New Shun 1730

Liu Yu basically didn't look at these salt merchants.

At least in Liu Yu's evaluation, these people were far inferior to the sea merchants and smugglers who went to Kokura and Tsushima for smuggling.

Liu Yu's only positive evaluation of them on weekdays was:

Their existence objectively allowed the abnormal cultural prosperity under the economy of Jiangnan manor owners, which was destroyed during the Shunxing period of the Ming Dynasty, to continue in Yangzhou.

The high profits and wealth nurtured a large number of elegant literati, allowing the culture of music, poetry, painting, etc., which were dependent on the economy of large manor landlords in the previous dynasty, to be passed on. They replaced the status of the financial masters of the Jiangnan landlords in the late Ming Dynasty and shaped various deformed or positive aesthetics.

But they also quickly degenerated. The aesthetic foundation of the aristocracy is to be proud of getting something for nothing; the aesthetic of the businessmen is to be proud of starting from scratch; the aesthetic of the middle class is to be proud of having a skill.

At least now, Yangzhou Prefecture's literary and artistic works, dramas, songs and dances, etc., have gradually lost the core of the story of a skill and starting from scratch, and turned to the aristocratic elegance with no effort as the background.

The aristocratic aesthetics of merchants means a century of solidification, and also means that this kind of degeneration has made them lose the last bit of value of existence. The aristocracy can be mass-produced, it's just bloodline, and even the current canonization is fine. If you have to lean on this side, isn't that reactionary?

It's time to destroy the economic foundation of all this.

Let Songjiang Prefecture's recent popular [sea adventure accidentally into the golden island overnight rich overnight adventure flow]; [thrifty and primitive accumulation of life farming flow]; [capital interest speculation flow]; [capital interest speculation flow]; [today work hard to buy a loom, tomorrow sell cloth interest to become a machine owner, the day after tomorrow make money to become a big factory owner steady development flow]; [the woman who broke off the marriage, went to Nanyang in a rage, and three years later threw the Songjiang Prefecture Bank's 100 taels of banknotes in the face of the former prospective father-in-law's class leap flow]; [in the new world, money is respected. The social chaos of [the business world, where there is no hierarchy between the old and the young, and status is determined by the amount of property]; [the middle-class mentality of those who accidentally enter prison, learn skills, and then seek revenge through skills, and have a skill as the foundation of their lives, and a skill that is of great use], such cultural aesthetics, replaced the "corrupt" and "reactionary" aristocrats, gentry, and landlords created by the salt merchants and financiers of Yangzhou Prefecture.

This bourgeois cultural revolution began with the destruction of the economic foundation of the salt merchant group.

The big salt merchants in Yangzhou Prefecture had no idea that they were so lowly evaluated by Liu Yu, and they had no idea that Liu Yu wanted to directly destroy the economic foundation of their existence.

It was even impossible to imagine what Liu Yu, who was now wandering in Huaibei, wanted to do.

At least they would not have thought that Liu Yu was going to uproot them, rather than just make a small fight.

As the convener of this time, the main branch of the Zheng family in Yangzhou could only speak first.

"Now the Duke of Xingguo is in Huaibei. We have more industrial capital in the Huaibei salt field. It is reasonable that our Zheng family should say this first."

"But before you say it, you all need to understand."

"Huaibei and Huainan are like fur, lips, teeth, and nests. Huaibei's affairs are our Zheng family's affairs, but they are not just our Zheng family's affairs."

"What does the Duke of Xingguo mean? What does the court mean? What does your majesty mean? You may as well talk about it today."

The Zheng family set the tone, and the several major salt merchants present also agreed. Although they fight to the death on weekdays, if they really want to reform the salt policy, they, the general contractors, will be the first to be targeted.

If the Huaibei salt reform is successful, it will inevitably affect Huainan, and then everyone will suffer.

But what does the court mean?

The emperor just went on a southern tour not long ago, and the salt merchants contributed money, labor and people to receive him.

When the emperor said he wanted to repair the Huaihe River, the salt merchants immediately gave money, millions of taels.

Even if they are street thugs, they still have to follow the rules, right? I gave you money today, gave you enough face, and gave you enough inside, at least it is impossible for you to be ruthless and then turn against me, right?

Merchants all thought that in all dynasties, except for the tyrannical and cruel Han Wu, no one was so cruel to merchants, right? There was no such shameless emperor, right?

Once the general contractor system is abolished, no matter if you are from Shaanxi, Shanxi, or Huizhou, everyone is on the same boat, and it will all be over.

However, it is hard to say whether it will develop to that point.

Salt merchants have seen a lot. Since the Ming Dynasty, people have been proposing to reform the salt policy, but which time has it been changed?

Therefore, salt merchants adhere to a principle: say whatever you want.

In fact, this is not only the principle of salt merchants, but also the principle of scholars, gentry, and even the court at this time.

Because after the Confucian small peasant economy adapted to the characteristics, Confucianism has its own political correctness. Under this unique political correctness, there is no shortage of all kinds of weird remarks.

What is lacking is always doing, and things that can cause disgust are still done.

Just like the great Confucian scholars of the Northern School, who always clamor for radical land reform, if they can have wells, then they should have wells, if they can't have wells, then they should have equal distribution, and even want to implement a 30-year redemption system...

But it doesn't prevent this person from becoming famous all over the world and becoming a guest of honor in various academies.

However, if someone really does this, then he will die without a burial place, and his bones may be crushed and scattered after death.

The political correctness of the characteristic Confucianism forces everyone to accept the words they don't want to accept, but this kind of political correctness is precisely contrary to the social foundation and even reactionary. So they can only shout the slogans of political correctness while doing things that are completely opposite.

The same goes for the salt policy issue.

explain? That’s a lot to say.

From the Salt Invoice Law, the Salt Sun Law, the Salt Outline Law, the Salt Introduction Law, the Contracting Law, the Government-owned Law... these are all frequent visitors in the court. They are said today and will be said tomorrow, but the key is whether to do it or not?

Salt merchants will not hate everyone who proposes salt policy reform unless the person actually implements it.

The calls for reform and reform in the court are not limited to salt reform. In fact, there are many opinions, but how many of them are really changed?

Therefore, what does it mean that Liu Yu was sent by the emperor to Huaibei to "inspect on the way back to Songjiang"?

Are you serious about it?

Or did the emperor actually want more money? Do you feel that what you have given before is not enough and you are embarrassed to ask for it again?

These salt merchants did not have a good impression of Liu Yu, but Liu Yu had not been involved in salt affairs before.

They all have connections in the court. It is said that since Duke Xingguo entered the court a few years ago, he has changed from his previous attitude of a proud young man. He pretends to be dead every day in the court, rarely speaks, and does not even participate in discussions.

But this does not mean that Liu Yu does not do things. On the contrary, Liu Yu's style of doing things makes these salt merchants feel very unsure.

At that time, Jiangsu Jiedushi proposed to engage in sea transportation, but Liu Yu did not say anything in the court. But water transportation was abandoned this year. Now think about it, was it the Jiangsu Jiedushi envoy Shang Shuli Chen who was the main factor? Or was Liu Yu's building of a navy to conquer Nanyang a bigger factor?

With such an incident as a basis, these salt merchants were a little more afraid of Liu Yu. According to some Confucian scholars, this means that those who are good at fighting have no great achievements, and those who are good at planning have no great reputation. Whether it is war or reform, they are all striving for a natural result. This person rarely pursues the kind of victory with less. Most of the time, the weak defeats the strong to win.

But after thinking about it for a long time, they never thought that what Liu Yu had done so far had anything to do with the salt administration?

The relationship between water transportation and the navy, even if it is not like lice on a bald head, there are always some clues to see the connection.

What are the things Liu Yu has done and the things he has done so far that are related to the salt policy?

I can't figure it out, I don't understand, and I don't understand even more what the emperor means.

Do you really want to change it? Or is it just to scare people, thinking that the story of the boy who cried wolf has been told too much, and this time he pressured Duke Xingguo, who is easier to scare people, in order to get the salt merchants to pay?

Seeing that everyone in the Zheng family was silent, the people of the Zheng family could only say: "I heard that Duke Xingguo was in Huaibei and inspected a circle of salt fields. But he did not check there for a long time. Instead, he went to the embankment of the Yellow River and looked The Yellow River in ten days.”

"Earlier, at the reception banquet, Duke Xingguo made fun of us, saying that a bowl of fried rice cost us fifty taels of silver, which made him, a young man from a family of famous people, speechless. He also said that we were following Lu Buwei's story when we made friends with officials..."

With these words, these salt merchants gradually got a taste of it.

The sentence in the middle made all the young masters of Zhong Ming Ding Shi House smack their tongues. It was all bullshit and no one believed it. Nowadays, the only merchant force that can compete with the salt merchants, and in the eyes of the salt merchants, the ones who are evenly matched are the maritime merchants of Songjiang Prefecture. Can the people in charge of them be frightened by this luxurious meal? Besides, it’s not like everyone doesn’t know what life is like in the Duke’s Mansion, how could it be possible?

But when these words are put together, no matter how you listen to them, it sounds like you are asking for money.

In fact, the salt merchants were unhappy.

The emperor was touring the south and wanted to build the Huaihe River. Why did he only ask the salt merchants for money?

Why can those who are engaged in foreign trade in Songjiang Prefecture go to Nanyang to inspect plantations when the emperor is visiting southern Jiangsu?

Why don't those maritime merchants pay?

As for who is affected and who pays, then even if the Hongze Lake Gaojiayan embankment breaks, can it still drown us salt merchants?

He has already given millions of taels, is the emperor still not satisfied?

The Zheng family's judgment was that Liu Yu was going to ask for money, and the rest of the people's judgment was roughly the same.

Someone asked: "Brother Zheng, is there any news over there? Or, everyone, what news do you have here? Now let's stop hiding it. We are all grasshoppers on a rope. We must sort it out." A charter.”

The Zheng family members shook their heads and said, "I have no news here."

Others said: "There is no news from the DPRK and China. Your Majesty has not asked about the reform of the salt policy since then. He only talked about some things about going to Nanyang some time ago. Your Majesty still trusts Duke Xingguo and believes that Duke Xingguo's policies It’s good for the country. Nothing else seems to matter.”

"Oh, by the way, Southern Jiangsu donated money before, saying that they hoped to plant a row of trees along the path during the migration to the Western Regions and donated some silver. But even if the northwest uses troops, they have no chance to intervene. In fact, I don’t know why Duke Xing Guo encouraged them to donate this money to do such meaningless things.”

A group of salt merchants shook off some things related to Yan Zheng and Liu Yu, and they were at a loss for a while.

"Where is Songjiang Mansion?"

Someone asked about the key point.

"Is everything normal in Songjiang Prefecture? They are busy with this year's maritime trade goods and are busy everywhere. I haven't heard what they are planning to do. We and those maritime merchants are on the same page and do not affect each other. "

"They don't interfere with our salt, and we don't interfere with their trade between the West and the East."

Some people also thought of something they had just heard.

"I heard that the court wants to recruit a group of new students, and they said they will take exams and select them. However, they will not take up the vacancies for the imperial examinations, but will only be minor officials. I guess they will go to Nanyang or the Whale Sea, right? This is not under the jurisdiction of the Li Government, but is selected by your Majesty. There are vacancies in all places where new schools are established. But this seems to have nothing to do with us."

"The court... the previous proposal for salt reform was very noisy, but it seems to have calmed down these days. Except for the court sending the Duke of Xingguo to Huaibei, there seems to be nothing else."

From the above situation, it seems that the emperor is more likely to ask for more money.

But, the situation is like this, but the matter is not simple.

Today ask for some, tomorrow ask for some, and it will never end. How can that be? The emperor saw that it was too easy, and thought, gosh, okay, I just asked for several million taels, and you gave so much so easy, it seems that there is no bottom, so I have to continue to ask for it?

It can't be given too easy, but it can't be given.

If we don’t give it, it means we are not giving the emperor face.

If we give less, it won’t work either.

If we give 200,000 or 300,000 taels, the emperor will probably feel uncomfortable and think that we are sending away beggars.

How to give and how much to give to get it just right requires careful study.

At worst, each family can exchange the salt according to the number of their salt permit contracts.