Chapter 162 Teaching the Taoist Priest (Subscription Request)
Everyone left.

The Wanshou Palace Hall fell into silence.

Outside the palace gate.

Yan Shifan, who had been waiting for the result, saw the old man and other cabinet members coming out and hurried over.

"Dad, what's going on?"

Yan Shifan looked back again.

"Where is my son?"

Yan Song, however, was deep in thought.

On the other side, Yuan Wei, who was supporting Lord Yan, explained, "The emperor discussed the Lianghuai salt affairs in the imperial court, and His Majesty agreed to rectify the Lianghuai salt administration, boost the salt workers' capital, prohibit private salt, and stop advance payments. Then he kept Yan Shidu in the palace."

"what?"

Yan Shifan looked puzzled and glanced at Xu Jie and Gao Gong who were walking together: "Your Majesty, why did you leave my son alone?"

Yuan Wei looked puzzled: "Your Majesty wants Yan Shidu to recite a few scriptures for him."

This is even more rare.

Yan Shifan was about to ask again when Yan Song grabbed his wrist.

"Go back first. I'm very tired."

Yan Shifan glanced at the old man and then nodded.

"Good good."

……

And behind the Wanshou Palace Hall.

It is similar to the layout of the rear hall of Yuxi Palace.

Jiajing rolled up his Taoist robe and hid on the Taoist platform.

Lu Fang was sitting at a table nearby, preparing tea and other refreshments for the emperor.

Yan Shaoting, who was left alone, stood there.

hum.

The newly made jade chime emitted a long and melodious sound.

Yan Shaoting looked around.

The Wanshou Palace is indeed much larger than the Yuxi Palace, not only in terms of the area outside, but also in terms of the area inside the main hall.

And after heavy cover in the distance.

Yan Shaoting even vaguely saw a number of bookshelves filled with books, but they did not look like books.

These are probably the Taoist priest’s small account books.

Yan Shaoting began to wonder in his heart what was in the account books of the real Minister of Finance of the Ming Dynasty.

I can’t guess what’s in the Taoist priest’s account book.

Yan Shaoting's eyes fell on Jiajing who was standing under the Taotai again.

obviously.

The Taoist priest did not ask someone to recite any scriptures for him.

Then it can only be a matter of reforming the salt administration.

"I just interrupted you at the end. Do you understand what I meant?"

At this time, Jiajing finally spoke and asked.

Yan Shaoting bowed and nodded.

"Your Majesty's heart is as deep as the abyss, and your will is as high as the sky. I dare not speculate on your majesty."

Jiajing smiled and shook his head: "You sly boy!"

After saying this, Jiajing's gaze gradually became deep and long as he stared at the young and heroic Yan Shaoting in front of him.

Such a young man's heroic spirit.

I had it myself back then too.

At that time, I had just traveled north from Anlu to Beijing, and I was just as ambitious and high-spirited as the young man in front of me today.

It's just...

Jiajing sneered: "Do you know when I entered this Beijing city?"

The emperor suddenly asked.

Yan Shaoting's heart sank, and then he answered carefully: "It was April of the sixteenth year of Zhengde."

Jiajing shook his head.

"It was April 21, the 16th year of the Zhengde reign. I entered the city at noon."

Yan Shaoting looked at Jiajing with a puzzled look on his face, wondering why this Taoist priest suddenly brought up this matter.

Jiajing smiled and said, "My brother passed away without any heirs, and I succeeded him as the emperor. At that time, I was much younger than you are now."

"Your Majesty is wise and wise. In times of national crisis, you have inherited the throne, stabilized the government, and supported the country. This is a blessing for the rulers, ministers, and people of the Ming Dynasty."

Yan Shaoting offered the offerings respectfully.

At the moment, I don’t know what the Taoist priest’s rules are.

What else can I do except flatter?

Jiajing continued, "It was difficult for me at that time. I was young and lived in the capital. Fortunately, I was blessed by my ancestors and was able to carry on the legacy without causing the collapse of the country.

"Since I ascended the throne, I have abolished the bad policies of the previous dynasty, reduced taxes to support the people, killed eunuchs, and abolished the Leopard House. I have worked hard on government affairs, rectified the excessive, abolished the prisons, strictly enforced supervision, promoted virtuous officials, punished corruption and suppressed evil.

I can go to the ancestral temple to comfort my ancestors and say that I am worthy of being a son of the Zhu family of the Ming Dynasty!"

Yan Shaoting bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty is a wise and enlightened monarch, the father of all the people in the world. The peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty all depend on your Majesty."

Jiajing smiled.

He looked at Yan Shaoting and said with a smile: "You are very young. I feel that you look a bit like me back then."

Yan Shaoting quickly lowered his head even deeper. "I dare not."

Jiajing suddenly smiled and said, "Don't dare? If I hadn't spoken just now, would you really have said that you wanted to reform the salt administration?"

"minister……"

Yan Shaoting hesitated: "I do want to make a memorial to the emperor about the reform of the salt administration, but it is not just about the reform of the salt administration."

At this time, Lu Fang had already brought a cup of tea from the side and brought it to the Taoist priest.

Jiajing took the tea, but held it in his palm.

"Tell me, what new ideas do you have?"

Yan Shaoting bowed and then stood up straight.

He glanced sideways at Lu Fang who had stepped back into the distance after serving the tea.

Seeing that the other party had silently held the ink pen in his hand, he spoke.

"Your Majesty, although I have only been in the court for a short time, I am fortunate to have your Majesty's favor and to be in charge of various matters."

"I believe that if a country wants to have a harmonious government and people, it should first focus on the economy, then the administration of officials, and finally the military."

"The court is in a difficult situation now because the treasury is empty."

"Now Yan Maoqing has gone south to inspect the salt in Lianghuai to relieve the empty treasury. Today, I am talking about the salt policy in Lianghuai in the hope that Your Majesty will approve and change the court's salt policy."

Jiajing's eyes tightened. This kid was just as he thought. He finally had the idea of ​​reforming the salt administration.

His voice became longer: "How do you want to change it?"

"Regardless of whether it is regular salt, surplus salt or private salt, the salt administration all started during the reign of Emperor Taizu Hongwu, which has lasted for nearly 200 years. The court has long been plagued by many problems in salt administration. During the past 200 years, the court has been constantly implementing new policies, but they are just patchwork."

"I think the court should have the courage to sweep away the accumulated malpractices in the salt administration. The only way is to completely abolish the current salt administration that has accumulated malpractices for 200 years, clean up the salt administration room, and renovate and implement new salt administration policies!"

The Ming Dynasty's salt administration lasted for 200 years, but in fact the system was never really established from the beginning.

Just like the Ming Dynasty treasure notes.

At the beginning of the country, there was no monetary system for the world.

Everything was new and there had been no changes or revisions, and it had been going on in this muddled way for two hundred years.

Now even if you have great skills and abilities, there is no way to reverse the situation.

Only one.

Re-establish a new salt administration system and rebuild a new salt administration system.

Jiajing frowned and said, "Aren't you afraid that by the time the new salt tax policy is not fully implemented, it will cause chaos in the country?"

"I am afraid!"

Yan Shaoting answered decisively, and then changed the subject: "But I am more afraid that the old system of the Ming Dynasty's salt administration will never be changed. The court clearly has tens of millions of profits, but only gets a few million every year, and the money and grain flow into the hands of merchants and gentry, and even... the hands of the powerful."

Jiajing was silent.

He also knew the reason why the profits from the salt tax had been declining since the beginning of the country.

The salt merchants in the world stealing their profits is just one of the reasons.

Instead, countless people, from top to bottom, have their hands involved in the salt business, and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie.

Yan Shaoting continued, "Nowadays, the salt tax is being manipulated by all parties, and no one cares about the emptiness of the court. We might as well take advantage of the turmoil in the Lianghuai salt business to investigate the crimes of all parties and sweep away the old salt administration system.

The salt fields throughout the country were redefined, the salt households and salt workers were re-trained, the discount system was abolished, and the labor costs were all fixed with rice, wheat, or silver to support the salt households and salt workers in producing regular salt and prevent the smuggling of private salt.

The imperial court purchased salt from salt fields all over the country and prohibited advance payments to prevent the government from spending money before it could earn it. The imperial court took a small profit from the salt tax, and merchants from all over the country bought salt from the salt administration office and transported it to various places. Sometimes, the court used the method of opening the salt market to use the salt that had already been produced as a token of credit, and ordered salt merchants to open the salt market to transport food and grass to local garrisons and border troops.

Jiajing couldn't help but look up at Yan Shaoting, and after a while he spoke: "I heard about this so-called reform, but why is it still the old system?"

Jiajing's face showed confusion.

The new salt administration systems proposed by Yan Shaoting were actually just existing methods.

Yan Shaoting shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, my proposal focuses on the quota of labor costs for salt households and salt workers. Even if it is not as good as the surplus salt of Taizu, one jin of rice and wheat should be seven or eight, and local governments are not allowed to change it. Only in this way can the salt households and salt workers be sent to the government instead of being smuggled into merchants and turned into private salt.

Salt is also a daily necessity for the people. In the early days of the country, the price of salt was very low. However, it continued to rise due to the court's expenses, which led to the high price of official salt and the low price of private salt. Merchants were also unwilling to buy official salt, and instead made money from private salt.

Today, the salt administration makes only a little over a million in profit each year, but the silk from the southeast is already making tens of millions in profit from overseas sales.

I think that if the government provides salt for the daily needs of the people, it should not be priced high. If the government provides salt at a low price, how can private salt survive?

If private salt is eliminated, the people of the country will all buy official salt, and the court will still make huge profits. "

In fact, Yan Shaoting’s proposal on salt administration was nothing more than increasing the costs of salt households and lowering the price of official salt.

He felt that the Taoist priest should be able to understand what he said.

Jiajing also nodded, and said thoughtfully: "Preferential treatment to salt households and salt cooks to prevent the flow of salt production into private salt, small profits but quick turnover, the court will benefit more, this is what you mean."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Yan Shaoting took the opportunity to flatter him.

Then he went on to say: "As Your Majesty said, the most important thing for our salt administration is to make small profits but quick turnover. As long as the salt households and salt cooks see that the wages offered by the court are high enough, far exceeding the profits from smuggling salt, even if the court cannot completely cut off the smuggling of salt, it will surely reduce it sharply, and attach strict laws to supervise, rectify and punish it.

"By then, all the salt used by the people of the world will come from the official salt, and the price of official salt will be reduced so that everyone can buy it. Even if the price is low, as long as everyone uses official salt, the profits from the salt tax of the court will not decrease sharply, but will definitely increase greatly.

At present, merchants are unwilling to open or purchase official salt from the imperial salt administration because of the high price. They are more willing to take the risk of selling private salt. The official salt price is low, so merchants can buy salt from the imperial salt administration, which also reduces their costs. I think that under the law, merchants are unwilling to risk being beheaded for selling private salt all day long.

The reason is actually very simple.

Yan Shaoting could even assert that those so-called dignitaries in the Ming Dynasty court now also understood this truth.

Jiajing said: "I understand what you mean."

When Yan Shaoting said these words, Jiajing had already calculated in his mind how much benefit the court would gain by following Yan Shaoting's method.

It would indeed allow the imperial court to re-impose salt taxes and gain more profits.

Jiajing's voice dragged out a little.

"but……"

…………

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

(End of this chapter)