The Red Mansion En Xiaohou

Chapter 112 Provoking trouble (please subscribe!)
The ministers were indignant, and everyone was discussing it.

The emperor glanced at the ministers discussing below.

"Do you have any conclusions, gentlemen?"

The ministers were silent.

A middle-aged minister who had recently been transferred from the local area walked out from among the ministers.

"I have some insights!"

Looking at the unfamiliar minister, the emperor's eyes gleamed.

"You have insights."

"You tell me!"

"Yes!"

The minister saluted the emperor.

Wang Mingde lay in the emperor's ear and introduced the minister's background.

The emperor nodded after hearing this.

This person has some talents.

"I think that the imperial court has no money, not only because of natural disasters, but more importantly because of the ministers in the court."

"Not to mention anything else, Jiangnan Salt Administration."

"I used to be in power in the south of the Yangtze River and I know the scenery there very well."

“There are so many salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, all of them extremely wealthy, but they can’t collect taxes!”

The emperor's eyes changed.

This person's purpose is impure, and the problem of Jiangnan Salt Administration has always been a pain for Daqian.

Recently, Lin Ruhai was handling salt affairs in Jiangnan.

He brought the topic here to blast Lin Ruhai.

The emperor's face darkened.

Jia Shan, who also heard this, turned his attention to the minister who came out.

"The problem of salt administration in Jiangnan has always existed."

"In the final analysis, this problem is a human problem. We have implemented the salt introduction system since Taizu, but there are always a group of people who take risks and sell private salt."

"As Daqian became stable and prosperous, this problem continued until the reign of the Supreme Emperor and became a major problem for Daqian."

"What is the cause of this problem? Does anyone know?"

Jashan asked the minister.

"This"

Under Jia Shan's questioning, the minister began to sweat on his forehead. He had little contact with the salt administration in Jiangnan.

Today he boldly came out to be the first to make a good impression on the emperor.

In addition, he repays the favor and repays the Zhen family.

He was able to rise to Kyoto so quickly with the help of the Zhen family.

Now it is impossible to steal the chicken but lose the rice.

The emperor frowned when he saw that the minister could not speak.

"You said it!"

The emperor urged his ministers.

The minister's eyes were distracted, and the sweat on his head was getting worse.

"I don't know!"

The whole court was in an uproar.

"Is the court a place for fun? I don't know if you just open your mouth and say it."

The emperor became angry, and the ministers were so frightened that they fell to the ground.

"Your Majesty, spare your life!"

"I don't have a deep understanding of salt politics, but what I said is right."

Jia Shan looked away from the minister and turned to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, he is right, the salt policy is indeed a problem."

"It's normal that he can't answer Lai Chen's question."

"I would like to explain to the ministers the reasons for the current difficulties in salt administration."

Jia Shan saluted the emperor.

The emperor couldn't help laughing.

"you know?"

Jashan nodded extremely seriously.

"I know, I have studied it in depth."

"Okay! Then tell me."

The emperor did not have any hope in this. The problem of salt administration had always been a serious problem for Daqian.

Faced with this serious problem, the ministers of the DPRK and China discussed it countless times, but there was no solution.

Jia Shan turned her eyes to the ministers and saluted them.

"The boy is much younger than all the adults. If I am rude, please forgive me."

All the ministers nodded and listened attentively.

"Taizu took back salt, iron, etc. for national use and established the salt introduction system."

"This system is good, but it has a loophole."

"Bold!"

As soon as Jia Shan started speaking, a minister stood up.

Jia Shan looked at the minister in confusion.

Is there anything wrong with what he said?

The minister looked at the emperor indignantly.

"Your Majesty, this little thief is slandering Taizu. How can there be any problem with the ancestral system established by Taizu?"

Hearing the minister's words, Jia Shan couldn't help but laugh. This man was just looking for trouble.

Everyone knows what the salt policy is like.

The purpose of impeaching him now is to gain a sense of existence.

There has been no shortage of people like this since ancient times in history.

The emperor looked at the man in disgust.

"This time is not that time. Although Taizu established the ancestral system, it is not static."

As soon as the emperor said a few words, the minister showed a hypocritical look of being wronged.

"The ancestral system of Taizu cannot be questioned, Your Majesty!"

The emperor's boredom reached its peak, and he looked at this man's boss, the Minister of Rites.

The Minister of Rites caught the emperor's look and looked at the troublemaker.

This person is the new head of the Rites Department in his department.

The Minister of Rites stood up.

"When Taizu passed away, he once said that the implementation of the country's system should change according to the times. Sit down!"

Your immediate boss speaks.

The minister who stood up glanced at Jia Shan, then at his superior and the emperor.

Knowing that it would be useless to say anything, he sat down dejectedly at the foot of the slope.

Jashan continued to speak.

"During the reign of Taizu, there was a collusion between officials and businessmen to release salt secretly and drive up prices."

Jia Shan looked to the side of the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.

As a veteran of three dynasties, Shangshu Hubu knew a lot about this matter. He followed Jia Shan's words and introduced it to everyone.

Everyone is not surprised that this kind of thing still exists today.

Even more serious than before.

And many of them are doing this kind of thing.

Jason continued.

"The reason for this is that the court's supervision is not strict."

"To solve this problem, we need to establish a certain economic system in the court."

The emperor was taken aback.

“What is an economic system?”

"It is the relevant economic structure that enables Daqian to have a stable market economic environment, Your Majesty!"

The emperor nodded and motioned for Jia Shan to continue.

The Minister of Hube straightened his ears.

This matter concerns their household department.

Jashan coughed twice and cleared her throat.

“The issue that is currently being discussed in the salt administration is private salt.”

"What Daqian needs to do is to stabilize the price of salt and severely crack down on the existence of illegal salt."

"But it's very difficult for Da Qian to do that."

"There are countless private salt dealers, killing one after another, and they keep popping up like mushrooms after a rain."

The emperor nodded secretly in his heart.

When the Emperor was young, he severely punished a group of private salt dealers.

I thought that Daqian would get rid of the salt policy problem.

However, this only treats the symptoms but not the root cause. Once a group of people are dealt with, a group of bold people will come out.

Especially some of the salt owls.

These salt lords are extremely wealthy, not to mention they also have some armed forces in their hands.

And this group of people are all people who lick blood from the edge of a knife. They are really hit hard. If they gather together, he will suffer.

"So, do you have a way to contain these people?"

Jashan smiled and nodded.

"Your Majesty thinks what these people want most."

"money!"

The emperor said without even thinking about it.

Jashan shook her head.

"What these people want most is status and reputation."

"At their level, money is no longer important." "Scholars, peasants, industry and merchants are ranked last. No matter how rich they are, their social status is still the lowest."

The emperor looked at Jia Shan uncertainly.

"You want me to buy or sell my official position."

Jia Shan was startled, where did all this go?

Jia Shan reacted and bowed to the emperor and explained.

"Your Majesty, you are mistaken."

"How could I have the guts to encourage His Majesty to buy and sell official positions?"

"I just pointed out the psychology of this group of salt merchants. They are wealthy people, but they still look humble when facing officials, so they want to get rid of this situation the most."

"The next thing I want to say is what I want to say."

The emperor motioned for Jashan to continue.

Jashan straightened her waist.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember the state-owned enterprises that I just mentioned?"

The emperor nodded.

"Salt and iron are originally national treasures. This was decided during the time of Taizu. But now that illicit salt is constantly being used, it means that the salt introduction system is no longer working."

"Your Majesty, please listen to your state-owned enterprises."

The emperor nodded again.

"you say!"

Jason salutes.

"The state-owned enterprises here, as the name suggests, are workshops run by the state."

The emperor frowned.

Jashan continued.

"This workshop is different from the craftsmanship hall in the Ministry of Industry. It only handles some maintenance and production work for the court and the palace."

"It is similar to a shop or workshop, selling items to the outside world."

The whole court was in an uproar. This was not to let the court do business.

How can this work.

For a time, the whole hall was furious. Countless people impeached Jia Shan and asked the emperor to remove Jia Shan from her official position.

The emperor ignored the minister, his eyes became calm, and he considered the matter.

All in all, if you can make the court rich, a little face is nothing.

The emperor motioned for Jashan to continue.

Jia Shan nodded and turned to look at the ministers.

"My lords, I have something unclear."

"I see that all the ministers are very excited. Don't you need to eat or drink water?"

Jashan asked the adults.

The adults were all stunned.

"You kid with a yellow mouth should stop talking nonsense."

"What does waiting for me to eat and drink have to do with this matter?"

An old minister stood up and raised his eyes at Jia Shan.

Jia Shan looked up and down at Lao Deng who stood up and scolded her.

"Then let me ask, sir, you should need money to eat and drink, right?"

The minister snorted coldly.

"Of course I need money, but what does this have to do with what you just said."

Jia Shan raised her head proudly.

"It's a big deal. People need food and water, but the court doesn't need it?"

"The court also needs money."

"Now that the imperial court has no money, what should the imperial court do if another disaster as severe as the previous locust plague occurs?"

"You know how to embarrass His Majesty."

Jia Shan spoke excitedly, and the emperor looked at Jia Shan with eyes filled with relief.

Finally, a minister could understand him.

The emperor looked at the ministers.

"Jia Shan is right. When it came to the locust plague, you forced me to offer sacrifices to heaven and cry to me about poverty every day. I and the harem gritted their teeth and squeezed out money."

"Every day I eat radish and cabbage, and my little princess looks sallow and skinny."

"It was only after Prince Gong and the Queen Mother helped me that my harem could eat meat."

The emperor shed tears of grievance.

He, the emperor, was really frustrated.

The ministers were silent. They had long heard about the emperor's reduction in food and clothing in the harem.

Now the emperor said it himself.

All the ministers lowered their heads.

As ministers, they deserved it for allowing the emperor to live like this.

Jason continued.

“The actual method of making salt is very simple.”

"Fujian and other places have already popularized the method of drying salt, but the price of salt is still so high. It's probably these salt dealers who are raising the price."

"If the imperial court can openly sell salt, it will not only crack down on these salt lords who do all kinds of evil, but also allow the people to eat cheap salt. Why not do it."

“I really don’t understand why the ministers are opposed to it!”

Jia Shan saluted the emperor.

The emperor kept nodding.

"Get up!"

Jia Shan stood up from the ground, and the Minister of Hubu stood up.

"I object to this!"

Jia Shan looked at the Minister of Household Affairs in surprise.

How could the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance oppose him?

Shangshu Hubu glanced at Jia Shan.

"Xiao Jia's policy is a good way to solve Daqian's salt policy, but now Daqian has internal and external troubles."

"If Tang had done this, it would have made these salt merchants furious."

"They are not short of money, and they have a lot of servants at home to care for the home."

"If they unite, it will not be a good thing for Daqian."

The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance told the key.

The emperor frowned, as the Minister of the Ministry of Finance said.

Now is not a good time to do this.

The emperor looked at Jashan.

He wanted to see if Jia Shan had anything else to say, and Jia Shan frowned tightly.

This issue mentioned by the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance was ignored by him.

But if such a policy is not implemented, illegal salt will continue to circulate in the market.

Jashan turned her gaze to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, are there no salt traders in Jiangnan who favor the imperial court?"

"There must be."

The emperor answered Jashan, and Jashan's eyes lit up.

"That will be easy, Your Majesty."

"If a state-owned enterprise is to be established, it will definitely be huge."

"Especially for things like salt that are related to people's livelihood, it's normal to have tens of thousands of people working under you."

"Your Majesty, does he know what an agent is?"

The emperor felt a headache. Why did Jia Shan keep jumping out with new words?

Jia Shan, who knew that the emperor did not know, smiled slightly.

"When the salt is produced, it needs to be transported out of the country and sold out. Your Majesty's people have to guard the border. How can there be so many people to transport salt out for a month?"

"These salt merchants can solve this problem very well."

A minister stood up silently.

"But if these salt merchants are allowed to intervene, will we go back to the past?"

Jashan smiled again.

"The purpose of the birth of a state-owned enterprise is to stabilize market prices. If he wants to buy salt from the imperial court, he must follow the market price set by the imperial court."

"Salt is a national treasure, and this salt pond is all in the hands of the imperial court. Where do they have the courage to do this?"

Jia Shan asked the minister.

The minister sat down in a daze.

Another minister stood up.

"What about the remaining big salt owls who have salt in their hands?"

Jia Shan: "The market is about survival of the fittest. On one side is the salt produced by the court, which is of high quality and low price. On the other side, the price is extremely high. The salt from the salt merchants. Sir, who do you think the people will buy?"

The minister's eyes flashed with dissatisfaction.

"But how can you be sure that these salt merchants will favor the imperial court?"

"Not to mention anything else, they make far more money selling salt themselves than selling salt to the court."

Jia Shan looked at the old man in front of her and nodded in admiration.

"That's what the boss said."

"It can be a problem or it can't be a problem."

"Sir, please remember the salt merchants I mentioned before. What they lack most is not money but status."

"And it depends on whether His Majesty and the adults are willing to part with it."

Jashan looked at the emperor.

"When I remember Taizu, there was a precedent."

"Block the titles of those businessmen who have funded him, the most famous of whom is the Xue family of Jinling."

"Taizu granted pardon to the head of the Xue family as Ziweishen."

(End of this chapter)