Chapter 2110 The solution to the drawbacks of Gui-zi convolution and the absurd strategy

"Sir, it's difficult for the court, but it's even more difficult for the local area." Pan Ruzhen said with a bitter face: "Although last year and this year's taxes have been exempted, most of the people have no overnight food and cannot delay the harvest until next summer. There is no solution to this problem. Relief is not unavailable, but in terms of local... Hey, you also served as an official in Yongping Mansion, so you should know the difficulties here..."

This local relief depends on how much the government treasury has, but it is obvious that Yan'an Prefecture is cash-strapped, and how much the local gentry and merchants can provide depends on their mood, but one thing is for sure, it is absolutely impossible to provide There is no doubt about the number of problems it can solve.

“Zhen Pu, how much surplus grain and silver do we have in our treasury?” Feng Ziying asked the key question directly.

Any prefecture or county, no matter how poor or difficult it is, must have some food, money and materials at the bottom of the box. This is the most basic bottom line and the last fundamental support for the government to prevent unpredictable difficulties. .

Pan Ruzhen thought for a while silently before saying: "To be honest with you, the state of the treasury is not bad. There are still 3,200 shi of food for relief, 12,000 taels of money, and other items such as medicinal materials, cotton cloth, and wood." , a certain amount of military resources,..."

Feng Ziying was slightly surprised. It was really good. He thought that Yan'an Mansion would really have no food left in the house and no silver in the treasury. He didn't expect that there would be so much, which was much beyond his expectation. This showed that Pan Ruzhen was not that kind. Those who have no plans still have some plans and coping ideas.

"In addition, there are still 900 shi of corn in the treasury of Fushi County, and only more than 1,000 taels of money. There are also some other materials, but not much..., in some other states and counties, what I can grasp is more real. Of course, only Ansai and Ganquan are in the same situation as Fushi. The others are probably very wet and difficult to predict. In addition, the situation of Fugu and Shenmu is because the two county magistrates are short of staff. One of them died of illness after taking office last month. , one was vacant last year, and the vacancy has not yet been filled by the staff..."

 “Well, I understand.” Feng Ziying also closed her eyes and thought about it silently.

This amount of money and food is definitely not enough to support it. It seems that Pan Ruzhen has a hard time being the prefect. He only mentioned Fushi, Ansai and Ganquan, which means that only the magistrates of these three counties are more trustworthy to him, or As for his people, other prefectures and counties are more or less obedient. Fushi is in Fuguo County, and Ganquan and Ansai are both relatively close to Fuzhi.

"How is the price of food in Wubao County now? Where is the price of food in Qikou Ferry? What is the price of food in Xi'an?" Feng Ziying turned to ask Wang Wenyan.

"Food prices in Wubao County fluctuated greatly, but they basically stabilized after the siege was lifted. The price of corn rose to a maximum of eleven liang per stone during the siege, but quickly fell to seven or two and three cents per stone after the siege was lifted. After Qikou Ferry resumed sailing, the price further dropped to five liang and six qian per stone, and now it is probably stable at around five liang and five qian,..." Wang Wenyan is well aware of these situations, "As for wheat, basically there is a price but no market. , even if there is any sold, it is sold out quickly, the quantity is not large, the current price is about seven taels per stone, well, there is basically no japonica rice."

Feng Ziying couldn't help but click her tongue: "What's the difference between the price at Qikou Ferry and the price at Wubao? What's the price of food in Xi'an?"

"There is not much difference between the price of grain at Qikou Ferry and here. It is mainly due to the price of porters. Of course, there are still some differences. Taking corn as an example, the current price at Qikou Ferry is stable at 5 taels to 5 taels per qian. Between them, wheat is around six to five thousand." Wang Wenyan further said: "The price in Xi'an's grain market is quite stable. The bulk transaction price of corn is around four taels and one qian per stone, and the retail price of grain stores is around 4 liang and one qian per stone. Shi, the price of wheat is about 4 liang and 8 qian per qian, and the second-grade flour is about 5 liang and 6 qian,..."

Feng Ziying couldn’t help but raise her forehead. How could an ordinary person afford this price?

Not to mention Wubao, the price of food here in Xi'an is already ridiculously high. In Feng Ziying's impression, after the water transportation between Beijing and central China was cut off, prices soared. The price of food once rose to the point where the people were in an uproar, but the price of food in Zhangjiawan , the most expensive corn is only three taels, and the most expensive wheat is only three taels and five cents. Even so, the people in Beijing can no longer accept it. You must know that the people in Beijing have a much stronger spending power than the people in Xi'an. Later, the price fell, compared to There has indeed been a huge increase in the past few years, but it has only doubled. But with the current food prices in Xi'an, can Lu Chuan and Sun Yijie still be able to sit still?

"My impression is that the grain price in Shaanxi is slightly higher than that in Shanxi, and the grain price in Shanxi is slightly higher than that in Beizhi, but it is only a difference of two yuan per stone, right? I am in Datong, and the price of corn in Datong is only two to five yuan per stone. In Xi'an, The price of food in the government is so high. I don't know how long this price can last, but I know that this situation will only lead to riots in the end!" Feng Ziying said categorically.

There are quite a few citizens in the city of Xi'an, which is the center of the entire northwest region. When they can't even sell their children and girls to fill their bellies and have nowhere to go, there will really only be riots.

"Sir, there is an extreme shortage of food now. If you don't buy it, some people will buy it. Even many food shops are reluctant to sell it. They limit it every day. This is the case in Xi'an and other prefectures. There is no need to worry about selling." Wang Wenyan said euphemistically: "Shanxi merchants Basically monopolizing the grain resale in Shaanxi, the local businessmen in Shaanxi can only play supporting roles and have no pricing power. Of course, even if they have pricing power, the result is probably the same. Who can bear such huge profits without making a profit? ?”

Feng Ziying sighed. He didn't know anything else, but he knew that this situation was unsustainable. In the end, it would definitely become a volcano that would eventually erupt, and who would be burned to death?

 Unable to solve this problem, the entire chaos in Shaanxi will never be settled, but solving such a difficult problem is almost an insurmountable task.

Feng Ziying has the impression that the continuous natural disaster weather during the Little and Medium Ice Age in the previous life caused the entire northern region to endure disasters for decades. At this stage when the agricultural level was still quite weak, there was almost no solution. The only solution was The solution may be to eliminate a large number of people through war and achieve balance. Finally, when the bad weather of the Little Ice Age slowly subsides, and the introduction of crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn continues to spread and increase crop incomes, a newer era can be re-established. High level of balance.

In this time and space, the level of agriculture has not changed much. Although Xu Guangqi lived in seclusion in Tianjin and did a lot of work to cultivate and promote potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, to this day, this popularization is still within a small scope. Of course, , judging from the timeline, it seems that there are still more than ten years before the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, but the historical trajectory has long been changed. Many things that were there before are gone now, and things that were not there before are now there. Some aspects of the Great Zhou Dynasty Even worse than the Ming Dynasty, so Feng Ziying had to consider it from a worse perspective.

 What is your own coping strategy? Of course Feng Ziying had already considered it.

Three hundred thousand taels of silver is not enough to fill a gap in your teeth, especially in Shaanxi, a place where grain prices are soaring. In ordinary times, you could have bought three hundred thousand taels of corn at the price of corn in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou, and more corn, but Now you can only buy 50,000 shi, so the more money comes in, the price of food will continue to rise. The key is to have enough food to drive down the price. This is one of them.

But even if enough food comes in and the price reaches normal or slightly higher prices, for the vast number of hungry and hungry victims, they still cannot afford to buy or eat because they are penniless. This is another problem. , cannot be solved, it is still like a pair of residual warm fires. Once the right conditions are met to trigger it, it will be another fire.

Therefore, it is actually too difficult to quell the war in Shaanxi. This is why in the late Ming Dynasty, the rebel armies from all sides in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and even Huguang were not only wiped out but also resurrected, because at that time, the rebels and the people were inseparable. Unless the body is destroyed, as long as it exists, he will have to eat. If there is no food, he will have to rob it, and the people will become a rebel army. It is as simple as that.

 When Pan Ruzhen left, Feng Ziying sat alone in the hall and thought silently. Wang Wenyan sent Pan Ruzhen away and then Wu Yaoqing came in, leaving only three people in the hall.

It should be said that Wang Wenyan and Wu Yaoqing have won Feng Ziying's trust with their performance in the past few years. They have become indispensable roles as Feng Ziying's staff, think tank, and intelligence officer. Feng Ziying has nothing to say about them.

“What’s the attitude of Modlen and Qiu Zixiong?” Feng Ziying asked softly.

"There is still some entanglement and struggle. After all, it is difficult to make such a decision. Qiu Zixiong is better, his character is more rough and straightforward, and Modlen is more thoughtful." Wu Yaoqing said calmly, "But they should have no choice."

Feng Ziying sighed softly, "The situation in Shaanxi has reached this point. It is not the responsibility of any one person. The court is responsible, local officials are responsible, the army is responsible, and God is even more responsible. The many consequences brought about by these many aspects The accumulated abuses of the institutional system for ten years are even more responsible. Sometimes we have to choose a more absurd and bizarre way to destroy the results created by the seemingly normal institutional structure, and then we have to clean ourselves up. This How ridiculous?"

Wang Wenyan also asked: "Do we need to wait a little longer?"

"We can't wait any longer. The crossing of the river by the rebels is a bad sign. It is the harbinger of chaos in Shanxi. If Pingyang was not as depressed and ready as here, thousands of rebels may not be able to roll up such a big storm. ." Feng Ziying looked worried, "After all, we have come up with countermeasures here in Shaanxi, but we are helpless in Shanxi, but do we really have to stand by and watch? It seems that we can't get through it psychologically."

 (End of this chapter)