Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 201: Storage! Our grandson is still smart!

Suzhou, Zui Taibai Restaurant.

This is the most famous restaurant in Suzhou, with a large number of merchants coming and going.

Lao Zhu and his group settled down here.

Within a few days, the news that food prices were bound to soar and the court warehouses had been sold out gradually changed to food prices falling day by day.

The evil gentry and profiteers who bought grain sold it in large quantities, causing prices to plummet.

The merchants who came to Zui Taibai to drink also changed from being excited and happy to being frowned and miserable.

"This incident was all caused by Daming Bank. If Daming Bank hadn't suddenly withdrawn its loan, how could this have happened?"

"Yes, as long as we hold on to the food for two or three months, the price will definitely skyrocket."

"What's the use of talking about this now?"

Inside the restaurant, merchants were discussing the matter.

"The news from Daming Bank said that this was an order from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to keep the price of grain in the national treasury stable and not allow merchants to hoard grain, as the risk was too great. Therefore, the bank was ordered to strengthen risk management, and that's why the bank suddenly withdrew its loans."

"It's not just Suzhou, it's the same all over the country."

"No wonder the Ming Bank is like this. Don't forget, the Ming Bank was originally founded by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Yes, we are driving up the grain prices, how could His Royal Highness just sit there and do nothing?"

"I just didn't expect that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's methods would be so powerful."

"I thought His Royal Highness might order the government to conduct a thorough investigation, or even mobilize the army to use force, but I never thought that he had already asked the bank to prepare for this."

"It would be easier to deal with it if we really use force. Bank loan withdrawal is more brutal than direct use of guns and knives."

"If we had known this, we shouldn't have borrowed money from the bank. Mr. Huang, I remember you didn't borrow money from the bank, right?"

This sentence immediately attracted many people's attention.

Being stared at by everyone, Mr. Huang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I didn't borrow money from the bank, but I put all my own capital on this."

"You all know the current situation."

"With the price of grain falling to this level, won't I also suffer a huge loss?"

He clapped his hands and shook his head.

Are there any eggs in the nest?
Although he did not borrow money from the bank, the prices fell, and the stockpiled food and other supplies were also worthless!

Old Zhu, Ji Yuan and Jiang Lin sat at the same table, tasting Zui Taibai's unique fine wine and eating side dishes, feeling particularly relaxed.

This group of unscrupulous businessmen, I never thought they would end up like this!

Our grandson is still the best.

Without using any guns or knives, the Ming Bank just used some tricks to kill them all.

He is indeed our great grandson!

Old Zhu just felt that the food and wine at Zui Taibai Restaurant tasted especially good today.

"I just don't believe he can keep the prices of grain and commodities so low." A merchant shouted angrily, "Everyone is holding on. I want to see how long he can keep the prices down."

"I heard that some people went to the countryside to buy a large amount of grain this year." Another merchant said, "It's not the autumn harvest yet, but many landlords and farmers have already signed contracts with others to buy grain during the autumn harvest. The prices they offered are quite high, and they are still the prices when the grain prices fell before."

"I have also heard about this. They collected a lot of grain!"

"Who is he?"

"By collecting grain like this, are you trying to raise the price?"

The merchants began to talk again.

Old Zhu also pricked up his ears and listened.

"Don't let your fantasies run wild." A businessman drank a glass of wine, stood up and said, "I have already investigated everything."

"The big customer who is collecting grain from all over the countryside is someone sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"The purpose of their collection of grain is to prevent us, the big merchants, from buying up grain and robbing it, thus driving up the price. So, they went to the countryside one step ahead and signed contracts with the big farmers to lock in the price."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the merchants in the restaurant became like deflated balls.

I thought it was help from my side, but I didn't expect it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who took action.

"Grain prices are so low now. If they purchase grain at the contracted price, won't they lose money?" a merchant sneered.

"Their purpose is to store grain and stabilize grain prices, not to make money." Another merchant said, "I heard that the court is now building granaries everywhere to prepare for large-scale storage."

The merchants suddenly fell silent.

They drank silently and sighed.

This is different from them hoarding food and then trying to sell it at a high price.

The imperial court did not care about temporary price fluctuations when it was purchasing stocks.

After all, the imperial court had a large number of granaries to store grain and sufficient capital, so it did not need to sell off the grain to recover the proceeds.

When Old Zhu saw how dejected they were, he almost laughed out loud.

"What should I do? The bank is pressing me so hard to pay back the debt. According to the current grain prices, even if I sell all my house and land, it still won't be enough to pay back the bank loan and interest."

Finally, a businessman cried out "Wow" and started to cry.

"Yes, right now, the prices of houses and land have also plummeted." Another merchant also said with a sad face: "If you really want to sell it now, you will lose a lot of money."

"I lost everything! I never thought that the little fortune accumulated by my Liu family for four generations would be destroyed in my hands. How can I face my ancestors in the afterlife?"

……

Just as the merchants were crying bitterly, a group of people suddenly broke in from outside.

"It's from the bank."

"Here comes another debt collector?"

"The Daming Bank is a group that drinks human blood and eats human flesh without spitting out bones. I will fight you to the death."

"I think they are even more hateful than the people from the Tax Commissioner!"

For a moment, the crowd was outraged, and all the merchants looked at the bank staff who rushed in with anger in their eyes.

"Everyone!" The middle-aged man in the lead bowed to the merchants in the restaurant: "The price of grain has dropped so much, I know everyone is having difficulties right now."

"In order to help you solve your current predicament, I ran around and finally contacted the newly established Daming Food and Material Reserve Department."

"They are willing to purchase the grain from you at 70% of the price of grain in the government warehouse. I wonder what you think?" After the middle-aged man finished speaking, the restaurant fell into deathly silence.

Next to the middle-aged man, a man in imperial official uniform bowed and gestured to everyone in the restaurant.

"My name is Su Ling, and I am the director of the newly established Daming Grain and Material Reserves Department of Suzhou Prefecture."

"The price of grain is too low now, which hurts the farmers and merchants of our Daming. Our Daming Grain and Material Reserve Department is willing to purchase grain and various materials at a high price."

"The grains or other important materials related to the national economy and people's livelihood that you have stored in your hands can all be sold to our Daming Grain and Material Reserve Department. The transaction is guaranteed by Daming Bank. You pay the money and the goods are delivered at the same time. There is absolutely no credit."

No one spoke in the restaurant.

The merchants purchased grain at the official warehouse price.

Add to that the costs of transport, loading and unloading, storage, etc., and selling at a 30% discount will actually result in a loss of half.

But the problem is that in the current market conditions, 30% off is already a very high price.

If you sell it to the market, you won’t be able to get such a price.

The current market situation is that no one is buying at any price.

Although everyone knows that the current price reduction is only temporary, as long as we hold on to the grain tightly, the price will definitely go back up in the future.

But many of them owe money to the bank. Under the current situation, how could the bank agree to continue to owe them money?
Sure enough, just as Su Ling finished speaking, the middle-aged bank man who brought him in continued: "Many of you have already passed the deadline for paying back your bank debts."

"According to the rules, we have to take possession of the house, the fields, and seal the warehouses to receive the goods."

"You are all clients of Daming Bank. I know your difficulties."

"I will try my best to help you wherever I can."

"But I have no choice. I am under a lot of pressure from my superiors right now."

"If you are willing to sell all the goods in your hands to the Daming Grain and Material Reserve Department, and use the proceeds to repay the bank loan, then you can apply to Daming Bank for an extension of the repayment period for the remaining loan, without adding interest or charging penalty interest. What do you think?"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the merchants in the restaurant looked at each other with extremely complicated expressions.

"Do you keep your word?" someone asked.

"Let's sign the contract in black and white with our fingerprints." The middle-aged man said, "I know your financial situation. After selling the food and supplies, you can probably afford the remaining money. It just takes time to pay it back slowly."

"If the bank extends the repayment period, you can get through this difficult time. How about that?"

There was another moment of silence.

The middle-aged man was not in a hurry and looked calm.

"I'm willing." Finally, a merchant shouted, "As long as I can get out of this smoothly, I will just give up at a loss."

"I am willing!"

"I would like that too."

Someone took the lead, and others followed suit.

Soon, most of the merchants in the restaurant agreed to sell their grain and other supplies to the Ming Dynasty Grain and Material Reserves Department.

Witnessing this scene, Lao Zhu couldn't help but reveal a look of doubt in his eyes.

In his opinion, these unscrupulous businessmen deserve to be put to death.

It would be best if we take this opportunity to let the banks drive them all to death.

However, they did not expect that things would take a sudden turn for the better and the bank would let them off.

The Ming Bank obviously did this under the instructions of Zhu Yunhuan.

But why would his grandson do this?
Although Lao Zhu is smart, he lacks knowledge of economics and finance.

That's why the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes were messed up.

Naturally, I couldn't understand Zhu Yunhuan's actions.

"Your Highness, this is a brilliant move!" Yoshigaki exclaimed.

"Why do you think so?" Old Zhu asked.

Yoshigaki quickly explained: "In my opinion, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has five reasons for doing this."

"First, low grain prices hurt farmers, and high rice prices hurt the people. In order to crack down on these evil gentry and profiteers, it is inevitable that grain prices will fall temporarily."

"But this situation cannot last long. The court must ensure the stability of grain prices. It is imperative to return grain prices to the original prices sold in government warehouses."

"Besides, there is a lot of money circulating in the market now. Even if the court does not intervene, once the panic is over, the profiteers who should go bankrupt will go bankrupt, and the grain prices will recover on their own."

"If there is no grain in the imperial warehouse at that time, the grain price will go through the roof, and the imperial court will no longer be stable, and there will really be a big chaos."

"At this time, we should take back the grain from the profiteers. Only when there is grain in the national treasury and granary can we ensure the stability of grain prices in Ming Dynasty."

Old Zhu nodded slightly, this is indeed the truth.

The situation where there is no grain to sell in the government warehouse cannot last too long.

But it is not yet time for the autumn harvest, and the grain in the government warehouse can only be purchased from these people.

"Secondly, this incident dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of unscrupulous businessmen."

"The most ruthless merchant has now lost everything. The remaining merchants, after learning this lesson, should never dare to disrupt the market at will again."

"Third, after all the money going in and out, the imperial court made a lot of money and enriched the national treasury."

"Fourthly, the Food and Material Reserves Department has purchased so much food and materials at once, and the contract for the autumn harvest has already been signed. In the future, the food supply of the Ming Dynasty can rest assured."

"Fifth, although Ming Bank's withdrawal of loans was in accordance with the contract, it still damaged Ming Bank's reputation."

"However, the banks of the Ming Dynasty are large and powerful, and they are under the instruction of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to maintain market stability, so they can still withstand this impact."

"But don't overdo anything."

"If we stop now, we can minimize the loss of Ming Bank's reputation."

"These merchants still have business dealings with Ming Bank and can cooperate for mutual benefit in the future."

"If we force them all to death, the Ming Bank will also suffer heavy losses and be seriously damaged."

"Your Highness, this is a great move!"

Old Zhu stroked his beard and said, "You are right. Our grandson is smart. Everything is under his control. Hahahaha!"

……

(End of this chapter)