Seeing Xie Tang and others looking furious, Zhao Mengqi smiled even brighter.
"What you say scares me. If you think about it carefully, you control most of the grain reserves in western Zhejiang. If you really hold on to it and don't sell it, the consequences will be really serious..."
Xie Tang put on the posture of breaking a jar and saying, "This is all forced by His Highness. I can only do this. It is nothing more than losing both sides and the fish will die and the net will be broken!"
"No, no, no..." Zhao Mengqi raised his middle finger and shook it at Xie Tang and others, "Is it possible that only one party will be injured and defeated? The fish is dead, but the net is still there, and maybe it is stronger."
At this time, cheers came from outside, and they became louder and louder, as if the whole city of Gusu was boiling.
"Do you know why they are cheering?" The ridicule in Zhao Mengqi's eyes became more intense.
Yes, what do these idiots have to cheer for?
They can't even fill their stomachs now, so where can they find the strength to scream! ?
Is it possible that King Yan gave them the gold and silver just now?
But although gold and silver are good, they cannot be used as food. You cannot buy food at this time, and it is no different from stones.
The gentry were all confused. You looked at me and I looked at you, and they all felt puzzled.
Xie Tang felt something bad in his heart. What these people were most worried about right now was food. It was natural that food could make them so happy.
But how could King Yan still have food?
And it seems to be quite sufficient?
Could it be that he can do magic tricks and conjure food out of thin air! ?
These doubts made Xie Tang scratch his head and he couldn't help but want to rush outside to find out.
At this time, Gusu City has become a sea of joy, even more joyful than during the New Year.
"His Royal Highness King Yan has decreed that all common people, with their household registration, can receive two kilograms of salted fish or dried fish, five kilograms of fresh aquatic products, half a kilogram of refined salt, two taels of loose tea, two taels of rice and one stone for free, and there is no limit!"
The government officials and the Imperial Guards were beating gongs and drums and making announcements everywhere in the city.
The people couldn't believe it when they first heard about it. How could such a good thing happen?
Pingjiang Prefecture is close to the lake and the sea, with dense rivers and crisscrossing rivers. The meat in daily life mainly comes from aquatic products, and the price is not expensive. Depending on the variety, a pound ranges from 5 to 30 yuan.
However, as the price of food has skyrocketed, everything that can be eaten has also risen sharply, basically more than ten times, and even firewood has increased three or four times.
Because in these days, powerful people not only annexed fertile land, but also occupied the hills near the city and the rivers and lakes where water chestnuts could be grown. People who made a living by collecting firewood and growing water had to pay rent to them.
Moreover, the industry and commerce in the Song Dynasty were prosperous, and the powerful powerful people did not just collect land rent. They penetrated into all walks of life and could affect more than just food prices.
Salt tea is a government monopoly, and the price is determined by the government. However, as a disguised tax tool, salt tea is not cheap. Regardless of the offshore area of Pingjiang Prefecture, the price of salt is 200 yuan per catty, and ordinary crude tea is 100 yuan. A pound of text.
This wave of benefits is worth two hundred coins on a normal day, not to mention at this time, the most important thing is that it is free!
There are nearly 400,000 households in Gusu City. In total, they have a total of 100,000 yuan. Is King Yan so extravagant?
I had heard before that the people of Lin'an could occasionally enjoy similar benefits, but that was when the imperial court was wealthy, and it has been rare in the past ten years. I never expected that such a good thing would happen to the people of Gusu.
When the people saw a large number of cargo ships pouring into the city, unloading massive amounts of supplies at various docks, and starting to distribute them, they finally dared to believe it.
As a result, the people went crazy with joy, cheering and jumping to spread the news.
"Did your family get it?"
"Hey, when I went out today, I just wanted to see what King Yan looked like. I didn't bring my household registration with me. Didn't I want to go home to get it?"
"Haha, my wife is very thoughtful. She said that King Yan will probably bring food with him when he comes, so she specially told me to bring it with him so that if there is food for sale, I can grab a head start."
"Look at you
Carrying a lot of packages, what did you get? "
"Here, let me show you. This is salted fish. It weighs a full two kilograms. The salt flowers on it are all grained. It is much more cost-effective than dried fish. The aquatic products are more complicated. There are fish, shrimps and crabs. You are not allowed to choose. They were given randomly, so we can only make do with it, after all, we can all eat it, right?"
It's a good thing, let's not talk about grass carp, herring, and carp, but wild whitebait, plum bream, hairy crabs, etc. will be luxuries in future generations.
Hey, I had no food to eat, so I had to make do with hairy crabs. It was so pitiful that future generations couldn’t help but shed tears when they saw it.
"And this salt, it's snow-white, pure and fine. I've never seen such good salt in my life. I guess even if it sells for a pound a pound, there are many rich people rushing to get it. I don't know His Highness King Yan. Where did you get it from, and why are you willing to give it to us for free?"
"This tea is quite strange. It doesn't form clumps or chunks. It comes one by one. The soldier who handed it out said that this tea doesn't need to be boiled or added with onion, ginger and spices. You can drink it by directly brewing it with boiling water. Knowing how it tastes, I think King Yan won’t fool us with bad things.”
"Oh, this is because you are ignorant. I heard that literati like to drink loose tea. This tea is rare and not cheap... Oh, by the way, isn't it said that there are grains for sale? I only need two guans and one stone, why don’t I see you buying it?”
"I also plan to buy it, but my wife said that there are mountains of food on the dock. There will definitely be no shortage of food in the future. Maybe food prices will fall back to what they were before. I still have food at home now, so there is no need to buy so much. , to save you from losing money later.”
"That makes sense. You have to plan your life carefully. Women know better when it comes to management. You are right to listen to your wife..."
The city was extremely lively, with some people running to their homes and some rushing to various docks. They were all in high spirits, with smiles that seemed to be engraved on their faces and would never fall off.
More and more people are receiving welfare, and people carrying large and small bags can be seen everywhere on the streets, but there are really not many people buying rice. The panic caused by the lack of food has dissipated without a trace.
At the Confucian Temple, Wu Qian walked into the Dacheng Hall and reported to Zhao Mengqi what happened in the city in front of the gentry.
When the gentlemen heard this, their faces were blank and they couldn't believe it at all.
Zhao Mengqi tilted his lips and looked at Xie Tang playfully, "Xie Daguan, now you only need two ounces of rice for one stone. Aren't you rich? Feel free to come and buy it. I won't stop you. If you can get all the grain like before, If you buy short, I will write you a big word "submit" and agree to your request. How about it? Do you want to try it? "
rich?
What a shitty money.
In order to monopolize food, they have spent more than 50 million yuan, which has exhausted the "liquidity" of most of the wealthy gentry in the two governments. Now they really can't get out the money unless they sell off their property.
Xie Tang's eyes were blank, and he murmured, "How is it possible... Most of the food is obviously controlled, how can we get food? How did this happen? He is a god..."
Zhao Mengqi is not a god, he is just a mortal. He does not know how to do magic tricks, he just knows the "Five Ghost Moving Technique".
Lu Wencai was equally lost and kept mumbling, "Two passes?... Just two passes!?"
Back and forth, they bought nearly five million stones from King Yan, and also bought more than four million stones in Anji and Changzhou. On average, it was one stone more than five crowns.
If they sell this grain at the current price, they will have a net loss of more than 30 million yuan, a loss of more than 60%!
Lu Wencai was the main figure in this operation. He invested more than 2 million yuan, but suffered a loss of more than 1 million yuan.
The key is that the real owner of the Lu family is not him, but Lu Wende. In other words, the money was actually embezzled by him, and he also mortgaged the Lu family's property to borrow one million yuan.
Originally, he was thinking that this time he would not only be able to stop King Yan from entering the border, protect the interests of the Lu family, and show his face in front of Lu Wende, but also take the opportunity to make a huge profit for himself.
Now it seems that all this is going to be a waste. If the misappropriated money and mortgaged fields cannot be transferred,
After childbirth, I probably won't be alive for a few more days.
The Xu family should be even worse off than Lu Wencai. Although the Xu family's assets were far inferior to those of the Lu family, out of hatred, Xu Xueqian just mortgaged all his wealth, including all properties and properties, and collected more than three million yuan.
It is equivalent to say that the only property the Xu family currently owns is five to six hundred thousand shi of grain, but just now he vowed not to sell grain...
"No!" Xie Tang seemed to suddenly wake up and roared with a ferocious face, "Impossible! There is no way you still have that much food! All tricks are deceptions. You are trying to trick us into releasing food at a low price! Haha! Haha... We will never be fooled, just wait, we won't sell! It won't take long for the false situation you created to be exposed."
Then, he turned around and appealed to the gentry, "Everyone, please hold still and don't be deceived by him. No matter whether he really has food or where he got it from, he is missing more than 10 million dan out of thin air. Food shortages are bound to happen. As long as we persist a little longer, we will eventually win!"
The nearly 300 gentry in the palace calmed down and thought about it. Xie Tang was right. The Song Dynasty had been in short supply of food in recent years. There had been many famines in the past twenty years. Even Lin'an, the capital, had starved to death. Passed many people.
Food is a necessity, and there is no reason why it should be reduced.
Even if King Yan uses trickery to lower the price of grain, there is no problem in storing the grain for three to five years, and the money will be recovered sooner or later.
After communicating with each other, the gentry had confidence in their hearts and gradually became hardened. As long as they dare not openly rob, then you, Princess Yan, can do whatever you want, but I will remain firm!
However, King Yan, who was "seen through", did not panic at all, and smiled strangely, "Really? Are you really going to win? Is it possible that you can't persevere?"
At this moment, Geng Zhi went inside to report, "Your Highness, the gentry from Lin'an, Jiankang Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, Qingyuan Prefecture, Anji Prefecture, Changzhou and other places have been invited and are waiting for an audience outside the palace."
What are these foreigners doing here?
The gentry in the palace were filled with doubts and confusions.
