Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 360 No investigation, no right to speak

"This Qian Qianyi, what he is best at is climbing up the pole."

Outside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao stood with his hands behind his hands, a faint smile on his lips, and looked at Han Zanzhou who bowed his head in front of him to report, "Just say it clearly if you oppose the salt reform. If you have to talk about it, there is nothing to talk about. It seems that In this cabinet meeting, Bi Qing is going to start a verbal battle with all the scholars."

However, Han Zanzhou didn't say anything, but glanced to his side from the corner of his eye.

"Yuan Qing?"

Zhu Youxiao turned around and saw Yuan Shizhen frowning, knowing that Yuan Shizhen's mood at this moment must be extremely complicated and heavy.

"...I'm here."

Yuan Shizhen came to his senses and hurriedly bowed to the emperor.

"Judging from the current situation, it may be difficult for the salt reform policy proposed by the Qing family to pass the cabinet discussion."

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, lifted up his robe and walked forward, saying as he walked: "And according to what I think, after this cabinet meeting is over, I'm afraid the voice in the court discussing the salt reform will be very loud, and there may even be loud noises. There are fewer memorials to impeach the Qing family."

"Your Majesty, I am not afraid of being impeached."

Yuan Shizhen frowned and spoke with a hint of excitement, "Salt reform is the only right way to reverse the long-standing abuses of the salt administration. The memorial written by me listed all the problems and abuses. The cabinet should not be unable to see that, if If this matter is put on hold, where will my government's salt administration go? Where will my government's salt tax go?"

He is a practical person.

Zhu Youxiao felt emotional in his heart and looked at Han Zanzhou's leaving figure with his deep eyes. From when he summoned Yuan Shizhen to Beijing, he proposed to reform the salt policy. He knew that once this trend was released, it would inevitably arouse the anger of many people. I object, after all, there are too many tricks behind the salt tax.

In addition to Lianghuai, Zhejiang, Huguang, Fujian and other places, there are also Shandong, Shanxi, Hanzhong, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places, all of which produce a lot of salt. This will inevitably give rise to a special group, that is, salt merchants!
  In an economy dominated by small farmers, salt is definitely a hugely profitable industry. Even if it is state-owned, there are too many places where it can be operated behind closed doors, not to mention the repeated illicit sales of salt. Everything is driven by profit.

The Ming Dynasty's salt tax revenue has been hovering between one and two million taels for a long time. For example, the salt tax in the 1323811st year of Jiajing was 1268435 taels, the salt tax in the second year of Longqing was 1151519 taels, the salt tax in the [-]th year of Wanli was [-] taels, and What brought a turning point in salt tax revenue was Yuan Shizhen's salt tax law, which caused the salt tax to increase during the Tianqi Dynasty. However, in the early Chongzhen Dynasty, the salt tax experienced a sharp drop.

Zhu Youxiao is clear about the potential of the salt tax.

According to the original timeline, as for the salt tax, the Qing Dynasty continued the Ming system. The initial salt tax collected was always within 400 million taels, and by Qian De's period it was close to 600 million taels. In the 18th year of Qian De's reign, it reached 701 million taels. 200 million taels, only because of the donation of [-] million taels from the Lianghuai salt merchants.

In the eyes of the Tatar Qing court, the hereditary salt merchants who emerged with the Gang Salt Law were like fattened pigs. There would always be bleeding, so they were not merciless at all. The key was that there were no people who dared to make trouble. Those who resisted the tax were killed.

That's really killing!

No mercy at all.

Therefore, deep down in Zhu Youxiao's heart, he knew that the Ming salt tax was abnormal and there were too many tricks in it. The cabinet meeting explained everything.

"I agree and understand what the Qing family said."

Zhu Youxiao calmed down, looked at Yuan Shizhen and said: "But there are some rules. I can't break them easily. Just like the responsible cabinet holding cabinet discussions, this is a promise I made, so I must set an example."

Yuan Shizhen frowned slightly. Yuan Shizhen can understand what the emperor said, but if the salt reform he proposed cannot even pass the cabinet meeting, then there is no point in implementing it.

"As I said before, without investigation, there is no right to speak."

Seeing Yuan Shizhen like this, Zhu Youxiao changed the subject and said: "My attitude towards reforming the salt policy has never changed from the beginning to the end. That is, a thorough reform must be carried out, otherwise the salt tax levied by the court every year will not be enough." wrong."

"Let's plan specific changes. I think the Qing family's idea is correct. The Qing family has also taken into account the issues I mentioned before."

"What we need to do now is how to come up with an intuitive amount to make the ministers in the cabinet understand that some things can't be vetoed just by talking."

Ok?
  Yuan Shizhen was stunned when he heard this. He seemed to understand what the emperor meant.

When it was clear that he was going to carry out the salt reform, Zhu Youxiao never thought that within a year and a half, the long-standing salt tax would be raised to a very high range.

After all, this is a process of integrating the chaotic salt administration. If it can be done in a very short period of time, then the Ming Dynasty will be able to achieve three years of rise, five years of external expansion, and ten years of global unification. Unfortunately, these are unrealistic.

"The Qing family will leave Beijing for a while."

Zhu Youxiao lifted up his robe sleeves, looked at Yuan Shizhen and said: "You can first go to some places to have a real look and inspect the local conditions. Sometimes, if you don't fight, you will fight. While Qing's family is away from Beijing for inspection, let Bi Qing Maintain the intensity of the salt reform in Beijing, so that when the Qing family returns to the capital, the Qing family can also participate in the corresponding cabinet discussions."

Brightly repair the plank road and secretly hide Chencang!

Yuan Shizhen's eyes lit up. Now the salt reform he proposed was opposed at the cabinet meeting. Even if the emperor forcibly promulgates and implements the decree, he is bound to encounter all kinds of opposition and constraints, and may even cause turmoil in the local area.

Even though he previously held the position of Lianghuai Salt Administration, he helped the court collect a lot of salt taxes and even solved many long-standing abuses in the past, but because he offended too many people, many people now do not admit it.

And if he leaves the capital to inspect the local area this time, he can find out the truest situation in the place. Then when he returns to the capital, everything will change.

Yuan Shizhen even guessed that the emperor would definitely not choose to sit idly by and do nothing during this period, and would definitely seek momentum for the Salt Reform.

"I am ready to leave immediately!"

Thinking of this, Yuan Shizhen immediately bowed and bowed.

"The Qing family will leave Beijing for inspection this time, and I will escort them under the escort of the brave guard."

Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly and said: "Don't be as impatient as you are now when you get there. Some things can't be changed in a hurry. I think it's best for the Qing family to rush back to Beijing before the first day. I look forward to the Qing family's performance then."

"I understand."

Yuan Shi cheered up and bowed before bowing.

The return date mentioned by Zhu Youxiao is almost the final deadline for the dismantling of the guard post in Northern Zhili, and it is also the deadline for the completion of the reorganization and expansion of various ministries. The most important point is the time difference left to stabilize order in the southwest and Liaodong.

If there is no major turmoil during this period, that will be the starting point for the strong implementation of the salt reform, and we will use the name of the tax police to intimidate anyone who dares to resist the tax during this period, so be prepared to be severely punished!
  (End of this chapter)