Chapter 1830 The Renzi Juan gathers all the merchants in the capital to open their eyes

  Whether it is Longyou merchants, or Huizhou merchants, Jiangyou merchants and Dongting merchants, they all have their own guild halls in the capital city.

  This kind of guild hall is generally set up publicly in the most prosperous and most powerful area of ​​the capital city, with prominent signs and resplendent resplendent to show the strength of the merchants represented by the guild hall.

For example, the Dongting Guild Hall was built on West Chang’an Avenue at the junction of Dashi Yongfang and Xiaoyongfang, while Jiangyou Guild Hall was established on East Chang’an Avenue next to the Yuhe North Bridge in Nanxunfang. Similarly, Huizhou Guild Hall was established in Chongwen On Menli Street, the Shanshan Guild Hall is located on Huangqiang West Street. These streets are the busiest, busiest and most conspicuous streets in the capital city, and the adjacent ones are either where the government office is located, or where dignitaries gather. Residential mansion area.

  When Weng Qiyang came out of the Dongting Guild Hall, he went straight into the carriage.

  The old servant who had been following him also quietly got into the car.

   "Weng Fu, how's the situation?" Weng Qiyang half-closed his eyes, leaned back on the carriage board, and asked in a deep voice.

"According to the master's instructions, the old slave and Weng Li have been walking around for the past two days, looking around, and inquiring about it. The situation in the capital city has indeed changed a lot from the last time we came. The number of refugees has increased significantly, and the streets are a bit messy,..."

  The old servant replied in a respectful voice: "But there are also a lot of people on the street, and people from the Wucheng soldiers and horses and patrol camps can see them, so although it is a bit chaotic, the order is still tolerable,..."

"It's not bad to get by. I heard that there are more than one hundred thousand people from Shanxi, Baoding, and Zhending. At first, I was a little worried that something would happen in Beijing. Now it seems that the situation is not as bad as I imagined. What about it?" Weng Qiyang's tone was very erratic, flickering, "What else?"

"According to your instructions, we have made an important survey of the market situation. The prices of corn and wheat have more than doubled compared to August last year, and the price of japonica rice has risen slightly less, but it is about the same. Compared with the current price in Jinling, it is also the same. Nearly 60% higher, but..."

  The old servant hesitated for a moment, but Weng Qiyang opened his eyes and asked, "But what?"

"I feel that the price seems to have reached the peak. The old slave understands that the grain price actually seems to have reached the peak a month and a half ago. It fell a little in late December, but then rose again, but then fell again. Go, just up and down like this,..."

"The old slave has inquired that there are some grain merchants in Beijing who want to increase the price, but they have not been able to do so. The grain from Yongping Mansion has been coming in a steady stream. Whenever the price rises, there will be dozens of carts. The grain carts entered the city, and it was said that there was a lot of grain stockpiled in Dingzigu. Someone specially bribed the grain guards in Dingzigu to go in and check, and they were all full, at least 200,000 shi. In order to buy a good price, it made the grain merchants in Beijing and China feel agitated,..."

The old servant's words made Weng Qiyang slightly moved. The 200,000 shi of grain was pressed in Tingzigu, and it was presumably the same in Yuguan and Yuepogang. Coupled with the constant shipping by sea, the imperial court's falsehoods made it difficult for grain merchants in Beijing. If you know the details, the price of food in the capital city will not rise. As long as people don't sell all of them, they can suppress you so much that you can't raise the price.

   "How is the situation of the refugees?" Weng Qiyang asked again.

"It's a mess, it's everywhere, but it seems to be divided into many parts, and there are people staring at it. It doesn't look like the government, but it's a good word. These refugees are quite afraid, and I don't know why these people were released by the government. I have entered the city, and it seems that a lot of tools like shovels and shovels have been distributed,..." The old servant continued: "The old slave didn't dare to ask further questions."

   "It seems that the situation in the imperial court is not as bad as we originally feared. At least the refugees are under control, and there is no way to turn the tide."

  Weng Qiyang knew very well that it was not easy to control the hundreds of thousands of refugees. Now it seems that the imperial court did not personally take action, but used other people to handle this matter. This is not easy.

  As for the distribution of tools such as shovels and shovels, I’m afraid it’s still the way of working for relief. Having said that, with so many refugees, without this method, which way can they solve it? And this capital city is covered in dust on sunny days and mud on rainy days, so it really needs to be refurbished.

   "Apart from food prices, have other materials increased?" Weng Qiyang closed his eyes and remained silent for a while before asking again.

"Other things, if they are related to food and clothing, all have risen to a certain extent. For example, the price of oil has also doubled, and the price of mutton has tripled. The price of pork has risen less. However, the price of iron materials has not risen. It’s too obvious, it’s about 30% higher than last year, and the price of cement has increased by 70%,…”

Weng Qiyang silently calculated that if he takes the sea route, the cost will increase compared to water transport, but it will not exceed 40%, and even if he uses skilled hands, it will be about 30%, and as the routes become more familiar, the port facilities will become more and more advanced. Perfection, and the larger the vessel used, continued to decline.

  Based on the current north-south price comparison, bulk materials such as iron and cement in the north can still be transported to the south, and there are still considerable profits, and the benefits of transporting grain and cloth from the south to the north are extremely attractive.

  The carriage walked along West Chang'an Street until it reached Shibei Hutong before turning south, and finally arrived at a quiet house at the intersection of Songshu Hutong.

   Entering the compound, several carriages had already parked beside the stables. Weng Qiyang knew that representatives from Longyou merchants, Jiangyou merchants, and Yangzhou salt merchants had all arrived.

Feng Ziying did not hide the fact that Feng Ziying sent people to Jiangnan and Jiangbei to issue notices. Although competition among business gangs is inevitable, everyone still has to abide by the basic rules, and the cooperation and struggle with the court has never stopped. Therefore, communicating with each other and avoiding being misunderstood by the court is also everyone's bottom line.

This round came to the capital city to participate in the sales, the real principals would not participate, and the people sent were basically characters who had never shown their faces outside, and they could not be seen from the surface at all. However, this does not mean that the merchants in the south of the Yangtze River do not care.

  On the contrary, they pay more attention to it, because they need to observe and analyze the current situation of the court in combination with the intelligence and information provided to them by their spokespersons in the court.

   It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that it is related to everyone's wealth and life. After all, they have bet on both sides, but if they make a wrong bet, they will miss a huge opportunity, and may even struggle in the dark for a long time, but that is true.

   There were many figures in the middle courtyard, but none of them came out, and Weng Qiyang ignored them, and went straight into the inner courtyard.

   As expected, there were already several people in the inner courtyard.

Tong Haishan of the Longyou Merchant Gang, Du Sanbao of the Jiangyou Merchant Gang, and He Tingfa, a representative of the Anhui merchants Zhongyan He's family, the Shanxian merchants did not come, nor did they invite each other. On the side of the court.

   "Mr. Weng is here?" He Tingfa is a plump, white-faced fat man, with a silver wrench in his fat hand that is as gentle as jade, which can reveal a bit of nobility. When he saw Weng Qiyang coming in, he greeted him with a smile.

  In fact, he is not very familiar with Weng Qiyang. Dongting merchants don’t have much contact with salt merchants, and they don’t think highly of salt merchants. On the contrary, Liao Youfa and Du Sanbao are very close to Weng Qiyang.

   "Mr. He came early." Weng Qiyang cupped his hands, "Brother Tong and Brother Du are also early."

"It's not too early, Mr. Mo Dao went early, and there are even earlier people." He Tingfa muttered and shook his head, "I arrived five days ago, but there are still people who are earlier than me. Boss Su is older than me." Come early, but today seems to be late."

   "Brother Zhengxian has been delayed by some business, so he should be here." It was Tong Haishan who answered.

  Boss Su Zhengxian in their mouth is a leading representative of Ningbo merchants. He is not only a large shipowner businessman, but also the owner of the largest shipyard in Ningbo.

Just as he was talking, footsteps sounded outside the door, and a black and thin man came in, wearing a green shirt and walking with vigorous steps, he cupped his hands when he came in: "Little brother is late, Mr. Weng, Brother Tong, Brother Du, Mr. He,... "

   This person is Su Zhengxian, a wealthy businessman from Ningbo.

   Weng Qiyang nodded slightly, and the others also saluted.

   After the servants brought the tea in, they disappeared and were never seen again. There were only a few people left in the flower hall.

  This is a separate residence of Du Sanbao, it is very secretive, and places like the guild hall are really not suitable for business planning.

   "Since Mr. He has been in the capital for a while, he must have gained something?" Du Sanbao asked this topic first.

He Tingfa's complexion was soft, and his fair and rich face became brighter and brighter, "Well, I saw tens of thousands of refugees arriving in Beijing, but the imperial court seems to have a strategy to divert them outside the city, and the old, weak, women and children stay outside the city. They were divided into several groups and introduced into the city one after another. It is said that the streets and ditches in the capital city are going to be overhauled..."

   "Prices have risen a lot, but they are not chaotic, and they have not risen to an outrageous level..."

   "It is said that the autumn contest will still be held normally. This is what I learned from an acquaintance in the Ministry of Rites, including Nanzhi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian.

   "I heard that the Shanxi army has passed Ningjinbo, and is on the front line of Xinhe and Zaoqiang. The Jizhen army is also starting to gather in Hejianfu..."

   "The two supervisors heard that there was some discord with the cabinet. A few days ago, His Royal Highness King Lu was reprimanded face to face by Elder Qi Ge..."

   "King Zhonghui wants to adjust the personnel of the Beijing camp, but I heard that there is a lot of resistance,..."

  A group of merchants began to exchange the news they had learned.

  For businessmen, there are many channels for judging the situation. Prices, the situation between the DPRK and China, the army, and public security are all in their observation and consideration. From Feng Ziying's point of view, this is actually more scientific.

  (end of this chapter)