Emperor Ming Dynasty

Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Yangtze River on the north bank of Zhenjiang has been the mouth of the Grand Canal, and the Yangtze River in Yangzhou and Yizheng has been called the Yangtze River.

The sound of a cannon at dawn broke the silence of Yizheng.

The flag with the word "salt" in blue letters on a white background was raised high, and tens of thousands of salt workers began their day's work, and the chants of carrying big bags gradually became louder.

There are more than 300 Huai boats moored in the Salt River in front of the Lianghuai Salt Affairs General Store, and there are nearly 200 large and small barges in the inland rivers. They all belong to salt merchants from all over the country.

Huai salt is transported from here and then sold to Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hunan, Henan and other places. It can be said that this is where the essence lies.

Not far from the dock, one kilometer to the south is Waijiang, where more than a thousand river boats are docked all year round. "The rafters cover the sky and stand across the river. The bank covers the bank for ten miles, and it looks like a city wall."

At this time, groups of soldiers poured in and opened a road, allowing several large ships to sail into the inland river.

At this time, under the astonished eyes of the salt merchants, the salt censors of the two Huaihe Rivers were transferred to the salt transportation envoys, Tongzhi, and the Salt Law Road were all waiting at the mouth of the river.

I don't know how long it took, until the sun was getting hotter and the official uniforms of many officials were soaked with sweat, when the royal chariot arrived.

"Your Excellency, Situ He, the Salt Censor of the Huaihe River, comes to see Your Majesty——"

All civil and military officials knelt down one after another.

At this time, a eunuch hurriedly stepped off the ship, and then, the emperor with a face as beautiful as a crown jade stepped off the ship.

He wore a short coat inside and yellow linen clothes outside, which dissipated heat quickly and made him feel cooler.

After stroking the short beard on her chin, Zhu Yixi chuckled and said, "Get up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Is this the Lianghuai Salt Division?"

Looking at the dilapidated door plaque and the door made of logs, there are burrs on the threshold, which is too ordinary.

But there is a saying that goes well, as long as something is lacking, something will become more apparent.

The Lianghuai Salt Department is responsible for the production of salt in Huainan and Huaibei. It controls the lifeblood of salt merchants and can be said to be extremely rich.

According to the Ministry of Finance, there are tens of millions of yuan in salt tax in the world, and Lianghuai accounts for half of it, with 500 million yuan, ranking first in the world.

In other words, nearly [-] million people eat Huaiyan.

Although the imperial court discovered salt lakes and salt mines in the northwest, boiling the sea to make salt was the mainstream of the Ming Dynasty and an important source of taxes.

He muttered, turned to look at the boats inside and outside the river, and sighed: "It's like boiling salt, but it's in the rivers!"

The Yangtze River and the canal are the key to Huaiyan salt's sales.

If it weren't for the well salt production in Sichuan, Huai salt could even be sold upstream.

Situ He stood aside respectfully and reported to the emperor:

"Last year Huaiyan produced 800 million stones, or 12 billion catties. Thousands of ships travel every year, marketing it all over the country..."

"In addition to provinces such as Jiangsu and Anhui, overseas countries such as North Korea and Japan also import more salt from Huaihe for use..."

"The two countries are close to the sea. Is there still a shortage of salt?"

Zhu Yixi was surprised.

"Your Majesty, these two countries are small and have few people. The salt they eat is much worse than ours. The middle-class families are not willing to eat it, so they come to buy more salt from Huaihe."

Situ He said slightly proudly.

The salt in every country is like that. Private salt is prevalent, but refined salt is scarce. Only the Ming Dynasty can produce a large amount of refined salt.

Zhu Yixi understood.

In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people ate coarse salt, which tasted slightly bitter and dark gray.

The rich eat refined salt.

But at the same time, there are many types of refined salt.

Just like the emperor, he usually eats green salt, which is lake salt, and it is also the red salt.

Occasionally, the Kingdom of Wei Zang would travel thousands of miles to pay tribute to red salt from the Himalayas.

Lingnan sometimes contributes some coral salt, which is not only edible, but also has high medicinal value.

In fact, there is no difference in taste. After all, the ingredients are good and I am willing to use spices, but there is a certain specification.

Everyone can cook salt, but the level of refining is different, and the refined salt produced will naturally be different.

This is productivity.

The salt transport envoy from Duzhuan City on the side also reported: "There are now hundreds of salt fields in the Huaihe River, including thirty large salt fields, with more than [-] people..."

Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, salt tax accounted for half of the country's tax revenue. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Kaizhong method was implemented, that is, salt merchants transported grain to the border to obtain salt leads and sell the salt at a profit.

In addition to grain, there are also the Nachao medium-salt method, the Nama medium-salt method, the Natie medium-salt method, the nano-Medium tea method, the Nama medium-salt method, etc.

The same is true with the rise of Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants.

It was also because a large amount of salt was earned by merchants, so the salt tax in the early Ming Dynasty was not high, and this part of the profit was indirectly contributed to the border army.

After all, most of the food, clothing, medicinal materials, etc. for the border troops were transported by salt merchants, and with the support of military camps, the court was able to feed hundreds of thousands of border troops without wasting a single copper.

However, as powerful and high-ranking officials began to resell salt, the Kaizhong method was corrupted, and the Nayin method became the mainstream.

In the same way, the Salt Code was implemented, and the salt quotations received by merchants were compiled into a compendium, divided into ten guidelines. Every year, one guideline was used to carry out accumulated quotations, and nine guidelines were used to carry out new quotations.

The specific characteristics are: hereditary salt merchants, government production and private sales.

The court thought well, and the stable salt merchants had sufficient financial resources to sell official salt.

But while the salt merchants sell official salt, they are also the largest private salt dealers. It can be said that they make money from both sides.

At this time, the border troops were insufficiently supplied, the military camps were in ruins, and the court was late in paying their salaries. As a result, the border troops fled and became an important part of the rebel army in the late Ming Dynasty.

Later, he followed the Qing Dynasty and implemented the salt ticketing method. Regardless of the size of the merchant, as long as he gave money, he would sell the salt and let him sell it by himself.

In this way, the transportation and sales were not under the control of the court, and there was no need to even crack down on illegal salt. I don't know how much trouble was saved, but it offended the big salt merchants.

Therefore, the salt policy is a major national plan and must be monitored.

After listening to the report, the emperor turned around and went to the nearby salt field to have a real look at the kitchen people.

After the abolition of humble status in the early years of Shaowu, the hereditary system for Zao households was no longer adopted, but a recruitment system was adopted.

Coupled with the widespread popularization of salt-drying methods, the number of salt-dwellers has plummeted.

The same is true. To treat these Zao people, we can no longer use the previous method of collecting salt without capital, but the method of paying money.

Money is paid on time every month, and Zao residents are not allowed to keep it secretly or resell it, so as to cut off illicit money at the source.

Walking by the salt fields, feeling the baptism of the sea breeze, Zhu Yixi suddenly asked:
"What happened to the salt merchant?"

Situ He was stunned and said hurriedly:

"Divided according to prefectures and counties, the county is a small salt merchant, no more than two people, and the prefecture is a large salt merchant, no more than three people. The salt merchants spend money to buy salt every year, and then transport it to various places. They no longer engage in monopoly trading. Officials The price of salt has dropped sharply, so compared to the previous dynasty, salt merchants are not as unruly as they used to be."

"is it?"

Zhu Yixi was full of disbelief.

There has been no perfect system since ancient times.

He never believed in the nature of businessmen.

Interests, huge interests, are enough to make all rules disappear.In Yangzhou City, Liu Mansion.

In the pre-Ming Dynasty, salt merchants were divided into 'market merchants' who bought salt and 'transport merchants' who transported salt. Those who both bought salt and transported salt were called general merchants.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were twelve general merchants in Yangzhou, who were the leaders of Yangzhou salt merchants, and the Liu family was one of them.

With the implementation of the salt ticketing law, although the Liu family declined for a while, it took off again and became the leading salt merchant in Yangzhou.

Liu Sanye's name is Zi Rang. Since he is the third eldest son in the family, he is also called Liu Sanye.

The garden he built is called "Yanyuan", the origin of which is unknown. In terms of the beauty of the scenery in the garden, it is one of the best in Yangzhou.

At this time, several big men in silk clothes handed the notebooks in for a while. After a while, the middle door of the garden opened wide, and an old man wearing a brand-new silk gown came out with a bright face and full of energy:
"Sorry, sorry, who is Mr. Zhao?"

"It's next!"

The man cupped his hands and said: "I have something important to do, so I can't talk more. This letter is personally written by my master..."

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

After reading the letter, Liu Laosan was surprised, and then said without changing his expression: "Go and invite several other Salt Society directors to come over..."

"Yes!" The servants dispersed.

At night, the wild goose garden is open and the lights are brightly lit.

More than a dozen people were sitting at a long table, all wearing silk and satin, with smiles on their faces.

At this time, a shad, a specialty of Jiangnan, came up.

"This shad is on the market around April. When the first shad comes on the market every year, it is neither caught by casting a net nor caught by fishing, but by a very incredible method:

Athletes practicing dragon boat racing rode a small boat on the river in front of Jinshan Temple, rushed into the waves that were about [-] feet high, and caught it directly with their hands!Then the shad was sent all the way to Jiangning on a fast boat called "Caoshang Fei". In the early Ming Dynasty, it was given to the guarding eunuch. "

"Fighting against the wind and waves, even if you are a soldier in the army, you don't have this ability. In the navy, you can at least fight for the integrity of the team."

"Who says there isn't? I don't know how many people in the Navy do this kind of private business, but they just can't get on the stage and don't talk nonsense."

"Even if I eat one, it will still cost a hundred yuan."

The salt merchants were chatting and laughing, not surprised at the price of the fish.

At this time, another salt merchant with a big belly showed a cautious and serious expression:

"Liu Laosan is quite generous!"

“The way to eat this shad is very particular.

The cook sent his men to pick up a pair of cooking stoves to go out, and he wrapped the cleaned knives in a cloth to accompany him, and the group went to the riverside together.

Then choose a fresh shad from the freshly caught shad, cut open the belly and remove the gills without removing the scales while it is still fresh out of the water, remove the internal organs, wipe dry with a clean cloth, and put two pieces of good quality fish into the belly. Take the ham, pick out its aroma, then wrap it in net oil and put it in a stove to steam.

They heated it up all the way, and when they arrived at Fuzhong, they took the anchovies out of the pan just before the banquet. They were just right for you to enjoy. They were juicy, tender and incomparable! "

Several salt merchants ate fish and chatted about how to make it. Everyone was enjoying it.

After the more than sixty dishes were served, everyone turned serious.

Liu Laosan sat upright, holding his red sandalwood Buddha beads:

"According to the news from the Salt Bureau, when the emperor came to Yangzhou, he went to the salt field first and passed through Yangzhou without entering."

"Is this aimed at us?"

"It shouldn't be!" Another salt merchant said: "Whether it is the outline method or the salt voting method, we all follow the rules of the court."

"That's the investigation of illegal salt."

Vice President Jia Yong raised his head with sharp eyes and said in a deep voice:
"Since the 15th year of Shaowu's reign, Huai salt sales have stagnated and tax payments have also stagnated at around 500 million. It is obvious that His Majesty is dissatisfied."

Whether it is the salt ticket method or the outline method, it is to delineate the sales quota of salt to avoid importing too much or too little salt, thereby affecting profits.

But private salt competes with the official salt business.

If the common people do not buy official salt, the salt merchants will buy less salt at the salt field. This will naturally affect taxation.

“Instead of being passive, it’s better to be proactive.”

Liu Laosan frowned, then chuckled and said: "I heard that there is a fierce bandit on the Yangtze River, called Jiang Liu'er. Not only does he plunder, but he also sells private salt."

All the salt merchants were shocked.

Of course everyone knows about Jiang Liuer.

This man lives on an island on the river. He is not only a water bandit, but also a thug for many salt merchants.

Once you encounter some salt sellers who exceed the rules or illicit salt, Jiang Liu'er is the biggest dagger.

It was so easy to use that under the care of the salt merchants, the Yangtze River Navy Yamen turned a blind eye, and Jiang Liuer's power continued to grow.

Now, he has more than ten ships and more than [-] large and small bandits. He even buys private salt from salt merchants and starts a private salt business.

The salt merchants were willing to feed some scraps, so they let him do it.

"So, this salt tax is all due to Jiangliu'er?"

The salt merchants were cold-blooded and reached a consensus immediately.

It's better to throw the chess piece out than to let your whole family suffer.

"Not enough!" Liu Laosan raised his head with bright eyes: "Everyone in this world loves money, even the emperor is no exception."

"Aren't these imperial merchants all over the world from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, specifically to make money for the emperor?"

"His Majesty is visiting Yangzhou. Let's build a palace for him."

"Isn't he cherishing his reputation? He doesn't want to part with internal money, so let us salt merchants work together and give up 80 million to win the emperor's heart. This is worth it."

The vice president added: "If we were the salt merchants alone, we would be afraid that the emperor would want to kill the pigs, so we would have to add Hui merchants. This is their place in South Zhili..."

The group of people made up their minds and decided to attack in two ways.

Run away as an abandoned son and bribe the emperor, both ways.

On the other side, the emperor finally arrived in Yangzhou and met the whole Jiangsu Province.

After Nanzhili was divided into two, Yingtian Prefecture was directly under the jurisdiction, while the capital of Jiangsu was moved to Yangzhou.

As the most important city on the canal and a large city on the river, Yangzhou's importance is self-evident.

After a tiring day, the emperor summoned Chu Yu and asked about the salt business.

In response, Chu Yu only said decisively: "Excessive luxury."

"The favorite thing of salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River is to build gardens. These people build gardens, build walls with stone foundations, and boil glutinous rice into a thick slurry to glue them together. This is a practice imitated by Taizu when he built the city of Nanjing. It is said that it can last for thousands of years. .”

"Such a large garden is just for daily expenses. Even if every item is small, it adds up to a huge amount."

"If the host wants to entertain guests in the afternoon, the host must light candles all over the place, starting from before the sun sets, and not all of them are lit until dark. This does not count, the candles cannot be extinguished, and a candle as thick as an arm is almost finished. , put up a new one, and light four candles throughout the day and night, so there are hundreds of candlesticks in the garden.”

"Salt merchants are the largest buyers of whale candles."

"I heard that the famous Yanyuan in Yangzhou uses no less than [-] whale candles every year..."

Speaking of this, Chu Yu gritted his teeth quite a bit.

(End of this chapter)