The Head of the Ming Dynasty Spared His Life

This black hole has been operating since the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, and the income it generates every year is extremely terrifying, counting tens of millions of taels. (ajbh)

And the emperors have been kept in the dark.

The ministers actually knew about it, but it was the collusion of the big salt merchants, officials and businessmen who continued to bribe and subsidize these bureaucrats and scholars with huge amounts of money, which made this almost obvious secret an unspoken secret.

Yan Song, standing on the bow of the dragon boat, openly revealed this secret!

He said loudly: "The salt tax was lost, all of which were obtained by salt merchants, and officials at all levels plucked their hair! This is the reason why my Ming Dynasty should collect 1328 million taels of silver, but in the end I only got one-tenth of it! "

Jiajing was furious.

Only then did he realize that he was poor not because the Ming Dynasty had no money, but because these officials and the salt merchants got involved and stole all the treasury taxes that he should have collected!

They are all thieves, national thieves!

Jiajing roared angrily: "Yan Aiqing, tell me all the tricks! I want to see who stole more than 1000 million of my salt tax every year!"

"It's these big salt merchants! There are also officials who do not report the knowledge and collude with officials and businessmen!" Yan Song said loudly: "At the beginning of the founding of our dynasty, Emperor Hongwu adopted the "opening Chinese method". Introduced salt, Shanxi merchants obtained the qualification to legally sell "official salt". During the Hongzhi period, the original color was changed to Zhese, and a merchant who introduced salt could directly pay three or four coins in silver, and no need to transport grain. Later, eunuchs monopolized power and appeared The "private salt introduction" is allowed to sell private salt at a lower price than official salt, so that for a catty of salt, the government only collects taxes for less than two renminbi, which is surprisingly low! The actual price is 300 renminbi per catty!"

Yan Song sternly said: "Those big salt merchants are using private salt and their connections to wantonly embezzle the country's salt tax. There is almost no tax burden, but it is a profitable business! Now, the crime of tax increase is being held to the emperor. head! Is that fair?"

Jiajing was furious.

The people were angry.

It turns out that such a high price of salt is basically not taxed!

The price is 300 Wen, and the tax burden is only 2 Wen!

This is not 150 tax ones, this is [-] tax ones.

Only big salt merchants and big officials profited!

At this time, the public opinion of the people in the southeast had already turned one-sidedly towards Yan Song.

When they knew that they paid six times the price to buy salt, but the court tax burden was negligible, and all the huge profits in the middle were made by the salt merchants, they became furious.

"Salt merchants! How disgusting!"

"Being rich is not benevolent! The sky-high price of salt is sold, and even this little tax, I still want to escape!"

"They are all so rich that they don't pay taxes for one of thirty taxes, and all of them are passed on to us Shengdou people!"

"Salt merchants wronged the country! Salt merchants are guilty!"

. .

Chapter 221 Holding high the banner of the ancestral system [4]

"Salt merchants wronged the country! Salt merchants are guilty!"

Once the black hole hidden in the 170-year history of the Ming Dynasty was uncovered by Yan Song, public dissatisfaction immediately boiled over. Hundreds of thousands of people shouted for beatings and killings, demanding that the treacherous salt merchants and corrupt officials be punished.

The faces of the salt merchants are earthy,

Jiajing's face was already purple with anger.

"It turns out that it's all up to xia~qi~ to deceive the court. Except for me, the emperor, I don't know. Are you officials all blind-eyed?"

"If there is no collusion between officials and businessmen, who will believe it?"

Pointing to Xiao Fengxian and Lian Xiuxiu on the dragon boat, the two skinny horses, he shouted: "These are the daughters of displaced victims taken in by me! Their parents became victims of the disaster, but the imperial court has no money to relieve the disaster! The salt merchants in Yangzhou are rich and ruthless. But he never pulls it out! Do you want me to take the blame for this blame?"

(Yan Song: Sweat! Your Majesty, you really know how to whitewash yourself.)

However, Jiajing's method was good, and it greatly resonated with the people.

Yan Song was extremely sad, and his voice was full of tears: "Last year's famine, the death toll in Ming Dynasty exceeded one million, and the biggest reason was that the imperial court had no money to relieve the disaster. His Majesty has been saving money and eating poor food. Even if the palace burned down for seven or eight years, it still hasn't been repaired. , The palace I live in now is not as luxurious as the gardens of the salt merchants in Yangzhou. In order to relieve the disaster, Your Majesty has exhausted (cultivated) Jing (Tao) and exhausted (lazy) (government) ah, but the disaster relief effect is very poor, and countless people still died... ..."

Jiajing blushed, is this me?Is it really me who is so great?

"The reason is why!" Yan Song shouted.

"It's all because the country has no money! They've all been embezzled, tax evasion!" Yan Song told the truth, directly hitting people's hearts.

Tax evasion and tax evasion have no effect on the people, but disasters and disaster relief have something to do with the people.Although Yangzhou is rich, there are also some people who are victims of disasters from outside, and they have a deep understanding of Yan Song's words.

Liu Weishan and the others, with earthy faces, argued forcefully: "Yan Zei is talking nonsense! Nonsense!"

Jiajing laughed back angrily: "Come here! Put all these big and loyal ministers into prison and interrogate them well!"

Huang Jin was about to make a move, but Liu Weishan still did not give up, struggled to death, and said loudly: "Your Majesty! There is a third point! Although the salt tax is indeed very low and the loss is serious, this is the ancestral system established by Emperor Hongwu! The ancestral system , can’t be changed”

When it comes to the ancestral system, these officials and big salt merchants, as if grasping at a straw, shouted: "Yes, the ancestral system cannot be changed."

Although Jiajing was furious, he couldn't help but ponder.

He hated these officials and salt merchants, but violating the ancestral system is indeed a big killer, even Jiajing had to consider it.

Liu Weishan was even more proud, shaking his head and saying: "Your Majesty, although the salt tax is indeed low, it is the tax rate set by Emperor Hongwu, and it cannot be changed easily."

These guys, grasping Zhu Yuanzhang's weakness of contempt for businessmen and low tax rates, must hold high the banner of ancestral system in everything and threaten Emperor Jiajing.

No matter how wise you are in Jiajing, it is impossible to surpass the founding ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang, right?

If you want to change the tax rate, you are violating the ancestral system. Either you accuse Zhu Yuanzhang of being wrong, or you are wrong.

Jiajing wanted to kick him to death. He said in his heart that the ancestral system was good for you, so he tried his best to maintain it. Why didn't he mention anything that was bad for you?