Zhang Yue and Lu Dafang took office immediately after meeting Empress Dowager Cao. The two of them did not even get the order. The top priority now is how to stabilize the price of salt in the capital.
The Sansi Government Office was the largest official office in the Song Dynasty.
There are twenty-four cases in the Three Divisions. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, there were 897 officials in the Three Divisions, including 156 people from the Salt and Iron Department, 182 people from the Duzhi Department, and 227 people from the Household Department.
During the Qingli period, the number of people reached thousands.
The Third Division was the starting point for many famous ministers, such as Zhang Dexiang and Zhang Pin of the Zhang family, who both served as governors.
Zhang Yue and Lu Dafang arrived here together, and first went to see Cai Xiang, the envoy of the Third Division, in the Envoy Hall of the Third Division.
Cai Xiang's life is a little difficult now. There are rumors in the government and the public that when the official was established as the prince, everyone knew that the big plan had been decided. However, among the officials, Cai Xiang was the only one who complained about it.
There are also rumors that Cai Xiang once wrote a letter to the late emperor to advise him not to establish a prince. The letter is still banned.
This rumor is unfounded.
However, the problem is that when the late emperor established the crown prince, Cai Xiang was one of the most trusted ministers in the officialdom. Although there was no evidence that he expressed his opposition to the establishment of a prince, there was also no evidence that he supported the prince.
Whether you believe it or not depends on the officials themselves.
When Lu Dafang and Zhang Yue met Cai Xiang, they laughed and chatted for a few words. Cai Xiang told Zhang Yue that the Queen Mother had repeatedly told him to stabilize the price of grain and salt, and asked him to go to the Salt and Iron Hall to start the matter immediately. He had to explain to the Queen Mother when he went to court.
Lu Dafang, as Zhang Yue called him, came down to the Salt and Iron Hall under the guidance of officials.
The highest official of the Salt and Iron Department is the deputy envoy of salt and iron. The current deputy envoy of salt and iron is Fan Shidao. Fan Shidao is Fan Zhongyan's nephew, but he was not on good terms with Han Qi and Chen Shengzhi. He learned that Han Qi had installed Zhang Yue and Lu Dafang. The two of them went to the hall and were very unhappy about the sand mixing.
Fan Shidao said to the two of them: "When you first came to the hall, you were supposed to pick up the wind, but now you know what happened just after you met the provincial governor. You don't need to pick up the wind. How do you keep the price of salt down after you have negotiated with Judge Chu? Mr. Zhang You have to come up with a statement today."
Zhang Yue said yes.
He had been informed before coming, and Fan Shidao's attitude towards this was expected.
In addition to the deputy envoy, there is also a judge who is not in the office today.
Afterwards, they came to the First Judge's Court to meet with the outgoing Judge of the Third Division, Chu Jianzhong.
Chu Jianzhong is about to be appointed as the transfer envoy of Kui Road. As the first judge of the Salt and Iron Department, he is in charge of four cases: the military case, the armor case, the salt case, and the tea case.
When Zhang Yue heard this, he realized that the other party was truly a great person.
You must know that among the twenty-four cases of the Three Divisions, the four cases of Commercial Tax, Zhou, Qu, and Salt are the most dramatic.
The three cases of commercial tax, housing, and salt are all in the Salt and Iron Department. The other party is responsible for both the construction and salt cases, and is also in charge of the other two cases. You can see how powerful it is.
Chu Jianzhong said: "Deputy Ambassador Fan explained before that the salt case in my hands will be handed over to Zhang Xueshi. As for the military case, the Zhou case, and the tea case, I will hand over to Judge Lu. Do you know this in your heart?"
Zhang Yue had no objection. Unlike Lu Dafang, he had no experience in governing local areas. One salt case was almost the limit.
When Chu Jianzhong was delivering the goods to Zhang Yue and Lu Dafang, a scarlet-robed official happened to enter.
Chu Jianzhong smiled and said: "Judge Cai!"
Lu Dafang and Zhang Yue hurriedly greeted him. This person was Cai Kang, another judge of the Salt and Iron Hall.
Before Cai Kang became the judge of salt and iron, he had already been a transit envoy. Both his official position and seniority were far above Zhang Yue and Lu Dafang. He was currently in charge of commercial tax cases, iron cases, and criminal cases.
The other party exchanged a few pleasantries, and then said with a smile: "My Second Judge's Court is located in the west, and it is always annoying to be exposed to the western sun in the afternoon. After Brother Chu was promoted, I just moved into this hall."
Zhang Yue had heard about the officialdom of the Song Dynasty. The competition for the first office and the first court in the yamen was always very fierce. The implication was that I would occupy this position first.
There is an unwritten rule in the yamen. For internal promotions, priority is given to the first department and the first hospital.
After Cai Kang said this, Zhang Yue and Lu Dafang would not compete with each other for the first hospital of Salt and Iron Hall. They are both newcomers and there is nothing to fight with.
After that, Zhang Yue went to the second hospital, and Lu Dafang went to the third hospital.
The main hall of the Salt and Iron Hall faces south, and the Deputy Envoy and Gouyuan work in the same department, but one is in the east and the other is in the west.
The first court, the second court, the third court and the fourth court are assigned to the judges in order. The third court of the first court faces the east, and the fourth court of the second court faces the west. However, there are only three judges in the Salt and Iron Hall now, so the third court faces the east.
The fourth courtyard is just empty.
To the north is the Seven Cases Office of the Salt and Iron Department. Each case has a Kong Mu in charge. For example, the salt case under Zhang Yue has more than fifty subordinate officials. It is indeed a case with complicated affairs.
After Zhang Yue arrived at the courtyard, he looked at the several sycamore trees planted in the courtyard for a long time. From today on, he, like these trees, took root in the salt and iron hall.
After Zhang Yue arrived at the hospital, he immediately summoned Kong Mu to discuss the price of salt banknotes.
As the saying goes, "There are a thousand lines above and a needle below." Empress Dowager Cao asked about the price of salt, Han Qi put pressure on the Third Division, Cai Xiang, the envoy of the Third Division, spoke, and Fan Shidao, deputy envoy of salt and iron, asked Zhang Yue to come up with a statement.
When Zhang Yue arrived, he immediately consulted Kong Mu.
From high-level execution to grass-roots execution, this is just one step.
Kong Mu's surname is Zhang and his given name is Shan. He has been working on the salt case for more than thirty years and has served countless officials. In fact, the day before Zhang Yue took office, Zhang Kongmu went to his house to visit Zhang Yue. It turned out that when Wu Yu was appointed as the salt and iron judge,
, Zhang Shan is his trusted person.
As soon as Zhang Kongmu saw Zhang Yue, he said: "We are all very happy to learn that the bachelor has been transferred, and we have specially prepared a small gift."
Zhang Yue said to Zhang Kongmu: "When I first took office, I wanted to borrow more from Kongmu. Yesterday the Queen Mother tasked me with stabilizing food prices within a month, and I asked Kongmu to help me with this matter. I understand these thoughts first, and we will do it.
Let’s discuss this later after it’s settled.”
Zhang Kongmu said with embarrassment: "Bachelor, let's slowly figure out a solution for the salt price matter, and first get familiar with the case."
Zhang Yue said: "There is no time. The deputy envoy asked me to come up with a statement today."
Zhang Kongmu said: "So quickly... did the bachelor mistreat the deputy envoy?"
Zhang Yue said: "Maybe! Please ask Kong Mu to teach me the secret."
Zhang Kongmu said: "Mysterious, let me think about it, let's start with Duyanyuan..."
When Zhang Yue heard this, he clapped his legs and said: "Duyanyuan... I heard it yesterday when I went to Jiaoyinpu. Now Kong Mu mentioned it again, this must be the key. Let's go there immediately and talk as we go."
Zhang Kongmu did not expect Zhang Yue to act so vigorously and resolutely, doing whatever he said. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Zhang Yue had already taken his hand and walked out of the door together.
Zhang Yue and Zhang Kongmu rushed to the Capital Salt Garden in a carriage.
Zhang Kongmu and Zhang Yue talked about Duyanyuan, which was established in the third year of Jiayou's reign. It was a new yamen with two supervisors, five officials and eight scalers.
Speaking of the Capital Salt Institute, we must mention a great reform of the salt industry in the Song Dynasty, the Salt Banknote Law.
The official who proposed this law was named Fan Xiang.
Originally, the salt law of the Song Dynasty was completely monopolized by the court, and it was promoted by officials and sold by officials.
After the Song Dynasty fought against Xixia, in order to facilitate the supply of military food, they took out the salt from the pond and changed the prohibition law (official property, official transportation, official sales) to the trade law (official property, commercial transportation, commercial sales).
After merchants transported millet to the northwest and obtained the coupons, they could use the coupons to the capital to exchange for salt coupons. After the merchants obtained the salt coupons, they went to Jiechi to collect salt and transported it to various places for sale.
But during the Qingli Year, the Song Dynasty and Xixia fought in the northwest. Hundreds of thousands of Song Dynasty troops were stationed in the northwest. The problem with the method of transporting so many soldiers and horses was exposed. Merchants often sent inferior grain to the northwest and then to the capital. Replace the salt lead.
So Fan Xiang proposed reforms.
Merchants did not need to transport millet to Shanxi. Instead, they used money to buy salt directly in the capital. The imperial court then gave the money to the Shaanxi Transportation Department and asked them to use the money to buy their own military rations, so that they did not have to buy inferior military rations.
After this system was implemented, problems soon arose.
Because after self-consumption of grain and grass was converted into real money, the imperial court issued salt banknotes in large quantities without restraint.
Because the price of salt fluctuates severely with the seasons, and the merchants in the capital have identified the currency properties of salt banknotes, they speculate on the salt banknotes. As a result, the merchants who bought the salt banknotes in the past either lost money and went home with the salt banknotes in their hands. The salt banknotes issued indiscriminately by the imperial court cannot be retrieved from the salt ponds, or the salt banknotes have been speculated and sold so high that it is difficult to find a single banknote.
In the third year of his stay in Jiayou, Fan Xiang reformed the salt law again.
First of all, the issuance price of six pieces of salt salt banknotes was strictly stipulated, and a capital salt institute was set up in the capital.
The Sansi Yamen invested 200,000 guan to the Capital Salt Bank. Once the price of the salt banknote dropped to 5 guan, the Duyan Bank would buy it back with 5 guan and 500 yen. Once the price of the salt banknote soared, the court would use the market price minus 5 guan to buy back the salt banknote. Selling salt banknotes worth 100 yen keeps salt prices down.
Now when Zhang Yue arrived at Duyanyuan, he saw a long queue in front of the hospital, all holding cash in their hands, but the gate of Duyanyuan was closed.
Zhang Yue asked Zhang Kongmu: "Why is there no one in the yamen selling salt banknotes?"
Zhang Kongmu sighed: "In the past, the banknote law was corrupted and the imperial court was issuing false banknotes indiscriminately. This is the Salt Court. The Third Division originally allocated 200,000 yuan to collect salt banknotes, but because there were too many salt banknotes, the 200,000 yuan was used up.
Duyanyuan has no money to buy banknotes for several months."
Zhang Yue said: "Why doesn't the Third Division allocate more money?"
Zhang Kongmu said: "The salt banknotes are issued by the Shaanxi Transportation Department, and all the profits belong to the northwest. These salt banknotes were issued indiscriminately, and in the end, the Sansi Yamen was required to pay for the collection, and the Yamen were unwilling. Previously, the Shaanxi Transportation Department asked us to allocate money
After several requests, I was recommended by the provincial governor."
Zhang Yue asked: "What about the salt banknotes purchased before?"
Zhang Kongmu said: "The price of salt was slightly loosened at the beginning of the year, and finally some merchants came to the Capital Salt Institute and were willing to buy salt banknotes. The Capital Salt Institute had a handful of salt banknotes but didn't have a penny in them. If anyone was willing to accept them, they would give them as much as they wanted."
"The price of salt rose slightly, and there was some trouble. That is, some unscrupulous people came to the Yanyuan to buy banknotes and then sold them to Jiaoyin shops to make profits from the price difference. When the price of salt skyrocketed later, there was not much money left in the hands of the Yanyuan.
"
Zhang Yue couldn't help but wonder, this salt banknote method is obviously a good method, how could it be done like this? When the price of salt is low, there is no money to buy it, and when the price of salt is high, there is no money to sell it.
Zhang Yue said: "Why don't you ask the Shaanxi Transportation Department for more money?"
Zhang Kongmu sighed: "The bad thing is here. Before, our three departments refused to allocate money. Now the salt money has skyrocketed. The remaining money in the hands of the Shaanxi Transport Department is also valuable, so it refuses to give it."
Zhang Yue was also convinced. When the price of salt banknotes was low, the court tried its best to print banknotes. When the price of salt banknotes was high, it stopped printing.
