On the tenth day of the first lunar month in the twenty-second year of Chongzhen, one official document after another was rushed from Shaanxi to the capital.
The official document contained only one content: requesting the court to transfer grain from other provinces to Shaanxi to stabilize local grain prices.
The cabinet chief Fan Jingwen came with an official document to discuss with Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Lü Daqi is in big trouble in Shaanxi!"
Looking at Fan Jingwen who looked anxious, Chongzhen pretended to be indifferent and said, "What trouble? Can it be as big as the trouble caused by the Jiannu in Liaodong?"
Fan Jingwen was very worried: "It was Lü Daqi. He promoted currency reform in Shaanxi, which caused the local grain prices to soar! In order to stabilize the grain prices, he sold the grain in the government warehouse to the people at a low price. Now the government warehouse is in urgent need of grain, and Lü Daqi asked the court to help stabilize the grain prices!"
"The people of Shaanxi are already tough. If the grain prices are not stabilized in time, the desperate people in Guanzhong may cause another uprising!"
Fan Jingwen's words made Chongzhen very unhappy.
He immediately blamed the problem on the currency reform rather than on the Shaanxi gentry and merchants who took the opportunity to cause trouble.
However, he did not hate Fan Jingwen because of this.
Everyone is limited by the times!
As the chief minister of the cabinet, Fan Jingwen represented the interests of the gentry class.
There's nothing wrong with saying a good word or two for them.
"It doesn't matter. There are nearly 100,000 elite troops stationed in the three border areas of Shaanxi, Pianguan Town, Xuanfu, and Datong. If they dare to launch a civil uprising, I will send a large army to quell the rebellion!" Chongzhen spoke in a very arrogant tone, once again showing an indifferent look.
"Recuperation is not a matter of a day or two. If we start fighting again, Guanzhong will probably find it difficult to restore its former prosperity. Moreover, fighting is only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution. The same trouble will be encountered after the army withdraws. Your Majesty, please think twice!" Fan Jingwen tried his best to persuade.
"What does cabinet mean?" Chongzhen asked.
"This is the cabinet's proposal!" Fan Jingwen handed the proposal to Wang Chengen and said, "The cabinet wants to transfer grain and grass from other provinces to Shaanxi."
Chongzhen glared and said, "It's easy to say, but it takes money to transfer grain. Where does the money come from?"
"The Treasury..."
Without waiting for Fan Jingwen to finish, Chongzhen patted the dragon case and said, "The court's deficit last year was as high as 4 million taels! If it weren't for Li Gelao's collection of tax arrears, which left the treasury with a little surplus, and if it weren't for the mining team's investigation of several corrupt officials, the treasury would have been empty long ago!"
"As the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, you should not always think about spending money, but find ways to increase the income of the court!"
"This..." Fan Jingwen was speechless.
So far, he has not found a way to increase the court's tax revenue.
If he had, he wouldn't have been so speechless after being scolded by Chongzhen.
"Your Majesty, please think twice!" Fan Jingwen was unwilling to give in and continued to persuade him.
Chongzhen continued to express his refusal!
Fan Jingwen transformed himself into Tang Monk, chanting the spell to tighten the hoop beside Chongzhen and muttering: "Your Majesty, let the Imperial Household Department approve it!"
"Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance."
"Your Majesty, the national treasury currently has a surplus. It will not be too late to consider increasing revenue after solving the current problems..."
......
Chongzhen could bear it at first, but as time went by, his patience soon disappeared. He waved his hand and said, "The bill will be kept for the time being. Minister Fan, please push it down!"
"Liu Zhong" means neither agreeing nor disagreeing, which gives people a feeling of being incompetent and unjust.
Seeing this, Fan Jingwen could only bow and turn away.
As soon as he left the Qianqing Palace, Li Ruolian walked in.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" Li Ruo Lian saluted.
"No need to bow, just stand up," Chongzhen said while waving his hand to let the eunuchs who were not involved in the hall leave.
After they walked out, Chongzhen asked in a low voice: "How is the situation in Shaanxi?"
"Your Majesty, the grain price in Shaanxi has been rising very fast. Before the New Year, it was as high as 2.5 taels per stone. Later, all prefectures and states opened their warehouses to sell official grain at low prices, and the grain price temporarily fell back to 2 taels per stone. The latest news from the Shaanxi Jinyiwei said that the grain price there has risen back to 2.5 taels per stone! The local gentry and merchants spent a lot of money to stock up on grain!"
"Have you completed the task I asked you to do to stockpile grain?" Chongzhen asked.
"Yes, I have specifically instructed that when purchasing food and fodder, silver coins must be used, not copper coins."
"Yes," Chongzhen nodded, "I have put a watch on the important roads leading to Guanzhong. Merchants carrying large amounts of copper coins are not allowed to enter Guanzhong. I want to create a situation where there is a shortage of copper coins in Guanzhong!"
"Your Majesty, don't worry. The major passes in Guanzhong are guarded by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. They will not let any merchant who resells copper coins enter Shaanxi!" Li Ruolian saluted.
After the establishment of the Post Office, checkpoints along the way did not dare to arbitrarily stop caravans with official passes.
After all, Chongzhen once said that anyone who obstructed without authorization would be regarded as disobeying his order and would be executed immediately!
but...
Jinyiwei dares!
They represent the imperial power, and all they need to stop the caravan is a reason to suspect that the other party's copper coins are counterfeit.
What follows is a lengthy investigation!
Count the coins one by one, and then distinguish the real and fake ones after counting.
If you find a fake one, count them all again!
The purpose is to delay time, and it is a reasonable and legal delay!
The Jinyiwei will only release it after the currency reform in Shaanxi is completed.
Until then...
The national currency reform has already begun, and the few copper coins in the hands of merchants can no longer have much impact on the current situation in Shaanxi.
"Okay," Chongzhen nodded, "This incident may have a very bad impact, you should be prepared to be impeached."
"I have already arranged it."
Having said that, Li Ruolian glanced around the hall.
After confirming that there were no outsiders, he whispered, "If impeached, I will dismiss the Jinyiwei on duty."
"Don't disappoint the people below you," Chongzhen reminded.
"Your Majesty, rest assured. I gave them a large sum of money before arranging the mission and told them the possible consequences. These people are all volunteers."
"Yeah." Chongzhen nodded with satisfaction.
In addition to helping him with his work, the Jinyiwei also had to take the blame for him.
Make sure to give enough money!
After the king and his minister chatted about other trivial matters for a while, Li Ruolian bowed and said goodbye.
After he left, Zhou Kui, the Earl of Jiading, who had been waiting outside the hall, walked in.
"Your Majesty, I am your humble servant!" Zhou Kui bowed deeply to Chongzhen.
"Father-in-law, please stand up," Chongzhen personally stepped forward to help Zhou Kui up, and then ordered Wang Chengen: "Bring a stool for the father-in-law."
Looking at the stool in front of him, Zhou Kui did not have any suspicion like before, but sat down directly after some politeness.
Over the years, he made a fortune under Chongzhen's care.
Especially the business of building cavalry and buying horses, which increased his wealth several times!
Not to mention that Chongzhen’s stool was free, even if it was charged, he would be willing to pay to sit on it.
"Li Xingzhong, Liu Zhaoji and his men will go north to the grasslands in the spring to conquer the Western Tumed tribe, and they will need a large amount of food and fodder. The caravan under the father-in-law has taken on the task of transporting grain. How much grain has been transported to Shuozhou and Datong so far?" Chongzhen went straight to the point.
Zhou Kui blinked his eyes and asked, "I wonder if Your Majesty wants to ask about the apparent number or the real number?"
"Of course it's a real number!" Chongzhen couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly as he spoke.
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