Three Kingdoms

Taixing four years.

October.

Zuo Fengyi.

The howling north wind had started blowing unknowingly, causing the temperature to drop suddenly a lot in the past few days. People inside and outside the city began to put on thicker clothes to resist the cold.

Although the temperature has dropped, the number of people in these central cities in Guanzhong has not decreased much. The markets are still noisy and the merchants' shouts are still loud. Everyone is selling or buying according to their own needs, taking advantage of the opportunity. Winter has not yet completely arrived, so save some extra money for your home.

The north side of the city is usually the residence of high-ranking officials and nobles. The emphasis is on quietness and comfort, so it is far away from the noisy market. In addition, it attracts winding water, and has stone benches, stone tables, small pavilions and rockeries. Find tranquility in the bustle and enjoy leisure.

There are fewer pedestrians at the main street. Occasionally, there are delivery loads. They will turn into the alley in a hurry, and then someone will hand over the goods at the corner gate. From time to time, there will be some disputes about the quality of the goods, and some fireworks will be added. breath.

Most of the pedestrians walking along these streets are servants, servants, maids, etc. of some wealthy families. Then they will glance at each other. If the lintel of their own house is higher than the other's, they will look up and pass by. , on the contrary, he just nodded and stood aside, waiting for the other party to pass before moving on.

A fancy car turned the corner of the street and came slowly. The servants from various houses quickly gave way to the road and stood by the roadside. Only when the car passed by did they dare to raise their heads and talk to each other.

Which house is this from?

Can't you see this? Really, there are decorations on it, from the Yang family...

That Yang family?

And that one? Hongnong Yang family!

Uh...what are you doing here, Hongnong?

Hehe, you are very courageous. Do you dare to interfere in the master's family affairs?

I'll just talk casually... just talk...

By the time Yang Xiu got out of the car, there were already several people chatting and laughing in the courtyard, a harmonious atmosphere.

Although this year's autumn harvest is average, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a year of bad harvest and a year of famine, for these manor owners, the atmosphere is not tense, and they do not feel that there is anything to be nervous about...

There were constant laughter and toasts. If you put aside the topics they talked about and just looked at the appearance, most people would think it was just an ordinary banquet.

I heard that the fighting in the south was severe...

Isn't it?

The Hussars had already sent troops to Wuguan a few days ago, but so far there is no news of victory...

Yes, I saw refugees coming, but no good news came. Could it be...

No, I'm afraid the Wuguan Road is difficult and I'm stuck somewhere.

Well, that makes sense.

So... Is it difficult for the hussars to triumph within this year?

It's hard to say, but it seems like it's probably true...

Ah, in this war, food and grass must be requisitioned... What should we do?

Yeah, yeah, what to do?

Although they talked about what to do, there was no worry on everyone's face. It had been three to four hundred years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, and the wars had not been fought once or twice. As for the requisition of grain and grass, they had been carried out countless times. Local tycoons like these who had a large amount of land in their hands were even more familiar with these things. Although the requisition of grain and grass will bring certain impacts, they will quickly pass these impacts on to other people...

Due to various reasons this year, grain production was insufficient, so from the very beginning, these big households began to preach that grain prices would definitely rise, rise, rise...

At the beginning, the people were hesitant, because the governance of Qiaoqi in Guanzhong in recent years has been very effective, prices are stable and moderate, and overall the lives of ordinary people are quite good. Many people are even thinking about borrowing money. During the off-farm days in winter, he would tidy up his roof, or the fence in his yard, or make clothes for his mother-in-law with a few feet of linen that he has longed for. Anyway, there are many things that need money, but the savings in his hands But very few. If it is because of the increase in food prices, then it will almost mean that none of the original things can be done...

Ordinary people are afraid of rising food prices, but they have no way to control this. If they buy food at a high price, what if the food does not rise? Similarly, if you don’t buy some food now, what if the price goes up in the future?

Ordinary people are worried, but the big landowners are laughing and joking, because they have accumulated a considerable amount of grain and grass in the past few years. Therefore, the increase in food prices is a disaster for the common people, but for these large households, it is a pie falling from the sky, fragrant, fresh and hot.

Just one month after the autumn harvest, the price of food has quietly increased by 10% or 20%, but this is far from enough...

What can you do with an increase of 10% or 20%?

If you say less, double it, then double it!

Otherwise, where would your own money come from?

The basic principle is this. When it comes to details, it is hundreds of times more complicated. It's just that this is not the first time these big families have done this, otherwise their ancestors would not have accumulated so much real estate...

In their perception, this is just making hard money. You must know that hoarding so much... well, food and grass requires a lot of effort. Not to mention other things, you have to build a few warehouses. ? You also need to send people to guard and maintain it, which takes a lot of effort!

Of course, these things still cannot be said openly. After all, on the surface, we still have to say that the landlords of that family have no surplus food! There isn't much food and grass on the market, so the price of food has to go up!

The most important thing is that large households must unite and gain an active position in the fight against Husband's grain price control, so these people even begin to look forward to snow soon!

Because as soon as it snows, the roads in various places are basically closed, and then the soldiers riding outside cannot say that they will be able to turn back in a while, which means that more food and grass are needed to support the front line, so they will You can use your chips to negotiate terms with the Cavalry General.

As for those ordinary people, a bunch of bad gamers...well, a bunch of people who don't know a few Chinese characters, what can they understand?

Although the Hussars General has not yet issued an order for recruitment, on the one hand, it is the expedition of soldiers, and on the other hand, the influx of refugees. Both of these things require the consumption of food and grass, and the farms under the Hussars can support it. Does it cost so much? They calculated and calculated, and then judged that it was difficult.

It's hard.

So, does being able to solve the Hussar's problems represent a meritorious service? With meritorious service, can we have more low-tax land? Then it is almost equivalent to more output, more wealth, more beautiful ladies, and more other items that can improve the quality of life.

This is an invisible war...

Just two days ago, a warehouse in the county town was flooded and burned to the ground. The chief officer happened to be on sick leave at home, and the deputy who was temporarily in charge was arrested and imprisoned.

Then the deputy committed suicide out of fear of crime...

Immediately, near the county seat, there was another wave of grain price increases, which were already nearly 50% higher than the previous price! You know, it’s not long after the autumn harvest is over...

But this is just the beginning, at least in the minds of these big players, it is just the beginning.

Of course, in order to finally confirm something, we need to know some peripheral news, especially how long will the war between the Hussars and the General last?

This is very important. If the Hussars are fighting externally, then their thoughts must be on fighting against foreign enemies. Then internal matters will naturally be neglected to some extent. As long as no big trouble occurs, they are usually handled through consultation. Is it stable and harmonious? Isn’t this how the Han Dynasty came to be for three to four hundred years?

The key is that Qiusi's "Juetian Law" is too troublesome. No one had any reaction before because many people actually had the same idea. The Lord of Guanzhong has been like a revolving door in recent years, coming one after another. Bo Zou, every one of them preaches every day that he is the strongest, the most powerful and so on, but what happens in the end?

Aren’t the ones who stayed here the big local businesses?

And those previous lords of Guanzhong who boasted of being extremely powerful are all dead now!

So at the beginning, the big business owners in Guanzhong were thinking, whether it is five years or eight years, how long can you, a Feiqian, stay in Guanzhong? Maybe before five years, we will end up like Dong Zhuo, Li Guo, etc. Then the "Juetian Law" and other laws promulgated by Fei Qian are just pieces of paper? No, worse than waste paper? At least the waste paper is worth some money and has some use.

So after Jia Xu, Pang Tong and others cleaned up the situation, it basically became the consensus of the big players in Guanzhong, just wait and see who can survive who...

What they didn't expect was that Fei Qian took root in Guanzhong. Seeing that the time of "Juetian Law" was getting closer and closer, these people naturally became more and more anxious.

Mr. Yang is here!

Everyone in the courtyard stopped and turned to look at the door.

The person who came was not Yang Xiu, but another son of the Yang family, Yang Shuo, named Zifeng.

It is really a sin to come down late and make you tired for a long time! Although he said he was guilty, it was obvious that he did not mean any real guilt. Instead, he was smiling and seemed very proud of himself.

Although the Hongnong Yang family had ruined a lot of their family fortunes before, after taking the position of Luoyang Order, they had somewhat improved by relying on the name of the Han Dynasty's former Eastern Capital. In addition, the commercial tax on goods and services was much lower than before. The poor and embarrassing situation has naturally improved a lot, and even the people up and down the Yang family can straighten their backs.

This is the case for a powerful family. If one loses, everyone will suffer, and if one is prosperous, everyone will be prosperous.

Of course, no one would take Yang Shuo's humble words seriously. He wanted to punish him for any crime. Suddenly everyone was happy and cheering. The sound of greetings could be heard endlessly, and a peaceful and friendly atmosphere filled the inside and outside.

As for why people from the Yang family were invited to come, the simplest and most superficial reason is that the Yang family is on the border with Cao Cao after all. In addition, it belongs to the Heluo War Zone. Compared with these big families in Zuofengyi, In comparison, I am naturally better informed. In the future, whether to further push up food prices and make a fortune, or to just accept the situation and settle down, is an exciting and painful decision in the first place.

After exchanging pleasantries, they gradually got down to business.

From a certain perspective, these people represented a force in the manor economy of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The manor economy may have represented more advanced productivity at a certain point in time, but after entering feudal society, the shortcomings of the manor economy gradually became apparent.

The manor economy of the Eastern Han Dynasty was based on the large land ownership system of feudal landlords. An important way for manor owners in the Eastern Han Dynasty to obtain large amounts of land was to annex private land. The large land ownership system of the Eastern Han Dynasty's manor economy has experienced a long-term development process. In the Eastern Han manor economic activities, large-scale annexation and occupation of land through legal or illegal means has always been the core and key of its economic activities. Examples of the powerful manor owners of the Eastern Han Dynasty relying on their power to sell off or even seize civilian land at low prices are common in the Eastern Han Dynasty. They used hundreds of hectares of fields, thousands of slaves and tenants, and assets reached billions. It has become a normal.

When land becomes the subject of all wealth, everything will eventually fall to the land.

Officials are keen to use their power to acquire land, business people will exchange the money they earn for more land, handicraftsmen, and people in other industries, even ordinary people who have just escaped from extreme poverty, are still eager to Being able to obtain a piece of land, this abnormal love for the land, eventually caused the Han Dynasty to become increasingly difficult to move forward after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's stupid decree...

That is to say, after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty's actions to open up territory to the surrounding areas gradually slowed down. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the territory even shrank. There were many political and economic factors, but one of them was that it was inseparable from the constraints of the manor economy. , causing many people's vision and lifelong pursuit of ideals to be restricted by the land under their feet, and they cannot leave.

The Eastern Han Dynasty was a regime built on the corpse of Wang Mang's new dynasty. When the two major regimes alternated, the powerful landlords finally chose Liu Xiu because Liu Xiu did not engage in land reform.

In response to the issue of land annexation, Wang Mang's new dynasty introduced a policy to nationalize all land and restore the previous well-field system. People from different classes had different reactions to this policy. First of all, the proletariat could obtain land through this policy, so Everyone applauded it; but for the powerful landowners, the country would take away their excess land through this policy, so the powerful landowners strongly opposed it.

Isn’t it just a proletariat without effective leadership...

At least at this moment of the handover between the two Han Dynasties, these proletarians who supported Wang Mang were easily led into the ditch by the powerful landlords. The reason is very simple. The proletariat of the Eastern Han Dynasty knew too little and was also very fragile...

Therefore, the capitalist countries of later generations are afraid that the proletariat knows too much, and while desperately letting their children receive elite education 24 hours a day, they also promote happy education, provide all kinds of free entertainment, and even express their righteousness. To reduce the burden on middle- and lower-class children, it is best to not only reduce their academic burden, but also reduce their IQ. Even if a middle-to-lower class child suggests that one plus one equals three, he cannot be corrected. Such children must be encouraged to continue. Taking big steps in the wrong direction.

So naturally these people in the Han Dynasty don't think there is anything wrong with them, nor do they think they are at fault for pushing up food prices. Don't we all just make some hard-earned money? When the opportunity comes, how can you let the opportunity to make money pass by?

Especially since the Guanzhong was in turmoil and all industries were damaged, but now the economy has recovered a bit, these people have finally seen the opportunity to make money. In addition, the time limit of "Juetian Law" is getting closer and closer, and they will feel panic if they wait any longer. , you have to do it no matter what, even if you can't defeat "Juetian Law", you can still have more chips, the worst is worst, you can have more money in your hands, and you don't feel panic in your heart, right?

Yang Shuo knew nothing about the peace talks between Fei Qian and Cao Cao, but he could not say that he knew nothing, so Yang Shuo said some vague words, indicating that Fei Qian and Cao Cao were now Still in the midst of confrontation...

Oh I got it……

Brother Yang is indeed knowledgeable...

It seems that this dispute is not a temporary thing...

Zuo Fengyi's big bosses exchanged glances with each other.

So, what to do?

Do it!

This food price...

It’s still going up!

It definitely needs to continue to rise!

Even if you have to spit out some to the Hussars in the future, if it can fall into your own pocket, it is enough! If you don’t make money, you’re a bastard! In order to prove that they were not bastards, Zuo Fengyi's big business owners almost immediately came to a common conclusion and continued to join forces to push up food prices!

The first step, these people are already doing, is to put up signs in all the grain stores saying that there is no grain for sale, and then update the price every day, and from time to time, they will release one stone or two stones of grain and grass, and they will queue up outside the grain store for fun. monkey...

The second step is to establish an offensive and defensive alliance. It should be expanded from Zuo Fengyi to Sanfu. You can even consider going further to Hedong or even Heluo area to jointly reduce the amount of grain and grass on the market. Once someone does not listen to the advice, you can Either put pressure on them, or simply eat them all in one go!

The third step is, when most of the food and grass on the market are under control, you can naturally control the wind and rain...

As for whether they will be suppressed by the Hussar at that time, isn't the Hussar and the General in a stalemate? Secondly, no matter who it is, it is inevitable that there will be some luck, just like a corrupt official who never thinks that he will be punished when accepting bribes. Catch the same.

However, I am still a little scared...

A group of wealthy people from Zuo Fengyi gathered together and murmured for a while, and then they found Yang Shuo. Yang Shuo laughed, as if he was a wise man who had seen an opportunity, waved his sleeves and said: This matter Why is it difficult? You may wish to think about it, if it is an ordinary horse, killing it is killing... But what if it is a famous horse? But are you willing to kill at will? The key is reputation!

Yes! Some people suddenly realized that now that the Hussars are new refugees, we can use them! Taking care of widows and widows so that they can avoid loneliness does not cost much, but it can gain fame! We join hands and work together to protect the refugees, but in reality the refugees will avenge our reputation! This is mutual protection! By then, you and I will be famous, even if we are hussars, what can we do? !

Wonderful!

This is exactly the reason!

What a talented brother...

In the courtyard, the group of people suddenly laughed, filled with the joyful atmosphere of carnivorous animals.