Nanming Engineer

Chapter 184 State-run Grain Depot
After leaving Hezhou Yamen, Wang Huan did not stop. He immediately ordered Zu Bian to return to Chongqing Fucheng with three thousand stone pillar soldiers. At the same time, he sent an order to Ma Long and Ma Xintian. They should not go too far to pursue the remaining soldiers, especially not to enter Shunqing Mansion, where is Zhang Xianzhong's territory is gone, now is not the time to start a war with him.

Arriving at Chongqing Fucheng that night, Wang Huan directly lived in the camp of the chief soldier, and slept in Zeng Ying's bedroom. Zeng Ying was so extravagant, and the chief soldier's residence was as luxurious as a palace, with light gauze curtains, silk and satin, Everything that one expects to find, the furniture is a whole set of lacquer surface of yellow flower wood, which can make people's shadows stand out.There are a lot of old maids and maidservants who served, but they were all sent back to their hometown by Wang Huan, replaced by soldiers, and used his own bodyguards as servants, so don't worry, besides, Wang Huan is not such a poor and fastidious person, he likes to do everything by himself , and don't need many servants.

Early the next morning, Wang Huan called Meng Zhiyu and others for a meeting, and made a series of deployments. Zeng Yingxin was defeated, and the news would reach Zhang Xianzhong's ears within a day. In his eyes, once Zeng Ying left, he would definitely be more fearless. As long as the west of Sichuan was able to free up his hands, he would definitely mobilize troops to rush over. Sooner or later, he had to make preparations to fight against him.

Under the military system of the Ming Dynasty, under normal circumstances, the number of soldiers under a commander-in-chief does not exceed 5000. After this number, the imperial court will not issue extra head-to-head military pay.But in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, which one of the general soldiers who can fight is not the scale of tens of thousands?The imperial court's military salary is just a drop in the bucket, and they all rely on their own methods to raise it. There are various methods, such as taxation, extortion, and extortion. There are people who are more crazy than thieves and are killing people everywhere.

Zeng Ying was like this, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to raise so many soldiers. Although compared with Zuo Liangyu, he was pretty good. At least he didn't openly kill people and grab property, and it was more or less concealed. But under his rule, the people Still had a hard time.

Therefore, the common people in the middle of Sichuan are sad at both ends. Zhang Xianzhong in the west and the Nanming warlord in the east are like wolves and tigers.

Since he is a Living Bodhisattva, everyone must know that he is a Living Bodhisattva. Wang Huan’s order is as follows: First, at the gates of Chongqing Mansion, Kuizhou Mansion, and the cities of Xuzhou Mansion that have already taken refuge, there are also On the main roads, stone tablets were erected, engraved with the three laws of civil affairs under the rule of the Kuizhou General Army. Those who settle down can open up wasteland and plant land as long as they fill in the household registration at Baojia in various places. The newly opened land will not be paid for land tax for three years; the third is to set up an official treasury. Sell ​​at market price.

These three government orders made Meng Zhiyu almost jump up in shock, and shouted loudly, "My lord, my lord! No, no!"

Wang Huan looked at him calmly, took a sip of tea and said, "Why not?"

Meng Zhiyu waved his hands, shook his head wildly and said, "My lord, exempting the newly recovered land from land taxes for one year is enough, and it is even more ridiculous to not pay grain for three years on the newly reclaimed land. How many troops and horses do you have under your lord? How much rice is eaten, and how much is it in a month? The new refugees open up wasteland and farm, and there is no rice before harvesting, so they have to eat, right? The adults can make a lot of money every day, but they can’t stand this kind of sitting and eating! And the establishment of the government treasury, buying and selling grain from the people, isn’t that putting our necks on the knife edge of the grain merchants? Grain merchants can completely store grain and control The price of grain on the market has raised the price of grain, leaving us with nothing to harvest, but they have collected grain from the people at a higher price than the government treasury. In the end, when we need grain, we have to rely on grain merchants. This is Big taboo, my lord!"

Seeing Meng Zhiyu's heartbroken look, Wang Huan was very relieved. Wang Huan was not very relieved about this county magistrate. After all, he was not from Shizhu Wanshou Valley. His nervousness already shows that he has tied all his wealth to Wang Huan's chariot, and he is determined to follow him to the dark, even if he is an enemy of the wealthy grain merchants.

"You're right, and it's reasonable." Wang Huan put down his teacup and said quietly, with a cunning tone that made people feel uncomfortable after hearing it: "You have said so much, but there are actually two questions. Grain turnover and price stability.”

"The first question, we copied Zeng Ying's old nest and seized all his military rations left in the rear. This good boy has tossed a lot of good things over the past year. Do you know that in his official warehouse How much hoarded food is there?”

Meng Zhiyu shook his head, Zeng Ying's granary was in the barracks, and Wang Huan asked Ma Xintian to block it there, even Meng Zhiyu never went in.

Wang Huan stretched out three fingers mysteriously.

"Thirty thousand shi?" Meng Zhiyu asked in surprise, "Where did he get so much food?"

Wang Huan pouted: "You guessed wrong."

Meng Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, Zeng Bapi couldn't get that much food even if he really wanted to skin the people. Three thousand shi is still possible.

His relieved mouth hadn't closed yet, and was immediately agitated by Wang Huan's next slow and leisurely words, which was big enough to stuff a duck egg into it.

"You guessed wrong." Wang Huan repeated: "The official warehouse has been cleaned and measured, and there is enough grain for 30 shi."

Meng Zhiyu's jaw was about to drop to the ground, his eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets, and he stood up with a "whoosh" sound, but he couldn't speak.

Wang Huan didn't care about him, and calculated as if talking to himself: "If a person eats half a catty of food every day, it will be 10 catties a month, and 150 people will need 370 million catties a month, which is 11 and 30 buckets a year. I got [-] shi of grain, and I have more than [-] shi here, counting the surplus grain of the people, enough to feed more than [-] people in the three prefectures of eastern Sichuan for a year, and it can also pull up an army of tens of thousands."

Every word he uttered was like a shot of chicken blood in Meng Zhiyu's heart, making Meng Zhiyu's originally pale face redder and redder. His face was as red as a ripe cherry in May.

"My lord, can you take this seriously? Can the supervisor count clearly? Is there really 30 shi?" Meng Zhiyu said happily with his mouth that was almost dislocated just now, and then saw Wang Huan nodded, Shouting more happily: "In this way, everything will be worry-free!"

"So, we solved the first problem, using Zeng Ying's gift." Wang Huan also laughed: "That man offended the landlords and officials in eastern Sichuan all over the place, and the grain he collected was so cheap for us. .”

"The second question is more troublesome." Wang Huan continued, but his smile was put away, and he put on a serious expression: "Food prices are related to the country. After all, the people depend on food, and there is no food. No matter how honest people are, they will rise up to rebel. During the reign of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi, and there were countless thieves. This is a precedent. But the power of the sky is unpredictable. Who knows if Sichuan will also suffer a disaster. Therefore, food must be monopolized It must be run by our government."

Meng Zhiyu was a little puzzled when he heard this, recovered from the ecstasy, and asked, "I understand what your lord means, but this official treasury sounds no different from the current one, so how can it monopolize the grain business? "

Wang Huan smiled: "Of course there is a difference. Official warehouses rely on requisition. Every year, farmers must hand in their land tax. Whether you want it or not, you have to pay it. The government doesn't care about the excess grain, so it provides food for various grain merchants." Opportunities, but the imperial court is corrupt, there are countless rats, and the management of official warehouses is also riddled with holes. To be honest, the food supply of Ming Dynasty, on the surface, there are countless official warehouses controlled by the imperial court. So much is moldy accumulated grain, which is useless at critical moments. A large amount of grain is controlled by many big grain merchants. Da Ming's throat, if they try to tighten it, Da Ming will die."

He looked at Meng Zhiyu: "Tell me, can this kind of thing happen to us?"

Meng Zhiyu returned to the state of being speechless with his mouth wide open.

Wang Huan went on to say firmly: "Of course not! Food is the lifeblood, and no one can control it except ourselves! From now on, there will be no other grain merchants in my Wang Huan's territory. All grain can only be bought and sold by us. This is called government business, and the organization that comes forward is the government treasury!"

Meng Zhiyu clasped his jaw with his hand, woke up from the shock, and a thought exploded in his mind: Competing for profit with the people, this is competing for profit with the people!

At this moment, he thought of countless past events in history. The scenes of reforms similar to Wang Huan's actions, from Wang Anshi to Zhang Juzheng, the bloody lessons surfaced before his eyes, and Meng Zhiyu panicked. He could not even think about the consequences of doing so. I feel terrible, this is tantamount to snatching food from the tiger's mouth, and it is tantamount to making enemies of the nobles in the world.

"My lord! Absolutely not, absolutely not, an official is an official, how can he do business? This is not in line with the teachings of the saints..."

He was interrupted by Wang Huan before what he said in a hurry: "It's just a fight for profit with the people? Humph, I think it's a fight for profit with the officials! The grain merchants in the world have boundless capabilities, and they can even influence the high officials in the court." Instead of letting businessmen control the business of determining the lifeline of the world, why not let us come? Competing for profit, the world is prosperous, it is all for profit, and the world is full of hustle and bustle, all for profit. I will nationalize the grain business , You don’t know anything about Nellie’s life in Qianqiu, but in this troubled world, controlling the food supply is the key.”

What Wang Huan thought of was the great role played by the state-owned grain store founded by the great man in the later generations. There are examples first. I just follow the path of the great man, and I will succeed!

(End of this chapter)