Chongzhen and I became partners

Chapter 141 Why is I so small?

You know, the silver income of the salt class in the early one million is the sum of the whole country.

Including the transfer of salt envoys in the Huaihe River, the transfer of salt envoys in the two Zhejiang provinces, the transfer of salt envoys in Changlu, the transfer of salt envoys in Shandong, the transfer of salt envoys in Fujian, the transfer of salt envoys in Hedong, and the salt department in Lingzhou There are two lifting divisions in Guangdong, two lifting divisions in Guangdong, four lifting divisions in Sichuan and four lifting divisions in Yunnan. All of these add up to so many!

At this time, it would be strange if Emperor Chongzhen's psychology could be balanced!

Wang Chengen, a eunuch in the palace, could not answer the question he asked even though he had a relatively high status.

Although he knew that salt was very profitable, he couldn't figure out why it was so profitable, right?
But when the emperor asked, he had no choice but to answer. After thinking about it for a while, he could only reply: "My maidservant didn't pay attention before, so don't dare to guess in front of the Long Live Lord, or else, my maidservant will go back and check?"

"Check it out, just check it out for me!"

When Wang Chengen heard this, he quickly wanted to agree, but unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen changed the subject and continued: "Find out for me, let me find out who are the richest salt merchants!"

"..." Wang Chengen was a little dumbfounded when he heard it, because although Emperor Chongzhen didn't say it clearly, he could tell that the emperor wanted to slaughter a sheep!

"Slave complies with the order, and immediately sends people to Yangzhou!" Wang Chengen dared not neglect, and quickly agreed, and then retreated.

Faintly, he seemed to have heard the poem recited by Emperor Chongzhen: "...killing cattle and sheep for pleasure..."

………………

In the evening, Emperor Chongzhen contacted Liu Weichao via video, talked about the salt merchants, and then concluded angrily: "Many people are starving to death, but those salt merchants spend their days and drinks, and live a life that I envy." Life is really tolerable and unbearable!"

"Fuck him!" Liu Weichao said with a smile when he heard it.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was slightly taken aback, not understanding what it meant?
But it was only for a while, and soon he understood what it meant, and immediately nodded and said: "Yes, I just want to fuck him! It's really unreasonable!"

After speaking of this, he was also a little strange, so he asked Liu Weichao: "Do you know why those salt merchants make so much money? I thought about it, but I couldn't figure out what's going on?"

After hearing this, Liu Weichao thought for a while and said to Emperor Chongzhen, "I probably know a little bit, but if I really want to tell you, I'd better check the information first, and it would be better to give you more accurate information!"

"That troubles you!" Emperor Chongzhen answered quickly after hearing this, and then added with emotion, "It's still convenient on your side! I don't know what's going on here, I don't know if I ask, and I need to send someone to Check, maybe it will take many days to know the answer. But you can know it very quickly!"

Liu Weichao smiled and said, "It is indeed much easier to obtain information than you were at that time. I can find out about things that are far away in the sky by making a phone call. Some information can also be checked through the Internet. But these You can't envy things if you envy them, first lay a solid scientific foundation and develop slowly!"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen hung up the communication with some regret.

Not long after, Liu Weichao took the initiative to initiate a video communication, and after connecting, he said to Emperor Chongzhen: "I understand the general situation!"

"Tell me, what's it like?" Emperor Chongzhen asked quickly after hearing this.

The salt merchant can be so rich, he is simply envious and jealous!If it weren't for Liu Weichao, he, the emperor, would have died of poverty!

It would be great if he could know the secret of the salt merchant's money making, and he could make the same money!
Therefore, he is eager to know the answer!
After hearing this, Liu Weichao said with a smile: "The official salt price in the Ming Dynasty is really a bit expensive. And salt is a necessity, and all animals need salt supplementation, so no matter how expensive it is, you have to buy salt! As a result, private salt is rampant. Those salt merchants are likely to sell private salt themselves and sell it as official salt. In this way, the profits are extremely high. Of course, behind them, there must be someone in the government who is covering them, or buying them People in the government."

After a pause, he then added: "Actually, according to the information I read, some of your officials in the Ming Dynasty have already seen the problem and wanted to reform, but most of them couldn't, because many people's interests were affected. , too much resistance!"

Hearing these words, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but said angrily: "I knew it, how could they make so much money without violating the law!"

After venting, he said to Liu Weichao: "I have been keeping Wang Dehua from dealing with it. Now I think it's time to use him! Isn't it going to affect the interests of many people? Is there too much resistance? I will send Wang Dehua to Yangzhou. See one catch one, catch one and kill the other, I want the money of those salt merchants!"

"..." Liu Weichao couldn't help being speechless when he heard such murderous words!
The ancient emperor was a cow!
Seeing Liu Weichao's expression, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help asking: "Why, is my method not good?"

"You can't do it!" Liu Weichao shook his head and said, "If you kill these salt merchants, there will be other salt merchants. It's a temporary solution, not a root cause!"

"Then kill again!" Emperor Chongzhen replied without thinking.

After finishing speaking, he calmed down a little, and when he heard Liu Weichao said that he could treat the symptoms but not the root cause, he added, "Then do you have any suggestions that can treat both the symptoms and the root cause?"

On Liu Weichao's side, he has given him many miraculous performances.Therefore, he said this with the idea of ​​giving it a try, and asking, anyway, there is nothing to lose.

It's not that he hasn't thought about the salt administration issue.But in the Forbidden City, people who have never been out of the capital, apart from listening to others, they don't have any experience.

From his own impression, he felt that the Yanzheng must be difficult to deal with!

Unexpectedly, after hearing his words, Liu Weichao smiled and said: "The solution to the root cause is actually very simple..."

"Ah, it's very simple?" Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help being extremely surprised when he heard his words, and immediately interrupted him, expressing his disbelief.

Seeing him like this, Liu Weichao went on to say: "Of course it's simple, just increase the production of salt, and the government doesn't set a minimum price for salt!"

"Ah?" Emperor Chongzhen immediately lost his voice when he heard it, instinctively, he felt that this method would definitely not work!
However, looking at Liu Weichao's appearance, he seemed to be very confident, which made him wonder if there was something he hadn't considered, which is why he felt this problem was difficult!
So, he immediately added: "It seems impossible. If you say so, the salt will be piled up like a mountain in the future, and the salt will not be sold for money. Where will the tax money come from?"

After a pause, Emperor Chongzhen thought of something, and continued: "It's not that no one has mentioned the matter of increasing the output of salt, but it was refuted by many people when it was brought up. Therefore, salt farms everywhere control the amount of salt produced. Produced..."

Having said this, he suddenly couldn't continue.

Because Emperor Chongzhen discovered that what he said casually just now involved the opposition of most people.

And according to his experience in the last few months, if most people oppose it, there is a problem!

Thinking of this, he naturally couldn't continue.

Hearing what he said, Liu Weichao laughed and said, "Of course, there must be something in it, just listen to me!"

"I would like to hear the details!" Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen straightened his attitude and asked for advice.

When Liu Weichao saw him, he said to him: "Increase the production of salt, and the price of salt will naturally fall. You understand this, right! When the price of salt is low enough, there is not much profit in selling private salt, and you have to take big risks. In this way, the money from private salt won’t be lost?”

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but nodded, it sounds right!
Seeing him nodding, Liu Weichao went on to say: "However, it is not enough to increase the production of salt. You also need to work hard on the quality of the salt. In this regard, your court has an advantage that private salt dealers do not have. You must be better than They have the technology and manpower, if they can produce enough refined salt and the price is as cheap as the original coarse salt, then there will really be no way for illegal salt to survive."

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen nodded a bit forcefully, as he agreed with the words.

But then, he thought of something, and couldn't help asking: "If this goes on like this, what should I do if the refined salt produced by the court is too much to eat? By then, will it be impossible to collect taxes?"

"Hehe, don't be impatient, listen to me!" Liu Weichao listened, said with a smile, and then continued to explain his method, "Salt is very versatile. In addition to eating, it can also be used to marinate This will allow many foods to be preserved for a longer period of time, which can also solve the problem of eating to a certain extent. In addition, the use of salt is not limited to this, you have to be careful, and you can count it later, and I can also supplement it for you .”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded after hearing this, but then he immediately shook his head and said: "But even if it has many uses, if we keep increasing the output of salt, one day, there will still be too much to use up! Wait until that At that time, wouldn’t you still not be able to collect taxes?”

Liu Weichao couldn't help laughing when he heard it.It seems that Emperor Chongzhen did not listen to what he said, but still had his own thinking, and firmly grasped that the output would eventually be too much.

Not bad!

After commenting in his heart, Liu Weichao then said to Emperor Chongzhen with a smile: "You, the layout is still a little smaller!"

"..." Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help being speechless when he heard this.

I am the emperor of a country anyway, why is the situation so small?
By the way, I'm not talking about table salt. Why is it related to my own pattern? Could it be that there is a bigger pattern than table salt?

Unable to figure it out, he asked with a little dissatisfaction: "Why is my layout so small?"

(End of this chapter)