marquis of jingan

Chapter 40 Officials and businessmen

What Feng Zhixian said was very particular.

What he said was that "Prefect Chen" was rude to these grain merchants, and he didn't say how he himself treated these grain merchants. This sentence was to tell these grain merchants that although he, Feng, was handling this matter, the actual The above was requested by Chen Fuzun, and it has nothing to do with him, the county magistrate of Jiangdu.

After saying this, Master Feng looked at the dozen or so grain merchants sitting there, then set his sights on a fat man who was similar in stature to him, and said with a smile: "Mr. Your Ma family has the largest business, so please express your opinion first."

Ma Yuanwai's name is Ma Jin, and he is the leading grain merchant in Jiangdu and even in the entire Gyeonggi. This time, Jiangdu's grain prices have skyrocketed, and Ma Yuanwai is also leading the charge. The purpose is very simple, that is, to take back the imperial court's "grain purchase" from the common people. deficit.

Hearing the county magistrate's roll call, Ma Yuanwai stood up slowly. He first cupped his hands at County Magistrate Feng, and then said, "Master County, it's not that I want to raise the price, but the imperial court bought it from Jiangdu." There is too much food, and each of our grain banks has no food."

Foreign Minister Ma Yuan sighed, with a worried expression on his face: "The imperial court spent money to buy our food. Originally, it was considered that there was no food, and it would be fine if we didn't sell it, but we really couldn't bear to see our folks go hungry, so we had to Spend money to buy food from other places.”

Speaking of this, Ma Yuanwai took a look at Feng Xianzun, and sighed again: "Master Xianzun should also know that this time the imperial court bought grain not only from our Jiangdu prefecture, but also from the entire Gyeonggi and even nearby provinces. We provided grain to the imperial court, we are short of grain in Jiangdu, and there is no reason why the neighboring prefecture is not short of grain, if you want to buy grain, you have to go to other provinces to buy it."

"Master, the mountains are high and the waters are far away."

The horseman looked worried outside: "Don't talk about how much it costs to buy these grains, the price of transporting them to Jiangdu is not a small amount of expenses, Mr. County, you are an outsider, and Mr. Fu Zun is also an outsider, but we These grain merchants are all locals..."

Master Ma said heartbrokenly: "My ancestors have lived here for generations. In the future, the county lord and the mansion lord will be promoted to other places. We will still live here and do business here."

"As long as there is a way, it is impossible for us to raise food prices and harm our fellow villagers..."

Ma Yuanwai's words were very beautiful.

When the other grain merchants heard the words, they all stood up and echoed.

Some people even nodded repeatedly and clapped their hands: "What Master Ma said is that if we have a little way, we can't raise the price like this!"

"In the final analysis, the court still buys food..."

Someone said this in a low voice.

Master Feng was drinking tea in the presence of the gods, and at the same time despised these profiteers in his heart. After hearing these words, the county master slowly stood up, glanced at these grain merchants coldly, and said coldly: "Who said it was all because the court bought food? Did they want to slander the court!"

This crime was a bit serious, and all the grain merchants present all quieted down for a while, and stopped talking.

Feng Zhixian had no expression on his face, and said in a deep voice: "The imperial court is buying grain, not asking for grain from you! Besides, the court buying grain is also to defend against the northern barbarians. If the northern barbarians go south, you merchants will not be able to do well." end!"

"Who dares to slander the court at this time, not to mention Chen Fuzun, the county can't just sit idly by. Even if you have a big family and a great career, I'm afraid you haven't reached the point where you can resist the government!"

"Don't dare, dare not..."

The horseman waved his hands repeatedly, he glanced at Master Feng, and said in a low voice: "Master Feng, but there must be a solution to this matter, right? The price we sell grain now is basically the reserve price. How many of them are there?" The food store is still selling stickers. If the government insists on lowering the price of food, even if I have some family property, I am afraid that the subsidy will not be long before the family goes bankrupt. If this is not the case..."

The horseman looked back at his colleagues, and sighed: "If the government insists on doing this, we will have to close the food store for the time being."

Although what Ma Yuan said was humble, his attitude in his words was very tough. His meaning was very simple. If your government does not let us sell high-priced grain, we will simply not sell it. Although the price of grain is high now, there is still grain. You can buy it. Once they stop selling grain, within ten days, Jiangdu City will be in chaos!

Feng Xianzun was expressionless, and said coldly: "Ma Yuanwai is threatening the court?"

"Don't dare."

Ma Yuanwai turned his head and looked at several grain shop owners. Several of them took out bank notes from their sleeves, held them with both hands, and handed them to Magistrate Feng.

The horseman lowered his head and said respectfully: "Master County, you have been in Jiangdu for more than four years, and I have never missed my filial piety to you. It's just that this matter is really difficult to handle. Can you give me some time?" day…"

He is very good at being a man, and continued: "Of course, I don't dare to embarrass the government. We will lower the price of food, but the reduction may not be much..."

"Seeing that the autumn harvest is coming, after the autumn harvest, the price of food will definitely fall back to the original price..."

"autumn harvest?"

County magistrate Feng glanced at the money exchange bills of these banks, then glanced at Ma Yuanwai, and said indifferently: "It's not yet June, at least the autumn harvest will not start until the end of August, and September. What Ma Yuanwai means is, You still have to raise prices for two or three months?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the bills again, and continued: "Besides, don't talk nonsense, this county has never received any tribute from you."

"You told the county the truth!"

Although County Magistrate Feng is a little fat man, he is serious now, and his speech has a bit of momentum. He took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "This time, the imperial court's grain collection is not in Jiangdu. To raise prices like yours? In just ten days, the price of food in Jiangdu has quadrupled!"

"If you continue to sell like you, you don't need to go to other places to buy grain, and the grain merchants from other places will come to Jiangdu to sell it!"

"Right now, Master Fu Zun is already borrowing food from nearby state capitals, and this county will give you three days."

Feng Zhixian spoke uprightly.

"Within three days, the price of grain in Jiangdu will drop to less than four fen per catty!"

"After three days, the county will personally lead people to patrol the city. If there are any more high-priced grain sellers, the county will personally seal up your shop!"

"Big deal."

Mr. Feng spoke very forcefully: "The big deal is that the government will go to other places to buy grain, and the government will sell grain in Jiangdu. If the people of Jiangdu lose you, I'm afraid they won't starve to death!"

After saying this, the county venerable master snorted: "This is the end of the county's words, so please do it yourself."

After finishing speaking, Master Feng left in a huff.

After Master Feng left, there were only a dozen or so grain merchants left in the side hall of the county government. The grain merchants looked at each other, and then they all gathered around the horseman.

"Master Ma, you are our backbone, you have an idea..."

"That's right, Master Ma, if you talk, we will do it to you!"

"This time, if the government hadn't forced us to buy our grain, we wouldn't have raised the price. Now that they've got the benefits, they still want a good reputation! How can there be such a good thing?"

Surrounded by the crowd, the obese horseman first squinted his eyes, and then sneered slightly: "Two outlanders, if they want to be Jiangdu's heaven in Jiangdu, they are still far away! He wants to sell grain in Jiangdu ?”

The horseman's voice was hoarse.

"He's worthy too?"

(End of this chapter)