Wu Shan is a master of the history of this era, and his knowledge has reached the peak.

It's just that he has studied the study of saints since he was a child, and he is seeking the road to governing the country. Entering the officialdom seems to be smooth sailing, taking a standard road of phase storage, and naturally getting used to looking at problems from a large level, and it is inevitable that they will be detached from the masses.

In the case of salt administration, this exposes this kind of flaw.

Apparently blinded by the cries of the salt merchants or officials of the salt bureaucracy, he was unable to see the whole picture of the salt policy, and thus had a wrong judgment on the issue of salt politics, so he began to sympathize with the salt merchant group.

Lin Haoran not only has a local experience, but also has a comprehensive vision of later generations, and has a good accomplishment in the economy, so he has a thorough understanding of the salt policy issue.

For Wu Shan's sympathy for the salt merchants, he naturally scoffed, and immediately asked with a straight face: "Lord Taishan, dare to ask the current salt tax of the imperial court compared to the salt tax of the Song Dynasty?" ”

"The whole is less than two percent of the Song Dynasty!" Wu Shan opened his mouth to give an accurate answer, but as soon as the words fell, he immediately said to Lin Haoran with a teaching tone: "Great Ancestor is benevolent and virtuous, sympathetic to the people of Li, and his own dynasty is not comparable to Song!" ”

It has long been recognized that the taxes of the Ming Dynasty are not as good as those of the Song Dynasty, but light taxes have long become a consensus among the scholars, and it is also a kind of "pride" of the scholars of the Ming Dynasty.

For example, the agricultural tax in the Song Dynasty was 15 taxes and 1, while the current agricultural tax in the Ming Dynasty was 30 taxes and 1. No matter how difficult the Ming Dynasty's finances were, if an official dared to propose to emulate the Song system, he would definitely be overwhelmed by the spitting stars of the scholars.

Now that Lin Haoran has moved out of the income gap of the salt tax, it is impossible to get Wu Shan's "common hatred and hatred", but it has caused Wu Shan to admonish Lin Haoran, so that he will dispel any idea of raising taxes on the people.

Lin Haoran didn't expect to be admonished, and he couldn't help but feel slightly bitter in his heart, but he still continued to talk eloquently: "During the Northern Song Dynasty, salt was sold and traded by officials, and it was not entirely dependent on the hands of salt merchants, and the imperial court's salt tax revenue exceeded 10 million yuan. However, the Ming Dynasty practiced the law of salt introduction, and the sale of salt was all due to the hands of salt merchants, and the annual salt tax was about 1.3 million taels, so it was said that the imperial court was not profitable; A few days ago, the son-in-law asked people to go to the Hanlin Institute to help check, take a place in Nanchang, a catty of salt in the Northern Song Dynasty was 50 Wen, but the current salt price is 300 Wen, so the people can not benefit. The court gave benefits to the people, but the people ate high-priced salt, dare to ask who is benefited? ”

Wu Shan has always mistakenly thought that the people will be able to benefit from the concessions of the imperial court, so he did not care too much about the sluggish income of the salt administration. It's just that through Lin Haoran's data analysis, his face couldn't help but show a dignified look, and even a few green tendons floated.

If it were someone else, he would still question these words, but he knew that this son-in-law would never be untargeted, and said with a heavy heart: "The court is not profitable, and the people are not profitable, and it is in the hands of salt merchants?" ”

"Back to my father-in-law, it should be in the hands of salt merchants and relevant local officials! During the period when the son-in-law served as the prefect of Leizhou and Guangzhou, the Haibei Salt Class Lifting Division and the Guangdong Salt Lifting Division successively wanted to send a large sum of silver taels to the younger son-in-law! Lin Haoran immediately corrected it and revealed a fact.

Wu Shan's face became more and more grim, he kept calm and took a sip of tea from the teacup, looked up at Lin Haoran and asked seriously: "If you are stupid, there is a good plan!" ”

He supported the Ming Dynasty's light tax policy, hoping that the imperial court would collect less taxes, so that the people's lives would be better, but he didn't want to see a bunch of maggots fattened.

The imperial court implemented light taxes, and as a result, the people did not get benefits, but were profiteed by these corrupt officials and profiteers. In the same way, a cloud of anger swelled up in his heart, and he wanted to pull out those maggots so that they could not die well.

Lin Haoran was waiting for this words, and immediately showed his white teeth and said confidently: "The little son-in-law does have a strategy, saying: Ticket salt law!" ”

"What is the Ticket Salt Law?" Wu Shan gently put down the teacup and asked in confusion.

Lin Haoran immediately explained: "The ticket salt method, the method of transporting and selling salt with salt tickets. Its system is printed by the transportation department of the triple bills, one is kept as a stub, one is stored in the division, and one is for the people to be transported. Civilian vendors in various states and counties will go to the salt works to buy salt, and after paying taxes, the salt will be transported out of the market, and they will be sold at designated ports. ”

"What's the magic of this?" Wu Shan looked up at Lin Haoran and asked again.

Lin Haoran first picked up the teapot and poured tea for Wu Shan's cup, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, and he looked up at Wu Shan with confidence, and said seriously: "A businessman, regardless of whether he is close or low, can be a salt merchant, and he can directly trade with the stove household when he picks up salt!" This move avoids rent-seeking by officials; Second, salt avoiders monopolize the market! ”

The current salt law provides officials with great room for power rent-seeking, and gives big salt merchants the opportunity to monopolize the market, and the ticket salt law is a powerful medicine for these two aspects.

Wu Shan picked up the teacup, but shook his head with a wry smile and said, "The old man was the first secretary of the household department, and he has a bad relationship with Yan Ge, I'm afraid he can't reform the salt law like this!" ”

"Father-in-law, you can let Yueyan try it out first and see the results of Guangdong!" Lin Haoran immediately proposed.

Wu Shan's fears were right, the Ticket Salt Law would do too much damage to local officials and big salt merchants. If it is promoted nationwide at the moment, not only will Wushan face tremendous pressure, but also a lot of incidents.

But I have to admit that the big salt merchants led by Lianghuai already have the strength to counter the imperial court. Although the imperial court controlled the production of salt, the sales network depended on these big salt merchants, and even had to ask these big salt merchants to subscribe to the salt quotes.

If Wu Shan really dared to implement the ticket salt law, the big salt merchants would definitely unite to resist it, and thus refuse to spend silver taels to buy ticket salt. Even if they buy salt tickets, they are unable to obtain salt, or they do not dare to sell it publicly.

In the end, there was only one result: the imperial court's salt tax revenue that year was greatly reduced.

If it is at that time, not to mention that Wu Shan is not very favored, even if it is Yan Song, I am afraid that he will step down.

It's just that this ticket salt law was put in Guangdong for trial implementation, with Lin Haoran's influence in the official face and the strong support of the United Business Group. At the very least, Guangdong's salt tax will not be drastically reduced, and good results will certainly be achieved.

"I'll think about it!" Wu Shan pondered for a moment and sighed lightly.

Although he trusts Lin Haoran very much, he also has his consideration of political risks, so it is naturally impossible to make such a big decision hastily. Even if he really wants to do it, he has to choose the right time instead of acting blindly.

Lin Haoran was not surprised by this answer, but in fact, he was not very concerned about whether Wu Shan would adopt the suggestions he made.

It is more important for him to climb to a higher position at the moment, rather than just thinking about how to change Da Ming with just a small Shuntian Mansion Yin, it is too ambitious, so it is easy to pull his own eggs.