Wu Shan, the most orthodox minister, has a very high reputation in officialdom. Even when Yan Song left office, many people called for Wu Shan to take over the position of first assistant, not the second assistant Xu Jie.

Seeing that he had something to say at the moment, and this was obviously unusual, Guo Pu and the others couldn't help but show a solemn look on their faces, and they all looked up at Wu Shan, who was sitting on the first seat.

Wu Shan put down the teacup gently, did not detour, and said with a direct smile in the face of everyone's confused eyes: "When many people hear about open source, they will think of increasing the grain tax to the people, but today the people are not rich, and Taizu has already made a clear order, this is not something to do!" After thinking about it several times, the official thought that the imperial court should open the source, and it should reopen the Ningbo City Ship Division and rectify the salt administration! ”

As soon as these words came out, there was silence everywhere.

If it is only the former, it is not too big a problem, after all, the opponents are mainly a large group of officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It's just that for the latter, this is undoubtedly going to stir up a thousand waves with one stone.

Recently, among the people in the capital, the person who has been talked about the most by the people and scholars is Yan Maoqing, who rectified the salt administration in the four places last year.

Yan Maoqing, a native of Jiangxi, Jiajing for 20 years, was promoted by pedestrians to the imperial history, and repeatedly moved to Dali Shaoqing. In the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing, he was reappointed as the imperial history of the left capital, and was soon promoted to the imperial history of the left deputy capital.

Unlike many officials with a lot of fate, Yan Maoqing can be said to be a prosperous official because of his attachment to Yan Song's father and son, and he has always held important positions in the capital.

Because Yan Song wanted to rectify the salt administration, he sent Yan Maoqing to sort out the salt administration in the four places. It was during this one-year period of sorting out the salt administration that Yan Maoqing, a speech official who had been living in the capital, suddenly became a notorious corrupt official.

As the saying goes, there is no wind and no waves, Yan Maoqing is naturally not a good official, but there is naturally another mystery behind this matter. As long as you pay close attention to Xu's moves, you should know that Xu Jie is already building momentum for the restoration of the old rules of the salt tax in Lianghuai, and wants to promote the restoration of the salt tax in Lianghuai at the right time.

At this time, Wu Shan chose to formally put forward a proposal to rectify the salt administration in this important governance meeting, and resolutely wanted to openly contradict Xu Jie.

Yan Ne's eyes widened, looking at Wu Shan in disbelief.

Due to his age, Fan En's ears have not been very bright, first showing a surprised expression, and then looking at Yan Ne and the others, but he thought that he suspected that he had just heard wrong.

Zhang Yongming and the others silently digested this news, and many people looked at Wu Shan with complicated eyes. But I don't understand whether Wu Shan has no intention of pursuing his career, or wants to give it a go, and actually made such an act of provoking Xu Jie.

Wu Shan was still a little apprehensive in his heart just now, but after the words were spoken, his heart calmed down. If he still follows this gang of people and the light and dust, and follows these people to slash the butcher's knife at the border army, this Ming will really slowly move towards destruction.

After all, he has not been polluted too much by this officialdom over the years, and he can still remember his ideals and aspirations when he was studying, and he still remembers the teachings of his teacher Xia Yan in the past.

Wu Shan met everyone's surprised gaze and said eloquently: "Guangdong City has reopened, and there are hundreds of thousands of taels of tariff revenue every year!" The southeast is the richest place in the Ming Dynasty, and silk and ceramics are world-famous, and have always been sought after by Fanyi. If the imperial court reopens Ningbo City, its effect will definitely be better than that of Guangdong, and there will be hundreds of thousands of taels of input every year. Now the imperial court is in financial difficulties, and the official proposes to reopen the Ningbo City Bosi to solve the financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty! ”

This is the case with many things, and it doesn't matter whether it's right or wrong, it's mainly a conflict of interests.

Although the success of the Guangdong City Ship Division has long been in front of us, due to the local interests involved, the Ningbo City Ship Division has not been able to restart, and no one even mentions it now.

Wu Shan solemnly mentioned at this moment, then he undoubtedly stood on the side of the Kaihai faction, and at the same time stood on the opposite side of a group of officials and gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

As for the reopening of Ningbo City, the biggest opposition is Yuan Wei, but he is not here today.

"Wu Shangshu, the reopening of Ningbo City can be discussed, but what does this heavy salt policy mean?" Zuodu Yushi Fanen did not focus on Ningbo City, but asked directly about the matter of salt administration.

Zhang Yongming and the others did not care too much about Ningbo City, and their attention was also on Yanzheng, so they looked at Wu Shan suspiciously, wanting to know Wu Shan's true intentions.

Wu Shan faced everyone's eyes and replied with a smile to Fan En: "This official has been reading the documents of the past dynasties these days and found that the salt tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty is still too low. This official thinks that he should continue to implement the law of the old man and continue to rectify the salt government to solve the financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty! ”

This......

Zhang Yongming and the others secretly swallowed and spitted, but quietly looked at Yan Ne and Fan En.

Throughout the ages, newcomers have been taboo to talk about the old, and often repeal the actions of their predecessors in favor of a new deal. But on the contrary, Wu Shan moved Yan Song and his salt policy out.

Fan En's face was slightly gloomy, seeing that Wu Shan was so unruly, he no longer gave Wu Shan a good face, and immediately said-for-tat: "Wu Shangshu, no matter how evil Yan Maoqing has done, this rectification of the salt government is right or wrong!" If the imperial court raises the salt tax again, the price of salt in various places will rise sharply, and the people will have no salt to eat, are you really not afraid that the people of the whole world will poke you Wu Yuejing's backbone in the back? ”

He said this in a loud voice, and his eyes stared at Wu Shan viciously, as if Wu Shan was a scourge that brought disaster to the world.

Zhang Yongming and others looked at Wushan one after another, this salt policy is indeed a difficult problem to solve. If the imperial court imposes a salt tax, then the merchants will inevitably increase the price of salt, so that the people will eat high salt prices, and Wu Shan will probably bear the brunt.

Wu Shan and Lin Haoran once discussed this issue, and after realizing that there was a lot of trouble here, he also read a lot of historical books, and already had a deeper understanding of the salt politics of the Ming Dynasty.

Facing the aggressive feudal grace, Wu Shan shook his head lightly and said: "This official is not profiting from the people, but taking back the salt profits that belong to the imperial court from those salt merchants!" ”

Here is a deliberate concealment of some facts, at present, sixty percent of the salt of the Ming Dynasty fell into the hands of nobles and gentry, and less than forty percent of the salt in the hands of salt merchants.

"Wu Shangshu, do you know! Prime Minister Yan Maoqing's salt administration raised the salt tax of Lianghuai by 70%, making many salt merchants desperate to change their careers! Fan En's momentum continued unabated, and he immediately listed a fact.

Zhang Yongming was like a bystander, but he was a little curious in his heart, and his eyes looked at Wu Shan.

Wu Shan picked up the teacup, but said indifferently: "If there is still money to come to the capital to cry poor, then their group of salt merchants will not be miserable!" This official flipped through the historical books of the Song Dynasty and got about 12 million yuan of money every year, on the other hand, the silver of this dynasty was also obtained by Premier Yan Maoqing last year after the salt administration of the four places, and he got more than 1 million taels, dare to ask where these salt profits go? ”

Hey?

After Guo Pu heard this, he raised his head and looked at Wu Shan seriously.

The two have been friends for decades, and he naturally knows what kind of character Wu Shan is, Wu Shan will definitely not make up nonsense in this kind of thing, and there is indeed a lot of article here to dare to love Yanzheng.

Zhang Yongming and the others also had thoughtful expressions on their faces, and began to face up to the prime minister.

Cough......

Yan Ne immediately coughed lightly and gave Fan En a look.

Fan En's mind was racing fast, and he immediately replied with a slight light in his eyes: "That's because the salt merchants of this dynasty have to bear the transportation, sales and storage links, so the imperial court is exempted from sales expenses, and the salt merchants are responsible for these expenses, which is the reason for the decrease in the salt tax revenue of the imperial court!" ”

Zhang Yongming listened to this explanation, nodded lightly, and then looked at Wu Shan again.

Wu Shan took a sip of tea, but replied calmly: "As far as this official knows, all the so-called transportation costs have been transferred to the local people!" Like Huguang Hengzhou Mansion, the sale of a pound of salt is full of two dollars of silver, but the salt issued by the imperial court is quoted at 26 Wen per catty! Seeing that Fan En was about to speak, he waved his hand and continued: "At the beginning, this official also thought that the salt tax of the imperial court would be greatly reduced, and the price of salt for the common people should also be greatly reduced, but when I checked Suzhou Mansion, Nanchang Mansion and Changsha Mansion, the price was even twice as high as that of the Song Dynasty!" ”

With the data listed one by one, the things are already very clear. At present, the salt tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty has dropped sharply, but the people eat high-priced salt, and the salt profit has fallen into the pockets of salt merchants.

"There are also checkpoint fees in various places, but you can't generalize them!" Fan En racked his brains, and finally thought of another factor.

Wu Shan knew that this was not a lie, and it was naturally not a salt merchant who got salt profits from it, but also a variety of interest groups, and the essence of the checkpoints set up in these places was also one thing.

Salt merchants with backgrounds or noble salts are naturally unimpeded; Small salt merchants without background, if they want to pass that level safely, they will have to pay a certain price, which will increase the cost of salt.

Wu Shan naturally would not be confused by these trivial things, but said solemnly: "This official only knows that it is a fact that the salt tax of the imperial court has been lost, and it is also a fact that the people eat high-priced salt, so this salt policy still needs to be rectified!" ”

The corners of Fan's mouth opened slightly, but he didn't make a sound in the end. Although he had the heart to defend himself, he was not very familiar with the situation of Yan Zheng, and he was already speechless by Wu Shan.

Although Yang Bo and others agreed with Wu Shan's point of view, they did not express their position from beginning to end. After all, choosing to support Wu Shan is to stand on the opposite side of Xu Jie, which is very likely to be an act of death.

Guo Pu and Wu Shan were friends in the same year, but he also had his interests in mind. At present, he and Xu Jie are in the honeymoon period, and the two sides get along very happily, so it is naturally impossible to easily break this kind of cooperative relationship.

Fan En's face was full of worry, but he looked at Yan Ne as if he was asking for help.

Yan Ne was silent for a moment, but suddenly said: "The matter of salt politics is not only about finance, but also about the country!" The official heard that the life of the two Huai stove households was hard, and many of the stove households were forced by Yan Maoqing's harsh government, so they fled to other places one after another, causing the salt production in the salt field to be damaged. Therefore, the official asked to send a capable minister to rectify the salt administration in order to appease the stove households of Lianghuai. ”

But I have to admit that Yan Ne moved out of the "national capital", so that things have the miraculous effect of another village. If the matter is between finance and national capital, it is natural to choose the latter.

Dali Siqing and Zuo Tongzheng's eyes immediately lit up, and they chose to echo Yan Ne's opinion like a sound worm.

"Since there is such a big controversy over the matter of the salt policy, how about we put the matter of the salt policy on hold for the time being?" Guo Pu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

Yan Ne turned his head and glanced at Guo Pu, seeing that since this official was on his side, he nodded in agreement.

Guo Pu looked at Wu Shan, who frowned slightly, but nodded reluctantly.

He knew very well that things could not be accomplished overnight, and when he threw out this proposal to rectify the salt administration today, he knew that it would not be passed.

Although the proposal cannot be submitted to the emperor as a result of the joint discussion of the nine secretaries, his proposal today will inevitably be quickly transmitted to the outside world, and even reach the emperor's desk soon.

This struggle over the salt policy is only the beginning.

Guo Pu got the desired result, he looked up at everyone, like a leader, and said: "If everyone has no objections, then today's matter will be agreed like this!" ”

"Xia Guan thinks that the reopening of Ningbo City should be more cautious, and the southeast has finally calmed down. The new Dali Siqing is a native of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but he suddenly raised an objection.

Yan Ne's brows furrowed slightly, and he turned his head to look at Dali Siqing. This remark is not new, but seeing that this person is a member of his own Xu Party, he also chose not to say anything.

Guo Pu's face was slightly constricted, and he immediately said with a straight face: "At present, the government is in a difficult situation, how can we look forward and look backwards, and we should send Neng Chen to preside over the reopening of Ningbo City!" ”

The reopening of Ningbo City was proposed by Wu Shan, and Guo Pu made a statement, and the dignified officials and households stood together.

How could a small Zhengsanpin Dali Siqing call Guo Pu and Wu Shan when he looked at Yan Ne as if asking for help.

"The matter of reopening the Ningbo City Bo Division, this official has no opinion!" Yan Ne ignored Dali Siqing's gaze for help, but chose to say it directly.

He knew that Wu Shan had taken a step back, and he naturally couldn't give face to the other party at all, so he immediately nodded in agreement with this proposal and agreed to reopen Ningbo City.

When Wu Shan heard this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and today he had achieved his set goal.

After a confrontation, a consensus was reached at this Jiuqing financial management meeting.

In terms of throttling, the main thing is to save the military salaries of the nine sides and the industrial and silver of the Caohe River; In terms of open source, the main thing is to reopen the Ningbo Bo Division. As for the rectification of the salt administration, it was put on hold.

It's just that as soon as the news came out, the entire officialdom immediately caused an uproar.

I thought that a group of ministers and mud were in the background, but Wu Shan overturned the table and pointed the finger at the open sea and the salt tax. This statement undoubtedly made waves again in the calm court.