Tang He had no reaction when he heard that the emperor was about to establish the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry and the Ming Dynasty Royal Charcoal Industry. Tang Heping usually didn't care much about these things, and he didn't realize the importance of them, so he seemed a little uninterested. Anyway, in Tang He's opinion, it's okay for merchants to do things like grain trading. Anyway, merchants did it for hundreds or thousands of years. But if the emperor insists on getting involved, Tang He will not object. After all, the world belongs to the emperor, and he can do whatever he wants.
However, the emperor did not mention the matter of His Highness Taisun, which somewhat surprised Tang Heyou.
After pondering for a moment, Tang He motioned Han Du to sit down and talk, but couldn't help but ask: "Why didn't the emperor ask you about His Majesty the Great Grandson? Did the emperor catch everyone?"
"It shouldn't be possible." Han Du shook his head after hearing this. Seeing Tang He looking at him, he explained: "These people are hidden very deep. It is not easy to dig them out." Of course it is not easy. If it is so easy, it will be If these people are caught, then they will not dare to engage in the business of privately printing treasure banknotes, which will destroy the nine tribes.
Han Du estimated that Lao Zhu would definitely be able to catch some people by following the clues, but don't expect these people to be core members. At most, they can be regarded as outsiders. It's okay to kill to vent your anger, but don't even think about doing more.
Tang He didn't want to continue to get involved in this matter, so he nodded and said: "Anyway, I will give you a piece of advice. If you can stay away from this matter in the future, then don't get involved, unless the emperor decrees that you have to do it." .”
Han Du nodded to express that he understood. Now that he thought about it, he was indeed a little reckless in front of Lao Zhu.
Within a few days, Lao Zhu issued an order to spread throughout the world, establishing the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry and Charcoal Industry, and also lowered the purchase price and sales price of grain by one penny each.
When the news came out, one stone stirred up a thousand waves, with reactions from all parties varying.
The ordinary people were naturally in tears of gratitude. The old man touched his grandson's head with tears streaming down his face, and kept mumbling about thanking the emperor for his great kindness. A young man who didn't understand asked: "Isn't the emperor just buying and selling grain? What is there to be grateful for? I bought it for five coins and sold it for nine coins, making a net profit of four coins."
Unexpectedly, he was reprimanded by the old man for his casual words: "The price of grain on the market is indeed five cents, but in my long life, I have never seen anyone selling grain at this price. What do you think? When selling, didn't those shady merchants try their best to keep the price down? And during the lean period, if you want to buy some food, the price can make you despair."
"It's fine now." Lao Zhu wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said with a very happy smile: "Now the emperor has set the minimum and maximum prices for food. If the prices given by those merchants are lower than the emperor's prices, then Let’s sell them all to the emperor. If the price is higher than the emperor’s, then we can also buy the emperor’s food. We no longer have to suffer their jealousy.”
The young man seemed to understand, but after hearing what the old man said, he felt that this seemed to be a good thing.
The grain merchants were filled with grief and complaints. The small grain merchants said that if the emperor did this, their small businesses would be finished sooner or later, so they might as well switch to other industries in advance.
Small traders are small and cannot continue their grain business. They can always find other businesses. But it is difficult for the big grain merchants, not to mention that it is extremely difficult for them, who used to make money while lying down, to stand up and run to make money again. Even if these big grain merchants were willing, they would not be able to change careers just because they wanted to.
Because they are so large, it is difficult for the ship to turn around, and it is not possible to turn around even if you want to. Even if you want to work in other industries, there is no suitable profession. Firstly, the industry is too small to accommodate them. Secondly, even if there are large ones, they must have been occupied by others long ago.
If you want to get involved, you will inevitably conflict with others. Just like the charcoal in the capital, Han Du only sells charcoal, which has become a thorn in Yu Shaodong's side, and he must squeeze Han Du to death.
Therefore, for these big grain merchants, it was really a bolt from the blue, and disaster was imminent. However, these people will not just sit back and wait for death.
After hearing the news, Han Du couldn't sit still and hurriedly entered the palace to see Lao Zhu.
Lao Zhu summoned Han Du in Fengtian Hall. When he saw Han Du coming in without even saluting, he smiled and asked, "Why are you coming to see me in such a hurry? Did your house burn down?"
After Han Du finished his salute and saw that Lao Zhu was still in the mood to smile, he said directly: "Your Majesty, why do you want to issue an edict to reveal the source of the Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry now?"
Lao Zhu was not angry because of Han Du's gaffe. Instead, he continued to smile and asked: "Oh? If you don't tell me now, then when do you think you will tell him?"
Is this even for me?
Han Du immediately said: "Of course we have to wait until the new grain comes out, or a little earlier. But now there are at least three months before the new grain comes out. Is it too early to announce it now? "
The main reason is to announce when new grains are coming out, so that grain merchants can be caught off guard. At that time, various grain merchants, big and small, were busy purchasing a year's worth of grain, which was scattered throughout the Ming Dynasty. Even if there are people who have objections to Lao Zhu's will, they will not be able to unite in a short time.
Now that Lao Zhu has announced his will in advance, it gives the grain merchants sufficient contact time. Han Du was worried that these people would join forces to fight against Lao Zhu's Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry. Compared with Lao Zhu's behavior, it is just an interference. Cutting off people's wealth will naturally cause others to attack. Although Lao Zhu is a real dragon, he really does not have an absolute advantage in front of these people in terms of money. Faced with such a situation, if you cannot cope with it, the ship may capsize.
"It's not too early, it's just a good time to tell him." Lao Zhu looked at Han Du with a smile on his face.
"But..." Han Du wanted to say something more, but Lao Zhu waved his hand to stop him.
Then he said: "I know you are worried about those merchants who are engaged in grain trading and their counterattack, but have you ever thought about it, what is supposed to come will always come. Could it be that if you wait until a few months later to announce it, they will Aren’t you going to fight back?”
Han Du frowned and said tentatively: "Even if they fight back, they won't be as violent as they are now. By then they will be scattered all over the place to collect food, and they won't be able to react at all."
Lao Zhu looked at Han Du and shook his head. He came over for a moment and then said with a sneer: "You also know that they were collecting grain from everywhere at that time. Have you forgotten why I created this Ming Dynasty Royal Grain Industry? Isn't it just to collect grain? , to stabilize the price of food? If these people take away the food, what will be the use of my issuing an order at that time?"
Lao Zhu waved his dragon robe angrily and stopped looking at Han Du.
Han Du was shocked when he heard this, and his eyes suddenly became enlightened. I only cared about how to minimize the impact of the grain merchants' counterattack, but I didn't expect that it would be too late if I waited until the new grain came out to announce the royal price for grain collection.
Because by that time, although these grain merchants had no chance to gather together. But they also have the advantage of collecting food on the spot. At this time, everyone will understand that having food in hand is the last word. As long as the food is collected, no matter what the imperial decree is, there is nothing you can do.
And because even if Lao Zhu issued the decree, the people would definitely get the news much later than the businessmen. Therefore, as long as the merchants take advantage of the fact that the people are unaware of the situation and wantonly lower the prices to collect grain, Lao Zhu will not be able to receive even a grain of grain. Since there is no food, wouldn’t Lao Zhu’s food industry exist in name only? How to stabilize food prices without food in hand?
In the end, the grain merchants who have the grain in hand have the final say on the price of grain?
On the contrary, telling the world a few months in advance is different. The common people had enough time to get the news about the emperor's price for harvesting grain. As long as the price given by the grain dealer was lower than the emperor's price, the common people could hold on to the grain and wait for the emperor to collect it. At least they would not suffer a loss.
In this way, Lao Zhu's goal of suppressing grain prices has been achieved.
"Your Majesty has seen thousands of miles, and the humble minister is doing everything in front of your Majesty." Han Du replied with conviction after thinking about it. But then he said with a wry smile: "In this case, Your Majesty will face a lot of pressure."
Who would have thought that after hearing this, Lao Zhu sneered disdainfully and asked, "Pressure? What kind of pressure? Are these businessmen qualified to put pressure on me?"
Han Du was speechless and stared at Lao Zhu. I thought to myself, you wouldn’t think that there is no one behind these big grain merchants. In this era, without the support of people from the imperial court, how could they become big?
But what happened next was beyond Han Du's expectation. According to Han Du's estimation, Lao Zhu's wanton behavior will naturally arouse the dissatisfaction of the courtiers behind the grain merchants. Whether it was to protect their interests or to prevent Lao Zhu from succeeding easily, he should take action to express his will.
But no.
At the North Korean meeting two days later, nothing happened that Han Du expected. The whole court meeting was calm from beginning to end, and no one mentioned the decree given by Lao Zhu two days ago at all, as if everything Lao Zhu did was taken for granted.
No one dares to have the slightest opinion.
Seeing this scene with his own eyes, Han Du took several deep breaths to calm himself down. In the past, Han Du had never had a clear idea of the power of Lao Zhu, the founding emperor. Today, Han Du finally saw it.
What is Gan Gang’s arbitrary decision?
What is the golden saying.
This is!
Seeing Lao Zhu sitting high on the dragon throne and looking around, he looked down at the world's domineering power. Han Du was not happy, but fear arose in his heart. At this time, Han Du finally understood why Tang He advised him to be more cautious and not to meddle in things he shouldn't.
After going to court, Han Du was summoned by Lao Zhu to give him some advice.
"You have to hurry up about the mirror's recycling of treasure banknotes. In addition, new banknotes must be printed continuously." Lao Zhu couldn't help but ordered.
Although Han Du was also stepping up to do these things, he didn't understand why Lao Zhu was so anxious and looked up at Lao Zhu in confusion.
Lao Zhu smiled and said casually: "I won't hide it from you. The reason why I am anxious is because the inner court has no money. You have also seen the current situation. The imperial court is in a tight situation and the treasury is empty. Therefore, I want to take care of the situation in August. If we continue to set prices to buy new grain, we can only rely on your new treasure money."
Han Du heard this and realized it. It turns out that Lao Zhu was not pretending to be poor before, he was really poor. The palace was so huge that it couldn't even afford money to buy new grain. Thinking of this, Han Du lowered his head and replied: "I obey the decree, I will do my best to print enough treasure banknotes."
Next, Han Du naturally stepped up his efforts to urge the Banknote Printing Bureau to print treasure banknotes non-stop.
But before Han Du had been busy for a few days, Tang He sent someone to notify Han Du.
As soon as the visitor saw Han Du, he gave Han Du an invitation and said with a smile on his face: "Master Han, my father-in-law asks you to honor him at that time."
The eighth day of the lunar month is an auspicious day and is suitable for opening a business.
Tang He is planning to open the long-prepared seafood restaurant on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.
But Han Du frowned and felt that Tang He was a little impatient. Although Tang He has been planning this seafood restaurant for a long time, I have never heard that it will open in the near future. Even when Tang He took Han Du to sea last time, he didn't mention it.
"But since Tang He didn't say anything, then maybe there's nothing wrong at all. Maybe he wanted to open the business on a whim." Han Du didn't care. If there is anything, Tang He will definitely tell him. Since Tang He didn't say anything, there was probably nothing going on. Just ask when the time comes and you will know.
If a restaurant in the capital wants to be high-end, it must establish itself in the inner city. Because only the bustling consumption power of the inner city can support a high-end restaurant. If the restaurant opens in the outer city, then no matter how good the restaurant is, how many customers can it have in the outer city? Without enough customers, the more high-end a restaurant is, the faster it will go bankrupt.
But it's different in the inner city. There are many officials and wealthy businessmen in the inner city. It can be said that as long as the food in the restaurant is good enough and innovative enough, you don't have to worry about not making money.
Tang He's seafood restaurant is naturally opened in the inner city. According to Tang He, as a unique restaurant, if it doesn't open in the inner city, what reputation does it have? Therefore, Li Wenzhong, who had boasted about Haikou and said he would invest in the shop, had no choice but to give Tang He the best restaurant in his family, on Chang'an Street.
The east end of Chang'an Street is the Chang'an Left Gate, and a little further north along the Chang'an Left Gate is the famous Chengtian Gate. This shows how advantageous the geographical location of Chang'an Avenue is.
