Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 644 Never agree
The front yard lobby of Zhang Mansion.

After the host and the guest were seated, Qin Ji said, "Mr. Zhang, Second Young Master, the situation is like this. Today, His Majesty asked someone to take the details of the new salt law to the cabinet for review, and asked for their opinions."

Zhang Luan asked in surprise, "Didn't they say it would be officially implemented after the new year? Does it still need to go through the steps of ministerial and court discussions? Then how long will it take before it can be fully implemented?"

"No no!"

Qin Ji shook his head and said, "Asking for opinions will not affect the specific implementation. Tomorrow the court will open and promote the new salt law. His Majesty has appointed you, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to preside over it. You will be in the capital directly in the next few days after the New Year... Let merchants come to exchange new salt permits."

Zhang Luan frowned even more when he heard this, and said unhappily, "It's starting already?"

Even Zhang Yanling couldn't help it now and interrupted to ask, "Dad, do you think it's too fast or too slow?"

"I……"

Zhang Luan straightened his mind and explained, "Eunuch Qin, please don't think I'm being long-winded. What I mean is that even if the new salt law is officially implemented, can someone else take the lead? I'm not the only assistant minister in the Ministry of Revenue, and there's a minister above me... Why must I go?"

Qin Ji explained, "Don't you have a close relationship with the merchants in Huizhou? I was originally worried that the merchants would not buy into the new law you are promoting and would not be willing to pay the money in exchange for salt permits. But when I think about the good relationship you have established with the merchants in Huizhou, everything makes sense now."

Zhang Luan touched his nose, looked at his youngest son curiously, and asked, "It seems that we have close ties with the Huizhou merchants, and there are such benefits? Then... won't people accuse me of enriching myself?"

Zhang Yanling advised: "Dad, please don't say such angry words. Does our family need to rely on embezzlement to gain wealth?"

Zhang Luan pursed his lips and said disdainfully, "Yes, this is simply impossible... How much money have I given to help the court in the past six months? Even the profitable business of weaving has been given to the palace. You say I am greedy for the money from merchants? I will spit in his face!"

"My father-in-law is a man of high moral character. I admire him immensely!"

Qin Ji complimented him and continued, "Although you have close contacts with merchants and they will give you face, I am afraid that the silver exchange for salt permits will still be difficult to implement..."

"Hey, what do you mean by that?"

Zhang Luan was confused again and scratched his head in confusion: "Eunuch Qin, I may have drunk too much. I am confused by what you said... You'd better explain it clearly."

Zhang Yanling helped explain: "Dad, I think what Eunuch Tan meant is that the difficulty is not only whether the merchants will give you face, but there may be other problems, which will make it difficult to implement the new salt law. We must predict all the possible troubles in advance and prepare countermeasures in advance... Eunuch Tan, is this what you mean?"

"Yeah."

Qin Ji thought that there were still sensible people in the Zhang family after all, and this was more important than anything else.

Is this Zhang Guofu a blockhead?
Why is it so hard to talk to him?

Zhang Luan said to his youngest son, "If we talk about difficulties, there are many! But the question is, can we predict them clearly now? Isn't it all about improvisation?"

Zhang Yanling rolled his eyes at his old father, then patiently explained: "Dad, this is a new law that His Majesty strongly advocates, and it hasn't even been approved by the court. This shows how much he values ​​you!
"But fortunately, we didn't make excuses from the beginning. In your memorial, didn't you clearly explain all the possible troubles, including the pros and cons of the reform? Eunuch Qin, do you have any questions? Or does His Majesty have any questions or feel that something is wrong?"

Qin Ji hesitated for a moment before saying, "I actually want to ask, in addition to the problems that are listed on the surface, are there any difficulties in secret?"

Zhang Luan asked doubtfully, "What do you mean by openly or secretly? Eunuch Qin, you don't mean to say that if someone deliberately makes trouble for me from behind, how should I deal with it, right?"

"This one……"

Qin Ji said with embarrassment, "You can say that. After all, it's easier to avoid an open attack than to guard against an arrow from the dark. We should always be prepared for those bad things."

"My son, you tell me!"

Zhang Luan was angry, but his mind was still clear.

When I can't explain something clearly, my beloved son needs to step in.

Zhang Yanling answered: "Eunuch Qin, this trouble mainly comes from two sides. One side is the meritorious officials. Because in the Chenghua Dynasty, the meritorious officials, especially those who were close to the imperial palace system, had a very serious phenomenon of occupying the position. They now hold a lot of old salt permits, and in terms of guarding the funds, they use their connections to ensure that the official salt of each season can be withdrawn smoothly, and they occupy the vast majority of the output of the salt field."

"Ah. This..."

Qin Ji was startled when he heard this, but then he calmed down and asked, "It sounds like a big problem... Can you handle it?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "This is like pulling teeth out of a tiger's mouth. There is no question of whether we can handle it or not. We have to see how they react first, and then see how we can control them after they react. I think Eunuch Tan should also know which family is the most serious in the nest occupation phenomenon at present, right?"

"The Wan family, the in-laws?"

Qin Ji asked. Zhang Yanling shook his head and said, "Although the Wan family previously held a large number of salt permits of unknown origin, they have been much more low-key since Your Majesty ascended the throne, trying not to offend the current emperor. I think the local lords still hold more salt permits, and they... seem to be more difficult to subdue."

When Qin Ji heard this, he suddenly understood where Huai En's calm and composed attitude came from.

To put it bluntly, your reforms, Zhang Laizhan, are just empty talk.

You are very powerful in the emperor's place, but can you suppress the local princes and the nobles in the capital?

They hold a large number of salt permits. Will they accept your salt law reform?
After the change, will they be required to pay silver to the court in exchange for salt permits? How will the previous salt permits be exchanged? What if they want to enrich themselves by occupying the salt pit in the future?

They have finally found loopholes in the previous salt administration and were able to cash in on the power by abusing their power for personal gain. But you cut off their interest chain with a single click. Will they let you go easily?
What about dreaming?
Tan Ji said: "Then Second Young Master, how do we solve this problem?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "The solution is actually very simple. It is nothing more than increasing the credibility of the salt permits and ensuring that they can be exchanged for official salt in a timely manner after obtaining the salt permits. In other words, we need to increase the salt production of the salt fields and reduce the price of salt. This will also reduce the survival space of private salt and increase the financial revenue of the court. It can be said that we can kill two birds with one stone."

"This……"

Qin Jiguang felt a headache when he heard this and his brows furrowed deeply.

Zhang Yanling asked with a smile: "Eunuch Tan, do you think what I said is just empty talk? It is something that cannot be accomplished no matter what?"

Qin Ji shook his head and smiled bitterly.

When you talk about feelings in your heart, you also know that these words are just empty talk?
What increases the salt production of salt fields and reduces the price of salt...

Do you think this is possible?

Besides, even if you really lowered the price of salt, would the powerful and wealthy be willing to buy it?
In the past, the official salt was almost completely monopolized by them. Now you are robbing the money in their pockets. Can they talk to you in a friendly and reasonable manner?

Zhang Yanling smiled slightly and said, "Eunuch Qin, your concerns are reasonable, but I have already explained the specific interests to His Majesty."

"Ah... you... you already said that?"

Qin Ji was very surprised.

When I reported to His Majesty before, he didn't say that all preparations had been made.

Oh, that's not right. Your Majesty is in a hurry to kick me out of the palace. It seems that he is only concerned about celebrating the New Year with the young couple and doesn't take my words seriously, an old man?
Zhang Yanling saw that Tan Ji looked uncertain, and continued, "There is another big problem. Some conservative officials think that changing the salt law will reduce the reserves of the nine borders, which is not conducive to the stability of the border military garrisons. In short, they just don't agree to the reform...

"This problem is easier to solve. That is, when the new salt law is effective, we can use the results to tell them how much benefit this will bring to the court."

"Oh, so they'll change their minds? Is that so easy?"

Tan Ji asked.

"Oh, of course not!"

Zhang Yanling shook his head. "I've said before that people's prejudices are like a mountain, and they won't change easily. Therefore, even if they see the living facts, they will desperately deny and quibble. What I want is to make them shut up completely, or to use the facts to hit them to shut up!
"But I think that even if the main civil officials in the court have a prejudice against my father, they should not have such a big prejudice against the salt law reform, right?"

Zhang Luan shouted, "Pay attention, kid, and don't talk nonsense!"

Qin Ji looked extremely embarrassed, but didn't say anything.

Zhang Yanling was not afraid of the threat from his cheap father at all, and said with a smile: "For example, today, Eunuch Tan went to the cabinet. Do you think the two big men in the cabinet have strong objections to this matter? Especially Elder Xu, who is supposed to be very conservative?"

"them……"

Qin Ji thought about it carefully and nodded, "They both seem to think that reform is necessary."

"Ah? They don't object?"

Zhang Luan was the most surprised.

Was my son right again this time?
Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "It is unreasonable for them to hinder something that benefits the country and the people. In fact, the biggest resistance in the court is not the civil officials, but the princes and nobles who have touched their basic interests. They are the group of people who once occupied the nest for personal gain and caused the collapse of the Ming Dynasty's salt administration. These are the targets we need to unite and fight against."

Zhang Luan seemed to sober up and nodded, "Yes, we must be enemies with that group of people! We can't be polite to them! Whose court is it? How can we allow those termites to attach to the body of the Ming Dynasty and corrode the foundation of the Ming Dynasty? I will never agree to it!"

(End of this chapter)