Wang Xiaoli finished reading the letter and handed it to Chen Yuyi on the side. He said, "Yang Shen wrote that the price of wheat in Ezhou is about 200 citrus per dou. However, the weather is humid and hot there, and the wheat produced is not as good as ours. But a few grain merchants kept keeping the price down and wanted us to sell it to them for 40 citrus per dou."

Chen Yuyi finished reading the letter and said, "The price of wheat on the market in Xiangyang has reached 20 cents a dou these days, which is too low. If the price cannot be raised, I am afraid that the farmers will not get much profit if they have a good harvest."

Wang Xiaoli nodded: "The grain merchants in the city sell twenty cents. How much money can farmers sell to grain merchants? Fifteen cents? Ten cents? We reduced taxes and eliminated the powerful people. In the end, the farmers did not make any profit. Wouldn't it be a waste of effort?"

Chen Yuyi said: "It's not only Ezhou's grain merchants in the world! Why not tell Yang Shen that if the grain merchant is not willing, let him go to other places to take a look. The wheat prices in Liangzhe are high, so no one can do this opportunity to make money if you don't believe it!"

Wang Xiaoli stood up and sighed: "In fact, it is very likely that no one is doing it. Senator, do you think the three grain merchants came to Xiangyang to do business with us, but they are just three of them? Yang Shenxin said that a ship merchant, a grain merchant in Ezhou, and a grain merchant in Wuchang, they are people selected by grain merchants centered on Ezhou. They can only sell grain by water transportation. If they are not sold to grain merchants in Ezhou, who else can be sold? Near Xiangyang, the only ones that can be reached by water are Jiangling and Yuezhou. The grain prices are low and there is no shortage of grain."

Walking to the window, Wang Xiaoli looked out the window.

The weather in June is the hottest time of the year. The grass and trees are lush outside, and cicadas are chirping. Two or three cats raised in the government office are lazily lying on the ground without moving.

In this era, the guild system was implemented, with each state and county, and there were guilds in every industry. Usually, the government used guilds to directly manage commercial behavior. For example, the common prices of goods on the market were agreed with the guilds every day, and no one dared to violate it. This would help the government reduce management procedures and save manpower and material resources. Of course, the harm to the economy was another problem. But at this time, guilds could easily be organized by merchants, and it would be difficult for the government in their state to deal with it.

After thinking about it, Wang Xiaoli said: "No matter what Yang Shen does, we must collect the grain from Xiangyang, Dengzhou and Tangzhou at the right price. We cannot allow farmers to collect more grain but not make money in the year of bumper harvest."

Chen Yuyi said: "Don't Xinyang Army accept the Xinyang Army?"

Wang Xiaoliu said: "Xinyang has no waterways, so there is no way. When we have money, let Zhang Jun collect it."

Chen Yuyi nodded. At this time, there was no waterway, so what money would you make to transport grain for thousands of miles? In the peaceful years, the price of land transportation was calculated as a hundred kilograms of goods, and a hundred kilograms of roadway costs 100 cents. The waterway flows backwards for 30 cents and ten cents along the way, which is too far apart. It is not peaceful now, and the prices are different in different places, but the overall trend has not changed. The only grain that Wang Xiaoli can sell is Xiangyang, Dengzhou, Tangzhou and Guanghua Army, which have waterways.

Wang Xiaoliu said: "There must be a yamen selling grain. In the past, there were Changping's recommendations, but now I have to find another way. I have always wanted to build supply and marketing cooperatives in various states, and it just happened to take advantage of this to build supply and marketing cooperatives first."

Chen Yuyi asked: "I heard that the supply and marketing cooperative has been around for a long time, but I don't know how to do it. One supply and one sales naturally know what to do, but I don't know the specific regulations."

Wang Xiaolie smiled and said, "To put it bluntly, it is such an official club that collects local products from all over the country and transports them to other places. Many things are not worth much locally, but once they get outside, they are worth a hundred times more. In the past, they rely on merchants, but now it seems that merchants are unreliable."

Chen Yuyi nodded: "So that's it! There is great potential for this matter!"

Of course, there is great potential. The supply and marketing cooperatives at this time were based on the convention at this time. The larger-scale cooperatives were different from those in later generations. But one thing in common is that they mainly serve rural areas. As a strategic material, grain is actually not suitable for management by the supply and marketing cooperative. However, now Wang Xiaoli only carries a few states and has a grain warehouse, so the commercial grain belongs to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The role of supply and marketing cooperatives is really too great for rural areas. In later generations, agricultural and sideline products in various places were mainly purchased by supply and marketing cooperatives, and the market expanded to the whole country. Daily retail in rural areas was also mainly provided by supply and marketing cooperatives. For many rural Chinese people, they used to go to supply and marketing cooperatives to buy things and go to agency sales points in the village. Rural children carried bottles and made soy sauce, and many of them went to agency sales points.

Not only in China, supply and marketing cooperatives are an international organization, and many countries have them. In the process of economic development, this is almost a necessary organization. The Song Dynasty was an era of social economic development, and it was not abrupt to establish supply and marketing cooperatives.

After coming out of the yamen, Chen Yuyi bought a cramped breeze, cut a pound of meat, and then bought a jar of wine, and took it home. He just paid the salary from last month yesterday, and he had money in his hand these days, so he comforted himself.

When they got home, their two sons were studying in the yard. When they saw their father bringing back wine and meat, their eyes couldn't help but shine.

Wang Xiaoli gave Chen Yuyi twenty guan a month, and there was no other money and supplies. Fortunately, Chen Yuyi's family didn't have many family members, and twenty guan was enough for the family to use. After several months of stable days, the family completely washed away the displaced and bumpy road on the southbound road.

The lady came out and took the fish and said, "How do you buy wine and meat today?"

Chen Yuyi said: "I paid my salary yesterday, and I bought some wine and meat to celebrate today. You steamed this fish and put some soy sauce. A few days ago, I was at a restaurant by the riverside and ate the fish they steamed. It was really delicious!"

The lady smiled and said, "Where do I have the skills of a restaurant? It will be steamed later, so don't think it's unpalatable."

As the two of them spoke, they took the fish and wine into the kitchen. The lady was packing the fish there, while Chen and Yi watched.

After washing the fish, the lady sighed: "If you say that in Xiangyang Prefecture, observation is excellent for us. You have twenty coins every month, which is much more than when you were working as a wine supervisor in Chenliu. It's just that this observation is strange and you are not allowed to hire people easily. You are a scholar and you are an official. I am from a wealthy family, so where can I do so many chores at home? As before, hiring two maids at home is so easy!"

Chen Yuyi said: "Wang Guan is different from others. There are indeed many rules that make people confused. However, after a few months, I saw that Wang Guan's meaning was still for the people. Now the worker in the city and the countryside maids are built. Unlike before, they are bullied by the master's family at any time. People like us are indeed not as convenient as before, and there is nothing. To be honest, our family has no worries about food and clothing in the past few months. Instead, we feel more warm when we do housework together in our spare time."

The lady smiled and put the fish on the grate without saying anything.

Wang Xiaoli's rule is indeed different from other places. As he gained a foothold in several states, many measures have been taken to make the officials below unclear. For example, if you hire people, now there are meetings in the city, and all those hired join the association. Whoever wants to hire people no longer depends on the dentist, but will come to the association. After hiring people, the contract must be made by the people on duty and collect twenty-month paper money. If you beat and scold the servants, you will not pay wages, and so on, you will come out in the association. The master's family is not afraid of servants, so what kind of tricks can the poor make? But when facing such a private official supervisor, you dare not be arrogant.

The same is true in the countryside. If you have farm tools, even land, but there is surplus of labor, and if you are a servant who grows other people's land, you will also be able to do it. It is strictly stipulated that if you have farm tools, after paying taxes, you will be able to earn six land, and if you have farm tools, you will be able to do it. If you don't have farm tools, you will be able to do it. If you don't have farm tools, you will be able to do it. If you don't have farm tools, you will be able to do it. The main house either manages the meal and pays the wages every month. Or you will only pay the wages, and the servants will cook by themselves. These workership costs dozens of cents a day, which is always more than a month.

For example, in Xiangyang City, there are more than a dozen people who want to serve as servants. Each association is not allowed to exceed fifty people. If there are too many, the government will come forward and organize one out.

Chen Yuyi could see that with these things, it would be difficult to hire people like this with some financial resources. The price is high, and he can no longer do whatever he wants to do to his servants as before. It is better not to hire them, which will save trouble.

Wang Xiaoli is a different person, doing something different from others. Chen Yuyi slowly adapts to it. People who are well-read in poetry know that it is not easy for the people. What do you say when you are an official and cherish the people?
Chapter completed!