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Chapter 849 Salt Affairs
"……"But Hong Tao was not satisfied. It was a good idea to surrender but still disgusting. Are you worthy of such a great and noble name as "Hong"!

"Have you ever thought about how your people will survive in the future?" But I can't say my name is Hong Tao, so I can only hold my anger for now. Don't worry, I'll add it to the conditions for you later.

"Since I have been captured, whether I am killed or cut into pieces is entirely up to the Emperor's will." Without being told to stand up, Huang Taiji knelt down and replied. From his expression to his words, there was no sign of emotional fluctuation, as if he really put life and death aside.

"You should have heard that I rarely kill people directly. Whether they are criminals or captives, they are usually sent to mines and other places for hard labor, with the duration varying from short to long.

Humph, it seems that you not only inquired about it, but also knew some details. Yes, it is similar to what you heard. No matter how long the hard labor period is, few people can come out alive, and even fewer can come out without injuries.

This is not intentional torture, but some jobs are more dangerous. I pity my people and don't want them to take risks, but they have to do it, so the convicts have to do it.

If all your people were sent to hard labor, they would be wiped out in five to ten years, without even a grave. From then on, there would be no more Jurchens in the world, and you would be the last chief of the Jurchens, the culprit who destroyed the entire tribe with your own hands. "

Hong Tao seldom uses bad words and ferocious faces to intimidate others, because when someone talks to him like that, he is not afraid at all. Instead, he will secretly laugh at the other person's incompetence and rage.

Whether the truth is horrible or the consequences are serious depends on the facts, not on the expression or tone. As long as you express the truth clearly, smart people will understand it clearly.

"...I am willing to die as an apology, and I ask His Majesty the Emperor to forgive my people! They were all forced by me, and they have no ill will towards the Ming Dynasty."

Huang Taiji was obviously a smart man, so he heard it very clearly. He put his hands on the carpet as if he had a heavy burden on his shoulders, and even his breathing stopped. After a moment, he kowtowed again and begged for mercy.

"You are a smart person and you have chosen the right approach. I will give you another chance. It is up to you to decide what to do next."

If Huang Taiji had urgently proposed to surrender and Li Ruzhang had promised not to abuse or kill the Jurchen captives, Hong Tao would have been ready to replace him as the leader of the Jurchen tribe. Fortunately, he did not make a fool of himself, so there was a need to continue the talks.

"As long as I can save my people, I am willing to swear to the Eternal Heaven that I will be a slave for generations!" Things have not gone beyond Huang Taiji's expectations. When he chose to surrender, he knew that the current situation would happen.

Put yourself in his shoes. If the Ming emperor was defeated, you wouldn't kill him. The Han emperors have been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times. If they were killed, no one would rebel. Whether there is an emperor or not, they would still rebel. This has been the case for thousands of years. Instead, taking the lead in surrendering would play a more positive role.

"I intend to have you select a group of people from your clan who are skilled in archery and horse riding and are experienced in fighting to form a cavalry to fight for me in the future. At the same time, your clansmen will be arranged to settle in the prefectures of Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan, and will be given land and farm tools to live like the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Don't talk nonsense about whether you believe it or not. I am not afraid of you if I dare to use you. But there are conditions first. You have to convince your people to take the initiative to learn Chinese characters and Chinese language, and to intermarry with the Han people. Think about it carefully, and answer me before this cigarette is burned out. "

To be honest, Hong Tao really didn't dare to keep these people around, even if they were castrated and became eunuchs. If it wasn't for the experiment, they would definitely be treated as hard labor prisoners. The two industrial zones of Luanzhou and Handan are no longer useful, so they can all be exiled to Luzon and Annan. Once they fall into Ruan Xiangjiang's hands, it is estimated that they will not be used for two years and will all become cannon fodder.

In June of the 17th year of the reign of Emperor Jing, the Salt Law was officially issued. From now on, private individuals would not be able to operate salt fields or wholesale salt. In other words, all salt fields in the Ming Dynasty were operated by the Salt Industry Company, regardless of whether there were salt permits or not, and there would no longer be a salt merchant industry.

Oh no, except for Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan. In the future, salt will be manufactured by the salt company and then distributed to all parts of the country by the post station system. Private individuals can sell salt, but there is a weight limit, and they can only sell it in retail but not wholesale.

At the same time, the post station system was separated from the Ministry of War and placed under the Jinyiwei, and was supervised by the Eastern Depot.

According to the emperor's request, Wang Zhizhen had to restore the post stations throughout the country within a year. The personnel would be selected from the disbanded border troops and garrison troops, and the funds would be allocated from the customs first. The principal and interest would be repaid after a year when the salt sales system made a profit.

Because Wang Zhizhen was old and not as energetic as before, the emperor appointed Wang Mingfu, the Earl of Yongnian, and a staff member of the Sun and Moon Bank, as the co-directors of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in charge of the post stations and salt affairs.

Wang Mingfu, the Earl of Yongnian, is the great-nephew of the Empress Dowager. He originally worked in the Five Military Commandery and later became a deputy of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He is rigorous in his work and cautious in his personality, and he has good relationships with people. This promotion is obviously intended for him to take over.

There was no movement in the court regarding this arrangement, even though the Empress Dowager had been bedridden for several months and was on the verge of death. But after all, he was the nephew of the Empress Dowager, so it was both reasonable and appropriate for him to take over the Imperial Guard.

But the sudden appearance of calculators is somewhat incomprehensible. It is not that young people cannot be in power. Look at the faces in the General Staff. They seem to be relatively young, but they can have opinions on state affairs and are more trusted by the emperor than the nine ministers.

The key is not age but gender. The calculator is a woman. No one can stop her from writing and calculating in the Sun and Moon Bank. After all, it is not an official position. But the Jinyiwei Tongzhi is a third-rank military commander. How can it be given to a woman?

"In ancient times, there was Hua Mulan. Today, there are calculators. She is my Hua Mulan. If anyone disagrees, they can go to her privately to compete in calculation methods. Whoever can calculate the national salt production, sales, pricing, profit, and cost clearly can take over this position."

Faced with the constant petitions from the censors, the emperor did not ignore them. Instead, he found an opportunity to hold a court meeting and asked the ministers of the Chief of Staff to take a message back, calling on all officials to come and challenge, with the topic and result made public.

Then they all fell silent. When it comes to reporting on things, every Ming official who came from the imperial examination system is at the level of the Fortune 500. But when it comes to being pragmatic and doing specific tasks, every one of them is at the level of self-employed individuals.

I don't know when this bad habit of empty talk started, but the government and the opposition are all talking nonsense and clichés, and no one speaks the truth. This gave Hong Tao an opportunity to catch anyone who made unpleasant suggestions and didn't keep his mouth shut, so he would ask them to be practical, and he would make sure that they would not say a word.

(End of this chapter)