Picked up a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 185 Salt Iron Monopoly
As for the end of the month, a book suddenly caused an uproar in Luoyang.

That is "Evil Gold Theory" written by the little-known Yingchuan native Zhong Fu. At first glance, this book is thought to be a book on how to smelt steel, but the content is full of disputes. Although Zhong Fu did not have much prestige, he was also a son of a rich family. He was a general after Zhong Limei. .

His elder brother, Zhong Di, is the master of Yingchuan County, but he has not become an official.

He came from a prominent family background, but his works were constantly abused by the aristocratic family.

He asked the country to take back the monopoly of salt and iron, and prevent powerful landlords from privately owning it. He also proposed that large-scale smelting plants be set up in areas where minerals are concentrated, and large-scale production. The role is huge. If iron farm tools and living utensils can be widely used, they will definitely be able to develop in various fields such as farming and mulberry!

He believes that decentralized private iron smelting and selling cannot be compared with government centralized and unified smelting. Therefore, if you want to update ironware on a large scale, improve people's livelihood, and improve armed forces, you must use iron monopoly. As for salt, he Didn't mention it.

The little fat man saw the huge benefits in it, hurriedly finished reading it, and immediately called a group of officials to discuss the matter.

Because the little fat man had passed this book to He Xiu long ago, and Yuan Feng and other important officials went to read it. The courtiers also knew what the emperor summoned them for. After they went to court, they were very excited. Put it aside and get straight to the point.

Yuan Feng, who is cautious and never expresses his testimony, was the first to go out, bowed to the emperor, and then said: "In the past, the Huns were rampant and invaded our Han territory. Emperor Xiaowu ordered Sang Hongyang to specialize in salt and iron to harvest The profit was used as military capital, and the Xiongnu was defeated. It can be seen that the monopoly system has a very high profit, which is a good thing. However, since then, the salt, iron and wine have been sold exclusively to the government, and the market price has increased repeatedly. But unable to get one.”

"This is also a tyrannical government, so Emperor Xiaohe lifted the ban on salt and iron, and the people benefited, so the world has long been prosperous."

"Nowadays, there is no enemy from outside, and there is no turmoil inside. There is a market tax on ironware, and a special tax on salt and wine. If you open a monopoly again, I am afraid that it will cause turmoil among the people and compete with the people for profit. This is absolutely unacceptable!"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, but someone on the side suddenly sneered and said, "That's not necessarily the case, Mr. Yuan, it's only because of salt and iron smelting and your hands that he advised you like this. In the Xiaowu period, there was no concentrated iron smelting place. , Most of them are scattered, setting up iron officials will cost a lot, so the market price will increase sharply, if smelting is established with the mine location to reduce consumption, why the market price will increase sharply?"

It was Wen Renxi who said this.

Yuan Feng was furious and scolded: "My Yuan family has half an acre of iron field and salt land? Don't want to spit blood!"

"People like you, if monopoly is implemented, how much are you going to sell? Are you asking the common people thousands of dollars to buy shovels and rakes? Are you going to ruin this great prosperity?!" Yuan Feng pointed at him and cursed Naturally, those who heard that people attacked and were scolded also became angry, and the two debated in the temple, each talking about their own opinions, and neither could convince the other, most of the courtiers in the court supported Yuan Feng.

Because the big man has already tasted the bitterness of the monopoly, as Yuan Feng said, after the monopoly, the folk smelting was hit hard, and the government kept raising the price in order to seek greater benefits, which also lost competition. As a result, materials are piled up, but people cannot buy them, and the market is depressed. Although it is a huge profit in a short period of time, it is not a long-term solution.

What Wen Renxi values ​​is the content about centralized large-scale smelting. He believes that today is not what it used to be. Today's technology and manpower are much more developed than that of Emperor Xiaowu. As long as the cost can be reduced, it will definitely be possible. Controlling prices, enriching the national treasury, and improving reputation, at this time, most of the imperial parties in the DPRK and China no longer support him.

The ten thieves in the court were almost standing opposite him, and only a few people, such as Cao Song, always stood by his side and spoke for him.

The little fat man listened for a while, and was a little bored. He frowned, thought about it, and turned to look at the most important minister in the court, He Xiu.

Today's He Xiu is the most powerful and important minister in the court. He is said to be powerful not because he has many confidants and is able to exert power over the court, but because of his high prestige, which is admired and feared by everyone. The little fat man also respects him. In addition, most of the old ministers like him have died, so he has become the most senior minister among the ministers!

Over the years, the little fat man has rewarded him uninterruptedly, successively giving him privileges such as worship without name, entering the court without going, wearing shoes in the palace, etc., just like the previous story of Xiao He, praise without name, that is, when he visited the emperor, The Huangmen who saluted him did not call him by his name directly, but only called him an official position. In simple terms, they were the little Huangmen who notified him, and they would not shout "Your Majesty, why don't you say hello!".

Instead, it will be called "Situ greets His Majesty!".

In addition, when entering the court, other ministers need to trot in when they enter the palace without interruption, but He Xiu can walk in slowly and swaggeringly. He also walked in like this before, so this privilege does not matter , Many old ministers will get this privilege, after all, it is inappropriate for you to let an old man trot in.

The last one is the most frightening one. It was supposed to be a pair of shoes to go to the temple, which means that you are allowed to wear a sword and wear shoes to see the emperor, but the emperor thought for a while, and still only gave him a pair of shoes to go to the temple. Saber, forget it.

It wasn't that he was afraid of He Xiu's assassination, but he was afraid that there would be a dispute in the temple. The old man shouted the revenge of the nine generations, and he drew his sword and stabbed him.

That would be a bit scary. Judging from He Gong's performance over the years, the emperor's actions obviously saved the lives of many ministers.

The little fat man looked at He Xiu at this moment, hoping that He Xiu could come up with a solution. He Xiu also noticed the gaze of the emperor looking at him. He leaned on a cane and slowly got up. He was already a little old, and his body was slightly rickety. , but when he got up, many ministers who were arguing suddenly quieted down, sat down slowly, and did not dare to speak anymore.

Master He walked slowly to the middle of the temple and was about to salute. The little fat man said helplessly, "Master He doesn't need to be too polite. I don't know what Master He thinks about this matter." Of course monopoly is not allowed, but nowadays, iron smelting by the government is gradually becoming rare, and the northern and southern armies even have to buy from the people, which is inappropriate."

"It's feasible to set up a large-scale smelting site, but it doesn't have to be a monopoly, and it doesn't have to compete with the people for profit. The government's iron production can also drive private smelting and technology development." He Xiu said, raised his head, and looked at Wen. Ren Xi, Wen Ren Xi forcefully forced a smile, nodded, and said: "Master He, what you say makes sense!"

The little fat man nodded, and this matter was also handed over to Wen Renxi. He was asked to set up a large-scale government-operated iron smelting plant, mainly to support the weapons and armaments of the Northern Army and the Southern Army. sideline.

Zhong Fu, who wrote this book, was enlisted by Lu Zhi as a long history and went to Hezhou.

(End of this chapter)