The five cabinet ministers, including Wang Qiong, did not know what to say.
After a long time, Mao Ji said: "Wang Shangshu, you can't calculate it this way. Border merchants need to travel long distances to open the country, and the cost of going back and forth is greatly increased. The court has to quote prices to compensate them."
Wang Yuan sneered: "Everyone knows how much is left in the Kaizhong system. If the Kaizhong system is really effective, Ye Shangshu (Ye Qi) of the Hongzhi Dynasty will not engage in the Yun Sina Silver System."
Mao Ji was silent. There was really no solution to this problem. To be honest, he wanted to change it, but there were too many interest groups involved.
Yang Yiqing said: "Reforms need to be done with great caution. Ye Shangshu reformed the salt policy and brought in millions of taels of silver to the national treasury in a short period of time. However, it resulted in the complete destruction of the Kaizhong system, and at the same time gave birth to the stubborn disease of hoarding households! Wang Shangshu,
Do you have full authority?"
Who controls the salt administration of Ming Dynasty now?
Not the court, but the households!
Ye Qi's reforms were well-intentioned, but he was so good at collusion between government and businessmen that he actually turned Yanyin into something similar to "salt futures."
Salt merchants have been divided into three categories: border merchants, water merchants, and domestic merchants. Border merchants transport grain to obtain salt imports, and sell the salt in their hands to domestic merchants. The domestic merchants use the salt merchants to purchase salt from the government, and then use the salt merchants to purchase salt through the water merchants.
The merchants transport them to various places for sale.
There seems to be no loopholes in this model, but after Ye Qi's reforms, domestic merchants can purchase salt directly from the government.
A group of wealthy and well-established merchants suddenly turned into hoarders and took the opportunity to buy salt in large quantities. Because there is a quota for salt every year, ordinary merchants cannot get salt.
Then, this group of hoarders bought salt in large quantities, making it impossible for ordinary local merchants to buy salt even if they had salt, let alone water merchants to transport it to border merchants.
The border merchants had salt in their hands, but they could not exchange it for table salt, so they could only sell the salt to hoarders at a low price. When the internal merchants found that the border merchants had no salt, they could only buy salt from the hoarders at a high price, and then take it with them.
Salt lead to buy salt for sale.
Do hoarders do nothing? Just hoard salt like crazy? Then they collude with the government to control salt shipments, artificially causing periodic salt shortages and extreme salt shortages? In this way, they squeeze border merchants and domestic merchants to earn the price difference? Salt Yin has been
They played "futures". At the same time, every year, the court issued salt quotations? In essence, the salt collectors distributed salt quotations, and the entire country's salt policy was controlled in the hands of the hoarders!
Who are the hoarders?
Mainly Huizhou merchants? Specifically referring to Lianghuai salt merchants? Including Huang Chongde who was doing business with Wang Yuan. Behind them were numerous dignitaries, such as Huang Chongde’s backer, including Wang Yuan! However, Huang Chongde did not give Wang Yuan
Conveying the benefits of selling salt? His hoarding of salt is due to collusion with other powerful people.
As Yang Yiqing said? Reform must be cautious.
The original intention of Ye Qi's reform was very good, and it did achieve results. However, it gave birth to monsters like "hoarding households". It's better not to change!
Moreover, this group of hoarders have not broken any laws, but are they just engaging in futures operations? Even if the government and businessmen collude to disrupt the market, there are no relevant laws to restrict them in Ming Dynasty. Even? They build bridges and pave roads, run schools and teach, are charitable, and have a good reputation in their hometown.
Very.
Yan Song had been the head of the Household Department for several years, and he happened to be in charge of the Salt Administration. Although he didn't know how to correct it, he was well aware of the long-standing shortcomings of the Salt Administration.
Wang Yuan and Yan Song often discussed related issues and worked out a set of reform plans. He said: "First, lower taxes!"
The cabinet bosses were all confused. They had promised to increase the salt tax, but why did they ask for a tax cut?
Compared with the Song Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, the salt tax in the Ming Dynasty was already very low, and it is simply unimaginable to reduce the tax.
"Why reduce taxes?" Yang Tinghe asked.
Wang Yuan said: "This tax is not a commercial tax, but a tax levied on kitchen households. Kitchen households work hard to burn salt and pay regular taxes for the court. According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the remaining salt should be purchased from them at a high price. But what is the actual situation? Kitchen households
After working hard to pay the main fees, the remaining salt was forcibly bought by the court at a low price. In this way, the kitchen households were miserable and could only secretly sell the remaining salt. The remaining salt was sold as private salt, and the court could not receive the salt at all.
Tax. To reform the salt policy, we must first start from the root, so that salt-burning kitchen households have a way to survive. Otherwise, no matter how we reform, it will just be a fucking mess!"
No one answered the call, and the reduction of salt classes for kitchen households was even more terrifying than the previous reform of the salt policy.
Historically, throughout the Ming Dynasty, the salt policy was reformed many times, but no official dared to lower the Zaohu salt tax. Because among all the salt tax items, the Zaohu salt tax is the best to collect, and it is a very stable tax. How could this be used?
Use the knife?
The further you get to the back, the less you dare to touch the kitchen salt class.
Don’t think that the salt tax is decreasing year by year. The Ming Dynasty salt tax is increasing year by year. The tighter the national finance is, the more salt tax can be collected. During the Zhengde period, the central salt tax revenue was less than one million taels, which was only equivalent to one-fifth of the central fiscal revenue.
1. By the Chongzhen period, the central salt tax had increased to 2.5 million taels, accounting for more than half of the central fiscal revenue!
Because other taxes could not be raised, emperors such as Wanli and Chongzhen had no choice but to take action against the salt tax. In order to collect the salt tax and crack down on hoarders, the Wanli Dynasty even instituted a hereditary system of salt merchants. Hoarders were indeed cracked down, but monopoly operations were not
Cause more trouble.
Wang Yuan said: "First, the regular tuition of kitchen households nationwide will be reduced by 10% to reduce the burden on kitchen households. Second, the surplus salt produced by kitchen households is allowed to be sold to merchants, and the government is not allowed to purchase it at a low price. Regular salt will be introduced.
The remaining salt will be given in small receipts, the payment will be closed at the end of the day, merchants will be invited to buy it, and the price will be paid to the Ministry of Finance (turned over to the Ministry of Accounts)."
What does it mean?
Reduce the main fees that kitchen households need to pay, prohibit the government from maliciously lowering prices to purchase, and increase the enthusiasm of kitchen households for production. Surplus salt beyond the main fees, which was not allowed to be sold privately before, can now be sold to merchants.
In order to collect taxes smoothly, every salt ticket obtained by a merchant is equipped with a corresponding receipt for the remaining salt. The merchant takes the salt envelope to the government to buy regular salt, and goes directly to the salt farm to purchase the remaining salt with the receipt, so that the remaining salt can be collected smoothly.
Tax. Otherwise, all the remaining salt will flow into the smuggling market.
In this way, salt shipments are directly doubled, and the remaining salt does not go through the government. It is difficult for hoarders to collude with government and businessmen to create a periodic salt shortage. Without a periodic salt shortage, the salt in the hands of border merchants can be smoothly transferred to the domestic market.
This will break the market control of hoarders and stimulate the activity of the entire salt market.
This method seems simple, but the premise is to increase the enthusiasm of kitchen households for production. To increase enthusiasm, the main courses must be reduced, and no one dares to touch the main courses because it involves military rations in border towns, so it is unsolvable for Ming officials.
.
Only Wang Yuan dared to break through the resistance and operate directly from the root.
Once this was said, not only Yang Yiqing and Wang Qiong praised it, but even Mao Ji and Jiang Mian admired it. Of course, they did not dare to do it themselves because they could not afford it if something went wrong.
Moreover, admiration is admiration, benefit is benefit, hoarders can control the market, how can it be possible without the protection of powerful people?
Mao Ji reminded: "Wang Shangshu, the matter of the salt policy is extraordinary. The regular classes of Zaohu are directly related to the military rations of the nine sides. If you reduce the regular classes, you will reduce the supply of military rations. If there is a slight mistake, the nine sides will be unstable. You can bear it.
rise?"
Wang Yuan sneered and said: "After the reform of the Nayin system, the Kaizhong system has long been dispensable. How much military ration can it supply? Some of the salt in the hands of border merchants is earned from transporting grain, and some is from grain.
Selling by the powerful? Not to mention reducing the regular salary of kitchen households by 10%, even if it is reduced by 30 to 50%, there will not be any big change in the military rations of Jiubian."
Yang Tinghe was extremely entangled at this time. He wanted to reform according to Wang Yuan's statement, but he was afraid of taking the blame for the failure of the reform. Even if the reform was successful, he would offend countless eunuchs, nobles, relatives, military generals and civil servants, and even many officials within the Yang Party.
Hate him.
"Let's discuss this matter later." Yang Tinghe still couldn't make up his mind.
Wang Yuan said angrily: "What's the point of further discussion? We are discussing it right now. Why bother looking for another day!"
Jiang Mian spoke up and said: "Wang Shangshu, this is Wenyuan Pavilion. As the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, you can make suggestions on the affairs of the vassal state. Matters concerning the salt administration belong to the Ministry of Husbandry. We will wait until you become the Shangshu of the Ministry of Husbandry."
Wang Yuan said: "I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and the affairs of the Ming Dynasty can be discussed by myself. Although I have no right to discuss matters in Wenyuan Pavilion, I can go back to the imperial court. Can you still shut my mouth?"
Mao Ji sighed and began to speak from the bottom of his heart: "Wang Shangshu, we know your intentions, who doesn't want to serve the country wholeheartedly? But reforming the salt policy is of great importance. If you don't pay attention, it will cause a boil. You can
Don’t you think about your own posthumous affairs? If everyone in the dynasty rebels, how can you, the Minister of Rites, continue to be in office?”
"Bang!"
Wang Yuan suddenly stood up, kicked away his chair, and shouted: "If you want harmony to benefit the life and death of the country, how can you avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings? You are an important minister of the Ming Dynasty, and the country has accumulated so many shortcomings that you don't even think about reform.
Instead, we are thinking about how to win over people's hearts and stabilize the court. Ten years from now, a hundred years from now, you will all be sinners of the Ming Dynasty!"
The cabinet ministers looked at each other in confusion.
Yang Yiqing himself supports reform. When he was young, he reformed Ma Zheng himself. He quickly recovered and clapped his hands and praised: "(Harmony) benefits the life and death of the country, how can (Harmony) avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings! Good poem,
Good sentence! Based on these two lines of poetry, I should also support the reform of the salt policy."
Wang Qiong said: "I also support Wang Shangshu."
Wang Yuan also said: "The third step in reforming the salt policy is to pay taxes based on kilograms at the local level, and no longer pay taxes based on ding!"
Yang Tinghe's face looked even more ugly. He didn't stop after offending the powerful people. Wang Yuan wanted to offend the local officials as well!
There are many types of salt taxes. There is a salt tax from households that burn salt stoves. This is the starting point of the salt tax and is equivalent to a production tax.
The end point of the salt tax is for local governments to sell salt and collect retail value-added tax. The lowest level is the county, and salt shops are not allowed to be opened at the township level. According to the population of each county, the amount of salt tax is fixed, that is, it is paid in dings
Salt tax. In other words, no matter how much salt is sold by the local government, as long as it pays a fixed tax amount, the rest can be divided among itself.
This is simply nonsense. The Ming Dynasty stipulated that a census should be carried out every ten years, but how could the local government actually check it? The number of registered residents reported was no different from that of a hundred years ago, and the local salt tax was also charged based on the population size of a hundred years ago.
Wang Yuan wanted to pay taxes by kilogram, which was equivalent to "divide a small person into an acre" in the salt policy reform, and directly take away a big cake from the hands of the local officials.
In the middle and early Qing Dynasty, salt tax was also paid based on population, and it was not until the 47th year of Qianlong that it was changed to per catty. Taking Mei County as an example, before Qianlong's reform, the county's salt tax was a few hundred taels, but after the reform, it soared to 7,400 taels.
, the entire difference was eaten up by the local officials!
Yang Tinghe was frightened by the "salt government stalls entering the property" and repeatedly waved his hands and said: "This matter will be discussed later, this matter will be discussed later."