eldest son of Ming dynasty

The quietness in the Qianqing Palace does not mean that the courtiers agree, but that they don't know how to respond to the emperor's words.

On the one hand, the emperor did not mention any of the matters of buying and selling nests in the Salt Law, and everything finally fell on the four characters of "reselling private salt".

The emperor has made a big opening.

If there are not even these four words, then the case will be anticlimactic and closed... In the end, it will be lightly uncovered and nothing will be changed.

But these courtiers are also people who know the emperor well, so lightly expose it?How can this be?

However, on the other hand, just reselling private salt is a word that involves a lot!
In fact, the change of the salt law really evolved step by step according to the actual situation. In the early years of Zhengde, at least several restrictions were broken.

One is that in the past, there were some examples of the opening of the Naliang in the past, and there were some examples of the opening of the Nayin in the Zhengtong and Chenghua years. At that time, it was because of financial difficulties. In order to solve a certain problem, the restrictions were relaxed. Reform is also based on previous examples.

When the silver is opened, the silver must be handed over to the salt transport envoy, and then the transport department will release the account department.That is to say, how much is the salt merchant to pay and how much is the salt to be opened? The first step is to be completed in the transportation department.

There are a lot of tricks here.There were not a few salt merchants who bribed transporters to play tricks.

Second, in the early years, the Taizu stipulated that the merchants in the newspaper must go to support the salt in person, and they cannot ask others to support it on their behalf.

But later, as the problem of keeping money worsens, a situation will arise, that is, the person in the report may be dead, so what about the salt in his hand?
Reluctantly, in the first year of Hongzhi, the court issued another decree, officially acknowledging the possibility of acting on behalf of the branch.

In the era when subsidy was not allowed, since the merchant had to pay the salt himself, there were not many physical restrictions on his ability to do so.

Because the entire set of procedures is very complicated, taking the Lianghuai saltworks as an example, the transportation company is in Yangzhou, and the inspection is in Huai'an. It takes time to run around, right?And a person's time is limited.

But after the subsidy is allowed, the people in the newspaper are not necessarily those who support the salt, so the rich and powerful can use many people to handle this matter.

In this way, the corruption of the salt law suddenly accelerated, and if it continued to evolve, ordinary salt merchants with no background would basically be unable to benefit from it.

The third change is also a helpless one, but it is not a small change.

That is, the imperial court allowed salt merchants to buy surplus salt directly from kitchen households in the form of buying surplus salt for regular courses.The reasons for this are also very practical:
After Chenghua, private salt has been rampant. Because the life of the kitchen households has become more and more difficult, these people have to secretly sell the remaining salt.

But on the other hand, salt merchants are unable to support salt because of insufficient salt production in salt farms.

That's why the imperial court simply admitted and allowed that salt merchants could directly buy surplus salt from kitchen households, so as to alleviate the problem of keeping expenditures.

At the same time, it also takes back part of the benefits into the hands of the court.

However, allowing salt merchants to purchase salt directly from kitchen households basically opened the door for private salt to flourish.

The situation Zhu Houzhao is facing now,
A dignitary can obtain improper benefits through a series of methods such as suing the emperor, inviting relatives or servants to report, subsidizing salt through his own identity, and directly selling private salt.

The situation has basically reached the point where private salt cannot be removed, and the more suppressed, the more there will be.

Yang Tinghe was considering the reality, and he said: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has a territory of thousands of miles. There are no less than two hundred salt farms, and they belong to various provinces. The kitchen households live in poverty. If there is any surplus salt, they will sell the surplus salt, and even those who have children will sell it. It is extremely difficult for the court to blindly stop the flow of private salt. Besides, the salt farms are scattered all over the country, so the court has to send a large number of officials to supervise them. But if the officials are guarding and stealing themselves, how will the court know? The so-called investigation of private salt must be done from the bottom of the pot. !"

Zhu Houzhao asked: "How to get rid of the bottom line?"

"It is to give the kitchen household a way to survive!"

"The remaining salt will no longer flow in, and at the same time, the imperial court will crack down on smugglers. With such a two-pronged approach, the situation may ease slightly."

"He's thinking right. Both ways."

Yang Tinghe's two-pronged approach did not reject his intention to strictly investigate the smugglers, it was even a supplement.Zhu Houzhao naturally did not hesitate to praise.

On the other side, Min Gui, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, said a practical question, "If Your Majesty wants to emphasize those who sell smuggled salt, I fear that the Ministry of Punishment will be overcrowded."

"Have I been magnanimous?" Zhu Houzhao understood their concerns, "Min Shangshu, everyone knows that private salt is cheaper than official salt, but do you know why it is cheaper?"

If this issue is to be clarified, the government of the country cannot look at it.

So it's hard to say.

So Zhu Houzhao said one of the answers, "Because private salt does not have to pay taxes!"

boom!
Following his words, he slammed the imperial case hard with his fist.

"You are all people who have read poetry and books. How can I spare him when I meet such an honored minister, internal official, and literati?!"

Everyone bowed their heads and knelt down.

Since they dare not speak,
Zhu Houzhao continued, "Yang Tinghe, draw up an order!"

The attendants Yan Song and Xie Pi brought a small square table with pens and paper on it, which were prepared earlier.

Yang Tinghe got up, held the pen in his hand, and waited for the order.

What Zhu Houzhao did will be violent. Once the order is issued, I don't know how many families will be broken.But from the 11th year of Hongzhi when he was still the prince, he had already thought about this clearly.

If he wants to be the holy king of Zhongxing, he must start from the righteousness that is beneficial to the country, be dignified and upright, and rule the country according to the law.

Just like inspecting private salt and arresting criminal officials, this is a move that can stand in any dynasty.

"...I inherited my ancestral business, and I am responsible for the country, the country, and the people of the Li people. I dare not forget it for a moment. However, the salt law has been corrupted to this point. In particular, the salt traffickers are detrimental to the country and stored by the border. It is the most hateful! Now it is necessary to declare its prohibition. , Increase the number of officers and soldiers, and strictly inspect and arrest. Anyone who smuggles salt and hides and resells the house will try to arrest him. The leader will take the lead as usual, and the rest of the party will also ask to serve as an army. The common law is strict and feared!"

As usual, the leader is the leader!
It is to beheaded!
The so-called emperor lay down millions of corpses in a fit of anger, just like now!
After Yang Tinghe finished writing, he submitted it for printing.

After finishing, Zhu Houzhao took it in his hand and said to all the ministers, "Everyone is flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"I've always been reasonable in my actions. You are either the court's nine ministers, or you are the family of the lords. The Ming Dynasty has the disadvantages of the salt law. Do you think it should be cured?"

Still no one spoke.

Where did Zhu Houzhao let them go, "Mr. Ying, you speak first!"

The British prince thought, the imperial decree has been written and sealed, so is there any point in asking this question now!

"Returning to the emperor, since it is a malpractice of the court, it should be dealt with naturally!"

"Duke Cheng, Duke Ding?"

"It should be treated."

"What about you?" The emperor faced the six ministers.

There was no surprise in the result, but Zhu Houzhao wanted them to say all these things.

Say it, and the next step will be easy.

"That's it, Liu Jin."

"The servant is here!"

"You represent the Supervisor of Rituals, the three princes represent the five military governors' mansions and the honorable ministers of the imperial court, the six ministers plus Dali Temple, the Tongzheng envoy, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate together draft an official document to act in accordance with my imperial decree! The official seal of the yamen does not have the signature of the yamen it belongs to! Afterwards, spread it all over the world, so that the people of the world can see it!"

Everyone was shocked, they didn't expect the emperor to come with such a move!
To be honest, this is not the first time Zhu Houzhao has done this.

This method is fine when it comes to important and difficult things.

Because in the final analysis, Daming's power is still pyramid-shaped. Zhu Houzhao has managed these dozen people, and it will not be easy for the rest of them to oppose it.

To put it more realistically, those people want to entrust relationships, but they don't know who to entrust.

And if there are "traitors" among the dozen or so people, then it will be easy to handle. When you said something and signed it, but you didn't do it yourself, who do you blame?

In addition, this form can also show the unity between the emperor and his courtiers in the court.

In the end, this is not the emperor's personal nonsense, but the result of many people's joint discussions.

Although, this is the result of Zhu Houzhao's half-forced,

But if you express your position in front of the emperor, don't you just talk and not sign?
There is no good thing in the world that is not responsible.

Zhang Fuhua, the imperial censor of Zuodu, who had been silent for a long time, sighed slightly in his heart. The emperor's methods were too sharp, and he had the demeanor of Emperor Taizong in the past.

But the emperor seemed to know this too, so he ignored the obstruction and firmly grasped Shangzhi's personal guard.

This is actually to use a steel knife to open the way...

Although what you do cannot be said to be wrong, it is unavoidably intense.

And these people, the emperor actually still cares about your attitude.Even if you really don't sign your name, maybe you won't lose your life, but you will definitely lose your official position.

It is still the first year of Zhengde, and in a few more years, the high-ranking officials in the imperial court who are in charge of one department will all be the emperor's people.

In the Qianqing Palace,

Zhu Houzhao just watched them draft the text, watched the supervisor of ceremonies stamp the seal, and watched the six departments send their respective seals.

In this case, it is equivalent to the imperial decree being issued first, and then all the main yamen in the court voiced their support.

Of course, having a big seal doesn't mean that there will be no principals, censors and other officials in the court to object, but their official positions are small after all. As long as these dozen or so people don't take the lead, what will happen to the rest of them?
Zhu Houzhao came to Han Wen, Minister of the Household Department, and handed over the imperial decree in his hands, "The salt class is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and you also wrote the memorial. Han Shangshu, now I will hand over this imperial decree to you." It is in your hands, this is also my confession to you! From then on, from the royal family to the nobles, down to the common people, anyone who smuggles salt and misuses the country can be convicted according to the decree! , Dali Temple assisted from the side, and sent an order to the Rites Supervisor and Yuma Supervisor to transfer Dongchang and Jinyiwei to deter Xiaoxiao!"

Han Wen has rarely done such a drastic thing in his life, but fortunately he met such a wise gentleman.

So he took a step back in a very formal way, knelt down and saluted, then looked up and shouted,

"Hanwen, Minister of the Household Department, accept the order!!"