New Shun 1730

The emperor heard some complaints and complaints in Liu Yu's tone, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He just smiled and said: "My dear, why do you have to do such a womanly thing? Loan for young crops is not a trivial matter. There have been many disasters before, so we must not ignore it. But When it comes to the understanding of money and economy, no one in the court is as good as Qing. I can trust your advice on money and economy."

"No matter what, this reform will have to be changed. To what extent the changes will be made depends on how well you and other reformers do."

"Salt policy, money, Huaihe River, abandoned canals, rice...which one is not related to the stability of the world? So many changes have been made at once. Not to mention that many ministers in the DPRK are flustered, I am also flustered."

"For the sake of the country, others talk about righteousness rather than profit, but I, my dear, talk about righteousness out of profit. It has already become enough, and I really don't want to make any more mistakes."

Liu Yu thought to himself, has it become more? Changes are coming and going, but on the surface they can change, but have they touched upon the fundamental land system? If we don't touch it, aren't they all tinker-level reforms?

Reform, reform, how can there be so many successful reforms? Just like Japan in later generations, with the name of "reform", does that mean it is reform? The whole country is armed and separatist, and tens of thousands of people are fighting to bet on the fate of the country. This can be called a reform. Couldn't it be renamed the Xinhai Reform and Ji Chou Reform?

Even if the East India Company is not subject to government interference, which is envied by merchants, it is because the merchants "welcomed the new Dutch government", drove away the king who tried to strengthen the royal power, and made deals with foreign kings, resulting in more than 1,000 pounds. This is a weird system where everyone is equal and everyone with less than 1,000 pounds is a pariah, regardless of the capital stock of more than 1,000 pounds, one person has one vote.

Now that Dashun is tinkering like this... Liu Yu thought to himself, it will only happen sooner or later.

It is nothing more than that the new era is conceived in the mother body of the old era.

I just hope that before the birth of the new era, the mother body of the old era can eat something good, drink some brown sugar water, eat some boiled eggs, take good care of her body, and give birth to a healthy child.

Don't give birth to a child who is born with defects, is riddled with diseases in the womb, is half-dead, or is skinny.

Or go to extremes and don't kill two people at once.

However, the emperor did not continue to talk about this topic. After all, it could not be said openly.

This is just a fishing trap. If those cats are not greedy, if all the squires are true gentlemen, true country sages, and are not moved by money, then it will be meaningless to talk about it now.

And this is the basis of Qingmiao Loan. Otherwise, as Liu Yu said, it is meaningless and is just an act of sending money to the county magistrate or the squire.

"Well, this matter is just a hypothesis, so let's not mention it for now. There are so many things involved, let's do it one by one. It just so happens that Aiqing has to supervise the materials for regulating the Huaihe River. Ai Qing not only goes out to control the states in southern Jiangsu, but also has jurisdiction over Nanyang's anti-smuggling and Cao Cao operations. Mi and other things, let’s take care of this together, Aiqing is the most suitable candidate.”

The emperor had already spoken very openly before, and now he gave Liu Yu such an errand, which obviously tacitly approved Liu Yu's plan to attack the gentry in Huainan and northern Jiangsu.

It doesn't matter whether there is an unjust case or not. What matters is that there is a reason to resolve the matter in northern Jiangsu and Huainan. Of course, Liu Yu would not be the one to handle the case in the end. The emperor was worried that Liu Yu would be too...too light.

Moreover, regarding land distribution issues that concern millions of people, no matter whether it is kindness or power, one cannot deny it to others.

Liu Yu knew it and nodded to thank him.

The emperor added: "There is also the matter of salt administration in Huaibei. There are many officials in the court who analyze the pros and cons, and I also sent people to investigate. But for such economic matters, I still believe in loving you more. This love When you return, you will also pay a visit to Huaibei to investigate whether the new salt policy is feasible and to compile a charter."

"I also know that the issue of salt policy is not just court policy. It also involves profiteers, bullies, military smuggling, water transportation, collusion between government and businessmen to control the salt industry, and local bullies controlling the sale of illicit salt. Such errands will have their own army of children. If you have anything to do, just discuss it with them."

"I'm on business, you know me well."

"I won't give you any more instructions for the rest."

"If you love me, remember these four words: priority."

"Controlling the Huaihe River is the first priority, and everything must make way for it. If it cannot be completed before the rainy season next year, all the millions of taels this year will be thrown away. No matter what you do, don't delay the completion of this matter."

"The second priority is rice. Even rice from Japan and Ezo, beans and wheat from Liaodong can be used. If something happens, it can still ensure the stability of the capital. I also believe that this ship can even go to Europa. , It’s even easier to get from Nanyang Jiangnan to Tianjin, but don’t let anything happen. I will also send someone to inform the navy and escort them by battleships.”

"Foreign trade is the third priority. Autumn and winter coincide with the onset of the monsoon. Although maritime trade has gradually taken shape, I also know that businessmen are short-sighted. If they are left to do it, I am afraid it will not be conducive to the long term. Moreover, foreign trade is a matter of "

"Salt administration is the fourth level..."

When talking about the salt policy, the emperor's tone was slightly awkward, and he couldn't explain what was going on here very clearly.

He wanted to build the Huaihe River and asked the salt merchant for money.

But this money is not free.

The salt merchant immediately put forward a lot of... well, you can call it a request or a plea. In short, it's the same thing - tax reduction, exemption, allowing Yanyin to give half of the money first, and then give the other half after the salt is sold, etc. Wait, wait.

Not to mention the tax cuts at the beginning, but half of the money for salt introduction will be given first, and the other half will be given after the salt is sold. This seems normal, but what is it actually?

In fact, it is interest.

The emperor knew exactly what the interest rate of Dashun was, and it was so high that even the national debt could not be borrowed.

What is this similar to? It is similar to the court asking the salt merchants for 100 yuan in tribute, but in fact the salt merchants received 150 yuan in benefits, but the 150 yuan in benefits were paid slowly, while the 100 yuan in tribute was paid in one lump sum.

Although it is a monarchy, it cannot be said that anyone can be killed or whose house can be raided at will.

Since the implementation of the Salt Gang Law in the previous dynasty, the major salt merchants have been deeply rooted, and they have a certain amount of capital in the game with the court - the court can say to a single person that if you don’t want to do it, get out, and replace someone else, but it dare not offend the entire class of people completely.

The emperor has to give benefits, not to mention the local government.

The court does not give money to the local government, and even if it does, the little money given, according to the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, is not enough to run a charity hall.

This requires salt merchants to pay tribute in the local area.

In addition to paying tribute in the local area in exchange for benefits, there are also benefits for local officials.

Calculating that all local officials are "clean officials", not greedy at all, and not seeking any benefits, there is another thing - evaluation.

The monopoly model of salt administration is similar to the "cartel" of several major monopoly organizations in later generations, which divides different sales areas.

For local officials, one of the evaluation items is the sales of local salt permits.

Theoretically, this place can sell 10,000 kilograms of official salt, but in fact only 5,000 kilograms were sold. What does this prove? Obviously it proves that private salt is rampant, and obviously "proves" that local officials have not fulfilled their responsibility to inspect private salt.

The hidden population before was linked to the head tax on the one hand. The higher the tax, the lower the evaluation that cannot be completed.

On the other hand, it is also related to the sales model of salt. Everyone eats salt. The more people there are, the more private salt shares to be investigated and dealt with, and the more things there are.

Even if local officials are not greedy, they have to build good relationships with these salt merchants for evaluation and give them some benefits appropriately.

For some things, they just turn a blind eye.

In matters such as salt administration, the emperor is also a dumb person eating coptis, with no words to express his grievances.

For example, when they asked Yangzhou salt merchants for money, they cried poor as soon as they got the money, saying that they had insufficient capital and poor turnover, and begged for half of the salt first, and the other half after they sold out.

After they received the money, they couldn't turn their backs on them right away, right? What else could they say? OK.

Just as they got approval, something went wrong over there: the salt merchants who were transporting salt to Hubei secretly sold the salt from the Hubei sales area on both sides of the canal. Then, when they were halfway through the transportation, "the ship suddenly encountered a big wave and sank in the water. Although they tried their best to rescue it, the salt dissolved as soon as it came into contact with water", so they requested the court to reduce the salt tax and begged the court to "add pounds" and allow them to "raise the price".

What could they do? They had to accept it with a pinch of their noses, because the people would pay for the price increase anyway.

If they didn't, the local area might have no salt to use this year, or the entire official salt market might be directly seized by private salt dealers.

The emperor wanted to control the Huai River this time, and sent out the Kids Army, a spy organization that was a replica of the Jinyiwei, to investigate everywhere, which was also "eye-opening".

Among the salt merchants, there are "special terms" such as [flooding and replenishing transportation], [private salt from stoves], [sinking ships to cover private goods], [cargo transport], [Sichuan salt into Chu and Guangdong salt into Hunan], [official business exchange], etc., countless. The routine is deeper than the various types of cargo transport.

Therefore, the emperor is willing to change the salt policy. There are too many tricks in it. Even if the people's consumption of salt is not considered, the country's tax revenue must be considered.

However, these things can only be ranked behind the control of the Huai River, sea trade, and cargo rice.

The emperor wants to solve it, but it is difficult to solve it. The reform of the Huaibei salt policy can only be extended to the Huainan salt policy after it is well changed.

There must be an economic war here, and Liu Yu is undoubtedly the best candidate to mobilize huge capital, merchants and commercial channels to win this war.

However, the emperor would never agree to let the industrial and commercial groups in Songjiang Prefecture take over the salt administration.

Now they have monopolized foreign trade, silk, tea, porcelain, and the country's silver "banknote issuance". If they monopolize salt... the old salt merchants before are certainly not good birds, then what are these emerging classes in Songjiang Prefecture?

But now, to take action against the salt merchants in Huaibei, someone needs to set an example.

Don't let the salt administration reform and change to buying salt with salt tickets, and the Huaibei salt merchants will collectively resist. If they don't participate, the court will be in trouble. That would be a lot of fun.

After hesitating for a while, the emperor finally decided to tell the truth.

"The reform of the salt administration should be ranked fourth in terms of urgency. However, we should not change it, or we should see miraculous results. However, I will never allow the wealthy merchants in Songjiang Prefecture to control the salt industry. What should we do specifically... My dear, when you go back this time, you will pass through Huaibei. Think of a way to formulate a suitable charter. If the court needs to borrow shares, you can do it first, and the household government will reimburse you in the future."

"In short, it must be changed. But if the wealthy gentry in Songjiang Prefecture controls it, it doesn't matter whether it is changed or not. Do you understand, my dear?"

"As for the rest of the things, they are all ranked after these four things. My dear, do it as appropriate - if you are sure that it will not affect the first four, do it; if you are not sure, don't do it."

"Remember my words. Digging the Huai River can only be done in winter; there are always opportunities in spring, summer, autumn and winter for the rest of the things."