"Your Majesty, Duke Wei and other nobles are kneeling outside to plead guilty and see you."
On this day, Wang Chengen reported to Colonel Zhu You.
Zhu Youxiao smiled.
He had already guessed the purpose of these distinguished nobles.
It is now the second half of the fourth year of Tianqi.
As a batch of grain borrowed from Japan returned to Ningbo with the ocean currents in November this year, the grain controlled by the imperial court was enough to drive down the price of grain to several times lower than it is now.
When Zhu Youzheng planned to continue to reduce prices and break the lowest price in the middle of Wanli period, he did not expect that these nobles would give up so quickly.
"Is it snowing outside?"
Zhu Youxiao asked Han Xu at this time.
Han Xu was even more afraid to speak casually now, because he was really not sure which of his words the emperor would hate him for, and which of his words he would approve of. Now that the emperor took the initiative to ask him, he cautiously He replied: "Your Majesty, yes."
"It must be cold outside then."
Zhu Youxiao continued to ask.
"Your Majesty, yes."
Han Xu continued to reply.
Zhu Youxiao didn't ask any more questions, but lay on the couch and fell asleep with his eyes closed.
Wang Chengen did not continue to ask if he wanted to send those nobles in. He wisely walked to Zhu Youxiao and added a layer of quilt to Zhu Youxiao.
At this time, the Nanjing nobles kneeling outside were indeed shivering from the cold, but they did not dare to leave. After all, the only thing they could hope for now was that His Majesty the Emperor would raise his noble hand and let them go.
"We are selling plum blossom cakes! Freshly made plum blossom cakes! Cheap and delicious! Only three cents!"
At this time, the shouts of cake sellers on the street outside came.
As food prices continue to fall, vendors selling cakes on the streets have become more active. After all, it doesn’t cost much to buy rice and make cakes. Therefore, even on this snowy day, you can start to hear the shouts of sellers. .
"Bring me three cages! My kids love it, so why not buy more? It only costs nine cents. These rice cakes are really cheap now."
At this time, a customer's voice also reached the ears of the Nanjing nobles inside.
When the nobles in Nanjing heard this conversation, their hearts felt even more painful, because they knew that the reason why the plum blossom cake is so cheap now is because food prices have become cheaper.
Zhu Youxiao wanted to let these previously ignorant Nanjing nobles stay out in the cold, so after he took a nap for a while, he opened his eyes and said: "Let them in! Xiong Tingbi, you can see them, follow the instructions in advance Do it as arranged.”
"I obey the decree!"
Xiong Tingbi replied.
Zhu Youxiao, however, had no intention of meeting these Nanjing nobles in person.
As an emperor, he is so aloof. After all, not everyone can see him in person.
Nanjing Xungui had lost the opportunity to face the emperor since he first met him and failed to seize the opportunity.
Next, these Nanjing nobles who were almost frozen into ice met the cabinet minister Xiong Tingbi.
Xiong Tingbi naturally had a bad attitude towards these Nanjing nobles.
He was already grumpy and not as easy to talk to as Han Xu.
Therefore, when Xiong Tingbi saw these Nanjing nobles, he said with a straight face: "You princes are too embarrassed to come to see your majesty!"
Xu Hongji and other Nanjing dignitaries were a little embarrassed when they heard that Xiong Tingbi spoke like this when he saw them.
Gu Mingjiao immediately pursed his lips and started crying: "We really have no choice! Please tell your majesty, sir, please save us. If the price of food drops again, we really won't be able to survive!"
"Yes, if food prices continue to fall, it will hurt farmers. We are also worried about the people!"
Zhu Guobi echoed.
And Xu Hongji also said: "We are guilty, but we are also bewitched by the traitor Dou Ding. We have captured this person. Please tell your Majesty, please tell your Majesty, please see that I and other ancestors have set a good example for the Ming Dynasty." For the sake of your great contribution, I will forgive the sins of the ministers and others!"
Xiong Tingbi smiled coldly and said: "Now do you know how to come to ask Your Majesty? When His Majesty asked you to put grain on the market, how did you deal with His Majesty? You only gave out so little grain, why did you say that there are so many people in the family and there is not much leftover grain. "
"Since there is no surplus grain, what does the drop in grain prices have to do with the princes? Even if the grain prices are as low as wormwood, they are just for their own consumption, no matter what they do! It can be seen that you were deceiving the emperor in the past! You must have A lot of food, right?”
Xiong Tingbi said sternly and continued to ask.
Xu Hongji and other Nanjing dignitaries didn't know how to answer, so they just lowered their heads.
"You should all be executed for the crime of deceiving the emperor!"
Xiong Tingbi continued to say bitterly.
Gu Mingjiao hurriedly defended: "We are just confused for a moment. Please give us a good word in front of Your Majesty! Please give us a way to survive for the sake of our ancestors!"
"Yes! Our ancestors of the Tang family have shed blood and sweat for the Ming Dynasty!"
Lingbihou, after Tang He, Tang Xingzuo echoed at this time.
Other Nanjing dignitaries also started talking like this, simply mentioning the merits of their ancestors and hoping that the Ming Emperor would give them a way to survive for the sake of their ancestors.
Xiong Tingbi said: "It is precisely because you are the descendants of the Ming Dynasty and your ancestors have created such a peaceful world for the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world, or maintained such a peaceful world, and His Majesty is not really a ruthless and unjust king, so, Your Majesty has said that you can remember your crime of deceiving His Majesty and not deal with you to see how you behave in the future."
Gu Mingjiao smiled first and said hurriedly: "There is nothing more benevolent than your Majesty. Your Majesty is truly the most benevolent monarch throughout the ages!"
Zhu Guobi also echoed: "Yes! It's your Majesty after all. His magnanimity makes me extremely ashamed."
These nobles all became happy because of this, and they all thought that it was because their ancestors were nobles who had made contributions to the Ming Dynasty, and His Majesty did not want to chill the hearts of those who had made contributions to the world, and still had no intention of treating these people too much. Deadly.
But at this time, Xiong Tingbi said: "Don't be too happy yet. Although His Majesty will remember your sins first, it does not mean that he will wipe your ass! You still have to bear the responsibility for what you have done yourself. Of course, the food The price is related to the livelihood of the people in the world, and Your Majesty will not let it continue to drop. Therefore, Your Majesty has already approved that the Grain Industry Bureau can purchase the surplus grain from the private sector at a price of 500 Wen per stone. You can get it on a first come first served basis. Let the Grain Industry Bureau buy the grain from you first."
"Ah! Five hundred coins and one stone?!"
After hearing this, Gu Mingjiao opened his mouth in shock.
"It's lower than the current market price, so you still have to lose money?"
Zhu Guobi said.
Xu Hongji fell silent and thought to himself: "This is just adding insult to injury! Although the words are nice, they are not really trying to save nobles like themselves, but are taking the opportunity to take advantage of us!"
"Five hundred coins and one stone, the cost of producing grain is more than this price. What's the difference between this and giving it to the imperial court for free!"
"To be precise, what's the difference between this and a house raid?"
Tang Xingzuo and other nobles also thought rather unhappily.
"It's already good. After a while, the market price will drop to a dangan per stone, or even three to four hundred coins per stone. As long as Your Majesty is willing, any price is possible, because the court now has plenty of food, understand? Of course, you don't have to buy it. You can burn it directly, don’t you like burning your own food?”
Xiong Tingbi rolled his eyes at these nobles and said.
Then, Xiong Tingbi asked Xu Hongji: "Really, Duke Wei!"
Xu Hongji was heartbroken, but he still smiled awkwardly, and then gritted his teeth and said: "Please give me some advice, Mr. Ge, if we are willing to sell this year's newly harvested grain for 500 cents per stone, I don't know where to find someone." Who? Where are the people from the Grain Bureau?"
Xu Hongji had to agree, because it was better to sell it now for five hundred cents per stone than to be unable to sell it when the price of grain fell to three to four hundred cents.
Seeing this, other Nanjing dignitaries also expressed their willingness, even though they were very unwilling in their hearts.
Xiong Tingbi said: "When the time comes, the servants will send people from the Grain Bureau to collect the goods. At that time, it will not only be people from the Grain Bureau, but also officers and soldiers, because if you cannot repay the loan you borrowed from Daming Bank, you will need to use it." It’s repaid with collateral.”
"A loan?"
Gu Mingjiao was shocked after hearing this.
Zhu Guobi shook his head first: "No, no, no, you can't really take away my farmland just because I can't repay the loan!"
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