there are few cities with relatively developed commerce.

Because of the location of the land, there are merchants from Huguang, Jiangnan, and even Fujian and Guangdong.

Of course, Huguang is mainly engaged in grain production, so the merchants who gather here are mainly grain merchants from all over the world.

At this time, the summer harvest was about to begin, and the grain in Huguang was about to ripen again, and merchants from all over the country gradually rushed to Yuezhou, ready to buy the grain from Huguang, and then transport it to sell everywhere.

At this time, on the wharf outside Yuezhou City, a merchant ship from Nanzhili had just docked, and several grain merchants got off the ship.

The first son, glanced at Yuezhou City, with a smile on his face, and said to the people next to him as he walked: "I heard that this year, Huguang has abundant precipitation and sunshine, and this summer grain must be ripe!" ”

"When the grain is ripe, there will be more grain on the market, so I think the price of grain has to be pushed down, at most one or two per stone." A pot-bellied businessman laughed.

Shaking the folding fan for the first son, "Now that the imperial court and the north are falling out, the grain can't be sold in the north on the bright side, and there is a lack of buyers, so I think seven dollars per stone is more reasonable." ”

"Childe, the price of grain in Huguang last year was one or two or five dollars of silver, and half of it was cut off this year, I'm afraid they won't sell it!"

The young man shook his fan, full of confidence, "No matter how low it is, they will sell!" As soon as the summer grain is ripe, the government will collect taxes, and if the mud legs do not sell grain, how can there be silver to pay taxes? Huguang has plenty of grain, and there is no shortage of grain in the local area, who do they sell to us if they don't sell it? Is the pile rotten at home? “

"What Childe said is reasonable, waiting for the government to urge the payment of taxes, and in order to pay taxes, the mud legs can only sell the grain. Let's lower the price, they have to sell, and when they sell, give them copper coins, and when they want to exchange them for silver to pay taxes, we can also increase the proportion of copper coins to silver, and make another profit! A flattering smile with a mustache and a master's appearance.

"Not bad!" The young man was quite proud, "When I came, my son had already discussed with several other big grain numbers, as long as we didn't accept it, they would come over and beg us to collect it, and we would naturally have the final say on the price of grain." If you say seven coins, it is seven coins, and you can't have more than one penny. In addition, Master Zhao has a good idea, so he does it when he buys grain! ”

The young man shook the folding fan and sneered: "The emperor suddenly levied our taxes, and the business is not good, we must reduce the cost in order to make up for the loss!" ”

Several businessmen laughed, and one by one they were busy echoing, patting the young man's ass.

This group of people are all businessmen from Nanzhili, but the son who is the leader cannot be regarded as a businessman, he is Zhu Guobi, the younger brother of Zhu Guobi, the Duke of Baoguo, and is responsible for taking care of part of the property of the Baoguo Mansion.

At present, the Donglin Party's power in the DPRK and China has been greatly damaged, and it is impossible to prevent Zhu Cihong from cleaning up taxes and increasing commercial taxes.

After Nanjing passed the new tax law, the gentry and merchants in the southeast were forced to hand over a lot of silver, and the loss was quite large, but there were policies and countermeasures, Nanjing learned from the experience of the Chongzhen Dynasty, and the additional taxes were mainly imposed on the gentry and big businessmen, who wanted to pick out some silver from the hands of these rich people, but these people could immediately think of many measures to transfer the taxes levied by the imperial court to the ordinary people.

With that, the group had already left the dock, and saw that there was a teahouse by the lake, so they walked in together.

Entering the teahouse, Zhu Guoci frowned slightly, and there were gentlemen, scholars, and peddlers and pawns inside, eating and drinking tea together.

The accompanying businessman called Xiao Si and asked if there was a private room, and after being told that there was none, several people could only find a seat by the window and sit down.

Nanjing's tea shops and restaurants are all divided into grades, those with money and status are invited upstairs, and ordinary people are in the lobby downstairs, and they don't want Yuezhou to have no rules.

Of course, there are many powerful people in Nanjing, and there are many rich people, although Yuezhou's business is still quite developed, but after all, there are not so many powerful people, except for a few high-end restaurants in the city, other shops are doing business for ordinary people, so there is no basis for high-end consumption.

After everyone sat down, they beckoned Xiao Er and ordered all the best food in the store.

After a while, seven or eight kinds of fish and shrimp-based dishes such as Dongting whitebait, shrimp cakes, and huitou fish were served, with a wide variety of colors, flavors, and flavors, and they also had Baling characteristics.

Zhu Guoci and the others ate a few bites, the taste was not bad, and they were eating, when they suddenly heard someone next to him discussing the harvest of this year's crops, talking about grain prices, and what other things about the exchange, which aroused his interest.

At this time, Zhu Guoci grabbed a piece of delicious fish belly meat with chopsticks, prepared to put it in his mouth, and listened to the conversation of the diners next to him.

Not far from them, sat a merchant in brocade and a man in a Confucian robe.

At this time, the white-faced and fat businessman picked up his wine glass and said: "Brother Zhou, the military government has set a minimum grain price to prevent the grain from hurting the peasants, and the people can directly sell the grain to the grain depot in the county, what do you think?" ”

The surname Zhou is a thin man, who should be a member of the public family, and he has a little embarrassment on his face: "This, it's hard to say!" ”

The fat merchant hurriedly poured him wine, and asked Xiao Er to serve a few more hard dishes, and flattered: "It's not a secret, after the military government issued this resolution, the price of grain was set at one or two or five yuan per stone, and I didn't dare to take it, for fear that I wouldn't be able to sell it if I collected it, and I would smash it in my hands." Brother Zhou, you should just make small talk and reveal some news to me! ”

"Okay!" The man surnamed Zhou hesitated for a moment, and then said briskly: "I think that the decision of the military government, first of all, is to benefit the common people, and the price of grain is higher than the reserve price, so it can be sold to merchants, and below the reserve price, it can be sold directly to the military government." At this time, I see that the people of the entire Huguang have their hearts towards the tall and handsome. But don't think that if the people benefit, you businessmen will suffer, and I tell you absolutely not. “

The fat merchant was a little puzzled, "Brother Zhou, we collect the grain at a high price, and if no one takes over, won't we lose money?" ”

The man surnamed Zhou said with a smile: "Now that there are wars everywhere, people are starving to death in some places, and there is no food to eat. Where is the grain not sold for three or four taels, are you still afraid that the grain will not be sold at a good price? In the past, it was others who deliberately suppressed the grain prices in Huguang, and the people were scattered again, but now the military government wants to manage the grain trade in a unified manner and set up an exchange in Yuezhou, and all the grain purchased by merchants in this province will be traded on the exchange. Set up exchanges to close for a few months, and you're still afraid that you won't starve them to death! At this time, there is food to be the uncle. ”

Zhu Guoci listened, his heart trembled, and the chopsticks suddenly fell on the table~

(Thank you for the reward of the thirsty fish zz, thank you for your support, ask for a book list, ask for a monthly pass, recommend, subscribe.) ）

(End of chapter)