Ming politicians

() The price of grain in Jiangning County is basically relatively stable. Rice is mainly sold here, and it costs three coins and one stone. As for corn and sweet potatoes, they are not very common, and there are not many pus planted. The price is lower than rice, about At two cents and five cents per stone, the real price fluctuations mainly occur in two seasons. One is during the autumn harvest, when grain prices generally fall, and the other is when there is a shortage of crops, grain prices generally rise.

The reason for this is also very simple. Every year during the autumn harvest, it is also the time for the government to collect land taxes. Since the introduction of a whip method, the government has collected land taxes and calculated them in silver. No one buys grain. It's tricky, farmers have to pay land taxes, and can only sell grain at a low price. Merchants can take advantage of the opportunity to stock up on grain, and sell it after the price rises.

For example, when the crops are in short supply, raising the price of grain will naturally earn a lot of money.

This is the role of market leverage, but it is the farmers who suffer.

This year, the situation in Jiangning County has changed, and it has changed significantly.

Finally, it was God's blessing that he did not encounter too many disasters in a year. This is a rare situation. It may be due to Su Tiancheng's good luck. In addition, the [-] hectares of official land have been renovated and transformed, so It is said that the grain harvest has been bumper.

Moreover, the policy of exempting land taxes was announced at the beginning of the year, and the enthusiasm of farmers for farming has been particularly high. The government even made a guarantee that purchasing grain at market prices can be said to be a matter of making money.

When the autumn harvest is over.The county government began to purchase grain on a large scale.

The treasury of the county government is definitely not enough.It is also very simple to build a government treasury. The old method is that the county government pays money and finds farmers to build it. The construction of the treasury is not a difficult task above, and the progress is very fast.

Pus in Jiangning County.Including those farmers who have already gone to Jiangning County to make a living, saw the notice posted by the county government, and enthusiastically went to the county government to sign up, and soon gathered 1 people. , already very busy.A large number of farmers began to sell grain to the county government.

Farmers in this era are indeed very simple.

They were exempted from the land tax, and the county government tried to find a way to let them earn money. <>It is slowly getting better, and it is completely different from the previous situation. Therefore, there is no need for the chief and the first organization.They took the initiative to come to the county government to collect all the grain they were going to sell.Sell ​​all of them to the county government, even if the price is lower, they are willing.

The first ones to come to the county government were the tenants who leased official land. Half of the tenants were military households in the Jiangning camp. The salary of two silver is paid on time, so there is no need to worry about life at all, and they can often eat meat, and this autumn harvest, the men also went home to help, so after the autumn harvest, they first came to the county government to hand in the grain.

The purchase prices of rice, corn and sweet potatoes have not come out for a long time. This is also because the opinions within the county government are somewhat inconsistent, and there is always no complete unification. On this matter, Su Tiancheng also hesitated, and there was no casual decision. finalize.

According to the usual practice, when it comes to the autumn harvest season, the purchase price of rice is generally at the price of two cents to two cents and one stone, which is far lower than the usual purchase price of two cents and five cents. As for corn and sweet potatoes, most of them are After discussing about one cent and six cents, Su Pingyang and Lu Tianming decided to buy rice at two cents and two cents, and corn and sweet potatoes at one cent and six cents.

But Su Tiancheng disagreed with such a price. He believed that such a price would put Pus at a disadvantage.

This time, both Su Pingyang and Lu Tianming insisted on their own opinions. They believed that this year's grain harvest is not as good as in previous years. The grain in Jiangning County is estimated to be more than 300 million shi. After deducting the remaining rations and some The large amount of grain left by the gentry and wealthy households, the county government estimates that the amount of grain that can be purchased exceeds 100 million shi. In this way, the amount of silver that needs to be consumed for the purchase of grain is more than 20 taels. Afterwards, the subsequent one-off expenses, the annual cost is estimated to be around 30 taels of silver, which is a huge expenditure, and the county government cannot afford it.

Secondly, this year's grain harvest is bumper, and there must be merchants buying grain. If the price of the county government's purchase of grain is set too high, the merchants will definitely be dissatisfied, and they may have opinions.

The opinions of Su Pingyang and Lu Tianming still attracted Su Tiancheng's attention. Regarding the amount of silver consumed by the county government, Su Tiancheng didn't consider it. Normally, the county government could afford this amount of money. The annual donations from merchants exceeded 200 Ten thousand taels of silver, this little silver, can be squeezed out, but it will affect the acquisition of merchants, this is a problem that must be seriously considered.

Ordinarily, insisting on such a purchase price would not cause any major problems, but the county government’s purchase of grain is open, and the pus in Jiangning County would not think of any strange tricks, but merchants are not necessarily so. Let me give you a simple example. , Merchants can buy low-priced grain from other places, and then sell all of them to the county government to earn the difference in the middle price. A large number of situations have appeared, and Jiangning County really can't bear it.

And such a situation will definitely occur.

Take a step back and purchase grain according to the agreed price, and all situations will not happen.

After some hesitation, the pus came to the county government. The matter was finally settled, and the grain was purchased according to the usual practice. centimeters of silver.

It was the first time in the history of Jiangning County that the county government took the initiative to purchase grain, and it was a waste of money, and it did not default on a penny of money owed to the common people.

When the county government first introduced the policy, many merchants thought they were officials of the county government and thought of other ways to confiscate some grain, but they saw that the county government did take out money to buy food from the common people according to the rules.

Some merchants began to worry. If all the grain was taken away by the county government, what business would they do? After all, the grain harvest was bumper, and they wanted to earn some money from it. If the county government took all the grain away, what would they do? It's not drinking the northwest wind.

Seeing the continuous stream of pus, they went to the county government to sell grain, and many merchants found Wan Chenggui one after another.

Wan Chenggui is the chairman of the newly established Chamber of Commerce in Jiangning County, and he can directly speak to the magistrate Su Tiancheng.

Many merchants engaged in grain trading revealed one meaning. The county government is allowed to purchase grain, and everyone will not object, but the quantity to be purchased must be clarified. They cannot all be purchased, and some must be kept.

Here, there are merchants and some rich gentry.

They summed up a point of view that the government cannot compete with the people for profit.

Wan Chenggui found Su Tiancheng.

After entering the third hall, Wan Chenggui wiped off the sweat from his face. To be honest, he was unwilling to do such an errand, but there was nothing he could do. He was the president of the chamber of commerce, and he was in such a big trouble. It must be reported to Su Tiancheng.

"My lord, the grass people are also helpless. Many merchants have found the grass people and told them about the purchase of grain..."

It took less than half an hour for Wan Chenggui to explain the situation clearly.

"Chairman Wan, this is your duty. Find the county government office and reflect the demands of many merchants. This is not a fault of the higher-ups. On the contrary, you must stick to this approach in the future. I have already said that in Jiangning County, Between the county government and merchants, it is feasible to achieve a win-win situation. If the merchants are unable to do business and earn money, the county government will not be able to support it.”

Wan Chenggui nodded, unexpectedly that Su Tiancheng would say such a thing, his heart felt much more at ease.

“不过,有件事情,不知道万会长是否考虑过,本县的耕地,有140万亩,官府如今能够掌握的,也就是90万亩,算上所有的粮食产量,包括稻米、玉蜀黍、甘薯等等,总共也就是300万石左右,脓总是要留下来口粮的,这样算起来,能够卖出来的粮食,也就是150万石,县衙是必须要收购100万石粮食的,余下的50万石,让诸多的商贾收购,你看如何啊。”

Wan Chenggui was very surprised. Unexpectedly, Su Tiancheng, as the magistrate of the county, could calculate it clearly. Of course, there is a meaning in Su Tiancheng's words. The remaining 50 mu of cultivated land, the grain produced , What should I do? These fields are all owned by rich gentry in the county. Should they take out some grain and let the merchants who specialize in grain take advantage of it.

However, Wan Chenggui did not dare to say so much about such things, such things are too sensitive.

"Chairman Wan, you can go and tell the many merchants who deal in grain that the county government will buy 100 million shi of grain, and let many merchants buy the rest. You can also talk about it appropriately and let them go to the county government. The gentry and wealthy households should take out some food, and everyone can earn money if they have money. The county government all adheres to this view, and some gentry and wealthy households in the county have to change their ideas."

After watching Wan Chenggui leave, a meaningful smile appeared on Su Tiancheng's face. It is estimated that the gentry and wealthy households in Jiangning County will not understand the deep meaning for the time being. Now is not the time to act. The timing is not suitable. The fundamental interests of the gentry and rich households cannot be shaken. According to his thinking, he really wants the court to become rich. Only when the government at all levels becomes the largest merchant and earns enough money can it do things that benefit the people. . (To be continued. Welcome to the starting point to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets,