Our county is one of the three grain-producing counties. We have many fertile fields and countless people who make a living from farming. The grain we grow now cannot be sold. If we want to compete with the grain from King Guanghuai's fiefdom and sell it at the same price, we will basically lose two acres for every acre we grow. Who would still grow grain?
Even if the imperial court issued a decree that arable land cannot be used to grow anything else but crops, farmers would choose to invest less, not to plow, sow, fertilize or water, as they would definitely lose money. The land would only grow as much as it could naturally. If the three counties were like this, how desolate would the world be?
"If Prince Guanghuai sells off all the grain he has accumulated over the years, and he doesn't sell any of the surplus grain in his fiefdom, and survives for a few more years, what will become of the empire?"
At this time, people from the government office brought four meals. Shang Huaitang asked everyone to start eating, but then asked Sun Yannan, "So, what do you think we should do?"
Sun Yannan said: "First, we must protect the grain farmers in the three counties. There are two counties around the Guanghuai King's fiefdom that are major grain-producing counties. Many grain farmers in these two counties can no longer sell their grain.
The imperial court will purchase an equivalent amount of grain from these two counties and store it in the national granary, regardless of how much grain Prince Guanghuai sells to the surrounding areas.
Shang Huaitang asked, "What price did the court pay for it?"
Sun Yannan said: "At the parity price among the previous market prices."
Shang Huaitang asked, "Based on the price of the surplus grain from Prince Guanghuai's fiefdom before it hits the market?"
Sun Yannan said, "That's right."
Shang Huaitang asked, “Why doesn’t the imperial court just buy the surplus grain from Prince Guanghuai’s fiefdom at a cheaper price?
If all the grain is bought up, there will be no cheap grain on the market. Shouldn't the rice shops and grain stores still pay the same price they used to pay for grain from farmers?"
Sun Yannan said: "Because Prince Guanghuai would not sell it to the court. If he knew that the court was buying grain, even if he sold it, the price would not be so cheap.
But the court would not lose money. The grain merchants bought the grain from King Guanghuai at almost half the market price. And because the court bought the grain from the farmers at the market price to stabilize the price, the court only needed to collect the difference tax from the grain merchants.
Suppose a farmer costs eight dan of grain to grow, and the court buys it for ten. But Prince Guanghuai only sells his grain for five. The grain merchant buys five and can sell it for ten. The price difference is five, a huge profit, but the court can just tax the grain merchant three or four.
Shortly after the talks with Shang Huaitang, many large grain farmers, including the Shi family, voluntarily became designated suppliers of the country's temporary national granary, "Huai Cang". When the "market price" was lower than the cost, the court purchased their rice at a protective price.
After the court's unified purchase, the new rice was stored in the Huai Cang and used for unified allocation throughout the territory, which was equivalent to an equal replacement. In fact, the surplus grain production in King Guanghuai's fiefdom was brought under the unified management of the Xuanyuan Dynasty like the other three counties.
The Shi family's grain found a buyer, and after waiting for a long time without any response from the Rong family, the new rice was stored in the warehouse.
But the father-in-law who had not appeared for a long time suddenly came back.
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