Chapter 543: Better to Invite the Crown Prince Back!

Wei Zaode pondered for a long while, then asked, "How much white rice can five million taels buy in Huguang?"

Chen Rui thought for a moment and said, "Hard to say. In past years rice prices in Huguang were low, and five million taels could buy at least five million shi of white rice. If that much rice could actually be shipped to the southeast, it would indeed help hold prices down somewhat. But this year Huguang is ravaged by war and chaos, so prices will likely rise, and it will be difficult to purchase that much grain."

Wu Xiang snorted at this. "How could it not be purchased? If it can't be bought, send troops into the countryside. We must get our hands on those several million shi one way or another. Otherwise, can the southeast remain stable? The southeast is our foundation. If the southeast is unstable, how can the Great Ming revive?"

The imperial merchant Su Sheng waved his hands repeatedly. "I'm just afraid there won't be time to go into the countryside to buy rice. How could it be so easy? Every year the trade of ten or twenty million shi of white rice from Huguang to Jiangnan keeps at least tens of thousands of people busy in Huguang. Whether those tens of thousands are even still alive now is hard to say!

Without them, can you collect rice just by sending troops? The Duke Protector of the State wouldn't want the New Army to go into the countryside and seize rice, would he?"

Before he had even finished speaking, the Deputy Military Strategist Cao Youyi said, "What kind of talk is that? It's called requisitioning — requisitioning rice! When the government army, under imperial decree, asks the common people for a bit of rice, can that be called seizing?"

Su Sheng, rebuffed by Cao Youyi, had nothing more to say. Although he, as an imperial merchant, enjoyed the Crown Prince's trust, he was after all a merchant, not an official. And besides, when the emperor's household seizes rice, can it be called seizing? The whole world belongs to the emperor's household!

Li Mingrui, Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, snorted lightly. "Then what about the matter at Longjiang Rice Lane? Right now the rice merchants in Nanjing don't dare open for business. Can anyone offer a solution? If the rice shops stay closed, there are over a million mouths to feed in Nanjing!"

The rice shops were closed partly out of fear of being looted, and partly to protest the court's protection of the northern refugees!

Although Li Mingrui was a meritorious official from the time of overcoming difficulties, he was a Jiangxi man and a great landowner, so his sympathies naturally lay with the rice merchants.

But in this matter, the Xiaoling Guard New Army was indeed in the wrong. How had they ended up brawling with the constables of Yingtian Prefecture?

Wu Xiang snorted coldly. "There are still tens of thousands of northern troops inside and outside Nanjing! If a mutiny breaks out—"

The constables of Yingtian Prefecture were also at fault. They had struck too harshly at Longjiang Rice Lane, beating a crowd of northern refugees and soldiers' dependents until heads were split and blood flowed. How could the northerners in the Xiaoling Guard New Army not be enraged?

This was a matter Wu Xiang did not dare pursue. If it truly blew up, wouldn't the area inside and outside Nanjing turn into a battlefield?

Wei Zaode snorted coldly. The problems raised by Li Mingrui and Wu Xiang were both damnably valid! Only he, this Zhuge Liang of a chancellor, had no solution. Who asked this Zhuge Liang of his to be a counterfeit? The solutions were all thought up by the Crown Prince; he was only responsible for taking the blame and leaving his name in the history books.

Just as he was sighing, from outside the central hall suddenly came the soft Wu-accented speech of Chen Zilong, Bureau Director of the Grand Secretariat: "Chief Grand Secretary, urgent report from north of the river."

What trouble had broken out north of the river now?

"Come in quickly!" Wei Zaode hastily called Chen Zilong inside.

Chen Zilong was in his thirties, fair-faced with a long beard, a square face, and a tall, sturdy build. He did not look at all like a man of Wu and Yue, still less like a ci poet (he was a famous ci poet of the time, a great talent), but rather like a vigorous military man from the north.

Wei Zaode asked, "Wozi, what exactly has happened?"

"Chief Grand Secretary, the Governor of the North-of-the-River Circuit reports a rice shortage in Yangzhou and Huai'an. Rice prices have risen to five qian, and several hundred thousand refugees are in dire straits for food and clothing, nearly provoking a popular uprising. He wishes to request that the Military Farms Bureau open its granaries and distribute grain."

"No, no!" Wu Xiang shook his head repeatedly. "The Military Farms Bureau doesn't have much stored rice left either. If it's all released, what will the soldiers eat?"

"Chief Grand Secretary," Li Mingrui said, "if Governor Lu were not truly at his wit's end, he would not resort to such a measure!"

Lu Zhenfei was a native of Quzhou County in Northern Zhili and one of the leaders of the northern civil officials at court. He and Wei Zaode belonged to the same faction — although the banners of the Donglin Faction and the eunuch party still existed, the main theme of factional strife in the Ming court was no longer the Donglin gentlemen fighting the eunuch-party villains. It was now the struggle between north and south!

And Wei Zaode, Lu Zhenfei, and Hou Xun were the three leaders of the northern faction. Opposing them were the three southern grand secretaries: Qian Qianyi, Chen Rui, and Lin Zengzhi.

Qian Qianyi, leader of the southern faction, sighed. "We had better request an imperial directive. As for the present trouble, I fear only the Crown Prince has a solution."

Li Mingrui said, "Then what about the rice shops in Nanjing not opening?"

Qian Qianyi glanced at Wei Zaode and smiled. "That matter is easy to handle. First, declare martial law and transfer the New Army from the North-of-the-River Grand Camp into the city to maintain order. Second, have Manager Su and Director-General Chen of the Maritime Trading Company go speak with the rice merchants and get them to open for business."

Su Sheng was now the general manager of the Salt Merchants' Bank, and Director-General Chen of the Maritime Trading Company was Chen Ding, the father of Chen Yonghua.

In the southeastern business world today, below Zheng Zhilong, these two were the most powerful. The rice merchants of Jinling also needed loans and remittances; they simply could not do without the support of the two banks.

In addition, Qian Qianyi would also quietly put in a word. A "market strike" of this sort was fine as a gesture, but they must not truly anger the Crown Prince — there would be no good fruit to eat!

By the time Zhu Cilang received the joint memorial from the Grand Secretariat and the Grand Marshal's Office requesting his return to court, he had already arrived back at the Wuchang traveling palace. He was busy wrapping up and handling the aftermath of the Huguang war, while also having to worry about the Sichuan problem.

His military strategist Li Yan had already been recalled from the front. The Huguang theater was now divided into a northern front and a western front. The northern front was on the attack, while the western front was temporarily on the defensive.

Zhu Cilang intended to concentrate his forces first on taking Xiangyang and Nanyang — if Zhu Cilang did not take these two prefectures, Dorgon might well take them.

Therefore Zhu Cilang ordered Wu Sanfu to take unified command of the northern front, dispatching two New Army divisions plus the Tang-Tibetan Guard to attack Xiangyang and Nanyang with full force.

The western front was handed to Wu Guoyong to resolve. His single division not only had to guard against the Shun army in the western part of Jingzhou Prefecture, but also had to recover the eastern part of Jingzhou Prefecture and the western part of Chengtian Prefecture — a very heavy assignment.

Zhu Cilang himself, leading his own Guards Division and the troops of He Tengjiao, Chang Yanling, Jin Shenghuan, Zhang Yong, Qiu Lei, and others, returned together to Wuchang Prefecture.

"Seizing rice, market strikes, grain shortages..."

Zhu Cilang's fingers tapped lightly on the memorial on the desk, his gaze sweeping across the faces of Li Yan and He Tengjiao, as if seeking their opinions.

"Your Highness, order the Ministry of War to release grain," Li Yan said. "Huguang is now largely stable, and we can always find a way to get some grain. The southeast must absolutely not be allowed to fall into chaos!"

He Tengjiao frowned. "The autumn grain cannot reach the market until the ninth month at the earliest. It is only the fifth month now — four more months to go! How could a million shi possibly last that long? Your Highness, the southeast is going to descend into chaos!"

"It won't descend into chaos!" Zhu Cilang said. "Solutions are thought up by people. There will always be a way!" He turned to look at Qiu Yu, Fang Yuegong, and Liu Kongzhao. "Has the dispatch of merchants into the countryside to buy rice begun?"

"It has already begun."

"But progress is slow!"

"Many of the rice merchants here in Wuchang have no capital left!"

Zhu Cilang smiled. "Then pay them deposits! The two banks in Wuchang have several million taels in deposits, enough to support market circulation. Have the Jiangdu Garrison Office sign contracts with them and pay a deposit. With a contract in hand, they can go borrow from the two banks."

The five million taels of silver stored in the Wuchang branches of the Maritime Trading Bank and the Salt Merchants' Bank were not entirely for rewarding the troops and supporting the Sichuan campaign — rewarding the troops would not cost that much, and for the Sichuan campaign, even five million would not be enough.

Those five million taels were actually meant to build a financial system — a system centered on the two great banks.

Zhu Cilang knew that banks sell credit, and the core of a bank-centered financial system is credit. With five million taels of silver sitting in the vaults of the two banks in Wuchang Prefecture, that was enough for the two banks to establish credit in Huguang, where cash was scarce (all the money had been seized by Li Zicheng).

With the credit support of the two banks, those five million did not even need to be paid out. Relying on the banknotes issued by the banks alone, the commercial system of Huguang could function.

What? Country folk don't recognize banknotes? Country folk don't need silver either! What they need are manufactured goods — cloth, farm tools, daily necessities, and perhaps some plow oxen. And the merchants who sell these things only need to trust the two great banks; that is enough.

(End of Chapter)