Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 601 Strength is the key

When facing the cabinet officials and mentioning the case of fake salt permits, Emperor Chenghui fell silent, and his dormant memory was awakened.

How many years ago was it? Forty years? I can't remember, at that time I was still running errands for the prince.

I just remember that the prince mentioned it and personally supervised the case.

Time flies so fast, I am sixty years old now.

"Cases of fake salt permits occurred not only in this dynasty, but also in the previous Ming Dynasty. It is truly a profitable business, and some people would do it even at the risk of being beheaded." As the former Imperial Censor of Salt, Lin Ruhai is knowledgeable about the business.

The others entered the officialdom later, and only Li Qing knew about this, so he took over the conversation and said, "According to the memorial, it has lasted for ten years. Maybe it is the descendants of the original batch."

Lin Ruhai said: "Perhaps the technology was passed down, or perhaps a skilled craftsman solved the technical problem and quietly sold a small batch for profit."

Emperor Chenghui was in a trance for a moment, and came out of his memory: "Li Yuan has sent people to Jiangnan to arrest people, but they probably came up empty-handed. The cabinet sent important officials to chase them and make the case thoroughly handled. The memorial said that it was ten years, and what happened after Lin Qing left the Salt Road, maybe the entire Salt Road was involved."

Emperor Chenghui silenced the entire cabinet with just one sentence. This was the most terrifying thing.

Lin Ruhai stood up and folded his hands: "Your Majesty, let's start with the salt road accounts."

Emperor Chenghui seemed not to hear, as if he was muttering to himself: "Prosperous times, prosperous times, is this what is called a prosperous time? In the past, Buqi once said that in prosperous times, change is needed, and in troubled times, stability is needed. I didn't listen to it all."

The cabinet ministers were all silent. Did the prosperous era of Emperor Chenghui change? It did, but it didn't seem to have changed much.

The reform is a matter of tethering the whole body. There are too many stakeholders from top to bottom, and the resistance is too great. Zhang Ting'en had a stroke in his early sixties, and the current cabinet did not even mention continuing the reform after Emperor Chenghui backed off.

"That's fine. If I change a little, and the next monarch changes a little, then everything will be better in the end." Emperor Chenghui seemed to be comforting himself.

"After Your Majesty ascended the throne, the release of salt permits has been strictly controlled. That's why there are people privately printing salt permits for profit. As long as we investigate it thoroughly, it will definitely be beneficial to the court." Lin Ruhai comforted him with a precise angle.

Emperor Chenghui was immediately shocked and said, "That's right. Since I ascended the throne, I have strictly controlled the release of salt permits, which effectively alleviated the harm of the previous emperor's excessive issuance of salt permits. The court does not rely on issuing salt permits to gain extra profits. Those people are used to making profits from it and are really unrepentant. Their greed is insatiable!"

When the ministers heard these words, they really didn't know how to respond. After all, it was the emperor's fault, and the current emperor had worked hard for many years to restore the situation.

"Your Majesty, the salt tax should have increased in the past five years, but judging from the data, the court's salt tax has not changed in ten years." Li Qing reminded carefully.

What does this mean? In ten years, the population must have increased. In addition, the emperor did not mess around internally, so the people's lives were obviously much better, and the population growth rate may have been faster. Therefore, the amount of salt used by the people must have increased, but the salt tax did not change. This is unreasonable. You can't say that no salt can be produced from seawater, right?

"We must investigate, but we cannot let the investigation lead to a large gap in salt supply in various places, causing the people to suffer. We can't rush this matter, we must think of a way to make a smooth transition." Emperor Chenghui is indeed a benevolent monarch. He didn't think about how much money he lost, but how to ensure the stability of the price of salt.

Lin Ruhai frowned as he listened and said, "This case is too big. We need to replace the officials first, then the clerks. As for the salt merchants, we need to fight and pull back some. We also need the military to cooperate. Let's go back and discuss it carefully and come up with a safe plan. The most important thing is to keep it confidential."

"Regarding the case of the salt permit, Wei Longjin needs to continue to investigate it to the end, especially the main culprit. He must be brought back even if he escapes to the ends of the earth." Emperor Chenghui gritted his teeth, feeling so angry that his liver ached. He was so old, yet he still encountered such a big case, which caused him a lot of trouble.

This group of people are the country's top elites. It's actually not that difficult to get together to do something. The difficult part is actually keeping it secret.

However, it seems a bit too late to keep it secret now, especially after the case of privately printing stocks broke out, the main culprit has already fled. In terms of confidentiality, it targets internal plans.

"Your Majesty, we understand. Another thing is the stock trading. Does Your Majesty want to talk about it?" Lin Ruhai turned back.

"The stock market was created by someone else. I won't clean up the mess for him, and you don't have to worry about it. Let him handle it." Emperor Chenghui was really tired and didn't want to worry too much.

"That's it. The cabinet will issue a letter and your majesty must use the seal." Lin Ruhai emphasized the procedure. Emperor Chenghui waved his hand and said, "That's it. I'm tired."

When the cabinet meeting was adjourned, Li Qing walked up to Lin Ruhai and brought up the old events of the past.

"During the reign of the previous emperor, there were also cases of fake salt permits. Prime Minister Lin knew about it. The matter is quite sensitive. Should I inform you all?" Li Qing spoke in a low voice. Lin Ruhai nodded: "Of course."

After the two discussed, the cabinet came to the office. Lin Ruhai coughed and said, "You may not know that during the time of the previous emperor, there were two cases of fake salt permits. After the first case, the then crown prince was ordered to go to Nanjing to investigate the case. Two years later, the censor of Jiangnan reported that fake salt permits appeared again among the people. The previous emperor ordered a strict investigation again. The censor found that the fake salt permit case was related to the crown prince. I don't know what happened later. After all, I was not there at the time. The former prime minister Fang Baiyi should know. Afterwards, the previous emperor ordered all related files to be destroyed."

When it comes to the so-called "Prince's Rebellion Case", everyone already knows what it is, so they simply tacitly agree not to mention it.

Whether Li Ni used this method to gain benefits for himself in the future, even if it is discovered, it must be kept strictly confidential.

It would not be a good thing if the royal family's scandal were to spread out, and it would not be good for anyone.

The remaining three cabinet ministers smiled gratefully at Lin Ruhai. If he hadn't said it, everyone would have had different thoughts in their minds. Now that he had said it, no one dared to think about it anymore.

"So, even if we have to investigate this case, we should just investigate the salt roads and salt merchants, and not involve too many people." Li Qing also added.

Things are not very complicated. Knowing too many details is not a good thing. Everyone has curiosity, but some curiosity should not exist.

The cabinet has a sequence for everything. Regarding the case of fake stocks and Li Yuan's suggestion to set up a special agency to supervise stock trading, the cabinet directly wrote a document, which was then handed over to the emperor for seal and then sent back to the capital.

After Li Yuan received the message, he immediately invited Jia Lian over after reading it.

After reading the letter from the cabinet, Jia Lian said with a wry smile, "I knew it would be like this. Your Highness, please issue a notice first to prohibit private stock trading among the people, and wait for the court to issue relevant rules later."

Li Yuan was curious and asked, "How can this be banned?"

Jia Lian smiled and explained: "I have no intention of prohibiting it. I just prohibit the four major banks from setting up platforms for private transactions. This kind of thing must be brought under the supervision of the court, otherwise there will be a big mess."

Li Yuan nodded and smiled: "Fake stocks have come out, and there has been a big mess."

Jia Lian was silent for a while and said, "Let's set up a stock exchange. Both parties can trade in the exchange. Only transactions guaranteed by the exchange can ensure the authenticity of the stocks. Transactions not conducted in the exchange are at their own risk. Second, the exchange will serve as the endorsement institution for all future stock issuances. Third, private issuance of stocks by the public is prohibited. All stock issuances must be approved by the exchange." Li Yuan agreed very straightforwardly and immediately said that a letter would be sent to all places, first stating that only the railway bureau was issuing stocks now, and there was no so-called stock in private joint stock transactions. This point must be made clear, otherwise people in the private sector will still be deceived.

Jia Lian added, "Your Highness, please remember to report to His Majesty that the exchange, as the guarantee review agency for stock issuance, charges 0.5% of the contract guarantee fee from the issuer and the trading party. This income, after deducting related expenses, will be included in the treasury. Your Majesty needs to send someone to the agency to exercise supervision power."

Li Yuan was delighted when he heard this and said, "Thank you for your teachings, sir. But wouldn't there be dissatisfaction in the Ministry of Revenue?"

Jia Lian said calmly: "Once the money is collected, it must be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue first, and then transferred to the inner treasury. The accounts must be clear."

Li Yuan understood and immediately nodded in agreement, and immediately arranged for someone to write a memorial.

After the memorial was written, it was shown to Jia Lian before being sent to Rehe.

After Jia Lian left, it was difficult to calm down. As a prince who also had the opportunity to inherit the throne, Li Yuan's attitude was obviously far superior to Li Heng's.

At least that's the case now. It seems that the few years he spent in Nanyang had greatly helped Li Yuan's growth.

If I were to say who I would feel more comfortable working with at this stage, it would naturally be Li Yuan.

As for Li Heng, he has changed a lot since he gained the upper hand in the fight for the throne, especially during Li Yuan's time in Southeast Asia.

But can people be reassured by the current situation shown by Li Yuan? Who knows if it is just the result of a performance?
Jia Lian didn't think much about it. He was betting on both sides. It didn't matter who became the emperor. As long as the Jia family was not touched, everything would be fine.

As for the descendants of the Jia family, they still have to find a way to leave a way out overseas. At this stage, Australia seems to be a good choice, but there is no need to rush for the Middle East, so they can just manage it slowly.

Jia Lian is now fully capable. Not to mention Li Yuan and Li Heng, even if Emperor Chenghui wants to take action against Jia Lian, Jia Lian has the ability to fight back.

Therefore, strength is the most important thing. If you don’t have strength, just like the Jia family in the original novel, the emperor can confiscate their property with just one imperial edict.

Jia Lian did not go home, but went to the south of the city and called a few staff members to discuss the exchange. With the previous exchange in Guangzhou as a foundation, a plan was quickly worked out.

The name is very simple, it's called Stock Exchange. Even though the emperor said that he would give Jia Lian full authority to handle it, Jia Lian didn't dare to take it seriously.

Therefore, Jia Lian's report put a bridle on the exchange, that is, the exchange is just a platform. The exchange is only the preliminary review of whether a stock can be listed. There must be a higher-level department to supervise the exchange and make the final review of whether the stock is qualified for listing. This agency should be directly under the emperor's jurisdiction and let's call it the China Securities Regulatory Commission for the time being.

After the plan was ready, Jia Lian gave it to Li Yuan to look at the next day, and asked Li Yuan to make a copy, and both sides sent it to Rehe together.

After reading it, Li Yuan really admired Jia Lian's meticulous thinking. This plan, combined with the memorial he submitted yesterday, was really perfect.

In this way, the new institution would not be a government office for Jia Lian to seek personal gain, but a place to make money for His Majesty's treasury.

On this side, after receiving the memorials from the capital one after another, Emperor Chenghui took them very seriously. After reading them all carefully, his mood immediately improved.

The cases of salt permits and fake stocks can be investigated slowly. The exchange and the China Securities Regulatory Commission set up by Jia Lian are basically equivalent to bypassing the cabinet. The money and accounts have to go through the Ministry of Revenue, and all the power belongs to the emperor.

There are so many ministers in the court, but I have never seen anyone like Jia Lian. In the process of governing, he never seeks personal gain as long as it is open and aboveboard.

As for the private affairs, the emperor naturally pretended not to see it. Wasn't it just some business on the sea? Wasn't that what Jia Lian deserved?
If he really doesn't seek personal gain at all, can Emperor Chenghui still sleep well at night?

What the emperor admired most about Jia Lian was that he was always able to bring in legitimate money to the treasury.

Emperor Chenghui has money in his hands, so he won't worry about the Ministry of Revenue's outer treasury. If the outer treasury is not touched, the outer court will not make a fuss.

This is much better than the previous emperors. No matter which emperor it was, they did not distinguish between inside and outside.

Emperor Chenghui directly stamped the document first and then sent it to the cabinet for approval. The cabinet had no choice but to accept this reversed procedure.

Jia Lian has come up with many new things, not just this one. The cabinet has struggled before, and it has indeed gained a lot of benefits for the external treasury, but it depends on the situation.

For example, when it comes to stocks, the Railway Affairs Bureau pays extra taxes every year, and all the money goes into the Ministry of Revenue's external treasury. Don't bother with this small amount of money now, that would be annoying.

It would be a waste of time and effort to anger the emperor for a small profit.

It is indeed a small profit for the time being, but it is hard to say what will happen in the future.

Anyway, it is like this for now. The bottom line for civil officials is that there is no bottom line. What is the inner treasury? It is the money that is first deposited with the emperor.

You don't believe it? Ask Chongzhen, he knows it best.

As for why the memorial proposed to abolish the post stations but did not mention the issue of the indiscriminate issuance of peace permits and the civil officials' deception of the emperor, can that be considered deceiving the emperor?
If officials had not issued peace treaties indiscriminately, anyone, whether human or ghost, could have stayed in the post station. Would there have been so many bad debts in the imperial post station system?

Jia Lian acted quickly. After receiving the reply, he immediately announced the relevant matters of the exchange and the China Securities Regulatory Commission to the world through the court's official document system, official bulletins, and private newspaper system.

There is one thing Jia Lian would never tell you, and that is whether the so-called exchange can be used by private capital to achieve the purpose of financing.

The specific preparatory work would take some time, so Jia Lian took a break for the time being.

Xue Pan then came to the capital again to report on the recent matters of the bank and put forward a new requirement, that is, the bank's profit growth this year has stagnated.

The reasons are, one, there are no new growth points, and the other, immigration costs are too high.

(End of this chapter)