This year, there has been indeed a reduction in grain production. First of all, overseas markets have been opened up, Shandong's textile industry has flourished, and industries such as sugar industry in the south have also developed rapidly.

This has led to the expansion of the planting area of ​​cash crops. In addition, there are so many projects this year, and there are construction sites everywhere, and labor is indeed outflowing.

At the same time, there are also many immigrants, and after immigrating overseas, they are unable to start production.

Another very important reason is that Zhao Yan is implementing agricultural reforms. In the past, Shandong's grain was still self-sufficient, but since the reforms last year, Shandong's grain planting area has been reduced by one-third, and it has been replaced by peanuts, soybeans and other crops.

The main direction of agricultural reform is to transform from grain production to meat production, and at the same time to agricultural division of labor.

Shandong has changed from a grain-producing land to a cotton, soybean, flower production area, and a silage production area mainly composed of corn and alfalfa.

Liaodong has become a new commercial grain production area, and this commercial grain production area is changing towards meat production.

This year, Liaodong's grain production increased, but it was not transported to inland areas for the time being.

Affected by grain production, the price of commercial grain has risen by 20%. Although the above factors exist and the number of precious metals has increased, it is still very abnormal.

After all, the Ming Dynasty has gradually stabilized in recent years, the bandits and the Jianlu have been completely eliminated, and the bandits have gradually disappeared under the clearance of the armed police forces in various provinces.

Water conservancy facilities have also been strengthened, and agricultural production has been much better than the turbulent periods in previous years, and grain output has also increased, but grain prices have risen.

Under investigation, the intelligence department found that grain traders in Jiangnan were hoarding food.

Moreover, this is not a simple hoarding, but a general hoarding. Shandong's commodity grain input decreased, and grain prices rose by 20%.

In the Jiangnan region, grain prices in some cities have risen by 30% to 40%.

Zhao Yan seemed extremely nervous in Zhaojiabao and convened a joint meeting of the Armed Forces Department, Intelligence Department, Administration Department, and Commerce Department on the same day.

"The Intelligence Department continues to monitor the food prices in various cities and report them immediately whenever there is any situation." Zhao Yan said to the Intelligence Department Minister Liang Zhengsheng.

"Yes." Liang Zhengsheng nodded. The intelligence network of the intelligence department has spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, and it has monitoring all areas. It is relatively simple to monitor the grain prices in various cities. At the same time, the telegram has been connected to the surrounding provinces, making it more convenient to transmit intelligence.

"The Ministry of Commerce immediately mobilized grain from the Northeast and North Korea, transported it to the railway station near the railway line to the railway station and then transported it by railway to Guannei, and transported it by railway to the port away from the railway line to the port, and transported it back to Shandong port by sea. The Ministry of Administration will cooperate." Zhao Yan said to Zhang Buyun and Zhao Quan.

"In addition, the grain bank under the Ministry of Commerce will immediately open a warehouse to stabilize the grain prices, and the Intelligence Department will then monitor the grain prices. If the grain prices are not successfully suppressed, you must determine the merchants who hoard grain." Zhao Yan said.

"yes."

"After opening the warehouse, the Intelligence Department determined the list of merchants who continued to hoard food, it handed over it to the Armed Forces Department. The Armed Forces Department dispatched illegal vendors to arrest and confiscate the hoarded food."

"In what name?"

"Stoppers and stocks disrupt the normal order of the market."

... Soon Zhao Yan ordered the response plan, and the departments immediately took action separately. The Zhaojiabao Telegraph Bureau continued to issue orders to the outside world.

The Ministry of Commerce and Administration began to mobilize grain in Liaodong. It was already July and the autumn harvest will arrive in one month. The price of commercial grain must be stable within this month.

After Zhao Yan issued a plan to regulate grain prices, he was not worried about any twists and turns in grain prices.

The degree of urbanization in this era is not high. Although it is already the world's number one, the relatively high urbanization areas are mainly Jiangnan and Shandong.

Jiangnan is a traditional and prosperous area. This time, those merchants hoarded grain mainly in Jiangnan.

For example, in rural and township areas, people usually stock up on their homes enough to eat for a year. No matter how much grain prices outside rise, they will not affect those areas.

The areas that need regulation are very small, mainly in the Jiangnan region.

While mobilizing grain, Jimin Grain Bank opened warehouses and released grain in various cities in Jiangnan, and the price directly lowered.

The actions of Jimin Food Market have indeed achieved results in a short period of time, and the grain prices in various regions in Jiangnan returned to normal within three days.

However, what was surprising next was that the food prices rose again.

Moreover, the rise is so rapid that it is far beyond the previous speed, and it has risen by nearly 50% in less than a week.

Just as the food prices were rising, Zhaojiabao had contacts with Jiangnan very frequently. Telegrams had been set up in Nanzhili, and communications became very fast.

The grain mobilized by Jimin Grain Bank this time is 20% of the reserves, which is logically enough to calm the rise of Fengchao. After investigation by the Intelligence Department, the grain released by Jimin Grain Bank was purchased by grain merchants from various places within ten days by various means, which is the main reason for the rise in grain prices.

The Intelligence Department has successively listed hundreds of grain merchant lists within a week. After removing the duplicate list, it officially locked in the merchant's Twenty-San Grain Store.

These 23 grain banks and the grain banks in the people have been rife for a long time.

The Jimin Grain Bank has been expanding over the years and has established grain banks in all prefectures and counties. The management of the Jimin Grain Bank is becoming more and more sophisticated. The most important thing is the continuous decline in transportation costs. At the same time, the Jimin Grain Bank has a complete intelligence system that can know the fluctuations in grain prices in various places earlier than other grain merchants.

At the same time, the Jimin Grain Bank is different from the ordinary food banks. The Jimin Grain Bank has no hope of making money at all. Usually, the Jimin Grain Bank buys high and sells low.

When the grain prices in a certain place plummet, the food banks in the Ji people will raise prices to protect the interests of grain farmers. When the grain prices in a certain place soar, they will open warehouses to stabilize the prices.

In the past, other grain banks could not compete with the food banks of Jimin, so they had to operate according to the lines drawn by Jimin. Although they still had profits, the huge profits in the past are gone forever.

In the past, there were no grain merchants who had fought against Jimin's grain shop, but these grain merchants were fundamentally in line with the growing behemoth of Jimin's grain shop.

Just like hoarding grain to raise prices, the Jimin Grain Guild immediately mobilized grain from warehouses in surrounding prefectures and counties to quickly calm down the prices of grain.

If the grain merchants who hoarded grain continued to resist and continued to purchase the grain of Jimin Grain Bank, then the Jimin Grain Bank would mobilize more grain to the point where the grain merchants could not afford it. Under this method, the grain merchants who tried to resist each failed and ended at a loss.

In the past, these grain merchants had very slippery methods of hoarding goods. The most important thing was in the affected areas. However, if a certain place was affected, the food service for the people directly provided disaster relief, and they would have nothing to do.

As for other means, such as colluding with the government to attack Jimin Food Bank, it is simply a delusion. Every grain bank has a guard, and using force to prevent the signature of Jimin Food Bank. As for administrative means, who doesn’t know that Jimin Food Bank is Zhao Yan’s industry. Wouldn’t it be a death to mobilize Jimin Food Bank?

However, this time it was different. Because Zhao Yan carried out agricultural tax reform in the five provinces, this had shaken the interests of the landlord class, and the upper classes such as landlords, bureaucrats, aristocrats and other upper classes in the Jiangnan region all united.

During the process of union, these grain traders also formed an alliance and decided to complete the second largest one.

Six large grain banks in Jiangnan area have successively contacted 17 small and medium-sized grain banks, and at the same time raised millions of taels of funds from guild halls in various places.

In the middle of summer harvest and autumn harvest, if you plan to do a big vote, you will have to do a new vote in the stage of green and yellow failure after autumn harvest.

Under the actions of these 23 grain banks, it quickly turned into a large-scale price increase storm. This time the price increase was no longer limited to one county and one place, but gradually affected Shandong.

...Nanjing, Qinhuai River.

River houses on both sides, carved railings and paintings, silk barriers on beautiful windows, and pearl curtains on ten miles.

As the evening approaches, the sound of the Qinhuai River's gold, stone, silk, bamboo, and zither are gradually disappearing. The servants on the riverside are hawking all kinds of flowers and plants filled with spices, and perfume sold by merchants from Shandong, etc.

The Qinhuai River songwriters paid for the purchase.

On a luxurious lamp boat, more than a dozen luxury-dressed merchants were drinking on the boat, tasting the delicacies of mountains and seas, and singing along with the wine.

"Brother Zhang, your Zhang family's grain store can swallow a lot of goods this time!" A merchant in gorgeous clothes smiled at a fat man next to him.

"Everyone, each other, Brother Lin, your Fuji Grain Store may be more than I have swallowed this time!" said the fat man.

"Oh, it's all a trivial matter."

"Hehe! We will swallow as much grain as the food company in Jimin transfers to see how much grain they have to adjust."

"Everyone, that's it, but in another month, the autumn harvest will be there. If the grain cannot be sold in this month, it will be a big loss."

"Don't worry, the Jimin Food Bank can't last for a month. Although they stocked up a lot of food in various places in the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for them to ship them all to Jiangnan. Now it's already panicked outside. It took a long time before we took back the book. Isn't the remaining food in our hands just a profit?" said the fat man.

"Brother Zhang said very well. It's a pity that the food price in the north cannot be raised. If the food price can be increased in Shandong, it would be a big profit. Although Shandong is not as rich as Jiangnan, the people are richer than Jiangnan."

"Don't be foolish, Shandong is not short of food at all. It is said that North Korea has started producing grain by summer harvest this year. We have no foundation in Shandong. It is impossible to increase the price of Shandong's grain." One of them said.

Everyone couldn't help but nodded, they still had this self-knowledge.

Although the people in Shandong are rich, they lack foundations in Shandong and have not formed a network at all. There is still a lack of basic conditions to cause trouble in Shandong.

"It won't take long to make the Jimin Grain Store unable to hold on. Now there are still people waiting to buy food from Jimin Grain Store. When there is no food to buy, people from all counties in Jiangnan will rush to buy food. Then it's time to make money for you. Money is not a problem now. If you have no money, you can borrow some from the guild hall. The people in all the guild halls in Jiangnan are rich."

"Haha! Then we're waiting to see the show."

The so-called guild hall is an institution formed by Yang Sichang contacting old forces in various places. The members of the guild hall are either rich or powerful.

(To be continued)
Chapter completed!