Ming politicians

() As soon as he returned to the county office, Su Jun came to report.

"My lord, the family members of the other sixteen salt merchants have come to the county government office to inquire about the news, and they are crying. The young ones didn't get the instructions from the adults, so they dare not make decisions on their own."

"I see. After half an hour, bring Song Sijun to the secret room. I have something to ask."

Su Tiancheng had already considered how to deal with these salt merchants. The largest salt merchant, Kuang Siming, had already been wiped out. Thanks to the sufficient preparations in the early stage, and thanks to Kuang Siming's arrogance, he did not expect to pay attention to the affairs of the county government.

Song Sijun is the second largest salt merchant in Jiangning County. After Kuang Siming died, Song Sijun will lead the salt merchants in Jiangning County next. The business can continue, but they must pay the silver. They make money, and the county government is poor. There is absolutely no way to continue the things that have happened. Besides, there are still many things that need to be done. If you don’t have money, don’t even talk about it.

All the crimes were borne by Kuang Siming alone, and no other salt merchants were involved. Su Tiancheng thought that Ying Tianfu and Nanjing Six Departments might have some opinions, but unfortunately everyone knew it well and did not want to involve other salt merchants. salt merchants.

As for the emperor's imperial decree, it will take some time before it comes down. At this time, he will not be idle. What should be done must be done, and the action must be fast.

Su Tiancheng entered the secret room again.

Song Sijun knelt in the middle of the secret room, his face was bloodless, and his body was still shaking.

The jailer in the prison specially publicized what happened to Kuang Siming. Kuang Siming committed suicide in fear of crime, his home was ransacked, some weapons were found, and he was colluding with Houjin. These words beat his heart like a whip.

Song Sijun was well aware of these things.

He also knew that if the county magistrate had the heart, none of the salt merchants in Jiangning County would think about running away.

The more I thought in my heart, the greater the fear. Those relationships I had before now seem to be unreliable. With Kuang Siming's great momentum, he ransacked the house when he said it, and no one even came out to speak.

Su Tiancheng sat opposite Song Sijun and looked at Song Sijun without saying a word.

Song Sijun couldn't bear it anymore.

"My lord, the grassroots are guilty, I beg your forgiveness."

"Hehe, Boss Song, you are very wise, you know what you have committed."

"The grassroots are guilty, the grassroots are guilty, please forgive me."

"Don't keep talking about Kuang Siming's wealth. I really didn't expect it. His family wealth, calculated, exceeded 2000 million taels of silver. It didn't disappear in an instant. I died unexpectedly. I don’t understand, what do you want so much money for? Seeing the court’s difficulties, I don’t know how to donate some. I’ve done this a long time ago, so how can this happen.”

Song Sijun is such a smart person, he immediately understood the meaning.

"My lord, the grass-roots didn't understand these things before, and they deserve death. Whatever your lord asks, the grass-roots will definitely obey."

As if he had grasped a life-saving straw, he heard the meaning from Su Tiancheng's words, and it seemed that he would not have any worries about his life.

"Boss Song is really smart, he understood the meaning so quickly, so tell me, what are you going to do."

"The grassroots are willing to donate half of their family property, no, two-thirds of their family property to the government."

Su Tiancheng laughed. Song Sijun is a businessman. It is not easy to say such a thing. It is a real fear. Of course, he is not so greedy. After all, in the process of economic development, there are naturally wealthy people. of.

"Boss Song's understanding is very good. I don't want to take your property, but the county government is really difficult. I can't think of other ways. I think so, you go back to the prison, and the rest Let the salt merchants add up and see how much money each one is willing to donate. This is what you are willing to do. As for your matters, I will give you one day to think about it carefully. Is it enough?"

"No, no, one hour is enough."

"Okay, then I am waiting for your news."

Wang Dazhi took Song Sijun out of the secret room.

In less than an hour, Su Jun brought Song Sijun to the secret room again.

Song Sijun knelt down when he entered.

"My lord, Cao Min and everyone have already discussed, and each family is willing to donate 50 taels of silver to the county government."

"Oh, then do you have any requests? Five hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small amount."

"The grassroots dare not have any extravagant hopes."

"This can't be done. You don't get paid for nothing. The meaning of your discussion is that the county government wants to covet your money."

Song Sijun was a little confused, he didn't know what Su Tiancheng meant, at a time like this, he didn't dare to say the wrong thing, this was a life-threatening moment.

"My lord, the grass people really don't have any extravagant hopes."

"Well, I can understand your sincerity. The donation this time can be regarded as a lesson for you. I still have a few requirements. You should remember that if you can do it, you will be rewarded in the future Continue to do business, the county government supports it, if you can’t do it, you should make a decision earlier, and the county government will not want your donation.”

Song Sijun prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to speak at all.

"First, the donation of silver is not done in one year. It must be persisted every year. Of course, this official will not do anything to catch fish. Starting next year, each of the sixteen salt merchants will donate 10 taels of silver to the county government every year. .”

"Secondly, the county government will maintain sixteen salt merchants and will not continue to expand the team of salt merchants. As for the market left by Kuang Siming, you can digest it yourself. The county government will not interfere. If there are disputes between you, you should resolve them yourself. Don't make any trouble, otherwise, you will see the end of Kuang Siming."

"Third, buy a thousand horses for the county government within a year. You don't need to pay money, but they must be good horses. No matter what you think of, I must do it."

"Fourth, take out all the ordnance and supplies in each of your families and sell them to the inspection department at the market price, and the officer will not pursue it. If anyone still wants to hide it privately, his ending will be worse than Kuang Siming. "

Song Sijun, who was trembling, calmed down a lot when he heard the back.

He felt strange, originally thought that Su Tiancheng would take advantage of this opportunity to bankrupt them, so that the county government could get a lot of gold and silver, but Su Tiancheng never expected to say that.

Taking out 10 taels of silver every year is not too much of a burden for the salt merchants who sell private salt. At worst, it will be enough to do more business. The latter three things are beneficial to the salt merchants. , are all within the scope of doing business, and can take advantage of this opportunity to sell private salt.

The most important point is that Su Tiancheng did not mention anything that he is not allowed to do, such as selling private salt and occasionally selling arms. This shows that Su Tiancheng has tacitly acknowledged the existence of these things. In the future, many salt merchants can still continue to do so. Yes, but it has to be more secretive and obey the arrangement of the county government.

There is also the biggest advantage, that is, the space vacated by Kuang Siming can be divided among the people. On average, it is not a big problem for each salt merchant to earn tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Song Sijun suddenly felt that it was not that simple when people said that Su Tiancheng was cruel.

"Boss Song, can these things be done?"

"My lord, the grass people promise with their lives that they will do it."

"Well, after you return to the prison, discuss with everyone, and if the donation is in place, you can go home."

Song Sijun wasn't in a hurry, he couldn't afford it early, and the businessman's nature urged him to seize this opportunity.

"My lord, Caomin has an unfeeling request, please allow me."

"Boss Song, if you have anything else to do, just say it."

"Caomin is familiar with merchants in Jiangning County. If your lord has any request, Caomin will do his best to do it well."

After Song Sijun left, Su Tiancheng fell into deep thought.

Sixteen salt merchants each took out 50 taels of silver, which was 900 million taels, which was too much for him to swallow.

I went there, and it is estimated that the county government will not be able to pay much. In the end, I worked hard for Zhu Youjian for a while, but this time, no matter what, I have to leave some money for the county government, or to win some policies, a lot of things. easy to do.

As for what Song Sijun said, it is also something he has been worrying about. It is impossible to move those gentry for the time being, and he has to wait for the right time. The small merchants in Jiangning County cannot be moved. , It is used to support the family. As for the farmer's land tax, if it weren't for the imperial court's regulations, Su Tiancheng would have to accept it.

It is best to move those big merchants first. They have money and can take it out.

After the autumn harvest, many things have to be dealt with, especially the matter of arable land. People depend on food, and they cannot harvest a large amount of food. Farmers have nothing to eat, and it is also unstable.

In order to obtain a good harvest, water conservancy construction is fundamental, which requires a lot of investment, and the county government must take out these silver taels. After solving this problem, we can basically guarantee the guaranteed harvest during drought and flood, and we can completely stabilize the farmers in Jiangning County.

Land annexation is serious. In Jiangning County, some farmers actually committed themselves to the gentry's family in order to escape the land tax. Once the land tax was reduced or even eliminated, I believe no one would do so.

There is also the construction of the inspection department. What he thought of before was to recruit more than 1 salt workers to the inspection department. This idea also needs to be changed. If the salt merchants continue to do business, they will inevitably need salt. Even if it is to control the number, at least half must be kept, and half of them can enter the inspection department, which is considered very good.

The most worrying thing is the issue of ordnance. It is estimated that the possibility of obtaining these ordnance this time is very small, so he has to make another plan.

Including Guantian issues.

There are still too many things, and we must move forward step by step.