Huang's Grain Store in Beijing.
A man wearing linen clothes asked about the price of food and then left in despair.
Huang Dongping watched him leave and knew that another family was about to starve to death.
But he was powerless and did not dare to donate food to save people.
If he dares to do this, all the food in the food store will be robbed by hungry people.
Huang's Grain Store will also cut itself off from the industry and be boycotted by all grain stores.
Huang Dongping saw too many miserable families during this period, and he quickly calmed down.
He listened to the shopkeeper and reported on the grain store's grain storage situation.
“Master, these days are getting more and more difficult.
Now there are only 12,000 shi of grain left in the grain store.
We originally bought grain from Huguang and Henan, but now Huguang and Henan are both occupied by the Qin army.
No food can be transported in from these two places.
Only the grain shipped from Shandong was left, and not much grain was shipped each time.
The war is now tense, and the food on the market has skyrocketed.
It has gone from two-two-fifths to one stone to five-two-thirds to one stone.
Many grain stores, especially those with strong backgrounds, have stopped selling grain.
They wait until the price of food reaches its highest point and then sell it to earn a lot of money.
Boss, should our grain store also close its doors and be reluctant to sell the grain? "
Huang Dongping thought for a moment and then ordered: "Old customers, please sell some grain according to the market price.
The old customers who usually take care of our business cannot watch them starve to death.
The reputation that our Huang family has built over generations cannot be ruined in my generation.
As for new faces, we won’t sell them directly. "
After Huang Dongping finished speaking, he took out a piece of red paper and wrote a few large characters with a brush, preparing to post it outside the store.
[The food in the store is limited and can only be purchased by old customers]
Huang Dongping knows the current situation in the capital.
The grain transported by water from the southeast was limited, and it used to be enough for people in the capital.
Now that the troops of King Qin from all over the country have entered Beijing, they consume a large amount of military rations, which are part of the rations transported by water to the people of the capital.
There are many more soldiers here in the capital, and the food supplies from Huguang, Henan and other places cannot be transported because of the war.
More people and less food will inevitably lead to food shortages in the market.
Once there is a shortage of such a necessity as food, food prices will skyrocket.
If there is a shortage of one-tenth of the food, the price of food will rise by one-tenth.
If there is a shortage of one-tenth of the food, food prices will rise until one-tenth of the people cannot afford food.
Now it has doubled to five taels of silver and one stone, and Huang Dongping expects the price to rise to about one month.
When most people's grain reserves are exhausted, they will be left with eight taels of silver and one stone.
If the Qin army besieges the city, I don't know how high the price of food in the capital will skyrocket.
With the current skyrocketing food prices, many people cannot afford to eat.
There are many young men and women who directly sign up to join the army for the sake of a piece of food.
Nowadays, many grain stores in the capital, especially large grain stores with a background, no longer sell grain to outsiders.
This will cause food prices to skyrocket even faster, and these people will make a lot of money without caring about the people who are starving to death.
The people wanted to file a complaint, but they couldn't even get into the Shuntian Mansion Yamen.
Huang Dongping looked at these people with a sneer. When the Qin army entered the city, these people would not end well.
Behind these businessmen are either high officials or nobles, they are just performing the final madness of these people.
Huang Dongping was attracted by the sound of rapid footsteps outside the door.
When he saw the yamen servant of Shuntian Mansion, his heart skipped a beat. It seemed that he was about to lose money and avoid disaster again.
He smiled and said: "You guys are here to buy grain again. These are good new grains."
These Shuntian government officials have always bought food on credit, and I have never seen them pay money.
The yamen servant of Shuntian Mansion walked in directly and said, "Shopkeeper Huang, we are not here to buy food today.
In accordance with His Majesty's decree, the cabinet ministers have issued orders, which are now handed over to the Shuntian Government Office for execution.
Big merchants like you, Huang's Grain Company, must pay five thousand taels of silver to pay military pay. "
Huang Dongping's face fell, and he immediately took a piece of silver worth two ounces and handed it into the hands of the Yamen servant.
"Sir, we are a small business and we can't afford five thousand taels of silver. Please be accommodating."
The yamen servant weighed the money in his hand and said with a smile: "Shopkeeper Huang, I'm just here to inform you.
You are so generous, I will give you a solid foundation.
This time the five thousand taels of silver must be taken out.
Each family has a quota, and if it is not enough, the prefect will personally make up the amount.
The prefect has already issued a message that any family that cannot come up with it will be imprisoned in Shuntian Mansion's prison.
You also know what is going on in the prison of Shuntian Mansion.
When the time comes, the money will have to be spent every penny.
If you walk around in prison, even a healthy person will lose half his life.
I don't think a person like Shopkeeper Huang can get out of the government prison. "
Huang Dongping smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Chai, I will definitely hand over the money to the Yamen as soon as possible."
"Shopkeeper Huang needs to be quick. If you can't receive the money the day after tomorrow, don't blame our brothers for being rude.
Shopkeeper Wang only knows how to be a good person, and he will definitely give Shopkeeper Huang a room in the room when the time comes. "
Huang Dongping sent away the government servants of Shuntian Mansion. He returned to the grain store and asked people to close the door of the grain store.
He yelled: "What are these things?"
Huang Dongping looked at the shopkeeper and ordered: "Close the door of the grain store, this is five thousand taels of silver, how long will it take us to earn it back.
We must take advantage of this food price increase to earn back this money.
If they are really regular customers, they will go through the back door, and you will be personally responsible when the time comes. "
After the grain store closed, Huang Dongping took a carriage to a large house.
He is not a businessman without foundation. An ordinary small businessman cannot survive here in the capital.
He is from the Huang family in Fenzhou, which is also a famous big family in Shanxi. The Shanxi merchants have always been together.
"Uncle Fu, is Bojia at home?"
"The master is at home now. I will take you to see the master right now."
Huang Dongping quickly came to the study room under the guidance of Uncle Fu.
He saw Qi Bojia sitting on the desk drinking tea. This was his brother-in-law.
The two families have been friends for hundreds of years and have always supported each other.
The Huang family's generation had no high-ranking officials in the capital, so he could only learn about the situation from Qi Bojia.
Qi Bojia is nearly twenty years younger than him, but he was born as a Jinshi. He is now a member of the Hanlin Academy and has many friends in the capital.
Huang Dongping immediately told Qi Bojia what happened today in detail.
"Bojia, do you think I should join forces with Shanxi merchants to resist, or should I just hand over the money?"
Qi Bojia said: "This money is life money. If you pay it, you can live. If you don't pay it, you will die."
Now the imperial court has reached the end of its rope.
You businessmen were able to rely on your network of connections to live a prosperous life before.
Now His Majesty will do anything to save his life and pay for the army.
The money being collected now is just the result of a compromise between His Majesty and the civil officials.
In the future, military pay will be insufficient, and those businessmen with background will not be able to escape. "
Huang Dongping believed in Qi Bojia, and he immediately said: "I'm going to hand over the five thousand taels of silver.
Since you are paying for your life, the money must be paid. "
He praised the performance of Qi Bojia and Huang Dongping: "Now is the time for dynasties to change. Don't let your wealth and life be damaged because of some small profits.
The current period of dynasty change is the most dangerous time.
During this period of moral decay, anything could happen. "
When Qi Bojia heard the news brought by his brother-in-law Huang Dongping, he was not surprised at all.
The price of food in the capital has skyrocketed, and these nobles are still holding back their food and refusing to sell it.
In the Ming Dynasty, these noble civil servants refused to pay a penny from their own families, but they forced businessmen to pay military salaries.
The noble gentry seized the greatest benefits, and the Ming Dynasty was already on the verge of collapse.
The land of the Ming Dynasty produced enough food to keep everyone alive.
So many people still starve to death every year, but some people get more and some don't.
The Ming emperor and the gentry held the most interests, but they continued to take away the interests of the people.
Under this chain of interests, those with the weakest power will bear the greatest price.
All costs will be passed on to the weakest farmers.
Even if the peasants are forced, they must rebel to have any chance of survival.
These people will never let go and share the interests in their hands with those at the bottom so that they can weather the storm smoothly.
During this period, as long as some interests are let go and the anger of most of the bottom is calmed, things will turn around.
But every dynasty and the government's decrees will accelerate this phenomenon.
The Ming Dynasty's action was to send additional taxes such as Liao wages to the people at the bottom.
This policy directly led to the continuous occurrence of civil unrest in various places.
In every dynasty, the government forces the people to rebel, and eventually the dynasty changes.
A new dynasty comes on the scene, smooths everything over, and starts over.
Human nature is like this, everyone will never give up the interests in their hands easily.
"Later, because of sorrow and not taking note of it, this is the law of dynasty cycle."
The fact that Qi Bojian can think so much is related to the fact that he has always known King Su He of Qin.
He had read a very early article in Hanzhong Weekly.
King Su He of Qin published a special article in the newspaper to explain the underlying reasons for the periodicity of the dynasty.
When Qi Bojia saw this newspaper, he knew that Su He was by no means an idle person.
As he expected, the Qin army has now reached Beizhili and will soon break through the capital and overthrow the Ming Dynasty.
When Huang Dongping heard Qi Bojia's rebellious remarks, he stopped him directly and said: "Bojia, be careful what you say.
Nowadays, there are Jin Yiwei everywhere. If your words spread, both our families will be affected. "
Qi Bojia looked at Huang Dongping's cautious appearance and kept silent.
Now the Ming Dynasty court has no time to let Jin Yiwei monitor him, an ordinary Hanlin.
Jin Yiwei sent almost everyone to various cities in Northern Zhili to monitor the garrison in each city and investigate the movements of the Qin army.
Huang Dongping said with some worry: "Bojia, I heard rumors that the Qin army has sent troops to attack Shanxi.
I don't think Fenzhou Prefecture can stop the Qin army.
It is too difficult to communicate between the two places now. I wonder what the situation at our home will be like? "
Qi Bojia took a sip of tea and said in a calm tone: "Brother Huang, you don't have to worry, I sent someone to the house to warn you before.
If the Qin army really comes, don't care about that little bit of land.
The land in Shanxi is already barren and there is not much arable land.
That bit of land is not worthy of our two families being buried with it.
The main purpose of the Qin army is to collect land. As long as the land is handed over, the family will generally have nothing to worry about. "
Huang Dongping felt relieved when he heard Qi Bojia say this.
His father is very knowledgeable about current affairs and has a strong ability to adapt to the changing circumstances.
Large bets are generally not made until the last minute.
The Huang family doesn't want to get rich, they just want to pass on the family smoothly.
Fan Yongdou, representing the eight major Shanxi merchants, has been selling large quantities of goods to Houjin through Zhangjiakou.
Many Shanxi merchant families were deeply involved in this matter and earned a lot of money.
The Huang family didn't get involved too much, they just sold some grain and ironware normally.
The Qin army rose in the northwest, and the Qiao family and other families suppressed by the Fan family immediately transferred their power to the northwest.
The Huang family didn't make any move. At that time, it was impossible to tell who could win the world.
Now that the situation is very clear, he believes that his father will not make the wrong choice.
Qi Bojia took a few sips of tea and looked at Huang Dongping who was meditating. He asked the question that he had always cared about but couldn't figure out.
"Brother Huang, I saw in the newspaper that the businessmen of King Qin gave out 50 million taels of silver coins to support King Qin in his war.
Can this be true?
The King of Qin really has 50 million taels of silver coins for military pay, so even if he throws money at it, he can still smash Shuntian Mansion.
I don’t know much about shopping malls, but Brother Huang thinks this incident is somewhat true. "
Huang Dongping thought for a moment and said: "I don't think the news reported in the newspaper is too false.
I read very little of the content in Yanhuang Daily and couldn’t understand most of it.
I often read the newspaper "Shu Business Daily" run by the Sichuan Chamber of Commerce.
This newspaper has the most detailed content, including an introduction to the factory.
I once saw an introduction in the newspaper about Li Gong, the president of the Shu Chamber of Commerce.
He set up a sugar factory in Hanzhong, which cost him 550,000 taels of silver coins.
It can cost more than 500,000 taels of silver coins to run a factory, and the annual profit will be at least several thousand taels of silver coins.
The result far exceeded my expectations. The sugar factory brought Li Gong 180,000 taels of silver in one year.
Excluding costs and taxes, it can also bring profits of tens of thousands of taels.
Profits in industry and commerce are extremely high.
If the King of Qin only relied on the gentry who farmed the land, he would certainly not be able to raise so much money.
But King Qin developed something called industry.
Those factories can bring huge profits to the factory owners every year.
I also know something about the bonds issued by King Qin.
This is when the King of Qin borrows money from businessmen, and gives an interest of about 5% every year. The principal will be repaid directly when the time comes. The credit is very high, and it is not worth one or two silver coins.
This is not like Daming, who directly asked us businessmen for money.
Ming Dynasty really wants to borrow money from us and ensure that the borrowed money is repaid on time.
I dare not say that it is too much, but I dare to borrow thirty or forty thousand taels of silver. "
When Qi Bojia heard this, he understood why King Qin could raise such a huge amount of silver coins.
The King of Qin is borrowing money, and his reputation is guaranteed.
These businessmen made a profit instead of losing a lot of money.
He figured this out, looked at Huang Dongping and warned: "Brother Huang, you must not take advantage of this surge in food in the city to make huge profits.
Looking at the situation now, Daming cannot hold on any longer and must leave a way out for itself. "
When Huang Dongping heard Qi Bojia say this, the sweat on his face immediately fell.
He had calculated countless things, but he had not calculated that King Qin might settle accounts with his wife.
He was very close to being doomed.
Huang Dongping immediately told him to leave and return to his home grain store.
He asked the shopkeeper to open the door of the grain store, and the store resumed business.
Huang Dongping took out five thousand taels of silver and immediately handed over the money allocated by the court to avoid losing money and avoid disaster.
Huang Dongping looked at the customers who came to the granary to buy food.
Each of them had a look on their face and stood at the food counter hesitating.
In the end, I could only use a little bit of money to buy a small bag of grain.
Huang Dongping thought about how he could spread his fame and save more people without having too much impact on himself.
Huang Dongping did not dare to lower the price of grain. Now he sells grain according to the market price. He is a very conscientious grain merchant.
If he really dares to lower the price, his grain store will be shut down the next day.
Those nobles will never allow businessmen who destroy the market to exist.
Huang Dongping purchased a large amount of rice bran from other trading houses.
This unpalatable rice bran was not eaten by the gentry or the servants of noble families.
Huang Dongping sells rice bran at low prices.
Now that food prices are soaring, unpalatable rice bran can also become a life-saving food.
His behavior only saved the lives of the people at the lowest level.
Food prices will not be affected for people who cannot afford to buy food.
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