No matter when, interests are something that can make people crazy. .

Under the temptation of huge interests, the major salt merchants in Yangzhou City did not care about the laws of the court. They not only agreed to eat all the sea salt that the inner guard could supply, but also provided cover for the inner guard in the transportation of sea salt...

So, in less than a month, the million kilograms of sea salt smuggled by the inner guards were eaten in just one prefecture in Yangzhou.

As the price of smuggling sea salt flows into the market, both ordinary people and officials, gentry and landlords are not patronizing the expensive official salt.

As a result, the consumption of one million jin of official salt in the entire Yangzhou Prefecture a month ago dropped to less than 100,000 jin in a blink of an eye. More importantly, as time goes by, more and more people have begun to accept low-priced smuggled salt. The market share of official salt in the market is still further decreasing.

Faced with this situation, the first thing that responded was the Salt and Iron Department, which was specifically cracking down on smuggling in various places.

However, when a large number of salt merchants joined the smuggling, the Salt Iron Company, which was background and supported by salt merchants, did not play any other role except for being reactive and counterproductive.

Soon, the situation was reported to the court by the Salt and Iron Department yamen in various places.

At the Yanti-Secret Office located in Nanjing City, several middle-aged men wearing court uniforms were looking at the documents one after another with solemn faces. After that, they quickly sent the summary situation to the commander of the Zhengpai Salt-Secret Office appointed by the court.

A year ago, the Salt and Iron Department had only one responsibility, that is, to crack down on smuggling, and it was not highly valued by the court.

However, after the imperial court moved its capital to Nanjing and reformed the entire salt industry, the Salt and Iron Department became a very popular department in the imperial court.

Because the sea salt needed by all provinces in Jiangnan must be passed through the hands of the Salt and Iron Department before it can reach the hands of major salt merchants.

It is precisely because all sea salt is controlled by the Salt and Iron Department. The Salt and Iron Department directly charges salt taxes through the sale price...

Although the court only controlled less than two-thirds of the Ming Dynasty. However, the salt tax received by the Salt and Iron Department every month was more than twice the original one.

Faced with such a huge amount of salt tax revenue, the Salt and Iron Department, which few people paid attention to, directly entered the court's vision. The commander of the third-ranked Salt and Iron Department also became an important minister of the court invisibly and was deeply trusted by Emperor Chongzhen.

However, when the commander was full of energy and was about to do a big fight in the Salt and Iron Department and live up to Emperor Chongzhen's trust, an accident happened...

The consumption of official salt that continues to grow upward every month not only does not increase, but also shows signs of decline.

At the beginning, the commander did not take this matter to heart.

As the commander of the Salt and Iron Department, he knew that no matter how good the official salt is or how cheap it is, the market will be saturated. Once the official salt market reaches saturation, the monthly consumption of official salt will gradually decrease to a certain extent.

However, what the commander did not expect was that this reduction was not a slow reduction, but a straight line, a significant reduction...

In just one month, the consumption of 70 to 80 million kilograms of sea salt in several provinces in Jiangnan has become less than 20 million kilograms today.

Because the Salt and Iron Department had never expected such a thing, the Tiger and Leopard Army holding sea salt still kept sending sea salt to the Salt and Iron Department with its previous consumption.

At this moment, the warehouse located outside Nanjing City has accumulated a mountain of sea salt...

If the official salt cannot be sold, it means that the Salt and Iron Department has no income. If the Salt and Iron Department has no income, it means that the court's salt tax revenue this month will be greatly reduced.

It is certain that once this news reaches the court, it reaches Chongzhen's ears. Not only can the position of the commander of the Salt and Iron Department be unable to be saved, but it may be difficult to even save his life.

As an important official of the court, the commander was very clear about the importance of salt tax in all the court's taxes. If you lose salt taxes, you will not talk about them too much, the court's taxes will have to be cut off at least 30%.

The emperor had just issued an order in the court, and all departments in the court must try their best to increase taxes.

At such a critical moment, not only did I not respond to the emperor's imperial edict, but I also did the opposite. Didn't this send my head to Emperor Chongzhen and let Emperor Chongzhen kill the chicken to warn the monkey?

Thinking of this, although the hot summer has passed in Nanjing City, beads of sweat the size of beans are still rising from the commander's forehead.

At this moment, the commander had only one idea in his mind, that is, to solve the matter perfectly before the emperor knew about it.

So, with a gloomy face, he yelled directly at his subordinate standing in front of him: "Who can tell me what's going on... Have the salary the court paid you every month to feed pigs..."

In a good sentence, a senior official will kill people, let alone in this era of strict hierarchy.

Therefore, in the face of the commander's roar, all we can do is hold a red face and bear it silently.

Faced with this situation, the commander, who was also frustrated, could only ask with anger on his face, "Mr. Wang, you are an inspector of private salt... You said, why did the consumption of official salt this month reduce so much... I don't believe that millions of people in Jiangnan do not need to eat salt..."

The official who was named did not want to stand up.

However, under the clever gaze of the commander, he had to bite the bullet and answer: "Sir, the Xiaguan is guilty... It is the unfavorable inspection of private salt in Xiaguan, which caused a large amount of private salt to pour into Jiangnan, which led to the current situation. Please calm down..."

"Private salt, it's indeed private salt... Lord Wang, don't tell me that the officials in several provinces in Jiangnan cannot control the private salt..." The commander was not satisfied with the explanation of his subordinates. He continued to ask in a stern tone...

Although the next answer may cause him to lose his official position or even go to prison. However, under the gaze of the commander, the frustrated official had to continue to answer: "Sir, there are indeed many officials in the hands of the officials. However, at most they can only use it to scare people. If you encounter a real private salt dealer, there is no way to do it..."

"What's more important is that these sea salts pouring into the south of the Yangtze River are just passing by... The coast of the south of the Yangtze River is so long that we can't defend ourselves..."

"Finally, the officials have something to say. These smugglers who sell private salt must have a force behind them. In just one month, their strength has undergone earth-shaking changes... Many private salt dealers even equipped muskets that were not even equipped with the army..."
Chapter completed!