I'm really not the carpenter emperor

"Your Majesty, I also feel that the salt trading in Shandong and the Huaihe River is indeed too chaotic and lacks effective management."

"Unify the private salt and designate it as official salt, which will be allocated and traded by the imperial court. This will also increase a large amount of revenue for the imperial court."

4 Chapter Seventy

"Your Majesty, I have no objection to the promotion of private salt, officials and ministers, but at the same time, we must come up with a charter to avoid changing the lives of people in the coastal areas."

Lianghuai Censor stood up and said.

"Most of the people in coastal areas live by selling illegal salt. After the private salt is returned to the government, the business of selling illegal salt that these people depend on for survival will be banned. This will force these people to make a choice."

"Either starve to death, or continue to take risks and sell private salt with treacherous villains, which is not good for the court!"

"I have considered these things..." Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly, and said:

"Since the year of Hongwu, private salt in coastal areas has been banned repeatedly, and government and business collusion has become commonplace, resulting in local corruption and people's livelihood. A new system needs to be established to manage it."

"Private salt officials will cause many coastal people to lose their source of income. The court needs to do its best to provide relief and arrange for these people to take it out to support their families."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youxiao sighed in his heart. It seems that no matter what the reform is, it will not be smooth sailing, nor can it be completely beneficial.

The promotion of private salt official ownership will bring a lot of profits to the imperial court in the long run, but after this discussion, it is known that, just like the development of firearms, it still needs to invest a lot of manpower, material resources and funds first.

What's more, this kind of reform is likely to bring about major changes in the fundamental lives of the local people. If it is not handled properly, it may be like the abolition of post stations during the Chongzhen period in history, and a "Li Zicheng" will come out and be forced to rebel.

After the words fell, all the officials under the rank began to discuss eagerly again.

"Your Majesty's words are very true. I propose to set up inspection departments in the coastal state capitals to sort out the salt affairs, and the capital will uniformly deploy inspections in various places to prevent corruption."

"Although what Zhang Shilang said is good, it is too one-sided. I would like to make an addition."

Soon someone came forward and added:

"The inspection department has existed since ancient times, and it is a place for gathering troops in important transportation areas. If it is re-established this time, if the name is repeated, it will easily be misunderstood by officials and people in various places. It is better to change its name to the inspection department, so that the court can manage salt. Proclaim your determination to the world!"

Zhu Youxiao nodded and began to think carefully in his heart.

In the Ming Dynasty, coastal salt affairs had been governed for a long time, but no effective control had been achieved. Although the imperial court explicitly prohibited it, the sale of private salt is still rampant in various places.

Of course, there is a reason why the imperial court did not set up a special yamen for management, but more of it is the so-called agreement reached between local officials and private salt dealers.

This kind of unwritten rule exists everywhere. Local state and county officials are generally in charge of salt affairs, and they also know that private salt is a huge profit. for.

Since you are determined to manage the salt affairs, you must also be prepared to deal with corrupt officials.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, and when the hall gradually became quiet, he said:

"The salt inspector's proposal is very good. In addition, I also plan to set up a salt inspection department in Penglai to control the salt inspectors in various places."

"It is necessary to quickly count the existing government-run salt farms in Shandong and the coastal areas of the two Huaihe Rivers, how many salt farms are registered, and how much official salt they can produce every year. I need to know all of these."

"This matter will be handed over to Dongchang, and Wei Zhongxian will handle it. I can rest assured."

Speaking of this, Zhu Youxiao still had to sigh. At this time, he knew Wei Zhongxian's strengths. If this kind of matter is left to others to investigate, he is really not at ease.

As for the Jiaoshi Mansion, due to the secret development of the Jiaoshi Mansion, everyone is a dead man, so the development is extremely slow, and there are only a few hundred people up to now.

The scale of this kind of major event involving coastal towns across the country is too wide, and the size of the Shifu is far from enough, and Jinyiwei is not good enough. Nowadays, only Fanzi spying on Dongchang, which is all over the world, has this ability.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao narrowed his eyes, originally thinking about whether to take Dongchang back from Wei Zhongxian's hands, but looking at it now, we have to wait.

Wei Zhongxian, and his usefulness!

"Your Majesty is holy!" All the ministers shouted.

……

After the court meeting ended, Zhu Youxiao did not return to Qianqing Palace.

There is one advantage of facing the court, that is, basically everything that needs to be said at the court meeting has already been said, and all officials discuss it, and the policies are directly issued and communicated.

If everyone brainstorms, the court meeting is a good way to understand the place and respond in a timely manner, but the fact is that since Jiajing, the court meeting has gradually lost its effectiveness and has become a battlefield for civil servants to scribble their pen and ink and form cliques.

Such a court meeting is naturally useless whether it is up or not.

After the court, the questions of some officials have been resolved, and the number of books in Qianqing Palace is much less than in the past, which allows Zhu Youxiao to spare more time to visit the harem.

It was said that he was going back to the harem, but in fact Zhu Youxiao came directly to Kunning Palace.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty is here!"

Still far away, Xu Shi, the female official in charge of Kunning Palace, saw the emperor's lord, and hurriedly called out to remind the two young masters inside.

Why do you say two?

Because at this time, Concubine Yu Tong Jing'er was talking with Zhang Yan in the Kunning Palace, there was no other fun in the harem, and the women also liked to gossip.

For Zhu Youxiao, the feelings of the two women are different.

First of all, relatively speaking, it is obvious that Zhang Yan is more favored, and he has expressed his support in the harem dispute more than once, which also made Zhang Yan gradually develop some feelings from being unfamiliar at the beginning.

After all, it has been four years, even if it is a piece of wood, it is time to develop feelings.

What's more, Zhu Youxiao really didn't tell Zhang Yan that there was no second woman in the harem who could "occupy" the emperor for such a long time.

When Zhang Yan first entered the palace, when she heard that Zhu Youxiao was coming, she avoided it for fear of being late, and even made sarcastic remarks from time to time.

But now, she was always staring in a daze at the direction in which the Emperor Xinuange was governing, secretly anticipating in her heart, and when she heard Xu's shout, her face burst into surprise, and she quickly dropped the book and ran out.

"Look, I'm in a hurry for my sister!"

Tong Jing'er was also reading, and was startled when she heard the voice, but when she recovered, she saw Zhang Yan running out to greet her like a little girl.

Regarding Zhu Youxiao's feelings, Tong Jing'er is actually more complicated than Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan was the number one beauty selected by three thousand beautiful women. She was first chosen by the current concubine and then appointed by the emperor. This kind of honor can be said to be the first in the world.

As for her, Tong Jing'er, she was just a maid serving tea and water in the Xinuang Pavilion before.

If it wasn't for the emperor being in a bad mood that night and meeting her by chance, I'm afraid she would still be just an ordinary maid by now.

Tong Jing'er is very self-aware, knowing that she is incomparable with the current queen no matter in appearance or in speech and manner.

In her opinion, being able to be blessed by the emperor to give birth to a daughter and be made a noble concubine is already a blessing from several lifetimes of cultivation, so how can she dare to expect anything else.

"Concubine Yu is here too! It's just right, come and squeeze my shoulders and beat my legs! There are a lot of things to discuss at this court meeting, but I'm exhausted..."

Zhu Youxiao just came down to court, and after sitting for a long time, he felt sore all over his body.

It has been a long time since the first restoration of the court, and many accumulated affairs are being dealt with today, and the preparations are underway before dawn.

Tong Jing'er has the lowest status here, so she should do this kind of thing.

This kind of opportunity to get close to the emperor was very rare in the past. If Gong'e is allowed to do it at this time, I'm afraid Tong Jing'er will not be willing.

She didn't have any complaints, and when she walked to the back, she used skillful techniques to loosen Zhu Youxiao's shoulders.

Sitting with Zhang Yan on the couch, she took the teapot that Mrs. Xu was holding, and asked, "Your Majesty, will the court go well?"

Zhu Youxiao tilted his head and thought for a while, then said with a smile:

"Successful, two major events have been decided!"

"what is the matter?"

"Pursue Tumot from the north, promote private salt and official ownership!"

"I have a blueprint in my heart, a blueprint to make Daming more and more powerful!" At this point, Zhu Youxiao became excited and geared up, as if he was ready to do a big job.

Chapter 471 Collusion between officials and businessmen

Shandong, Dengzhou Prefecture, Haiyang Thousand Households.

The waves kept beating against the shore rocks, and around a simple shack made of bamboo, there were all kinds of men and women busy working happily.

On the path, there was a strong man with a bare upper body pushing a wheelbarrow. There were many sacks on the wheelbarrow, and each sack was filled to the brim.

Everyone is very happy to be busy, but they all know in their hearts that such days will soon not be there again.

In February of the fourth year of Apocalypse, at the turn of spring and summer, the Denglai area seemed much deserted than before.

Since the end of last month, the official salt farms in various places have been closed one after another, and the Dongchang Tiqi has been everywhere, leading from the capital to all directions, and is ordered to investigate the salt incident.

Not long ago, the Terengganu Government Office also issued a notice announcing that all states and counties, it is said that the imperial court enacted a new salt law to control private salt.

Zhang Daqi, the local magistrate of Terengganu Prefecture, has been making a fortune with this method.

Although he did not object to the imperial court's control of private salt, he secretly led the way deliberately in order to arouse the hostility of the coastal people towards the imperial court.

In this notice from the government office, Zhang Daqi deliberately cut off the head and tail, and the imperial court did not mention a word about the arrangements for the people along the coast, but it emphasized that the sale of illegal salt is no longer allowed.

He was still fantasizing that if the people along the coast were in trouble, the imperial court would abandon the implementation of the new salt law and let the chaos along the coast continue like this.

There are still many people like Zhang Daqi. The first task for the court to promote the new salt law is to find out how many salt farms the court has and how many salt farms are registered.

How much salt is in stock in each salt field also needs to be checked clearly so that the policy can be implemented smoothly in the future.

However, such a policy has touched the interests of officials and businessmen in Denglai, Lianghuai, and coastal areas.

In fact, it’s not just officials and merchants. Some local coastal areas are powerful, which sphere of influence is in each area, and what kind of salt products are produced. After many years of inheritance, they have already established their own system.

The imperial court's implementation of the new salt law is obviously to form a systematic management. These original rules will be abolished.

In order to oppose the implementation of the new salt law this time, these people are doing everything they can.

Although the implementation of the new salt law has been unanimously approved by the court, it is very difficult to implement it at the local level.

Years of corruption in the coastal areas have resulted in the current situation where corrupt officials are in power.

These local officials have already made a lot of money and will not explicitly oppose the new salt law, but they will inform the local forces of the imperial court's actions and cooperate with each other in order to organize changes.

……

Haiyangsuo is a well-known place for boiling salt in the two prefectures of Denglai. Although these people have heard the news that the imperial court will vigorously control illegal salt, they still plan to try it.

There is no way, if they don't smuggle salt to the salt field for half a month, they will all starve to death.

"Ugh!"

A man was walking on a remote path with a cauldron of cooking sea salt on his back, and said with a sigh, "It's all right, why is the imperial court suddenly trying to control private salt!"

"It's not easy, I know that private salt makes a lot of money!" Someone quickly replied, his words were full of sarcasm, "I told you a long time ago that this day will come sooner or later, we can't just rely on smuggling salt to live! "

The man glanced at the hill ahead, smiled helplessly, and said optimistically:

"Walk another five miles, and you will arrive at the Haiyang Salt Field. Now it is one of the few salt fields in Terengganu that can still sell salt. If you sell these salt goods, you can last for a while."

"Yeah, just wait a little longer, maybe in the last ten and a half months, the new salt law will be abolished!" someone said behind.

Soon, a group of people pushed a wheelbarrow to Haiyang Saltworks.

What is worrying is that from a distance, they can see that the periphery of Haiyang Salt Field is crowded with many coastal people who come to sell illegal salt like them.

"Why are you not allowed to sell it all of a sudden!"

"It was fine in the morning, but no salt sales are allowed in the afternoon. I heard that someone came to check the salt. Mr. Li's family temporarily closed the salt farm for the sake of us all."

At this time, a salt worker appeared on the wall of the salt field, and comforted the many people below:

"Everyone wait, Fanzi never does good things, maybe after Fanzi leaves at night, he can sell salt again!"

The common people looked over together and nodded one after another.

"It's still Li Dong's family who knows how to sympathize with us!"

"Then wait until the evening and come back again. Those goddamned fanboys might not even leave us with this little way of life."

When the people gradually left, Yan Ding got down from the wall and said with a sneer:

"The news has already spread. Even if these Dongchang people have great abilities, they will not be able to overthrow the sky in our land!"

Another Yan Ding also smiled and said, "I'm going to report this good news to my boss!"

……

At dusk, two fans hurriedly knocked on the door of Li Yan, the owner of Haiyang Saltworks.

Li Yan was discussing matters with his confidants, when he heard the voice change, he hurriedly put on a purple silk robe, greeted him, cupped his hands and said with a smile:

"You two are here!"

Both of them were wearing soap boots, with the badge of Dongjiji Factory hanging on their waists. When they entered the door, their faces were cold. One of them looked around and looked at the precious calligraphy and paintings on the wall that he hadn't had time to take off, and said with a sneer:

"Boss Li's family is living a happy life. In my opinion, it's not much worse than that of the factory owner!"