Chapter 48 Crossing the River "Once the shipping on the canal is cut off, the price of food in the capital city will inevitably double within a month.
According to the information sent back from various places by the Military Intelligence Agency, the harvests in Zhuozhou, Hejian, Yizhou and other places last autumn can only be regarded as It’s mediocre.
It can barely supply the local area, but there is no ability to transport food to the capital city.”
Not only Zhang Song was shocked by the news, but also many core generals present, such as Xu Da, Liu Ziyun, Wu Liangmou, etc., were also dumbfounded for a moment.
Especially Liu Ziyun, the way he looked at Zhu Chongjiu was like a girl in her twenties and eighties looking at a hero.
In addition to admiration, the rest was still admiration.
No wonder the lord has been complaining about the lack of preparation in the recent period.
No wonder the lord has been saying that it was too bad a time for Tuohuan Timur and his son to kill each other.
It turned out that his "surprise troops" had already crossed the Yellow River and penetrated deep into the heart of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
In just a short time, Meng Yuan's food supply was completely stuck in the hands of the Huai'an army.
If we give him three to five more years, the Huai'an army will not need to carry 100,000 soldiers by then.
As long as the blockage on the south bank of the Yellow River is closed and grains of rice are not allowed to be transported north, the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties may not even be able to collect the military rations for the expedition. may offer any decent resistance The only one who always remained calm was the elder Shi Su Mingzhe.
As someone who has watched Zhu Chongjiu step by step from a pig-killer to today, he has witnessed too many miracles, so he doesn't care about one more or one less.
Even if Zhu Chongjiu gets up tomorrow morning and tells him that he can take everyone to fly to the sky, he will only happily pack his luggage instead of finding anything shocking about flying in the daytime.
"Food prices will rise within a month, probably more than double."
He knocked on the ground with a gold-covered crutch.
Old Chang Shi added in a low voice, "The period between the beginning of spring and the wheat filling every year is a period of drought.
Unless man-made If the situation is controlled, grain prices will rise by 50% or even double.
Buy at a high price and sell at a high price in the spring.
This is the kind of dirty money you make.
Once our army cuts off the canal, the first thought of those grain shops controlled by the princes and nobles in the capital will not be to tide over the difficulties with the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties.
Take this opportunity to make a huge fortune, no matter if the sky falls or not."
"Those big shots are really a bunch of lice in their crotches."
Robben used an ancient saying from Ruan Ji to give the most vivid annotation to Su Mingzhe's words.
He just concentrates on sucking blood every day and doesn't care about the changes outside.
If the fire reaches the crotch, these lice will definitely die without a burial place.
"For me in Huaiyang, the more lice the better in the metropolis right now."
Zhang Song shook his head and laughed.
I am afraid that even Lu Luzeng may not have a deeper understanding of Meng Yuan officialdom than he does.
Therefore, he did not doubt Su Mingzhe's inference at all, and even thought in his heart that Su Mingzhe had looked at those princes and nobles countless times.
"After all, this move will hurt Tianhe, and if it spreads later, it may damage the reputation of the lord."
Robben glanced at him and continued to shake his head gently.
Unlike others here, he took up a local official position after "discipleship" from the staff position.
What I usually do the most is resettle the refugees and save the people.
If you do it for a long time, your heart will inevitably become softer.
When mentioning the soaring food prices, the scene that immediately comes to mind is how ordinary people have become starved to death.
"If the fight continues for a long time, the losses of our Huai'an army will definitely be considerable.
More innocent people will die tragically."
Zhang Song also shook his head and criticized in a low voice.
"Since ancient times, people have inevitably died in wars.
And the quicker the battle, the fewer innocent people will die in vain."
"There are enough livestock in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
The short-term food shortage will have a very limited impact on the government and the army.
But ordinary people will inevitably eat wild vegetables and elm money mixed with them in spring.
In case of a cutoff in food supply , they will starve to death in droves within a month."
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Robben thought for a while and continued to whisper.
He knew very well that since his lord had already made a premeditation, it was inevitable to cut off the canal during the war.
Therefore, he was unwilling to directly dissuade Zhu Chongjiu, which was a useless move.
Instead, he reminded everyone of the consequences of cutting off the canal in a different way, hoping that Zhu Chongjiu would be more thoughtful when making his final decision and avoid too many innocent people dying.
These efforts were indeed not in vain.
After hearing this, Zhu Chongjiu immediately knocked on the table and expressed his position in a low voice: "Guanzhong is absolutely right.
In terms of their ability to withstand famine, the officials and troops of the Meng Yuan Dynasty were much stronger than ordinary people.
So in While cutting off the canal, other arrangements must be made to prevent our Huai'an army from taking over the land in vain."
"It's not like the land is white.
As long as it's not a natural disaster, the closer you are to the village, the more people find ways to eat.
And the farmers themselves know that rice is expensive in spring, so they usually save some rations in advance."
Su Mingzhe took his words with a smile.
He nodded and explained in a low voice, "The most miserable people during this period are actually the people in the city.
They rarely save.
If the price of rice soars, grain shops will rush to stock up.
Even if many people have money, they can't buy grain." eat" "It's true."
Huang Laowai had a rare opportunity to express himself, so he couldn't wait to take over the conversation.
"In the past, those of us who were blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, and hardworking people were most afraid of rising food prices in the spring.
We worked all day long, and sometimes we couldn't even earn a full meal."
"Is there any way that can not only attack the active forces in Meng Yuan, but also prevent a large number of people from starving to death?"
Zhu Chongjiu turned his head to Liu Ji and asked with some expectation.
"This" Liu Bowen grinned in embarrassment, and then responded in a low voice, "The best way is to fight quickly.
For every gram of a city, immediately open the warehouse to release grain, and at the same time let the fleet keep up and supply grain to the local area at a fair price.
Secondly" After hesitating for a moment, he added in a low voice, "After the army crosses the river, my lord can ask the agents from the Military Intelligence and Internal Affairs Departments to spread the news that we are only targeting the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty this time and do not want to hurt innocent people.
Anyone who escapes to our army on his own will Everyone in the newly recovered land can receive food rations to survive.”
"This plan is feasible" Zhu Chongjiu asked in surprise with his brows twitching.
"Won't Meng Yuan send troops to stop them?"
"Once a grain shortage occurs, if the Meng Yuan government has no ability to limit the price increases in grain stores, the people in the city will become a burden to them.
Therefore, the more people flee, the smaller the disaster relief gap faced by local officials.
Like the countryside, everyone only has a house and no land to encumber them.
If they want to leave, they can pack up and escape at any time, and they won’t miss it too much.”
"Then let the Military Intelligence Department cooperate and come up with a complete plan first."
Zhu Chongjiu frowned and thought for a while, then turned his eyes to Chen Ji.
"Within three days, I want to see specific measures.
And" Patting the table with his hand, he quickly added, "There is no need to wait for the army to cross the river.
From now on, Huaiyang Company will gradually reduce its food shipments to the north.
Let the food prices rise slowly first to provide the common people with food."
Just give them a heads up so they won’t be caught off guard.”
"I'm afraid that the Meng Yuan court will also be alert immediately."
Liu Bowen did not agree with Zhu Chongjiu's method, shaking his head and reminding him in a low voice.
"The amount they need is too large.
Even if they are alert, it is too late to start the acquisition now.
Unless they are determined to rob," Zhu Chongjiu knocked on the table a few more times and sneered.
"That's it."
Seeing that Liu Ji and Robben still wanted to dissuade him, he quickly made the final decision before they spoke.
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"The household bureau is responsible for organizing civilian ships to carry food behind the army.
We should try our best to provide work-for-relief as we did in Yangzhou and Huai'an.
For the old, young, women and children who really can't work, we will provide rationed and free food."
The biggest difficulty in this Northern Expedition is not necessarily the military level, but how to win over the people as quickly as possible.
Giving people trapped in famine hope to live again is undoubtedly the best way to win over the people.
Although, it was also Zhu Chongjiu's big hands that pushed the people to the brink of life and death.
He found that he didn't know when his heart had become much crueler than before, and he was even a little unscrupulous.
But even if he was given enough time and discussed with Robben for three days and three nights, he believed that he would still make the same decision.
Use all possible means to destroy the enemy, regardless of whether it will hurt many innocent people.
After all, the Huaiyang General Manager's Office and the Huai'an Army are the pillars of all his ideals.
Without these two pillars, no matter how much compassion he has in his heart, it will all end in vain.
"While reducing food supply, the Household Bureau is responsible for joining forces with Huaiyang merchants to increase the northward transportation of glass, ice jade, jewelry, jewelry, ready-made clothing, various fabrics, and gold products.
With the approval of the merchants, the prices are gradually lowered. 20% to 30%.
Remember, it needs to be lowered step by step and cannot be reached instantly.
The price of wool and groceries provided by the north should also be slightly increased.
Officials, businessmen, and tax collectors found that when food prices began to rise, they also found that the money in their hands was more valuable and it was easier to make money.
This way, they would not jump up and make drastic measures. reaction.
Instead, he will cooperate with us more actively and turn the north upside down."
Looking at the frowning Robben and the unwilling Liu Ji, Zhu Chongjiu cleared his throat and continued to add.
The voice was neither fast nor slow, as if relevant plans had been made a long time ago.
"In addition, for cattle, sheep, livestock, chickens and ducks, we can advance the principal and entrust the boat gang to stock up in large quantities.
Gang Leader Chang and others have helped us a lot.
When there is an opportunity to make a fortune, we have to take care of our own people first."
There was a pause.
After a pause, Zhu Chongjiu continued to strategize.
Although he knows everything about it, when it comes to economic warfare, no one here is better than him.
As he spoke, he happily found that he was back to the days when he had just conquered Huai'an.
Everything can be settled with one word, and everything can be done freely.
But everyone could only obey.
No matter how hard they tried, it was difficult for them to understand the mystery contained in it.
"Obey the order" Sure enough, Liu Ji and Luo Ben saw Zhu Chongjiu's firm attitude and accepted the order one after another.
"We need to be careful of someone deliberately disrupting the situation.
Once the price of food is high, shipping becomes a good deal.
Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen and the Shen family are probably all masters who recognize money but not people."
Zhang Song, director of the Internal Affairs Office, hesitated for a moment and took the initiative to stand up. remind.
He has been very positive recently.
Regardless of whether it is within his own jurisdiction or not, whenever he sees an opportunity, he will try to get involved.
Lest Zhu Chongjiu and everyone else couldn't see it, he, a former surrendered minister, had completely returned to the General Manager's Mansion.
"Let Zhu Qiang take the fleet to negotiate with them.
At this time, there is no personal relationship to talk about.
Anyone who sabotages our army's Northern Expedition is a life-and-death enemy."
Zhu Chongjiu frowned slightly, and his eyes shone like a beast that had been dormant for a long time. , finally began to show his teeth
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