novelAbuy Chapter 294 Food Bank
Chapter 294 Food Bank
Wuxi city has four main gates.
The east gate was Xichun Gate, with a post road leading to Changshu Prefecture; the west gate was Liangxi Gate, with a post road leading to Yixing Prefecture; the south gate was Yangchun Gate, with a post road leading to Pingjiang Road; and the north gate was Lianrong Gate, with a land post road leading directly to Changshu Prefecture.
In addition to the four main gates, there are three side gates: Guqiao Gate, Xintang Gate, and Dongjia Gate. Waterways connect these gates to the Grand Canal, and they were generally used for business purposes, leading directly to the vicinity of Nanshi.
After entering through Xintang Gate, the boat made several turns and slowly arrived near Beinicang Bridge.
Looking at the magnificent granary ahead and the rows of grain shops surrounding it, Shao Shuyi glanced at Zhou Siwen, whose shop was just outside the North Gate. Zhou Siwen seemed to understand, and said with a wry smile, "My business is small, so I can only open a shop outside the North Gate. The big grain merchants are inside the gate."
Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "I've heard that during the old Song Dynasty, 30% of Lin'an's grain came from Wuxi?"
Zhou Siwen couldn't answer, and could only say, "Perhaps."
Qian Dayong, whose family had been in the grain trade for generations, immediately said, "They are just grain merchants from Wuxi, and not all of their grain comes from Wuxi. There is an old saying that 'Wuxi's rice market is the best in the world,' which is why it was an important hub for grain transport and a place where grain from all directions converged."
Shao Shuyi nodded slowly.
In fact, most of the grain gathered was from the area west and north of Taihu Lake. Since the political center was in Hangzhou, it was transported through Wuxi.
Now that the political center is in Dadu, Liujiagang has become the largest grain transport hub, but Wuxi is still a secondary grain transport hub. After all, you have to collect grain from the surrounding areas before you can send it to Liujiagang.
"How much does one shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice cost in Wuxi Prefecture?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Qian Dayong pondered for a moment and said, "Now that some of the new grain has been harvested, the price of grain has dropped accordingly. If it is a large buyer, it can be 38 taels (strings) and 5 mace, while small buyers will have to pay 39 taels or more. Ordinary people will not pay less than 40 taels. But this will only last for a few months. Around the New Year, the price of grain will rise again."
"Did Master Qian receive paper money in exchange for selling grain?" Shao Shuyi asked again.
Qian Dayong was taken aback, then said, "That's right."
Mo Tianyou stood at the bow of the boat, arms crossed, and said, "If not paper money, what will we use? Gold and silver?"
Upon hearing this, Qian Dayong smiled bitterly and said, "Where would we get so much gold and silver? It's not enough, far from enough."
Shao Shuyi recalled that when he was working as an accountant at the Qingqi Shop, the Maritime Trade Office tried to frame him, one of the charges being that he had secretly released gold and silver out to sea.
The Yuan Dynasty was short of gold and silver, or rather, it had always been short of them.
As commerce has developed to the point where its scale far exceeds that of any ancient dynasty, even surpassing the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, it has created a huge demand for currency.
If at this moment, Dadu suddenly issued an edict saying that from today onwards, the use of paper money is no longer allowed, and gold, silver, and copper should be used as the unified currency, the national economy would probably collapse. Everyone knows that paper money is not a good thing; its excessive issuance leads to severe devaluation. But can you find a substitute? No.
Using gold, silver, and copper as new currencies could alleviate the adverse effects of the devaluation of paper money, but it would also lead to severe deflation, which would also be very damaging to the economy.
At least, the current scale of commerce, handicrafts, and services is unsustainable and may have to regress to the levels of the Han and Tang dynasties.
We've finally made progress, and now you're telling me we're regressing? Don't be ridiculous.
"Isn't anyone going to think of a solution?" Shao Shuyi continued, "The imperial court is already over-issuing currency, not to mention that. Privately printed counterfeit money far outnumbers genuine money, and it's difficult to distinguish between them. If this continues, business will become increasingly difficult, won't it?"
"Who says otherwise?" Qian Dayong sighed and said, "There's just too much money in the market."
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi couldn't help but laugh.
In recent years, natural disasters have occurred frequently, and the imperial court has been providing disaster relief everywhere. It's estimated that even the court itself has lost count of how much money it has distributed.
Some people in Jiangxi are utterly despicable; they print counterfeit money every day and plunder the wealth of the entire world.
Some corrupt officials, like Ahmad back then, would set up a printing press in their own homes, where it would be smoking, and then transport the printed banknotes "by cart and boat, all over the country, to exchange for goods." And there were many more Ahmads in the world than just one.
As for the banknotes bestowed as rewards to the princes and ministers of the grasslands and vassal states, they were countless, often amounting to 500,000, 1 million, or even 10 million ingots at a time. These banknotes would gradually flow back to the Central Plains, causing prices to rise.
Of course, the Yuan court also made a fatal mistake by thinking that banknotes with denominations of one, two, and five coins were too small and that printing them would result in a loss. So it reduced printing and even stopped printing at one point. Unfortunately, the common people needed these small-denomination banknotes the most. Reducing the supply indirectly stimulated the rise in the prices of cheap goods, and the price increase of these goods would then be transmitted to other commodities, causing everyone to raise prices.
Even a major grain merchant like Qian Dayong says there's too much money in the market, and that's because there really is too much.
"The situation is escalating, with goods becoming increasingly scarce and money becoming scarce. Knowing this, shouldn't we make some preparations beforehand?" Shao Shuyi said, "Grain is extremely important. As a grain merchant, can't you think of a solution?"
Qian Dayong looked over in confusion.
"Once the paper money system is severely corrupted, and a single shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice costs a hundred or even a thousand guan (another unit of dry measure), then food will become extremely scarce," Shao Shuyi said. "People can live without paper money, but they cannot live without rice, nor can they live without salt."
Qian Dayong stared blankly at Shao Shuyi.
It's not that he doesn't understand this principle, but there are some things he can't touch or do.
"I own a grain shop in Huangtiangang, Jiangyin Prefecture, and I'm about to open a second one in Huangbudun. So, I guess I'm a grain merchant now?" Shao Shuyi asked. Qian Dayong chuckled dryly and said, "Cao She can open as many shops as he wants. Who can stop him?"
"I've heard that Master Qian has quite a bit of influence in the grain business?" Shao Shuyi asked with a smile.
"good."
"In that case, why not make the grain merchants a true guild?" Shao Shuyi countered. "If there's anything, we can all sit down and discuss it together. We can also formulate any rules and regulations together. Wouldn't that be a better way to deal with the chaos?"
"Chaos? The paper money is still barely usable right now."
"What if we can't use it one day?"
"This..." Qian Dayong didn't know how to answer.
"Back then, the imperial court issued the Zhiyuan banknotes, one string of cash equivalent to five strings of Zhongtong banknotes. This single action bankrupted those who held large amounts of Zhongtong banknotes. Now that the national treasury is insufficient, do you dare say that the Zhizheng banknotes will not be issued?" Shao Shuyi asked.
When the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) banknotes were issued, the exchange rate was one string of cash to five mace of silver. Initially, they could be exchanged, but later this was no longer allowed.
When the Zhiyuan banknotes were issued, the imperial court stipulated that one string of Zhiyuan banknotes could be exchanged for five qian of silver or five strings of Zhongtong banknotes. This was equivalent to artificially changing the exchange rate of Zhongtong banknotes to one string of silver for one qian, resulting in a fourfold devaluation.
If a merchant had 100,000 strings of Zhongtong banknotes at that time, his wealth would have shrunk by 80% overnight, and he would most likely have gone bankrupt.
Shao Shuyi did not experience that period, but one can imagine the extent to which the economy would be shocked by such a drastic currency change.
Now it is the Zhizheng era, the country is in turmoil and the funds are severely insufficient. According to Zheng Fan, there were calls for issuing new banknotes in Dadu two years ago, but this was abandoned after the Prime Minister Tuotuo resigned.
The successors dared not issue any "Zhizheng banknotes," and could only increase the issuance of Zhiyuan and Zhongtong banknotes as a mere pretense.
But this doesn't quench thirst, it doesn't quench thirst at all.
How much can increasing the issuance volume increase it? Thirty percent, fifty percent, double? Not enough.
If the Zhizheng New Notes were issued, according to convention, one string of new notes would be worth one tael of silver or one thousand copper coins. This would instantly devalue the Zhongtong Notes on the market tenfold, making them worth only one cent of silver. Although this exchange rate with silver was only symbolic and they could not actually be exchanged.
If I'm going to be even more ruthless, I'll sever the link with silver, not even giving you a symbolic anchor point. I can print it however I want, what can you do about it? "Cao She, have you heard something?" Qian Dayong looked over suspiciously.
Shao Shuyi nodded almost imperceptibly and said, "If we wait until everyone knows, it will be too late; the prices of goods will have already skyrocketed. But if we start preparing now, it's still not too late. To be honest, when I transported goods for Shen Wansan of Suzhou to the cities of Huainan, they accepted very little paper money, but they accepted gold, silver, copper coins, and even pearls and jade—whatever they could find. Clearly, they were prepared in advance. Is Master Wansan's vision not as good as yours?"
Qian Dayong was somewhat shocked.
He had a vague feeling that the Zhiyuan and Zhongtong banknotes wouldn't last long. He was well aware of the increasingly depreciating value of the banknotes, but he always felt that they should still be usable for a few more years. What was Shen Wansan up to? Did he know something?
Once some new Zhizheng banknote is introduced, the existing Baochao banknotes will experience a precipitous devaluation, giving you no chance to react. Once the news spreads, those small-denomination Zhongtong banknotes will probably only be useful for cleaning up messes.
"Speak frankly, Cao She," Qian Dayong said, bowing deeply.
Mo Tianyou's eyes narrowed, and he said, "Is this damn money really worthless?"
"In my opinion," Shao Shuyi held up one finger and said, "Firstly, we should solidify the loose grain stores, requiring all grain merchants to register and join the association, and formulate bylaws and elect a leader."
Secondly, the paper money can be spent in installments and at different times. It can be used to expand wharves and granaries, and to store grain, seeds, and farm tools. It can also be used to buy land. If arable land is hard to buy, people can be organized to reclaim it. Although there may be a loss at the time, there will be a return after three or four years. Moreover, it is a steady and long-term return, which is better than having to use paper money to wipe your bottom overnight.
Thirdly, if a grain merchant is small and weak and has difficulty purchasing grain and land, the guild will pool some money to lend to him, charging a small interest rate, and he can repay the loan after the grain is sold or the land is successfully cleared.
Fourthly, I will purchase ships, recruit manpower, and train diligently to protect you all. If anyone tries to harm you, come to me directly. If there are bandits on the road, I will eliminate them. The money and supplies needed during this process will be supported by your membership fees.
Fifth, each grain merchant will need to pay an additional fee; I'll think about the specifics later. If, unfortunately, something goes wrong and the business faces difficulties, the head of the association will convene a meeting to allocate a certain amount of grain or cash from this fund as compensation to help them recover.
Sixth…
Shao Shuyi spoke at length, clearly indicating that he had been pondering this matter for a long time. It was just that he hadn't brought it up before due to various reasons, but now he felt it was feasible, or perhaps time was too tight, leaving him no choice but to do so.
The ship fell silent for a moment; no one spoke, and everyone chewed quietly.