Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 214 Salt Factory
Turning to look at the salt merchant, he saw the salt merchant smiled wryly and said, "Master Zhang is right, it is 3 taels."

After doing this to this salt merchant, the rest of the salt merchants did not dare to be sloppy. This one with [-] and that with [-] came forward to report.

After a while, after everyone registered, Zhang Li took the account book and did a rough calculation. The good guy actually donated more than 70 taels of silver, among which the dozen or so salt merchants and several officials in charge of salt administration donated nearly 50 taels. .

Zhang Li smacked his tongue secretly when he saw it, and thought, Li Jing still has the vision to know who has money.

Handing the account book to Zhou Kang, Zhang Li said, "Take the soldiers to their house to collect the money."

Zhou Kang nodded, and suddenly held up the account book given by Zhang Li just now and asked: "Then what about these shops?"

Zhang Li continued: "What should I do? Go and search! They owe so much tax, don't they pay the tax?"

"Zhang Li, you are too deceitful!" Liu Bai suddenly said angrily.

Zhang Li looked at Liu Bai, and said in a cold voice, "I'm bullying too much? As an official of the imperial court, you actually compete with the people for profit. I'm being polite to you by not impeaching you. Mr. Zhou, if it comes to Mr. Liu Bai I stole all the shops! As for other shops that did not pay taxes, I will be fined and confiscated according to ten times the tax!"

"The general will obey!" Zhou Kang said loudly.

After finishing speaking, he clasped his fists at Zhang Li, took his soldiers to pick up the money, and went to steal the shop.

……

Three days later, outside the city of Anyi, a convoy arrived at the Jishi Army barracks, led by Zhang Li and Zhou Kang.

Welcoming Zhang and Li into his military tent and ordering someone to watch tea, Li Jing smiled and said, "How is it? Mr. Zhang, is it not difficult to get 50 taels of silver?"

Zhang Li shook his head and smiled, "Don't tell me, those bastards are really rich! Chief Li, guess how much money I made this time?"

Li Jing raised his teacup to signal Zhang Li and Zhou Kang to drink tea, then said with a smile, "How could I guess that?"

Zhang Li took a sip of tea lightly, then smiled and said, "This is the number."

"70?" Li Jing was surprised, then laughed and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Zhang, for getting rich."

Zhang Li shook his head: "This time, I have offended all the officials below and the wealthy businessmen and gentry under my rule. I've spent all my money on these people, I'm afraid they all hate me to the bone."

Li Jing waved his hands and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, there is no need to worry. In a few days, I will make them obediently obey your orders."

This is the second time Zhang Li has heard from Li Jing that he is going back to Anyi.

After thinking about it, Zhang Li finally couldn't help asking: "Boss Li, since you promised not to attack the city again, why do you always come back after a few days?"

Li Jing smiled, beckoned to the soldiers beside him and said, "Go and invite the prefect of Zhou."

The soldier nodded and hurried out of the tent.

Zhang Li and Zhou Kang looked at each other, full of doubts in their hearts, not knowing who the prefect Zhou was talking about in Li Jing's mouth.

After a while, the soldier returned with a man in official uniform.

Zhang Li and Zhou Kang were shocked when they saw this man's official uniform with skylark embroidered on the patches, which can only be worn by civil servants of the fourth rank. It turned out that what Li Jing was talking about was not his name, but his official position.

When the official saw Li Jing, he bowed respectfully, and said, "I will see the commander in chief."

Li Jing waved his hand and said: "Heng Chen doesn't need to be polite, you are tired all the way, and it is my fault that I called you here before you rested."

This official is Zhou Hengchen.

Hearing Zhang Li's idea that day, Li Jing ordered Zhou Hengchen to be picked up quickly after the two left.

Zhou Hengchen's appointment was the same as Li Jing's appointment, they had just arrived, and the prefect of Pingyang Prefecture was in charge of Xiezhou. Li Jing asked Zhou Hengchen to come over, and it was the prefect who asked the prefect to suppress Zhang Li.

After hearing Li Jing's words, Zhou Hengchen hurriedly said that he didn't dare.

Li Jing smiled, pointed at Zhang Li and Zhou Kang and said, "Hengchen, I will introduce you to two people. This one is the magistrate of Xiezhou, Mr. Zhang Li and Zhang, who is considered to be your subordinate. This One is Lord Zhou Kangzhou from Qianhu Institute of Jiezhou Qianhu Office. Hehe, if you two talk about it, maybe it’s still the same family.”

Then he said to Zhang Li and Zhou Kang: "This is the new prefect of Pingyang Prefecture, Zhou Hengchen, Master Zhou, let's get acquainted."

Hearing that the person in front of them was the magistrate of Pingyang Prefecture, Zhang Li and Zhou Kang were shocked, and they hurriedly got up from their seats. Zhang Li bowed to Zhou Hengchen, and said: "My next official, Jiezhou Zhizhou Zhang Li, pays homage to the magistrate."

On the other hand, Zhou Kang cupped his fists and said loudly: "The last general, Zhou Kang, see the magistrate."

Zhou Hengchen waved his hands and said with a smile: "This is not the magistrate's yamen, the two adults don't need to be polite."

Zhang Li looked at Li Jing, then at Zhou Hengchen and said, "I don't know why my lord is here?"

Zhou Hengchen smiled and said, "I'm originally the commander's subordinate. How dare I not come when the commander is summoned?"

"What?" Zhang Li and Zhou Kang were really stunned this time.

In fact, Zhang Li and Zhou Kang had some doubts about the relationship between Li Jing and Zhou Hengchen based on the attitude of Li Jing talking to Zhou Hengchen just now, as well as Zhou Hengchen's performance in front of Li Jing, but they felt that this matter was really unbelievable. Just thinking about it, I dare not think about it again.

Now that Zhou Hengchen personally admitted that he was Li Jing's subordinate, Zhang Li and Zhou Kang were still taken aback.

Zhou Hengchen is the magistrate, even if Li Jing is the commander-in-chief, he can't stand up in front of the magistrate, but seeing Zhou Hengchen's respectful appearance, it's almost like seeing his own father.

What the hell is this Li Jing doing?

Li Jing pressed his hand and motioned for the three of them to sit down and talk, then looked at Zhang Li and Zhou Kang, smiled and said: "Hengchen always acts like this in front of me, alas, I'm not a tiger, so carefully what?"

After finishing speaking, he turned to Zhou Hengchen and said with a smile: "Hengchen, you are capable, but sometimes you are too timid. This time you are promoted to the prefect of Pingyang Prefecture, you have to show some courage! Three years, I will give you three years , if you don’t show me Pingyang Mansion in three years, I’ll send you to Lingchuan to be the county magistrate.”

Zhou Hengchen smiled: "What ability does a humble job have, if you don't do what the commander-in-chief says? But don't worry, commander, within three years, the humble job will definitely change the look of Pingyang Mansion."

Li Jingjing nodded and said: "Yes, you must have this determination. Let Zhang Li help you in Xiezhou. The salt production here in Xiezhou is a profitable business. Let's manage it well. It is the economic pillar of Pingyang Prefecture. The main crop is cotton. I think a textile factory will be built here in Jiezhou to process the cloth and use some of it for self-use. The rest will be sold to Jixian’s fabric shop. I think this factory and the cloth shop can also charge you a lot of tax. .”

After pondering for a while, Li Jing said to Zhang Li: "Master Zhang, let me help you find a way to get the salt factory. Those salt officials just want money, give them money, and let them stay at home. Then we Run a salt factory by yourself, recruit more people, process the salt finer, and then sell the salt to salt merchants. I think it is enough to find ten to twenty salt merchants. One certificate is 5 halite, you can discuss the specific price, I don’t know how much profit the salt can make, but a salt certificate can’t be less than [-] taels of silver.”

Hearing Li Jing's eloquent talk, Zhang Li felt awkward, because he regarded Xiezhou as his own home.

But Zhang Li admired Li Jingxiang's idea from the bottom of his heart.

The salt industry has been monopolized by the government since ancient times, and it is one of the largest sources of income for the imperial court. In the Tang Dynasty, the salt tax was one-eighth of the national income, and in the Song Dynasty it reached one-sixth. However, in the Ming Dynasty, the official sales of salt had no income. .

This is because the salt administration of the Ming Dynasty was different from that of the previous dynasties. The Ming Dynasty implemented the method of opening China. The salt merchants brought grain or cotton cloth and other materials to the army or related departments. Distribute the corresponding amount of salt to the salt merchants, and then take the salt to the salt factory to receive the salt.

This approach is tantamount to the imperial court exchanging salt for food and other supplies, without receiving a single penny.

When salt merchants deliver materials to these places, the transportation and other expenses are all borne by the salt merchants themselves, and the cost of salt is relatively high. Salt merchants sell salt to seek profit, so naturally they have to increase prices, and the shops below also The price was increased layer by layer, and the price of salt became ridiculously high, which is why the price of salt was higher than the price of grain in the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, because the salt processed by the salt factory is generally surplus, some officials and some unscrupulous salt merchants colluded to sell it privately.People on the seaside also ventured to boil salt and sell it, which formed a private salt market.

Due to the low cost, the price of private salt is much lower than that of official salt, and the common people are naturally more willing to buy private salt. As a result, salt merchants who sell official salt may not be able to sell salt, or may lose money.Naturally, the salt merchants were unwilling to take any more supplies to exchange for salt, or they only received a small amount of supplies in exchange for salt, and then went to the salt factory to bribe salt officials privately to buy low-priced salt.

As a result, the court needed fewer and fewer supplies, but the salt continued to be sold. The court also needed to spend extra money to buy food and other supplies, and did not get any benefits from the salt at all.

However, Li Jing's method directly put an end to this disadvantage. The salt factory doesn't need any salt quotations from you, but directly sells the certificate to the salt merchants, and the price is lower than that of private salt. In this way, the salt of these salt merchants will naturally sell more. Quickly, it can greatly impact the private salt market.

At the same time, the salt factory can directly earn income from selling salt, and at least half of the profit can be obtained after excluding the labor costs during processing.

Zhang Li did the math, and according to Li Jing's method, one salt certificate sold for 5000 taels of silver, and 50 salt certificates were worth 25 taels of silver. Even if there was only half of the profit, it would be [-] taels of silver. This is a huge profit!
And if the salt merchants sell quickly, they have to buy salt certificates, and the actual profit is uncertain.

However, in this case, the production scale of the salt factory must be expanded, but judging from Li Jing's words, it is obvious that this plan has been planned for a long time.

Zhang Li made some calculations, and if he handed over 10 taels of silver to the imperial court a year, that would be a real political achievement, and he would naturally be promoted at that time.

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(End of this chapter)