Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 224 Your Majesty’s knife is still sharp!

Seeing that Xia Zhibai looked normal, as if he had expected it, Tian Jing's heart tightened slightly.

Tian Jing closed his eyes slightly and said, "The situation in Jiangnan is very complicated. Many descendants of meritorious officials and local officials are involved. You should have expected this. After all, salt has always been a huge profit. It's just that salt production was very troublesome in the past, and salt sales and transportation also cost a lot of money."

"Except for merchants, not many people want to get involved, and most of them want some benefits from merchants."

“But things are different now.”

"With the promotion of steam-driven salt production, the cost of salt production has been greatly reduced."

"Especially when it comes to employing people."

"Jiangnan has convenient waterways and a large population, so transportation and sales are not very troublesome. Many people have set their sights on this business. Although our Salt Transport Bureau is in charge of the 'salt administration' in name, we do not have that much power in the face of the meritorious service of the court and local officials. In addition, we are new in office, so we can only play both sides and send all these drawings."

“That leads to a problem.”

"There are too many salt factories in the Jiangnan area."

"These people were too greedy for money. They made huge profits but were unwilling to give a little money to the salt farmers. The salt farmers were cut off from making a living because the government did not accept salt and the local government strictly prohibited the sale of private salt. As the autumn harvest ended, more and more people could not find work. Starting from Hangzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang, riots broke out in various places in Jiangnan."

“It’s not a big deal at the moment.”

"But if this continues, it will get out of hand sooner or later."

"The Jiangnan incident, in theory, has nothing to do with our Jingdu Salt Transport Bureau, but we were the ones who sent the blueprints there after all. If a big mess really happens in Jiangnan, we will also be involved, and it will even affect you, Grand Secretary."

"Now what these stove owners are demanding is to smash the steam engines."

“Restore salt production to the way it was in the past.”

"If the matter becomes a disaster, the court may compromise and agree. Then the salt factory run by you, Grand Secretary, will also become the target of public criticism. You may not know these salt farmers well, but they will not tolerate any sand in their eyes. Once the matter is stirred up, they will do even more harm."

"Your salt factory may not be able to remain immune." Tian Jing said meaningfully.

Xia Zhibai smiled.

He knew what Tian Jing was thinking.

It's just to scare myself so that I'll give in more.

Xia Zhibai looked at Tian Jing and said calmly, "Deputy Tian Yun, don't use such tricks. Just say what you want to say. You have your ideas, and I have my principles. When it comes to the bottom line, I will not back down even a step."

The gloom on Tian Jing's face disappeared, replaced by a smile.

Like a smiling tiger, his expression changes in an instant.

Tian Jing said with a smile: "What I said is not alarmist, but a sincere warning. However, since the Grand Secretary does not want to listen, I will not say anything. I invited the Grand Secretary here this time because I really want to confirm one thing with him."

"Is what we agreed upon still working?"

Tian Jing looked at Xia Zhibai nervously.

Xia Zhibai was silent for a while, with a faint smile on his lips.

He said slowly: "This is natural."

"But there will be some changes. At that time, it was to prevent things from happening. Now that things have happened, it's time to discuss it again."

Tian Jing frowned and said unhappily, "What do you mean?"

Xia Zhibai said: "I always keep my word. What I agreed with you before is still applicable now. I just need to confirm some things. Otherwise, if I do something bad with good intentions, it will cause resentment among the local people, or even dissatisfaction from all parties. Wouldn't I really be asking for trouble?"

"I never do anything that loses money but only makes a lot of noise."

Tian Jing was silent.

He looked at Xia Zhibai deeply, trying to see something from him, but Xia Zhibai looked calm and he couldn't see anything at all. After hesitating for a long time, Tian Jing said, "I want to listen first."

Xia Zhibai said: "First, you must submit a petition to the court to explicitly abolish the household registration of the stove households and transfer the household registration of these stove households to 'workers and farmers'. The stove households can be farmers or workers in the future, but the 'workers and farmers' registration is temporary. When the stove households are settled in the future, the household registration of their descendants will be determined by the stove households' jobs at the time."

Tian Jing remained indifferent.

"I can't agree to this." Tian Jing's eyes were uncertain.

Xia Zhibai said coldly: "This must be agreed to."

“When we discussed it before, we talked about abolishing the Zao household registration system, but we didn’t have any specific discussions.”

"There are many things that can be manipulated here. For example, many stove owners in Jiangnan have lost their livelihoods, but the local government is still distributing 'quota grain' to them according to the 'stove household registration', but the money and grain have not fallen into the hands of the stove owners."

Tian Jing's eyelids twitched.

Xia Zhibai added: "In addition, the stove owners in the Jiangnan Salt Factory can no longer be registered as stove owners."

"They can only be employed by the salt factory, not forced by the government."

“Income must also be increased.”

"One should not be too greedy, and certainly not take all the benefits."

"Since you don't want to bear the burden of supporting the kitchen household, then you naturally shouldn't enjoy the benefits of the kitchen household either."

"The household registration of stove households must be abolished!"

“This is the basic condition!”

Xia Zhibai's attitude was extremely strong.

He didn't want the local government to exploit the stove households according to their household registration requirements. The stove households didn't have a good life to begin with, and working in the salt factory meant they had less time to rest, but in the end they could only get the salary that a "stove household" deserved. Isn't this a waste of time?
As a pioneer of the factory system, he had to protect the basic rights and interests of workers.

Instead of letting them become complete 'slaves'!
At the same time, we must also truly reduce the burden on the court.

Rather than verbal.

Nowadays, in Jiangnan, I am afraid that the vast majority of kitchen households are still on the register, and the court still distributes money and grain every month. The so-called "streamlining of staff" is just an excuse for local officials to evade the court. As long as they can delay it for one more month, they can embezzle one more month's money and grain.

Moreover, the number of salt factory operators is determined by local officials.

With such a huge lack of transparency, if something really goes wrong, it will all be blamed on him.

How could he be willing to be a scapegoat?

Tian Jing's face was gloomy, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Xia Zhibai had completely changed.

In fact, he already thought highly of Xia Zhibai.

But I didn't expect that Xia Zhibai had such a deep and thorough understanding of the affairs in Jiangnan, and he realized at a glance that the key was that the stove household system had two mouths, the upper and lower ones, and there were too many things that local officials could manipulate.

First of all, the cost of employing people was shifted to the court.

Secondly, the salt factory will indeed streamline a large number of "stove operators" and save a lot of expenses, but the savings may not be saved immediately.

Thirdly, the existence of the kitchen household registration system itself provides a lot of room for maneuver.

Xia Zhibai wanted to block this entire road.

This offends too many people.

He couldn't agree to that.

Tian Jing said: "Everything should be done gradually. How do you know that such a sudden abolition will not cause new unrest? Moreover, these stove owners have long been accustomed to their status as stove owners. How can they agree to make them 'undocumented'?"

"I can't possibly agree to something like this that would just end the eating because of choking."

"Grand Master, please don't embarrass me."

Xia Zhibai snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "Deputy Tian Yun, anyone can say something, but what is hidden in it is not certain. I said, this is the bottom line, the stove household system must be abolished, and it is for the whole world. This is not a discussion."

"It's the conditions!"

"If you don't agree, I won't agree either."

Tian Jing's face turned completely gloomy, and he said coldly: "Xia Zhibai, do you really think that nothing can be done in this world without you? I came to you this time just to let you get some benefits. Otherwise, I can submit a petition to His Majesty and move these "streamlined" cooks to the north."

"Why should I let you intervene?"

"I respect you very much, but I don't want to make things too awkward. But if you insist on pushing your luck, I have no choice but to send you away."

Tian Jing also became determined.

Xia Zhibai shook his head and said, "The world can indeed accomplish things without me."

"But I can make you fail!"

"Deputy Tian Yun, you are a smart man. You know how to please both sides and try not to offend either side. But is there such a thing as having both sides in the world?"

"These people in Jiangnan are too greedy."

"And he likes to treat other people as fools."

"Do they really think no one can see what they are planning?"

"After getting an advantage, they don't want to stop there and insist on exploiting me. Do they really regard the kitchen owner as a human being?"

"I built the salt factory so that the people could afford salt and have access to salt, not to let the salt factory become a tool to exploit the farmers, and certainly not to let the local people exploit the farmers in various ways."

"You and I both know how filthy this place is."

"If you don't want to submit a petition, then I will."

"I want to see which side His Majesty will believe and whether he will send people to conduct a thorough investigation. But Deputy Tian Yun, you should also consider whether your head can be saved and whether there will be anyone to protect it if the court conducts a thorough investigation!"

"You don't want to offend the officials in Jiangnan, nor do you want to offend the meritorious officials standing behind you."

"But don't forget it."

"You are wearing the official robes of the Ming Dynasty!"

“You need to understand your identity.”

"With your current thinking, it is very dangerous."

Tian Jing's expression changed slightly.

I just felt a chill on my back.

Xia Zhibai stood up, patted Tian Jing on the shoulder, and said in a deep voice: "I believe that Deputy Tian Yun did not embezzle the money and grain of Jiangnan, but Deputy Tian Yun, you must know who is in charge of this Ming Dynasty. The Guo Huan case was closed not long ago. If another big case is made, it may not end so well."

"Your Majesty's sword is still sharp!"

"You have to think clearly about which side you want to stand on, on the side of the court or on the opposite side of the court."

"It's just that you don't have much time to think about it."

Tian Jing looked at Xia Zhibai suddenly, his eyes filled with fear and anxiety.

He was frightened by Xia Zhibai's words.

(End of this chapter)