At the end of January, the decree was promulgated that "the Salt and Iron Department was merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs, and salt and silver were pledged and loaned at a discount".
With the precedent of redeeming grain with salt and silver, it was not so difficult for the world to accept the redemption of salt and silver in exchange for silver. Officials even wanted to have their salaries paid out earlier, and this decree received widespread support and praise.
The Salt and Iron Division was merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs, that is, it was included in the civil service system. Zhang Yan, as an internal minister, was forced to resign as the Salt and Iron Envoy; the deputy prime minister, Lin Xuwen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, recommended Liu Shidu, the prefect of Huai'an, to take charge of the Salt and Iron Division, and added Zuo Qiandu as censor.
The salt officer responsible for supervising and impeachment was also approved by the decree.
Liu Shidu served as the prefect of Hailing and Huai'an successively, and was familiar with the salt affairs of the Huaihe River and Huaihe River. In terms of qualifications, political achievements and familiarity with the salt affairs, no one could compare with Liu Shidu - of course Liu Shidu had cooperated with Lin Fu in Hailing and Huai'an over the years.
When the government implemented the New Deal, it had already been marked by the Huaidong faction.
In early February, when Liu Shidu arrived in Jiangning to be reinstated according to the imperial edict, the Yamen of the Salt and Iron Division also moved from Weiyang to Jiangning.
The two-dimensional salt business is concentrated in Weiyang due to various reasons:
In the previous dynasty, Hailing was only a county under Weiyang, and the east of Hailing was within the Lianghuai Salt Fields. The salt affairs were concentrated in Weiyang for the convenience of managing the salt field nearby and banning private salt inspections. Since the two dynasties, the area east of Chongzhou
The speed of land formation along the coast accelerated, and the salt fields continued to move eastward. Weiyang was actually separated from the salt fields. However, Weiyang was located at the must-pass point of the north-south water transport system, and thus became the transportation center of salt from the Huaihe River. The imperial capital was in the north, so Weiyang
The layout of the Salt Affairs Center has not changed since the Yue Dynasty, and it is a matter of course.
When Emperor Yongxing ascended the throne in Jiangning, Jiangning became the political center of half of Jiangning. The distance between Jiangning and Weiyang was only more than two hundred miles, and Jiangning's status in the Yangtze River shipping system was not weaker than that of Weiyang. The Salt and Iron Division was moved to
Going to Jiangning, apart from the need for centralization, there are no special obstacles in other aspects.
As early as the beginning of Emperor Yongxing's accession to the throne in Jiangning, there were officials talking about moving the Salt and Iron Department here, but the traditional power was still strong and it was never possible to do so. This time, the Salt and Iron Department was merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the move was
Jiangning did not see much resistance. It was said that the transportation of salt from Huaihe and Huaihe was concentrated in Jiangning and then the salt merchants resold it to the world.
Once the decree was issued, the salt merchants could only follow it.
The story of the Salt and Iron Department is far from over here. After Liu Shidu arrived in Jiangning in early February and was reinstated, he immediately requested an order to control the salt workers, ban illegal salt inspections, and cut taxes. Only then did the salt merchants become panicked. Huaidong
Waiting until this moment will always lead to ruthless action.
In late February, the Metropolitan Procuratorate impeached Mao Wenjing, the captain of the Zuo Salt School, for corruption, perverting the law, and misappropriating salt profits, and requested an order to bring him to justice.
In order to support more than 500,000 regular soldiers, plus additional funds for Nanyang and Hezhong Prefectures, Jiangning must raise at least 10 million taels of silver every year - this does not include the civil affairs and the huge bureaucratic group, clan, and honors.
Expensive salaries and the expenses of the inner court are taken into account. The four million taels of silver loaned by the bank to the Ministry of Household Affairs can actually only last three to five months. In order to solve the political crisis, Jiangning really needs to kill
In order to meet the urgent needs of some large households, after the Salt and Iron Department was merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs, it has actually become the consensus of Jiangning officials to take action on salt merchants. Mao Wenjing is not the first unlucky person.
Immediately after taking office, Liu Shidu was ordered to attack the officials and merchants of the Lianghuai Salt Clan. At the end of February, he ordered Mao Wenjing to enter Jiangning and imprison him. He arrested more than ten of his descendants and sent them to prison. He continued to inspect Mao's residences and fields in Weiyang and other places...
The water and land transportation routes from the Lianghuai Salt Fields to other places have long been under the control of Huaidong.
In order to cooperate with Liu Shidu's crackdown on illicit salt, the Huaidong patrol divisions that controlled the water and land transportation routes closed their bags together. The Privy Council also transferred more than 5,000 water infantry soldiers to the Salt and Iron Division. From the time of the inspection of Mao's, the salt affairs were rectified with great vigor.
of expansion.
From mid-February to the end of March, in more than a month, the total amount of illegal salt from Lianghuai and Huaihe was banned, amounting to four million kilograms. They were executed, and more than 2,000 salt merchants and military guards who used force to disrupt the ban were arrested.
People, five of the Weiyang Thirteen Salt Shops were directly involved in the case and were taken to Jiangning to be imprisoned pending trial. The rest were also in panic...
Since the Yue Dynasty, salt has been taxed and a salt price increase system has been implemented. During the Chongguan period, salt households boiled salt and paid it to the Salt and Iron Department at a price of ten cents per catty, and the Salt and Iron Department added a tax of two hundred cents per catty.
The money is resold by merchants and trafficked to prefectures and counties. Not counting the foot charges, a pound of official salt is worth more than 210 yuan. However, due to the proliferation of illegal salt, the price of salt in various prefectures and counties is lower than this amount.
As a sequelae of the troublesome salt management, the price of salt in Jianghuai, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places has been rising day by day. By early March, the price of salt in Jiangning City had soared to 600 yuan per kilogram of salt, an increase of nearly five times.
Far beyond what ordinary people can bear.
This was actually the biggest crisis faced by the salt administration. The Queen Mother twice summoned Lin Xuwen and Liu Shidu into the palace to question the matter.
The Queen Mother and the ministers of the Political Affairs Hall directly put pressure on the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the old officials and soldiers of the Salt and Iron Department also complained. Not to mention what the salt merchants behind the scenes were thinking, but the real pressure still lies with the people. If not
Suppressing the price of salt caused public dissatisfaction and made the situation unstable. The issue of rectifying the salt incident could only be abandoned halfway, and the salt merchants were directly bowed to and the old system was restored.
The salt incident reached March 16, and the situation could no longer be suppressed. The Empress Dowager directly summoned Liu Shidu to the Political Affairs Hall to inquire about the government. Lin Fu, the privy envoy, and Zhang Yan, the former iron and salt envoy, were summoned with a message.
…
"Jianghuai is filled with private salt, and Yan Fei doesn't know it. However, the price increase system for salt has been in effect for more than 260 years, and it is difficult to return. However, the people in Jianghuai cannot afford the price of official salt. In addition to maintaining the full amount of salt silver, the salt merchants
Filling it with private salt is really a last resort." Zhang Yan defended the proliferation of private salt when he was the iron salt envoy in front of the capital hall. In fact, he also defended the salt merchants' private involvement. "Censoring private salt can increase the number of government officials.
The entry into the treasury only made the people angry, and the gains outweighed the losses - the late emperor Xu Yan was in charge of the salt affairs, and Yan also reported the private salt affairs to him. The late emperor said that when the water was clear and there were no fish, as long as the salt preservation silver increased, Yan
During the 17 years of the Lianghuai Salt War, the Lianghuai salt silver increased from more than 1.7 million taels to a maximum of 2.68 million taels. However, due to the war, the land where the Lianghuai salt was originally sold was in ruins in Henan.
, Huaixi is in dilapidated condition, but last year it was still able to secure a revenue of 1.5 million taels of silver. Yan Youruo asked the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to take care of it... The salt merchants filled it with private salt, which was a violation of the national ban, but the official salt was not included in the fee and the price was increased.
Later, it was worth 210 yuan. Before the Ministry of Household Affairs took charge of the salt affairs, the price of salt in Jiangning was only 140 yuan. Salt merchants were not allowed to use private salt to make up for it. What could be done?"
Lin Fu was the privy envoy and had nothing to do with this matter on the surface. However, the Empress Dowager and other ministers dragged him here just to point the finger at him - anyone with a discerning eye knew that Liu Shidu would not be able to be so ruthless without Huaidong's support.
The tricky one.
Lin Fu and other ministers were all given seats, but Liu Shidu and Zhang Yan were the only ones arguing in front of the hall.
Liu Shidu said: "During Emperor Gaozu's time, when the salt price increase system was first implemented in Lianghuai, a pound of salt was increased by 60 qian. At that time, the price of salt in Jiangning was only 120 qian, and the salt profit in Lianghuai could still accumulate more than 130 qian every year.
Ten thousand taels of silver. At that time, the people in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Huaihe River were less than half of what they are today. Later, smuggling of salt became more and more widespread, which damaged the salt profit, and the lowest was less than 400,000 taels. It was impossible to ban smuggling, so the salt tax could only be increased repeatedly.
, until it increased to the recent two hundred qian, more than three times more than at the beginning. Compare the salt price in Jiangning today with Gaozu's time, compare the number of Dingkou in Gaozu's time with today's Dingkou, and compare the salt price in Huaihe today with Gaozu's time.
Salt Silver, can this salt merchant still be called a good person?"
Lin Fu sighed softly and said: "Yes, based on the increase in price of salt in Emperor Gaozu's time, Dinghu, Lianghuai salt sales area, compared with today, the annual salt silver of the Iron Salt Department should be 2.6 million
Two, not one and a half million taels—where did this shortage of one million taels of silver salt go?"
"Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. You can't make up for the shortcomings that have been accumulated for generations," said the Empress Dowager Liang, sitting with her hands folded, "Zhang Yan has made great contributions to the salt affairs. Before the year of Delong, several salt officials were appointed."
Iron Envoy, Zhang Yan is not as good as Zhang Yan in managing the salt in Huaihe River - those who break the ban must be banned, but the common people also have to eat salt, and it is reasonable to say that it is difficult to return. The Ai family does not have the energy to listen to your arguments here, and trouble will always come together.
Go and solve the problem without causing public dissatisfaction. The imperial court can no longer afford any more troubles. Liu Shidu, Lin Qing recommends you to be in charge of the Salt and Iron Division. You must have an accurate idea..."
“Unlike rice and grain, salt is in short supply and a short-term increase in price is not harmful. Banning illicit salt is the first step, and the next step is to slightly reduce the tax price, and send salt officials to various prefectures and counties to supervise salt affairs and take over the illegal salt.
If the salt is sold in various places, the government and private parties should combine to determine the price, which should benefit the business people and the people without harming the country..." Liu Shidu replied.
Lin Fu had no intention of asking Liu Shidu to entangle Zhang Yan. Generally speaking, Zhang Yan's merits outweighed his faults when it came to salt management, but if he didn't attack the salt merchants, the salt merchants' support for Huaixi last year would only become more rampant - and he had to take advantage of it.
As a result, the power of the Weiyang Mansion was wiped out.
"Let's see, if you extend your time limit by one month, if you don't lower the price of salt by then, you will have to go back to the old method!" Queen Mother Liang said.
Liu Shidu hesitated a little. When he saw Lin Fu and Lin Xuwen, they had nothing to say. He could only bite the bullet and agreed: "I accept the decree." He was not completely satisfied with the idea of quelling the Salt Rebellion within a month. After all, he had moved.
The Fundamentals of the Lianghuai Salt Incident.
*********************
After the matter was discussed in the political hall, Lin Fu, an "irrelevant" person, went directly back to his home to rest. Lin Xuwen and Liu Shidu followed him.
"To what extent is it appropriate to reduce taxes?" Liu Shidu chased Lin Fu to his library in Chenyuan Qianyuan and asked.
There were no macroscopic data statistics in the world. We only knew that private salt was rampant. However, no one could figure out what the total sales volume of private salt plus official salt in Jianghuai, Zhejiang, Fujian and other places was.
To reduce the tax price, the current salt price on the market must be lowered to satisfy the businessmen and the people. However, at the same time, if the reduction is excessive, the salt and silver prices will drop sharply. At that time, even if the palace and the political hall are not held accountable, the Ministry of Household Affairs will be responsible every year.
Such a huge expense cannot be separated from the salt and silver. The Huaidong bank lending silver to the household department can only solve the temporary emergency, but at the same time, it will eat up a lot of annual interest every year. The annual interest gap is
You need to use salt silver to block it.
Lin Mengde, Qin Chengzu, Gao Zongting, Song Fu and others all came to the study hall for business, and they all found it difficult to answer Liu Shidu's question...
"How much does a farmer's family earn per year if they plant ten acres of mature fields and tax is collected?" Lin Fu asked Liu Shidu.
"If you can earn thirty kilograms of grain, it should be considered a good year." Liu Shidu said.
Lin Fu sighed softly and said: "Yes, if you can earn thirty shi of grain per year, it will be considered a good year. Before the war, the price of rice in Jiangning was 600 yuan per shi, and 30 shi of grain was only 18,000 yuan. Even if it is private salt,
Offsetting the price of salt, before the war in Jiangning, it was not lower than 100 yuan. If it is calculated as military supply, a farmer needs 20 kilograms of salt per year, which is 2,000 yuan. You can't afford salt. Only after careful calculation can you understand.
You know the samadhi in the phrase 'a simple meal'!"
Liu Shidu and the others looked at each other in amazement. Lin Fu sighed with emotion. The accounts were settled, but the actual problem could not be solved, and the current troops and horses could not be reduced by half just because the people were in hardship.
Lin Fu said with his sleeves: "If we want to lower the price of salt to less than 50 yuan, the increase in salt price cannot exceed 20 yuan. I think it should be limited to this amount!"
Liu Shidu was stunned and looked at Lin Xuwen. Lin Mengde and others didn't know how to respond to Lin Fu's words. This was too harsh.
Even if private salt is rampant, it is not more than ten times that of official salt. The price increase of salt suddenly drops to one-tenth of the previous price. The most direct consequence is that the future supply of salt and silver will drop sharply.
Salt and silver were merged into the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the annual income of the Ministry of Household Affairs was only about 10 million taels of silver. It had to meet the expenses of various places and was still stretched everywhere. If another one million taels were suddenly cut off, the loophole would be huge.
There are no borders.
The annual income of the inner government is almost divided, and the expenses of the court are the responsibility of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Even if Huaixi, Chizhou and other armies are left alone, Huaidong alone has more than 200,000 troops. It will cost nearly five million taels of silver to maintain daily armaments in a year. This money will have to be raised by the Ministry of Household Affairs in the future.
——The five counties of Chongzhou can still save some money, but they need to prepare for large-scale wars in the future. Besides, Lin Fuhua’s money in the five counties of Chongzhou is also very generous. He sets up a school to run a school and plans to spend it every year.
With millions of taels of silver, who knows where he will find a hole next?
"Is the reduction too much?" Lin Xuwen asked, "Restoring the salt system during the reign of Emperor Gaozu should be able to achieve a general balance."
"If we restore the salt system as it was during Emperor Gaozu's time, we will offend both the salt merchants and the old salt officials, and we won't be able to get back from the people. We might as well not do anything about the salt business in the first place," Lin Fu said, "Since we have done so
, then you have to be able to win over some people to be serious. Try it out for 20 yuan for now, and then copy a few other companies with hot hands, which should be able to make up for the shortage of salt and silver in one or two years. If it doesn't work, after one or two years, we can try it again
Adjust it - we can't ask others to slap our faces at this time! Moreover, if we return to the salt system of Emperor Gaozu, Zhang Yan, Yu Xinyuan and the others will probably find other excuses to make things difficult and stop us;
If it drops so low all of a sudden, they will just wait to see us make a fool of ourselves..."
Lin Xuwen looked at Lin Mengde, Gao Zongting, and Song Fu, and still found it difficult to accept Lin Fu's decision.
Lin Fu added: "In addition to lowering the price of salt, I think the Ministry of Revenue has one more thing to do..."
"What's the matter?" Lin Xuwen asked with a sad face, "You won't ask the Ministry of Household Tax Relief on the 17th, will you?" He can understand Lin Mengde's mood. The plate is so big, and Lin Fu has no idea how to spend the money.
It's heartbreaking - the Ministry of Household Affairs has come forward to reduce taxes, but it is the Ministry of Household's annual income that has been reduced. Now that the new policies cannot be implemented, this loophole is getting bigger and bigger.
"You guessed it," Lin Fu said, "After the emperor ascended the throne in Jiangning, he imposed additional levies on the Jiangnan provinces three times in a row, which brought the farmers in Jiangnan to the limit. If the restrictions are not relaxed, civil unrest is likely to occur in Jiangnan.
Then the gains will outweigh the losses..."
The chaos in Huaisi is still fresh in people's memory, and the disaster in Huaisi was so tragic that it will be unforgettable for a hundred years.
In the 9th year of Chongguan, the Yan army invaded the border area, which caused great damage to Yan Ji and others. However, because it lasted only a short time, it was easy to recover. The Huaisi rebellion that swept the Central Plains and the rebellion of the people building embankments on the Yellow River really brought great influence to Vietnam.
The foundation of the Central Plains was hollowed out - by the end of Chongguan, even if Lin Fu had 200,000 soldiers and horses, he actually did not have the ability to compete with the Donghu people in the north. With the entire north being crippled, Huai
Eastern troops and horses can be transported to the north through waterways, but if they leave the offshore area to fight, their supplies will not be guaranteed.
"How should we loosen the ties?" Lin Xuwen asked with a face like a bitter gourd.
As long as the local foundation is not affected and the tax is reduced or reduced, the prefectures and counties will definitely welcome it. What will be reduced will only be the annual income of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
"Every household is allowed to be exempted from tax by a tenth of a tenth, and we also need to ask for an order to force the local government to reduce the tax to the corresponding headcount!" Lin Fu said.
"Only one less?" Lin Xuwen asked.
"Only reduce one digit, and the rest will remain unchanged!" Lin Fu said with great certainty.
The Ding tax is also a form of oral tax. All Ding men aged seven to sixty have to pay it. Only officials, gentry and nobles can be exempted from it. Since the Yue Dynasty, Ding Zhuang and Yi servants were allowed to pay oral tax in lieu of exemption, and eventually it was combined with the land tax.
One of the most important sources of central finance.
The existence of the Ding tax has, on the one hand, suppressed the increase in the Ding population, but on the other hand, it has also led to a large number of household evaders.
The actual number of Dingkou recorded by the Ministry of Household Affairs is much lower than the actual number - the household registration information of the Ministry of Household Affairs is the most complete. As soon as Lin Fu opened his mouth, Lin Xuwen quickly calculated how big the gap would be: 800,000
Two silver coins - fortunately it was only reduced by one cent.
Lin Fu is reducing the tax by 10% at this time, and will not consider completely exempting it in the future, but will merge the 10% tax from Yuding into the local finance, mainly to focus on the role of suppressing population growth - after the 10% tax from Yuding is merged into the local finance
, local officials will do their best to catch fugitives, and fugitives will do their best. Good habits should be developed from the beginning.
Lin Xuwen smiled bitterly and said: "If we do both things at the same time, Cheng Yuqian and others will not object, they will definitely wait to see our good show!"
The military support in Huaixi will have to be offset by the taxes of Shou, Hao, Xinyang and other prefectures in two years. The income and expenditure of the household department will drop sharply, which will have no substantial impact on Huaixi. Xiangtan, Jinghu and other armies
, and also controls a large area of territory. Taxes are only reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs in name only. Those who will really be affected will be the salaries of Chizhou soldiers and horses, Huaidong itself and Jiangning officials.
If these two things are done at the same time, the annual income of two million taels is likely to be short. The annual interest rate for borrowing money from Huaidong Bank has been reduced, but the Ministry of Accounts will still have to pay an additional five hundred thousand taels every year - Cheng Yuqian, Zhang Yan and others will naturally
I am happy to see Huaidong's good show.
"Minus!" Lin Fu waved his hand and said, "The foundation is not solid. It is impossible to gain any advantage by fighting Yan Lu two years ago. If the people are unsettled, if they implement the New Deal, there will be great resistance..."
Lin Fu has no intention to implement the New Deal in the Seven Prefectures of Jiangnan for the time being, so he does not directly control the government. In addition to maintaining stability at the moment, another reason is that the taxes in the Seven Prefectures of Jiangnan are extremely heavy, and the people are already breathless, so they are forced to implement it.
Even after the New Deal learns about local forces, it cannot immediately benefit ordinary people. Local instability factors will increase sharply and become difficult to control.
When Lin Fu implemented the New Deal in Chongzhou, it was because the local forces in Chongzhou had been severely beaten by the Donghai bandits and had lost their power. Only after they were confident enough did they implement the New Deal in Hailing, Huai'an and other prefectures.
"Bite your teeth," Lin Mengde became optimistic and advised Lin Xuwen, "Just survive the first two years."
The annual income of the Ministry of Household Affairs will be reduced by two million silver, which will be spread to households in Jianghuai, Zhejiang and Fujian. Each family will receive two or three buckets of rice. It may not seem like much, but it can really help the people who have reached their limit to breathe a sigh of relief.