When he said this, the corners of Shen Shangshu's eyes twitched.
You must know that all royal banquets, whether they are for the wife of the emperor or the foreign ministers and clan, are usually the responsibility of the inner court, and the money spent is the money from the inner transport treasury.
But for the flowers in Honglu Temple, the Ministry of Revenue allocates money.
This is enough to show that in order to dispel the emperor's plans for Yanyin, this great Situ made a lot of determination and even did not hesitate to draw blood again.
However, Chen Yi's performance made Zhu Qiyu a little bit dumbfounded.
Feelings: Old Shen thought that the emperor's internal transportation treasury was in need of money recently when the royal family came to Beijing, so he wanted to use salt to make a fortune?
At that moment, Zhu Qiyu's face darkened and he said displeasedly.
"What did Shen Qing say? Is it possible that I didn't even have the money to hold the banquet?"
Shen Shangshu knelt on the ground numbly and said.
"I don't dare. Your Majesty has misunderstood. It's just that now that the royal family comes to Beijing, the banquet and reception is a matter of honor for the court. I'm afraid that the inner court is short of manpower, so I want to ask Honglu Temple to do its best."
Yes, this old man Shen is really good at being a good person, and he has enough face.
If Zhu Qiyu really wanted money, he would have given up on it.
It's a pity that he really only wants salt and not the money in the treasury of Shen Shangshu, who is about to die of poverty.
Shaking his head, looking at Shen Shangshu's "sincere and willing" expression, Zhu Qiyu couldn't hold himself any longer, waved his hand and said.
"Stop saying these polite words. I really don't want to covet the money from the Ministry of Finance. You might as well tell Shen Qing directly that I definitely need salt and tea."
Chen Yi's face fell quickly, as if he was hesitant to speak.
Seeing this, Zhu Qiyu pressed down his hands and said again.
"However, what Shen Qing just said is not unreasonable. In that case, I thought of a compromise."
"Although these salt yin and tea yin cannot be used by Kaizhong, I will not take them away in vain. I will convert the grain that should be transported to the border into silver taels at twice the amount and send it to the Ministry of Household Affairs."
"The Ministry of Household Affairs will use this silver tael exclusively for repairing the border city walls and shall not misappropriate it. The extra part will be regarded as compensation for not transporting grain and will be directly converted into silver."
"In this way, it can be regarded as not destroying the method of opening the center. What do you think, Shen Qing?"
this……
Shen Shangshu rolled his eyes, a little hesitant.
The so-called Kaizhong method is actually a broad term, and it does not just refer to transporting grain to the border in exchange for salt.
In fact, in addition to food, when Emperor Taizong was short of military expenses, cloth, horses, soybeans, and even silver could be used in exchange for salt.
Of course, the essence of opening the country remains unchanged. No matter what materials are used for salt, they need to be sent to the border for exchange.
This is also the core of the Kaizhong Law. The private sector is responsible for the damage during transportation.
So in fact, the alternative method mentioned by the emperor is not impossible.
Paying silver to the Ministry of Household Affairs, who then purchases materials for repairing the city wall and transports them to the border for reinforcement of the city wall, is also considered a form of openness.
However, the transportation process is undertaken by the Ministry of Household Affairs.
However, they gave me more money!
The emperor decided to pay the Ministry of Household Affairs twice the amount of silver that should have been shipped to the border to compensate for the loss in transportation.
Thirty thousand salt coins and ten thousand tea coins. If Kaizhong's method is followed, the grain received at the border can be converted into silver taels, which is about 250,000 taels.
But it is actually insufficient, because Chayin does not strictly implement the Kaizhong system, and its management is relatively loose, so it cannot generate as big a profit as Shioyin.
But since the emperor said so, then Yan Yin and Cha Yin must follow this approach.
Two hundred and fifty thousand taels, doubling that would be five hundred thousand taels.
Food and other goods, even if they were lost on the road, would not reach this point.
Therefore, according to this method, the court will definitely make money!
Shen Shangshu had to admit that he was a little moved.
You know, the last time more than 20 relatives joined forces, they only collected 300,000 taels of silver.
Although the emperor said that the money should be earmarked for special use, even if the money reaches the hands of the Ministry of Revenue, it will still be used to repair the border walls.
However, for the poor and crazy Shen Da Situ, this thing is not a matter of left hand and right hand.
Since there is money on the border, it will be used first, so next year's budget should be reduced a little. If the court needs money, it will be in trouble.
What, Your Majesty, don’t you agree?
What if the Ministry of Industry's budget for river construction is reduced?
Can't even cut it?
"Chen Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, invites him to become an official"
In just a few months, Shen Situ has mastered all kinds of rogue tricks. As long as he can get money, he can do anything!
However, just when he opened his mouth to agree, Shen Shangshu stopped the car in time.
There is no free pie in the sky!
Many years of official career have taught Shen Shangshu that there must be a monster when things go wrong.
Since the emperor is eyeing salt and tea, he just wants money to enrich his internal funds, but if he follows this method, he will die sooner or later.
You know, if the most profit-seeking people in this world are businessmen.
Whenever there is a slight gap to squeeze through, they will squeeze out a big hole.
The reason why Kaizhongfa has been able to operate stably until now is because those merchants were willing to transport grain to the border in exchange for salt.
Just because it is the easiest and least expensive way to obtain salt.
The profits from selling salt and tea are indeed very high.
However, the imperial court had strict regulations on the sales prices and regions of salt and tea.
Thirty thousand salt taels and ten thousand tea taels. According to normal prices, even if they are all sold out, the proceeds will be only 400,000 taels.
Among them, the cost of food is 250,000 taels. If it is relevant, you may be able to save 10,000 to 20,000 taels.
However, including the losses and labor on the road, the salt merchant's total cost was stable at around 300,000 yuan, and the final profit was around 100,000 taels.
One-third profit, and almost no loss, is already considered very high.
But according to the emperor's payment method, not to mention labor, the cost will be compensated for one hundred thousand taels first.
Although Shen Shangshu wanted the money very much, he would not agree easily until he understood why the emperor did this.
After frowning and thinking for a while, Shen Shangshu suddenly realized that he had overlooked a very crucial issue.
The emperor said that he did not intend to take these salt and tea as rewards, but planned to send salt and tea to the imperial shop.
Then the problem comes.
Thirty thousand salt coins and ten thousand tea coins can draw nearly 600,000 kilo of salt and nearly 70,000 kilo of tea leaves.
The capital now has a large population, but it is only about 700,000.
So much salt and tea could not be consumed by the entire capital city in a year, and it would have to be expanded to several prefectures in the entire Gyeonggi Province before they could all be sold out.
If the emperor does not want all the salt merchants in the Gyeonggi region to be squeezed to death, then the salt and tea will have to be smashed into his hands.
Or maybe the emperor had other ways to consume the salt and tea.
In Shangshu Shen's mind, the account book that the emperor had just handed to him suddenly flashed across his mind.
If he remembered correctly, these emperor's imperial stores were basically shops for daily use.
Although there are not many records in the account books, Shen Yi is a veteran among them, and it can be seen that these stores are working hard to buy in bulk, but rarely sell.
This is very abnormal.
Now is the Chinese New Year, which is the peak sales season for various stores.
However, these imperial stores of the emperor were uncharacteristically buying large amounts and selling small amounts, which was not in line with the rules of doing business.
Come to think of it, the eunuch in charge definitely didn't have the guts to make his own decisions. Otherwise, if he lost the money, the emperor would definitely skin him.
In other words, the emperor was behind this abnormal behavior.
Nowadays, these imperial shops have stocked up a large amount of cloth, grain, jewelry, and porcelain. The emperor came to ask for salt and tea, and he was not afraid at all that he would not be able to sell it?
If you don't make money when you can, you will inevitably have greater profits later.
A glimmer of light flashed in Shen Shangshu's eyes, and he suddenly became interested in this matter. He took two steps forward, rubbed his hands, and asked.
"I dare to ask Your Majesty, where do you plan to sell such a large amount of tea, salt, grain, and cloth?"
This chapter has been completed!