The five cabinet ministers, including Wang Qiong, didn't know what to say.

After a long time, Mao Ji opened his mouth and said: "Wang Shangshu, it can't be counted like this. The border merchants need to travel long distances, and the cost of going back and forth greatly increases, and the imperial court has to compensate them with quotations. ”

Wang Yuan sneered: "How much is left in the opening, you know it. If the system is really effective, Ye Shangshu (Ye Qi) of the Hongzhi Dynasty will not engage in the Yunsi silver system. ”

Mao Ji was silent, this problem is really unsolvable, to be honest, he also wants to change, but there are too many interest groups involved.

Yang Yiqing said: "We need to be cautious about reform. Ye Shangshu reformed the salt administration back then, and in a short period of time, he paid one million taels of silver for the national treasury, but it led to the complete destruction of the Kaizhong system, and at the same time, it also gave birth to the stubborn disease of hoarding! Wang Shangshu, do you have full power? ”

Who controls the Ming Salt Administration now?

Not the imperial court, but hoarders!

Ye Qi's reform was out of good intentions, but the collusion between officials and businessmen was too good at playing, and he actually made salt into something similar to "salt futures".

Salt merchants have been refined into three categories: border merchants, water merchants, and domestic merchants, who open up the grain to obtain salt and sell the salt in their hands to domestic merchants, who rely on the salt to buy salt from the government, and then transport it to various places through water merchants for sale.

There seems to be no loophole in this model, but after Ye Qi's reform, domestic businessmen can directly buy salt from the government.

A group of wealthy and well-established domestic businessmen suddenly turned into hoarders and took the opportunity to buy a large amount of salt, because there is a quota for salt quotation every year, resulting in ordinary domestic businessmen not being able to get salt quotation.

Then, this group of hoarders also paid a large amount of salt, so that ordinary domestic merchants could not buy salt even if they had salt introductions, let alone let the water merchants transport it to the border merchants.

The border merchants held the salt guide in their hands, but they could not exchange it for table salt, so they could only sell the salt to the hoarders. When the domestic businessmen found that the border merchants had no salt to lead, they could only buy salt from the hoarders at a high price, and then take the salt to buy salt and sell it.

Hoarding is equivalent to doing nothing, that is, frantically hoarding salt, and then colluding with the government to control salt shipments, artificially causing a phased salt introduction and salt shortage, so as to squeeze border merchants and domestic businessmen to earn the price difference, and salt introduction has been played by them as a "future". At the same time, every year, the imperial court distributes salt introductions, which essentially becomes the distribution of salt quotations by hoarders, and the salt administration of the entire country is controlled in the hands of hoarders!

Who are the hoarders?

Mainly Hui merchants, especially referring to the two Huai salt merchants, including Huang Chongde, who did business with Wang Yuan. They are backed by countless powerful people, such as Huang Chongde's backer, including Wang Yuan! It's just that Huang Chongde did not give Wang Yuan the benefits of selling salt, and he hoarded salt to lead other powerful people who colluded.

Just as Yang Yiqing said, reform must be cautious.

Ye Qi's original intention of reform was very good, and it did achieve results. But it gave birth to the monster of "hoarding", and it is better not to change it!

Moreover, this group of hoarders has not broken the law, they are just engaged in futures operations, even if the government and businessmen collude to disrupt the market, Daming has no relevant laws to restrain it. Even, people build bridges and pave roads, run schools and promote education, and are charitable and charitable, and their reputation in their hometown is very good.

Yan Song used to be the head of the household department for several years, and he happened to be in charge of the world's salt class, although he didn't know how to change, but he knew a lot about the disadvantages of salt politics.

Wang Yuan and Yan Song often discussed related issues, and thus sorted out a set of reform plans, he said: "First, reduce taxes! ”

The cabinet bigwigs were confused, saying that they wanted to increase the salt tax, why did they open their mouths and want to reduce the tax?

Compared with the Song Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, the salt tax in the Ming Dynasty was set very low, and it was unimaginable to reduce the tax.

"Why the tax cut?" Yang Tinghe asked.

Wang Yuan said: "This tax is not a commercial tax, but a tax on stove households. The stove households worked hard to burn salt and pay the main taxes for the imperial court, and according to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the surplus salt should be purchased from them at a high price. But what is the reality? The stove households worked hard to pay the main fees, and the surplus salt was forcibly bought by the imperial court at a low price. In this way, the stove households were miserable, and they could only secretly sell surplus salt, which was sold all private salt, and the imperial court could not collect salt tax at all. To reform the salt administration, we must first start from the roots, so that the households that burn salt have a way to live. Otherwise, no matter how it is reformed, it will be fucking foolishness! ”

No one answered, and lowering the salt class of the stove household was more terrible than the previous reform of the salt policy.

Historically, the entire Ming Dynasty has reformed the salt administration many times, and no official dared to lower the salt tax of the stove households. Because among all the salt tax items, the stove household salt class is best collected, and it is a very stable tax, how can you use this thing to use a knife?

The more I went to the back, the more I didn't dare to touch the stove salt class.

Don't think that the salt tax is decreasing year by year, the salt tax in Daming is increasing year by year, and the tighter the national finances, the more the salt tax can be collected. During the Zhengde period, the central salt tax revenue was less than one million taels, which was only one-fifth of the central fiscal revenue. By the time of Chongzhen, the central salt tax had increased to 2.5 million taels, accounting for more than half of the central fiscal revenue!

Because other taxes can't come up, emperors such as Wanli and Chongzhen can only do anything about the salt tax. In order to collect salt taxes and crack down on hoarders, the Wanli Dynasty even created a hereditary system of salt merchants, and the hoarders were indeed cracked down, but the monopoly operation caused greater trouble.

Wang Yuan said: "First, the national stove households are reducing the burden by one percent to reduce the burden of stove households. Second, the surplus salt produced by the stove households is allowed to be sold to merchants, and the government is not allowed to forcibly buy it at a low price. The salt is given to the eye, the remaining salt is given to the small ticket, the next is closed, the investment is purchased, and the price is handed over to the Ministry of Households. ”

What does it mean?

Reduce the main taxes that stove households need to pay, prohibit the government from maliciously lowering the price of purchases, and increase the production enthusiasm of stove households. Surplus salt outside of the main class was not allowed to be sold privately, but now it can be sold to merchants.

In order to collect taxes smoothly, each salt quotation obtained by the merchant was accompanied by a corresponding surplus salt receipt. The merchant took the salt and led it to the government to buy the salt, and went directly to the salt factory to buy the surplus salt with the receipt, so that the surplus salt could be collected smoothly. Otherwise, all the surplus salt will have to go to the smuggling market.

In this way, the shipment of salt will be directly doubled, and the surplus salt will not go through the government, and it will be difficult for hoarders to collude with officials and businessmen to create a staged salt shortage. Without a staged salt shortage, the salt in the hands of border merchants can smoothly trade with domestic businessmen, break the control of hoarders over the market, and stimulate the vitality of the entire salt market.

This method seems simple, but the premise is to improve the production enthusiasm of stove households. To improve enthusiasm, you have to lower the main class, and no one dares to move the main class, because it involves the military rations of the border towns, so it is incomprehensible to the Ming officials.

Only Wang Yuan dared to break through the resistance and cut directly from the root.

Once this statement was said thoroughly, not only Yang Yiqing and Wang Qiong praised it, but even Mao Ji and Jiang Mian admired it. Of course, they don't dare to do it themselves, and they can't afford it if something happens.

Moreover, admiration is admiration, interests are interests, hoarders can manipulate the market, how can there be no powerful cover?

Mao Ji reminded: "Wang Shangshu, the matter of salt politics is extraordinary. The main class of the stove household is directly related to the military rations of the nine sides, and if you lower the main class, you will reduce the supply of military rations. There is a slight difference in the pool, the nine sides are unstable, can you afford it? ”

Wang Yuan sneered: "After the reform of the silver system, the Kaizhong system has long been dispensable, how much military ration can be supplied?" How much of the salt in the hands of the border merchants is the income from grain transportation, and how much is sold by the powerful? Not to mention the reduction of one percent of the stove household's main lesson, even if he is reduced by three or five percent, there will be no major change in the military rations of the nine sides. ”

Yang Tinghe was very entangled at this time, he wanted to reform according to Wang Yuan's words, but he was afraid that the reform would fail. Even if the reform is successful, it will offend countless eunuchs, nobles, relatives, military generals and civil officials, and even many officials within the Yang Party will hate him.

"Let's talk about this matter again." Yang Tinghe still couldn't make up his mind.

Wang Yuan said angrily: "What to discuss again, it is being discussed at this time, why bother looking for another day!" ”

Jiang Mian said loudly: "Wang Shangshu, this is Wenyuan Pavilion. As the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, you can advise on the affairs of the vassal state. The matter of salt administration belongs to the household department, and it will be said when you become the secretary of the household department. ”

Wang Yuan said: "I am the minister of the Ming Dynasty, and the affairs of the Ming Dynasty can be discussed." Although I don't have the right to discuss matters in Wenyuan Pavilion, I can go back to the Imperial Court, can you still stop my mouth? ”

Mao Ji sighed and began to speak from the bottom of his heart: "Wang Shangshu, I wait to know your mind, who doesn't want to serve the country wholeheartedly?" However, the reform of the salt policy is very important, and if you don't pay attention to it, you will make it boil. Don't you think about your own afterlife? If the whole dynasty is against you, how can you continue to be the secretary of the Ministry of Rites? ”

"Bang!"

Wang Yuan stood up suddenly, kicked away the chair, and shouted, "*******, *******!" As an important minister of the Ming Dynasty, the country has accumulated so many evils, and he does not think about reform, but thinks about how to win people's hearts and stabilize the court. Ten years later, a hundred years later, you are all sinners! ”

Cabinet ministers, looking at each other.

Yang Yiqing himself supported reform, he also reformed Ma Zheng himself when he was young, and soon recovered, clapping his hands and praised: "*******, *******!" Good poems, good sentences! With these two verses, I should also support the reform of the salt government. ”

Wang Qiong said: "I also support Wang Shangshu. ”

Wang Yuan also said: "Reform the salt administration, the third step, the local tax by catty, no longer on the tax of Ding!" ”

Yang Tinghe's face was even more ugly, he didn't stop offending the powerful, Wang Yuan was going to offend the magistrate too!

There are many kinds of salt taxes, and there is a salt tax from the salt stove households, which is the starting point of the salt tax, which is equivalent to the production tax.

The end point of the salt tax is that the local government sells salt and levies retail value-added tax. The lowest level is the county, and the township level is not allowed to open salt shops. According to the population of each county, a fixed amount of salt tax is levied, that is, the salt tax is paid on a per din. In other words, no matter how much salt the local government sells, as long as it pays a fixed amount of tax, the rest can be divided among themselves.

This is simply nonsense, the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the census should be conducted once every ten years, and how can the local government really check it? The number of people registered in the newspaper is no different from that of a hundred years ago, and the local salt tax is also charged according to the size of the population a hundred years ago.

Wang Yuan wants to pay taxes by the pound, which is equivalent to "apportioning the land into the mu" in the salt policy reform, and directly taking away a big cake from the hands of the local officials.

In the early and middle period of the Qing Dynasty, the salt tax was also paid according to the population, and it was not until the 47th year of Qianlong that it was changed to per catty. Take Meixian County as an example, before the Qianlong reform, the salt tax in the county was several hundred taels, but after the reform, it soared to 7,400 taels, and the difference in the middle was all eaten by the local officials!

Yang Tinghe was frightened by the "salt government version of the paving into the mu", and waved his hand again and again: "This matter will be discussed again, this matter will be discussed again." ”