Water Margin people

"I can't watch anymore! Their time is over."

Sun Lei shook his head. He remembered that Cai Jing and others had no chance to make a comeback this time.

Cai Jing and others are indeed Hunjun's favorite ministers, and these people can handle all Hunjun's preferences just right.

"Achievements" and "solving problems" are for the emperor. Zhao Ji, a foolish emperor, needs them, and Zhao Huan, a weak man, will definitely need them in the future.

But the problem is that the Northern Song Dynasty is almost gone, where will Zhao Huan get the chance? Where do old men like Cai Jing get the time?

What's more, the long-standing public anger cannot be quelled by demotion. If Zhao Huan wants to gain the trust of the people, he must kill these people.

"Is there anything going on with Master Lu?"

Sun Lei asked again.

"At present, the two armies are only facing each other across the Yellow River. The Song army has no intention of starting a war. They are short of food and grass. It seems that they will have to wait for a while."

Wen Huanzhang said, because the people can no longer bear the excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the imperial court has lost consecutive battles and wasted money and food. This year's autumn harvest, the people have resisted the emperor's food supply, which has led to a shortage of food and grass in Tokyo.

"It's just time for us to take a breather. The autumn harvest is around the corner and we are too busy."

Sun Lei has a point. Spring planting and autumn harvest are important events. The autumn harvest is from the south all the way to the north. Now the autumn harvest is still along the Yangtze River. In more than half a month, the autumn harvest will also start in the Central Plains.

"Your Majesty, if we can start a war at this time, we can give the Song Kingdom a thunderous blow. Although it will not kill them, it will definitely bring them a few steps closer to death!"

Wen Huanzhang looked at Sun Lei and said. As soon as these words came out, Xiao Jiasui looked over in surprise, with shock on his face.

"Is this a vicious plan by Military Master Wen?"

Sun Lei did not agree or refuse, he just looked at Wen Huanzhang and smiled.

"I just want to see what His Majesty thinks. If His Majesty agrees, then there is no need for me to say anything else."

Wen Huanzhang had no expression. What he meant behind his words was famine, people dying of hunger in the fields, people exchanging children for food, and bones thousands of miles away. A simple sentence actually represents millions of lives.

Food is very important. There are endless wars in the Central Plains. This year there is another flood. The official and private warehouses have bottomed out. Everyone is waiting for the harvest of food in the south.

If a war breaks out at this time, famine will inevitably break out in the Central Plains. The Central Plains is the most densely populated place. Once famine breaks out, the consequences will be disastrous.

"Forget it, sooner or later, that place will also be our Qi State's territory. If it is destroyed, it will still be our loss. It is not worth it!"

Sun Lei waved his hand and said that every time famine broke out in the Central Plains, it would be hell on earth. Although he was not a good person, he could not do such a thing.

"Your Majesty, it is not a good thing for us that the enemy has enough troops and food."

Wen Huanzhang said, although the South is resisting food supply now, it will definitely be able to win over it in the end. Tokyo is densely populated, and as long as there is food, Tokyo will be a tough nut to crack.

"piece of cake!"

Sun Lei waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Then I'm going to talk about another strategy, this is a combined strategy. There is a shortage of food around Tokyo now. They hope to transport food from Jinghu and Jiangnan to put out the fire. Jinghu is easy to say, but Jiangnan is far away. "

Wen Huanzhang said.

"Jinghu and Jiangnan are both granaries. Wherever there is enough food to supply the Central Plains."

Sun Lei nodded and said that there were actually Hebei, Shandong, and Lianghuai, but these places were all in his hands and were no longer under the control of the Song Dynasty. "You want us to use our food?"

Xiao Jiasui immediately understood what Wen Huanzhang meant. There will be a bumper harvest in various parts of Qi this year, and there will be a lot of food surplus. This food can be used.

"Nowadays, grain is expensive in Tokyo. One stone of grain has increased from one thousand to two thousand cash. If you transport this cart of grain, you can earn twice as much as usual, and the price may also rise. With high profits, some people will definitely take risks."

Wen Huanzhang said.

Liangshan was the first pot of gold obtained from selling smuggled salt. Now that Tokyo is short of food and the price of food remains high, someone will definitely sell food smuggled under the rule of Qi State.

There is no way to stop this. After all, the excess food after paying taxes belongs to the people themselves, and they will definitely want to sell their goods at a high price.

"Two thousand coins, is it so expensive?"

Sun Lei frowned, calculating that a pound of grain costs seventeen cents, which is a very high price.

"This year's disaster has caused a lot of hoardings in various places, even here. I have asked various places to take action, but... the people are helpless, after all, someone gave so much money."

Wen Huanzhang said helplessly that it was reasonable and reasonable for people to exchange their labor income for money and live a better life, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"It's going to be troublesome if this continues! Your Majesty, why don't we legislate and investigate!"

Xiao Jiasui frowned and said, food is a big deal, and those unscrupulous businessmen are hoarding it just to buy low and sell high. Nowadays, the price of food in Qi is only 600 cents per stone, which works out to only 5 cents per pound.

"How is this law established? The people have worked for a year, paid taxes, kept food rations, and sold the excess food to improve their lives. How can we stop it? Ban the sale? Or should we buy it at a high price?"

Wen Huanzhang immediately objected. Xiao Jiasui's kind of forced intervention would not work.

"Food is a national matter, what's wrong? Da Qi is not robbing us, we just follow the market price of Qi. If these necessities are not controlled, today it will be food, tomorrow it will be vegetables, and the day after tomorrow it will be cloth! This is the same as salt and iron!"

Xiao Jiasui insisted on his opinion.

"If you force everything to be controlled, the end result will be that you can't control anything and it will accumulate public resentment!"

Wen Huanzhang also insisted on his own ideas.

Sun Lei watched the two arguing with a smile. Xiao Jiasui was the minister, equivalent to the state minister, and was responsible for helping the emperor handle the world's government affairs; Wen Huanzhang was the minister, responsible for the issuance of the emperor's orders. He also had suggestions for this government order.

"I didn't expect that before the Shaozai and Dazai on Zhao Huan's side started arguing, the Shangshu Ling and Zhongshu Ling on our side started arguing."

Sun Lei thought in his heart.

"There's no need to argue, I'm not going to use any decrees to deal with this matter! What's wrong with people wanting to make more money? When they have money, they will buy houses and clothes... money will flow in the market, and only in this way can business prosper. Well!"

Sun Lei looked at the two people and said.

"As for the flow of food into Tokyo, this is a good thing. Two thousand coins and one stone, how come this business can't be done? The profits are almost as much as those we used to sell smuggled salt! I heard that Zhao Huan made billions of money by robbing his family? Why don't some big families refuse to eat? OK?"

"But we cannot let the common people deal with profiteers in this matter. Our court must make the decision for the common people! We must be a fair party! Ensure the interests of the common people!"

Sun Lei said, it is impossible for the people to transport food by themselves. In the end, they have to rely on those profiteers.

"But hoarding is risky. I hope those profiteers can escape unscathed!"

Sun Lei finally added that it would be troublesome to have too much grain. It is difficult to store grain and old grain is not delicious. It is impossible for him to spend 2,000 yuan to buy grain and store it. He can’t use it for brewing, so he might as well sell it. If it is sold openly and the people have money, it will be good for the country. (End of chapter)