Chapter 3316
Bai Shan smiled slightly and asked, "Selling large quantities of old grain at this time can indeed take advantage of the situation to lower the price of new grain, but the world is interconnected. Longzhou's grain is not impossible to export, and other grain merchants will naturally come in. Dumping old grain to the people will only temporarily lower the price of grain. Why do local grain merchants choose the worst path?"
The scholars were stunned. After a moment of silence, they said, "Perhaps this is just drinking poison to quench thirst?"
"Whatever it is, the people who farm the land will be the ones who suffer." Another scholar sighed, "Alas, when the harvest is poor, it hurts the farmers; when the harvest is good, it hurts the farmers again."
"Brother, you're too pessimistic," Bai Shan said with a smile. "A good harvest is much better than a poor harvest. Although the money earned from selling each bushel of grain is less than before, each household has harvested more grain. People who couldn't eat enough before can now, and people who could only eat porridge before can now eat white rice. Everything is moving in the right direction. Why be pessimistic?"
Zhou Man nodded. "Besides, low food prices also have their advantages. Ordinary people can spend less money to fill their stomachs, and the remaining money can be used for other purposes, such as medical treatment, education, and tasting delicious food..."
"That's true, but now that grain stores are lowering their prices, farmers are still suffering."
Bai Shan nodded, "That's right. We can suggest that the governor's office and the county government purchase grain to stabilize prices."
The three scholars said: "...Our opinions are of little weight, and I'm afraid the Lord and his men won't accept them."
Bai Shan looked them up and down and asked, "Are you students from the prefectural or county school?"
"We are students of the prefectural school."
Bai Shan smiled and said, "That's easy. Students from both the prefectural and county schools have the right to make suggestions to the governor and county magistrate."
There is such a rule, but few people actually follow it. The three scholars looked at each other and said nothing.
Bai Shan only gave a suggestion, and it depends on them how to do it.
After eating and buying some small things, the group returned to the inn where they were staying. The child was already sleepy, so Bai Shan and the others handed the child to the servants to take him downstairs to wash, while they found a table in the lobby downstairs and sat down.
"It's okay to have low grain prices, but it's not good to have cheap grain." Yin Huo turned to Bai Shan and asked, "As the Imperial Secretary, aren't you going to take care of this?"
Bai Shan said, "I will submit a memorial to the Ministry of Revenue requesting that they order all regions to build warehouses and purchase grain to stabilize prices."
He paused and said, "Since the founding of the Great Jin, granaries across the country have been purchasing grain to stabilize prices, but not many new ones have been built. Now that the treasury is full and the grain yield is high, we can build more granaries. This will not only stabilize prices, but also be able to deal with disasters."
Yin Huo said, "Actually, I've been wondering the whole way here: why did we have to reach Qizhou before boarding the ship? Chang'an is connected to the Wei River by the river. If the Jialing River can be connected, why can't the Wei River?"
Bai Shan raised an eyebrow, "Are you talking about the canal transport?"
Yin Huo nodded. "If the grain transport can be smooth, then the grain prices in various places will be more stable, and the probability of incidents like the one in Longzhou happening will be smaller."
Bai Erlang said, "I saw this when I was in the Hanlin Academy. The grain transport system in this dynasty is basically inherited from the previous dynasty. However, except for the Grand Canal, the grain transport on other waterways is basically stagnant. There is no one to manage the waterways, the waterways are blocked, and the grain transport is not running at all."
"Then let's open it," Zhou Man said. "Water is everywhere. Our Great Jin has a dense water network. If the canal transportation flourishes and the entire Great Jin is connected by rivers, then in the future, when we go to other places, won't it be possible to travel three to five hundred miles a day, just like from Qizhou to Yongzhou?"
Bai Shan thought thoughtfully, "Where the water is deep and swift, it's possible to travel a thousand miles in a day."
"Yes, yes, if we have a longer vacation, we can go traveling far away." We can take the opportunity to dig some more things.
"Then this memorial must be written carefully. Is it one or two?"
Bai Erlang: "Such a big thing, it can't be written in one memorial, right?"
Bai Shan frowned, "I'm afraid submitting two memorials in a row would attract too much attention, and I'm on vacation right now."
He looked at Bai Jilang.
Zhou Man and Yin Huo also looked at Bai Erlang.
Bai Erlang slowly moved behind Mingda. Mingda moved away and said to him, "It's time for you to make a contribution to our Great Jin."
"...Then which one should I write?"
"The one about the grain transport," Bai Shan said, "haven't you seen the relevant records in the Hanlin Academy?"
"But I only looked through it when I was looking for information for my colleagues. I can't remember much of it."
"That's all right. Just give us a rough outline first. The Ministry of Industry will definitely take the lead in the detailed discussion and implementation," Bai Shan said. "I didn't say you'll be in charge, I just want you to get started."
Bai Erlang breathed a sigh of relief, but after a pause, he said, "But I haven't written a memorial in a long time. How can I write about such a big thing?"
Zhou Man said: "Let Bai Shan give you some advice."
Bai Erlang had no choice but to do something he was not prepared for.
The next day they returned to Mianzhou from Longzhou. The distance was not far and they could reach the destination in one day. They stayed in Mianzhou for one night and then returned to Qili Village.
In one day, Bai Shan finished writing the memorials on purchasing grain and stabilizing prices, and Bai Erlang started the work.
Bai Shan felt that he would not have the energy or time to write after returning to Qili Village, so he could only detain him in the carriage and have an in-depth discussion with him. After asking him to write down the key points, he said, "I started writing all night when I got home. I finished it in about an hour."
Bai Jilang nodded repeatedly in agreement, but the reality was that this was impossible.
The Bai family had sent their servants home in advance to notify the villagers, so as soon as they arrived at the village entrance, Master Bai's family, Zhou Erlang and Zhou Sanlang, and the villagers came to greet them. When the carriage stopped, before anyone got out, everyone knelt on the ground, stretching their necks and looking up, asking, "Where is the princess? Where is the princess? What does the princess look like?"
The villagers suddenly knelt down. Mr. Bai was a little slow to react. He bent his knees and hesitated between kneeling and not kneeling.
Bai Erlang had already jumped out of the car and quickly ran forward to stop them. He also pulled the village chief and others aside and said, "Don't kneel, don't kneel. The princess doesn't care about these empty formalities."
Mingda helped the maid out of the carriage and raised his hand, saying, "No need for formalities. Everyone, please stand up quickly."
Everyone then stood up and saw the princess with a look of amazement, "This is the princess, she is so beautiful."
"She's so white, just as white as Manbao from Old Zhou's family, but she's a little thinner, not as round and pretty as Manbao."
"I think the princess is prettier, like a fairy."
Zhou Man and Bai Shan took the child down and came forward, "Brother Village Chief, why are you all stuck here?"
"Hey, this is Manbao!"
"It's Manbao, he's grown so big already?"
"This is the young master of the Bai family, he has grown up and become more handsome!"
"The last time I saw them, they were still little and had just gotten engaged. Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Aren't they older now?"
"Manbao, where is your father?"
The villagers crowded around and everyone had a lot of questions. Zhou Man suddenly became speechless and didn't know whose question to answer first.
(End of this chapter)
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