New Shun 1730

Now that the evidence is available, the law exists, and the contract dealer has volunteered, it seems that the case can be closed directly.

But things are not that simple.

This time, the political gangsters hired by the reclamation company came here to cause trouble because this is the center of the conflict between the "Huaiyang Capital Group" and the "Songsu Capital Group".

This group of political hooligans from the emerging class can be beaten out of the core of the old group such as Yangzhou Prefecture.

The opposite is also true. If these people from the Huaiyang Old Salt Merchant Group cross the Yangtze River, they will be beaten out of their shit by the people over there.

The intersection point of the two forces is here. This is the battle of the protrusion between the two forces, and the final victory can only be won here.

So, how to win here?

Then you need to kill people.

Of course, if you beat a scholar to death, you cannot die on the spot. If he dies on the spot, these thugs will be considered a failure, and they will pay for their lives.

But we can’t wait three months or six months before dying like we did before, otherwise the cucumbers and vegetables will be cold.

Therefore, this time, he was scheduled to vomit blood and die within seven days.

Deliberately beating people to death to make things worse.

Let the people from Huaiyang organize themselves in the name of coming here to express their condolences, and let the main force come here to make a fuss.

This is like a crying temple. If you want to organize and cause trouble "legally" instead of "gathering people to cause trouble", you have to have a reason. The emperor will not die for the time being, and there will be no chance to cry at the assembly.

Then you have to kill a scholar and give the other side a reasonable reason to organize and go here to cause trouble.

This group of people are fighting here today, preaching their fallacies and controlling the direction of public opinion, which is equivalent to occupying this protruding part before the war and digging trenches here to serve as their home court.

The battlefield for the final decisive battle is here.

Now the poor scholar will definitely not survive seven days. The level of these Ningbo beaters is very professional.

Then, there is already a reason to deliberately leave Huaiyang's organization to have more manpower.

As long as they fall into the trap, they will be lured to the predetermined battlefield here.

But there's still one thing missing.

A "justifiable" name.

No one really cares about the scholar's life and death, except the scholar's own relatives.

What Huaiyang Group cares about is salt policy reform.

The scholar was beaten to death, and the initial condolence was to find a reason, but the ultimate goal was financial appeal.

So, where is the “name” of this appeal?

This is what Liu Yu said, "Carrying the banner of benevolence and righteousness to oppose benevolence and righteousness." The rectification of the name is hidden in the benevolence, righteousness, and etiquette.

Just when the county magistrate was about to close the case, Jiangsu Jiedushi Lin Min, who had been watching, said: "Wait a minute."

The county magistrate quickly stopped and asked, "What are your orders, sir?"

Lin Min said seriously: "This matter seems reasonable, but in fact there is another problem."

"Please make it clear, sir."

Lin Min walked over, picked up a contract that he had already seen, and said: "How can this grassland be sold if it is not privately owned? According to the "Salt Law", selling the grassland privately is a serious crime. Although these contracts, Everything is ready after the lesson, but it violates the salt law.”

"No one who is not a salt man should be dissolute. This sentence is the Constitution of Salt. The rest of the policy must not violate this Constitution of Salt, right?"

"The Book says: As long as the previous king established the constitution, he will never be wrong. I think we still have to worry about this matter."

"This is one of them."

"Secondly, ensuring the people's stable property is also the first priority of benevolent government. Now that we are depriving salt households of their property, it seems a little...somewhat inconsistent with the situation."

This matter, in theory, has little to do with the county magistrate. Can the county magistrate deal with salt affairs?

Furthermore, the county magistrate did not want to be idle and meddle in the struggle at the top. He knew that this matter was a fairy fight between the reformists and the counter-reformers, so he "handled it impartially" after getting permission.

Now, the Jiedushi directly brought out the Constitution of the Salt Law and questioned the illegality of the contract itself. The county magistrate quickly said: "The official does not care about the salt administration and does not know much about it. If it were not for the guidance of the adults, the official would almost make mistakes."

"But the imperial court has already decided on the policy of waste salt reclamation and allows reclamation. Since reclamation has been allowed, then this salt and grass field...does it comply with the imperial court's reclamation policy? Or does it comply with the Salt Law?"

The emperor mouthed the Constitution of Heaven.

Reclamation is allowed.

So, at the moment when the land is allowed to be reclaimed, does the salt use the grass as a property, or does the salt use the grass?

The emperor only gave this sentence. What to do is up to the people below.

There are so many such conflicting laws, and as long as you want to make nonsense, you can make it right.

Lin Min's words were actually laying the foundation for those salt households who opposed land reclamation to rebel.

When the salt policy reform became irreversible, the people of the old salt industry group could only choose to talk about land reclamation.

They want to "fight for profits on behalf of the people." If there is no reason to fight for profits on behalf of the people, then they have no chance to struggle at all.

However, what if the people don’t want them to take over at all?

What if people find their begging bags and others can give them to them?

It is very simple to make these salt households rebel. First push them into a desperate situation, and then give them some benefits in return. They originally thought they would lose everything, but in the end, there is a turning point in despair, then they will be very easy to betray.

Who pays for it?

The reclamation company will definitely not come out. Liu Yu protects the interests of the big bourgeoisie, especially the industrial and agricultural bourgeoisie. He wants capital to see that he can protect it and what he is protecting.

Then naturally, the compensation of the market merchants must be collected, which can also be regarded as laying the foundation for the future legal affairs here, as well as the subsequent steps of comprehensive reform, land measurement, redistribution of tax rates, legal return of land, and legal industrial and commercial taxes in Jiangsu within five years: new laws that can adapt to the current economic foundation of Jiangsu will soon be put on the agenda. In the future, such illegal or unspoken laws, or such illegal transactions caused by historical problems, will not be protected.

How to collect and how to judge, that is a matter of some time.

What Lin Min has to do now is to prepare to carry the banner of benevolence, righteousness, and kingly rule.

Throwing out the bait of "Salt Law", if the other side swallows the bait, it will inevitably lead to the next question: How to ensure that the property of the common people is not taken away by others?

There is a ready-made theory for this, and once this set of reactionary things is proposed, it will inevitably trigger a riot among the citizens of Jiangsu.

He did not explain the county magistrate's doubts, but only said: "This matter involves a lot. I think we should not judge it today."

"First of all, this matter involves millions of acres of land under the salt administration. Secondly, this matter is also related to how to open up land for reclamation in the future."

"If the many grasslands east of Fangong Dike are really abandoned and reclaimed, this case will eventually be used as a model. How to judge needs to be cautious."

"Whether to open up land for reclamation or not, and whether salt households are allowed to change their industries, I think we still need to discuss and consider it again."

The county magistrate hurriedly agreed, and he understood it in his heart.

Originally, he was just a bystander. If the gods above were fighting and had to fight on his own territory, what could he do?

"Then according to your opinion, should we postpone this matter for the time being?"

Lin Min nodded and said, "How about this, we will hold a trial here in 20 days and finally decide what to do."

"By then, we will summon all the salt households, reclamation companies, market merchants, etc. In the end, we still have to solve the matter."

The county magistrate didn't know what was going on here, and thought, if that's the case, what are these people trying to do by coming here to make trouble and fight today?

Such a big scene, there must be someone behind the scenes instigating and organizing it.

Isn't this just thunder with little rain?

The county magistrate looked at the salt households below and said tentatively: "You have also heard what the governor said. This official will naturally handle it impartially, but how this public law is considered public law is still to be considered."

"Besides, this matter is not just about the civil affairs of this county, nor can this official make the final judgment."

"You should disperse first and come back in 20 days. By then, the adults will definitely give you an explanation."

"All disperse!"

The salt households wanted to say something, but before they could speak, the scholars and hooligans who were mixed in shouted: "My Lord! We believe that you adults will definitely give us justice."

After kowtowed, the salt households who still wanted to speak were forced to retreat by this group of people without saying a word.

…………

This matter that seemed to be a lot of thunder but little rain was delayed until 20 days later.

A few days after this muddled trial, a rumor spread like wildfire in southern Jiangsu and central Jiangsu.

This rumor is an obvious political rumor.

And political rumors are often closely related to economic issues.

The trigger of the rumor is the salt household issue.

The biggest thing in Jiangsu now is the reform of the salt administration and the issue of salt households.

Everyone has compassion.

But compassion cannot defeat one's own interests.

There is a crucial connection between salt households and the urban class in Jiangsu, that is, the identity of salt households, that is, the political and economic attributes behind this identity.

The urban class in Jiangsu, small industrialists and businessmen, are engaged in many industries.

Take the textile industry as an example, where is the empathy between them and salt households?

It is not about poverty, but the meaning represented by the identity of salt households.

What do these textile industry practitioners associate with the identity of salt households?

They associate it with the artisan household system of the previous dynasty, and the artisan system that they are deeply afraid of in their minds. The fear of the evil dragon of the previous dynasty is the basis for the rapid spread of this rumor.

Take the textile industry as an example.

Under the artisan system of the previous dynasty, how did the emperor make money in the early official handicraft industry?

What is earned is the difference in labor.

For example, if you have the identity of a silk weaving craftsman, you will implement a strict craftsman handicraft system in the early stage.

Under this system, the court levies taxes in kind, such as raw silk.

Then these raw silks are handed over to craftsmen, who weave them into silk, and the emperor earns the labor value from raw silk to silk.

This model is almost the same as that of salt households: the court provides means of production, salt households produce salt, and salt cannot be sold privately.

Salt households are considered to be the "only remaining fruits" of the evil dragon of the previous dynasty.

Of course, this evil dragon is for these small producers.

Small producers and petty bourgeoisie, because of their class attributes, have their own set of demands.

And this demand definitely does not include retreating.

Of course, it definitely does not include moving forward.

In their view, the current system of Dashun is better and more suitable for them.

On the eve of the emergence of the old-fashioned textile factories that were no longer viable and the new-fashioned ones, the small producers, along with the expansion of overseas trade, achieved a prosperous state that was close to their ideal.

One step back was hell. One step forward was also hell. For them.

The salt household problem, after amplifying the panic, has triggered the possibility of "regression", which is the biggest empathy point for the small citizens and small producers in Jiangnan.

If the salt household, a symbol of the dragon's legacy in the eyes of the petty bourgeoisie, finally wins and continues to be preserved.

Then, does it mean that the court's policy may regress? The court will take over the handicraft industry in an all-round way, open an official handicraft industry, and the court will be the big buyer, strictly controlling the identity like salt?

Will there be a situation similar to the previous dynasty, where after the later subcontracting and purchasing, the silk worth 16 taels was only given a price of 5 taels, and the contract was forced according to the identity of the craftsman? So that textile industry practitioners fled?

Or even directly return to the in-kind tax, the court collects silk, the craftsmen weave, and the court sells it for money?

Some of the silk weaving craftsmen uprisings in the previous dynasty were not really against taxation, but against robbery.

There is a big difference between taxation and robbery.

The salt household, a relic of the "serfdom and artisan household system", coupled with the deliberately spread rumors, easily made these small handicraftsmen think of a possibility: What if, they really went back?

The court re-established the artisan household system similar to the salt household system, and the official buyers of handicrafts prohibited market transactions, and cooperated with the monopoly of overseas trade... Once the rumor spread, it immediately caused great panic among small urban producers.

The salt household was shaped into a totem pole of the "serfdom and artisan household system" by this rumor.