The famous book tour starting from the Red House

Chapter 76
In the next few days, Mu Xu did not go out. Apart from receiving visits from officials from all walks of life every day, he kept checking the information on the salt merchants and Yangzhou Wei sent by Lin Ruhai, and compared it with the information collected by Xiuyiwei. information for comparison.

After these few days of in-depth understanding of Yanzheng, he found that his previous thinking was still a bit off.He originally planned to increase the production of salt, and then use force to force these big salt merchants to surrender, and the matter would be solved, but now it seems that his thinking is too simple.

Because according to the situation he learned from the salt account that Lin Ruhai found, in fact, the production method of sea salt has already appeared.It's just that the method of boiling salt has been used since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the method of large-scale salt mining by digging salt ponds and exposing to the sun in the Ming and Qing Dynasties has not yet been adopted.

But even so, the output of salt mined by boiling the sea is completely sufficient for the daily needs of the people in Dachu today.The reason for the current situation is that the salt merchants are only the superficial reason, and the fundamental reason is that there is a problem with the imperial court's salt administration.

Today's salt policy is inherited from the Tang Dynasty. In order to collect more salt taxes, the Tang Dynasty deliberately controlled the production of salt in order to increase the price of salt.In addition, these greedy salt merchants raised prices in the middle.Naturally, the production of salt is low, and the common people cannot eat salt.This dynasty completely inherited the system of the Tang Dynasty, which resulted in today's bad results.

Mu Xu comes from later generations, so he naturally knows the principle of small profits but quick turnover.In his view, the ancients may not have known about it, but too many people's interests were involved in it, and no one raised it.Because in this way, the imperial court could indeed receive more salt tax, but these salt merchants and the people behind them could no longer make profits from it.Of course, the emperor probably didn't know the way to do this. In the report to the emperor, it must have been said that the production of salt was low or something like that.

This is the same as the prohibition of the sea in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in later generations, because the imperial court organized large-scale sea trips, which would affect the interests of the big families along the coast.Therefore, they deliberately concealed the benefits of sea trade, and then used their spokespersons in the court to influence the emperor, making the emperor think that the cost of opening the sea was too high, and the gain outweighed the loss.What's more, they colluded with or even supported or pretended to be pirates and Japanese pirates, and harassed coastal areas to create the illusion that it was all caused by opening the sea.The emperor had to adopt a ban on the sea, so that they could not only bypass the court tax supervision, but also prevent the court from going to sea on a large scale to squeeze their trading space, and then earn huge profits through smuggling.

Up to now, Mu Xu can't control so much anymore, besides, he is not afraid of offending those people, since he came to this world, it is worthwhile to do something good for the common people.

After thinking about this clearly, he didn't hesitate to write a plan for the reform of the salt administration to the emperor. In it, he explained the pros and cons clearly, and indicated in detail the amount of salt tax the court could receive after the reform.

After I finished writing, I checked it. Mu Xu originally wanted to send someone to the capital directly, but after thinking about it, he decided to discuss it with Lin Ruhai, and immediately got up to go to the Lin Mansion.

As soon as he walked out of the study, Yinglian came over with a tray.Seeing that Mu Xu was going out, she hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, is he going out? It's going to be dark today."

Mu Xu replied, "I need to go out for something urgent, you don't have to wait for me to eat." As he spoke, he passed Yinglian in a hurry.

Yinglian watched him go away, then looked at the ginseng and hen soup in the bowl she had prepared by herself, stomped her feet, and had to return it with her lips pouted. After walking a few steps, she murmured to herself, "Huh, The stinky son has no taste, I will serve it to my mother." Then he turned and went to Zhen Feng's room.

Mu Xu rode a horse with four fans, and arrived at the gate of Lin Mansion not long after.When the guard at the gate saw that it was the imperial envoy and his future son-in-law, he naturally didn't dare to neglect, he quickly opened the gate and let them in.

Mu Xu ordered a few people to wait in the gatehouse, and walked towards the mansion alone. When he arrived not far from the front yard, he saw Lin Quan, the housekeeper of Lin's mansion, rushing over.

Mu Xu motioned him not to be too polite, and asked directly, "Where's Uncle Lin?"

While leading the way, Lin Quan replied respectfully, "Master is eating."

While talking, Lin Quan took Mu Xu into the flower hall in the backyard, and his own servants came to serve him tea. He waited for a while, and Lin Ruhai came in with a cane.

After the two greeted each other, Lin Ruhai asked, "My nephew came so late, but you have something important to do?"

Mu Xu took out the memorial he had written and handed it to Lin Ruhai, "Uncle Lin, read this before we talk."

After receiving the memorial and looking at it for a while, Lin Ruhai couldn't help but frowned, "My nephew's memorial, once presented, I'm afraid it will break the sky."

"Does Uncle Lin think my solution is feasible?"

After pondering for a moment, Lin Ruhai nodded, "This method of yours should be able to fundamentally solve the current salt road problem." After hesitating for a while, he still worried, "But in this way, I am afraid that many people will hate you to the bone."

Mu Xu smiled and said, "I've already thought about this, Uncle Lin, don't forget my identity, what can they do to me?" He listened to the surroundings with his ears, and continued after making sure no one was listening ,
"I was originally the son of a foreign vassal, and now the emperor is my uncle. I don't feel relieved to hand over the mess of Xiuyiwei to others for a while, and our family has no foundation in the center of the court, and I am not afraid of me colluding with court officials for a while. Just hand over the Embroidery Guard to me. But after a long time, I will definitely worry about my clique now. The more people I offend now, the more he likes it?"

Lin Ruhai nodded slightly, he naturally understood this truth, but now that Mu Xu is his future son-in-law, he still worried, "Don't be careless, you have been in Yangzhou for a while, and you know the strength of these people in Jiangnan. If it leaks out, they may not jump over the wall in a hurry."

Speaking of this, he sighed, "When I first came to Yangzhou, I also wanted to solve the stubborn disease of the salt road, but if I made a little move, my family was almost destroyed. So this matter must not be careless."

When Mu Xu made up his mind to write a letter to the emperor, he was mentally prepared, and it is not surprising to hear him say so now. He replied, "Uncle Lin, don't worry, I have the right to transfer troops from the two Huaihe Rivers bestowed by the emperor, and I also have the right to embroider in the south of the Yangtze River." Yiwei helps each other, as long as you are careful, there should be no serious problems. I came today to let Uncle Lin see if there are any omissions in my reform plan."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Lin Ruhai stopped persuading him, and when he asked if there was anything missing, he thought for a while and said, "Generally there is no problem, but to achieve your goal, you have to increase the production of salt. Now Once there are twists and turns in the production, such as someone maliciously hoarding, there may be a problem of insufficient inventory."

When Mu Xu heard this, he smiled and told him how to dry the salt.Lin Ruhai was startled when he heard this, and then said, "If this method works, then there is no problem."

"This method should work. When I get back, I will send someone to take the Yanhu that Uncle Lin found for an experiment."

"Well, yes, it's always good to plan ahead." Lin Ruhai couldn't help asking, thinking that Mu Xu had just mentioned the matter of deploying troops, "Nephew, is he going to start with the Yangzhou Guard first?"

"Exactly, once the imperial court agrees to reform the salt administration, these people may really jump over the wall as Uncle Lin said." Mu Xu said solemnly, "Yangzhou Wei may not become an accomplice of these people. In that case, we naturally have to strike first To be strong, let’s control Yangzhou Wei first.”

"The virtuous nephew has an idea. I know Guo Zhen, the Commander of the Yangzhou Guard, quite well."

But Mu Xu sneered and shook his head, "Uncle Lin doesn't need to worry about this. Isn't it hard to deal with these people? Whether it's empty pay, or taking bribes, just find an excuse and take him down."

Lin Ruhai thought so too, but he still added, "Before you're ready, it's better to be still than to move. You must not startle the snake, so that you can be prepared for these things."

Mu Xu laughed and said, "Everyone says Jiangnan is good. This imperial envoy finally came to Jiangnan, so I don't want to have a good tour of the mountains and rivers."

Lin Ruhai also nodded in agreement, and said regretfully, "Unfortunately, I am seriously injured now, otherwise I could be a guide for my nephew." After speaking, the two looked at each other and laughed.

So, in the next few days, those officials and salt merchants who were on tenterhooks suddenly found out.This young imperial envoy took his pretty maid out every day, either for sightseeing or boating on the lake.At first they were worried about whether Mu Xu was playing hard to get, but he remained the same for the next half month.Some salt merchants tentatively offered him generous gifts, but he didn't expect him to accept it openly.Now most of the people were relieved, and every day thereafter, people went to Xingyuan to give gifts to the imperial envoys in an endless stream, and Mu Xu accepted all of them without rejecting them.

(End of this chapter)