Wang Xiaolie read the letter and handed it to Chen Yuyi who was standing aside. Said: "Yang Shen wrote a letter saying that the price of wheat in Ezhou is about two hundred cents per dou. However, the weather there is hot and humid, and the wheat produced here is not as good as ours. It's just that a few grain merchants have been lowering the price and want us to sell it to forty cents per dou. them."
Chen Yuyi read the letter. He said: "The price of wheat on the market in Xiangyang these days has reached 20 cents per dou, which is already too low. If the price cannot be raised, farmers will not get much profit even if the harvest is good."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "The grain dealer in the city sells it for 20 cents. How much money can the farmers get from selling it to the grain merchant? Fifteen cents? Ten cents? We have reduced taxes and eliminated powerful people. In the end, the farmers have not benefited. How can it be true? It’s not all hard work in vain.”
Chen Yuyi said: "Ezhou is not the only one with grain merchants in the world! Why don't you tell Yang Shen that if the grain merchant is still unwilling, let him go to other places to have a look. The price of wheat in Zhejiang and Zhejiang is soaring. I don't believe that no one will take advantage of this opportunity to make money." !”
Wang Xiaolie stood up and sighed: "Actually, it's probably that no one is doing it. Counselor, do you think the three grain merchants who came to Xiangyang to do business with us are just the three of them? Yang Shenxin said in it, one A ship merchant, a grain merchant from Ezhou, a grain merchant from Wuchang, they are the people selected by the grain merchants centered in Ezhou. Grain can only be sold by water transportation. If it is not sold to the grain merchants in Ezhou, who else can it be sold to? The only places near Xiangyang that can be reached by water are Jiangling and Yuezhou. Food prices there are low and there is no shortage of food."
Walking to the window, Wang Xiaolie looked out the window.
The weather in June is the hottest time of the year. The vegetation outside is lush and the cicadas are chirping non-stop. The two or three cats kept in the government office were lying lazily on the ground, motionless.
In this era, a guild system was implemented. Every state and county had a guild in every industry. In normal times, the government used guilds to directly manage business activities. For example, in Kaifeng Prefecture, the prices of common goods on the market are agreed upon daily by the government and guilds, and no one dares to violate them. This will help the government reduce management procedures and save manpower and material resources. Of course, the economic harm is another question. But at this time, guilds made it easy for merchants to organize themselves, which was not difficult for the government of their own state to deal with.
After thinking about it for a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "Regardless of what Yang Shen does, we must collect the grain from Xiangyang, Dengzhou, and Tangzhou at a suitable price. We cannot let farmers harvest more in a good harvest year. Food, but no money.”
Chen Yuyi said: "Won't the Xinyang army accept them?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "There is no waterway in Xinyang, so there is nothing we can do for the time being. When we have money, let Zhang Jun take it."
Chen Yuyi nodded. There were no waterways at this time, so how much money could be made from transporting grain thousands of miles? In peacetime, the price of land transportation, based on one hundred kilograms of goods, cost one hundred pence for one hundred miles. However, the waterway costs thirty cents against the current and ten cents downstream. There is a huge difference. Things are not peaceful now, and prices vary from place to place, but the general trend has not changed. The only grain that Wang Xiaoyou could sell was Xiangyang, Dengzhou, Tangzhou and Guanghua Army with accessible waterways.
Wang Xiaolie said: "To sell grain, there must be a yamen that sells grain. In the past, various departments promoted Chang Ping, but now I have to find another way. I have always wanted to build supply and marketing cooperatives in various states, and I just took advantage of this incident to build the supply and marketing cooperative first. Say it again."
Chen Yuyi asked: "I have heard about the supply and marketing cooperative for a long time, but I don't know how to do it. One supplies and one sells, so I naturally know what it does, but I don't know the specific regulations."
Wang Xiaolie said with a smile: "To put it bluntly, it is just such a government-run cooperative that collects local products from various places and transports them to other places. Many things are not worth much locally, but once they arrive outside, they are worth a hundred times. In the past, it relied on merchants, but now It seems that businessmen are unreliable."
Chen Yuyi nodded: "That's it! There's a lot to be done about this matter!"
Of course there is much to be done. The supply and marketing cooperatives at this time were larger in scale according to the practice at that time, and were different from the supply and marketing cooperatives of later generations. But one thing they have in common is that they mainly serve rural areas. As a strategic material, grain is not actually suitable to be managed by supply and marketing cooperatives. It's just that now Wang Xiaolie is only in charge of a few states and does not have a grain depot. The commercial grain belongs to the supply and marketing cooperative.
The role of supply and marketing cooperatives is really too great for rural areas. In later generations, agricultural and sideline products from various places were mainly purchased by supply and marketing cooperatives, and the market suddenly expanded to the whole country. Daily retail sales in rural areas are mainly provided by supply and marketing cooperatives. For many rural Chinese, they used to go to supply and marketing cooperatives and consignment outlets in the village to buy things. Rural children carry bottles to make soy sauce, and many of them go to consignment outlets.
Not only in China, supply and marketing cooperatives are an international organization that exist in many countries. In the process of economic development, this is almost a necessary organization. The Song Dynasty was an era when the cooperative economy was developed, so the establishment of supply and marketing cooperatives was not unexpected.
After coming out of the yamen, Chen Yuyi bought a shrunken bream, cut off a pound of meat, bought a jar of wine, and carried it home. Last month's salary was just paid out yesterday. I have money in my hands these days, so I comfort myself.
When we got home, our two sons were studying in the yard. When I saw my father coming back with wine and meat, my eyes couldn't help but shine.
Wang Xiaolie's salary to Chen Yuyi was twenty guan per month, and there was no other money or material. Fortunately, Chen Yuyi didn't have many family members, so twenty guan was enough for his family. After a few months of stable life, the family had completely washed away the bumps and wanderings on the road south.
The lady came out, took the fish and said, "How can I buy wine and meat today?"
Chen Yuyi said: "I got my salary yesterday, so today I will buy some wine and meat to celebrate. Steam this fish and put some soy sauce on it. I was at a riverside restaurant a few days ago and ate their steamed fish. It's really delicious!"
The lady smiled and said: "How can I have the skills of a restaurant? It will be steamed in a while. Don't think it tastes bad."
As they talked, the two brought fish, wine and meat into the kitchen. The lady was packing the fish there, while Chen Yuyi watched from the side.
After washing the fish, the lady sighed: "If we say that in Xiangyang Mansion, observation is very good for us. We have twenty guan of money every month, which is much more than when you were the wine supervisor in Chenliu. Just this observation You have a weird temper and are not allowed to hire people easily. You went to school to become an official, and I come from a wealthy family. How can I do so many chores at home? I don’t know how much easier it is to hire two maids at home like before!"
Chen Yuyi said: "Wang Kuan is different from others. It is true that many rules make people confused. However, after a few months, I think Wang Kuan's intention is to think about the people. Now those who work in the city and those who work in the countryside , everyone has a meeting. Unlike before, we were easily bullied by the host family. For people like us, it is indeed not as convenient as before, and there is nothing. To be honest, in the past few months, our family has not worried about food and clothing, and we can do things together in our free time. Doing housework makes me feel more cozy.”
The lady smiled, took the fish and put it on the grate without saying anything.
Wang Xiaolie's rule is indeed different from other places. As it gained a foothold in several states, many measures were taken, leaving officials below confused. For example, when hiring people, there is a guild in the city, and everyone who is hired joins the guild. If you want to hire people, you no longer need to rely on people, but go to meetings. After hiring someone, the contract must be signed by someone on duty at the meeting, and the deed paper must be paid in 20 cash. If you beat or scold the servants, don't pay wages, etc., they will come forward in the meeting. If the master is not afraid of his servants, what tricks can a poor man do? But in the face of such a meeting overseen by private officials, I didn't dare to be presumptuous.
The same goes for the countryside. The family owns farm tools and even fields, but if there is a surplus of labor, it is possible for them to cultivate other people's land for others. It is strictly stipulated that for those who own farm tools, after paying the tax, those who harvest and cultivate the land will get six shares, and the main household will get four shares. Those who don’t have farm tools themselves will do the opposite. If you don’t have farm tools, land, or even a house, it’s also possible. The owner either takes care of the food and pays monthly wages. Or just pay the wages and let the servants cook the food themselves. These workers earn dozens of pennies a day, as much as a month.
In Xiangyang City, there are more than a dozen meetings for people who want to work as servants. The government stipulates that each meeting cannot exceed fifty people. If there are more, the government will come forward and organize another one.
Chen Yuyi could see that with these meetings, it would not be easy for someone with some financial resources like himself to hire people. The prices are high, and you can no longer do whatever you want to the servants like before. It's better not to hire them and save yourself the trouble.
Wang Xiaolie is a different person and does different things from others. Chen Yuyi slowly adapted. People who have read poetry and books know that it is not easy for the people. What can you say about being an official and caring for the people?
Although there is no servant, he and his wife do chores around the house, which sometimes gets annoying. But the two have more opportunities to be together, and they have a different kind of warmth. This kind of life may be like fireworks, this is the human world.
