New Shun 1730

Nowadays, there is no booklet called "ABC of Capitalism", and the emperor has no idea what the reforms he has made are.

But Confucianism does have "Three Generations of Kingly Way A, B, and C", and the emperor knows how far his reforms are from them.

But the key is that he did not make these reforms, nor did he say that he was very close. The emperor himself knew very well how far he was from the Three Generations of Kingly Way.

The emperor's idea of ​​"two governments with internal and external checks and balances and imperial power in the middle" is very interesting from the moon-distance law star chart.

Where is the prime meridian of the world? This is the demand from the Confucian perspective.

Gold and silver in the southern hemisphere, national fiscal regulation, and increased treasury revenue are the demands from the reformist perspective.

Quietly changing the economic foundation and preparing a hotbed for the new era are the demands of anti-thieves like Liu Yu.

The emperor has not yet realized what the rebels are going to do, because no one has taught him. It turns out that in addition to the three ultimate forms of Li Zicheng, Sima Zhao, and Wang Mang, there is another model of rebels.

Li Zicheng relied on small farmers to rebel.

Sima Zhao relied on military power to rebel.

Wang Mang relied on the Confucian ideology of the saint king.

So limitations are sometimes a good thing.

The emperor's limitations make his understanding of rebellion limited to the infinite variations of these three.

Liu Yu didn't touch any of these three things.

And Liu Yu's hands were so dirty and covered in blood, a perfect template of a loyal minister.

So when Liu Yu returned to Beijing, at the grand court meeting, the emperor came up and praised the achievements of the Huaibei salt administration reform, making today's daily impeachment bland.

Liu Yu also went too far and submitted the "Memorial to Request Huainan to Reclamation".

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, after talking about all kinds of benefits, the ministers in the court who opposed the salt reform couldn't help but curse in their hearts.

The Huaibei salt reform was a great success if viewed from the perspective of salt tax; but a great failure if viewed from the perspective of the king's rule.

Now that the reformists have won, everyone knows that they will definitely move Huainan, and everyone's counterarguments are all directed at the Huainan salt reform.

But Liu Yu did not expect to make a detour and raised the issue of Huainan reclamation.

This is really not very convenient for boxing and exerting force.

After reading the seven or eight benefits of reclamation, since it was a grand court meeting, when the governors of various places came to report on their work, this kind of thing must be discussed.

"My dear ministers, what do you think of the Huainan reclamation?"

The conservatives in the court were speechless for a moment. Reclamation, what can you think of reclamation? No one can oppose reclamation.

Finally, someone came forward and said, "Your Majesty, the reclamation of wasteland in Huainan mentioned by the Duke of Xingguo seems to benefit the people. But it may not be."

"Huainan is an important salt-producing area. If it is reclaimed, the salt policy will be ruined."

"The ancients said that oranges grown in Huainan are oranges, and those grown in Huaibei are tangerines."

"The successful reform of the Huaibei salt policy means that Huainan can definitely be used? Who can guarantee that there will be no mistakes? If the salt policy is not changed, how can we reclaim wasteland?"

"However, the Huaibei salt area is only a few dozen counties. The Huainan salt area covers thousands of miles. Once it is corrupted, there will be chaos in the world."

"Although the Huainan salt policy has accumulated problems, it can be done as long as the general merchants are warned and strict supervision is implemented. If it is changed rashly..."

After talking nonsense for a long time, there was no mention of where the "Huainan oranges, Huaibei tangerines" were reflected; nor was it clear what effect the "reprimanding the general merchants and strict supervision" could achieve.

After talking for a long time, the emperor finally finished and said: "I think the biggest drawback of Huainan salt lies with both the general merchants and the salt households."

"Huaibei salt reform, many policies are just the wisdom of the old people. Only the drying of salt is a new policy."

"Only when the salt is sufficient, merchants can sell it everywhere, so that the people will not suffer from tastelessness."

"Let's put it this way, since Huainan salt is extremely involved, we should try to implement new policies. Since there is a saying that Huainan oranges and Huaibei citrons, we can plant an orange tree first to try."

"What do you think?"

After saying that, he looked at Liu Yu and asked, "Duke Xingguo, since no one objects to your reclamation of wasteland, how about this?"

"First, reclaim a part of the salt land and grassland. The reduced output can be made up by the salt drying method. As for whether the marketing method can be used, you can also try the most difficult places first."

"Where are the most difficult places to market Huainan salt?"

This is a stupid question. Obviously, the logistics system and traffic conditions at this time are more difficult the farther away.

But there is a change here.

It was indeed the most difficult in Jiangxi before.

So Liu Yu directly said it was Jiangxi.

Although he had previously specified Hubei in the secret memorial to the emperor.

The emperor also echoed: "Jiangxi official salt has been unsmooth for a long time, and it is indeed difficult. Duke Xingguo is really brave. He picked such a difficult place right away."

However, not all ministers were brainless. At this time, someone immediately stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, I think there is another saying about Jiangxi official salt."

Liu Yu sold a big flaw, and someone really took the bait.

The minister immediately analyzed the reasons why Jiangxi's official salt was not flowing smoothly before, and pointed out that there were special reasons for Jiangxi's previous poor flow of official salt, and now it can be completely solved as long as it is properly managed.

Why?

Because many years ago, the export trade center of Dashun was in Guangzhou.

Jiangxi's porcelain, tea, raw silk, etc. need to be transported southward, through the Dayuling trade route to Guangzhou.

Now that they have arrived in Guangzhou, will they go back empty-handed?

Since we have already arrived in Fujian and Guangdong, we must bring some private salt with us when we return empty-handed.

The private salt we carry is the reason why Jiangxi official salt is not selling well.

Even Huainan salt in Jiangxi is almost completely collapsed and cannot be sold at all.

The people around Jingdezhen, porcelain is transported to the south, so don’t they eat southern salt?

Now, times have changed.

The foreign trade center of Dashun has been transferred from Guangzhou to Songjiang.

This has also directly changed the composition of private salt in Jiangxi.

Under the original state, we can calculate how convenient it is to eat private salt in Jiangxi.

Fujian Wuyi Mountain tea is a heavy product for export. The route is to go to Jiangxi first, package it through Poyang Lake, and divide it into those that go north to Mongolia and those that go south to Guangzhou.

Are these tea transporters so honest that they don’t bring private salt?

Jingdezhen porcelain is to go south from Jingdezhen, across the mountains, and go to Guangzhou.

Are these porcelain transporters so honest that they don’t bring private salt?

If the official salt of Huainan can still sell well, it would be a miracle.

However, now the trade center has moved to Songjiang Prefecture.

How to export porcelain from Jingdezhen? Go to Songjiang Prefecture along the Yangtze River.

How to export tea from Wuyi Mountain? Go to Fuzhou along the first "private canal" of Dashun, connect to Minjiang River, pack and ship to Songjiang Prefecture.

The change of the trade center directly abolished the private salt of Fujian and Guangdong in Jiangxi.

Merchants' smuggling is an important way to transport private salt.

The private salt dealers who carry guns, pull up teams, and pass through checkpoints are no longer ordinary private salt dealers. They will definitely be hit hard by the court, so this is the least important share.

This minister who has a brain and has really investigated the salt industry thinks that Liu Yu wants to take advantage of the situation.

Now the trade center is in Songjiang Prefecture. Merchants who transport porcelain can directly bring some official salt on their way back. Isn't Liu Yu a direct winner?

Those who transport porcelain know the group of sea merchants in Songjiang Prefecture.

Although Jiangxi official salt is still not selling well, what is the essence?

In essence, the lower level is treating the court as a fool: Emperor, you see, private salt in Jiangxi was rampant before, and official salt could not be sold, so it is normal that official salt cannot be sold now.

Therefore, there is no need to be so strict about evaluation.

Based on past experience, the court is basically in a state of letting Jiangxi go.

Jiangxi official salt is tacitly allowed to go bad... So, who says that private salt must be carried by private salt dealers? Isn't it normal for those who sell official salt to sell private salt?

They add two to one and make five to fool the court like fools, and live a happy life.

Every year, the sales of official salt are insufficient, and the court feels that there is no way to deal with it.

However, those who fool the court are definitely not fools.

So when Liu Yu said that he would try to reform in Jiangxi, someone immediately opposed it.

He immediately clarified the problem of private salt in Jiangxi and deeply grasped the essence of the theme of "times have changed".

Yesterday, the court thought that Jiangxi salt industry was hopeless. Today, many people suddenly understood the internal changes of Jiangxi private salt due to the change of trade center, and pointed out several remedial measures.

Liu Yu was stunned, as if his little trick was discovered.

His trick of making a feint to the east and attacking the west also grasped the essence.

What he wanted was Hubei.

But if he was given Jiangxi, he would not be afraid at all, and it would be easy to play with it.

The export of porcelain is in the millions and tens of millions. With this transportation capacity, he could bring salt back with him, and the court would give him some transportation fees. Isn’t it very simple?

After listening to the ministers' arguments about the changes in Jiangxi's private salt, the emperor nodded and said, "What you said seems to make sense. Duke Xingguo, do you think he is right?"

Liu Yu came out and said, "I think... it should be, maybe it is right. But I didn't expect the many changes that occurred because of the change in the trade center."

The emperor laughed and said, "Hahahaha... yes, you didn't expect it, he didn't expect it, no one thought of it!"

"Good! Good! Very good!"

"Today, I want to discuss the salt policy, and I thought of it all at once. Jiangxi private salt has been using the past sales figures every year, and has been discussing the difficulties of selling salt in Jiangxi every year, and being invaded by Fujian and Guangdong, invaded by Fujian and Guangdong!"

"It turns out that since the Western Trade House moved to Songjiang Prefecture, it has not been invaded by Fujian and Guangdong! For so many years, no one thought of it, only today did they all figure it out all at once!"

Taking the opportunity to vent his anger, the ministers were silent one by one, and no one wanted to get into trouble at this time.

Most people thought, we are really wronged. As officials in the court, how could we know the impact of the change in the trade center on the direction of private salt? This is really not understanding, not knowing clearly but pretending not to know.

But even if everyone feels wronged, they can't stand up and cry out for it at this time. Do they stand up and say that they are fools and wronged, and are really stupid instead of pretending to be stupid?

Liu Yu secretly glanced at the person who opposed his attempt in Jiangxi, thinking, you idiot.

Whether it is embezzlement or corruption, the emperor doesn't care at all. What the emperor cares about is that the salt merchants and the court have an alliance.

Today's situation is a dead end.

If you don't tell me about Jiangxi, I will get Jiangxi salt and take advantage of the return trip of porcelain transportation. It will be effective in a short time. The official transportation and merchant sales will kill private salt in half a year.

Then there will be no obstacles to the reform of Huainan salt. Huainan is orange, and Huaibei is also orange.

If you want to expose the Jiangxi incident, it is that the salt merchants have already had a strong power in the court, and they can directly obtain private benefits by deceiving the emperor.

In the past, the emperor did not care that the salt merchants took more and looked ugly. As a rent-seeking party with the monopoly of imperial power, the emperor had many ways to make money.

It is not a big deal to eat ugly, but it is interesting to directly deceive the central and local information.