Carrying AK into Ming Dynasty

Chapter 607

Hui'an Province, Yangzhou Prefecture.

Feng Liang, the transfer envoy of the salt envoy of the two Huaihe Rivers, Feng Liang, Mr. Feng has been living a very happy life recently.

Yangzhou is a rich land, a land of fish and rice, which can be called an inch of land and an inch of gold, but the Feng Mansion covers an area of ​​more than [-] mu.

There are four or five rockeries and ponds in the mansion, and a pavilion or a pavilion is either located by the pond or hidden in the vines and green dills.

It was late autumn, Jiangnan had just passed the summer heat, and the climate was very pleasant. Groups of handsome maids walked towards a two-story attic deep in the back garden with precious dishes.

In the attic on the second floor, Feng Liang, who was about fifty years old, was lying on the floppy bed by the window, enjoying the kneading of a young woman who was obviously not of Han family origin.

This foreign woman is less than ten years old, her skin is fair like autumn clouds, her tulle is almost transparent, and her slim figure can be seen faintly, which makes young people's blood spurt when they look at it.

"Take it easy...you clumsy idiot!" Feng Liang kicked the foreign woman away on the bed and cursed.

The outsiders are really vulgar people, don't look at this girl who is chic and reserved, but she looks like a wolf when she is on the bed.

But Feng Liang is 50 years old, and he has indulged too much on weekdays, the following words are already overwhelmed.

The woman wanted to cheer him up, but after some fiddling with him, she didn't stand up.

Depressed, Feng Liang had no choice but to vent his anger on the foreign woman to cover up her incompetence.

This damned Wu Zuoren must have intentionally humiliated the old man, right?

Hmph, don't want to get a penny from the old man this year!Feng Liang said bitterly.

Recently, the salt workshops in Lianghuai have released a new batch of salt for sale. The salt merchants in the Lianghuai area were moved by the news. Almost every day in Feng’s mansion, salt merchants from all over the country came to visit with large and small bags of gifts. .

The housekeeper of the Zhang family in Luzhou sent 1 taels of silver, and the Chen family of Taizhou sent a precious painting by Wu Daozi of the Tang Dynasty, which was exactly what Feng Liang wanted.

Who doesn't like to collect antique calligraphy and paintings?What's more, it is the masterpiece of Wu Daozi, the painter of the Tang Dynasty.

But only when I came to Wu Zuoren, a local salt merchant in Yangzhou, this guy thought that giving money every year was too vulgar and tasteless, so he bought a beautiful woman from the coast of Fujian at a high price, which was said to be from the Netherlands.

These days, Feng Liang is so excited. Apart from dealing with the affairs of the salt administration at will, he is quietly waiting for the salt merchants from all over the place to come and give gifts.
Daming has been strictly investigating corruption since last year. The reason why Feng Liang dared to commit crimes was because of Concubine Yuan Gui in the palace.

Chongzhen worried about state affairs all his life, even he seldom accepted concubines. In the past 20 years, there were only eight or nine imperial concubines in the harem, and the one who is still with Chongzhen today, except for Queen Zhou, is Concubine Yuan.

Concubine Yuan Gui gave birth to a daughter and died young. She had been living a thrifty life with Empress Zhou for ten years, and Chongzhen felt guilty and loved her even more.

And this Feng Liang is Concubine Yuan Gui's clan uncle, and relying on Concubine Yuan Gui's name, he climbed to the position of the salt transport envoy of the Huaihe River and Huaihe River. He is also willing to spend money, and he is actually a tyrant in Yangzhou.

As far as the position of the Salt Transport Envoy is concerned, there have been plenty of vacancies in all dynasties.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period, salt has been a patent monopolized by the Z government. The Chinese descendants do not know the composition of salt, but they know that people who lack salt will have weak limbs and cannot work.

These things that are indispensable to all people have been paid more and more attention to by all dynasties. After all, who in power doesn't want to control the people under their rule?

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong set a precedent in history and brought salt and iron under the control of the imperial court. Anyone who dared to privately manufacture or sell them would be sentenced to death.

Not to mention iron and other things related to national security, just the salt administration can increase a large amount of income for the imperial court. Yanyin is really the oldest "complex currency".

Of course, the Ming Dynasty was no exception, but the Ming Dynasty seems to have changed its taste after various taxes. Taking the weak Song Dynasty as an example, its population was about 6000 million.

With the same population, Daming's salt production is almost twice that of Song's, but what?
The weak Song Dynasty is a soldier, and its economic ability is ten or one hundred streets away from the Ming Dynasty. The Song Dynasty can get at least 6000 million yuan from the salt item in a year. 80.00%.

What about Daming?The output is twice that of people, but even in the early Ming Dynasty when the national power was at its peak, the revenue of the salt government was only 300 million taels, and in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it was even less, 300 million versus 6000 million. What is this order of magnitude?
Moreover, the salt in the Ming Dynasty was more expensive than that in the Song Dynasty. It stands to reason that the income of the imperial court was higher. Then the question arises, where did the huge amount of salt government income go?
The answer is: officials, merchants, and relatives of the emperor!

Zhu Chongba hates greed very much, and sets the salaries of officials extremely low, which can be said to be unmatched in China for 5000 years.

But officials have been living a good life after ten years of bitter cold. Where does the money come from?greedy!
A considerable number of dignitaries and officials extended their hands to the Yanzheng. How?Sell ​​salt, get kickbacks, and accept bribes!

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was struggling to deal with internal and external troubles, and it was too expensive to transport grain to the border, so it called on merchants from all over the country to transport grain by themselves for military supplies.

In return, merchants can get salt for one stone of grain, which is to open up the Chinese law. That is to say, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court could get even less tax from the salt administration.

The salt merchants undertook the food consumption, and the common people would pay for the money in the end. Therefore, the salt in the Ming Dynasty was more expensive than that in other dynasties. In addition, the people were poor at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and those who could not afford salt were more expensive than those in other dynasties. both.

However, the annual production of salt is limited. Corruption, private sales, and opening up of the Chinese law made Yanyin sell 20 or even 30 years later in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Yanyin has become a national debt, that is to say, the salt merchant has become the creditor of the court. When the father dies, the son automatically inherits the Yanyin in his hand, and the descendants are endless.

This is simply a joke of the world!

In the 45th year of Wanli, the Ming court finally couldn't support it anymore, so it played a rogue and directly abolished the expired Yanyin.

Over the past 300 years, only less than [-]% of officials have participated in sharing the oily cake of the Daming Salt Administration, and the rest are in the hands of the emperor's relatives.

It was only after the ravages of Chongzhen and Liu Hongjian that two-thirds of the clan and nobles of the Ming Dynasty fell, and the actual controllers of the salt administration returned to the court and returned to the hands of various salt transport envoys.

Feng Liang, the capital transporter, is one of the koi.

Of the six transport divisions in the world, only the Lianghuai Transport Division is the male, with a wealth of commercial kitchens, and the richest salt in the southeast.

"Master, Qi Yao from Taizhou sent an invitation card with the butler, and I want to invite the master to have a drink at the Heaven and Earth Restaurant in Yangzhou."

PS: After reading a lot of information about Yanzheng Hanhan, I feel that it is necessary for you to understand the history of the salt we eat every day. I hope you will not feel bored.

PS: Pushing a book "Han Tu" After becoming Emperor Guangwu, Liu Huan, a clan member of the Han Dynasty, could not let his younger brother Liu Ye become decadent because of a woman. Evil Zhou Yu and Dou Sun Ce, aiming at the Central Plains...

(End of this chapter)