Zhou Kui has known a lot of things in the past two years and speaks quite well. Unlike before, although he was known as the Iron Mouth, he is basically a term in the martial arts world. Now he knows a lot about the national economy and people's livelihood.

Wang Faxiang was silent for a while and finally said: "The time is coming, and there will be ups and downs, but the overall situation will be decided in the next one or two months."

Zhou Kui blinked without saying a word, but he absolutely believed the words of the man in front of him. He remembered that he went to the palace to pay homage to the emperor and his daughter in the new year. The palace was peaceful and seemed to have no idea that the capital was the center, and there was already a lot of public grievances everywhere.

As Zhou Kui saw with his own eyes, a village was lifeless in the days before the New Year. People used coarse grains to fill their stomachs, and no one could eat any fine grains. The grain was gone and there was no trace of it. Many places could not buy it without money.

The bark of the tree in many places is stripped naked. In the cold winter, the world is so powerful that even if you want to eat wild vegetables and weeds, you can’t find them.

Many people starve to death, and now they are mainly refugees and beggars. However, even well-off families are now extremely poor. Small landlords, ordinary students, officials, and yamen runners, and these classes that used to have no worries about food and clothing are on the verge of hunger and even hunger.

In Beijing, there are coolies, small handicraftsmen, small business owners, small shop owners, and those who do small business or coolies, such as coachmen, porters, sedan chairmen, and some idle people. The people who are the most hungry in Beijing are also the poor and the lower classes.

They are also coolies in the porridge farm, and they just take bowls to get porridge everywhere every day.

Once they stop for a few cums, they are likely to starve to death.

The ones who have been frozen to death the most in the capital were foreign refugees, but now there are many locals who have died of starvation.

There have been news that there have been many attacks on grain stores and looting wealthy households. Although the people are tame, there are still many people who dare to take risks when the man watches his wife and children get hungry.

The imperial guards and the Jinyiwei were dispatched many times. Thousands of people were imprisoned in the prison, and more than a hundred people died every day. No one delivered food. Of course, the prison did not care about food. For more than two days, these people died in large quantities like insects after autumn.

This is an era that makes people feel sad and cold, and it is the kind of cold that is so cold that it is so cold in the bones.

Zhou Kui also understood that Zhang Han used this method to make a move, and the emperor was the one who responded to it.

If Emperor Chongzhen could face up to reality, adopt various methods, and make up his mind, although the current situation would still occur, the degree of disaster would definitely be very light.

However, the emperor had no idea about the world and ignored the disaster. Many memorials were filled with muddy bulls.

Zhang Han’s purpose was to make the Ming Dynasty lose people’s hearts. As an enemy, what can Zhang Han blame for his actions?

"You can wait and watch the show..." Wang Faxiang ignored Zhou Kui's thoughts. He knew more about the movements. Now it was indeed the last moment.

...

Shortly after Wang Faxiang entered the Zhou Mansion, Yao Zongwen and several companions entered Cao Huachun's mansion.

Originally, Yao Zongwen did not have such qualifications. Although he had escaped from the eunuch party, the action of arresting and surveillance of the staff of the Hutchison Trading Bank was completely failed. The blame was quite strong. Xu Xianchun was asked to be executed, and Yao Zongwen was not in a good position. He retired from the position of the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel said it was waiting for the election and stayed for so long at once. Obviously, he hoped that Yao Zongwen could be tactful and went back to his hometown in Zhejiang to ate rice.

Yao Zongwen wanted to leave, but without the consent of several big shots, he did not dare to leave without authorization.

This is the disadvantage of being a slave. If you want to escape, you will have to agree to the master.

"I'm here to pay a visit to Eunuch Cao."

Cao Huachun was in the study, and Gao Qiqian and others were there. Those who came in with Yao Zongwen were all big merchants he knew, and everyone looked a little nervous in front of Quan Yin.

Cao Huachun's face was quite cold, and pointed to the front seat and said, "Everyone is here, let's sit down."

Yao Zongwen smiled and said, "There is no seat in front of the factory. I have been removed from office. I am just a white dick."

"Forget it." Cao Huachun said: "It's just one thing to ask you to come. The emperor was quite angry when he heard that the price of grain was almost four taels. The cabinet masters, the Ministry of Revenue, Shuntian Mansion, and the various supervisors of the Ministry of Li were all blamed. If the price of grain was so high, the capital would cause trouble. Do you understand?"

Yao Zongwen looked around and found that they were all big merchants from Beijing from Nanzhi, Zhejiang. Of course, there were many people who hoarded grain. He himself was a representative figure launched by many merchants in Zhejiang. A large grain store in Dongbianmen was opened in his name.

It is difficult to start the business in the capital without the powerful, but if Yao Zongwen was not removed from office, he would definitely not be among the group of people tonight.

There is nothing to say at the moment. Yao Zongwen bowed and said, "The current price is three liang, but this price cannot be purchased. Generally, it must be sold for three liang, six, three liang, eight. Since the factory said, we will put the grain at three liang."

Almost all grain merchants hoarded the grain at prices below one or two taels. The grain prices have risen all the way, but the grain they released is quite limited. Generally, small grain merchants or ordinary large households buy it from home to hoard, or people buy it for consumption. No matter how expensive the grain is, they have to eat, and even if they pinch their noses, they have to buy it. The real controller must start hoarding a large amount of food at the cheapest time, such as the group of people in front of them.

"Three or two is called releasing grain?" Cao Huachun smiled coldly and said, "When the grain comes next month, the emperor said that he would definitely release millions of stones to the capital area. At that time, four cents and one stone will be used to release grain. How many years do you plan to hold the grain in your hands?"

This is also a message. Generally speaking, grain grain will indeed arrive in February. At that time, the emperor opened warehouses and released relief, which is indeed relatively good for the price of grain. A large number of small and medium-sized merchants will follow and release grain, and the price will drop significantly.

"Since that's the case, we will go out first, let's let everyone go out for a while, and we will go down again." Yao Zongwen endured the pain and said, "Please be considerate of the factory. Our food hoarding consumes a lot of money..."

"Come." Cao Huachun said: "You can put it on first, and there will be a big grain merchant who will put it on with you."

In fact, it is called Yao Zongwen and others who open warehouses and provide relief, and they are the first to make a name for themselves. The real powerful people are actually already putting them out, and the price is definitely much higher than Yao Zongwen and others.

If you make less money, you will have to offend a large number of people. Yao Zongwen showed a clear crying look on his face.

"Don't look like this," Cao Huachun said lazily: "After this matter is over, you can go back to Zhejiang."

Yao Zongwen was overjoyed and bowed: "Thank you to the factory!"

"Don't thank you..." Cao Huachun waved his hand and said, "You can only leave if you keep the price of grain."

"This is just a small matter." Yao Zongwen smiled with relief: "If someone releases it, someone will follow you. When the food reaches the mouths of the people, public opinion will change. Once the public opinion changes, the food price will drop even more... It's nothing, a small matter."

Cao Huachun may not be so optimistic. His news level is much higher than Yao Zongwen, but it seems quite reasonable to say this. He snorted from his nose and said, "I hope you are right this time!"

...

It was dawn, and Shi Kefa woke up from a thunderous sound of abdomen.

The first feeling was hunger, not cold, and then what he felt was boundless cold.

In fact, the house in Shi Congbin's capital was pretty good, with a very exquisite courtyard. The furniture inside was very complete and the bedding was not small. However, Shi Kefa still felt cold after he had stacked several layers of quilts on his body... There was no way, he couldn't afford charcoal.

The historian family is a big family and a serious scholarly family. The children who go out for travel will not be too shabby. They will definitely give the money they should give, but they will not give too much, just in case the children chase after the fun and laugh, and spend all the money in restaurants and brothels.

Shi Kefa's unluckyness is here. Originally, Shi Congbin could have left him a few hundred taels of silver, but his uncle and nephew turned against each other at the critical moment. Shi Congbin did not keep any money. Shi Kefa left less than a hundred taels of money at that time. Logically speaking, this money was enough. He planned to stay in the capital until the beginning of spring, and headed south to Kaifeng when the weather was warm in March and April.

Unexpectedly, the grain prices in the capital have risen like rockets in the past few months, from four cents to almost four liang, and the grain prices have risen ten times. This is something that has never happened since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. The price of grain has risen ten times, which is very simple, which means that various prices will also rise rapidly.

Shi Kefa didn't care at the beginning. He had lived there for a few months anyway, and there were only three or four people around him. Even if he had 10 taels and 10 liang of shi, he would have enough food to eat until spring. He was relaxed and his brother's habits remained unchanged. In less than two months, 80% of the money he had been spent on his body, and less than thirty taels were left.

The price of grain is still rising. Shi Kefa is now panicked. He dares not live in the guild hall. He comes back to Shi Congbin's house. He doesn't dare to go to the tavern, can't even write, and can't go shopping in the Liulichang. He doesn't dare to buy books, don't make clothes, and hats and shoes. Even so, he can't just eat rice and noodles with several mouths... Yesterday, Shi Kefa took people to the pickle shop to buy a jar of kimchi, which cost ten taels of silver. This scared the young master. When he came back to see the rice and noodles jar, there was less than half of it. He had to save money. Last night, everyone drank the porridge that could see people, and each one was served with a kimchi. Shi Kefa wanted to cry while eating. He had never suffered such pain from his birth to growing up?

"Master Shi, Master Shi?" Niu Er, who was carrying a sedan chair next door, was tall and strong, and walked in after pushing the door.

The neighbors were very quiet for a while, and Shi Kefa was a man who didn't mind dealing with the lower class. He turned off the bed, but he didn't even take off his clothes, retaining the heat, and walked out after putting on his shoes.

"Brother Niu Er, what's the matter?" Shi Kefa looked at Niu Er. The person who used to be as strong as a cow is now too thin.

However, thinness means thinness and muscles are all over the body. The main reason is that the sedan chair husband is working as a idler at the official's house. In addition to the increase in wages, he can also bring some leftovers home. At least the family cannot starve to death, because the oil and water are given to the family, Niu Er is also very thin.

"I heard that the price of grain outside Dongbianmen has dropped." Niu Er said happily: "Two taels and eighty stones, I have cash in hand, so I will buy it now. Thinking that you don't have much grain at home, hurry up and talk to you to the master."

Shi Kefa is a juren, a scholar is a husband, and a juren is a master, so despite interactions with each other, the name and etiquette cannot be messed up. For example, Niu Er always talks with his hands crossed, and his attitude is quite respectful and polite.

"Oh, oh, the price has finally been reduced!" Shi Kefa looked happy and patted Niu Er, saying, "I'll just say that the court will always suppress the price of grain, so the whole city cannot starve to death."

"What I said is, the emperor's grace is so great."

"Did the imperial court issue an order to use the Tongzhou warehouse to release grain?"

"This is not the case, it is because several large-scale grain prices have been reduced and released."

"Oh, so that's it."

This is different from what Shi Kefa imagined, he was a little dazed.
Chapter completed!