Save the Bachelor of Heaven

  Chapter 2796 2798 [Salt and Iron Discussion]

  In the evening, Xiang Nan rested in Cheng'en Hall again, but did not go to Zhao Sesel.

   On the one hand, Zhao Sese's scheming displeased him; on the other hand, in the process of his seizure of the heirloom, although the Zhao family was an ally in name, they actually did not help at all.

   Because of this, Xiang Nan wanted to neglect her for a few days, lest she have any thoughts that she shouldn't have.

  In the play, Li Chengyin pretends to love her so much that he even stays at her Qingluan Hall on his wedding day. Therefore, she mistakenly thought that she was the only woman Li Chengyin loved.

  As a result, she also developed a desire to monopolize Li Chengyin, and plotted against Qu Xiaofeng and Xu Baolin successively.

  Xiang Nan didn't want her to have such delusions. After all, in the future, he will definitely want the Sangong Sixth Court and Seventy-two Concubines. If Zhao Sese is too aggressive, it will be very detrimental to the stability of the harem.

   "Li Chengyin, tell me quickly, how did Sun Wukong get out from under Wuzhi Mountain?" Qu Xiaofeng asked Xiang Nandao.

   "Aren't you driving me away?" Xiang Nan asked with a smile.

  Qu Xiaofeng blushed, "You can stay if you want, or leave if you want. This is your East Palace, can I drive you away?"

Xiang Nan smiled, "Okay, then I will talk. It is said that Monkey King, the Monkey King, was crushed under the Five Elements Mountain. He was hungry for iron pills and thirsty for copper juice. , On this day, I suddenly heard someone shouting on the mountain..."

  …

  By telling Qu Xiaofeng a story, Xiang Nan managed to ease her relationship again.

  Two days later, he also took Qu Xiaofeng and Adu out of the palace to worship at the tomb of King Tiedar.

  Although King Tiedar was a defeated general and hanged himself to death, the Toyo Dynasty did not waste his body, but gave him a rich burial. The specifications are completely in accordance with the standards of the princes.

   Moreover, the Danchi nobles who came to Beijing with King Tiedar will all be set as tomb guards. A mausoleum village was built around King Tiedar's tomb, and 5,000 mu of fertile land was designated for their living and memorial service.

  Seeing King Tiedar's tomb, Qu Xiaofeng and A'Du cried uncontrollably.

   And those old friends of Dan Chi also burst into tears after seeing Qu Xiaofeng and A'Du.

   "Princess Nine, Toyotomi has been lenient to us and has not given us any trouble. He even built a house for us and divided the land. We are very content."

   "Thinking back, we took the people of the Toyo Dynasty captive and made them slaves, but now the Toyo Dynasty treats us so favorably. We really feel ashamed and regret it!"

   "Princess Ninth, please remember that you alone are responsible for the safety of the Western Territory and the Central Plains, so please proceed with caution. We have all experienced the suffering of war, and we never want to have war again."

  Those people from Danchi asked Qu Xiaofeng and Adu.

  Qu Xiaofeng and A'Du nodded repeatedly.

  Xiang Nan secretly winked at Pei Zhao.

  These Danchi people are quite obedient, and they really didn't talk nonsense.

   It turned out that before Xiang Nan brought Qu Xiaofeng to worship, he ordered Pei Zhao to greet these Danchi people. Remind them of what to say and what not to say.

  Although the people of Danchi have a strong folk style, they are now a subjugated people and have completely lost their confidence. Moreover, they are still criminals and can only stay in Shouling Village, and cannot go to other places, which is like house arrest.

   After being imprisoned for a year, even if he had a temper, it is now worn out. So let him say what he said, even better than Xiang Nan's teaching.

   Seeing that Feng Chao buried King Tiedar generously and treated the survivors of Danchi kindly, Qu Xiaofeng's only bit of resentment was wiped out, and the relationship with Xiang Nan was greatly improved.

   Even A'Du looked at Xiang Nan no longer so coldly.

  …

   After Qu Xiaofeng was dealt with, Xiang Nan stayed with Zhao Sese for another two days.

  He will not favor Qu Xiaofeng alone, nor will a bowl of water be flat, in short, the rain and dew will be even, and he will favor Qu Xiaofeng more.

  In addition to the affairs of the harem, Xiang Nan puts more energy into the front court.

  In the play, Li Chengyin pretends to be a pig and eats a tiger, deliberately pretending to be ignorant, idle, and lazy, in order to paralyze Zhang Meiniang and Gao Ming. I thought he was manipulative, so I lost confidence in him.

  But Xiang Nan didn't want to be so troublesome at all.

  Because he knew that Li Bi's strength was unfathomable.

  In the play, Li Chengyin has always underestimated his father's strength, thinking that he is just a foolish king who is manipulated by treacherous ministers.

  That's why he was afraid of Gao Ming and Zhang Meiniang, and he never dared to show his talents, for fear of being killed by the two of them.

  But in fact, Li Xi is cunning and scheming, and he is arbitrary. The high minister and the queen are just pawns in his hands.

  Now, Li Xi has three sons left, Li Chengwen and Li Chengyuan have already been eliminated early, and they are not qualified to be emperors at all. Therefore, Xiang Nan is the only heir, and Li Yu naturally has high hopes for him.

  In order to pass on the throne smoothly, he will not let Xiang Nan get hurt.

  If Zhang Meiniang and Gao Ming dare to attack him, they must die first.

In the play, after Zhang Meiniang sent Rong Shuang to assassinate Li Chengyin, Li Xi immediately abolished her queen position; when Gao Minggang noticed Li Chengyin's strange behavior and was about to take action against him, Li Xi arrested him first imprison.

  Therefore, Xiang Nan doesn't have to pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger.

   On the contrary, the more capable he is, the more satisfied Li Xi is with him.

   As long as he doesn't want to die like Li Chengye, he can start a rebellion.

  …

   "Your Highness, the topic we will discuss with Your Highness today is the Discussion on Salt and Iron." Li Shaoqing, the prince's junior teacher, bowed and said, "At present, I am working on salt and ironware.

  Let's take ironware as an example, the ironware workshop designated by the government only pays attention to output. The quality is poor, the price is high, and most of the farm tools produced are large and impractical.

   There is also salt. Some local officials did not act in accordance with the court's laws, which caused many abuses and led to the corruption of the people's customs. The minister believes that we should be considerate of the sufferings of the people and open up iron and salt production. "

  Xiang Nan laughed when he heard this.

  The monopoly of salt and iron is a system that has continued since the Spring and Autumn Period. Even in modern society, salt is an extremely important strategic material, and it is also not allowed to be sold across regions.

  The reason for this is that salt and iron are strategic materials. People can't live without salt. If they don't eat salt, they will lose strength. If they don't eat salt for ten days, they will go into shock and die suddenly.

   Livestock such as cattle, horses and sheep also need salt. Without salt, farming will be unsustainable, and there will be no horses to ride in war.

   Moreover, in addition to eating, salt is also used as a preservative. There were no refrigerators in ancient times, and pickling with salt was one of the best ways to preserve food. This is true for pickles, bacon, ham, salted fish, salted eggs, etc.

  Man's production and life are also inseparable from iron. Not only must iron be used to make agricultural tools and daily necessities, but also iron is inseparable from war. Weapons such as swords, guns, and halberds are all made of iron.

  The Ming Dynasty once banned the flow of iron into Mongolia, so the Mongols could only use wood and stones as arrow clusters, with extremely limited lethality, and even armor could not be pierced.

   Not to mention ancient times, even in modern times, steel production still represents a country's industrial level and economic strength.

  The second is the tax on salt and iron, which has always been the bulk of the imperial court's taxes. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, salt tax accounted for half of the world's taxes. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the contribution of salt tax to finance also reached more than 30%.

   Therefore, Li Shaoqing said that it is absolutely not advisable to open up salt and iron production.

  (end of this chapter)