Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 924 Too much food is also worrying (additional meal)
"What's the noise~"

At this time, a person walked out of the grain shop, who looked like the owner of the grain shop.

Yuan Kai looked around, and soon his eyes were fixed on Chen Xin. There were some peasants around him, and he could tell at a glance that only Chen Xin in front of him was definitely not a peasant.

"My servant, Yuan Kai, is the owner of this grain store. I don't know the gentleman's name?"

As a businessman, Yuan Kai still has sharp eyesight, and the principle of doing things is not to offend people easily, so he asked Chen Xin very politely.

"Chen Xin!"

Chen Xin nodded slightly, and then said lightly.

"I don't know what advice Mr. Chen came to my store for?"

Yuan Kai thought about it carefully, but he didn't connect Chen Xin with Liaodong's political envoy. After all, he was only a small grain merchant and had no access to a big official like Chen Xin.

"Let me ask you, why do you grain merchants keep the price of grain so low that the five shi of grain is only sold for one tael of silver. I have never heard of such a price."

Chen Xin asked bluntly.

"I think your husband is also a noble person, so he must read newspapers a lot."

When questioned by Chen Xin, Yuan Kai didn't rush, instead he asked back.

"I watch it every day."

Chen Xin nodded and replied.

"The nobleman must also know that this year in my Ming Dynasty, not only my Liaodong ushered in a bumper harvest, but our Ming Dynasty, east, west, north, south, overseas and at home, almost all ushered in a bumper harvest year."

"Liaodong, Nanyang, Henan, Beizhili, Shandong, Jiangnan, and even Guangdong and Guangxi have all had bumper harvests. There is so much food in every place. Can the price of this food not be low?"

"Five stones of wheat is one tael of silver. It's definitely not that we grain merchants deliberately lower the price, but that the market is at this price. This is our wheat from Liaodong. Only the best quality wheat can be sold at this price."

"If you grow sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other coarse grains from the Golden Continent, you can sell them for less than a tael of silver for ten shi. These things are everywhere now, and you can't eat them all. Many places are used to feed pigs. "

Yuan Kai asked people to take out several newspapers, then pointed to some places on the newspapers and said, "Here, please read here. This report is about the Nanyang region."

"As mentioned above in detail, in Nanyang's Jiaozhi, Xianglin, Nanyang and other provinces, this year's rice harvest is very high, and the output is very high. In Nanyang, one tael of silver can buy about seven shi of rice."

"Because the price of grain is so low that many plantation owners have expressed that they will reduce the planting of rice next year and expand the planting of sugar cane. Although the price of sugar cane has dropped this year, it is still cheaper than planting rice. Still cheaper."

"There is also this report about the Western Regions and the Hezhong region. Although this is the first year of immigration to the Western Regions and the Hezhong region, a large number of fields have been reclaimed in these two places and a bumper harvest has been ushered in."

"It was reported above that the grain grown in the Western Regions and the Hezhong region is enough to feed the Western Regions and the Hezhong region for five years. Not only do they no longer need to transport grain from our customs, but they even have enough grain to share with the herdsmen. For cattle, sheep and horses."

"This is a report about Ryukyu Island and Qiongzhou Island. Qiongzhou Island used to be a place full of miasma, and the food production was very small, but now, Qiongzhou Island not only has a lot of food for takeaway, but also has a lot of food in winter. vegetables and fruits, the local government wants to promote Qiongzhou through the Ming Morning Post, and attract businessmen to go to Qiongzhou to buy vegetables, fruits, and grain.”

Yuan Kai flipped through the reports in the newspaper, and introduced in detail the situation of this year's bumper grain harvest in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty.

In the [-]th year of Hongzhi's reign, the weather was good and the weather was good, and there was a bumper harvest of grain everywhere. Now the grain in Daming is too much, too much, and it is impossible to finish it.

Food prices continue to fall, which has become a normal phenomenon.

"In this way, you are not deliberately lowering the price?"

Chen Xin listened carefully, and then looked at the contents of the newspaper. He had read all of these, but he just looked at them casually before, and didn't pay too much attention to them.

Yuan Kai and the others are grain merchants, so they are naturally most concerned about grain reports, and they can get a general idea of ​​the grain production of the entire Ming Dynasty through the Ming Morning Post.

"Of course~"

"In the past few years, our Ming Dynasty has continued to expand abroad, and a large amount of fertile land has been incorporated into our Ming Dynasty's territory. The imperial court has continued to immigrate, moving a large number of people to Liaodong, Nanyang, Western Regions, Australia, and Golden Continent. "

"At the same time, a large number of cattle and horses were used in agriculture, and a large amount of land was reclaimed."

"In addition, the imperial court promoted the high-yield crops from the Golden Continent all over the country, which caused our Ming's grain production to soar every year, and it was getting higher every year. This year ushered in a big outbreak. The entire Daming's grain production The output is probably several times that of last year."

"Our wheat in Liaodong is considered to be the best wheat. It is a refined grain and can be valuable. Those who grow coarse grains such as sweet potatoes and corn cannot be sold at all. They can only be eaten by themselves or fed to pigs."

Yuan Kai Zheng nodded and said.

"But the price is too low, isn't it? Five shi of grain sells for one tael of silver, which is too low. Everyone has worked so hard to plant the land for a year, but in the end, the grain is worthless. Isn't this a year of hard work in vain? "

After Chen Xin listened, he also nodded slightly, as if he had accepted Yuan Kai's explanation. This is a bumper harvest in all parts of Ming Dynasty, and it is normal for grain prices to drop.

"It's not bad to be able to sell at this price, because our Liaodong is close to the Beijing-Tianjin area, and we can reach Tianjin Port by walking across the Bohai Sea, and the Beijing-Tianjin area has a large population and consumes a lot of food."

"If you are in other places, I am afraid you can't sell it at this price."

"What's more, what we harvest is wheat, and we have to hustle it later, and grind it into powder before we can sell it."

Yuan Kai shook his head and said.

The surrounding farmers were also dumbfounded when they heard this. The food was worthless. There was food everywhere, and every household had inexhaustible food. It seemed natural that it was worthless.

"The price is the price~"

"If you want to sell it, you can sell it. If you don't want to, you can keep it. As this brother said, if there is enough food in the house, you can actually raise pigs or something."

"Pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. are now selling very well in the capital. The demand is very strong, and the price is quite impressive. It is also very profitable to engage in breeding."

"Or you can learn from the landlords in North Zhili. In North Zhili, the landowners have no one to plant their fields, so they plant a lot of cotton, vegetables, and fruits. Not all the newspapers Having said that, it is much more cost-effective than food, and the price of cotton has risen sharply this year."

"The prices of vegetables and fruits are also constantly rising. We in Liaodong are close to the Beijing-Tianjin area, and there are also sea routes, so it is convenient to travel. I plan to do business in this area in the future."

"We don't make money from the sale of grain."

Yuan Kai looked at the farmers around him, shook his head helplessly and said.

He is a businessman, reads newspapers every day, knows many things, and speaks the truth.

"Pig raising?"

"Growing cotton?"

When the surrounding farmers heard this, they all frowned slightly.

For traditional farmers, this field cannot be abandoned. Naturally, it is best to grow food, food is a good thing, and the most important thing is to have a full stomach.

But in just a few years, the food is worthless and cannot be sold for a price. They even say that they need to use the food to raise pigs, chickens, ducks and geese, and use good fields to grow cotton.

Immediately, someone shook their heads again and again.

Is the wheat not fragrant?

Or is this steamed bun not tasty?
It's only been a few days of good life, is it about to start ruining food and fields?

"So that's the case, I was reckless~"

After listening to Yuan Kai's words, Chen Xin also apologized to Yuan Kai.

"It's okay, it's okay~"

Yuan Kai smiled and replied indifferently.

Chen Xin left this grain store, then went to other places, and got a detailed understanding of the situation with some merchants, just as Yuan Kai said.

The entire Ming Dynasty ushered in an unprecedented bumper harvest of grain. Wheat in the north, rice in the south, and corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes were planted everywhere. The grain harvest was bumper, and the price of grain dropped to an unprecedented low price.

The low price of grain hurts the farmers, and the food that the farmers have worked so hard to grow is worthless.

After going out for a walk, Chen Xin also got two important pieces of information.

Back at his official residence, Chen Xin also took out a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and began to write memorials on it.

"...Thanks to His Majesty's protection, and all the sages in the DPRK, this year my Ming Dynasty has good weather and an unprecedented bumper harvest of grain. A bumper harvest of grain is a good thing, but now there are two big problems."

"The first problem is that in my Liaodong area, too much land has been reclaimed this year. Every family has hundreds of acres of land. There are too many fields planted, so I am afraid that the harvest will not be completed before winter. There is a lot of grain rotting in the fields."

"Food is hard to come by, and it is a pity that it rots in the ground. Therefore, I think that I, Daming, can ask North Korea for help. I hope that North Korea can organize more people to do short-term labor in our Liaodong area and help our Liaodong area harvest. While providing food, North Koreans can also get rich rewards."

"Secondly, I have ordered someone to buy a steam harvester at the Jingcheng Machinery Factory. The steam harvester is expensive, so I am applying for a sum of money."

"The second problem is that cheap grain hurts farmers. In the Liaodong area, five shi of wheat can only be sold for one tael of silver. This price is really too low. For this, I can't think of any way..."

(End of this chapter)