Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Chapter 102 Eight Great Salt Merchants
  "Why is this?" Jia Cong was puzzled.

Xu Qing shook his head, took out a few famous cards from his sleeves, and handed them to Jia Cong.

These name cards are all made of cardboard wrapped in purple gold foil, with chiseled silver writing on them.

Jia Cong flipped through the posts and found eight in total. They were all posted today and were for the same thing. He and Jia Lian were invited to ride on the Crane Tower to attend the banquet tonight.

"This is?"

Xu Qingdao: "These people are the eight largest salt merchants in the Huaihe River today. Together they have a slogan called 'Rivers are difficult to cross and thousands of streams return to the sea', which is one of the difficulties I just mentioned."

"What do you mean?"

"It refers to these eight families, namely the Jiang family, the He family, the Lan family, the Du family, the Wan family, the Liu family, the Gui family, and the Hai family. These eight major salt merchants are like noble titles, passed down from generation to generation. Wealth.”

"Can merchants still be hereditary? Could it be that they are imperial merchants?" Jia Cong wondered. The only merchants he knew who could be hereditary were the Xue family.

Xu Qing sighed: "This is a long story. Are you interested in hearing it?"

"Sir, please tell me, I'm quite interested. You know yourself and your enemy." Jia Cong patted the name card in his hand and said.

Xu Qing nodded and said: "The salt law has been a top priority in all dynasties, because the salt tax is the backbone of the court's taxation."

Jia Cong nodded, let alone your ancient times, even in later generations, salt was a national monopoly, because salt is a strategic material for the national economy and people's livelihood.

"During the previous dynasty, the 'Kaizhong method' was practiced. Because there was a shortage of grain in the nine borders, the Ministry of Household Affairs issued a list to summon merchants and ordered them to transport grain to border fortresses or other grain-deficient places. The grain collection yamen registered the amount of grain paid. The amount of salt that should be paid is given to the warehouse; merchants use the banknotes to transport salt to the salt fields in exchange for salt leads, and then go to the salt fields to pay for the salt and transport it to designated areas for sale.

It belongs to the system of civilian system, official collection, official sale, commercial transportation and commercial sales. "Xu Qing said slowly.

"What now?"

"When our dynasty was founded, we also inherited this method. Later, the foreign tribes were defeated one after another. There was no war in the nine borders for a long time. As they became more prosperous, merchants were no longer needed to transport grain. Emperor Taizong changed it to the 'Kaizhongzhese' method."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that merchants are not allowed to transport grain and can be converted into cash. As a result, the salt tax has increased a lot. In the Lianghuai area alone, it has reached 300 million taels a year, and the whole country has a total of 600 million taels. This is just the beginning of the founding of the country. "

"This method is very good." Jia Cong nodded.

Xu Qingdao: "At the time of the Supreme Emperor, another method was changed, which was the 'Gang Salt Method'. The salt quotations received by each merchant were divided into 10 gangs and compiled into a gang book. The number of quotations contained in the gang book allowed each merchant to ' For hundreds of years, it will be regarded as a nest. Every year, the old numbers in the book will be used to make new ones. Businessmen whose names are not listed in the book are not allowed to join the salt industry operation.

From then on, officials did not collect salt, and merchants traded directly with salt merchants. The power of purchasing, transporting and selling salt was vested in merchants and was hereditary. "

Jia Cong frowned slightly, intuitively feeling that this method was wrong, but he didn't know where the problem lay.

Seeing this, Xu Qing said: "The third master has discovered the key point, so you might as well speak out."

Jia Cong thought for a while and said: "I heard what you mean, this salt law means nothing more than monopoly." "Monopoly? Can the third master explain something, I don't understand." Xu Qing was confused. water.

Jia Cong coughed twice, thinking that the word had not been invented yet, so he said: "The monopolist is to surround it, and the people inside are unconstrained, unscrupulous, and feasting. People outside can't eat what they want, so they can only do it. In a hurry, the government wants to take care of it but cannot do anything, and the people are helpless."

Bang, Xu Qing slapped his thigh and said: "Third Master hit the nail on the head! It's... this monopoly! This is the key point! To put it bluntly, the Gang of Salt Law is democratic system, commercial revenue, commercial transportation, commercial sales, the imperial court I want to take care of it, but I can’t interfere!”

Jia Cong nodded and said: "It is conceivable that the salt merchants with strong foundations are getting stronger and stronger, and without the constraints of the government, they must suppress the salt people at one end and desperately lower the purchase price, while at the other end they must hold back their sales and be reluctant to sell. They use methods such as driving up the price of salt, passing off inferior products as high-quality products, etc., in order to make profits."

Xu Qing stared at Jia Cong for a long time, surprised and happy, and said with a smile: "I don't think Third Master Wang is so familiar with business affairs at such a young age. That's exactly what happened!"

Jia Cong secretly laughed, those consortiums in later generations were even more sophisticated, and what he knew was only superficial.

"I think this way, the salt class may not be satisfactory."

Xu Qing sighed: "Who says it's not the case? After the implementation of the Salt Law, salt classes decreased instead of increasing. There were only more than 200 million taels in Lianghuai a year, which was greatly reduced from the 300 million taels at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, after Jin Shang ascended the throne, , he promoted Mr. Lin to serve as the censor of salt inspection, in an attempt to reverse this situation.

Over the years, Mr. Lin has been working hard all day and night, forgetting to eat and sleep, just for this matter, which has led to his body being exhausted, alas..."

Jia Cong said: "My uncle was born in Tanhua and has extraordinary talents. I will definitely gain something if I come here."

Xu Qing nodded and said: "After Mr. Lin took charge of the salt affairs of the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, after many mediations, kindness and power, and a ban on private salt, the salt class was finally increased to more than 300 million taels. He has won the trust of his superiors and has repeatedly issued commendations. .”

"Since it has been effective, why are you still so worried? The Lianghuai salt class has increased by 50% in the hands of my uncle, which is worthy of the court." Jia Cong was puzzled.

Xu Qing smiled bitterly and said: "Having said that, now the Holy One wants to implement the new law, and the Ministry of Household Affairs can't come up with the money. They just reach out to Lianghuai for money. If someone else had used a hob to kill him, he would have been able to get through it. , after all, the court does not dare to change people easily. If someone changes, and they don't even have 300 million, wouldn't it be worse?

But Mr. Lin is a close minister of the emperor, and he has the ambition to serve the country. He does not care about his personal honor and disgrace. How can he be willing to shirk responsibility and perfunctoryly do things? We must dedicate our lives to death, and naturally we and other subordinates have no choice but to sacrifice our lives to accompany the gentleman, and the road is dark. "

Jia Cong was stunned: "Is it so serious? Even if the errand is not done well, it won't make you lose your head."

Xu Qing sighed: "The third master came from Shenjing and didn't know what happened in Yangzhou. Why did all the salt inspection censors just make money and didn't dare to bother with the salt class? In fact, this place is a difficult, complicated, tired and difficult place." also!"

"What do you mean?" Jia Cong asked.

"Chong means that the place is important; complex means that the affairs are heavy; tired means that the people's sentiments are tired and stubborn; difficult means that the people's customs are strong and difficult to govern. All states, prefectures and counties in the country and dynasty are divided into four grades with these four characters. One character is called Jianqi, and two characters are used. It means "middle shortage", three characters means "important shortage", four characters means "most important shortage"! Yangzhou is the most important place among the most important shortages." Xu Qing explained.

Jia Cong nodded and said: "Even if it is the most important thing, so what? Yanzheng Yamen has such a high and powerful position, and my uncle is in the heart of the emperor, so what is there to be afraid of?"

Xu Qing chuckled, looked at Jia Cong with pity for a fool, and sighed: "After all, the third master has never experienced officialdom, so he doesn't know the dangers involved. After Lord Yanyuan took office, he lost his youngest son first and then his beloved wife. Is it a coincidence? "

Jia Cong felt a chill in his heart, took a breath, and said, "Your Majesty, you mean that the deaths of my aunt and cousin were man-made?"

Xu Qing nodded and said: "That's why Mr. Yanyuan endured the pain of separation and sent Miss Lin to Rongguo Mansion in Shenjing. If she had stayed in Yangzhou, she might not have been able to escape."

(End of this chapter)