On the third day of the imperial grain transport, the Empress suddenly summoned Chu Chen to the palace.
Upon entering the imperial study, before Chu Chen could even pay his respects, the Empress spoke directly, "No need for formalities. Chu Chen, I have summoned you here to inquire if you have any methods to transport a large quantity of imperial grain into the capital? Do you have any means to expand the grain reserves within the imperial city?"
"Uh, Your Majesty, please be a little more specific," Chu Chen asked, somewhat bewildered.
The Empress first smiled, then sighed, "This autumn harvest has yielded such an abundance of imperial grain that it has, for the first time, caused me distress due to its very quantity. Do you know the yield of the imperial farms?"
"Your subject does not know," Chu Chen replied. He wasn't idle and hadn't sent anyone to check on the imperial farms, so he naturally had no idea.
The Empress was inwardly pleased. She knew that if Chu Chen had wanted to know, he could have easily dispatched the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate. His lack of action pleased and reassured her.
With a joyful expression, she said, "The promotion of the three new crops among the populace this year has been met with resistance. The majority of the common folk are tenant farmers, with few self-sufficient landholders. Thus, I had them planted on the imperial farms. Consequently, on the imperial farms' million mu of land, two hundred thousand mu were allocated for each of the three new crops. Now that the autumn harvest is in, the grain yield is truly staggering."
"Two hundred thousand mu of potatoes produced three million three hundred forty thousand shi, two hundred thousand mu of sweet potatoes produced six million six hundred sixty thousand shi, and two hundred thousand mu of corn produced one million four hundred thousand shi, with six hundred forty thousand shi being edible."
"Despite such a vast amount of grain, we have only transported a portion, and it has already filled several of my granaries. Each granary in the imperial city has a capacity of only five hundred thousand shi, and twelve granaries combined hold merely six million shi. What is to be done?"
Good heavens, too much grain and nowhere to store it, causing distress? This is truly something!
Chu Chen recalled that in early spring, only several hundred thousand shi of grain were transported to the capital, and that had almost filled the granaries. At that time, there were only six granaries, each with a capacity of only one hundred thousand shi, and they were purchased with funds from selling soap to other nations. Now, the Empress has doubled the number of granaries and increased their capacity fivefold, and it's still not enough? The yield of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn is simply terrifying. And this is with the grain yield being only half of its potential due to some acclimatization issues. Otherwise, even the imperial granaries would have burst.
"Your Majesty, do you possess any large-capacity storage rings that could be used for storage?" Chu Chen asked tentatively after some thought.
"I have considered that, but even if all the storage magical treasures of the imperial family were combined, they could likely only hold one hundred thousand shi," the Empress replied with a wry smile.
"..."
Now Chu Chen was at a loss. He stroked his chin, his mind racing to find a solution. Damn it, this is the first time I've been worried about having too much grain.
After a moment, Chu Chen asked, "Your Majesty, could you order people to grind the remaining corn and potatoes into flour? This would significantly reduce their weight and facilitate transport."
"The grain brought from the imperial farms, apart from that in the five granaries, is all in the form of flour," the Empress said, lightly tapping a booklet on the table.
Chu Chen lowered his head slightly to look. It contained pleas from various imperial farms regarding the excess grain and statistics on their yields. Chu Chen was speechless. Without his prompting, they had already ground the grain into flour for transport. Even so, it wouldn't fit. What could be done? Expediting the construction of granaries would be useless.
Fortunately, Chu Chen thought of another method and spoke, "Your Majesty, the court's annual revenue of grain is only two hundred thousand shi. Most of the nineteen granaries are largely idle. Why not have the Imperial Guards take charge and rent the court's granaries?"
"That is a viable solution, but although the Ministry of Revenue has nineteen granaries, which seems like a lot, each one has a capacity of only one hundred thousand shi," the Empress nodded, agreeing with the method, but then shook her head and sighed. One million nine hundred thousand shi is indeed far from enough. Damn it.
The Emperor and her minister fell into deep thought, both struggling to find a solution to the problem of excessive grain. This issue was not easily resolved. The construction of granaries requires proper conditions to preserve grain; it cannot be done by simply erecting some buildings. Expedited construction was not feasible, so other methods had to be considered.
Suddenly, Chu Chen thought of another idea and said, "Your Majesty, with such a colossal grain yield this year, I have made a rough calculation. A common soldier eats two meals of dry food a day, consuming one jin of food per meal to be full. Over three hundred sixty-five days, this requires six shi and one percent of a shi of grain."
"The current yield of sweet potatoes from the imperial farms alone can feed approximately one million one hundred thousand people for a year. Corn can feed about one hundred thousand people for a year. Potatoes can feed five hundred forty thousand people for a year. Since there is so much grain with nowhere to store it, and I hear that the price of grain in the market, except in Pingyuan Prefecture where two harvests are possible annually, is fifty wen per dou in other prefectures."
"Since the purchase of grain from surrounding countries with soap, the price of grain, originally eighty wen per dou, has been suppressed. However, fifty wen per dou is still expensive for ordinary people. Now that Your Majesty's grain yield is so abundant that it cannot be accommodated, why not entrust the Royal Chamber of Commerce to sell it? At least this would further suppress the grain prices in Shuangyue Prefecture."
"This way, it will not only solve the problem of not being able to accommodate the excess grain but also address the issue of excessively high grain prices. Furthermore, it will be beneficial in suppressing grain prices, forcing gentry, powerful families, and aristocratic clans to abandon their land that yields no profit and instead exchange their land for factory operating permits. Is this not a method that kills three birds with one stone?" Chu Chen finished, praising his own cleverness.
The Empress listened, stunned. She pondered for a while before reacting and laughing heartily, "Excellent, excellent, excellent! This method is truly marvelous, worthy of my Prime Minister Chu, my left and right arm!"
Six million six hundred thousand shi of sweet potatoes ground into flour, with a conversion ratio of 0.8, would yield five million three hundred twenty-eight thousand shi of sweet potato flour. Added to the more than five hundred thousand shi of corn flour and the remaining unconsumed grain in the granaries, this would fill the granaries. Of course, in reality, it would be impossible to grind such a vast amount of grain into flour. Shuangyue Prefecture would also need to transport grain, and there wouldn't be enough livestock to grind the flour. This is merely an ideal scenario.
However, it would be possible to hire impoverished households who cannot afford grain at fifty wen per dou to use their livestock to grind the grain into flour. This would also provide employment and temporarily increase the income of the poor. The remaining three million plus shi of potatoes could be directly sold to suppress grain prices, forcing the gentry, powerful families, and aristocratic clans to abandon their land, thereby accelerating the clever land acquisition plan.
This method is perfect. Everyone benefits, including the gentry, powerful families, and aristocratic clans who seemingly lose their land. By exchanging their land for factory operating permits, they would benefit, at least in the short term, within a year. The profits from factories are indeed substantial, and even if they increase production to meet domestic demand, they would not lose money if their goods cannot be sold. The Royal Chamber of Commerce would accept all of it, and then organize royal caravans to sell it to surrounding countries.
The only victims would likely be the hardworking livestock. However, livestock, even fierce beasts that have transformed into demonic beasts, have not spoken. These creatures are even less likely to. Since they cannot voice their complaints, they have no grievances, and thus, there are no problems.