Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 518 What is the ticket salt law?
The waiting time is excruciating.

Liu Zhi felt this way.

The simplicity of Nanjing's imperial palace also carries a strong deterrence. Those eunuchs and maids passing by in a hurry gave him great psychological pressure.

Although he was in the shade of a tree, his heart felt like it was being roasted.

The meaning of the Lianghuai salt transport envoy, plus him as the head of the salt merchant is self-evident.

With his head down, his eyes were closed tightly, and his right hand tightly held the money bag. In the face of power, money is like snow meeting the morning sun, and his fate has long been doomed.

But for him, money is the last straw...

In fact, as the leader of the salt merchants, he knew that the fate of the salt merchants was irreversible the moment Emperor Shaowu entered Nanjing.

Even though he sent money to celebrate the queen's birth and relieved the emperor's urgent need, he was with Huizhou and Shaanxi merchants.

"Hu Ju, you actually smelled something, and you didn't even see my face!"

"The guild is fine, just like the grain merchants' guild, but the profits are too thin, and it's cheaper for those untouchables."

Thinking of this, he felt sad.

After engaging in a lucrative salt industry, who would value the hard-earned money of Huizhou merchants?

After a long time, he heard a rush of footsteps.

Looking up, I saw Wei Kang, the envoy of the Lianghuai salt transport, hurried away, his face was pale and nervous.

It seems that he didn't see his figure, and hurried away.

Just as he was about to speak, he was stopped by the stern eyes of the eunuch, as if he would be eaten raw if he opened his mouth.

Suppressing his thoughts, he saw an eunuch approaching with his head held high, and his shrill voice was especially piercing: "Long Live Lord wants to see Liu Zhi—"

"Liu Zhi is here!" The little eunuch on the side hurriedly responded.

"Eunuch—"

Liu Zhi cupped his hands, quite respectfully.

"Let's go!"

Glancing at Liu Zhi, who had a wide face and a high forehead, the eunuch walked straight forward, lowering his head along the way, repeating the etiquette of Mianjun.

Regarding this, even though he had heard it several times, Liu Zhi had a respectful attitude and did not dare to get bored, so he handed over a roll of bank notes.

"Eunuch, please be kind."

The eunuch touched it, then glanced at it. The huge 1000 taels made his heart skip a beat, and his footsteps were a little unsteady.

He is no stranger to bank notes.

After Emperor Shaowu took over Nanjing, Shaanxi merchants opened their banks in Nanjing. With the acquiescence of the imperial court, banknotes ran rampant, and Huizhou merchants and salt merchants were not far behind and opened banks.

However, for financial institutions such as banks and money shops, the Ministry of Households imposes heavy taxes, and banks that issue bank notes must pay tens of thousands of taels of silver every year.

I don't know how many people were scared away for a while, but at the same time, a large number of powerful merchants were screened out.

In this regard, there are only eight banks in Nanjing, all of which are established by powerful merchants, and all provinces have strongholds for exchange at any time.

"Yeah!" With a soft snort, he quickly put away the bank notes, and the eunuch's attitude became much more friendly.

"I don't know what's going on today?"

Liu Zhi pointed to the sky and asked the key point.

"It's clear and cloudless, but it seems to hide thunder. After all, the rainy season is really unpredictable."

The eunuch said softly.

He seemed to feel embarrassed holding 1000 taels, and he added: "God's will is hard to violate. Instead of going against the sky, it's better to wear a bamboo hat and an umbrella, which is also safe."

"Thank you father-in-law."

It seems that the emperor is going along with the donkey, irreversible, even if it is Thunder's Wrath, he has to follow it happily.

Otherwise, how can you say that thunder, rain and dew are all the grace of the king?
Thank you, Lord Long, for your kindness, you just cut yourself to death; if you talk back and go against the law, you will be ransacking your family and exterminating your family.

Liu Zhi smiled wryly, and cupped his hands.

"What are you thanking me for? Aren't we chatting about weather?"

The eunuch wondered, Yuan Yuan quickened his pace and put some distance away from him.

Liu Zhi didn't take it seriously, no matter how careful he was in the palace, it was right.

Do not look at evil along the way, walked for half a quarter of an hour before seeing the emperor.

This is a little different from when he first entered Nanjing.

At that time, the emperor was full of heroic appearance, full of bravery and murderous aura, and exiled dozens of nobles and six high-ranking officials of the imperial court overnight, which can be described as shocking.

But now, just like the Ming emperor who came over 200 years ago, he grows a beard and looks very restrained.

But his eyes are bright, which shows that the hero is still as powerful as a rainbow, and he can lay down millions of corpses in just a few words.

Of course, the distance is too far, and a sneak peek is the only impression, and the specific appearance is too vague.

"Caomin, Liu Zhi of Yangzhou, greet His Majesty!"

Ten steps away from the emperor, he simply knelt down and shouted.

"Get up!"

Zhu Yixi was wearing a looser uniform at this time. If he hadn't met Wei Kang and Liu Zhi, he would have changed into a Taoist robe a long time ago, enjoying the cool coolness.

In his eyes, Liu Zhi is a typical image of a salt merchant. Although his eyebrows are low and pleasing to the eye, he can't hide his shrewdness.

And unlike those ordinary people, who are calm and composed, the magistrates and magistrates in those places may not be as good as he behaves.

"Perhaps you already know that the person I interviewed just now was Wei Kang, envoy of the Lianghuai Salt Transporter, and you are the second."

The emperor said casually: "In addition to you, in the next few days, I will also receive the salt transport envoys from Changlu, Shandong, Liangzhe, and Guangdong."

As soon as these words came out, Liu Zhi's heart sank.

Obviously, the emperor has made up his mind, and the reform of the salt industry is already on the line, and no matter how hard it is, it cannot be reversed.

"The reason why I called you, a salt merchant, is that Huai salt sells well in Yingtianfu, Anhui, Jiangsu, Huguang, and Henan, and it is the number one salt industry in the world."

As he said that, the emperor seemed to be chatting and laughing, and said: "The Gangsalt Law has been implemented for decades. Although it has contributed a lot to the country, in my opinion, it has not had the expected effect."

"More than two million taels is only double the previous one hundred and 300,000 taels, but I am familiar with history books, but only half of the country in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the salt tax is tens of millions, which is several times that of the current dynasty."

"I don't know, is it because I can't eat enough, or the price of salt is so high that the common people can't afford official salt?"

These words were like sharp arrows piercing into Liu Zhi's heart. Of course, he had countless reasons to refute, such as the court's lack of anti-smuggling, and the price of salt in this dynasty was less than half of what it was in Song Dynasty.

But when he came, he had already accepted the eunuch's message, and he could only follow the emperor's direction, not against it.

"Your Majesty is wiser than you, and the grassroots are ignorant and don't know why." Liu Zhi surrendered directly.

"That's it."

I was choked at once, and the emperor was about to refute them one by one!
Zhu Yixi lost interest immediately: "From now on, at the location of Huaiyan, the key salt system will be cancelled, and the ticket salt system will be implemented."

"Grass people are stupid, so what if they don't know this ticket?"

Liu Zhi was really puzzled now.

"That is to say, the general merchant system will be abolished, the salt merchants will no longer stick to you, and the salt will be sold publicly. As long as they pay the money, anyone will be a salt merchant."

(End of this chapter)