Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 621 Silver Opening

Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youtang deliberately left the desk where he usually handled official business and placed two chairs on the Sun Dam outside the hall, where the father-in-law and son-in-law sat opposite each other.

Tan Jiben was standing behind the emperor, and Zhu Youtang gestured for him to find a place to sit.

"Eunuch Qin, you are the oldest person here. If you don't sit down, I would feel embarrassed to sit down." Zhang Luan said shamelessly while sitting there.

After hearing this, Qin Ji had no choice but to retreat to a nearby railing and sit on a makeshift rattan chair.

Zhu Youtang then told Zhang Luan about the Tatar invasion in the northwest region.

Zhang Luan said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, this involves military affairs. I am afraid this is not my area of ​​expertise, so I cannot give you better advice."

Zhu Youtang sighed and said, "A minister will bring up this matter at the court tomorrow morning. The biggest problem facing the northwest right now is still the lack of food and clothing. Can my father-in-law raise more money and food next time?"

Zhang Luan couldn't help but glance towards Tan Ji.

At this time, the old eunuch was lying down under the warm winter sun, his eyes slightly squinted, and it was unclear whether he was asleep or dozing off.

Zhang Luan thought to himself, it turns out that you two, master and servant, are of the same bloodline.

No wonder Qin Ji had been complaining to me just now, it turned out that the emperor was complaining about being poor!
As a father-in-law, I had been counting on the emperor's help to get promoted and make money. Now, you want me to fill the huge hole in the court by myself?

"Your Majesty, how about this? I will go back and ask Yanling if he has any solution?" Zhang Luan seemed very honest.

Zhu Youtang said, "My wife told me that you told him that you had given Yanling the task of collecting money and grain in the northwest this time, and asked him to contact merchants in Beijing to collect the money?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhang Luan explained, "Yanling is a smart person. He has invented many new things. He is close to merchants, which makes it easier to produce and sell. But you can rest assured that this kid knows his limits and will not exploit merchants. The money and grain donated this time are basically voluntary."

"That……"

Zhu Youtang said in embarrassment: "Isn't it a bad idea to let them continue to donate?"

Zhang Luan thought, you also know that this is not good?

Although it was common for the imperial court to exploit merchants, if they had no money they could squeeze the merchants and get some profit.

But the problem is, the merchants’ money didn’t come from the wind, so why should they be exploited again and again by the imperial court?

Zhu Youtang said tentatively: "Father-in-law, do you think this will work... Take out the salt permits from the Ministry of Revenue and give them to the merchants who collected money and grain as compensation from the court?"

"Not very good."

Zhang Luan shook his head and said, "To be honest, Your Majesty, salt permits are no longer valuable among merchants."

Qin Ji, who had been pretending to sleep, finally couldn't help hearing this. He suddenly opened his eyes and stood up to remind him, "Mr. Zhang, what you said is not right... Merchants are engaged in the official salt business. How can you think that the salt permit is worthless? That is official salt. It can be transported to various places and used to buy wealth and goods."

Zhang Luan smiled bitterly and said, "What's the use of a salt permit? This thing has been used for many years in the salt field but has not been able to produce salt. What's the difference between it and waste paper?

"In the past few years, when the imperial court was short of silver, it would issue salt permits indiscriminately, resulting in an overabundance of salt permits on the market. However, the salt fields have gradually shown a trend of decreasing production in recent years. Even if salt is produced, it is already occupied by nobles and paid for first. Merchants have salt permits but cannot get salt. The attraction to merchants is almost non-existent. This is also the fundamental reason for the problems in the nine border merchant settlements."

Zhu Youtang said helplessly: "Is there any way to deal with it? Huai Daban said that it would be best to let the court take back the salt permits issued in the past few years, buy them at a discount, and then issue new ones. It is stipulated that the new salt permits can be redeemed within a time limit. I wonder if this method will work?"

Zhang Luan smiled and asked, "Your Majesty, does the court have the silver to buy back the salt permits?"

Qin Ji answered on his behalf: "If we issue new ones, can't we exchange them for the old ones?"

"Filling old holes with new ones, am I right?"

Zhang Luan said bluntly.

Qin Ji was somewhat speechless when he heard such doubts.

I thought to myself, you, Zhang Guozhang, why do you like to sabotage others so much?

Are you here to help, or to dissuade us from doing our work?
Zhang Luan continued, "Your Majesty, I have discussed this matter with Yanling. He believes that the key to the salt administration reform is actually to change the way salt permits are issued."

"Father-in-law, can you elaborate?"

Zhu Youtang seemed very enthusiastic.

Zhang Luan asked: "Doesn't the court have any relevant plans? Logically speaking, the salt administration has been in tatters for so many years, so we should have made some preparations. We can't just watch the court's financial situation continue to deteriorate, right?
"You see, the soldiers guarding the border in the northwest cannot even guarantee their food supplies. There are too many salt permits on the market, and it is hard to tell the real from the fake. The nobles can just use the salt permits to pay for their food, and their salt permits are not earned by supplying food to the northwest. Do you think the salt policy will not collapse?"

Zhu Youtang said helplessly: "But...is there any way to solve the current predicament?"

Zhang Luan said: "The court has taken back the authority to issue salt permits from the Northwest Frontier Army and handed it over directly to the Ministry of Revenue. From now on, merchants will use silver to buy salt permits instead of exchanging them for grain. The Ministry of Revenue will then use this silver to exchange for grain and transport it to the northwest."

"Will this... work?"

Zhu Youtang's eyes widened and he asked expectantly.

Qin Ji hurried over from the fence, walked up to the two men, and said, "Your Majesty, this plan has been proposed by some ministers before, but the biggest problem is that the farming of merchants in the northwest may be completely abandoned, and it will be more difficult to transport grain to the nine borders in the future. The court's issuance of salt permits with silver may also lead to officials enriching themselves, which will in turn widen the food gap in the northwest."

Zhu Youtang asked, "My dear, do you think my father-in-law's method is not feasible? Do you have any better strategy to deal with it?"

"I don't."

Tan Ji told the truth.

Zhu Youtang immediately looked at Zhang Luan and asked, "Father-in-law, do you think there will be any trouble if this matter is really implemented?"

"This one……"

Zhang Luan looked embarrassed.

I am only responsible for listening to my son's words and reporting them to you truthfully. I am not responsible for proving whether this matter is feasible.

Your Majesty, can we be reasonable? I am just a jerk, or you can call me a mouthpiece.

Aren't you asking so many questions, which makes things difficult for me?

"How about I go back and discuss this in detail, then ask my son Yanling for his opinion, and then report this matter to you. What do you think?"

Zhang Luan asked tentatively.

"it is good."

Zhu Youtang nodded, "Then we have to hurry up. The northwest border politics has deteriorated seriously this year, and it would be best to solve the problem as soon as possible. In fact, I also think that if we use silver to exchange for salt permits as my father-in-law said, the grain problem in the northwest can be better controlled by the court. If there is surplus silver, it can also be used for river engineering, which is actually quite good."

Zhang Luan smiled and said, "That is indeed the case."

After hearing this, Qin Ji's heart began to beat fast, and he thought to himself that if Eunuch Huai knew about this, he would definitely be furious.

But who can blame us for not having any way to deal with it, while this Zhang Guozhang seems to be well prepared?
……

……

Zhang family.

The family sat down to have dinner, and then went about their business.

Zhang Heling came close to talk to his old mother, because Jin brought a few portraits, saying that she wanted her eldest son to see what the famous ladies from the capital looked like.

Considering Zhang Heling's age, even if he doesn't get married right away, his marriage should be arranged.

"Master, recently even those high-ranking officials and even the royal family have started to send portraits to our house. Some matchmakers came directly and said that it was the eldest princess or the eldest princess's daughter... How great it would be if it was an imperial daughter."

Jin seemed very proud.

Look at what class of people we were in contact with before?
Now, someone from the royal family is taking the initiative to propose marriage to us.

Zhang Heling was the first to protest: "I won't marry a princess. I heard that being a prince consort is not a good life. Mother, please don't make trouble for me. You are deliberately trying to trick your son!"

Zhang Luan frowned upon hearing this and shouted, "How dare you talk to your mother like that, you little brat? What's wrong with Princess Shang? Becoming a consort will make you even richer in the future!"

Zhang Heling said angrily, "Isn't our family already very rich and noble? Why do we need to be even richer? Besides, it's good enough for me to be a captain of the Imperial Guard. I am dignified and free... Do you want me to be a cabinet minister or a minister? I won't do that!"

"You... have no ambition!"

Zhang Luan cursed with a smile, then frowned, "You want to be the boss, but no one has let you be the boss yet."

Zhang Yanling, who was eating pine nuts nearby, said with a smile, "Dad, I think my elder brother's personality is a bit like yours. Both of you are the type who don't seek high positions or high salaries, but only seek to be content with a small fortune."

Zhang Luan glared and said, "Now we can't just want to be a little rich, we have to be very rich! Second brother, come with me into the room. That person... take a good look at the portrait with your mother! I only let you look, not give too many opinions. Who you marry in the end depends on your father's opinion."

Turning his head, he whispered to his youngest son, "Go and give your brother some advice later."

Zhang Heling yelled, "Dad, do you think I'm deaf? Why would you let your second son get involved in my marriage?"

Zhang Luan sneered and said, "Let your second brother give you some advice on which powerful family you would be most suitable to marry into. If you marry a virtuous wife, maybe you won't squander your family fortune in the future!

"Marry a virtuous wife, don't you know?"

"He hasn't met those rich ladies, how can he know who is virtuous and who is not?"

Zhang Heling frowned and refuted.

"Even His Majesty knows his abilities. Are you still not convinced?" Zhang Luan said, "If you keep talking nonsense, be careful. I won't find you a wife. I will send you to the temple to be a monk and you will be single for the rest of your life!"

Zhang Heling was so angry that he almost wanted to yell at his father.

But in the end, it was Jin who forcibly dragged her eldest son into the inner room to avoid a dispute between father and son.

……

……

In the study room.

Zhang Luan told his son the whole story of his meeting with Zhu Youtang during the day.

No matter the details.

"There may be war in the northwest, and your brother-in-law is very worried about it. But the root cause of the war is that the soldiers on the front line lack money and food. Clothes are easy to deal with. Even Qin Ji said that in the past, the northwest lacked cloth and military uniforms, and there was no way to solve the problem. The only way was to distribute more food.

"It's good now. Cloth and other things have been solved right away. It is said that if people are not freezing, they don't need to eat too much, which can be regarded as an indirect way to save food."

When Zhang Luan said this, he grinned like a child.

Zhang Yanling asked, "Did you really mention the salt policy reform to His Majesty?"

"Yeah, you told me, why didn't I mention it?"

Zhang Luan said, "You told me all this so that I could tell His Majesty when I had the chance. I'm pretty smart, right?"

Zhang Yanling said helplessly: "Actually, what Eunuch Tan questioned is not wrong. The silver-based method I mentioned is not much better than the previous grain-based method. The disadvantages are still great. It's just that I can't find a better solution for the time being."

Zhang Luan said, "I have already mentioned it. Do you want me to take it back? And I promised Your Majesty that I would come back and write a more detailed memorial and submit it together! I have made up my mind. I will not sign my name on this memorial. How about giving it to you?"

Zhang Yanling frowned and asked, "Dad, you heard that there are loopholes in this plan, so you deliberately don't want to get involved in this muddy water, right? You are quite smart!"

"Is your father that kind of person?"

Zhang Luan said sternly, "If you are unwilling, it is not impossible for me to sign on your behalf alone. It all depends on your opinion."

(End of this chapter)