Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 393 Salt Administration, Maritime Ban

At this time, Wu Yangtao's father, Wu Shixiu, the current head of the She County Wu family who has been engaged in the salt industry for seven generations, had just been welcomed into the Fan family's flower hall.

Wang Daofei of the Wang family and the heads of the other four families arrived earlier.

There was another round of greetings.

"How rare! If it weren't for His Majesty's southern tour, you and I would have to wait until the end of the year to get together." Wu Shixiu smiled and bowed to Fan Yuanzhu, "Could it be that Chief Fan knew that the Prime Minister was hosting a banquet today, so he specifically said something to the Prime Minister in advance to have us gather here instead?"

Fan Yongdou smiled slightly: "It's no big deal. I am ashamed, but at least I am an official. Since you have apologized so kindly, the government office will think about the matter of Pizhou carefully, and I am afraid they will still do me a favor."

"Master Fan has done us a great favor!" Wu Shixiu looked at the others and said seriously, "Master Fan has told us that we don't need to attend the banquet today, so we can save a lot of money. We all know Master Fan's kindness. But if it wasn't for Master Fan's invitation, we would have been afraid to be presumptuous. I didn't expect that it was Master Fan who invited us to the family banquet. We are honored!"

"There's a reason for everything, so let's drink and talk."

Although every inch of land in Yangzhou is valuable, the Fan family's house is not small.

It should be said that the houses in this place not far from Yinshi Street, where large and small salt merchants and some other wealthy businessmen live, are all quite large.

At this moment, the six Huizhou salt merchants who were invited were all middle-aged and elderly people with rich experience, and they were able to keep their composure. Although they had heard that there was a reason for everything, they just waited for Fan Yuanzhu to get to the point.

Just as Wu Shixiu said, under normal circumstances, they might be able to gather together as many as two or three people occasionally, but there were not many times when they could gather in Yangzhou like this.

Now is not the time to worry about next year's salt permits, naturally because the emperor is going to tour the south and He Shengrui, the minister of official property and director of the Ministry of Official Property, will be here.

The salt administration will be under the management of the State-Owned Property Office in the future, but not much has been revealed about how it will be managed.

The six big salt merchants from Huizhou and Fan Yuanzhu just drank and chatted about the current market situation, the turmoil in Pizhou and the current situation in Jiangnan.

"The Concubine Shu is accompanying the Emperor on his southern tour, as is His Royal Highness the Third Prince." Wang Daofei finally asked this question. "When the Emperor is staying in Yangzhou, the Concubine Shu will definitely want to reunite with Master Fan and Madam Fan, right? Chief Fan, your Madam will also be able to see you, right?"

Fan Yuanzhu slowly put down his chopsticks, then smiled and said, "To be honest with you all, I have been cleaning and tidying up my humble abode recently in preparation for the emperor's arrival. The emperor's order was to be frugal and not waste money and manpower. Therefore, I have received the emperor's grace and have stayed at my humble abode for the emperor's arrival."

"Ouch!"

The six people were shocked when they heard this, and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Doesn't this mean that from tomorrow onwards, this flower hall will be used frequently by Your Majesty?
"So the reason why the Lord is so worried is because of this!" Wu Shixiu looked at them. "We were asked to clean up the garden by the Slender West Lake, but we don't know how to arrange the welcoming ceremony. It was said in advance that we would stay in Yangzhou for two or three days, but we don't know where the carriage will be set up, and we dare not make preparations on our own. There is a precedent in Pizhou, so the government office has to be relaxed on the outside but tight on the inside. To be honest, the city is still as usual today, and the adults are afraid of being criticized."

"I didn't expect that His Majesty would stay at the Fan Mansion. Chief Fan, for such a big event, you still invited us to a banquet tonight? Has the government received the order?"

"This this……"

Several people seemed a little panicked for a moment.

Fan Yuanzhu then slowly said, "As for the imperial decree, it should arrive at the government office early tomorrow morning. Please be patient. If there is no reason, how can I be so disrespectful? I will welcome you tomorrow, and I will invite you to a family dinner tonight. It's just that Changming Company also needs some businesses to be under the jurisdiction of the Government Property Office. I am also asking you to come here first in accordance with the imperial decree."

"By order..." Wu Shixiu was in no mood to drink and eat. He swallowed and said, "Salt administration?"

Over the years, he has donated countless amounts of money, all in the hope of buying some official positions for himself and his descendants to protect himself.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, the tax had not been paid for ten years. A new emperor appoints new ministers, and the people who had asked for favors before could no longer do this.

Now Fan Yuanzhu's words clearly had some meaning. At today's banquet, he was speaking to them on behalf of the emperor and the court.

"As you all know, after the establishment of the Government Property Office, it was divided into Yamen and Hang. The former is responsible for official affairs, and the latter is responsible for commercial affairs." Fan Yuanzhu raised his hands above his head and bowed, "Thanks to the grace of the emperor, Changming Salt Company was able to gradually collect the salt permits requested by the royal family and relatives, and I was able to sit with you and become a new internal merchant."

He looked at everyone deeply and said, "You all know that Changming is trusted and respected, but we never dare to violate the law. We would rather earn less or even lose money, but we never dare to delay paying taxes. In the blink of an eye, it has been almost ten years. To put it bluntly, I, Fan, have exchanged a total of salt permits and paid taxes over the years. This is a book. If your accounts are compared with mine, I wonder..."

The six people were sweating profusely and looked at him with suddenly changed expressions.

There is no good banquet. What does this mean?
"Of course, I know this, too. Since the first year of Taichang, the commercial tax has been strictly enforced, and the imperial court has been reorganizing the transport troops step by step. I don't know how much money you have spent openly or secretly. In fact, your life is far from being as good as during the Wanli period." Fan Yuanzhu sighed, "The new salt policy is like a knife hanging over your head. Before it is finalized, you are all uneasy. Today, I want to ask you what you think first. In this way, it will be easier to answer in front of His Majesty."

"...Captain Fan is an official, so we should ask for his advice."

On weekdays, the big merchants with official positions in Changminghao and Zongminghao seemed to be more polite only when they were handling business with the court. They never put on any official airs towards their peers. Although Wu Shixiu and his men addressed Fan Xingshang as Prime Minister, it was no different from calling him Brother Fan, and the atmosphere was originally more equal.

But at this moment, Fan Yuanzhu first said that he was following the emperor's order, and then said that he would reply in front of the emperor. Wu Shixiu and others were nervous and wanted to stand up.

"You don't have to do this." Fan Yuanzhu pulled them back and asked them to sit down again. Then he picked up the wine glass and said, "Have you not heard of your majesty's theory of investigating things to gain knowledge? Everything should be based on reality. I have been in the salt business for so long, and now I understand that your majesty has granted us an official position just to let us get into the business and understand the practical matters first, so that we can improve and make decisions in the future. From this point of view, the difference between me and you is nothing more than being able to make some suggestions on the new salt policy."

Everyone raised their glasses with mixed feelings, and Wang Daofei never expected that he would link this matter with Xinxue.

The Wang family was originally a family of salt merchants, and Wang Daokun was simply a member of the family who had achieved academic success and eventually became a high-ranking official in the imperial court.

Not only the Wang family, but also the six major salt merchants in Huizhou, who didn't go to school when they were young? Two of them were even born as students.

But at this moment they did acknowledge the difference that Fan Yuanzhu mentioned, and this difference was indeed a huge gap: one can participate in making rules, and the other can only adapt.

"Let's drink a cup first to calm down." He smiled and drank a cup with them, then took out a memorial from his pocket, "Please take a look. I am not talented, but since I have been granted an official position, I can only bite the bullet and submit two or three memorials to Your Majesty every year. The things I described are all about salt administration. I only know business, and what I described is just the operating status of Changming Salt Company. It is Your Majesty's comments that often open my eyes."

He opened the memorial with the emperor's approval and showed them that there were indeed a hundred or so vermilion imperial comments on it.

"This book is your Majesty's admonition to me, asking me not to only talk about profits and taxes in the matter of salt administration. Your Majesty said: Since ancient times, the salt industry has been monopolized not only for the benefit of the court, but also because salt is a necessity like food. However, the amount of salt needed by every family is far less than that of food. In this way, salt trafficking is more likely to affect the stability of a place than grain trafficking. Your Majesty said that this industry is truly related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and should be managed by the government."

Fan Yuanzhu closed the memorial and put it back into his sleeve. Then he sighed, "Since the Kaizhong period to the Zhese period, the salt policy has been changed. Apart from other things, in the early years, in order to obtain salt permits, salt merchants had to pay taxes and send them to the border, and they had to maintain their salt permits, which almost made it unprofitable. In order to make it easier to collect salt tax silver, the court sold the salt permits first and allowed them to be resold. How much more capital did your ancestors have to pay at that time? If it weren't for this, there wouldn't be the distinction between domestic merchants, border merchants, and water merchants as we have now."

"... Mr. Fan, your majesty is so wise and prudent in the new salt policy. It is our honor to order Mr. Fan to personally investigate the pros and cons of the salt industry." Wu Shixiu first called on the important people to thank him, "This cup of wine is for the sake of offering to Buddha. Mr. Fan is a person who knows salt. Mr. Fan should tell us what we should do so that he can reply to your majesty. Mr. Fan, please tell us!" Fan Yuanzhu drank the cup with a smile, and then said, "It's not a matter of telling us. Although salt merchants are in trouble, it's not the domestic merchants who are in trouble. But since there are many border merchants and water merchants who rely on you for their livelihood, and I don't know how many stove owners rely on salt to support their families, this matter naturally needs to be considered carefully."

Everyone's face changed slightly: What do you mean it's not the domestic businessmen who are difficult?

But the truth is this. Since the salt permits could be resold, some people bought and sold them in the early days and even started futures business. Later, the profits of this business were spotted by many powerful people, and the domestic merchants actually became their traders and shared the profits with them. Up to now, the domestic merchants have basically monopolized the supply channels of salt permits. If you want to sell salt, you must first have a salt permit. The extra cost of buying salt permits is called Woben.

If the people who paid the salt permit had to transport the salt to other places to sell it, it would naturally be difficult; but the domestic merchants could make money from selling the salt permit. In addition, they could control the salt production by being close to the salt producing areas, acting as intermediaries between salt fields and salt merchants who exchange salt permits for real salt, or even as intermediaries between salt farmers and salt merchants for private salt.

To put it bluntly, their difficulty is nothing more than the hidden cost of maintaining this "occupying a nest" pattern.

Can these hidden costs be weighed? I wonder how many dignitaries, local officials and almost the entire salt transport system are involved.

"Even if we know the difficulties, the wealth of salt merchants is well known to everyone in the court and the public. It is better to say that Your Majesty has learned everything in the world and has already mastered the principle of creating wealth by producing all things. Grain has its own tax, and salt has its own tax. This is inevitable."

Fan Yuanzhu looked at them and said, "Since I am an official, I must consider the interests of the court, such as how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure in salt administration, and how to ensure stable salt production and smooth transportation for the benefit of the national economy and people's livelihood. Since I am also a salt merchant, I must consider the interests of myself and you, such as how to avoid worldly troubles and how to ensure profits."

Wu Shixiu was anxious: "Captain Fan, if you have any ideas, just tell me directly. I am very grateful that you are thinking about me."

"That's right! Chief Fan, please speak frankly."

"Okay! You all understand the big picture, so let me tell you my idea." Fan Yuanzhu said solemnly, "Salt production will be carried out in parallel by government and private factories, and transportation will be entrusted to a government-private joint venture company, and sales will be all in prefectures and counties. The salt tax will be changed to merchant banknotes, customs duties, and store taxes, and the salt vouchers will be changed to licenses and equity."

Everyone was shocked and could only suppress their emotions: "I'd like to hear more details!"

……

Over at Guanyun Tower, Wu Yangtao and his friends were daydreaming.

"There is no need for me to explain the benefits of maritime trade." Zhu Changluo's eyes were bright. "Your families are all very wealthy. Although maritime trade is risky and requires a lot of capital, the returns are also very generous. If I remember correctly, Wang Zhi during the Jiajing period was from She County, right?"

"Yes!" Wu Yangtao nodded repeatedly, "He is also a tyrant, but he is a thief."

Zhu Changluo said, "If Wang Zhi were born today, he would be put to important positions!"

A group of young men looked at him in astonishment: Is this true?

Wang Zhi, this great pirate, is a traitor! Ever since Yu Dayou led his troops to annihilate Wang Zhi, and destroyed Shuangyu Port and Li Port in one battle, Wang Zhi fled overseas and called himself the King of Hui and usurped the title of Song. He occupied Songjinpu in Satsuma Island and controlled the barbarians of the 36 islands.

Later, it was Hu Zongxian who recruited him in the 33rd year of Jiajing, but four years later he was lured and captured by the inspector Wang Bengu and beheaded the following year.

"Don't believe it?" Zhu Changluo felt a little sorry. Such a person was simply not used well by the Ming emperor and his ministers at that time. "What Wang Zhi asked for was nothing more than lifting the ban on sea trade. Wasn't it opened during the Longqing period? But for so many years, there has been no good rules for opening the sea. But now is different from the past. The Ming Dynasty is making progress. If Wang Zhi were born today and led the navy to conquer Japan, he would at least be a duke."

Everyone stared at him blankly, especially Fan Yongdou.

After all, he knew that this was the emperor himself, and the emperor himself said... he was at least a duke.

Zhu Changluo looked at these young masters and said, "Pirates are rampant. Westerners are both merchants and bandits. Now they are colonizing various places and enslaving the locals. The reason why the Ming Dynasty opened and closed the sea is simply because of the difficulty of coastal defense. But if we don't go out, the Westerners will always come. With the current situation of the court, the Beiyang Fleet has been established, and the Nanyang Fleet is not far away. If they come, they will naturally get nothing. But should we let them occupy all the Yunnan vassal states outside the Nanyang of the Ming Dynasty?"

After a pause, he said, "If the enemy can go, I can go too!"

The young gentlemen had already drunk some wine in the afternoon. Although they sobered up a little because of Zhu Changluo's identity and words, they felt hot at this moment.

"This bank borrowed money from you, but it's more like asking you for a deposit." Zhu Changluo stared at them, "Ming Dynasty's wealthy merchants can still go out, and they should go out! I tell you clearly, one hundred thousand taels means a sea vessel that can purchase artillery shells and military supplies from the Privy Council, and can be used for both business and war, and has a special license to go to sea and explore! Follow the sea trade, and you can go to a vast world. The vassal states of Nanyang and Outer Yunnan are now suffering from the oppression of Western barbarians. Their hands have stretched tens of thousands of miles and have reached the doorstep of Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty, we must cut them off!"

After that, he smiled and tempted them: "You don't have to fight for the king's right, but you can also fight for business. If you are brave and resourceful, I'm afraid you will at least get a vassal state title in the future, so that your elders won't have to pay silver to beg for an official position for you. How do you think your family should have a few warships?"

"Master Chang, are you serious?" Wu Yangtao asked excitedly, "Could it be that the title of a vassal state is... just like Korea..."

Zhu Changluo raised his head and said frankly, "Why not? For example, Malacca has been destroyed. If the Ming Dynasty takes it back, can't we establish a new ruler and appoint important officials? The Japanese pirates have invaded Jiangnan. Will the Ming Dynasty just swallow this humiliation?"

"If Your Majesty can really have this special favor, my Wu family can form a fleet of our own!" Wu Yangtao felt itchy all over, "Master Chang, then this is not the imperial army?"

"Tuohai militia." Zhu Changluo smiled, "It can't be compared with the fleet under the Privy Council. When returning to the port, we have exclusive management of the port. Once we get off the ship, we are still civilians. But when we are out at sea, we have the Ming Dynasty and the court behind us. Do you understand? If we can make achievements, our relatives who stay in the Ming Dynasty may be demoted and given titles."

"Ten ships... No! Thirty ships!" Wu Yangtao immediately stretched out his hands and clapped three times, "Master Chang? You really won't be treated as a bandit and be eliminated?"

"Those who harm the Ming Dynasty are bandits." Zhu Changluo looked at him with a smile, "Does your Wu family want to harm the Ming Dynasty?"

"My family are all loyal subjects and good citizens!"

"That's good." Zhu Changluo then looked at the others with a smile, "This opportunity is rare, and it only comes once in a few years. What about you?"

"Can you bring other families along?"

"I can just recognize a few of your families first."

"Fifty! My Li family can order fifty ships! Master Chang, how about Luzon? My Li family has some business in Luzon..."

"Why not?"

Fan Yongdou stared at them in amazement as they spoke out numbers like crazy.

If your father knows that you ask for millions every time you ask for money, will he be able to see you again after he goes back?

(End of this chapter)