The reform of the salt policy has lifted off its glossy coat, revealing the rotten reality underneath.
Wei Kang, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy, wrote directly, saying: "There are dozens of Lianghuai salt fields, stretching for hundreds of miles. There are about 30,000 salt households on the list, but in fact, there are nearly 100,000."
Except for those who reproduced and escaped, the rest were all refugees or poor people.
A large number of envoys, with the help of their power, privately boiled salt and then sold it to private salt merchants. The price was low and the quality was good, thus making a lot of wealth.
As a result, there is insufficient official salt in the official salt farms, and private salt is everywhere, resulting in a continuous loss of tax revenue.
As for Huai salt, in addition to the salt method, there are also supporting salt method and salt field method.
Not to mention salt fields, turning boiled sea salt into sun salt not only saves a lot of fuel, but also creates artificial thresholds.
As long as you are close to the sea and have a pot and fuel, you can boil salt anytime and anywhere.
Salt fields are different. They require high-quality beaches and a lot of money and manpower to build salt fields, creating economies of scale.
As a result, the cost is naturally relatively high, but the profit is huge. The huge expenditure can naturally eliminate most of it. In addition, large-scale salt production will inevitably reduce the price of salt and make it difficult to survive privately.
After the implementation of the salt field method, it is no longer the case of boiling salt that requires more people and more power, but a certain number.
At this time, some salt farmers will be recruited as salt workers to work on time to make salt, thereby receiving monthly salary and completely closing the loopholes in salt production.
"With this innovation alone, Tongzhou Prefecture added 5,000 households and a population of more than 20,000; Yangzhou Prefecture added 2,000 households and a population of 50,000; and Haizhou Prefecture (divided from Huai'an and later Lianyungang) and Huai'an Prefecture,
A total of 7,000 households and more than 50,000 people have been added."
Yan Chongxin said like he was counting treasures, and the joy on his face could not be concealed: "The Ministry of Revenue estimates that these people will reclaim 200,000 acres of wasteland and saline-alkali land, adding more taxes to northern Jiangsu."
"The salt households have nothing and are not good at farming. Not only do the local authorities have to send people to teach them, but they also have to be exempted from tax for five years."
The emperor couldn't bear it and began to show mercy directly: "As for those saline-alkali lands, whether they are salt households or ordinary people, as long as they are cultivated, the imperial court will be exempted from tax for ten years."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Several cabinet members immediately raised their hands in admiration. This is indeed a generous move.
In the area of northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui, during the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Jin people were in conflict, the Yellow River diverted the Huai River and entered the sea. As a result, the Huai River no longer had an outlet to the sea for a long time, and had to change its course to join the Yangtze River at Sanjiangying.
As a result, the overflowing irrigation of the Yellow River caused a large amount of river water to accumulate and could not be drained. It was exposed to the sun and rain for a long time, forming millions of acres of saline-alkali land.
As a result, the entire Huanghuai Plain fell into a long period of agricultural decline, which did not recover for nearly a thousand years.
Therefore, in history, Jiangnan Province became Anhui and Jiangsu. In fact, it was a combination of fat and thin, with wealthy southern Anhui matching northern Anhui, and southern Jiangsu matching northern Jiangsu.
The restoration of saline-alkali land must be done slowly over a period of ten years without chemical fertilizers.
However, the advantageous side of the gentry has also been revealed. Since the peasants with a small family and a small population do not have the time and money to cultivate land, only the gentry with strong financial resources can.
"Your Majesty, although the salt field law is good, it can only be implemented in the south. Shandong Salt Fields and Changlu Salt Fields will probably remain the same as before."
Zhao Shu directly poured cold water on him.
What he said was true. Shandong and Changlu were boiled around the Bohai Sea. The weather in the north was extremely bad, so they could only let salt farmers cook, which would definitely be difficult to do in the salt fields.
As a result, the salt field method will not work, manpower is scarce, and the subsequent salt field method will definitely not work either.
He even had some words that he didn't say. The weather and terrain in salt fields are quite harsh, and even in the south, it cannot be implemented in full.
"Although the salt field method is not feasible, the salt field method is feasible."
The emperor still emphasized: "Replacing the tax system with employment is far simpler and more efficient than collecting salt, leaving no loopholes for those people."
To give a vivid metaphor, the previous salt households were equivalent to tenants. Most of the salt they cooked was given to the court, and the remaining salt could only be purchased by the court at a very low price.
After the Salt Law, salt households were just long-term workers for the landlords, and they were provided with food and housing, which was much easier in comparison.
After a discussion with the cabinet, they still felt that it was not possible because the employment cost was too high.
Even if there are only 30,000 to 40,000 salt workers, at 5 silver cents per month, it would cost nearly 200,000 silver dollars a year, and how much is the salt tax? Over two million!
The previous no-cost business was still comfortable, even though it was at the expense of the salt households.
However, the emperor made up his mind and said bluntly: "Once the salt diced system is produced, combined with the salt fields and salt production, the annual salt tax will not be more than 2 million? At least 10 million."
"When the time comes, this little money will be like a drop in the bucket, not worth mentioning."
The cabinet is not willing to give in even an inch. Knowing that the emperor's will cannot be violated, it can only choose to compromise:
If the trial at Huaiyan goes well, it can be rolled out across the country.
In this way, Huaiyan entered a period of profound reform.
However, while Jiangnan and other places were discussing the salt policy, You Shiwei, who was far away in Gansu, was facing the coming military disaster.
Li Zicheng surrendered the Tumote tribe with difficulty in the Qinghai area, and his troops gathered to 50,000.
But when he looked back, he found that his base, Suzhou, had been occupied by the Ming army, and a Gansu Province was established.
This made him extremely angry and immediately threatened to send troops.
And You Shiwei, who had only been guarded by Nian Bo for more than a month, was really scared.
It is only more than a hundred miles away from the Hehuang Valley and Xining Guards, and only three to four hundred miles away from the Tumote tribe. It only takes two days for the cavalry to march quickly.
But he was not afraid of the army, but of lack of food.
That's right, when he led an army of 30,000 and arrived at the dilapidated Nianbo Guards, which had been abandoned for many years, he finally realized one thing. The food road was too long and could easily be cut off.
The bad thing is that Li Zicheng has a lot of cavalry at this time. If the food road is cut off, the consequences will be disastrous.
So he tried to store as much food as possible to prevent unexpected events.
In this unfamiliar territory, where the voice of the Ming Dynasty had not been heard for a long time, the importance of food was constantly being elevated.
But even though he repeatedly solicited, he could only manage it for a month, which was far from enough.
"The control can require Shaanxi merchants to supply."
Jiang Quan suggested: "Only Shaanxi merchants know the roads, how to transport grain, and have enough grain to deliver it."
"But the asking price is too high."
You Shiwei sighed: "It's a thousand miles from Fengxiang to here, and it only costs three or four taels of stone grain. We can't afford it, and we can't force it."
Who doesn’t know that there are Shaanxi merchants standing behind the emperor, and even he had close relations with Shaanxi merchants when he was guarding Yulin. If he insists on asking for money and refuses to give him money, it is no less than poking a hornet’s nest.
My own grain transportation is even more idiotic. Shaanxi businessmen want money, but the common people are the most ruthless in eating grain, so they might as well give up the money!
Nowadays, we don’t have enough money and we can’t take advantage of others, which is very uncomfortable.