I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 206: Huge Profits of Ten Million Taels of Silver
"Your servant Ye Mengxiong/Pang Shangpeng pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"No need to be polite, please stand up and take a seat. Qi Yan, serve tea to the two gentlemen."

"Yes."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng sat down, Zhu Yijun got straight to the point: "Mr. Xing'an, Yang Jinshui from the Southeast Office of the Coordination Bureau has listed a detailed list of your Ten-Section Brocade Method and One-Stripe Method and presented it to me, which is a full 50,000 words.

Very good, very bold, very thoughtful. Especially your starting point, to make it fair, and to show sympathy. This is beyond many officials.

Their efforts to eliminate malpractices and reform are nothing more than treating symptoms instead of the root cause. Only Mr. Xing'an's method is the fundamental method that benefits the country and the people."

Pang Shangpeng responded calmly: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness."

"Mr. Xing'an, the salt administration is a big problem now. I have looked up relevant information from this dynasty and the former Song Dynasty. Well, I would like to discuss it with you two gentlemen."

Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Highness, I respectfully ask for your guidance."

"According to the Records of the Years Since Jianyan in the Former Song Dynasty, in the 27th year of Shaoxing, the salt production in Huainan reached 3.8 million dan, and the annual salt production was estimated to be around 2 million dan.

According to the data recorded in the History of Song Dynasty, the population of Song Dynasty, including men, women, young and old, should be around 60 million. It is recorded in "History of Song Dynasty. Currency" that each salt permit was for 116 kilograms of salt and cost six strings of cash.

In the Song Dynasty, 240 million catties of salt were produced each year. With a population of 60 million, each person consumed nearly 4 catties of salt each year, which was reasonable. In addition, 12 million strings of cash were collected in salt tax.

Pang Shangpeng and Ye Mengxiong listened very carefully and were also very shocked.

They never imagined that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually knew by heart those boring figures of the salt tax of the former Song Dynasty.

It is said that the late emperor was also good at calculating, and the ability of the Imperial Household Department in accounting was better than that of the Ministry of Revenue. Is it hereditary?
Zhu Yijun continued, "How much salt does the Ming Dynasty produce every year? The documents in the Ministry of Revenue show that Changlu, Lianghuai, Sichuan, Jiechi, East Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong produce about 600 million catties of salt nationwide, with a total of 2 million salt permits, of which Lianghuai accounts for half.

The salt administration of our dynasty followed the Kaizhong method, which meant that civilians and merchants transported grain and cloth to the nine frontiers in exchange for salt permits. During the Chenghua period, grain was directly exchanged for salt permits at the Ministry of Revenue and the Transport Department.

However, salt permits were profitable, so royal family members, relatives of the emperor, nobles, eunuchs, and officials all submitted petitions to request salt permits, which led to serious occupation of the market. The civilians and merchants who transported grain had salt permits but could not get salt.

During the Hongzhi reign, the Minister of Revenue, Ye Gong, changed the Kaizhong method to the Zhese method, where each salt voucher was converted into three to five coins of silver as salt tax.

At this point, Zhu Yijun sneered and said, "Each salt permit is worth three to four coins of tax, equivalent to two hundred coins. Compared with the six strings of coins of tax per salt permit in the previous Song Dynasty, it is simply a gift for nothing. It is really a great move to sacrifice the country for the benefit of the people. But what kind of people are these, gentlemen, you know."

Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng lowered their heads, their Adam's apples trembling constantly, and they could only respond vaguely: "I know what's going on."

"Let's look at the price of salt. The price of salt fluctuated in different eras in the pre-Song Dynasty, but it was usually around 50 coins per catty during the peaceful period. The price of salt in our dynasty has been high and low. I have asked someone to calculate it, and the average price is 5 coins per catty, equivalent to 300 coins.

That is to say, the market price of salt in our dynasty was six times that of the former Song Dynasty when it reached the people, but the salt tax paid to the national treasury was only one thirtieth of that of the former Song Dynasty.

Where did the money here go?

The salt tax in the early Song Dynasty was too heavy, accounting for 60%. We don't learn from it, we only need to collect one tenth, each salt permit can be converted into 9 taels of silver, and 2 million salt permits nationwide can earn 18 million taels of salt tax silver.

What now?
Since the implementation of the silver-exchange system during the Hongzhi period, the annual salt tax was no more than 500,000 or 600,000 taels of silver. Sometimes, the amount collected was more than one million taels of silver, and a group of censors and censors would submit memorials to the emperor, saying that the tax was competing with the people for profits and that the people were suffering.

The salt tax that should have been 18 million taels of silver was collected, but less than one-fifteenth of it was collected. Some people came out to dissuade the government and speak up for justice. Haha! Who are you competing with for profit? Who are you trying to make a living with?

In my opinion, these imperial censors are not appointed by the court, but by the salt merchants. "Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng were sweating on their backs when they heard this. All the civil and military officials in the court said that the late emperor was the smartest person in the world.

But today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince showed off his skills and calculated the dirty accounts of the salt administration in a clear and frightening way.

His wisdom is probably several times greater than that of the late emperor.

The late emperor was only calculating superficial and superficial accounts, but the prince went straight to the essence of the matter, digging out the roots and leaving nothing to chance!

Zhu Yijun pointed at Pang Shangpeng and said, "Mr. Xing'an, I have heard that you are quite knowledgeable about economics and good at managing finances. Now the salt administration in Lianghuai and the whole country is so corrupt. Do you have any good suggestions?"

"Your Highness," Pang Shangpeng replied respectfully. Just as he was about to report, Feng Bao came running over to report, "Your Highness, the Supervisory Office has received an urgent report. Four days ago, Hai Rui, Wang Yi'e, Xu Yangzheng and his party were attacked by pirates in Zhangjiagou Town, north of Gaoyou Prefecture."

Zhu Yijun stood up suddenly, "How dare the thieves! They actually dared to kill officials and rob ships! Are you three, Lord Gangfeng, okay?"

"To reply to your Highness, the three Lords Gangfeng are safe and sound, but Mr. Mengquan was a little frightened."

Zhu Yijun turned to Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng and said, "Gentlemen, let's suspend our discussion on the salt policy. I want to hear the urgent report from Huaidong first."

"Yes."

"Feng Bao, go ahead."

"Yes, Your Highness. The urgent report said that the bandits from Gaoyou Lake, Banbiantian, gathered more than 500 men and attacked the official ship anchored at the dock of Zhangjiagou Town.

Su Feng, the second in command of the Half Sky bandits, was actually a member of the Imperial Guards. At the critical moment of the night attack on the official ship, he turned against the bandits and killed the leader, Half Sky.

Moreover, Governor Wang Yi'e had already made arrangements. He mobilized 500 elite soldiers from the Fu Biao Camp to disguise themselves as civilian merchants and boatmen, and hid in the surrounding areas. When they heard the order, they immediately attacked and, together with the 300 guards on the official ship, wiped out half of the bandits.

Su Feng reported that Banbiantian was called a water bandit, but in fact he was a private salt dealer supported by a big salt merchant in Yangzhou. However, Banbiantian had always been in charge of contacting the big salt merchant, not others. Su Feng only knew that he should be one of the top ten salt merchants in Yangzhou, but he didn't know who he was.

Zhu Yijun nodded. "The top ten salt merchants? No matter who they are, they will not be able to escape the law this time. What about Wang Yi'e?"

"I have an urgent report. Governor Wang led his troops south to Yangzhou City before dawn."

Zhu Yijun put his hands in his sleeves, walked around the room twice, and said to Feng Bao: "This matter is not that simple. There is a group of immortals living in Nanzhili, living immortals who have been free and at ease for hundreds of years.

Each of them has great magical powers and boundless magic. In Yangzhou City, there lives a group of gods of wealth, with hands and eyes that can reach the sky. In Nanjing City, Beijing City, the outer court and the inner court, countless people rely on them for their livelihood. "

At this point, Zhu Yijun turned to Pang Shangpeng and Ye Mengxiong and said, "With a huge profit of tens of millions of taels of silver, they would dare to kill officials and rob ships, and even raise the flag of rebellion!

Feng Bao asked the Supervisory Office to send an urgent letter of 800 li. First, Cao Bangfu, the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian military affairs, inspected the river defense equipment from Nanjing to Wusongkou as the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War.

Second, the Dinghai Battalion of the East China Sea Navy will move to the Wusongkou and conduct a land-sea exercise with the Zhenhai Battalion at a suitable location at the mouth of the Yangtze River to pursue and suppress pirates who have come ashore and invaded the city. Cao Bangfu will be in charge of the exercise.

Feng Bao took the order and left in a hurry. Zhu Yijun turned to Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng and said, "Be on guard against it. Money can make people's hearts flutter. Tens of millions of taels of silver are enough to make many people take risks."

Seeing that Zhu Yijun acted decisively without any hesitation, Ye Mengxiong and Pang Shangpeng deeply understood the master's style of doing things and quickly responded respectfully.

"The prince is wise!"

(End of this chapter)