New Shun 1730

The lobbyist pretended to be surprised when he heard this and said, "What kind of person is the Duke? Does he believe such words?"

"The previous dynasty still boasted that they would pacify Liao in five years, but what about the reality? How can they guarantee that the salt administration will be as they thought? As long as it is reformed, they can make hundreds of thousands more profits?"

Liu Yu looked at the lobbyist with a smile, stared at him for a moment, and said slowly, "Do you mean that it must not work?"

The lobbyist hurriedly said, "To reply to the Duke, it is still as you said just now. It is possible and it is not possible. I dare to say it for the Duke. If it is unreasonable, I will leave here and never do this verbal thing again."

Seeing this, Liu Yu thought that it was his attitude that made these people suspicious and misunderstood. Otherwise, they should understand a basic truth: for many things, it is useless to reason.

But since the other party has fallen into the trap, knowing that these words are all nonsense like "increasing firewood tax for Shu salt" and "prohibiting the salt drying method in Fujian and Guangdong", Liu Yu still pretended to receive the money and gave him a chance.

"Duke, please understand. We should look at whether this works or not separately."

"Huaibei, it works."

"Huainan, it doesn't."

"But I am afraid that people in the world think that if it works in Huaibei, then this policy can be transferred to Huainan."

"However, first of all, the ancients said: Oranges grown in Huainan are oranges, and those grown in Huaibei are tangerines. This is true for oranges and tangerines, and so is salt policy. How can we conclude that Huainan will definitely work if Huaibei's policy works?"

"Secondly, there are many fools in the world, and most of them think that if Huaibei works, then Huainan must work. However, the salt in Huaibei is no more than 350,000 jin; the salt in Huainan is several times that of Huaibei. Once the policy is transferred, In Huainan, if the salt administration collapses, chaos is inevitable. ”

“In the past, Wang Jinggong thought that since the Qingmiao Law had been implemented in Yanshan and other places, and the effect was remarkable, he argued that it could be applied to the whole country. But what was the result?”

“Furthermore, at the beginning of the founding of this dynasty, Emperor Taizong instructed immigrants to Liaodong to grow more corn and other foods in the bitter and cold land, thinking that these foods were not demanding on the land, and the straw could be used as firewood to feed cattle, which was very good. However, the ears were only three inches thick, and frost and cold came before the ears were ripe. Even many people guarding the border boiled their seeds to create frost that caused a complete crop failure, and asked to return home.”

“This is all the same . If it works here, how can it be concluded that it will work there? However, even people like Emperor Taizong and Wang Jinggong could not avoid misjudgment, so how can ordinary people understand this truth? "

"My words and deeds mean that if Huaibei implements the new policy, it will work."

"However, Huaibei is different from Huainan, with different jurisdictions and different road traffic. If it works in Huaibei, it may not work in Huainan. "

"Once it works in Huaibei, people in the world will think that it will work in Huainan, and this is what we should be careful of. So I say, it will not work. "

"The fools in the world are too There are too many people, and it is hard to prevent the gossip. When Huaibei really works, how can those people understand the difference between Huaibei and Huainan? "

"Simply, Huaibei is not good, this is the best choice."

According to the normal lobbyist discussion, Liu Yu should ask "Why is Huainan not good?"

But Liu Yu did not ask why Huainan was not good, but asked: "As you said, do you also think Huaibei is feasible?"

Before the lobbyist came, he understood that this matter was something that even a fool could see would definitely work. If he insisted on saying that it was not possible, there was really no need to talk about it.

He nodded solemnly, indicating that it was true. He also felt that the Huaibei reform would definitely succeed, and then gave his own reasons.

And this reason is very interesting.

Since the purpose of the Dashun salt reform is to crack down on private salt, everything must revolve around this issue.

The salt reform faction believes that the reason why official salt cannot be sold is that this group of general contractors eat too much, so the official salt is too expensive. Therefore, the focus of the reform can be placed on these general contractors.

The lobbyists believed that the reason why official salt could not be sold was because there was too much private salt. Because official salt was taxed, private salt was cheaper than official salt anyway.

The main reason why official salt in Huaibei could not be sold was not because the general contractor took too much.

It was because of the canal transportation.

The salt from Changlu Salt Field continuously entered both sides of the canal through the canal transportation channel, which seriously invaded the Huaibei salt area. That is why the official salt in Huaibei was not easy to sell, and the data looked very ugly.

To sum up.

That is to say, the salt reform faction believed that the main reason was the general contractor, and smuggling was the secondary reason; while the salt merchant faction believed that smuggling was the main reason and the general contractor was the secondary reason.

If the main and secondary causes and effects are not clarified, it is impossible to make targeted points in the reform.

After listening to the lobbyists, Liu Yu also secretly praised, thinking that it was true that they said Jiangnan was civilized. These salt merchants have been in Jiangnan for a long time. Although they are useless, the retainers and staff they have raised are some masters.

"The 24th Year of Duke Xi" says: "Heaven has not yet cut off Jin, there will be a master. Who else can rule Jin but the king? Heaven has placed it in this position, but you two or three people think it is your own work. Isn't it a lie? Stealing other people's money is still called stealing, let alone coveting heaven's work and thinking it is your own work?

Liu Yu wanted to reform the salt industry quickly, and the old wisdom he wanted to use was this trick.

The abolition of the canal transportation should be said to have stimulated the increase in the sales of official salt in Huaibei in the short term because of the abolition of the canal transportation and the inability to smuggle Changlu salt.

It can even be said that this will be the fundamental reason why the salt administration reform is "immediate", "shocking", "gaining the benefits of two games", and "why Huainan won't change under the miraculous effect".

However, in the long run, it is still a problem of the general contractor.

However, the greater the contrast, the easier it is to create a contrast effect.

Therefore, Liu Yu planned to complete the salt administration reform with great force before the new smuggling route appeared.

Then, taking the huge increase in official salt sales, he attributed all the reasons to the salt administration reform and downplayed the role of abolishing the canal as much as possible.

Relying on the strong contrast effect, anyone in the court who supported the old system was forced to shut up.

Thus, the reform of Huainan's salt administration was quickly completed.

However, what was unexpected was that although these salt merchants were all waste, their staff were not all just eating dry rice. Some people actually saw the problem.

There is no need to think about it. There are a lot of public opinion propagandists on the salt merchants' side. How many literati, especially well-known literati, are supported by salt merchants.

They themselves have connections in the court. Once this matter is made clear and a public opinion storm is created, I am afraid that the reform of Huainan will be delayed.

At that time, the salt merchants' relationship with the court would make a big public opinion, demanding to wait a few years, until the impact of the abolition of the canal transportation has dissipated, before reforming the Huainan salt administration.

That would be extremely bad. Huainan is the real place to move, and Huaibei is just a trigger. If Huainan cannot be moved, the salt merchants will only be equivalent to breaking a finger, but will not hurt the root.

After listening to these remarks, Liu Yu remained calm, thinking about what these salt merchants were going to do, and asked: "As you said, it seems to make sense. So, if Huaibei works, then this reason is right. Then, if Huainan doesn't work, what's the reason?"

The lobbyist thought this was the highlight, so he eloquently brought out the words summarized by the salt merchants' staff.

The angle of the move was exactly what Wu Jingzi proposed: the recovery of the private salt area, the inability of small capital and small scattered merchants, will instead aggravate the problems of the spread of private salt areas.

However, the problem is the same problem and the angle is the same angle.

The solution Wu Jingzi gave was to use the name of ticket salt to manage the affairs of the salt.

The solution these people gave was obviously a step... a step.

Wu Jingzi admitted that the feudal monopoly privilege of the general contractor was the main reason for the poor flow of official salt, an internal cause. And his starting point was not to solve this problem, but to repay his gratitude and let these salt merchants "keep up with the times" - salt permits were feudal privileges, and power was inherited from father to son, which was criticized in the imperial examination system. He hoped that the salt merchants would keep pace with the times and change the power from father to son to property from father to son.

The lobbyists knew in their hearts that the reason was the privilege of the general contractor, but the main reason they said was smuggling, and their purpose was to give money to the emperor and find a step at the same time, and then the two sides compromised.

The purpose was different, the reasons for opposing reform were the same, and the solutions given were completely different.

The lobbyists represented the salt merchants and proposed three "reform" directions.

First: The court established a special salt inspection department, and the funds were reimbursed by the salt merchants, 300,000 taels per year, and "repayment" on time.

The original, informal, and private "anti-smuggling bonuses" were formalized and became money shared by contractors at all levels.

Because they identified the main cause and internal cause as too much smuggling.

Therefore, the direction of the solution, or the direction of giving a step, is to pay for anti-smuggling.

Second, give the emperor 250,000 taels of treasury every year to prepare for emergencies as a contribution to "forming a system."

Third, the canal was abolished, and the old salt transportation route must be changed. The money for the salt transportation route, inspections along the way, and checkpoints will be paid by salt merchants. This year, 2 million taels will be contributed, but the first two items will not be given this year.

In other words, the emperor felt that the last time he came to ask for money, it was not enough, and he wanted to ask for more, but he was embarrassed and felt that it would be bad to ask for more after just asking.

Then the salt merchants took the initiative to take out 2 million taels. In fact, it doesn't cost much to do these things. The rest will be regarded as a gift to the emperor.

And they promised that this time the contribution would definitely be paid by these big salt merchants, and they would not deduct the money from the sub-contractors, nor would they pass it on to the people who eat salt.

It should be said that the solution given by Wu Jingzi is the best solution.

But the rise of Songjiang Prefecture's maritime merchant capital group makes it very easy for this solution to become a move to help others.

Moreover, the one who is now inspecting the salt business in Huaibei is precisely the general backstage of the Songjiang Prefecture chaebol. The salt merchants are very right to be suspicious, and not to be suspicious is to be completely brain-eaten.

So the only solution they can think of is to tell themselves like self-hypnosis that the emperor really didn't ask for enough money last time, and he came to ask for money again this time - you must believe it, you must believe it, and you have to believe it.

It's not that their brains are rusty.

But with the rise of Songjiang Prefecture's capital group, in fact, once the reform is carried out, they really have no way to do it.

And everything they have can only be pinned on the fact that the court does not really want to reform, and it is true that they want money in the name of reform. There is no courage to reform, but there is not only the courage to make money in the name of reform, but also a lot of it.

Otherwise, if it is changed, it will be doomed. We can only try our best and have to believe it.

But... these words just touched the most vigilant part of Liu Yu's heart.

Especially when the lobbyists talked about the areas where it was inconvenient to transport salt and the distance was long, Liu Yu suddenly became excited.

It can be said that this is exactly what Liu Yu was most vigilant about, and it is also the reason why Liu Yu wrote the first memorial to the emperor.

If a salt war really breaks out, transporting food here and eating it there, and making the salt policy reform look embarrassing, the most likely place it will happen is in these salt sales areas a little further away.

Because, no matter how smart these salt merchants are, they can't guard the Huaibei Salt Farm and play the "you can eat as much as you come" routine.

There is no difference between guarding the yellow sand in the Western Regions and collecting unlimited sand in Turpan.

Only under the traffic conditions at this time, just playing once in a farther place can directly make the reform extremely ugly.

The problem here is indeed that those in the DPRK and the Central Government who formulated the salt reform policy are really as naive as girls.

They really haven't studied "The Wealth of Nations" and the Invisible Hand, but they, including the reform in history, really started from this perspective.

From this perspective, the first step is to cancel the court's price control and reduce the court's control.

Because, if the salt quota system is liberalized, it will definitely not work if the court controls prices.

The setting is too high, and private salt is rampant.

If the setting is too low, no one will go.

Then, only by allowing the market to fully compete and allowing merchants to set their own prices will there be neither a shortage of salt nor too high prices.

In theory, all it takes is for the government office to issue an announcement: Qixing is not allowed to control prices.

To make official salt cheaper, we must eliminate the general contractor, reduce the control of intermediate links, and take back the power to inspect salt. Only in this way can the reform be successful.

This gave salt merchants a huge loophole. Moreover, there is another question. Those in the DPRK and China who proposed the salt policy reform plan have never responded directly: How to prevent wealthy businessmen from buying votes?

There are two problems here.

First: Are salt tickets sold unlimitedly?

If it is sold indefinitely, it will inevitably collapse. This is not only a problem of price chaos, but also a price war. Small retail merchants have a chance to win. Can they win over several salt merchants with total assets of tens of millions of liang?

If instead of unlimited sales, we control the sales quota, how can we solve the problem of different profits for far and near? How to ensure that the big salt merchants don’t eat the places with the highest profits and the most convenient transportation first?

Second: Is it legal to resell salt tickets?

If I have a lot of money and I buy a salt ticket worth 2 million yuan, can I resell it to others?

If so, what's the difference from before?

If not, what methods will be used to sell tickets to ensure fairness? How to sell tickets in remote areas to large companies that can handle them?

Another one, I have money to buy 2 million yuan. It doesn’t matter whether I resell it or not. Just say that I buy it this way. Is that okay?

Liu Yu supported Dashun's reform this time, but he did not support the actions of those in the DPRK. This was standard overkill.

Many problems cannot be solved by solving problems. In the salt reform in history, such a situation did not occur because before that, the big salt merchants had experienced the White Lotus Sect, the proliferation of private salt, etc., and had actually collapsed.

But now, the big salt merchants in Yangzhou Prefecture have abundant capital and have enjoyed the influx of large amounts of silver from the East and West in the previous two decades.

When dealing with a half-dead person, there is no need to consider what to do if the person resists.

But if you are dealing with lively middle-aged people, even though they may soon grow old, you will have to guard against the resistance of the middle-aged and elderly people in their forties and fifties.

However, Liu Yu really overestimated these salt merchants.

He had already thought that these salt merchants would definitely give it a try before they died. He was not afraid of ten thousand, but just in case. What he wanted to guard against was the salt merchants' counterattack, which would cause a very ugly scene.

And he didn't know that Wu Jingzi went to analyze the situation for these salt merchants and came up with the most feasible idea.

These salt merchants considered the rise of the Maritime Merchant Group, but did not consider another question: Could the emperor hand over the two most profitable businesses in Dashun to the same group of people? ?

So if Liu Yu knew about Wu Jingzi's idea, he would definitely feel that it might actually succeed.

But he did not know, and was even less likely to know that the salt dealer rejected the idea and adopted the most conservative strategy.

That is to say, he placed his hope on the imperial court not to change. As long as the money is given, it will not be changed.

If Liu Yu knew about it, he would definitely laugh and call him a trash, thinking that he was really being raised to be useless. What the hell is the difference between this and waiting to die?

But he didn't know.

And you are not afraid of 10,000 but just in case.

And from the perspective of his inner consideration, he understood from the beginning that the power of the maritime merchants was already large enough, and they were an emerging class. The emperor would instinctively worry that it would be impossible to provide more benefits.

In addition, he knew that Dashun's next strategy was to go south to print, so this itself was a process of strengthening the maritime merchant power, and under the premise that the power was bound to expand, the emperor was even less likely to hand over the salt to the increasingly powerful forces. The bigger the group is.

Thinking based on this information, he never considered the possibility of "making wedding clothes for others" that the salt merchant considered.

Therefore, when the lobbyist talked about the problems that the salt policy reform might encounter in remote areas, Liu Yu immediately felt that salt merchants might cut in here and resist the reform due to the suspicion of different information.

From the beginning of this reform, Liu Yu did not think that private salt dealers were the main problem.

Moreover, it is obvious that if this reform wants to be successful, the key point of its policy must be to "turn tyrants into businessmen."

In other words, the main factors considered by the big salt merchants were actually eliminated directly under the reform of this idea.

However, this only eliminates most of the existing smugglers. Even if they can provide market information and sales routes, the only way to fight against the big salt merchants is a strong force with the imperial court as the backing.

Otherwise, you can't win.

But Liu Yu also had to admit that those in the DPRK who supported the salt reform thought too simply and did not improve many subsequent systems, leaving too many loopholes.

This is why in this era, and in later generations, people are fighting for their lives in the struggle for capital. There are so many loopholes that can directly break the sky.

Originally, he was not too involved in the salt policy reform, but after inspecting the Huainan Saltworks and writing a second memorial to the emperor, Liu Yu could only twist the reform into something he hoped. mode is on.

It is different from the model of the reformists in the imperial court and the model of the old general contractors.

Since these salt merchants are talking about what they believe may be a problem, Liu Yu thought that this is just scratching an itch, and he is afraid that you will not play with it.

But since we want to play, let’s take advantage of the situation and fill in some loopholes.

Now that the salt merchants have taken action, Liu Yu thought that this was a good idea, so he smiled and said: "As you said, the biggest problem is that distant marketing, small merchants cannot afford the capital, but it leads to the proliferation of private salt?"

"Then what if we are carrying out reforms but don't have this problem? Then what else can you say?"

The lobbyist and the salt merchant behind him are actually not as sophisticated, passionate, energetic, and fighting spirit as Liu Yu thought.

The lobbyists know that they are only here to deliver money and steps.

Seeing Liu Yu say this at this time, he also smiled and said: "How can there be no problems if the Duke of the country knows clearly?"

"The prince needs to know that this matter of salt is nothing compared to war."

"Like Emperor Taizu, he swept through the capital of Henan in one year."

"But if private salt continues to advance and official salt shrinks, it will not take a day or two or a year or two for the official salt to regain its 'lost ground.'"

"Jiangxi was lost. For forty or fifty years, it has not yet been 'recovered' as the Guanyan area. If the reform is really so effective, and Guanyan can regain Jiangxi overnight, that would be a miracle."

Liu Yu smiled and inadvertently tapped the "snack box" with his fingers a few times. He shook his head and said, "As the saying goes, every other line is like a mountain. If you ask me about naval battles, arithmetic, or even the marketing of Europa goods, I know them all. ”

"But if you ask me about selling salt, I really don't necessarily know better than you."

"Your Majesty sent me here to conduct an inspection and listen to the people's sentiments. As the saying goes, if you listen to both, you will be enlightened, but if you believe only one, you will be dark."

The lobbyist's eyes lingered on Liu Yu's tapping fingers for a moment, and he suddenly understood in his heart, and said repeatedly: "What the Duke said is absolutely true, absolutely true! If you listen to both, you will be enlightened, if you believe only one, you will be dark."

Liu Yu added: "Skills have specializations, and I didn't speak out on the salt policy reform. You all must know this. But now that I have received the holy mandate, I have to do my best."

"But I don't understand. Now that you have a solution, why don't you just go to the imperial court?"

The lobbyist understood better and thought, isn't this nonsense? If we go directly to the officials, wouldn't it mean that we are "paying bribes and giving gifts" to the emperor again? This doesn't sound good either.

"My lord, this salt policy reform involves a lot. Once we discuss it and everyone has their own reasons, it will inevitably lead to trouble."

"Since Your Majesty trusts the Duke, and the Duke only conveys our wishes, we might as well leave it to the Duke, report back to the Holy One, and let the Holy One make the final decision. Your Majesty is extremely intelligent and will know the pros and cons."

"Our thoughts are all contained in this memorial, and we ask the Duke to present it on our behalf."

"I think it's better not to make any noise about this kind of thing, otherwise I might be afraid that some people who deserve to have their tongues chewed will chew their tongues and slander the holy name... and judge the wiseness of His Majesty's Holy Judgment based on the opinions of the public. That's terrible. It’s our sin.”

Liu Yu chuckled and said slowly: "This seems to make sense. Then, I will report this to Your Majesty first. But I have to say one more thing."

"My lord, please speak."

Liu Yu said sternly: "Since this is the case, you also know that the bigger the fuss, the harder it will end. So you'd better not make a fuss during this period."

"Since you have chosen not to take the right path in the court, but I will present it to Your Majesty on your behalf, there are some things that you should be aware of yourself."

"Although it is said that both listening is enlightening and partial trusting is dark. However, whether to change or not ultimately depends on His Majesty and the court, not on public opinion in the market or the direction of Jiangnan."

"I don't really want to see whether to change or not to change become a topic of discussion all over the world. It will be difficult to stop it then."

This is obviously a warning not to stir up public opinion. It is best to calm down now and wait for news from the emperor.

The lobbyist didn't understand, so he hurriedly said: "What the Duke taught is true, and the villain has written it down. This matter ultimately depends on Your Majesty and the ministers in the court. The pros and cons of it, how can it be said with His Majesty's sage and the wisdom of the ministers? Still can’t tell?”