Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 397 Blue Training Card [Salt and Iron Franchise]

In Jinling City, I am in the palace.

Yu Zhaoling looked at the map of the Southwest War in front of him, with an extremely ugly expression on his face.

A group of civil and military officials of the Xia Dynasty stood in the hall with heavy faces and bowed their heads, silent.

There was silence in the hall, in fact, it was so dignified that people didn't even dare to breathe.

Yu Zhaoling took a deep breath, looked around at the courtiers, and said in a deep voice:

"The military report of the Wuling Mansion said that General Yun Wu Zixu led the army to attack, and was defeated by our Wuling Mansion army. He suffered heavy losses and has returned to the Tianmen Mansion!"

As soon as this remark came out, among the officials in the palace, several people quickly answered the words:

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, the great victory in Wuling Mansion!"

Yu Zhaoling on the dragon chair, when he heard the courtier's congratulatory words, his face suddenly sank.

"Great victory?"

Yu Zhaoling's sharp eyes scanned the few people who were flattering at this time, and said with a sneer:

"In Anshun County, there is only one Yunyang Mansion left in the hands of the Guochao, and Yunyang Mansion is empty of troops, but thousands of local county soldiers are stationed, and it is difficult to hold on!"

"The counties in the west of Shaoyang County have all fallen into the hands of the Yun Army. The Marquis of Deyang retreated to Hengyang Mansion to curb the progress of the Yun Army's invasion of Shaoyang County. However, General Di Qing of Yun changed his usual cautious style and led his troops to attack. Hengyang Mansion is crumbling. .”

"Hehehe, you guys, do you call this a great victory? It seems that my ministers have little understanding of the military affairs on the battlefield, and they can't even see the current situation clearly?"

The battle report of Wuling Mansion spread to Jinling City is indeed a good news.In addition, it was Wu Zixu who annihilated the Xia Kingdom's tens of thousands of frontier troops back then, and it was natural to make a big publicity to boost the hearts of the government and the opposition.

But in fact, in the battle of Wuling Mansion, the Yun army did not suffer too much loss, and they only retreated temporarily.

When Yongzhou and Yangpingguan were lost, and most of Anshun and Shaoyang counties were lost, no matter how many victories Wuling Mansion fought, it would only be a delay for a while, which was useless to the overall situation.When the Yun army regroups and marches forward to form a siege, Wuling Mansion will have no choice but to abandon it!
At this time, Yu Zhaoling's cold and gloomy expression, and his tone of violence, made the officials in the palace suddenly silent.

The few people who spoke fell to their knees with a plop, trembling and kowtowed to make amends.

These few ministers wanted to flatter Yu Zhaoling and whitewash him.But they have forgotten Yu Zhaoling's temperament!

Holding his nose and proclaiming the "great victory of Wuling Mansion" is already a calculation out of his desire to appease the ruling and opposition parties.But if these civil and military ministers really take this so-called Wuling Mansion victory seriously, it would be too ridiculous!

Xia Guo Situ, the veteran Mei Chong, stood up to smooth things over at this time, saying:

"Your Majesty, the old minister is not good at military affairs. He only knows that the situation in the southwest is difficult. Just in case, the old minister can only make plans in advance, in case the army is defeated, the cloud army will drive straight in and attack the Central Plains!"

"Now the court has raised 80 taels of silver, [-] pairs of armor, [-] horses, countless weapons, food and grass, for His Majesty to use! In addition, the old minister has ordered the general to start building armor and weapons in case of emergencies. .”

When Yu Zhaoling heard what Mei Chong said, his expression softened a little, and he said in a deep voice:
"Old Situ, how much is left in the treasury of the court, which can be used by the court until next year's tax payment?"

When Mei Chong heard this, his face was solemn, and he said in a deep voice:
"In recent years, there have been frequent wars, and the treasury has been unable to make ends meet. After the military tax levied by the nine counties in the south of the Yangtze River was escorted to Beijing, only 80 taels of silver could be allocated...the treasury has a surplus, and it should be able to last until next year. But if there is another accident , and can only transfer money from His Majesty's Young Mansion."

Yu Zhaoling sighed heavily, and said worriedly:

"Although 80 taels of silver is a lot, if we maintain the war between the north and the south, build armor and weapons, and train the elite, I'm afraid it will be difficult to last for a long time! In the Shaofu, there is only less than 100 million taels of silver..."

In order to resist the Turks, the northern border of the Xia Kingdom maintains an elite army of more than 20 all year round.Their annual military expenditure requires 200 million taels of silver.

Now in the southwest, in order to guard against the Yun Kingdom, the Xia Kingdom has also formed an army of similar size.In addition, it is necessary to continuously train soldiers and horses and build ordnance.

The treasury of the Xia Kingdom, plus the Shaofu belonging to the emperor, has a total of less than 200 million silver, which may only last half a year!

It's so difficult, how can Yu Zhaoling not be worried!

Mei Chong was silent for a while, then gritted his teeth suddenly, and said in a deep voice:

"National affairs are difficult, please Your Majesty, collect taxes again!"

All the officials in the hall suddenly looked at Mei Chong with astonishment on their faces.

Yu Zhaoling shook his head again and again, and refused:
"No way! Chaozhong just raised 80 taels of tax from Jiangnan, and if we raise taxes again, I'm afraid there will be more complaints from the people."

Mei Chong raised his head slightly, with a firm expression and said:
"The salt industry can be state-owned, monopoly will be promoted, salt officials will be set up by the court, and salt will be made and sold by hand!"

"Since the founding of the Great Xia, I have not banned private salt production and sale of salt, and only levied a small amount of salt tax. Since its development, the private salt merchants are rich in the world, but the imperial court cannot get enough taxes from them. The promotion of monopoly shows that the profits of the salt industry are exhausted. Returning to the court, the rewards will be rich enough for His Majesty to train elites to resist Yunguo!"

As soon as this remark came out, all the civil and military officials in the hall were shocked.

In any case, they would never have imagined that the thoughtful and calm old Situ Meichong, who had been thoughtful and calm all his life, would actually utter such admonitions in the court today!

"What old Situ said is extremely absurd, Your Majesty must not!"

"Competing for profit with the people will surely lose the hearts of the people!"

"Your Majesty, please think twice about such a remonstrance that shakes the country's society!"

All of a sudden, many officials in the hall stood up immediately, refuted Mei Chong's remonstrance in a dignified manner, and talked about the disadvantages of this salt monopoly to Yu Zhaoling.

Now in the Xia Kingdom, every catty of salt is no more than 30 Wen a bucket, which is not impressive at first glance.

But this thing is something that ordinary people all over the world cannot leave.Even if the price of each bucket is only increased by ten cents, the Xia State treasury can immediately increase taxes by several 10 taels every year!

It is precisely because of the huge profits of the salt industry that the government of the Xia Kingdom only collected a small amount of taxes, and the people do not know how many merchants have obtained massive wealth from it.

And these salt merchants, hehehe, it's hard to say that the main family behind them is not in this Jinshen Palace at this time!

"Hehehe, competing with the 'people' for profit?"

A sneer sounded very inappropriately in the hall.

Yu Zhaoling's confidant Feng Chu, who was the first-rank embroidered clothes envoy of the court, suddenly stood up and looked around the opposing officials in the palace with a sneer.

Although the embroidered clothes envoy has repeatedly hit the wall in front of the East Factory and the Sticking Pole, his prestige in the Xia Kingdom is forged by the heads of countless corrupt officials.

Feng Chu suddenly opened his mouth at this moment, and the courtiers in the palace who opposed the most fiercely were immediately pinched by the neck, speechless.

Feng Chu immediately turned his head to look at Yu Zhaoling, cupped his hands and said:
"If your lords insist on objecting, I have another suggestion, which is to raise gold and silver for your majesty to pay for the army!"

When Yu Zhaoling heard this, he frowned, and immediately answered:
"What advice?"

"I heard that the current Emperor Yun was in trouble at home and abroad at the beginning of his succession, and the national treasury was empty. Just confiscated the property of the Buddhist temple in Yunguo, and the wealth of those conspiracy and corrupt officials in the court of Yunguo, which made the treasury abundant. So far, there has been no difficulty. ..."

If Xiao Cheng was in this respectful palace at this time, he might slap his thigh and think to himself: No, I have learned the book of getting rich by stealing it!
At this time, Feng Chu sneered again, looked around at the courtiers, and continued:

"If His Majesty agrees, I can do it tomorrow!"

In the words, the threat was hardly hidden.

Many courtiers in the palace, facing Feng Chu's gaze at this moment, no longer had the confidence, their expressions were shaken, their eyes dodged, and they did not dare to look at him.

As I said just now, many of the courtiers in the palace have arranged relatives and servants at home to run the salt business.

This did not violate the laws of the Xia Kingdom, at most it was just taking advantage of loopholes.

But they were still awe-inspiringly opposed to the franchised salt industry in the hall before, if it was found out later that their family was involved in it, wouldn't the embroiderers seize the opportunity!

After being quiet in the hall for a while, I heard a courtier suddenly say:
"Actually, the current state affairs are so difficult, a little flexibility, it will be no problem!"

"That's right! The quality of private salt varies among the people. When I was an official in a local area, I tried a case where a commoner died from eating poisonous private salt."

"The imperial court's monopoly can at least guarantee the quality of the salt, and it will be beneficial to the common people!"

"Yes, the minister seconded!"

Sitting on the dragon chair, Yu Zhaoling glanced slightly at the expressions of the courtiers in the hall, and he couldn't help showing a mocking sneer.

How many courtiers, shouting loyalty and righteousness on their lips, but their hearts are full of business, but they insist on acting like they are the king of the world, it is really disgusting!

Yu Zhaoling sneered a few times, and immediately shouted in a deep voice:

"Old Situ, I will leave this matter to you. I asked Feng Chu to cooperate with you. If there is any inconvenience, just ask him to do it!"

Mei Chong and Feng Chu immediately went out together and bowed to salute, and replied:
"Come on, follow your orders!"
-
Yunguo Zhongqing City, in the Palace of Mental Cultivation.

Xiao Cheng looked at the secret book passed back from Jinling City in his hand, suddenly laughed, shook his head and said:
"Salt franchise?"

Now sticking rods and Dongchang have penetrated deeply into Jinling City.

In Jinling City, it would be an exaggeration to say that Xiao Cheng knows all the troubles.However, Xiao Cheng was able to receive news of any changes in Xia Guochaotang very quickly.

Xiao Cheng handed the secret booklet in his hand to the eunuch beside him, then pointed to a young official waiting in the hall, and said in a deep voice:
"Look at it too!"

Hearing this, the young official hurriedly bowed to salute, and carefully took the secret package from the eunuch's hand.

After a few glances, the young official nodded and said:
"This Situ Meichong of the Xia Kingdom has been cautious and steady for decades since he became an official. Everyone thinks that he is just a wood-plastic Situ who is used by the current Xia Emperor to stabilize the court. But now he only works from the salt industry. It can be seen from the official camp's remonstrance that the world despises him!"

Hearing this, Xiao Cheng said with great interest:
"Then if you are faced with such a situation, how should you deal with it?"

After pondering for a moment, the young official cupped his hands and said:

"The minister is young and young, more radical than Mei Chong. If the minister is in charge, it will be more than that!"

"Salt and iron are all related to the foundation of the country. The stability of the country should be nationalized. There are many good wines among the common people, and a lot of food is consumed for wine making. Wine management should be established to control wine profits. In addition, there are taxes. Most localities pay in kind, and the price of goods in the country is different, and it is easy to lose when transported to the capital. Ministers can set up distribution officials in various places to transport taxation goods to various places to adjust supply and demand and balance prices..."

As soon as the young officials talked about their own political ideas, they immediately eloquently.

In addition to the salt industry, the admonitions mentioned also included ironware, wine, balancing and manipulating prices, etc. It really is much more radical than Mei Chong!

If it were an ordinary king, I'm afraid that at this moment, he would only feel that the young official was too bold and reckless, a little arrogant.

But Xiao Cheng didn't care about it, with an expression of appreciation on his face, he nodded and said:

"You have talent, if you continue to serve in the cabinet, it will be a waste of your talent!"

"Decree, Sang Hongyang will be promoted to the cabinet, and the head of the branch department of the relocation department will be in charge."

[Blue Training Card, Specialized in Salt and Iron
Card effect: After using it, Chaozhong gets Sang Hongyang

Card description:

Sang Hongyang, a statesman and financial expert in the Western Han Dynasty, and one of the Ministers Gu Ming of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was an official to the imperial doctor.Later, because of political disagreement with Huo Guang, he was involved in the rebellion of Liu Dan, King of Yan, and was implicated in the extermination of the clan.

He has been in politics for more than [-] years. During his time in charge of national finance, he formulated or revised and implemented a series of new financial policies such as institutional reform, official operation of salt and iron, equal output and equal standards, and wine discussion.These measures have greatly increased the government's economic income, strengthened the centralization of power economically, consolidated unity, and curbed the development of wealthy businessmen and tyrannical mergers.

Force 53, Literature 89, Wisdom 92, Morality 52, Age 26, Domination 60, Politics 89, Charm 72, Loyalty 100, Ambition 70]

Hearing what Xiao Cheng said, Sang Hongyang was taken aback for a moment, then overjoyed, bowed down and prostrated himself, shouting:
"Sir, thank Your Majesty Long En!"

It took only two months for Sang Hongyang to become an official. He walked from the seventh-rank cabinet and was directly promoted to the head of the sixth-rank household department.

No wonder there are rumors in the government and the public that this is a good place to go to the cabinet, the military counselor, and to serve the emperor.As long as you have talent and learning, you will be able to help others to climb the ladder!
At this time, Sang Hongyang couldn't help being moved by Xiao Cheng's trust.

How long has it been since I first became an official?At such a young age, he was directly promoted to the current head of the sixth-rank household department. His Majesty's kindness is really hard to repay in ten thousand deaths!
Xiao Cheng encouraged Sang Hongyang to retreat after a few words of encouragement.

Seeing this, Wang Zhi, who had been waiting outside the hall, quickly walked into the hall, bent down and knelt down and said:

"Servant, I have seen Your Majesty! Di Renjie, Minister of Dali Temple, sent a secret report from the Weichu Mansion urgently. Please check it!"

While speaking, Wang Zhi held up a small lock and an exquisitely mechanismd box, which was exactly the secret box given to Di Renjie by Xiao Cheng before he went to Beijing.

The secret box was made by the Mo family, and only the keys in the hands of Xiao Cheng and Di Renjie can open it. If they are forcibly broken open, the mechanism will be activated immediately, destroying the secret folder in the box.

Xiao Cheng waved his hand to Feng Bao who was beside him, fetched the key of the secret box, opened it, and saw that it was the investigation progress of the imperial examination fraud case reported by Di Renjie.

Xiao Cheng sneered and said:
"The imperial examination fraud case involves such a wide range of cases, and almost half of the government-run local academies are involved. I don't believe that a mere ceremonial minister has such ability to drag so many people into the water!"

Having said this, Xiao Cheng's eyes sharpened, and he immediately shouted:

"Wang Zhi!"

"The servant is here."

"Ministry of Rituals, the Minister of Rituals, is involved in the imperial examination fraud case, and quickly sent someone to take it down. If there are any blockers or assassins, no matter the official position or title, and no matter whether they are clan or nobles, they will all be taken down!"

Wang Zhi bent over to salute, and immediately replied:
"Slaves, obey the order!"

(End of this chapter)