Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 854 It's Not A Fuel-Efficient Lamp

Xiao Yufang and Liu Ziyan were leisurely playing on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, visiting the magnificent scenery on the canal, writing a few short poems when inspiration came, or meeting some respected local sages.All of these were reported by the newspapers, and the poems they created were also popular all over the country with their fresh and beautiful style, and they really stole the limelight.

Of course, this is just an illusion on the surface, but there are murderous intentions in the dark.Almost everywhere there are assassins lurking in the dark, killing them whenever they have the opportunity, and they will do everything they can, such as poisoning, arson, sniping, and stabbing in the back... There are only tricks they haven't thought of, without which they haven't tried The tricks I've used are all crazy.However, none of these assassination plots succeeded. Xiao Yufang had a group of highly vigilant experts around her, and the Cao Gang was impatient. Help and serve!Everyone in the Cao Gang knew that this was their last chance. If these two aunts and grandmas had accidents on their own territory again, they would not be able to clean up by jumping into the East China Sea, let alone the Yellow River!All hands were mobilized, on high alert, staring at every suspicious face. Many assassins were caught by them before they could act, and they were buried in the wilderness like wild dogs with straw mats.This was a thrilling secret battle. From Hangzhou to Linqing, Xiao Yufang was assassinated 46 times, killing 200 people. More than 20 water workers and more than [-] soldiers sacrificed to protect her. .Of course, it is impossible to publish these newspapers. What people see in the newspapers will always be her poems, her conversations with those venerable sages, and some harmless gossip.

The story of her acquaintance with Yang Menglong in the flames of war has also undergone some artistic processing, and it has been completely published. It is also popular all over the country, quickly replacing the assassination of Yang Menglong, and has become the most popular gossip among the people in the south and north. In my spare time, I sat together and asked the literate people to read this story in the newspaper to them. I listened with great interest, and those emotional talents and beauties were moved to tears.Mr. Storyteller was moved upon hearing the news, and used the stories published in newspapers as blueprints to create a second creation. Whatever he said, he wanted to write a story that was more touching than "The Romance of the West Chamber" and "The Legend of the White Snake".The heads of the major theater troupes whipped their queen script writers and said harshly: "Write me a good script based on this story immediately! If you write well, you will get a lot of money. If you write well, you will get a lot of money. ...Hmph, let's go home and stew mushrooms!" This gossip trend swept across the country and became the hottest topic, and the earth-shattering event of Yang Menglong's assassination was suppressed like this.

After all, the vast majority of people still yearn for and love beautiful things. As long as they are not psychopaths, who would like those dark, bloody and ugly things?
"Hmph, we really underestimated that woman!" In Donglin Academy, the old man in purple threw the newspaper heavily on the table with a gloomy expression.

Hou Fangyu looked contemptuous: "My husband was seriously injured, life and death are uncertain, she ignored it, and even went outside to show her face, this kind of woman is really immoral, she should sink into the pond!"

Everyone present sneered secretly, and made the most pertinent evaluation of this handsome young man: "Idiot!"

As Han Peng said, the assassination was never a single incident, it was just a link in a conspiracy.Throw the blame for Yang Menglong's assassination to the Cao Gang, and then create a new Heluo army to wash the Cao Gang with blood, use millions of water workers to create panic for the rumors that Yang Menglong was buried with him, put millions of water workers at risk, and let the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal The main artery linking the north and the south of the dynasty was paralyzed, which plunged the entire north into panic and cleared the way for the catastrophic upheaval that will happen next... This series of plans are intertwined and blocked face to face. The opportunity for the opponent to counterattack can be described as extremely ingenious, but also extremely vicious. Once it is successfully implemented, the entire Ming Dynasty will be destroyed forever.However, no one expected Xiao Yufang, a weak woman, to have such courage. Knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, she prefers to go to the mountains of tigers. When murderous threats are everywhere, she goes to visit the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to show her trust in the water workers. He also made some gossip from time to time, which distracted everyone's attention, making Yang Menglong's combination punch after the assassination completely ineffective.The emotions of the million waterworkers gradually stabilized, and many of the waterworkers who fled to other places returned to the canal, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal resumed unimpeded. This was the last thing they wanted to see, but she did it!
Damn it, why didn't this woman also be removed at the beginning!
Everyone realized that even if Yang Menglong really fell, this woman would be strong enough to pick up the burden and continue to cause trouble for them!Yang Menglong's wife is by no means a cheap lamp!
Although they realized it, there was nothing they could do. They tried all available means, but to no avail. What else could they do besides continue to read gossip in newspapers?
These big shots soon realized that Xiao Yufang was not the only woman who could cause them big troubles and give them headaches.Xiao Yufang and Liu Ziyan's trip to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was just the first wave of counterattacks, and more fierce counterattacks were coming. There was also an angry woman who wanted to "communicate" with them deeply...to penetrate their souls.

With a bang, Cheng Qi threw the newspaper heavily on the table, with a murderous look on his face, and said to everyone present: "They are still too idle!"

The people here are not some fuel-efficient lamps, they are all representatives of chambers of commerce in Heluo and Huguang, each of them is a ruthless character with a lot of money, and the hair on his legs is thicker than others.Regarding Cheng Qi's evaluation, these big shots nodded in unison, expressing their agreement.

The group of people that Cheng Qi thought were "too idle" were of course the Donglin Party, and she read the Donglin Party's newspaper, which was full of abuse and slander against Xiao Yufang, almost scolding her by poking her nose I don't obey women's morals, and my husband doesn't go to see if he is injured, and he still has the mood to show his face and attract bees and butterflies.That's why Cheng Qi thinks that they are too free, otherwise, how could they have the mood to make up so many gossips for Xiao Yufang, and even write thousands of words of accusations and abuse by citing classics and classics?
Gotta find something for them to do!

Miss Cheng was very angry, and the consequences were serious.

And then someone is going to have bad luck.

First of all, at the behest of Cheng Qi, the Huguang Governor's Yamen announced this year's grain production and official warehouse stock... Although it is a bit exaggerated to release these data after the harvest of autumn grain for so long, but Huguang is so big, and the administrative system has not yet been adjusted. , the lower efficiency is justifiable.According to the data released by them, affected by a series of unfavorable factors such as hail disasters, late spring, and insufficient supply of phosphate fertilizers, grain production has been greatly reduced compared to previous years, and it is barely higher than the average level. It's a big miss.As soon as the news was announced, grain prices rose in response, and the stocks of major farms and grain processing factories also soared.Immediately afterwards, the Huguang Governor's Yamen issued a new policy: due to the sharp decrease in the stock of grain in official warehouses, it is necessary to strengthen the control over the sales of rice, paddy, flour, potato starch and other products to reduce the outflow of grain.The people of Heluo and Huguang agreed with this move. It is an obvious fact that the year is not good. Who knows what the hell will be like next year? Let's hide the food well to deal with the possible famine year.As soon as the government order came out, major grain merchants canceled the grain delivery one after another, and would rather pay huge liquidated damages than carry out physical delivery. Facing the accusations from customers, they said helplessly that the grain production was too small and the government was strictly controlling it. , if you continue to do so, the government will come to check the water meter.

Shandong has also announced grain production and inventory data. It can be seen from the data that Shandong's wheat production has decreased by [-]% this year. After paying taxes, there will not be much left. This means that before the summer grain matures next year, Shandong will The people have to rely on potatoes to survive... There is no way, who made the damn hail disaster this year so serious?
Now I've stirred a hornet's nest.Everyone knows that the economic development of Jiangnan is mainly concentrated in textiles, tea and porcelain. The textile industry in particular has become the backbone of Jiangnan. Most of the grain fields no longer grow food and have been changed into mulberry fields and cotton fields to meet the needs of the people. The rapid development of the textile industry.As for food, it has to be transported from Huguang and Shandong. Jiangnan is not afraid of this, because they have monopolized the textile industry, and their profits are ten times that of farming. The little food they buy is enough to feed the whole family. .But now, Shandong and Huguang, two major grain growers, have said that they are no longer full and there is no surplus grain to supply them. The whole Jiangnan suddenly panics, especially the common people, who immediately use their savings to buy grain. The price of grain is rocketing. Soar upward.The major grain stores were not fools. When they saw this momentum, they knew that the opportunity was coming. They all said that the grain had been sold out and closed down. At the same time, they went to various towns and villages to buy grain and hoard it, preparing to make a big move.

Then, the familiar routine came: the people who were completely panicked took their savings and begged their grandparents to tell their grandmas to buy some grain, but most of the grain shops were closed and the price of grain soared, not one price a day, but every minute Change, teach you how to be a man every minute!Soon, desperate ordinary people found that their monthly income was not enough to buy a bag of brown rice.They began to miss Yang Menglong. When Yang Menglong was here, the price of food was kept very low by his huge supply of food. Now that he was assassinated, the price of food immediately skyrocketed, making people unable to live!

In just over ten days, the food crisis swept across major cities in the south of the Yangtze River. More and more people were out of food, and fewer and fewer grain shops were still open.I managed to buy a little grain, but it was moldy, and at least [-]% of the sand had seeped through it, so I couldn’t eat it unless I sifted it. The grain like this is still priceless, and it’s popular, but you have to talk to the grain merchants about it. Directly throw out a sentence: "I love to buy, buy, don't buy and go away!" There is not even a place to reason.Salt and oil prices have also soared, and even potato noodles, which have always been known for their low prices, have risen to the point of three taels of silver per stone. Needless to say, rice and wheat prices are like a mad dog, flying up and biting people.Grain merchants in the south of the Yangtze River contributed to the flames, trying every means to create panic and drive up grain prices. At the same time, they also tried their best to find grain sources. No matter how high the price was, they would buy as long as there was grain——how much did they spend when they bought the wool? Money, those poor ghosts have to pay back double when they buy grain, what are they afraid of? At the same time, grain stocks in Heluo and Huguang areas have become the favorite products of grain merchants. It's too easy, the stock price is soaring, and the money they earn in one day can equal their income in a year's business!Many grain merchants even mortgaged their stores to raise money to buy grain stocks, which further exacerbated the rise in stock prices.Many people in the Huguang area looked jealous and wanted to buy two shares, but they were immediately stopped by the people around them: "Are you thinking of dying!?"

One month later, the price of grain in Jiangnan had reached an unreasonably high level, and a stone of yellow grain could be sold for eight taels of silver confidently!This is a desperate price. Even in Jiangnan, where the cost of living is very high, eight liang of silver is enough for a family of five for a year. Now, one year's income can't afford a single stone of yellow rice!The people in the south of the Yangtze River cried bitterly, but the profiteers laughed wildly, venting all the depression and anger suppressed by Yang Menglong all these years on the common people.They looted all the grain that could be sold in the Huguang area, and they also took all the grain sold from Annan. If the price of grain is driven up to ten taels of silver per stone, it will not be sold.At the same time, countless gold and silver flows to various stock exchanges like a flood, and grain stocks have risen to a jaw-dropping level.The assassination of Yang Menglong has been forgotten by Jiangnan, it's important to get rich!

Two months later, the price of grain had risen to ten taels of silver a stone, and the people in the south of the Yangtze River were about to jump into the river—they couldn’t even sell their sons and daughters to afford this price!The profiteers felt that it was almost done, and with one order, the major grain shops opened, and the grain shops of the Huguang grain merchants and Shandong grain merchants also started operation. The food supply was finally restored, but the people in Jiangnan were desperate. Even if the grain supply resumed, they would Can't even afford it!
However, after the reopening of the grain market, the situation was a bit strange: the grain shops of Jiangnan grain merchants offered ten taels of silver, while the grain merchants in Huguang and Shandong only quoted one tael!
The market was in chaos, and the people frantically flocked to the grain shops of grain merchants in Huguang and Shandong to snap up their grain.

At the same time, the "Nanyang Daily" published the latest news: Due to the poor professional level of the statisticians, there was a serious deviation in the statistics, and the grain inventory in Huguang Guancang was now revised from 300 million shi to 300 million shi.

As soon as the newspaper came out, the grain merchants in the south of the Yangtze River were collectively taken aback. Are there any deceitful people like you! ?Before they could react, the food stocks were venting like they had eaten crotons. The stock price did not change every day, but every minute, and they were teaching them how to behave every minute... Countless wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan want to cry but have no tears They finally realized the despair that the people in the south of the Yangtze River felt when they watched the price of grain soar, and the despair became even stronger. The common people can save their money if they can't afford food, but they have lost all their wealth. He even borrowed a large sum of money from the bank!
It's over, it's over!

The Huguang Governor’s Yamen severely punished those super amateur temporary workers, and solemnly apologized to the people in Jiangnan in the newspaper, promising to strengthen the professionalism of the talent team, improve the business level, and never make the same mistake again, and It is stated that Huguang has sufficient grain stocks. Friends who are in the grain business are welcome to come and order. If you buy more, there will be discounts!The food shortage subsided, and the people in the south of the Yangtze River were a false alarm. They didn't say anything except to spare money to buy more food.Grain merchants in Jiangnan... No, to be precise, most of the rich merchants in Jiangnan also didn't say anything. They were all vomiting blood, so they couldn't speak!
This food shortage only lasted for just two months, but it caused Jiangnan to lose more than 3000 million taels of silver. Although the people were still frightened by the crazy food prices, the wealthy businessmen who had lost their pants in hoarding and borrowing money to speculate in stocks were wailing loudly. Now it's their turn to try to reason but they can't find the ground.

(End of this chapter)