Ming Dynasty, starting from the empty seal case

Chapter 137 Calculating the salt tax for Lao Zhu
Main hall.

"Su Xian, what are you doing?"

Everyone watched as the father-in-laws from the Imperial Prison delivered a bunch of things, while Su Xian began to play with them one by one. Zhu Xiongying and the others became more and more curious.

Su Xian did not answer, "I can't explain it at the moment, just watch it."

As he spoke, Su Xian first asked Gao Fu and the others to place the brazier on the elevated shelf. There was no need to light it for the time being.

after that.

Then pile the sand and soil brought in from high to low into a field shape. If the effect is not achieved, put some wooden boards or something on top, then add water to let it gradually solidify, so as to prevent the water from overflowing. good.

After a while, I was almost busy.

Su Xian looked at the coarse salt bucket next to him. These were low-grade salt that he specially asked Gao Fu and the others to bring.

"Pour these into these [field] grids, and then pour water to submerge them all."

Su Xian didn't explain much. Instead, he looked at the "salt pond" and gave some instructions from time to time.

"The pool is a bit small. Let's expand it for a while..."

"You do your thing. I'm the headmaster. If Grandpa Huang and the others ask, I'll take the responsibility."

"Wait!" Su Xian said.

But at this moment, the other ministers were looking at Tu Jie, their heads still buzzing.

"Ouch, what is this?"

"Although these are just low-grade salt, they are still for us to eat. Isn't it a waste of you to do this?"

Inside Fengtian Hall.

This is Gao Fu's first objection.

"Wait?" Zhu Xiongying was a little confused. If he waited any longer, all the salt would melt inside.

……

"Mother has also gone. It seems that this son understands the truth and knows that no matter what today, he must give his father an explanation."

But before he had gone far, his father-in-law, who had been waiting for him for a long time, hurried forward and reported what had happened in the main hall, saying that he had alarmed Queen Ma.

"Ouch!" Gao Fu quickly lowered his head and apologized, "Young master, this is not a shameful slave. If you really do something wrong, how can I let you bear it?"

Such behavior is disgusting!
There was a trace of disgust in Hu Weiyong's eyes, but there was nothing he could do. The possible corruption in the Salt Transportation Department in "Introduction to Salt" had obviously sounded the alarm for His Majesty.

At this moment, Zhu Xiongying saw that they were not moving and stood up immediately.

now.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were preparing to return to Jinshen Hall.

"Then don't do anything, let's do it!"

Su Guiyuan took this opportunity to quickly change the topic and mentioned the arrest of the "gold digger" last night...

And this moment.

Following his order, the eleventh prince Zhu Chun also quickly participated.

"The water is too little, add a little more water."

There is really no other way. Under the request of the Holy Emperor and the Queen, no one in the palace will tolerate the waste of food.

The morning session ended quickly.

After all, the "Salt Introduction" expanded the power of Yushitai. Even if he was impeached again, it would not be today, but would have to use other excuses.

All the officials at the Yushitai no longer wanted to continue chasing and beating Su Guiyuan. Instead, they all fell silent, as if they were benefiting from it and kept silent.

"It's not to give us an explanation, but to give him an explanation for the trouble he caused."

what?
Although they did not understand the previous actions, they were still prepared to follow them. But what Su Xian did next made them unable to do it anymore.

……

"Let's do it!"

This person is fickle and cunning, and in order to get further, he doesn't care about his position at all!

"Su Xian, what should we do next?" Zhu Xiongying turned around and looked.

The same goes for salt. Forget about those utensils in the past. If the Holy Emperor or Empress knows about it today, it will be a crime!
While Gao Fu was persuading, he was giving the father-in-law behind him a wild wink.

The eighth prince Zhu Zi also spoke up: "We have no order and cannot leave the palace at will. Otherwise we would have gone to Gewuyuan long ago. After all, we are also Zuoban, and we can't even decide anything?"

Several princes, as well as the "Left Ban and Right Ban" participated, and even the corps commander could not be left behind. Soon, a group of young princes and noble heirs, under the "instruction" of the emperor's eldest grandson, poured buckets of salt into those "pools".

Finally, after a brief discussion, the Holy Will was decided.

No matter what, you still have to let your empress know as soon as possible.

Gao Fu jumped up anxiously on the spot, but when the salt gradually began to melt, he didn't know what to do. He could only look back and ask his followers to quickly notify Queen Ma.

Even so, Tu Jie is easy to control. If you can induce him to do something for you, you can make him do things for you!

but……

Zhu Yuanzhang corrected him: "We were able to stop Baiguan for a while today because we were waiting for his explanation. Let's go. Have you memorized the "Introduction to Salt"?"

Zhu Biao nodded.

"Okay! Then let's ask carefully today, why did Yan Yin, who made great contributions to our Ming Dynasty, become a disaster for the country in his mouth?"

"If it is a personal grudge as we suspected, causing trouble for the prime minister of a country and delaying state affairs... Humph!" At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed coldly.

The two of them were talking, one behind the other, heading towards the main hall first.

As we approached the side courtyard of the main hall, at a glance, it turned into fields surrounded by sand. Zhu Yuanzhang looked puzzled.

He quickly approached Queen Ma, who had arrived early.

"What is this doing?"

After learning what Su Xian had just done.

"After filling in the sand, you put the salt into the water?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked doubtfully: "They finally turned the brine into salt. Are you going to turn it back again?"

Queen Ma shook her head. She had just arrived and didn't know.

And Su Xian had long noticed that Su Zhu Yuanzhang had been busy for so long. Wasn't he just waiting for this "east wind"?
"Now it's time to light the fire."

Su Xian looked at Gao Fu, the father-in-law of the internal official prison. His expression had been aggrieved since the arrival of Queen Ma just now, but now that the Holy Emperor had arrived, his expression had turned into trembling.

But when he realized that no one was paying attention to him, he breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly: "Why are you still standing there?"

Several father-in-laws quickly reacted and immediately lit the brazier on the elevated shelf slowly.

After a while, the flames grew stronger and stronger.

Zhu Yuanzhang and others stood next to him and even felt panicked by the heat.

"Please be careful to add fuel to the fire."

After Su Xian warned him, he then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma.

"Your Majesty, let's talk later."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at this confusing scene. Although he had already guessed that this boy would come to explain today, the more he looked at it, the more confused he became.

And this moment.

The rising flames, coupled with the burning black mist, also attracted many forbidden troops, including King Yan, Xu Huizu and others on the other side.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, and the imperial army understood what he meant and left quickly.

The former then looked at Su Xian and said, "Tell me, with all this busy work, we forgot what we wanted to ask you."

"What your Majesty wants to ask is... the benefits of private salt, and why I issued that "Introduction to Salt"?"

Su Xian spoke directly and asked for Zhu Yuanzhang.

The latter narrowed his eyes and suddenly looked at Zhu Biao beside him, "Look, we really expected it."

"It seems that when you published this "Introduction to Salt", you had already thought of the current situation."

Su Xian nodded, "Ordinary people have no way to appeal when they are wronged. They go through a lot of hardships, and maybe they can go to the top. But I am much luckier than others, and I can reach Tianyan directly from the beginning to the end!"

"Ha!" Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised by these words, and he even wanted to laugh. "You mean, you still have something wronged? Who in the Ming Dynasty can wrong you?"

"Don't you, Your Majesty, want to know the purpose of this discussion?" Su Xian told the truth: "One of the purposes is Prime Minister Hu!"

Swish!
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Yuanzhang's originally smiling face suddenly became serious. He looked coldly, "Nonsense! Sure enough, we guessed it right. Are you really retaliating with personal grudges? Are you obstructing state affairs?"

This was something he couldn't bear no matter what.

If Su Xian had kept it secret, he would have taken it as if he was really dedicated to serving the public good, but now he would really say it honestly? What does this make him do?
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's face become relaxed and livid for a while, Su Xian had another thought in his mind.

As previously speculated, no matter how history changes due to oneself, the Hu Weiyong case will definitely happen.

What I had thought before was not to get involved, but Hu Weiyong kept chasing after me.

Instead of worrying about being implicated in the Hu Weiyong case in the future, it is better to distance ourselves now.

"Your Majesty, from the first time my father entered the Baochao Lifting Division, Prime Minister Hu first used two million coins to overwhelm others. Although my father persisted, until now, he has also been suppressed by Prime Minister Hu from Zhongshu Province. Isolated." Of course, these words were decided in advance. Whether it was the Baochao Tribunal or the Chaojingyuan, although they were nominally under Zhongshu Province, from the beginning to the end, they had nothing to do with Hu Weiyong.

"Later, you should also know that Zhang Guance, a member of the Zhongshu House, was responsible for the exchange at the bank. At that time, I was still playing with banknotes in the palace. In the end, I was bypassed by them and found some people to go to the bank. The treasury was used to exchange banknotes, silver, and gold. If my father had made a mistake at that time, we would be doomed in the end!"

"This is the second time!"

"The third time, the princess was seriously ill, and I came to deliver medicine, but someone impeached her again. If something was really wrong at that time, I'm afraid she would still die."

"For the fourth time, that is, recently, the rumor on the treasure banknote was pointed out by Hu Xiang again: I am the only one in the whole capital who is so bold, as if Liu Bowen was really the one who spread it."

When Su Xian said this, he was a little annoyed for no reason, "Anyone who is rumored like this will probably not be able to let go? Besides, if I, Su Xian, want to spread it, how can I spread such a rumor that seeks death? If I want to spread it, I will spread it." "Introduction to Salt"?"

"Aren't you courting death for Yan Yin Lun?" Zhu Yuanzhang raised his voice, "You don't think that by telling the whole story of Yan Yin Yin, shouting that people all over the world can't afford salt, and disturbing people's hearts for us, you are not courting death? No. Bar?"

"Did you know that all the officials will punish you today for having evil intentions and rebelling against the emperor?"

Su Xian said: "Talking about Yan Yin is certainly not seeking death. Since Hu Xiang has said so much, let me tell you something related to him. It is also a courtesy!"

"What a courtesy." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed angrily, "Do you think that we can abolish the Salt Introduction Theory? Do you think that by doing this, we can punish Hu Weiyong?"

He looked at Su Xian with dull eyes, as if at this moment, he was really confirming whether the other person's head was really like his eldest grandson, which was so childish that it made people laugh.

"You overestimate your own abilities!"

"You too underestimate the importance of Yanyin to our Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty, what I talked about above are all my selfish motives." Su Xian said: "But the starting point of "Salt Introduction" is also public-spirited!"

"Ha!" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered: "Are you quite big-hearted?"

Su Xian seemed unable to hear what he was saying, and just continued: "The Yanyin system will continue. The Yanyin theory has made it clear. With huge profits, the government and businessmen will cover it up, it is certain!"

"Have we already set up a salt patrol censor?" Zhu Yuanzhang reminded.

Salt patrol censor?

Su Xian was stunned. This name was very familiar to him, and a scene could not help but appear in his mind:
In later generations, Emperor Jiajing asked Yan Dang and his family to go south to patrol the salt. It seems that that person was the censor of the salt patrol?

As a result, all the salt transport envoys and the censor responsible for supervision were Yan Song's left and right hands.

No money could be found in previous years.

As soon as Yan Song's inspection censor left, he gave Emperor Jiajing more than one million taels for his inspection.

The last person who was angry was not happy and got angry: "Yan Maoqing, smoke!"

"They take two million, and I take one million. Do I still need to thank them?"

With these thoughts in mind.

But Su Xian did not stop talking. He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked solemnly: "The Yushitai has been around since ancient times, but why can't we get rid of all the corrupt officials and powerful officials in the civil and military dynasties?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned, but Queen Ma smiled.

The meaning of this sentence is very clear, treat the symptoms but not the root cause!

"Even if Your Majesty surrounds the various salt transport envoys and places a Salt Patrol Supervisor on each one, in the end...it will be the same as it should be. In the long run, there will be more gluttonous mouths!"

"You!" Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely angry, "Even so, we can't abolish Yanyin now!"

"His Majesty did not ask him to abolish the salt guide."

"Ok?"

"I just want to settle an account with His Majesty."

Su Xian clapped his fingers and said, "There are 60 million people in the Ming Dynasty."

"A pound of salt depends on the transportation and economic recovery after the war. In the Huaihe River area, the salt field is nearby, so a pound of salt costs five cents of silver, which is fifty cents. In expensive places, a pound of salt costs one cent. Silver, three cents of silver, is one hundred or three hundred cents!”

In fact, there are no accurate statistics on the price of salt in Ming Dynasty.

What Su Xian said is just a rough middle value. In some expensive places, three cents of silver per pound of salt is not an exaggeration.

Zhu Yuanzhang obviously knew this, and the "Introduction to Salt" has already explained that in places with inconvenient transportation, the price of official salt will naturally increase. In some places, the price of official salt is even more than seven or eight times that of the capital!

"Take the lowest value and calculate it as one pound of salt and fifty cents."

"Excluding salt tax, transportation losses, etc., how much do 60 million people spend a year to meet their daily needs?"

As soon as these words came out.

Zhu Yuanzhang's breathing stagnated, and he immediately looked at Zhu Biao and Gao Fu, the internal officer and supervisor beside him.

The meaning is obvious, why are you still standing there, settling accounts!

"Don't forget it!"

Su Xian said directly: "It's thirty million taels of silver!"

Swish!
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Yuanzhang felt his breathing quicken.

"One more calculation!"

Su Xian had his hands behind his back, but his mind was actually doing calculations like crazy. He couldn't even add, subtract, multiply or divide.

"The things I just calculated are just the basic needs of the people. But in fact, the salt produced by the imperial salt factory every year is certainly not enough to meet daily needs."

"There are trades with foreign countries, there are merchants deliberately collecting salt, there are also road expenses, some people eat horse chews, and there are many other places that also need salt. Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the total number of all types of salt farms will be produced. A pound of salt?”

This is indeed what Su Xian wanted to ask.

Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his mood and said slowly: "Ten times the population."

"That's 600 million jins! When converted into silver taels, the calculation is also imprecise. We only calculate the estimated income we deserve, and that's 300 million taels of silver!"

Boom!

Zhu Yuanzhang could obviously feel the throbbing in his heart.

Su Xian then asked: "How much revenue did Ming Dynasty's Salt Administration earn last year?"

This issue is actually very secretive.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know whether it was because of his heart palpitations or for some other reason, but he didn't speak.

Su Xian thought to himself and said: "The imperial court currently has two tax laws, which are in July and August each year, and in February and March next year. The main tax method is taxation of grain!"

"No need to calculate this part, just calculate the silver."

"Before the Baobao Ceremony Ceremony, His Majesty decided to issue 10 million taels of silver! That is 10 million taels!"

"Then the actual silver tax revenue must be far less than 10 million taels. If we calculate it as more than double, it is estimated to be more than 5 million taels, which will not exceed too much."

"And the Salt Administration is just one of them. After all, there are silk, silk cloth, tea, ironware, etc.... Even if the Salt Administration's income is half of the world, it is only about two million taels!"

"Your Majesty, the numbers are out."

Su Xian's tone was calm.

"Take the 30 million taels of silver that the common people frugally spent on salt in a year! Subtract the more than 2 million taels of salt tax, which is a deficit of more than 27 million taels. !”

Zhu Yuanzhang's pupils suddenly tightened.

Even Queen Ma and Zhu Biao on the side felt a little nervous.

Because Su Xian hasn't finished speaking yet.

"And if you look at the bigger picture, based on the annual salt production scale of each salt farm, 600 million kilograms of salt, that's 300 million taels of silver!"

"His Majesty……"

That’s it.

In fact, some numbers are thrilling enough without Su Xian having to explain them!
"Of course, the 300 million taels of silver are estimated based on the market price. We also have to take into account the loss on the road, the consumption of the salt industry itself, transactions with foreign countries, and the fact that the people cannot consume so much, and there is even residual salt left in the salt field. Wait, wait... Then we should be almost halfway there, right?"

"One hundred and fifty million taels of silver!"

"call!"

At this point, even Su Xian's head felt a little dizzy.

"One hundred and fifty million taels of silver, minus more than two million taels of salt administration revenue, that's..."

"More than 140 million taels of silver!"

At this point, even Su Xian was a little confused. This second wave of algorithms was actually too scary.

However, even the first wave of 30 million taels was worth asking Su Xian the final question.

"Your Majesty, where is the court's money?"

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head suddenly, suppressed the throbbing in his heart, and refused to answer the question.

"You have said so much, what are you going to do?"

Su Xian said slowly: "This is the Grand Duke I just mentioned."

The voice paused, and the next moment, the sonorous and powerful words sounded again.

"1. Get the money back!"

"Two, let the people afford salt! Good salt!"

(End of this chapter)