Number of People

  Chapter 2110 The solution to the disadvantages of Gui character convolution, the absurd strategy

"My lord, the imperial court is difficult, but the locality is even more difficult." Pan Ruzhen said with a bitter face: "Although the taxes of last year and this year were exempted, most of the people have no overnight food, and there is no way to delay the harvest until next summer. There is no solution to this problem. Relief is not without it, but in terms of locality... hey, you also served as an official in Yongping Mansion, so you should know the difficulties here,..."

Relief in this place depends on how much the treasury has, but it is obvious that the Yan'an Mansion is shy, and how much the local gentry and merchants can give depends on their mood, but one thing is for sure, it is absolutely impossible to give There is no doubt about the number of problems that can be solved.

   "Zhenpu, how much surplus grain and silver is there in the treasury of this government?" Feng Ziying asked the key question directly.

Any prefecture or county, no matter how poor and difficult it is, must have some food, money and supplies at the bottom of the box. This is the most basic bottom line, and it is also the last fundamental support of the government in case of unexpected difficulties. .

Pan Ruzhen thought for a while silently, and then said: "To tell you the truth, my lord, the treasury is in decent condition. There are still 3,200 shi for relief, 12,000 taels of money, and other things such as medicinal materials, cotton cloth, and wood. , How many military funds,..."

Feng Ziying was slightly surprised, it was really passable, he thought that the Yan'an Mansion would really have no surplus food and half a silver in the treasury, but he didn't expect there to be so much, which greatly exceeded his expectations, which showed that Pan Ruzhen was not that kind. People who have no plan, still have some planning and coping ideas.

"In addition, there are nine hundred stones of corn in the treasury of Fushi County, and only a thousand taels of money. There are also some other materials, but not many.... In other counties, the lower officials can grasp and are more authentic. Yes, there are only Ansai and Ganquan, which are similar to Fushi's situation. I'm afraid the others are very watery and difficult to predict. In addition, the situation of Fugu and Shenmu is due to lack of staff in the two counties. One of them died of illness last month. , one was vacant last year, and the official department has not yet filled the vacancy,..."

   "Well, I see." Feng Ziying also closed her eyes and thought about it silently.

This amount of money and food is definitely not enough to support it. It seems that Pan Ruzhen is also very difficult to be the magistrate. He only mentioned Fushi, Ansai and Ganquan, which means that only the county magistrates of these three counties can be regarded as relatively trustworthy, or As for his people, other prefectures and counties are more or less not so obedient or obedient, Fushi is not to mention Fuguo County, Ganquan and Ansai are also relatively close to Fuzhi.

   "What's the price of grain in Wubao County now? What about the price of grain at Qikou Ferry? What about the price of grain in Xi'an Prefecture?" Feng Ziying turned to Wang Wenyan.

"The price of grain in Wubao County fluctuated too much, but it basically stabilized after the siege was lifted. The price of corn rose to eleven taels of money per stone during the siege, but quickly fell to seven taels of money per stone after the siege was lifted. After the resumption of sailing at Qikou Ferry, the price dropped further to 526 yuan per stone, and now it is probably stable at around 525 yuan..." Wang Wenyan is well aware of these situations, "As for wheat, basically there is a price but no market. , Even if there are sold, they are quickly wiped out, the quantity is not large, and the current price is about seven taels per shi, um, there is basically no round-grained rice."

  Feng Ziying couldn't help but click her tongue: "What is the difference between the price at Qikoudu and Wubao? How about the price of food in Xi'an Prefecture?"

"There is not much difference between the price of grain at Qikoudu and this side. The main reason is that the price of porters has been added. Of course, there is still some gap. Taking corn as an example, the price at Qikoudu is currently stable at five taels to five taels. In between, wheat is around six to five thousand." Wang Wenyan further said: "The price in the Xi'an prefectural grain market is fairly stable, the price of bulk transactions is around four taels per stone for corn, and the retail price of grain shops is at four taels per stone. Shi, the price of wheat is about 428 yuan, and the price of inferior flour is about 526 yuan,..."

  Feng Ziying couldn't help but support her forehead. At this price, who can afford it?

Not to mention the Wubao side, even the food prices in Xi'an are already ridiculously high. In Feng Ziying's impression, after the water transport between Beijing and China was cut off, the price of food soared. The most expensive corn is only three taels, and the most expensive wheat is only three taels or five dollars. There has indeed been a big increase in the past few years, but it has only doubled, but at the current food price in Xi'an Prefecture, can Lu Chuan and Sun Yijie still sit still?

"In my impression, the price of grain in Shaanxi is slightly higher than that in Shanxi, and the price of grain in Shanxi is slightly higher than that in Beizhi, but the difference is only two yuan per shi? The food price in the government is so high, I don't know how long this price can last, but I know this situation will only bring riots in the end!" Feng Ziying said firmly.

  There are quite a few citizens in the city of Xi’an, which is the center of the entire Northwest region. When they can’t even sell their sons and daughters to fill their stomachs and have nowhere to go, there is really only riots.

"My lord, there is a severe shortage of food right now. If you don't buy it, some people buy it. Many grain shops are even reluctant to sell it, with a daily limit. This is the case in Xi'an Prefecture, and the same is true in other prefectures and prefectures. You don't have to worry about selling it." Wang Wenyan said tactfully: "Shanxi merchants Basically monopolizing the resale of grain in Shaanxi, the local merchants in Shaanxi can only play a supporting role and have no pricing power. Of course, even if they have pricing power, the result is probably the same. Who can resist making such huge profits? ?”

  Feng Ziying sighed. He didn't know anything else, but he knew that this situation was unsustainable. In the end, it would definitely be a volcano that had been accumulated by people. It would eventually erupt and burn who?

  If this problem cannot be solved, the chaos in Shaanxi will never be settled down. However, solving such a problem is almost an impossible task.

Feng Ziying has the impression that the continuous natural disasters and weather during the Little Ice Age in the previous life have caused the entire northern region to suffer disasters for decades. At this stage where the agricultural level is still quite weak, there is almost no solution. The solution may be to wipe out a large number of people through war, and then achieve a balance. Finally, wait until the bad weather in the Little Ice Age subsides slowly, and the introduction of crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn continues to popularize and increase crop income. High level of balance.

In this time and space, the level of agriculture has not changed much. Although Xu Guangqi has done enough work in cultivating and promoting potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn in Tianjin, but today, this kind of popularization and promotion is still in a very small range. , From the timeline, it seems that there are still ten years before the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, but the historical trajectory has changed a long time ago. Many things that were there before are gone now, and things that were not there before are now there. It was even worse than Daming, so Feng Ziying had to consider it from a worse perspective.

  What is your coping strategy? Of course Feng Ziying had already considered it.

Three hundred thousand taels of silver is not enough to fill the gaps between teeth, especially in Shaanxi, where the price of grain is skyrocketing. In normal years, one could have bought three hundred thousand taels of corn at the price of corn in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou, and more corn, but Now I can only buy 50,000 shi, so the more money comes in, the price of grain will continue to rise. The key is to have enough grain to keep the price down. This is one of them.

But even if there is enough food coming in and the price is raised to a normal year or a slightly higher price, for the vast number of victims and hungry people, they can't afford it even if they are penniless. This is another problem. , can not be resolved, still like a pair of lingering fire, once there are suitable conditions to trigger, it will be another big fire.

So in fact, it is too difficult to quell the war in Shaanxi. This is why at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rebels in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and even Huguang were not only wiped out but also revived, because at that time the rebellious army and the people were inseparable. Unless the body is destroyed, as long as it exists, he will eat. If there is no food, he can only rob it, and the people will become a chaotic army. It's as simple as that.

  Feng Ziying sat alone in the hall thinking silently after Pan Ruzhen left. Wang Wenyan sent Pan Ruzhen in, and then Wu Yaoqing also came in. There were only three people left in the hall.

   It should be said that Wang Wenyan and Wu Yaoqing have won Feng Ziying's trust through their performance in the past few years. They have become Feng Ziying's indispensable roles as a staff, think tank, and intelligence officer. To them, Feng Ziying has nothing to say.

   "What's the attitude of Modlun and Qiu Zixiong?" Feng Ziying asked softly.

   "There are still some entanglements and struggles. After all, it is difficult to make such a decision. Qiu Zixiong is better, his character is rough and straightforward, and Modren thinks more." Wu Yaoqing looked calm, "But they should have no choice."

Feng Ziying sighed softly, "The situation in Shaanxi has come to this point, it is not the responsibility of any one person, the court is responsible, the local officials are responsible, the army is responsible, and God is even more responsible. The long-standing shortcomings of the ten-year institutional system are even more responsible. Sometimes we have to choose a more absurd and bizarre way to destroy the results of the seemingly normal institutional structure, and then we have to clean ourselves up. How ridiculous?"

  Wang Wenyan also asked, "Do I need to wait a little longer?"

"I can't wait any longer. It is a bad omen for the rebellious army to cross the river. This is a harbinger of chaos in Shanxi. If Pingyang is not as depressed as here, thousands of rebellious troops may not be able to withstand such a big storm. "Feng Ziying looked worried, "We have come up with countermeasures in Shaanxi, but there is nothing we can do in Shanxi. Do we really want to stand by? It seems that we can't pass the test psychologically."

  (end of this chapter)