boyutpedia Chapter 1504 Magistrate Wang is still the same Magistrate Wang, still the same Magistrate Wang who o
Chapter 1504 Magistrate Wang is still the same Magistrate Wang, still the same Magistrate Wang who o
County Magistrate Wang's eyes darted around, and he looked at Sun Shan suspiciously: Could it be that he wants to monopolize the grain business in Yuanlu County?
Now they sell grain through merchants and have sales channels.
Sun Shan planned to buy up all the grain in Yuanlu County and become a middleman, selling it directly to merchants in Huzhou.
Magistrate Wang's eyes lit up; he felt he had finally seen the truth!
Oh my, I never imagined that Lord Sun, with such a small head, would have such a big idea and would do such a big business.
Wow, they're really going all out to make money.
County Magistrate Wang is now in cahoots with Sun Shan; Sun Shan selling grain is the same as him selling grain.
He pretended to cough a few times and said, "Everyone, Sun Dali must have his reasons for doing this. Please be patient and let Lord Sun explain it to you."
She gave Sun Shan a flirtatious look, asking him to come up with a sophisticated excuse.
Everyone looked at Magistrate Wang with confusion. Was this really the Magistrate Wang they knew?
Could the rumors be true?
I've heard that Lord Sun and Magistrate Wang are colluding to plunder the people's wealth. The two plan to join forces and become invincible, abusing their power to oppress the common people.
It seems to be true. Otherwise, why would Magistrate Wang so openly speak up for Sun Shan?
Wu, the chief clerk, Qiao, and Ambassador Cang secretly wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.
Magistrate Wang is greedy enough; now that Lord Sun has joined the fray, will he have any chance of survival?
Sun Shan had no idea what Magistrate Wang and Chief Clerk Wu were thinking.
He continued, "It's not that the government wants to buy up grain, but rather that it's giving the people a place to sell their grain."
Wu Zhubu and the others looked at Sun Shan with blank expressions.
County Magistrate Wang chuckled inwardly, his eyes gleaming as he watched Sun Shan put on his act.
Sun Shan gave Zhang Shiye a look.
Master Zhang then recounted the story of "low grain prices hurting farmers."
He explained, "Gentlemen, the reason why the officials set up a 'grain purchasing room' in the government office is to provide farmers with a guaranteed minimum price. If the price of grain in the market is too low, the farmers will have no choice but to sell."
Our government office can provide farmers with a place to sell their grain. If the market price of grain is high, the farmers will naturally make a profit, and our government office won't need to purchase grain anymore.
At first, Magistrate Wang couldn't understand anything, but as he listened, he realized something was wrong.
Sun Shan's purpose wasn't to sell grain, but to balance prices.
If they really want to sell grain, the lower the price, the better it is for their business.
Sunshan sets a minimum price; if the price outside is even lower, wouldn't he suffer a huge loss?
Magistrate Wang glared angrily at Sun Shan, realizing he had been wronged; Sun Shan wasn't interested in business at all.
He asked with little interest, "Sir, it's good that the government guarantees farmers a minimum income, but won't the government lose money doing this? The price of grain outside is low, but the price the government pays for the grain it buys is high."
Leaving aside whether they have the money to buy it, the government is definitely losing money. "Oh dear, the government already had a surplus of grain, and now they've bought back so much more; we're losing money on top of that."
Everyone turned to look at Magistrate Wang, agreeing with his reasoning.
Just a second ago he was on Lord Sun's side, how come he's now opposing him?
Could it be that the previous second was just an act to lure Lord Sun into jumping in, and the next second was the real purpose of making Lord Sun look bad?
Wu Zhubu and others felt that they had discovered the truth.
County Magistrate Wang is still the same County Magistrate Wang, the same County Magistrate Wang who opposes Lord Sun.
Sun Shan nodded in agreement: "What Magistrate Wang said is absolutely right. But the yamen is not a place for business; our primary goal is to bring benefits to the people."
If there's an oversupply of grain outside, causing farmers to suffer losses and ordinary people to have no way to survive, then our government office will also be in dire straits. Only when the people prosper can the government office prosper.
Whether for the sake of the people or for our own sake, we must maintain stable grain prices. If grain prices are too low, the people's enthusiasm for farming will be greatly reduced, and we won't be able to collect as much grain tax next year.
In my opinion, it's always better to have more grain than less. To ensure full granaries, we must guarantee stable grain prices.
He paused, then smiled and said, "Everyone, don't worry too much. Right now, only Yuanlu County has a lot of grain; we can't get any from outside. We can sell the grain we buy back outside, so even if we don't make a profit, we won't lose money."
He then added, "Besides, the valley price hasn't happened yet, and perhaps it won't happen."
After Sun Shan explained it this way, Magistrate Wang and the others understood.
Yuanlu County has always been short of food, so there has never been a surplus.
Even if there is more late-season rice than usual, the extra amount will be consumed.
If we really can't sell it all, we can sell it to others.
Yuanlu County is a very small area with limited grain production, so even if the price is low, the supply is limited.
Sun Shan concluded, "Alright. Let's set up a grain purchasing station now."
He pointed to Wu, the registrar, Qiao, and the granary magistrate, and said, "The three of you will be in charge. Our yamen also collects grain."
Regardless of how high or low the outside grain price is, our purchase price will only be one or two cents more than our cost. Our purchase price is not based on market prices, but solely on the equilibrium price of previous years.
Wu, the clerk, Qiao, the scribe, and Cang, the ambassador, stared blankly at Sun Shan.
How come the three of them have an extra job in the blink of an eye?
Of course, the question I want to ask most is: Lord Sun, if I do more work, will I get more pay?
If Sun Shan knew what they were thinking, he would definitely slap them.
The "Grain Purchase Room" was an additional room added to the existing rooms for officials, rites, public works, household registration, criminal justice, and military affairs. It involved buying and selling and offered many benefits.
Sun Shan chose Wu Zhubu as the head of the "grain purchasing office" entirely because of a balance of interests.
It's impossible for him and Magistrate Wang to take all the benefits without giving Wu, the Registrar, a share.
Sun Shan gave a general explanation to everyone, leaving the rest to Zhang Shiye and Wu Zhubu for discussion.
As for how it works, Sun Shan doesn't want to know the process; he only wants to verify the results.
As soon as Magistrate Wang returned home, he called Master Wang to his side and began to recount Sun Shan's so-called "grain purchasing house."
At first, Master Wang was confused, but he eventually understood that Sun Shan wanted to "balance grain prices".
He slapped his thigh and shouted, "Brother, Lord Sun's move was truly vicious!"
County Magistrate Wang was startled by Master Wang's fierce appearance. He patted his chest and asked, puzzled, "Second brother, what's wrong?"
Why are you so agitated? Can't we talk things out properly?
Magistrate Wang cursed, "Brother, to be honest, there's a surplus of grain this year, so prices are definitely lower than before. I was planning to buy a batch at the low price and sell it slowly."
"With Lord Sun's actions, the market price is low, and the people will definitely sell to the government. My whole plan is ruined. Lord Sun is ruthless; he's blocked this path completely!"
The Wang family, being run by Master Wang, knew that Lord Sun's goal was to gamble away these unscrupulous middlemen.
People aren't stupid; they'll sell wherever the price is highest.
Middlemen collude to drive down grain prices, leaving ordinary people with no choice but to sell at low prices.
Now that the government provides a safety net, ordinary people have more bargaining power, which puts these middlemen in a very passive position.
Master Wang is preparing to join forces with several familiar grain merchants to force them to lower the purchase price.
They will sell at a high price when food is scarce.
Now that Sun Shan has done this, Master Wang is completely powerless to do anything about it.