Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 231 This is a two-pronged approach! (Second update)

Zhu Yuanzhang looked calm and his expression showed no emotion.

No changes in expression can be seen.

He sat high up, listening to Mei Sizu's words calmly. After a long time, he nodded, as if he was somewhat moved by Mei Sizu's words.

See this.

Mei Sizu hurriedly said, "As for what Xia Zhibai said, many of them are groundless. Is it really that easy to relocate the population? Have you asked the local kitchen owners? If they are unwilling, wouldn't it arouse more resentment among the people?"

"As the ancients said, governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Don't make big moves lightly."

"How could Xia Zhibai not understand this?"

Mei Sizu looked at Xia Zhibai coldly, with deep disdain and sarcasm.

Xia Zhibai glanced at Mei Sizu and sneered, "Then may I ask, Lord Mei, how should the court stabilize the south?"

Mei Sizu smiled and stroked his beard, a hint of pride flashed across his lips, and he said with a smile: "Since you have no solution, then let me tell you my idea. First of all, it is not easy to make a big change in the salt administration. The local area is already unstable, and making a mess of the salt administration will only backfire."

"Therefore, the imperial court should provide timely assistance to calm people's hearts and stabilize the local situation."

"also."

"The court should immediately order the local governments to actively absorb the unemployed households, free up some land for them, or give them some places to make a living so that they can have a chance to make a living. Only by taking both approaches can the unrest caused in the south be completely quelled."

“The South will also be able to stabilize because of this.”

"When governing a place, we must not act too hastily, and we must not act too hastily."

"Too hard will break, too soft will fade."

"We need to do it just right, calming down the local excitement, comforting the local people, and finding a way out for them. Only in this way will the people have hope and be grateful to the court."

"Only our Ming Dynasty can last forever."

Mei Sizu bowed respectfully towards Zhu Yuanzhang with a smile on his face.

He believed that the solution he proposed was the best one at the moment. It could not only properly resolve the local unrest, but also stabilize the local people, and the cost to the court was extremely small.

He believed that His Majesty would make a wise choice.

Li Shanchang stroked his beard with a smile.

The worry on his face completely disappeared at this moment, and he was replaced by calmness.

Mei Sizu was a man of quick wits. Although Tian Jing and Xia Zhibai reacted unexpectedly, they quickly stabilized their position after a short period of confusion and quickly thought of coping strategies. Moreover, these strategies were obviously more in line with the "superior's wishes" and more feasible.

Li Shanchang raised his eyebrows and glanced at Tian Jing, then finally shifted his gaze to Xia Zhibai.

He is very clear.

Tian Jing doesn't have the courage.

The one who really ordered all this could only be Xia Zhibai.

He would like to see it.

What other tricks can Xia Zhibai come up with?

Xia Zhibai chuckled and shook his head, sneer: "Dare to be Lord Mei, have you really used your brain?"

"What are you talking about?!" Mei Sizu was stunned, then his face showed annoyance and he glared at Xia Zhibai. Xia Zhibai actually dared to call him brainless in public!

Xia Zhibai said: "Since Lord Mei has used his brain, it is impossible that he did not find the loophole in his words. These people are kitchen households, which are listed as a separate household. Under the strict household registration system of the court, kitchen households can only make salt and cannot engage in other activities."

"If we don't abolish the stove-keeper system and let the stove-keepers do other things, isn't that like a hen crowing at dawn?"

"May I ask what is the basis, what is the reason, and where is the law?"

"You are breaking the law!"

Mei Sizu's expression changed slightly, and he glared at Xia Zhibai fiercely, and said in a cold voice: "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, and sometimes it's not a bad idea to do things that are convenient for you?"

Xia Zhibai said indifferently: "But they are still stove owners, and their descendants can only be stove owners as well."

"Does the imperial court want to open up a way for the head of the kitchen?"

Mei Sizu was speechless for a moment.

Of course not.

But if not, the stove household system would have to be abolished. Once abolished, too many people and money would be involved. Mei Sizu fell silent, and looked at the officials around him with a pleading look, but the other officials also looked up at the sky, as if they didn't want to be involved.

Xia Zhibai looked around and said calmly: "From any angle, the stove-household system is no longer appropriate."

"It will only be a burden to the court."

"The longer the stove-household system exists, the greater the burden on the court."

"Moreover, Lord Mei's idea seems to be for the country and the people, but it is not, because the cost is borne by the court, and it does not solve the substantive problem at all. It just makes a hasty cover-up of what is happening at the moment and tries to delay things. But can delaying the problem eliminate it?"

"That is to say." "The court spent hundreds of thousands of silver taels just to hastily delay the matter, just to prevent it from getting out of hand at this time. But delaying won't solve the problem. Sooner or later, it will explode again. Then the court will have to spend hundreds of thousands of silver taels to appease it. Time and time again, how much money and grain will the court have to invest in this terrible salt policy?"

"Master Mei, are you really considering the court?"

"Instead of just wanting to settle things as quickly as possible!"

"If all the officials of the Ming Dynasty do these things that 'lose money but gain publicity', then won't the Ming Dynasty be completely rotten? It will be a little rotten today, a little rotten tomorrow, and sooner or later, the whole Ming Dynasty will be rotten. When the court can't give so much money, won't the place be in complete chaos?"

"As officials of the imperial court, we should put the imperial court first."

"How can we care about the little things and lose the big things?"

"If we don't do our best to consider the interests of the court and the people, are we just going to rely on local officials to solve the problem themselves? Are we just going to wait for the problem to go away? As court officials, our most important duty is to solve the problems of the world, and we have to solve them in a practical way, not just by deceiving ourselves."

“It is imperative to abolish the old salt policy.”

"The stove-household system has obviously failed to keep up with the situation in the Ming Dynasty."

"As court officials, we focus on salt administration. In addition to taking into account people's livelihood, we must also consider 'taxation'."

"In the past, salt and iron were both major tax sources, but now with the chaos in the south, the court's tax revenue on salt has become unclear. Although taxes can still be collected at the moment, how much salt is produced in the south and how much salt is paid as salt tax, have local officials really reviewed and implemented it?"

"All this requires us to contribute to the country."

"The current salt policy is not good for the country, not good for the salt farmers, and not good for the local areas. It has become a clearly chaotic and evil policy. Why not change it?"

“I think it needs to be not only changed, but also changed drastically.”

Xia Zhibai stood tall.

His voice echoed in the hall for a long time.

No one else spoke, and everyone remained silent.

Mei Sizu's face was filled with shame and anger, but he didn't dare to speak casually anymore.

He had already realized that Xia Zhibai was determined to change the salt administration, and it was very likely that he was the one who instigated this uprising in the court. Although he was extremely angry, he dared not vent his anger in front of everyone and could only hold his anger.

Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

He coughed lightly, drew the attention back to himself, and said indifferently: "We don't want to hear your big truths. We just want to know. Since you keep saying that the salt policy of our Ming Dynasty should be changed, then tell us what you want to change. Whether it is right or wrong, the officials will understand after listening to it."

Xia Zhibai nodded.

He cupped his hands and said, "I do have some ideas about the salt policy."

"The first thing is to abolish the stove household system and free up the 'surplus' population created by the increase in productivity, so that these stove households can engage in other industries and maintain a certain livelihood. The south is no longer suitable, so relocating the population is what everyone wants."

"That's one of them."

"Secondly, the Ming Dynasty actually had a limit on the production share of salt."

"The means of restriction is often to calculate the population and then set a salt rationing system to restrict salt production in various places."

"Take the salt wells in Sichuan as an example. There are about 1,500 salt wells in Sichuan, of which about 400 are being mined. After the Ministry of Revenue calculated the population, it did not activate the remaining salt wells, but directly ordered the remaining salt wells to be closed."

"This kind of mining model based on income and expenditure is more reasonable."

"But under the impact of steam-driven salt production, most of the salt wells in the world will be closed."

"Moreover, with the joint efforts of the minister and the King of Zhou, the steam engine has been successfully improved. In the future, the efficiency of the steam engine will only be higher, and more salt will be produced. Under the current circumstances, one steam engine can often be equivalent to the output of a dozen or even dozens of salt wells."

“The closure of a large number of salt wells is inevitable.”

“And the establishment of large-scale salt companies is also visible to the naked eye.”

"Because the population of the Ming Dynasty is fixed, if the steam engines in various places are fully powered, the salt produced in the south alone will be enough to supply the world for a long time, and the Ming Dynasty cannot really mine for a period of time and then close it for a period of time, so."

"I will come up with new blueprints and promote them in the south, while also integrating the salt companies in the south."

"To combine the small salt works in the South into one large one."

"Standardize the production of salt."

"One advantage of large salt factories is that it is easy for the court to check various data, whether it is the amount of salt produced, the amount of salt exported, or the amount of tax paid. The court can easily check these."

“People can run away, but the factory cannot.”

"This makes it easier for the court to collect and inspect taxes, and the abolition of the stove household system has also reduced the burden. In addition, because the steam-powered salt market is squeezed, the private production of the stove households has been difficult to have a big impact on the salt market. However, in order to prevent smuggling and affect the court's tax revenue, I firmly suggest that the court relocate the population."

"The salt cookers were relocated, so even if the south wanted to smuggle salt, they couldn't find anyone to make salt."

“Unless it’s by machine.”

"Therefore, under the salt dispute reform, the next step is to legally manage salt companies. Only salt companies recognized by the government can obtain the salt production allocated by the court. Others that are not recognized will be considered illegal, and local governments have the right and responsibility to clean them up and punish them."

“This is a two-pronged approach!”

(End of this chapter)