The predecessor of the Beijing News was Dibao. It was not only published nationwide, but also officials, gentry, and merchants from all over the country are a must-read. If you publish the name of a business in the Beijing News, the business will surely become famous overnight. The top three of the four businesses that lost donations this time are famous and well-known. What you published in the Beijing News is nothing more than a reputation for being kind and generous. However, the Guangzhou Wanlilong Tea Store, which has never been heard of before, became famous overnight.

The shopkeepers and big bosses in the capital were envious. Their strength was strong in the restaurants, inns, pharmacies, jewelry stores, clothing stores, fur shops, paint shops, shoe shops, and cotton silk shops. The shopkeepers were all secretly thinking and hesitating to consider whether they could also make a fortune. Twenty thousand taels of silver is not a small amount, but the rewards that can show their faces in the Beijing News must be far more than the 20,000 taels of silver. With a reputation, this business will come to you automatically.

However, the grain merchants in the capital did not have time to consider making a name for themselves in the Beijing newspapers, which had nothing to do with them. However, they were not idle either. They were all busy raising prices happily. In a blink of an eye, the grain prices in the capital increased by 20%. As soon as the news spread, the people in the capital realized that another drought was coming, and they all rushed to buy rice and grain, which further stimulated the rise in grain prices.

The rise in grain prices will inevitably lead to uneasiness in the people and the unstable people in the capital. This is not a trivial matter. After hearing the news, the heads of Shuntian Prefecture, Jiumen Admiral, Censorate, Ministry of Revenue and other government agencies immediately submitted a letter to open a warehouse and reduce the amount to stabilize the price of grain.

The letter was sent to the study room. Zhang Penghong, the rotating minister of the study room, did not dare to be negligent. He did not even write down the rules, so he stood up and rushed to the Qianqing Palace to meet him. He felt something strange along the way. Zhenwu has always been meticulous. Since he had made such a big fuss in the Beijing News, why did he not take any precautions? Is it a secret or a deliberate way?

There is little possibility of being secretly secret. Zhenwu could not have expected that the propaganda of drought would cause the rise in grain prices. This is an obvious matter, that is, it is deliberate. What is the purpose of doing this? Thinking of this, Zhang Pengsheng couldn't help but feel nervous. The granary, Zhenwu wants to rectify the granary in the capital and Tongzhou! This is a ready-made scapegoat!

In the West Warm Pavilion of Yangxin Palace, Zhenwu was reviewing and replying to secret copies from officials from all over the country. These secret copies cannot be falsely reviewed by others. After the imperial pen is approved, the original must be sent back. This is a system established by Kangxi. The reason for this is to make local officials feel at ease and not hide anything, and increase their sense of security.

Zhenwu feels like this secret copy system, which is like a development informant, and they are all single-line connections. Moreover, it is highly confidential. It is very hard to review secret copy every day, because each secret copy has to be replied to, and the simplest thing is to write a few words "read" or "know." If you encounter a big event, you have to write a long paragraph.

Although it is hard, the benefits of the secret payment system are obvious. It can grasp and understand the situation in various places anytime and anywhere, which is conducive to correct decision-making and innovation. It is also conducive to improving administrative efficiency, effectively deterring and controlling a group of subordinates, and using secret payments to communicate with subordinates.

However, although secret letters have many benefits and many harms, they are indulging the ministers to attack each other. The members of the officials follow the rules and be careful in everything. They are always walking on thin ice, which is not conducive to the minister's subjective initiative and creativity. Furthermore, speaking more than one level can easily lead to disagreement between the upper and lower levels, which is not conducive to the implementation of government affairs, and is not conducive to the responsible management system at all levels.

Zhenwu is not ready to change the secret memorial system now. Even if he wants to change and abolish it, he has to wait until the imperial power is consolidated and the new policy is implemented. On the contrary, he is still ready to expand the scope of secret memorial memorial to prepare for the implementation of the new policy in the future.

Bao Fuquan tiptoed in and reported softly: "Your Majesty, Zhang Pengchong is handing out a sign in the study to ask for a visit."

Hearing this, Zhenwu stopped writing and raised his head, pondered for a moment before asking, "When is it?"

"It's already four o'clock when you go back to the emperor." Bao Fuquan hurriedly bowed and replied.

Zhenwu nodded slightly, guessing why Zhang Penghong came. After pondering for a moment, he ordered: "Let him come in."

After Zhang Pengfeng entered the palace to see the ceremony, he calmly replied: "Report to the emperor, after the Beijing News was released, the price of grain in the capital has soared. Now it has risen to one or four cents per stone. The price of grain will rise. The common people will have difficulty in food. This is the case next to the chariot hub. The capital will change its capital and profit. I beg you to pray that the emperor will pay attention to the people's livelihood in the world, and then open warehouses to reduce the price of grain to stabilize the people's hearts."

Zhenwu glanced at him, pondered slightly, and then asked: "Why is the reason for the price of grain in the capital?"

The reason for the rise in grain prices? Isn’t this a question knowingly? Zhang Penghong was slightly stunned and bowed quickly and said, “When I go back to the emperor, I think that the common people don’t have much money on hand. I suddenly heard of a severe drought and rushed to buy reserves to stimulate the rise in grain prices.”

"There are ten large warehouses in Tongzhou, with nearly ten million stones of grain stored in the capital. They are sold in spring and autumn every year. When there is a famine, they will inevitably open the warehouse to release relief." Zhenwu said slowly in a deep voice: "Why do people still rush to buy when they hear about the disaster?"

Zhang Penghong had never expected Zhenwu to think about it like this at all. He heard this and was unconscious. After thinking for a moment, he bowed and said, "The people rushed to buy it because the court's disaster relief measures were not effective. The people's actions did not trust the court. They all went to the study to make a poor plan. I beg the emperor to issue an imperial decree to punish him." He really didn't know what Zhenwu was thinking, so he confessed his guilt first. There was no big mistake in admitting guilt.

Seeing Zhang Penghui taking the crime, Zhenwu couldn't help laughing secretly. After pondering for a moment, he followed the conversation: "There is indeed some responsibility in the study room. The measures of the court were formulated in detail, but the implementation was always unsatisfactory. It is necessary to investigate the reasons from top to bottom." As he said that, he paused slightly before continuing: "The people heard that there were disasters and the purchase of grain was famine. However, it was enough to show that the capital warehouses were insufficient and the grain storage was not enough to meet the needs of the people in the capital. This time, the labor-for-relief focused on the construction of several warehouses in Chaoyangmen, Dongzhimen, and Deshengmen.

After hearing that Zhenwu had no intention of suing him, Zhang Penghong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed: "The emperor's holy thoughts are profound and he knows the details. The capital's additional warehouses and storing grain is actually a move that benefits the country and the people. The ministers received the order."

Zhenwu thought for a moment before saying, "The people's competition for purchases has led to an increase in grain prices. Although there is a reason for this, this trend should also be gradually reversed. Otherwise, when the granary is empty, it is easy to cause chaos. However, this matter can only cause a little hardship for the people, but cannot let it go.

The Jiangnan canal transport can arrive in Tongzhou in early March. The first batch of grain from Nanyang that can provide relief for 500,000 stones can also arrive in Tianjin at the end of February and early March. Shanghai also has 300,000 stones of sea transport. The capital does not lack food at all. It is ordered to spread the news and distribute the mili of the capital officials and soldiers in advance (the Lumi is distributed in quarterly, usually in March, June and September). In addition, the shipping warehouses and Xingping warehouses allocated 100,000 stones to reduce the amount of food to stabilize the price of grain and stabilize the people's hearts."

"I respect the orders of the minister." Zhang Penghong bowed, but thought to himself that what 200,000 stones can help is better than nothing. However, distributing rice in advance can greatly stabilize the hearts of the people. After all, all the officials and soldiers are rich in rice, and they are sold at high prices. They can not only make money, but also play a role in stabilizing the price of grain. I wonder if this news of sufficient food is to ask you to get into the trap?

After Zhang Penghu bowed and withdrew, Zhenwu stood up and slowly walked up in the hall. The capital, the top ten granaries in Tongzhou had not been rectified for many years. I don’t know how many things were involved. Once the lid was opened, it would probably cause shock to the government and the people. However, it was time to make a ruthless rectification. The war broke out in the northwest for a while, and it would be too late to rectify it. Since it was necessary to rectify it, it should be thoroughly rectified and the relevant systems should be improved as well.

However, it is not too early yet. He has to wait until the price of grain rises and release 200,000 stones of grain to reduce the amount of grain. For the entire capital, it has limited effect, and may prompt the price of grain to continue to rise and the distribution of rice rice in advance, but to prevent the price of grain from rising too much. In addition, he is also worried that the deficit of each warehouse is too large, causing panic. He has to delay it for another two days, and wait until the grain of grain and Nanyang, and Shanghai will take action when it is almost arrived, so that they can jump for another two days, so that they can catch all the food in one go.

*

The capital was not short of food, so the capital officials were distributed in advance, and the Eight Banners soldiers Ding Jimi and allocated 200,000 stones of rice to reduce the amount of rice quickly spread. As soon as the news spread, officials and bannermen in the inner city of the capital immediately calmed down. However, after the news was stimulated by the outside city, the price of grain did not drop but rose, and in a blink of an eye it rose to one tael and five cents per stone.

The merchants in the capital were not only well-informed, but also mostly knowledgeable. The collection of grain was limited to eight provinces including Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, etc. The so-called grain arrived in Tongzhou in early March, which was purely a joke. It was true that grain ships came to Tongzhou to deliver grain one after another in early March, but in early March, the two provinces of Shandong and Henan came to pay grain.

However, the Beijing News clearly states that the one-year official tuition for Shandong and Henan is exempted from the official tuition. This means that Shandong and Henan have all suffered disasters. According to convention, the court will definitely intercept the grain on the spot to provide disaster relief. How can it be transported to Tongzhou? The grain from Liangjiang, Lianghu and Zhejiang will not arrive in Tongzhou until at least May.

As for Nanyang, it is possible that hundreds of thousands of stones of grain transported by sea in Shanghai. Tianjin will be able to open a port at the end of February. However, the amount of grain is small, and the other is used for disaster relief, so it is impossible to enter the capital.

The official news is full of loopholes, which means that the capital is not short of food. On the contrary, the capital is short of food. This can be seen from the fact that only 200,000 shi of grain are released to reduce the amount. If 200,000 shi is reduced, it is like trying to calm the price of grain in the capital. What a joke? It would be unreasonable if the price of grain does not rise.

Seeing that the prices of grain are rising steadily, the people in the capital are naturally panicked, and the rush to buy is getting stronger and stronger. The price of grain quickly rose to one tael and six qian per stone, but the supply is still in short supply. Grain merchants of all sizes of the capital are all busy, showing their magical powers to mobilize grain everywhere. {Piaotian Wenxue www.piaotian.net Thank you for the support of all book friends, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!