Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 285 Notice posted in the city!
Yuhang City.

This is a quiet and peaceful city.

At this moment, the city wall suddenly became lively. Several notices were posted at the city gate and at the market with the busiest flow of people in the city.

Many people stood on tiptoe to watch.

"What's written here? Is there anyone who can read it?" someone in the crowd shouted.

After a commotion, a skinny young man squeezed in. He pushed the people around him hard, looked carefully, and read aloud, "There's not much written on it. It's mainly about the salt factories."

"It is said that the imperial court is planning to abolish the stove household system."

“There are also plans to merge salt factories in various places into large factories.”

"They also said that the government is planning to properly relocate the stove owners who have been eliminated by the machines."

"But from what I see, the most important thing is that a meeting of cooks will be held in a few days. I hope that the cooks who are causing trouble like Deng Muzi can go there and discuss with the government how to properly resettle the cooks."

The young man's voice spread out.

However, it did not cause much response. Although there were many stove owners, most of them were not.

They only care about one thing.

An older man asked anxiously, "Did they say anything about the price of salt? If the factory moves, won't the price of salt go up?"

"correct."

“The price of salt cannot go up.”

"The government can't do this. They finally lowered the price a little bit, and now it's going up again. What's going on?"

"."

There was a lot of noise all around.

The young man scratched his head in embarrassment and read the notice again.

The price of salt is indeed not mentioned above, but given the treacherous nature of the government, the freight costs for the salt factories will certainly increase, and will eventually be borne by them. In the end, the government ends up getting rich.

The people below were somewhat unhappy.

They were making a fuss and wanted to go to the government to seek an explanation, but they just talked about it and few people really dared to go.

After all, the stove owner who led the riot had died not long ago.

Just as a group of people were complaining and accusing, another skinny young man squeezed in. He glared at the young man who had just spoken and said loudly, "Don't listen to that kid's nonsense. What does that kid know?"

"The government has already said so."

“Even if we move the factory, the price won’t change.”

"This time, Imperial Envoy Xia came prepared and sincerely to solve the problem."

"He also brought a lot of engineers with him. What do engineers do? They come to help relocate the salt factory and improve the salt-making machines. Let me tell you, the improved salt-making machines will have a higher salt production efficiency and a lower cost than before."

"And there's something you don't understand."

"Salt-making machines are different from ordinary manpower."

"The harder the work, the more tired people are. But this machine uses coal, so it can't stop. The more salt it produces, the lower the cost. So, even if the salt factory is moved, the salt production cost of the large factory and the freight are all taken into consideration."

"There won't be any change in the price of salt."

"Don't worry."

Lu Cang shouted loudly, trying to calm the disputes among the people around him.

But his words did not attract many people's attention. People only believed what they wanted to believe. Moreover, over the years, they had already seen through the government's tricks. When they were doing something, everything was fine, but when it came time to fulfill their promise, they would come up with all kinds of excuses and act completely differently in the end.

Seeing that no one paid attention to what he said, Lu Cang was a little annoyed.

I'm telling the truth, why doesn't anyone believe it?

He stood on tiptoe. The surrounding arguments were still very loud. Finally, after hesitating for a moment, Lu Cang went to the young man and said, "Help me build a bridge, and I'll step on your thigh."

The skinny young man opened his eyes wide and took two steps back as if he had seen a ghost.

But there were too many people around and I was pushed back.

Lu Cang said: "Why run? I won't step on you for nothing. At worst, I'll let you step on me back later."

"hurry up."

Lu Cang glared at the young man in dissatisfaction for a few times, and then, against the young man's will, he built a ladder for him. Lu Cang stepped on it swiftly, and suddenly he was a head taller than the people around him. Lu Cang shouted, "I came down here with Envoy Xia."

"I am just an attendant."

"You can believe what I say."

"What I said before is all true. For this, the court officials argued twice with the local government and salt merchants, and it was only yesterday that the decision was made. All of this is absolutely true. You can go and see in the future. The salt price in the south will not be affected too much."

"Now the imperial court has convinced the local government and the kitchen owners." "The next step is to persuade the kitchen owners."

"There is a saying that Xia Qinchao always keeps on saying."

"Let people talk, the sky won't fall."

"Xia also said that many local people were very resistant or even rejected anything related to steam engines, thinking that it was unlucky and was competing with the people for profit. Xia also said that once some things appeared, they were destined to change the status quo in the world."

"In a few days, Imperial Envoy Xia will hold a machine demonstration in the city to show the real wonderful uses of steam engines to the people of Yuhang County and outsiders. Imperial Envoy Xia believes that as long as the principles are explained clearly, the people in the city will be willing to accept it."

"That's acceptable."

"It's just that Envoy Xia's main purpose this time is to solve the problem of the chaos among the kitchen residents."

"But now the kitchen owners in many places cannot be contacted, so if you have a way or a connection, you can tell them that the court is willing to communicate with them and will forgive the past and will not accuse them of some policy issues."

“We will also find another way out for them.”

"I hope the elders and fellow villagers around here can help pass on the message."

"Their personal safety will be protected by the court. If anyone dares to attack them, the court will not let them go. This time, they also include the Duke of Xin who conquered Zhejiang, and the Jinyiwei that your majesty trusts the most."

"If you can't trust the imperial envoy, you should at least trust His Majesty, right?!"

The effect of Lu Cang's loud shout was immediate and someone listened to it immediately.

The originally chaotic surroundings also became quiet.

"Are you telling the truth? Are you really the imperial envoy sent by His Majesty?" someone in the crowd questioned.

Lu Cang looked around and said with a smile: "How can this be false?"

"The Imperial Guards are in Zhejiang. Who dares to pretend to be an imperial envoy?"

"I'm absolutely sure."

"Then the price of salt really won't go up?" someone asked again.

Lu Cang nodded affirmatively and said, "Absolutely not. There is no room for price increase. When the steam-powered salt was first introduced, who would have believed that the price of salt would drop so much? But now? Who dares not to believe it?"

"Imperial Envoy Xia is dedicated to the people."

"He is really thinking about the people."

"If not, why did the court send him down?"

"Isn't it because I know that Lord Xia has a kind heart and cannot bear to see the people suffer? He wants to properly resolve the issue in the south, so as not to cause fluctuations in salt prices, and to calm the salt farmers, and also get the salt administration in the south back on track."

"But only Envoy Xia can do this kind of thing."

"Does the imperial court really have a way to solve the livelihood problems of so many stove owners?" one stove owner asked nervously.

Lu Cang nodded, then shook his head and said, "This is something that has not been confirmed yet, so I can't say for sure, but the court will indeed do its best. Didn't I say before that the court just wants to talk to the consul of the stove household about how to properly resolve it?"

"I believe that after both sides talk, we will be able to give the world a satisfactory answer."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man below could no longer hold on, and pulled his legs apart, letting Lu Cang fall down, while he pressed his thigh in pain.

Lu Cang smiled at the young man with an apologetic look on his face.

After hearing Lu Cang's words, the people around him completely calmed down.

They don't care much.

As long as the price of salt does not rise, whether the salt factory moves or not, and what happens to the salt farmers, it has little to do with them. They do not buy salt from the salt farmers. In the past, private salt was quite rampant, but with the emergence of machine-made salt, the government's crackdown on private activities has been extremely severe.

Nowadays, even if you want to buy private salt, you can’t buy it.

And they also know that machine-made salt not only tastes good, but also has no other effects on the body. It is said that those private salts will damage the body if eaten. Therefore, nowadays, unless people are really poor and have no other choice, few people buy private salt.

The people around did not join in the commotion, but the cook nearby was quite troubled.

Does the imperial court really want to solve the problem of stove owners?
Will they really let bygones be bygones?

But does the imperial court really have a way to solve this problem?

The number of salt farmers in the south is not small, there are hundreds of thousands or even more. After all, apart from Shandong, the only places in the world that produce more salt are the south and Bashu. The south has a large population, so the number of salt farmers is surprisingly large.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, in order to meet the salt supply in the world, many civilians were directly assigned to the position of stove households. But who would have thought that in just a dozen years, the stove households would be useless.

Hundreds of thousands of stove owners simply lost their livelihoods.

Lu Cang looked around and said everything he wanted to say.

Then they started to squeeze outside.

By the time he squeezed out, there were already circles of people surrounding the notice. Lu Cang took a look with lingering fear and was about to leave, but he found that the skinny young man had been following him, staring at him with his eyes, as if he wanted to eat him alive.

Lu Cang was also frightened by his eyes.

(End of this chapter)