Dahan first prince

Chapter 346 Two-Phase Total Harm, Whichever Is Lesser

For Liu Ying's question, Chu Wang Liu Jiao finally failed to give a complete answer.

After returning to Changle Palace with Liu Ying and participating in the court council as Zong Bo, Liu Jiao hardly stayed outside the palace for a moment, and then went straight back to his own Chu Palace.

But in the Changle Palace, the emperor Liu Ying, who was officially crowned as the pro-government, was called to her side by his old lady Lu Zhi.

"how?"

"As for the matter of King Wu, King Chu, can you talk about right and wrong?"

Asked indifferently, Lu Zhi's face was still graceful, but his tone of voice was a little cold.

On the other hand, Liu Ying still had a smile on her face when she heard the words, she stepped forward respectfully, stretched out her hands and gently kneaded the old lady's shoulders.

"Uncle Chu Wang has always been responsible and understands the overall situation; as for Wu Wang's matter, Chu Wang has never commented."

"It's the grain that the Shaofu sent to the Kanto, and the king of Chu didn't say whether or not, let alone the matter of 'Shaofu Migui'..."

The gentle tone also made the coldness in Lu Zhi's eyes gradually dissipate, and the eyes looking at Liu Ying finally brought the gentleness of the past.

"The king of Chu is a peaceful..."

"Only the King Wu's family has never known what 'duty' is since they were fathers?"

Seemingly still dissatisfied and complaining, Lu Zhi also shook his head with a smile, then turned his face to the side, and gently pressed his side cheek against Liu Ying's tender hand.

And behind Lu Zhi, Liu Ying squeezed her shoulders for her mother, while thinking in secret.

Speaking of this time, the matter of Wu Wang Liu Bi's "blasphemy about the government" has to start with the grain price fluctuation in Guanzhong a few years ago.

In the autumn of the tenth year of Emperor Taizu Gao, it happened that Chen Xi, the prime minister of the dynasty, was in trouble, and there was a dispute in Guandong again; and Guanzhong encountered another year when the grain was not abundant, and the price of grain in Guanzhong rose.

In the spring of the next year, Guanzhong's grain Mijia secretly colluded to drive up the price of grain, so that the price of rice and stone was more than [-] yuan; .

Upon learning of this, Liu Yingzhan, who was still a prince and entrusted by the former emperor Liu Bang with the responsibility of supervising the country, was assassinated in Liu Bang's Changling Town before he could act.

Although subsequent investigations proved that Liu Ying's assassination in Changling was the work of Jing Che, a member of Huaiyin Marquis Han Xin's sect, but the "Prince Assassination of Changling" was also used by Liu Ying as an entry point, thus eradicating Guanzhong in one fell swoop. group of grain merchants.

The grain market was disrupted by the Crown Prince, followed by the Shaofu, which waved the banner of "official grain and rice" and started a grain monopoly business in its official capacity.

It was also from then on that the Kwantung vassals group, which originally had absolute autonomy, has since been chained to the neck by an invisible iron chain...
——Before the Shaofu officials ran grain and rice, the grain market in the entire Han Dynasty was composed of large and small grain merchants, and they fully followed the development of the market economy.

There are many rice in Guanzhong, few rice in Guandong, cheap rice in Guanzhong, expensive rice in Guandong;
The low-priced grain in Guanzhong was naturally transported to Kanto by the mercenary grain merchants and sold at a high price.

Under this kind of market law that absolutely obeys the market economy, although Guanzhong and Kanto have different grain production levels, under the "hard work" of the grain merchant Mi Jia's transportation, Guanzhong and Kanto, two independent grains that should have nothing to do with each other The market has also been inexplicably merged into a whole.

——Although the grain production in Guanzhong is high, most of it is transported out of the customs by grain merchants, so even if the grain production is sufficient, the price of grain in Guanzhong is still high;
In Kanto, although tens of millions of shi grains were transported out of Guanzhong, the high transportation costs also kept the price of grain in Kanto high.

It is precisely because of this that before the Shaofu government ran grain and rice, the people in the world, whether it was the people of Guanzhong or the people of the princes of the Guandong, had no choice but to accept the cruelty of "regardless of good years or disaster years, the price of food is always only a little lower than the limit that the people can bear". Reality.

To be more specific, in Guanzhong, which is the granary of the world, the price of grain is maintained at about [-] to [-] renminbi per shi; while in the Kanto region, which relies heavily on "imported" grain from Guanzhong, the price of grain is generally around [-] to [-] yuan per stone. About [-] yuan.

Such a high grain price naturally made the former grain merchants earn a lot of money, and also caused the people all over the world to mourn.

However, after the "Assassinated Changling" Prince Jian Guo made an outrageous attack and completely eradicated the grain merchants in Guanzhong, the originally "thriving" Han Dynasty grain market suddenly entered a strange blank period.

In the past, the operation of the world's grain market was based on the transportation of grain by grain merchants in Guanzhong to export to Kanto, so as to promote the supply and demand relationship of "Both Guanzhong and Kanto suffer from a slight shortage of grain and rice" to maintain the high price of grain;

However, after Liu Yingshi Shaofu ended up as an official and monopolized the grain market in one fell swoop, this inherent model was instantly broken.

If you think about it, you will know: in the newly established Han Dynasty, which was not yet fully stable, transporting strategic resources such as grain through the Hangu Pass was obviously not something that the rich locals in the Kanto could do;

Losing the Guanzhong Grain Merchant who had 'hands and eyes connected to the sky', the connection between Guanzhong Grain Market and Kanto was naturally easily cut off.

As a result, the Guanzhong and Kanto grain markets, which had previously been integrated by grain merchant groups, have since been divided into two independent markets.

——In Guanzhong, where grain production is abundant and there is a small government's "macro-control", the price of grain has dropped steadily. Since the spring of the 11th year of the Han Dynasty, it was more than 2000 yuan per stone, and it has dropped to [-] yuan per stone after the autumn harvest last year;

However, in the Kanto region, where grain production is insufficient to meet demand, grain prices remain high and remain at [-] renminbi per shi all year round.

As for the reason, it can be described as extremely complicated.

There is the reason why the emperor Liu Ying "appreciated one more than another" and gave priority to supplying Guanzhong and North Wall garrison troops as the main phalanx;
Concerned about the "hoarding" of the East grain merchants, the reason for raising the price of grain for profit;

Of course, the main reason is that the Shaofu, which monopolizes the grain market in Guanzhong, has insufficient grain supply to Kanto, and the supply price is not low.

Take last year's autumn harvest as an example:

According to the announcement issued by Shaofu after the autumn harvest, the price of grain purchased by Shaofu this year is 150 yuan per stone, and the selling price is [-] yuan per stone;
At the same time, in order to ensure its own monopoly position, Shaofu "buy at 150 yuan per stone and sell at [-] yuan per stone", in principle, buy and sell in unlimited quantities.

But at the time of supplying the Guandong, Shaofu changed suddenly. From a big dog who monopolized the Guanzhong grain market, it suddenly turned into a staunch guard of "equal standard and equal loss".

Regarding the amount of grain supplied to the Kanto, Shaofu strictly complied with the principle of "prioritizing the Guanzhong grain market, court expenses, and army replenishment" explained by Liu Ying, and maintained the grain supply to the Kanto at 5000 million for the whole year. Below the stone!

In layman's terms, Shaofu's supply of food to the Kanto region was to keep enough food for the people in the region, the needs of the court and the army, and then to take out the unused parts and supply them to the Kanto region.

And the grain supply of "no more than 5000 million shi in a year" also indirectly led to a serious imbalance between supply and demand in the Kanto grain market, which made it impossible for grain prices to fall at all.

——In Shaofu, the money for the official grain and rice, and the grain flowing from Guanzhong to Kanto, are basically more than 5000 million shi per year!

Even so, the food price in Kanto has never been lower than in Guanzhong!
But now, the grain exported from Guanzhong to Kanto has suddenly decreased by two-thirds, which will obviously exacerbate the food shortage in Kanto and thus affect grain prices.

Furthermore, Shaofu’s supply of grain to the Kanto region is not based on the Guanzhong area’s “unlimited purchase at 150 renminbi per stone and unlimited sale at 850 renminbi per shi” but at a price of 5000 renminbi per shi Fixedly sell [-] million stones.

In this way, it is very common for Wu Wang Liu Bi to complain that "the Shaofu blackmailed the clan princes".

It sells for 850 yuan in Guanzhong, but sells it for [-] yuan in Kanto. This is clearly a money grab!
Even the price of 850 yuan per stone does not include transportation costs!

——After receiving the "order" request from the clan princes of the Guandong, the Shaofu was only responsible for transporting the grain to the Ao warehouse outside Hangu Pass, and asked the princes to send people to pick it up!

With such differential treatment, if no one jumps out and scolds Yang Chengyan for a few words of "benevolence makes you faint", I am afraid that even Liu Ying will murmur in her heart, wondering if there is something about Yang Chengyan, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, that she doesn't know The 'monstrous background' is out.

But to complain is to complain, Wu Wang Liu Bi, and even Qi Wang Liu Fei, Chu Wang Liu Jiao, and Liu Ying's other younger brothers, I am afraid they will not dare to do anything out of the ordinary.

The reason.

"Emperor Taizu Gao enfeoffed the princes of the clan and relatives, and used the town of Guandong. He originally gave the land and the people to the princes and kings;"

"It is the prince's concern to have enough food for the people, not the responsibility of the court."

After saying something in a low tone, Liu Ying also stopped, and sat beside Lu Zhi with a slightly serious expression.

"In the past, when the people in the Guandong were short of food and rice, the princes didn't care about it. They only spent money in the royal palace and didn't care about the people's livelihood;"

"The princes and the people are starved of food, and there is no prince to protect them, so they only have enough Guanzhong rice transported by the grain merchants in Guanzhong, which costs thousands of dollars..."

Speaking with a solemn expression, Liu Ying did not forget to sigh a little, and turned her eyes away from her mother Lu Zhi, turned to look in the direction of the palace gate, and let out a long sigh leisurely.

"Since the fall of the Qin Dynasty and the prosperity of the Han Dynasty, all the people in the world have relied on the rice in Guanzhong to go out of Hangu to feed the people in the Guandong;"

"For this reason, even though Guanzhong has abundant grain production, it is inevitable that the price of grain will be high; and the rice transported from Guanzhong to Guandong is also more expensive than thousands of dollars due to the allocation of transportation routes."

"When my son was a prince, I once heard the teaching of Emperor Taizu Gao Zunzun: If you don't seek the king of all ages, it is not enough to seek a moment."

"At that time, my son had doubts."

"——Today, all kinds of wastes are waiting to be prosperous, the people's population is not abundant, and the rations of the people in Guanzhong are already stretched;"

"In the future, when the people of the world live and work in peace and contentment, and the people's population is abundant, and the grain in Guanzhong is not enough to feed the people in Guanzhong, what should the people of the world feed on?"

The tone was full of solemnity and asked, Liu Ying turned her head and looked again at the thoughtful, kind face of her mother Lu Zhi, who couldn't stop smiling and nodded.

"The old man thinks that for the current plan, the only way is to order the Shaofu to reduce the transfer of expensive rice and the Kanto, so as to force the Kanto princes to reclaim land!"

"If this is not the case, after a few decades, when the population of the people in the world will double in size, Guanzhong may not be able to export rice to support the world. Instead, it will be necessary to import rice from outside the customs into the Guanzhong to support the people in the Guanzhong... ·”

Hearing Liu Ying's words, Lu Zhi didn't show any surprise on his face, he just smiled deeply, and gently took Liu Ying's hand.

"If the world and the century-old plan are used to force the princes of the Guandong to open up their own wasteland, and to be self-sufficient in the food and rice of the people, it can indeed be called a great plan for the country."

"However, if this is the case, in the future, when you get three or two princes, you will have bad thoughts in your heart, and you will hold the money and food to turn the world around, and you will make a difference with a sharp weapon, so what?"

"Wouldn't it be better to make the countries of the Guandong rely on the grain in the Guanzhong for a long time, so that the princes will not have the ability to rebel, and the ancestral temple and society will be safe for a long time?"

Hearing this, Liu Ying smiled, and immediately looked at Lu Zhi's scrutinizing eyes without any hesitation, without any panic between her brows.

"In all things in the world, if there is gain, there must be loss."

"Governing the princes with grain and rice can indeed make the ancestral temple safe for a while, but it can't last for a long time."

"And if today, because of governing the princes, the princes are prevented from cultivating land, in the future, when the food in the world is not enough for the people in the world to feed themselves, this will be a serious disaster that will shake the country."

"As the saying goes: two phases are all harmful, whichever is the lesser."

"For the princes of the Guandong, rather than giving up food because of choking, it is better to lure each country in order so that each country can support its own people."

"And when the princes got grain and got different minds, it can be said to be: misfortune, or it can be said to be: opportunity."

"If one day, the Guandong is able to support its own people, but the clansmen who have deceitful thoughts in Wu Han Zuo's heart, the court can send troops to fight against them, so as to turn this country of 'self-supporting its people' into a county... ..."

With a weird smile, Liu Ying looked at Lu Zhi with a hint of scheming in her eyes!
"Furthermore, although the Shaofu now supplies the Kanto with little grain and expensive rice, it is not the work of three or five years old that the countries are self-sufficient."

"When the princes are powerful, the sons will be strong, the court will be full of treasury, and the soldiers will be sufficient."

"At that time, even if the princes of the Guandong might have the ability to rebel, they would not have the guts to commit misconduct?"

啪；
啪；
Snapped.

Three crisp applause made Liu Ying raise her head involuntarily, and she saw that Lu Zhi's face was filled with admiration and inexplicable peace of mind.

"good·······"

"Very good..."

Laughing and giving this approval, Lu Zhi put his hands back on his lap, although the brows were still soft as Ji, but in his tone, subconsciously brought a little sophistication.

"Even if the emperor has a well-thought-out plan, I have nothing else to say."

"Only the King of Wu has resentment in his heart. If things go on like this, it may be detrimental to the country."

After saying a word lightly, Lu Zhi turned sideways, picked up a silk cloth from his side, and handed it to Liu Ying.

"My intention: send envoys to reprimand the king of Wu, admonish him for his inappropriate words and deeds, and secretly police his clan relatives and princes."

"What does the emperor think?"

Hearing this, Liu Ying stood up with a smile, and bowed her hand to Lu Zhi in a docile manner.

"My son, I would like to obey my mother's edict..."

(End of this chapter)