Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 98
In marching and fighting, the number of logistics personnel is often more than five times the number of combat personnel, so as to ensure the supply of military supplies. Therefore, ensuring military supplies has always been a labor-intensive task.

In the third year of Hongwu, because Shanxi and other border areas were in urgent need of military rations, and the imperial court's finances were stretched, it was decided to let merchants pay one stone for one stone in Datong warehouse or three buckets of rice for one stone in Taiyuan warehouse. profit.

Due to the remarkable results this time, Ming Dynasty fully implemented the method of opening China, thereby solving the problem of military rations on the nine sides.

Due to the long distance of grain transportation, the imperial court had to continuously reduce the proportion of grain received to attract merchants to buy salt. In the 18th year of Yongle, the Ministry of Households decided: Three buckets of rice and five liters of rice were imported, and four buckets of Huaiyan salt were imported.

It’s just that now, it’s getting more and more difficult for frontier merchants to bring salt to the salt fields, and they have to spend money to make connections to get the salt. Therefore, the imperial court has reduced the salt ratio to two buckets and five liters.

Since the development of China and France, there have indeed been some problems.

The first is the issue of payment. If a well-established salt merchant like Ye Fugui can pick up the salt, it will be unimpeded. However, in the past, [-]% of ordinary salt merchants could not pick up the salt, and it has become a consensus that they need to spend extra money to manage it.

The second is the problem of excessive quotations. Because Pan Wang asked for rewards from various places, and the court chose to reduce the ratio of salt and grain to attract merchants to buy salt, this method of drinking poison to quench thirst is easy to create excessive quotations.

Finally, there is the problem of the continuous depreciation of Yanyin. In the past, one stone, three buckets and one quotation were all flocked to, but now only two buckets, five liters and one quotation are available. This reflects that Yanyin has a reputation crisis.

If it is a healthy method of opening up China, it is undoubtedly that the border merchants transport a stone of grain in exchange for a lead, go to the salt producing area to extract the salt smoothly, and then sell the salt to the designated dumping area for profit.

It’s just that the opening of China and France is already in an unhealthy state, and the biggest problem is that the border merchants are led to the salt-producing areas, but they need to spend some salt merchants to mention the salt.

Ye Qi proposed a new method for this unhealthy method of opening up China: the imperial court abolished the "frontier merchants", and the Huai merchants would increase the price to buy cheap salt, and the salt merchants would continue to earn profits.

"If the new salt method is implemented, how much will the court earn?" Zhu Youtang looked deeply at the fair-skinned little old man in front of him, glanced thoughtfully at Xu Pu, and then asked calmly.

Ye Qi was secretly delighted, so he submitted a memorial and said: "Your Majesty, the above list is detailed! If the imperial court adopts the new law, it will be calculated as four cents and two cents of silver, and 100 million yuan of Huaiyan can get 42 taels of silver. You can raise the price of silver a little bit more, so you will get more silver!"

"There are 100 taels for 42 million citing?"

"In this way, Taicang will be full, and the Aegis Camp will be successful!"

"This year, the Ministry of Households has offered to discount the banks in Lianghuai, and the salt merchants are flocking to them. It is indeed possible to raise the price of silver. This strategy is really good for the world!"

……

After hearing Ye Qi's accounts, the officials present couldn't help but be dumbfounded when they thought that 100 million salt coins could be exchanged for a vain 42 taels.

"In this way, if you put two buckets of five liters of rice into the warehouse in the frontier, you will get a price. The price of salt is really too low!" Zhu Youtang thought for a while, and nodded slightly.

Ye Qi's eyes lit up slightly, and he asked happily, "Your Majesty, are you adopting the minister's new salt law?"

Officials such as Zuo Shilang Xu Pu knew that this would be a big event to rewrite the Ming Dynasty's Salt Law, so they couldn't help but pay attention to it, and Ye Qi's timing was undoubtedly just right.

As long as Hongzhi nodded and agreed, then Daming's salt law would be rewritten, and the toy "Aegis Camp" he wanted to spend a lot of money to build would also be possible.

In fact, everyone doesn't have to oppose the establishment of the Aegis Battalion, but you can mess around, and the points will give everyone a little benefit.

"Ye Qi's servant!" Zhu Youtang saw Ye Qi's joy, and said plainly.

Ye Qi saw that the dawn of victory was close at hand, and he resolutely became the hero of the salt merchants in the Lianghuai area, and he looked very happy and said: "The minister is here!"

"Immediately escort 10 taels of silver from the Ministry of Households to the Shanxi storage land to buy 50 shi of autumn grain and consolidate the side warehouse. If you succeed, you will be rewarded, and you will be punished if you make mistakes!" Underground decree.

ah?buy food?

At first, the officials present thought that Hongzhi wanted to agree to the new salt law that could generate money, but when they heard that Zhu Youtang actually wanted Ye Qi to go to Shanxi to buy 50 shiqiu grain, they couldn't help being stunned.

Ye Qi thought that his plan had succeeded, but when he heard Zhu Youtang asked him to buy food, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and said: "Your Majesty, my minister..."

"The land here is cheap, so next year it is really not suitable to lose millet and salt, go and return quickly!" Zhu Youtang immediately ordered outrageously, not understanding the reason.

Ye Qi actually played two small tricks here: one is to exaggerate the lowliness of the border area, and the other is to deliberately ignore the lowliness.

Jiubian's rice price this year is affected by multiple reasons.

The cost of transporting rice grain from the southeast to the side warehouse is not a small sum.Frontier merchants realized that planting by themselves was much more cost-effective than transportation, so they opened up land and hired people to plant, resulting in the emergence of a large number of commercial villages, thus ensuring the food supply in the border areas.

In addition, since the opening of Zhongfa, Jiubian has had a sufficient supply of rice grain every year, so the current side warehouse can always be full, so there is no hunger and thirst for food.

The most important reason is that this year has a good harvest year. Due to the high grain output, the price of rice has dropped to two yuan per stone.

Another problem is that it is difficult to supply enough cheap border food in large quantities.

Just like someone who can’t go to a star’s concert due to special reasons, he can certainly agree to sell you the ticket at a [-]% discount, but if you want [-] tickets, then he can only hold up his middle finger as an international etiquette up.

Just like this, the drop of grain in the nine places from a few taels to two cents a stone was not due to the fact that the grain merchants opened philanthropic halls, but an important achievement of the Ming Dynasty’s implementation of the Chinese law.

Once the Chinese law is abolished, food prices are bound to rise rapidly, and the previous "two yuan and one stone" food prices have no reference value at all.

As for being cheap, this is really cheap.

It was the salt officials who raised the threshold for border merchants to raise salt. Everyone had to spend money to build relationships when they went to raise salt.

The so-called "one attracts and eight attracts gains" is nothing but Ye Qi's blindfold, in essence, he is stealing the country's interests and destroying the cornerstone of the Ming Dynasty's frontier food.

Ye Qi saw that Zhu Youtang didn't play tricks at all, and instead lifted a rock to hit his own toes. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he said: "Your Majesty, there is no money in Taicang today. Please discuss the purchase of grain later!"

"Ye Shilang, the household department has 130 million taels of silver, and the Beijing warehouse has more than [-] shi of grain. Our household department can still get this money!" At this time, Chen Kun, the right servant of the household department, squinted his small eyes. Stand up and express your opinion.

Not to mention that he was personally promoted by His Majesty, how could he not see through Ye Qi's little trick even now.

Although according to the new salt law, the Ministry of Households was able to increase a large amount of salt tax revenue, but the imperial court was instead responsible for the expenses of transporting grain to the side warehouses, and the collected salt was not enough at all.

The reason why Ye Qi wants to implement the new salt law is that accepting silver is more beneficial to the Huai merchant group, and it is also convenient for the salt officials below to fill their own pockets.

Huai merchants all know that it is not cost-effective to transport grain from Jiangnan to the border warehouses. If it is changed to Keyin, this group of people will easily get salt and make huge profits.

"If you can't get a mere 10 taels, our household department will really look down on you!"

"That's right, it's only 10 taels, and our Zhejiang company's account can be directly pulled over!"

"If it's not enough, we still have 13 taels of deposit in our Fujian Division, which can be transferred!"

……

After the officials of the household department saw Chen Kun ascending to the sky in one step, and they did not forget what Zhu Youtang said earlier, several officials in charge fell down one after another.

Not to mention, they never liked Ye Qi as an outsider.According to what His Majesty said earlier, once there is a vacancy for the servants of the household department, His Majesty will select from among their thirteen ministers.

Now that Ye Qi had already committed suicide, and thought that the wise and mighty young emperor in front of him was a fool, so they wouldn't mind stabbing him in the back, so as to get the coveted position of servant of the household department.

This……

He Cong, the left servant of the Ministry of War, and other officials could not help but look at each other when they saw that the household department was in chaos.

Ye Qi didn't hear that these guys actually stabbed knives in the back, and at this moment, he was gnashing his teeth in anger. This is an impossible task of buying food.

"Since there is no problem with the money in the Ministry of Accounting, Ye Aiqing will go there immediately. If you succeed, you will be rewarded. If you fail, don't blame me for punishing you!" Zhu Youtang looked at the guys in the Ministry of Accounting and realized that his painstaking efforts were not in vain , then the final word is authentic.

Ye Qi's face at this moment was uglier than crying, but facing Zhu Youtang's stern gaze, he had no choice but to smash his teeth and swallow into his stomach: "The minister leads the decree!"

Do it yourself!
Xie Qian watched the movement here from a distance, and was very puzzled by Ye Qi's new salt method, and at the same time looked at his teacher Xu Pu very confused.

"Your Majesty, if Li Shangshu can't transfer the silver from Taicang, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Jingcang under my management has more than [-] shi of grain, I can exchange silver with the rice merchant for the preparation of the construction of the Shield Camp!" Chen Kun responded to Li Si's earlier excuse , is a direct statement.

This……

Li Si frowned slightly, never expecting to be stabbed in the back by this fat man.

But who can blame this?The family property left by Emperor Chenghua is really too rich. There are more than 2000 stones of grain stored in this Beijing warehouse, and autumn grain from various places will soon be transported by water.

"Winter rice is expensive in the capital, and the release of grain today can stabilize the price of grain in the capital, so be sure!" Zhu Youtang found out that the faint king hated by civil officials was actually quite reliable, so he immediately adopted it.

As for the establishment of the Aegis Battalion, it is imperative for him, after all, this will be his real ace unit.

Is the matter of the SHIELD camp settled?
Seeing the development of the situation, the officials present could not help but look at each other in blank dismay.

Originally, they wanted to force Zhu Youtang to withdraw his life together, but they didn't want Wan'an to stand up and help His Majesty fight in the ring, and the new right servant of the household department, Li Kun, even cleared the obstacles.

It's just that if you continue to mess around with this young emperor, who will be able to check him in the future and rule the world with the scholar-bureaucrats?

The sun is not yet visible, and the cold wind blows from the east.

Xu Pu and other officials stood in the wind, but they found that today's morning was extremely cold.

Song Cheng, the newly appointed Shaoqing of Dali Temple, was dressed thinly and stood motionless in the wind.Although he didn't understand His Majesty's purpose in setting up the Aegis Battalion, in his perception, His Majesty was definitely not a fool.

"Should we hold this court meeting? If I continue to mess around with such matters outside the performance, I have to follow the example of my father and stop court and focus on practical work!" Zhu Youtang reprimanded impatiently when he saw that the matter had been resolved. road.

Although the quarrel is conducive to the formation of scientific decision-making, he already knows the virtues of these civil servants.If it weren't for him not being stupid, after he ascended the throne and paid the inheritance tax, he would have to abolish the Chinese law and use salt to nourish these moths.

cough!
Xu Pu's throat seemed to be uncomfortable, and suddenly he coughed lightly.

Song Cong hesitated for a while in the matter, but he stood up bravely and said, "Your Majesty, I still have this performance!"

"Section Chief Song, which one do you want to sing?" Zhu Youtang laughed angrily when he saw that these civil servants were really endless.

Song Cong knew very well that there was no turning back when he opened his bow, so he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I think that there is something wrong with your order to search Li Min, the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Households! Li Shangshu has been an official for decades. He has always been in charge of public affairs and self-denial, and has been in charge of the household department and the system. He does not harm the wealth or the people. If there is nothing else, please take it back, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, please take back the order!" He Cong, the left servant of the Ministry of War, and other officials seemed to have already made an agreement, and immediately agreed.

Huh?
Wan An, who was wearing a python robe, kept bowing and waiting on it. At this moment, he heard Song Cong forcefully pleading for Li Min's forgiveness during the incident, and he looked thoughtfully at the officials below.

That day Li Min was imprisoned by the Ministry of Punishment, and the confiscated imperial decree had been in place for several days, but now these civil servants suddenly stood up to intercede, this situation is obviously unreasonable.

None of the officials present could be idiots, either Li Min is really innocent, or these guys have concluded that this search will find nothing.

Li Min can be said to be the most corrupt governor of water transportation, how could this person be innocent?So now there is only one last possibility.

Really change?

When Du Ming, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, saw He Cong standing up, he also quickly caught the anomaly, and looked at Xu Pudao thoughtfully.

"Hundred officials kneel and retreat!"

At this time, Zhu Youtang had already turned and left, while Guo Yong sang loudly.

In fact, Zhu Youtang has already thought of this, but it is not easy to jump to conclusions now, and he has to wait for Liu Zhong, who has already gone to Henan, to reply.

Although he didn't understand what these officials sang, and he also didn't understand why Li's house was empty, but he really didn't believe that Li Min could still get away with it now!

what?
The elders Wan An and Liu Ji couldn't help but look at each other when they saw Zhu Youtang leaving in a fit of anger, but they hurriedly led all the officials to kneel to send the young emperor away.

This time, the young emperor really couldn't be blamed for patting his butt and leaving. It was really that these civil servants were looking for trouble, and it was even more unexpected that this group of people wanted to protect Li Min.

　Made it up!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)