Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 1064 Yunnan has good salt

In fact, to be honest, the big dog owners have already made a lot of money, and they have been spoiled by Lao Liu. I already look down on these land-based businesses in the southwest.

For example, although the tea-horse trade was also trade, the limitations of transportation capacity determined that the tea-horse trade could never be compared with maritime trade.

Of course, if the outlet to the sea is opened in the future, that will be a different matter... But that's a story for another day.

But there are many people eating with them, and there are still people under their control who are waiting to make a fortune. What's more, the bigger the family and the bigger the business, the more risks they need to spread. They can't put all their eggs in one basket, otherwise one day the prince will be unable to protect them and the court will impose a sea ban again, and they will have to drink the northwest wind.

This is why they are so keen on the prince's mercantilism. Only by reversing the stubborn mentality of favoring agriculture over commerce can we avoid the sad situation that no matter how big the business is, it will be easily manipulated by the court.

"Now is not the time to expand the scale of the tea horse business. We have to wait until the imperial court cleans up Luchuan, builds roads and sets up post stations, and all conditions are mature, then it is time to start doing it in a big way." Zhu Zhen broke it down one by one. :
"The same is true for Yunnan Copper. The Dongchuan side is not so smooth yet. Because of the copper mine issue, the chieftains there were the most violent last year. At the end of the year, even when I summoned them, not many came. I think they may be gone now. They have the courage to rebel, but they definitely dare to block roads and rob. And they suffered so much loss last year, and they will definitely try their best to make up for it this year, and the robbery will definitely be even more fierce."

"In addition, the roads have not been repaired. Once the copper has been smelted, it will be difficult to transport it out. Therefore, the copper mines must be released first. Let's get well salt first." Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice.

~~
The salt produced by drilling wells and extracting underground brine is called well salt.

Everyone knows that Sichuan produces well salt, but Yunnan’s well salt is not inferior to Sichuan in any way. Moreover, there are salt wells in central, southern and western Yunnan, known as the Nine Central Yunnan Provinces. Not only is the output large, but the quality is also excellent...

In the third year of Hongwu's reign, Shanxi and other frontier areas were in urgent need of military rations. Yang Xian, a political participant in Shanxi at that time, recruited merchants to transport grain in exchange for salt. By procuring salt, he transported it to designated areas and relieved the army's urgent need. From then on, the Kaizhong method became a common tool in the imperial court.

It is difficult to transport grain in Yunnan, and the imperial court is under great pressure. The addition of merchants' strength to help the imperial court transport grain can greatly reduce the burden on the government.

"This method is good!" All the big players couldn't help but praise.

"Of course, it is also difficult for you to transport food, because the cost of transporting food over long distances is huge, which no one can avoid. But you can change your mind and hire laborers to cultivate fields in Yunnan, produce food, and store it in warehouses in exchange for salt. , in order to make more profits - this is the method of Shangtun." Zhu Zhen introduced again.

~~
The method of Zhongsalt is that the army guards the border and the people provide payment. The salt is located in it and serves as its hub, so it is called Kaizhong.

"Yes, hit!" Zhu Zhen nodded heavily.

Luo Guanzhong shook his head: "Confucius said, 'Benefit the people because they benefit them, and benefit them without any expense."

"What should I do? Is it a hit?" Cheng Qian asked tentatively.

The big dogs are also very fond of it. Who doesn’t want to be a salt merchant in addition to being a maritime merchant?

Yunnan salt produced in Yunnan is white, delicate and tastes better, so it sells better than sea salt and is very popular among mainland people. Naturally, salt merchants also flocked to it.

"Look, our teacher Luo is well-educated." Zhu Zhen smiled and gave the old baby a thumbs up.

"But what if we recruit long-term workers and run away after seeing that the prince's policy for immigrants is so good?" someone asked aloud.

"Just run away. The meat will rot in the pot, as long as you don't run out of Yunnan." Zhu Zhen said with a nonchalant smile. "Haha, yes, just help the prince to immigrate." The wealthy people are also very open-minded. When they have higher pursuits, people will not be so indifferent.

"You can sign a contract with the employees. If they are jealous, they can settle down and stay after a few years. Just recruit another group. Anyway, the most important thing in the Ming Dynasty is people." However, Zhu Zhen still gave them advice:
"All the preferential policies provided by the government here are based on settling in. You brought them here and reported to the government first. They can't settle down until they are free. Isn't that the case? But the government only protects them for a maximum of three years. After three years of contract, they can settle down."

This can be regarded as a relatively acceptable balance between the government, people and businessmen. But this requires big companies to recruit people in Yunnan every year... But isn't that what Zhu Zhen wants to see?
"How much food does the prince want?" Gu Yuanchen asked.

"Of course, the more the merrier. The previous method of Yunnan salt reported by the Ministry of Revenue was to lose two shi of rice and give a small amount of salt. This king rejected it. In the end, it was decided to lose one shi of rice and give a small amount of salt."

"Is it so generous?" All the bigwigs couldn't help cheering. The "Kaizhong Regulations" stipulate that according to the distance of the road, the rice should be transported from five to one stone, and one salt should be given, which is one hundred and twenty kilograms. What Zhu Zhen gave them was indeed the most favorable terms...

Of course, the salt certificate is only a certificate for the purchase, sale and transportation of salt, and you have to use money to buy salt. But Yanyin itself is a precious securities, because without this thing, the salt you sell is private salt, and if you are caught, you will be beheaded.

Therefore, the price set by the prince is really too conscientious.

You know, you have to send two stones of rice to Gansu in exchange for one pound of Huaiyan salt. The price of Yunnan salt is twice that of Huai salt...

"Then the Salt Department will be overcrowded?" The big bosses said and worried about the prince: "I'm afraid that the prince won't be able to provide so much salt by then."

"Don't worry. Don't worry I can't afford the salt. Let me tell you, whether it's copper mines or well salt, the Mongols haven't mined even one thousandth or even one ten thousandth. We can definitely achieve a thousand times. The scale is such that the entire Ming Dynasty eats salt from Yunnan and uses copper from Yunnan, and they can’t finish it!” Zhu Zhen said in shock.

"Really?" The wealthy people naturally believed in the prince's words and couldn't help but said with joy: "Then you really have to catch this overwhelming wealth."

"Of course. When the time comes and I ask you to choose between maritime trade and sea trade, I'm afraid you will all choose Yunnan."

"Yes, yes, yes." The big dog nodded. Maritime trade is risky, and if this monopoly can last for generations, who wouldn't be surprised if it were replaced?
"I have made an agreement with the Yunnan Salt Department, and they will supervise when you open the mine." Zhu Zhen then said solemnly: "Well salt is not as easy to obtain as sea salt. You have to dig deep wells to collect brine, which requires high technology and labor. It’s dense, especially in Yunnan. That’s why Yunnan salt is so expensive because it’s difficult to produce. But it’s precisely because it’s difficult to produce that I was able to convince my father to let you be responsible for mining it.”

Zhu Zhen knew that if it were left to the government to collect brine and make salt, the final production scale would be very small and it would be difficult to achieve the effect he wanted... This is normal. All the salt, iron and copper mines in the Ming Dynasty, but those run by the government, were all in dire straits. They are all privately owned and dominate the world.

So we still need businessmen to come.

"My only condition is to hire people from the mainland! Businessmen must also have an overall view and remember that the more Han people in Yunnan, the better. Because there are talented people and there is land. If there are too few Han people in Yunnan, even if our generation cannot be lost, Future generations will also be lost.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, we have remembered and we will definitely try our best to immigrate here!" The big dogs nodded heavily and expressed their determination.

"Well, during this period, I will send someone to accompany you to inspect the salt mines in various places. You can also inspect where is suitable for a commercial settlement." Zhu Zhen finally said.

"Yes." The big players agreed in unison.

(End of this chapter)