Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

Chapter 712 The rice price war, the King of Yue is concerned

Gu Kuang came down from the imperial censor's platform, and his colleagues all looked at him from afar, keeping away from him.

Only Wei Yingwu came up, looked at Gu Kuang's patched official uniform and said:
"Brother Bu Weng, it's your turn today."

Gu Kuang keeps a straight face every day. Ever since he became the censor, he has become more and more like his teacher Li Mi. He only smiles in front of friends like Wei Yingwu:

"Today is Brother Wang's last gathering before his big wedding, so naturally Kuang won't wait for the two of you!"

Wei Yingwu laughed, and pulled Gu Kuang into his carriage.

"My donkey?"

In the Tang Dynasty, the sedan chair carried by people was also called walking chariot, which was only used by the emperor on important ceremonial occasions.

Most of the officials travel directly on horseback.

Horse-drawn carriages are not a rare thing. Older officials can't ride horses, so they will travel in horse-drawn carriages.

But that kind of carriage has wooden wheels, and sitting in the carriage is also very painful.

However, Wei Yingwu's carriage is a new type of carriage that only appeared in Chang'an City recently.

This kind of carriage uses springs to absorb shock, and the interior space is also very spacious. As soon as it appeared, it was welcomed by the dignitaries of Chang'an.

However, most of the Yushitai are young officials, and not many can afford a carriage, so every time Wei Yingwu goes up and down the government office, he will attract the attention of his colleagues.

Compared with Wei Yingwu, Gu Kuang is the topic of Yushitai.

Gu Kuang had no money to ride a horse, so he could only ride a donkey to the government office, and his colleagues all laughed at him as the "donkey censor".

Wei Yingwu said with a smile: "I will send someone to ride your donkey back, walk around, come up quickly, I can't keep Brother Wang waiting for too long!"

Gu Kuang smiled wryly. On weekdays, he would definitely refuse to ride in the carriage with Wei Yingwu, but today was really special, so he had no choice but to ride in the carriage.

Today is the day when the three meet regularly, but Wang Chengwei knows that Gu Kuang's family is poor, so he changed the meeting from the restaurant to his own home.

In ancient times, visiting other people's homes for gatherings was an expression of intimacy. This kind of communication without shy away from family members was called "family friendship". The kindness of Wei Yingwu and Wang Chengwei made the three of them closer.

Wei Yingwu came from Jingzhao Webster. Although his house is a side branch, he still has some family background. At least he has a house in Chang'an City, so he doesn't need to rent a house like Gu Kuang.

A few days ago, the market in Wannian County was turned into a workshop. In order to support his friend Wang Chengwei, Wei Yingwu also bought a workshop with money, and then rented it back to players.

To Wei Yingwu's surprise, the business of this workshop is booming, and the monthly rent is paid on time and quickly, which also gives Wei Yingwu an extra income.

Wang Chengwei is an official in the county, he can eat and live in the county government, and he has fellow villagers from Longyou to help him, so he is the wealthiest of the three.

Now he is going to be the prime minister's son-in-law, and this Mrs. Cui's dowry is quite generous, which makes Wang Chengwei the most envied person among Jinshi of the same discipline.

But Gu Kuang's life will be much more difficult, and his life is also the life of most young censors.

Living in Chang'an is not easy.

Before the imperial examination, Gu Kuang lived in the residence of his teacher Li Mi, but after he passed the imperial examination and became an official in the same dynasty as Li Mi, it would be difficult to continue living in Li Mi's residence.

Gu Kuang rented a small courtyard in Chang'an City, which was already the most remote place in the entire northern city, but the monthly rent still cost him half a month's salary.

In addition to renting a house, the price of goods in Chang'an is not low. Gu Kuang's family has a wife, a son, and an old servant, and the remaining salary is not enough to eat.

Now the money in Chang'an is chaotic, and the yamen uses Qianyuan Chongbao to distribute their salaries, but the Qianyuan Chongbao is heavily compiled, causing Gu Kuang to make ends meet.

Fortunately, Gu Kuang's wife is virtuous, and she does some mending work in her spare time. Now that there are more people working in workshops in Chang'an City, no one does the daily needlework.

The old servants of Gu Kuang's family would go out of the city to dig some wild vegetables every day, and with the help from Wei Yingwu and Wang Chengwei from time to time, they barely survived.

Now the three people's regular gatherings have been changed to their respective homes. Wei Yingwu and Wang Chengwei will bring wine and meat every time they come, and the leftover wine and meat can be eaten by Gu Kuang's family for a few meals.

Not long after Gu Kuang and Wei Yingwu returned home, Wang Chengwei arrived with wine and meat. Gu Kuang's wife arranged a banquet in the shady courtyard, and the three of them began to eat and drink in the cool evening breeze.

All three of them are officials. After talking about their children, they will naturally talk about government affairs.

After celebrating the Anshi Rebellion, Chang'an recovered from the festive atmosphere, and the issue of food prices became the hottest topic in Chang'an again.

Now the imperial court will no longer use Qianyuan Chongbao at a mandatory price. After market circulation, the ratio of Qianyuan Chongbao to Kaiyuan Tongbao has fallen below three.

That is, one Qianyuan heavy treasure can only be exchanged for less than three Kaiyuan Tongbao.

You must know that the copper contained in one Qianyuan heavy treasure is more than three Kaiyuan Tongbao.

If the cost of fire consumption is included, and Qianyuan Heavy Treasure is better than Kaiyuan Tongbao, it should be worth more than this.

However, the people in Chang'an did not trust Qianyuan Chongbao, which made Qianyuan Chongbao depreciate day by day.

When it came to food prices, Gu Kuang said, "It's all these hoarding profiteers!"

Now that the Anshi Rebellion has been pacified, although water transportation has not been completely dredged, the grain transported to Chang'an is not too small, enough for the people of Chang'an to consume.

After King Yue entered Chang'an, he also brought a lot of grain from Longyou, but the price of grain in Chang'an remained high.

Some chambers of commerce in Longyou will sell grain at a par price, but they will be robbed soon.

Now the common people in Chang'an know that the high price of grain in Chang'an is all due to the hoarding of a few big grain merchants.

As soon as he mentioned this, Gu Kuang was filled with righteous indignation.

Wei Yingwu could only smile wryly, this hoarding was done by Dazong of his Jingzhao Wei family, and Wei Yingwu is now the only official in his branch, he strictly ordered his family not to do this, but he couldn't control Dazong's affairs.

Not only Jing Zhaowei's family, but almost all the big families in Chang'an have participated in this grain price trade.

Food is something that not everyone can play with.

Chang'an's grain system, the grain collected from Jiangdong was transported to Chang'an through the Grand Canal.

The best rice was first picked by the court, and these were grains for the emperor, nobles and officials.

Before the reform of the fifth Qi money law, the salaries of all officials were divided into lumi, silk and cash.Even ice will be given in summer and charcoal will be issued in winter.

However, after Fifth Qi presided over the reform of the money law, all of them were converted into corresponding money, and ordinary officials no longer issued these kind of salaries.

However, the food needed by the imperial palace, as well as the food of the nobles and high-ranking officials of the court are still drawn directly from the gang rations.

In addition, the army guarding near Chang'an City, the artisans in the official workshops of the imperial court, and the corvee in charge of the projects of the Ministry of Industry all need food, and they all have to draw from the grain.

Only the food left by the imperial court will be in charge of the household department and sold directly on the wharf.

However, this sale also requires an admission ticket. Only the big grain merchants in Chang'an City are eligible to buy these grains.

Gu Kuang said: "According to me, the old system of Emperor Taizong should be restored, and the government should sell grain directly."

Wei Yingwu shook his head and said: "Brother Gu, you are still thinking too simply. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, there were only a few people in Chang'an City, a little over 10 people. Now that Jingzhao Mansion has recently counted, Chang'an City has a population of almost 10 people."

"The reason why the government's grain sales during the Taizong period could not go on was not because the cost was too high and there was too much greed. Those government-run grain stores mixed gravel and sand with the good grain, and then filled their own pockets repeatedly. The imperial court had to spend a lot of money every year Fees to raise these silverfish, and finally the monopoly was abolished, and changed to the model of selling grain to the common people."

Gu Kuang wanted to refute Wei Yingwu, but nodded again. He has been to Bianzhou and inspected places, so he naturally knows how greedy these officials are.

In the year of Emperor Taizong, the grain was monopolized so that the common people could eat cheap grain.

But these subordinates will mix sand and stones in the good grain, even if they sell it at a low price, they can still buy a large amount of grain.

Taizong once investigated many subordinate officials who were pocketed, but the profits were too great, and some people always took risks. Moreover, these subordinate officials bribed upwards, almost dragging the entire household department into corruption.

Finally, in the reign of Emperor Gaozong, almost no people went to the government grain stores. The grain sold in these grain stores already had more stones than grain.

The common people need to buy grain from the black market grain stores behind these grain stores at a higher price, which also makes the people of Chang'an complain.

Only then did Gaozong change the method of grain sales, from monopoly to selling to grain merchants, who then sold them to the common people.

Almost all of these grain merchants were funded by nobles and wealthy families. As soon as these people took action, the black market grain stores of the subordinate officials were seized one after another, and the corrupt officials in the household department were cleaned up. Chang'an's grain prices immediately stabilized.

However, since the Gaozong Dynasty's system has been implemented, these grain merchants have married each other and have become a huge interest group.

Food prices in Chang'an were almost manipulated by them.

Now that Qianyuan Chongbao has plummeted, these grain merchants have raised grain prices and sold grain at high prices.

Then use the money to buy food in other cities, and earn a lot of money.

Wang Chengwei was also a little guilty. Before King Yue entered Chang'an, player businessmen also used this model to arbitrage a lot of money.

The three of them were still discussing the issue of food prices in Chang'an, and the Ministry of Households had already taken action.

All merchant players near Chang'an have received a quest:
[Food price war, transporting grain to Chang'an, dumping grain at a price below the market. 】

[Task Reward 1: According to the amount of grain dumped, experience rewards will be obtained. 】

[Task Reward 2: The top ten players can obtain the qualification to sell Chang'an grain. 】

[Mission Reward 3: Players who transport more than [-] shi of food to Chang'an will receive the epic title "Food Price Defender" and the corresponding forum badge. 】

(End of this chapter)