New Shun 1730

Since it is a feudal dynasty, it should behave like a feudal dynasty and be good at using the characteristics of a feudal dynasty to do things.

Liu Yu said that those problems could not be solved or eradicated unless the transportation was well developed or the province was the size of the UK but salt could be boiled all around.

But if the root cannot be eradicated, it does not mean that the matter cannot be accomplished.

After Liu Yu killed people in northern Jiangsu, the emperor suddenly "made trouble" to reform the salt administration, went back on his word to the big salt merchants, and abolished the general contractor system.

If this happened in Britain, the Netherlands and other countries, the emperor would probably have been hung on the street lamp.

However, in Dashun, those big salt merchants did not even dare to gather a team to start an uprising, which was really incompetent.

Taking advantage of Liu Yu's reputation for killing too many people, and letting Liu Yu handle this matter before, the big salt merchants had no time to think about finding loopholes.

They were in a state of panic all day long.

When the storm passed and it was finally confirmed that the past was forgiven, it was too late to prepare to find loopholes.

Before that, Shi Shiyong followed Liu Yu to Lianghuai to do business, and he had been investigating for a long time.

Liu Yu's idea was to turn tyrants into businessmen.

Shi Shiyong, who was supposed to investigate official affairs, was either investigating salt tyrants or smugglers in various places. Liu Yu had a list in his hand.

He said that he would give the right person the right ticket.

Who is the right person?

Those who have a certain amount of capital, have sold salt before, have sales channels, and are able to transport and sell are the right people.

No matter whether they sold private salt or official salt before.

Now that the canal has been abolished and the smuggling channel of Changlu salt has been cut off, the theoretical sales volume of Huaibei salt this year will definitely increase dramatically.

From the perspective of salt tax alone, the reformists have already won.

Regardless of whether you really sell salt after buying the ticket, or resell the ticket at a higher price, the most important indicator for the court to judge whether the reform is successful is the salt tax.

Anyway, they are all repairmen, as long as they ensure that there will be no major problems in the next few years.

As for the rich businessmen hiring people to collect quotas to hoard tickets, it will happen sooner or later. The rules are here, and it would be strange if this didn't happen.

But it doesn't matter.

In the early stage, it is enough to ensure that the "right people" can get 50% of the tickets.

The remaining 50% is used to create an atmosphere of "fairness", "justice", "everyone has a chance", "two or three hundred taels can also enter", "speculation", and "scalping".

What needs to be guaranteed is that after this year, more people will come next year to ensure the prosperity of buyers.

It is not a good thing to have no atmosphere of speculation and scalping.

Because in other words, the absence of speculation proves that the business atmosphere is not strong enough.

And in three to five years, there will be no Lianghuai big salt merchants. Either they can't do anything and let their wives take customers to survive, or they have a better brain and quickly transform to invest in land reclamation. At that time, the business atmosphere created now will be of great use.

Anyway, Liu Yu doesn't care about repairs.

But land reclamation, Nanyang, and light industrial handicrafts are not the work of repairmen.

However, some people insisted on linking the salt administration reform with his reform, saying that if one party suffers, all parties suffer; if one party prospers, all parties prosper. In fact, he did not think this was a good idea at all.

However, as long as there are four or five roads, all of which are not unshakable and all are "reforms" or "changes", some people will definitely confuse them.

Even if one party is moving forward and the other party is moving to the right, the conservatives will pretend to be confused and insist that both of them are reforms to confuse the public.

Since they will suffer if one party suffers, he has no choice but to support them.

As for letting the "right people" get the right votes, is it unfair? Of course it is, not only that, but it is, but this is the only way that the feudal dynasty of Dashun can go.

Just like the investment in well salt in southern Sichuan, the trade between the East and the West, and the establishment of a shipping company to transport grain by sea, they are all unfair.

They were all selected and supported.

The court fostered a group of chaebols and controlled them, or at least made the emperor feel that they were completely controllable. This was the way for the Dashun Dynasty to move forward a few more steps.

In the end, this secret method of attracting salt merchants was actually not much different from the previous salt merchants, except that new people replaced old people.

That's why Liu Yu said it was a tinkerer's method.

To put it bluntly, it was equal distribution of land, mergers, and equal distribution of land again.

It's just that the speed of commercial accumulation was too fast, and it couldn't wait for a three-hundred-year cycle.

Although this method was very bad, it seemed stronger than the solutions that the reformists came up with.

The solution that the reformists came up with was to let merchants pledge enough deposits, verify capital to buy tickets, and ensure that there was enough capital to operate instead of reselling. It really made Liu Yu laugh and cry.

If Liu Yu's method was a tinkerer, holding a hammer and fish maw plywood and clanging, patching up wherever it leaked.

Then their method was to plug the leaking holes with their toes and pretend that there was no leak.

Since it was clear that the matter was to be faked, the rest was simple.

As long as they wanted to fake it, there were ways to ensure that the right people got the right votes.

The remaining few percentage points were to perform a prosperous and vibrant reform scene.

After listening to Liu Yu's method, the Lianghuai Salt Administration Envoy couldn't help but feel a little bored and had an indescribable feeling of stagnation.

Although he had become a Jiedushi and was no longer a young man, he still had some thoughts for the country and felt that he could use his fists to make some reforms once and for all.

However, after listening to Liu Yu's method, it felt... meaningless.

After doing so much, it felt like he was just patching up, equalizing the land, merging and then equalizing the land. He thought there was some way to solve the problem.

Although he didn't know the sadness of the universe that Liu Yu performed when he pretended to be innocent in front of the emperor. But at this moment, he was so close to the thoughts that Liu Yu performed at the time.

"The Duke's words made me feel that I had studied for thirty years in vain. In the Duke's view, reform and change are just patching up?"

Liu Yu laughed and said, "Lord Lin, let me tell you this, if all dynasties can successfully patch up once every hundred years, equalizing the land, merging and then equalizing the land, splitting and then monopolizing, then it will definitely be far beyond the Han and Tang dynasties."

"You have to think about it this way. This dynasty has been founded for a hundred years, and it can actually accomplish a few such things. It really shows that this dynasty is still strong, and it is the blessing of your majesty and the country."

The Lianghuai Salt Administration Envoy echoed helplessly, feeling that the little ideals and beliefs that were left before had all turned into dog shit.

Seeing that he was in a low mood, Liu Yu comforted him: "Lord Lin, if you don't look at the essence of this matter, but only look at the phenomenon, it's still very good."

"The court got the salt tax it wanted."

"The people ate low-priced official salt."

"The right people got the right salt permits, stabilizing the salt administration."

"The atmosphere group draws by luck, and I feel that the current environment is full of vitality and everything is flourishing."

"You got the job done, and I was not implicated because of the bad things. It's good for you, me, and everyone."

"Let's go, why not go out and see what kind of atmosphere of vitality and everything is flourishing. You will think it through."

The Lianghuai Salt Administration Envoy was also amused by Liu Yu's jokes. He sighed and went outside with Liu Yu to feel the kind of vibrant atmosphere that Liu Yu said.

When they got outside, it was really lively.

Merchants of all sizes have been waiting for news, and the crowds are crowded, showing prosperity. There are many people in brocade clothes. Some small and medium-sized merchants who had no qualifications to enter the salt industry before also had hope and expectation on their faces.

Near the silver bill exchange office, there was a long queue. Merchants from the south were taking bills with bills, and merchants from the north were exchanging silver for bills.

In the streets and alleys, because so many merchants, porters, grooms, followers, and bodyguards suddenly poured in, there were constant shouts, and the atmosphere of national security and people's happiness was close to the temple fair in the capital.

All kinds of merchants, merchants who had already made their first pot of gold by various means, wanted to try their luck.

And Liu Yu grasped this mentality of trying his luck very well.

So he had already made it clear that salt tickets were not unlimited, and who could get salt tickets was up to fate.

It was like a lottery.

And it was indeed like a lottery, because every merchant who came here knew how profitable it was to sell salt.

No matter they sold official salt or private salt before, or directly went to the salt field with sticks, knives and guns to force the salt to buy at a low price, now they are all clean and bygones are off the table.

Everyone has a chance to draw a "prize".

This is more stimulating psychologically than buying freely, and it seems to be quite fair, so the atmosphere is naturally more lively.

Although in fact half of the prizes have been decided. The children's army sent to investigate the salt administration is not doing their job, and they are investigating private salt dealers here, not for the previous salt administration, but for today.

When they reached the place with the most merchants, I don't know who took the lead, kneeling on the ground to praise the emperor, facing north and shouting "Your Majesty is wise and wise, long live your majesty".

At first there were more than ten people, and soon hundreds of thousands of people shouted together, the sound was like the tide of Qiantang River.

In this atmosphere, Liu Yu looked at these merchants praising the emperor and asked, "How do you feel, Lord Lin?"

The Lianghuai Salt Administration hummed and said slowly, "The world is bustling with profit, and the world is bustling with profit. Today, the words of Taishigong are finally revealed!"

"Yesterday's slander was like a tide, and today's praises are like waves."

"A change of policy has led to this."

"This is a villain."

Liu Yu chuckled and said, "No, this is a person."

The Lianghuai Salt Administration did not answer or argue, but just smiled. He added: "However, what the Duke said is true. In terms of the atmosphere, everything is indeed flourishing and full of vitality. It was like a pool of stagnant water before, but now it is extremely noisy all day long."

"It's just..."

He glanced at Liu Yu, paused for a moment and said: "It's just that this fire has started. Fire can warm everything, and it can also burn Luyuan. The Duke and I must be more careful. Don't let this fire burn to other salt areas and cause many disputes."

He was reminding Liu Yu to take it easy, because he felt that the amount of salt tickets set by Liu Yu was a bit high.

Although Huainan, Huaibei, Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan are all prosperous, they belong to different salt areas. If too much salt is added, it is afraid that it will be sold to other salt areas, which will be troublesome at that time.

The salt areas of Huainan and Huaibei are intertwined. Don't let the Huainan salt merchants complain collectively, saying that the Huaibei salt reform has seriously affected their business.

After the Huaibei salt reform, everyone with a discerning eye knows that as long as it is a great success, the next step is to go straight to Huainan.

Don't create trouble at this critical juncture. The original intention was to unite the sellers and suppress the general contractor; but because of excessive excitement, too much salt was added, which infringed on the interests of Huainan Salt, and even caused the general contractor and sellers to unite to oppose the salt reform.

Liu Yu nodded and said yes. In his mind, the next step of salt reform is indeed to reform Huainan. But it is not as simple as changing the votes, but to directly abolish Huainan salt. You didn't understand that the key today is not to change the votes, but to change the salt field to boost productivity and ensure that Huaibei salt cooperates with Sichuan salt to directly kill Huainan salt.