Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The price of salt was strictly restricted and the court's tax revenue was increased.

Naturally, the ones whose interests are harmed are the merchants engaged in the salt industry.

This is also the reason why the salt monopoly system in the north could not be implemented before.

Those who could get involved in the salt industry were either from noble families or wealthy and powerful families, or had connections with these people.

Under the strong resistance of these people, even the Ministry of Revenue and the Salt Administration were unable to forcibly implement the new measures.

Zhu Youjian had not taken care of them before, but now that he had time, he immediately decided to take action against the salt industry. He also decided to reward some of the salt company's shares to the meritorious officials, so that they could deal with those people.

These new nobles in the imperial court also need to be given industries to prevent them from only focusing on the land.

Han Yu obviously realized the emperor's intention, which made him feel even more bitter. He knew that the salt merchants in Shanxi could not escape this disaster.

He himself actually didn't want to get involved in such matters, but he was too deeply involved with official and business families such as Wang, Zhang, and Ma, and had to speak for them in the court.

In this situation, he can only say that he has tried his best.

Zhu Youjian's evaluation of him was indeed not wrong. Han Yu's style of doing things was indeed a bit soft. As long as the emperor was tough, he would want to retreat.

Before the reign of Chongzhen, he would have used resignation and other methods of soft resistance. However, the ministers of the Chongzhen Dynasty did not dare to resign at will.

Not only because the emperor had clearly defined the term of office, but also because he hated the behavior of people giving up their duties.

Once a minister resigns due to health reasons or other reasons, there is basically no chance of reinstatement.

Now that the emperor has delegated power, it is time for him, the Prime Minister, to show his talents. Han Yu certainly would not resign just because of a little kinship.

But he still made a last stand, which was to bring the matter to the parliament for discussion:
"When your Majesty previously added the property tax, he let the Zhuolu District Council decide."

"I think the tax increase on salt should also be discussed by Parliament."

“The Parliamentary Organizing Office now has representatives from all the government offices, so they should be allowed to discuss this matter.”

This was agreed by the ministers, who also believed that this would be more standardized in terms of taxation.

This is to prevent the emperor from increasing taxes at will.

After considering it, Zhu Youjian agreed to Han Yu's proposal. This was not because he wanted to limit his power, but because he needed to use the form of a parliamentary vote to turn the tax increase into a public resolution.

Only when the people approve of it can the new tax policy be implemented better. To prevent some people from being instigated by salt merchants to resist the imperial court's taxation -

The incident in which tax collectors were beaten to death during the Wanli period served as a warning to him.

So he decided:
"Let the National Assembly Preparatory Office discuss the matter of salt tax and salt administration reform, and then submit it to the Zhuolu District Council for a vote."

"I have another suggestion, that is, the places that implement the new salt tax will be exempted from the nine cents of silver from Liao's tribute."

"Now that droughts are frequent in the north, the people are suffering too much. We must reduce their taxes so that they can accumulate vitality."

This statement shocked the officials again, because it was not the first time that the emperor mentioned the need to exempt the Liao army from paying additional taxes.

Some officials had tears in their eyes, because they realized that the current emperor was indeed a benevolent ruler who cared about the people.

Many officials were worried about this. Minister of Finance Bi Ziyan said:
"Exempting Liao's military pay is a benevolent policy, and I agree with it in my heart."

"But the court's annual revenue is insufficient. If the increase in salt tax is not as expected, it may cause big problems for the soldiers in Liaodong who cannot get their salaries."

"I think this matter should be delayed until the salt tax is increased."

Zhu Youjian couldn't wait any longer, because there had been droughts in the north for the past few years. He said to his ministers:
"Shaanxi has been hit by severe drought for years, so the land tax has long been exempted."

"The little tax that can be collected is only enough to maintain the government offices in Shaanxi."

"Northern Shanxi and northern Zhili are suffering from drought again this year. According to the recommendations of the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee, we should reduce or exempt taxes."

"I estimate that the situation in the next few years may not be very good, so we might as well take this opportunity to exempt the Liao tribute."

"Let the people store more food to prepare for famine and disaster."

These words, which stood on the people's side, moved the officials. However, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue had no confidence in how much salt tax they could collect under the new tax law.

After much persuasion, they finally got the emperor to agree to continue collecting Liao tribute for one more year, and after seeing the results, they would reduce the Liao tribute by 9 cents of silver.

However, in order to show his benevolence and gain more support for his proposal to increase the salt tax, Zhu Youjian asked the Ministry of Revenue to include the exemption of Liao taxes in the proposal.

As long as the salt tax revenue exceeded the Liao tribute, the local nine cents of silver would be exempted. The additional taxes such as the consumption and xian added when the local government collected the Liao tribute should also be exempted.

This matter should be widely publicized so that people can know how much tax they should be exempted from.

This made Han Yu feel even more bitter. He knew that with the temptation of exempting the Liao salary, the proposal to increase the salt tax and reform the salt administration would be almost impossible to be blocked.

Anyone who dares to vote against this matter will be criticized and scolded.

No matter how powerful the salt merchants are, they cannot control so many people.

That's not all. In order to see results as soon as possible, Zhu Youjian introduced another measure:
"In order to encourage fishermen to fish and sell their catch as salted fish, I proposed to issue them special salt permits."

"Now that the salt permits are to be unified, this cannot be the case."

"I have decided to allow them to buy salt directly from the salt fields, also at the wholesale price, up to 5 cents per pound."

“The salt works should set up a subsidiary salt sales company to sell to these people at wholesale prices.”

"The military households, artisan households, and cook households serving the imperial court also enjoy this privilege and can purchase 200 kilograms of salt at wholesale prices each year."

"As long as merchants from all over the country who specialize in making pickled vegetables and other preserved products register their businesses and pay taxes according to the court's regulations, they can also obtain the qualification to purchase salt in large quantities and go to the salt fields to buy salt at wholesale prices."

This will inevitably drive up the consumption of salt and increase the amount of salt used.

It will also have an impact on the profits of salt merchants, because these people can buy salt at wholesale prices at the salt fields, so the salt merchants will naturally make less profit from selling salt to them.

In particular, if salted fish is sold in large quantities, the amount of salt people buy will decrease.

When they want to raise the price of salt, they also have to consider whether people will buy salted fish and pickled vegetables instead of salt.

It can be said that there will be one more competitor in the salt industry in the future, that is, salted fish and other pickled products.

This made Han Yu worried:

"Someone will definitely sell salt privately, and the shares of salt companies in various places will be even harder to sell." "Your Majesty is planning to give the shares of the salt company to meritorious officials, how can you do this?"

Zhu Youjian was very annoyed by his words. It was precisely because the shares of the salt company could not be sold at a price that he chose to weaken the salt company.

Otherwise, how could he not be happy if the imperial court directly took half of the shares and monopolized the salt sales?
So he said to Han Yu in annoyance:
"They don't have the qualifications to sell to the outside world. As long as the salt sales companies in various places operate normally, there is absolutely no reason why they can't make money."

"Han Qing, don't just think about the salt merchants, think more about the people."

These words are indeed a bit harsh, blaming Han Yu's stance for being too biased.

Even though Han Yu wanted to argue that he was also a commoner, he remained silent under the emperor's stern gaze.

Then Zhu Youjian said:
"As for the issue of fine salt, we can treat it as a luxury product and sell it after paying a special tax on luxury products, allowing the price to exceed the one-cent limit."

"But in order to protect the public's salt needs, the total weight of luxury salt shall not exceed 20% of all salt. When the public wants to buy normal salt, merchants shall not refuse."

A loophole was opened for the salt companies, allowing them to sell 20% of their salt as luxury salt.

How much money they can make from this salt depends on their ability. Some salt that is processed very well may be sold at a high price.

But thinking of processed salt, Zhu Youjian remembered that both production and processing of salt required limited qualifications to prevent some salt merchants from secretly producing salt in some places under the banner of reprocessing.

He asked the General Administration of Salt Administration to formulate specific measures to separate the production, processing and sales of salt, and to strictly investigate tax evasion and the mixing of private salt with taxable salt.

Then, he brought the topic back on track and said:

"This year, the various grassland tribes have made many achievements under the leadership of Man Gui."

"We must reward these tribes and let the people on the grassland know that it is beneficial to follow the Ming Dynasty."

"I have decided to allow tribes loyal to the Ming Dynasty to purchase salted fish, pickles, canned food and other preserved products without restrictions, in addition to the trade quota."

"Their dried meat, cheese, fur, wool and other products can also be sold to Ming Dynasty without being restricted by trade quotas."

"This is a reward for tribes that have been loyal to the Ming Dynasty and have made great contributions. The Lifanyuan needs to count which tribes should be given this reward."

This measure is obviously intended to sell more salt.

After deciding to distribute salt permits without limit along with salt, Zhu Youjian decided to do his best to expand the production of salt so that the court could receive more salt tax.

He thus supported the pickled food industry and encouraged sales to the grasslands.

As long as people on the grassland eat pickled products made with salt, it is equivalent to paying salt tax to them.

As for the lifting of restrictions on dried meat, cheese, fur, wool and other products, there are also ulterior motives. When Sun Yuanhua and others return from their mission to the West and bring back fine-wool sheep and other breeds, the wool textile industry in Daming will develop, and the grassland will become a place for raising sheep.

In the future, the connection between the grassland and the Central Plains will become closer and closer until they can no longer be separated.

However, the officials in the court did not understand the emperor's foresight. They were worried that the emperor's restrictions on the grasslands were too loose, which might make the tribes on the grasslands stronger and invade the borders again in the future.

Li Changgeng, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, said:
"If there is no limit on the quantity, the tribes on the grassland may resell the salted fish after buying them, and then pass them to Jianlu."

"After the Jianlu buy the salted fish, they will have enough salt and will be stronger."

"I think it should still be restricted and included in the trade quota."

Zhu Youjian didn't care about this and said:
"No matter how good salted fish is, it can't be eaten as a meal."

"Your worries are a little too far-reaching."

However, he still appreciated it and told Huang Liji:
"When choosing tribes, choose those that are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and they should be west of Zhangjiakou."

"Even if the Jianlu wanted to buy it, they would have to travel thousands of miles, and the price would be very high."

"Once we find Ming Dynasty products in Jianlu, we will try to trace their origin and find out who sold them there."

"Whoever trades with the Jianlu will be severely punished."

He also specifically instructed:

"In order to better control trade on the grasslands, the imperial court must introduce policies to encourage Ming merchants to do business outside the Great Wall."

"Especially to Mobei and the Western Regions, we need to send more people to explore the local areas."

"In order to ensure safety, I allow merchants who go abroad to donate their titles, and form corresponding guards according to their titles."

"They are allowed to equip themselves with certain firearms under the supervision of the imperial court."

When he said this, he also glanced at Han Yu, hoping that the Prime Minister could understand.

He did not want to resort to violence unless it was absolutely necessary. He also wanted to recruit the Shanxi merchants.

This was a decision Zhu Youjian made after he was sure that they had not yet established contact with the Jianlu and had not yet started large-scale trade.

The current structure of Shanxi merchants is completely different from what it will be in the future. Manchu imperial merchants such as Fan Yongdou have not even made it yet.

Historically, these people established contact with the Later Jin when the Later Jin pursued Lin Danhan through Xuanda. Later, when the Qing Dynasty entered the pass several times to plunder, they were also responsible for selling the stolen goods for the Qing Dynasty.

Now that Lin Danhan's westward migration was stopped by him, the Jianlu were unable to enter the pass. Shanxi merchants naturally had not yet established contact with the Later Jin, and they were more engaged in trade with the grasslands.

Zhu Youjian therefore believed that the Shanxi merchants were still worth saving, and that they could be allowed to go west early and develop trade on the Silk Road together with the Shaanxi merchants.

Han Yu had been in the political world for a long time, so how could he not hear the emperor's hidden meaning? He was convinced that the emperor had given up his intention to kill the Shanxi merchants. He pointed out a way out for the Shanxi merchants and showed them some leniency.

This may be because Yuan Shizhen transported silver to make the court's finances less difficult, or it may be that the emperor wanted to smoothly promote the salt policy reform and needed the cooperation of Shanxi merchants.

But no matter what, this put his biggest worry to rest. He decided to have a good discussion with the Zhang family, Wang family and other families after the court was dismissed, and let them listen to the emperor's instructions.

If these people still insist on resisting, he can only ignore their relationship and watch them fend for themselves.

After making these instructions, Zhu Youjian arranged for the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Academy of Sciences to work together to improve the salt-drying method and measure the salt content, impurities in salt, etc. using scientific methods.

He needed to perfect the method of preparing refined salt as soon as possible, so that the Ming Dynasty's salt-making technology could be improved to a level that other countries could not catch up with, and the cost could also be kept extremely low.

In that way, Ming Dynasty's salt and pickled products could be sold to various countries, and people in those countries would also pay salt taxes to Ming Dynasty.

In order to encourage saltworks to improve their technology, he also proposed that local salt sales companies and pickled product manufacturers can freely choose saltworks to wholesale salt, and encourage major saltworks to compete and adopt new technologies.

After these reforms, the salt industry in the Ming Dynasty gradually began to gain vitality. (End of this chapter)