Zhu Yunwen's mind was in a mess, and he couldn't fix it due to Li Qing's operation.
"Senior brother, aren't you just throwing money away in vain?"
"It's money, but it's also investment." Li Qing said, "To prepare for the purchase of raw silk at low prices in the future."
"If you want to buy it at a low price, why bother raising the price so high?"
"To stir up trouble." Li Qing said with a smile.
Zhu Yunwen was even more puzzled, "Now the price of raw silk remains high. It is easy to raise the price, but it is difficult to lower it. Not to mention buying it at a low price, even if it is bought at five times the original price, they will not sell it unless they use force, but The side effects of using force are too great, and why not do that early..."
"Okay, stop asking, let me tell you." Li Qing teased, "With your intelligence, you will only get more confused the more you ask."
Zhu Yunwen: "... Just tell me."
Li Qing took a sip of tea and said: "Normally speaking, buyers in transactions buy up prices rather than down prices, because people think that items will continue to rise, and the earlier they buy, the more cost-effective they are;
On the other hand, the selling side is just the opposite. They sell down but not up, because they still want to go up when it goes up. The sooner they take action, the more they lose.
On the contrary, when the price gets lower and lower, they will become anxious. In that case, the later they sell, the more they will lose. "
Zhu Yunwen thought about it carefully and found that it was really the case, but he still didn't understand, "Brother, the problem is that there is no need to sell raw silk at all. The supply and demand are here. If you don't buy it, those big silk merchants will buy it!"
Li Qing smiled, "You can think of it, but I can't think of it?"
He leaned back comfortably on the chair and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the price of raw silk in Jinling is so high. Those rich gentry are not fools. They will definitely think of buying raw silk in other places and causing trouble in Suzhou and Hangzhou."
Zhu Yunwen understood something, and frowned: "Brother, what do you mean...when they have stocked up, you will buy raw silk from those big silkworm farmers?"
"bingo."
"No, that's not right." Zhu Yunwen said, "Brother, you take it for granted. For those big silk companies, the more the better, and the reason why they raised the price is to make the Weaving Bureau unable to continue. Once the price of raw silk falls, they will You will take action, you are just making wedding clothes for others."
"Alas...!" Li Qing sighed, "After all these years, you still haven't made much progress!"
"What's the explanation?"
"Do you think I have no money?" Li Qing asked.
"Ang." Zhu Yunwen nodded.
Li Qing said: "If you think so, they will think so too. So when the time comes, as soon as I stop purchasing, those rich gentry will definitely think that I am at the end of my rope. Aren't they just reaping the benefits?"
"The prices raised and lowered are all determined by the relationship between supply and demand." Li Qing said, "When those big sericulture farmers are forced to the end of their rope, I will make a little intervention and let them sell me raw silk gratefully. "
"Hiss~" Zhu Yunwen took a breath, "What a loss...ah no, senior brother, you are so awesome!"
"...I'll just assume you're complimenting me." Li Qing's face was filled with dark lines.
Zhu Yun said sarcastically: "I'm just praising you. Senior brother, your understanding of people's hearts has reached the pinnacle."
"That's right." Li Qing took a sip of tea with a stinking look on his face.
"But junior brother, there is still something I don't understand."
"Well, you say."
Zhu Yunwen said: "Aren't you afraid that those big silkworm farmers will reveal your true identity?"
"Don't be afraid, a large amount of raw silk will be shipped tonight, enough to last until next year. The Weaving Bureau has been non-stop, and those big silk merchants won't believe it." Li Qing said with a smile, "Instead, they will think that it is those who hoard raw silk who cannot support it. Stop, you lied on purpose."
"That's true."
Zhu Yunwen was completely awakened and exclaimed: "Senior brother, what a brain you have, you are so awesome."
"I think so too." Li Qing clicked his tongue in surprise, "Why do you think I'm so smart?"
Zhu Yunwen: "..."
Suddenly, he realized something again and shouted: "It's not good."
Li Qing was so frightened by him that he trembled. The tea in his cup spilled all over his pants, and he said angrily, "What are you doing for being so startled?"
"A wise man will make mistakes after all his considerations. Senior brother, you still made a mistake after all." Zhu Yunwen frowned.
"Tell me about it." Li Qing poured another cup of tea and sipped it.
Zhu Yunwen said: "Brother, do you think that if the wealthy gentry goes to Suhang to stir up trouble, will the price of raw silk in Suhang rise?"
"Well, that's for sure."
"That's the problem!" Zhu Yunwen smacked his thigh anxiously, "Senior Brother, do you think, if the price is too low, why don't those silk hoarders resell the silk to Suzhou and Hangzhou?"
He was so anxious that he stamped his feet, "Senior brother, you messed up after all!"
"Calm down." Li Qing put down the tea cup, "You have been an emperor after all, why are you so restless?"
"But... alas." Zhu Yunwen said anxiously, "Then what do you think we should do?"
"No need to do anything." Li Qing was speechless, "Don't forget, where is this?"
"This is Jinling." Zhu Yunwen smiled bitterly, "Yes, Jinling is rich, but the wealth of Suzhou and Hangzhou is no worse than that of Jinling..."
"You are wrong." Li Qing said seriously, "This is Zhili, it is also the companion capital of the Ming Dynasty, second only to the capital of the capital, and its power is second only to the capital;
In the same way, the top wealthy gentry here also have the most say. Do you think they will let those who hoard raw silk go to Suzhou and Hangzhou?
Would they let such a good harvesting opportunity pass? "
Li Qing smiled lightly and said: "At that time, if the Yangtze River is blocked and the pass is blocked, even a few raw silks will not be able to escape."
Zhu Yunwen was stunned and speechless for a long time. He drank the tea in the cup in one gulp and said with a wry smile: "I shouldn't worry about it. Senior brother has no choice but to accept it. Junior brother is really convinced."
He laughed at himself: "I shouldn't have made this trip."
"No, you didn't run away in vain." Li Qing said, "If you don't come to me, I will come to find you."
Zhu Yunwen said in surprise, "Looking for me?"
"Yes, you are my killer move!" Li Qing said seriously, "The South Zhili Ministry of Household Affairs will not easily allocate money to me, and I don't want to ask the Ministry of Household Affairs for it. That will expose me. How much money do we have at home? "
"Senior brother, do you want to pay for it yourself?" Zhu Yunwen was shocked. In his impression, senior brother was a money addict.
"I didn't pay for it, I borrowed it from you in the name of the court." Li Qing corrected, "The court must pay it back afterwards."
Zhu Yunwen shook his head and said, "That's senior brother's money."
"Don't talk about this." Li Qing asked, "How much can you take out now?"
"Senior brother's family is already strong. He left so much gold and silver behind. After I took over, I teamed up with my cousin to do some business." Zhu Yunwen smiled and said, "With Cao Guogong taking care of me, I have made a lot of money over the years!
I went back to take stock, and estimated that even if we didn't count the property and only counted the cash, it would be no less than 400,000 taels of silver. "
Li Qing thought for a while, "After the price of raw silk goes down, it won't cost 400,000 yuan to collect the entire raw silk in Jinling. You can prepare 300,000 yuan and keep 100,000 yuan to continue doing business."
"Sure, I'll get ready when I get back." Zhu Yunwen calculated, "It will take seven or eight days at the earliest. It won't delay things, right?"
"No." Li Qing smiled and said, "When you are ready, let me know and I will give you an IOU."
"Hey, okay." Zhu Yunwen smiled and nodded, "Then I'm leaving."
"I send you."
…
midnight.
There was a knock on the door of Li Qing's room.
"Sir, it's me, Xiao Liuzi."
Li Qing stepped forward to open the door and asked, "Is the thing back?"
Xiao Liuzi was more cautious than Li Qing. He looked back and whispered back, "Hai Shi is here. Just to be safe, our family asked them to continue moving forward and just turned back."
Li Qing nodded happily: "My father-in-law is indeed doing things safely."
"Hehe... We are all doing things for the emperor, how dare our family not do our best." Xiao Liuzi smiled modestly.
Li Qing patted him on the shoulder and promised: "After I return, I will definitely help my father-in-law put in a nice word in front of the emperor."
"Your Majesty, you're welcome. Jin Yiwei's brothers have already passed, so let's go too." Xiao Liuzi said happily, "It's best to transport the things back quickly in the dead of night."
"Well, let's go."
…
More than twenty days later, the Ministry of Industry suddenly blocked the waterway to Suzhou and Hangzhou on the grounds that the dam at the Yangtze River port was in danger and needed major repairs.
At the same time, Lu Lu also blocked Jinling City for various reasons such as repairing the city walls and replacing the city gates. ωＷω.ＧoＮЬ.οrＧ
There is no waterway, and you can get in by land, but if you want to get out, there is no way.
At this moment, Li Qing knew that the opportunity had come.
So, he added fuel to the fire and went to the Ministry of Accounts to ask for money.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance excused himself with various reasons such as building embankments and replacing city gates. In short, he said:
There is no money, even if you report to the emperor, you also have no money, the money has been used for construction.
Before the rich gentry came to sell raw silk, Li Qing posted a notice: The Weaving Bureau will no longer purchase raw silk!
In the end, Li Qing blew up a huge bubble that pricked his own hands.
