Wuying Palace.

"Old minister, see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live long live."

"Shen Shoufu, please be exempted."

Although the words were the same, Wanli did not give Shen Shixing a gentle smile as before, and with a gloomy face, he called all the eunuchs and maids in the retreat hall.

Shen Shixing did not get up and continued to kneel on the ground.

Wanli glanced at him, but he didn't force him, and said: "Since the last time, I ordered Wang Jiaping to be the teacher of the emperor's eldest son, and the matter of establishing the prince has stopped, and now I am preparing to make great efforts, why does Aiqing mention this matter again?" ”

With that, he took out a secret letter and slammed it on the table.

"Please also ask Your Majesty for forgiveness." Shen Shixing prostrate.

Wanli had doubts in his eyes and said, "I just want to know, what is going on?" ”

Because Shen Shixing has always been on his side, but now he suddenly made a secret performance, asking Wanli to make the eldest son of the emperor the crown prince, which made Wanli angry and felt a little weird.

Shen Shixing said: "Back to Your Majesty, the old minister did this because he wanted to discuss something important with His Majesty, and the old minister knew that as long as the matter of establishing the prince was mentioned, His Majesty would send away the idle people. ”

Wanli blinked in confusion, "What does Aiqing mean by this?" ”

Shen Shixing didn't answer, but asked, "Your Majesty, can you hear about the salt tax today?" ”

"Salt tax?"

Wanli frowned and said, "Aiqing, let's talk about it." ”

As long as you don't mention the reserve, everything is easy to discuss.

Shen Shixing stood up this time.

Wanli said: "Regarding the salt tax, I also heard about it just now, saying that the cabinet intends to reform the salt tax? ”

Shen Shixing said: "Back to Your Majesty, this matter is not so simple. ”

Saying that, he truthfully informed Wanli of this reason.

"I see."

Wanli was slightly surprised, he really didn't expect that there were so many stories in it, and asked, "I don't know how Aiqing thinks about it?" ”

Shen Shixing said: "Your Majesty, the salt administration is corrupt, causing the imperial court to lose millions of taels of tax revenue every year......!" ”

"A million taels?" Wanli immediately took a breath of cold air, and his heart was sour, I only earned hundreds of thousands of taels in a year of hard work, and as a result, I lost nearly one million taels here. He immediately interrupted Shen Shixing's words, "In this case, the imperial court should be reformed." ”

Shen Shixing said: "Please also ask Your Majesty to forgive me, the old minister is powerless, because this salt tax involves many people." ”

Wanli thought about it, as if he also had a share, and the vassal king and relatives must be included. His tone softened suddenly, "What should I do?" ”

Shen Shixing said: "The minister thinks that even if the cabinet reform is successful, this salt profit will only be transferred from the hands of one person to another, and over time, it will become the way it is now, and the minister has a bold suggestion." ”

Wan Li hurriedly asked, "What suggestions?" ”

Shen Shixing said: "This is the whole world, it is not the king's land, it is not the shore of the land, it is not the king's minister, the old minister thinks that this money should not be in their hands, in this case, Your Majesty, you take it all, wouldn't it be more justifiable." ”

This money should belong to the state, not Wanli, and the ministers have been fighting with Wanli for this kind of thing, because Wanli always wants to get all the money to the inner government, and the ministers hope that the treasury will be more full.

Shen Shixing has always insisted that the country's finances should be independent of the emperor.

It's a pity that this money is neither in the hands of the emperor nor in the treasury, and it is monopolized by the bureaucracy.

In fact, Shen Shixing also belonged to the bureaucracy, but he insisted on the treasury.

He thinks that this money should not be in the hands of bureaucrats, but the problem is that these bureaucrats control the country, and it is difficult for the state to get back the money from them, the lesser of these two evils, rather than in the hands of bureaucrats, it is better to be in the hands of the emperor, at least the country is the emperor's, if there is really something, the emperor will still take the money out, and the bureaucrats are not necessarily.

He chose to join forces with the emperor to get the money back, because the bureaucracy would not be able to cooperate with him.

"Aiqing's strategy is very good... Ahem, ahem...! ”

Wanli was really excited, but as soon as the words came out, he felt a little explicit, not very embarrassed, and coughed tactically a few times before saying: "What Aiqing said is not unreasonable, but I don't want them to take it out to me, I don't know if Aiqing has a way?" ”

Shen Shixing said: "If this matter is handed over to the old minister, then it will be the same as Your Majesty's will to take back the salt profits." ”

Will Wanli's next will be able to solve the problem?

The answer, of course, is no.

If I could, it would have been solved a long time ago.

Because the gang that helped him to recover the salt profit was the group that held the salt profit, and it would definitely not be recovered.

Zhang Juzheng changed the law at that time, but he didn't get the salt back.

The reason is that almost all the people in power in the DPRK are involved in salt profits.

Wanli was a little confused when he heard it, you can't take it back, you say a fart.

Shen Shixing spoke again: "This matter can only be handed over to a person outside the imperial court to do. ”

Outside the court? A face flashed in Wanli's mind, but he still couldn't believe it, and asked, "Aiqing is referring to Guo Dan?" ”

Shen Shixing nodded.

The ministers of the DPRK and China were more or less involved in Yanli, and it was impossible for them to hand over the money, so they had to find people who had nothing to do with Yanli.

Wanli immediately looked at Shen Shixing suspiciously, whether this old man was engaged in some conspiracy.

Shen Shixing should be on the side of the bureaucracy, why did he suddenly turn against him.

However, Shen Shixing has always secretly supported him.

Even in the matter of establishing the prince, Shen Shixing was on his side, and often secretly reported to him.

Shen Shixing's heart was like a mirror, and said: "Your Majesty, the old ministers were also forced by them to have no choice, they are too greedy, they hold the salt profits, even if they pay some taxes, they can get a lot, but they refuse to take out a penny." Not only that, but they also often passed on the salt tax to the people, which was harmful to the country and the people, but not beneficial. ”

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Aiqing, don't be sad about this, you must take care of your body, I will seriously consider this matter." ”

"Your Majesty."

After Shen Shixing left, Wanli pondered for a while, and after thinking about it again, he thought that Shen Shixing was trustworthy, because Shen Shixing was taking a great political risk by doing this, and if this matter got out, then Shen Shixing would definitely be over.

Because by saying this, he clearly betrayed the entire bureaucracy.

Obviously, Shen Shixing's defection is very beneficial to Wanli, because no one in the court supported Guo Dan before, and the emperor and Shang combination fought alone, but now with the support of Shoufu, it is really like a tiger with wings.

Greed quickly occupied Wanli's brain, and he suddenly slapped the table, "Why didn't I think of the salt tax, if I could take it all, it would be millions of taels of silver every year." ”

Thinking of this, he immediately called Li Gui and Xuan Guo faded into the palace.

In the face of money, Wanli is very diligent.

After Guo Dan arrived, Wanli said straight to the point: "Guo Dan, have you heard about the salt tax today?" ”

Guo Dan frowned slightly, and said: "Back to Your Majesty, I heard about the humble post this morning, and I was still worried that they would make trouble because of this matter, in that case, our plan may be thwarted." ”

"Don't worry, they didn't make a fuss, it was just an accident."

Wanli waved his hand and said, "Since you are worried that they will fight because of this, it means that you know why they are fighting." ”

Guo Dan nodded.

Wanli said: "The abolition of the salt administration has caused more harm to the country than Ma Zheng, and the salt tax alone has caused a loss of at least one million taels to the treasury every year." ”

"So much?"

Guo Dan's eyes widened.

Wanli nodded and said, "Therefore, I have always wanted to reform the salt tax, but there are many obstacles, and I am also powerless, I called you today just to ask you, do you have a way to help me take back this salt tax?" ”

Guo Danzhi shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, the lowly position is just a businessman, unless Your Majesty you contract the salt tax to the lowly position, otherwise, the lowly position has no way." ”

It's an established routine between them.

Wanli smiled bitterly: "If I can contract the salt tax to you, then I don't need to ask you, just take it back, the problem is that I can't do it." ”

"That's... That's a lowly position....! ”

Guo Dan showed an embarrassed expression.

Wanli said: "I will support you in the future." ”

You support me for a, this is politics, I'm a businessman, you have to take the lead and pull me in before I can take over, if you don't make a move, how can I make a move. Guo Dan thought about it, and suddenly frowned, no, no, I'm a businessman, but the salt tax is not a pure political matter, it is also a transaction!

Wanli saw him struggling and asked, "Guo Dan, do you have a way?" ”

Guo Dan was slightly stunned, glanced at Wanli, and thought, the salt merchants control the salt, which is equivalent to controlling the lifeblood of the people, and now it seems that Your Majesty can't control those salt merchants, which is not a good thing for my plan, and said: "Your Majesty, if you are concerned about the salt tax, there is really no way to hide it from your Majesty, and before today, the humble position has not paid attention to any salt tax." ”

When Wanli heard this, he couldn't help but show disappointment.

Guo Dan suddenly changed his words and said, "But if you sell salt, it's still okay to be lowly." ”

"Selling salt?"

Wanli was surprised.

Guo Dan nodded and said, "It's to sell your own salt, so that others have no salt to sell." ”

Wanli muttered: "Sell your own salt, so that others have no salt to sell?" ”

"Not bad."

Guo Dan said: "It's all about holding salt profits, but what is salt profits, it is nothing more than selling salt to the people, and the profits generated are trading, this is a business, if you sell salt, plus Your Majesty, you support you in the back, and it is not impossible to kill those salt merchants." ”

Wanli seemed to be listening to a story, listening to it with relish, and swallowed his saliva, "And then?" ”

"And then."

Guo Dan paused, "Then the salt tax in this world will have to be paid by Your Majesty alone." ”

"I'm ..... alone!"

As soon as the words came out, Wanli suddenly closed his mouth, I just wanted a little salt tax, but you gave me all the salt, this ......!

Confidant!

Wanli smiled so much that his eyes were bent into crescents, "Okay, okay, just do it, do it." Hehe----! ”

Do your sister's. Guo Dan said: "Your Majesty, the lowly side just said that, purely from the perspective of doing business, but in addition to trading, they have many means, and in this regard, even a million lowly positions are not their opponents." ”

Wanli grinned and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely keep you." ”

I believe you're a ghost. Guo Dan sneered: "In this case, Your Majesty can also issue an order to take back the salt profits." ”

“......！”

Wanli's chubby face was covered with embarrassment.

Guo Dan said again: "Your Majesty, this matter has to be discussed in the long run, but if Your Majesty wants to solve this matter with a humble position, first of all, the imperial court must break the restrictions of the land boundary and give the salt merchants freedom, so that they can intervene in it. ”

If it is designated, it must be a related household, so if Guo Dan wants to compete for salt profits, he must go to every state capital and every county town to fight, which is impossible to complete.

It has to be a free environment for him to be able to make a difference.

Wanli thought to himself, this seems to coincide with Wang Jiaping's thoughts, and I can also use this to test Shen Shixing. Said: "I know, you can rest assured, I will pave the way for you." ”