"I heard that we opened a new rice shop in Edo Castle, where rice was transported from China and some other food!"

"It's considered that there is food! The surplus grain from other rice shops in Edo Castle is almost the same. If there is no food, how many days can we eat the little rice in our family?"

The people of Edo Castle knew that there was a new rice shop in the city, and they were overjoyed and gathered to see if there was any food sold here and what about the price of the food.

"The real high-quality Liaodong rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and flour, are sold at only 80% of the market price! Each person can only buy up to 100 kilograms at a time!" The waiter hired was shouting hard.

"80% of the market price?" When the people of Edo Castle heard that the market price was only 80% of the market price, they quickly began to buy the food from the ship across the sea!

This batch of grain was directly pulled from Yokohama Port to Edo Castle by train, promptly curbing the panic spread of Edo Castle due to grain. The residents of Edo Castle found that in addition to local rice, they could also buy rice shipped from China at a lower price, and were surprised.

"This grain is really too timely. It was really transported from across the sea?" asked many Edo Castle residents who were queuing up to buy grain.

"It's true. I saw with my own eyes that they brought the food off the boat and brought it to our Edo Castle by train. It was not transported from the mainland opposite the sea, but where could it be transported from?" said the waiter.

"The food is transported from thousands of miles away, but the price is not higher, but it is only 80% of the market price. Is there such a good thing? Will there be something wrong with this batch of food?" The residents of Edo Castle would not think about the beauty of the pie falling from the sky, and they couldn't help but be skeptical about the food.

"You will not say this when you line up to see the quality of rice when you see it. They are all the best varieties, and the quality is much better than our local rice!" said the waiter confidently.

Soon, residents of Edo Castle, who were in the forefront, bought food.

"Hey, open the grain bag and show everyone how good the rice is!" The residents of Edo Castle who were lined up behind cheered.

"I've seen it, all rice with good quality!" The resident who bought rice in advance opened the cloth bag. It turned out to be rice with full quality. In the eyes of ordinary people, they imagined it was crystal clear diamonds.

This bag of rice with good quality was like giving chicken blood to the residents of Edo Castle, making them even more crazy. The queues of residents who were originally just trying to see started to stir up. The residents at the end were afraid that they would not be able to buy food and wanted to squeeze to the front. And other residents in the city heard that the food with good quality and low prices also flocked to the front after they took action!

"Please pay attention to order. Those who do not queue according to order will be disqualified from purchasing Chinese grain! Our rice shop will sell imported rice for a long time!" There are soldiers from the Beiyang Fleet who are specifically responsible for maintaining order. They are also afraid that the residents of Edo Castle will snatch rice shops and cause huge losses to the rice shops.

The first businessman who obtained a grain sale license to see the crazily buying the grain he brought, and couldn't help but feel a little happy, but at the same time he didn't understand the government's restrictions on selling grain in Japan, and also stipulated that only 80% of the market price could be sold.

"In the current situation of grain prices and tension in Japan, even if it is 20% higher than the market price, some people are willing to buy it. Why does the government have to stipulate that it is sold at a price lower than the market price? Could it be to win people's hearts?" The first merchant who obtained a grain license to sell looked at the long queue of buyers and muttered in his heart.

He knew that if there was no government control, all Chinese rice merchants rushed forward, and the rice price would likely drop to 80% or even lower than the current market price. However, since the government monopolized grain imports through the "grain sale license", there would be great potential for manipulating the grain price at this time. However, the government did not raise the price, but instead lowered the price. In addition to winning people's hearts, he couldn't understand why he did this.

The shogunate ministers saw the act of Chinese businessmen working together to open a rice shop in Edo Castle, and had long been targeted by Tadaoka Sakai, the new reformist leader Tadao Abe and others.

"Damn it, the Oriental Company is really cunning. It actually lowers the price of grain by issuing grain sales licenses. As a result, the Chinese merchants who are known to the whole Edo Castle now have good and cheap food for sale. Even if we want to increase tariffs on their grain, it will become impossible, which will trigger resistance from the people of Edo Castle." Abe Tadakami's tone was full of distress.

"I also hope that they can raise prices so that their rice shops can be sealed off on the charge of raising grain prices. They cannot be allowed to continue to win people's hearts with low-priced grain. They need to transport grain from nearby rural areas to lower the grain prices, otherwise the people will know that there are Chinese merchants but no shogunate. The war is about to begin, and Edo Castle is our base camp, so there cannot be any losses." Tadaka Sakai suggested.

"I immediately organized people to go to various countrysides to purchase grain. Once the war starts, it is really a headache to consider whether the residents in the rear can eat enough when ensuring military rations. If it weren't for the threat from the Kyushu Army, we didn't have to be so cautious when fighting, so what if a group of civilians starve to death?" Abe Tadaki Abe wondered.

In the past, when the shogunate started war, the shogunate summoned samurai and civilians from all over the world, and asked them to bring their own armor and food, and then prepare a batch of surplus grain reserves by themselves. They would not care too much about the lives and deaths of the residents in the city. However, with the Kyushu army intervening, the shogunate had to exercise the functions of the government and take care of the emotions of ordinary people, otherwise the people would be more inclined to outsiders.

"Do anyone buy the war bonds issued by Edo Bank? How much funding can be used for war?" asked Tadaka Sakai.

"The huge amount raised by one million taels of silver can be used to purchase military supplies. These bonds will only be repaid one year later, and will last for five years. There is no need to worry about being run. After defeating the rebels, you can use spoils to pay interest. If the war loses, you don't have to pay it back. At that time, the crisis of our shogunate does not care about more debts." Tadao Abe was still full of confidence in issuing war bonds.

"The Tokyo branch will not block war bonds again, right? We must be cautious about these new financial means," said Tadao Sakai.
Chapter completed!