Furong Salt Factory (Note 1), that is, Zhu Pingjian's previous life because of the city of Zigong, which was prosperous because of salt.

The Zigong area has a long history of mining underground brine. Huayang National Chronicles. It is clearly recorded in the Shu Chronicles that there is an ancient salt well in Fushun County, called Fuyi Well, which was dug in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

During the Jiajing period, the Dagongjing of Rongxian County was renamed Gongjing because of the high quality of the products and the tribute of well salt to the Jingshi. Next to this Gongjing, people dug out many salt wells one after another, and this place became prosperous, so it was called Gongjing Town. The Fuyi Well in Fushun County has been gradually dried up in the Chongzhen period, but people have found a new salt spring on the bank of the Rongxi River in Fushun County, so it is called the artesian well. Since then, there have been more and more salt wells in the artesian well area, and the number has gradually increased. Fushun artesian well and the adjacent Rongxian Gongjing, the two places are collectively called "Furong Factory".

There is a general rule in the salt wells of Sichuan, that is, the deeper the drilling, the higher the brine salt content extracted. Seventy or eighty zhang is light salt water (turf water), more than one hundred and twenty zhang is yellow brine, and two hundred and sixty seventy zhang is black brine. If you are lucky, salt wells may produce natural gas that can replace coal, firewood and grass, and even oil, in addition to brine. But the amount of natural gas produced is also related to the depth of the well. Generally speaking, the deeper the fight, the more abundant the natural gas.

In order to extract better quality brine and make more profits, people continue to raise funds and increase investment; Bringing together skilled craftsmen to improve well drilling techniques. The crane made of hundreds of fir trees is getting higher and higher, and the salt well with a diameter of eight or nine inches is getting deeper and deeper.

The complex and decisive sinking technology has fully adopted the percussion frustration method. The heavy, sharp blades are clamped to the end of the bamboo and drilled into the ground in turns. A complete set of special tools was developed and manufactured, and the method of sinking the well was basically mature, and the procedure was realized - first the wellhead was opened, the well position was selected for excavation, and the rock layer was dug all the way to the rock layer, and the stone ring was leveled with the ground. Then file a large mouth and use a fishtail file to blast into the bedrock until it reaches a hard rock layer where there is no fresh water seeping out. Clear the hole with the mud of the swallowing cylinder fan, protect the wall of the well with the wood and bamboo, and go down in turn, up and down with the ground. Finally, a small file is filed, replaced with a small-diameter iron file such as a silver ingot file, and chiseled into the brine-rich rock formation. With the file with the fan mud, the fan mud is recorded in detail and kept permanently, as a reference for repairing the well body and filing a new well in the future.

……

Fushun artesian well and the adjacent Rongxian Gongjing are only ten miles apart, but they belong to Fushun County, Xuzhou Prefecture and Rong County, Jiading Prefecture. Originally, there was a tax card blocking the road between the two counties, and the transportation of brine and firewood was very inconvenient, so the Sichuan Salt Department set up a branch in the Furong Salt Factory, and a salt department was in charge of tax collection and anti-smuggling.

Don't feel that in an important salt-producing area, there is only a small official in charge, which is a little unserious. However, the yamen of the Sichuan Yanke Lifting Division is in Chengdu City, and there are only one person from the fifth grade, one person from the sixth grade, one person from the seventh grade, and a number of officials from the ninth grade. Being able to set up a branch office in one place and put a formal civil official with a grade in charge already shows that Shangguan attaches great importance to it. Qianwei Salt Farm also has an official, but the Nanlang Salt Farm and Shepeng Salt Farm in northern Sichuan do not even have the qualifications to send officials, and they are all hereditary officials.

The scholars of the Ming Dynasty once joked about this strange phenomenon: officials are displaced and officials are feudal!

There is a blue brick mansion in the center of Gongjing Town, the gate is closed, and the lintel is painted with white ash, and the four big black characters of "Yanke Lifting" are written.

On weekdays, there are always salt diners stationed outside the gate, shouting a few words at the blind salt merchants. Who would be such a fool now, slamming his head into the knife of the mob? Most of the salts have fled, leaving only a few people still in the house, helplessly waiting for the verdict of fate.

Outside the mansion, thousands of salt workers and stove households who have no food and clothing are carrying the tools of their daily work, surrounding the mansion. Their wives and babies were crowded in the crowd. On the high derrick in the distance, someone was monitoring every move in the house, waiting for the official Wang, the No. 1 salt merchant of the Furong Salt Factory, to talk to the messy Lord Fang about the result.

These salt workers don't want to be enemies of the imperial court and the government at all, after all, they produce salt, whether it is the main class or the surplus salt, they have to get the government's permission to sell it far away. They also knew that the salt merchants who were behind their backs also did not want to be enemies of the imperial court and the government. If they had not colluded with the government to lower the price of the stove, raise the salt market, and even divert taxes and sell salt privately, where would the salt merchants have made huge profits?

This lord is said to be a clean official, and he refuses to accept a bribe of one or two pieces of silver. It's just that the mind of this Qing official is too simple: how can the bad accounts of the 300-year-old salt factory of the Ming Dynasty be sorted out overnight? If you want to compare the bad debts and make up for several years of salt taxes, don't you have a large part of those huge salt taxes to be distributed to your head in the end?

These salt workers waited silently, waiting for the door of the house to open, and the officials inside could come out and say a reassuring word, saying that you should disperse, and the salt stove would make a fire as usual, and the cart would turn as usual, and the wellhead would still be brine. But until the sun was in the middle of the day, the black-lacquered door was still silent, and there was no movement.

At this time, there was a sudden commotion in the crowd.

While most people were still ignorant of what was going on, a man sitting on the roof screamed hoarsely: "The officers and soldiers are coming! ”

……

On the second day after the court meeting, Zhu Pingjin and Luo Yuhong led Liao Daheng, Liu Zhibo, Zheng Anmin and other high-ranking civil and military officials of Shu to the Zhaozhong Temple in the northeast corner to pay tribute to the officers and soldiers who died in Changping Mountain and other places. The mighty sacrificial scene not only attracted the onlookers of the citizens of the provincial city, but also attracted many soldiers stationed in the north field next to the Zhaozhong Temple for training.

In the memorial text, Zhu Pingjin highly praised the victims for "being physically dead but not spiritually dead", and reaffirmed his solemn promise to protect the wounded soldiers of the caravan "with their wounded and buried". After the memorial ceremony, Zhu Pingjin also cordially met with the administrator of the ancestral hall and donated 1,000 taels of silver to them, thanking them for enshrined the spirit cards of the two teams of the merchant in the ancestral hall, so that the heroic souls can enjoy the incense forever.

After the memorial ceremony, the car of the Shu King's Mansion drove back to the house. It's just that there is no longer Zhu Pingjin in the car. He changed his disguise, wore a mask to cover his face, and accompanied his wife to inspect the Sichuan Machinery Bureau outside the east gate.

The new plant of the Sichuan Machinery Bureau is still in the process of large-scale infrastructure.

In a large area of adobe enclosed open space, three simple factories with roofs and no walls have been erected, and five more are laying foundations in the background.

The clearing was dusty and the wood was piled up. Many workers were busy going back and forth, dropping heavy logs from the hills, peeling them and sawing them into planks. Two factories have been put into production, one is preparing materials, and there are piles of square materials on the ground; The other is assembling finished products, with rows of threshing machines, hair dryers, spinning machines and looms on the floor.

Zhu Pingjin proudly whispered in his wife's ear: "Look, this is the power of large-scale, intensive and large-scale production!" ”

"The format of the township enterprise!"

Luo Yuhong's mouth was pursed, and she was very disdainful: "It's too backward!" There must be a crane (crane) on the roof of the factory, right? There should be rail transportation between the factory and the inside of the factory, right? Wood processing relies on hundreds of people to pull large saws, how can this work? At the very least, there should be a disc sawing machine and planer that you can step on with your hands and feet! No way! The design of the next five factories needs to be upgraded! Isn't this called a machine bureau, how can it be all handicraft! ”

……

explained to Yang Neng, and the two returned to the city in a sedan chair, and Zhu Pingjin asked his wife about the salt factory.

"Steward Fu and Master Li told me a bunch of imperial court salt laws! The opening of the middle system, the salt merchant transported grain to the frontier, in exchange for the quotation ticket, and then came back to get the quotation ticket for salt, and it was a lot of procedures, one procedure to pay a money, and the ghost knows where the money went. It's very complicated when I think about it, I can't imagine that the ancestors of your Zhu family are quite good at playing. ”

"How about Yuan Shizhen's salt method? How is your assessment? ”

"Salt law?" Zhu Pingjin's wife sneered and laughed, "That is a kind of merchant hereditary monopoly system licensed by the imperial court!" Those on the list can play, but those outside the list can never get touched! How can there be such a stupid person in your court, in order to find a few small coins temporarily, he actually sells his long-term rights and interests! ”

Zhu Pingjin was unhappy: "What is your court, our court!" ”

Luo Yuhong didn't care about Zhu Pingjian's simple feelings for Daming's blood thicker than water, and resolutely retorted, "Why not? The officials in charge of salt in the imperial court personally carried private salt, how could it be possible to ban illegal salt! There is a lot of private salt, how to do a salt monopoly! The imperial court's control over the stove households is even more inexplicable. It turned out that his children and grandchildren could only boil salt water, unless he could be admitted to the imperial examination! If human resources cannot flow freely, how can we develop a market economy? The salt officials desperately exploited the salt merchants, doing everything possible to inspire them to bribe, and the salt merchants desperately paid bribes in order to squeeze into the list of gangyan. As soon as the salt was carried out, the tax revenue of your imperial court did not increase by a few, but the printing price of each salt (300 catties) jumped from 328 yuan in the fifth year of the Apocalypse to 526 yuan (Note 2)! ”

"So what are we going to do?"

Luo Yuhong shook his head and was categorical: "No way, it's rotten to the roots, only to tear down and rebuild." I'm going to use the old ways I've used before. ”

"Unified purchase and sales?"

"Yes. Unified purchase and sales! Build a warehouse at the wharf by the Puxi River in Zigong. All the salt produced is sold to us, and then we package it and sell it. A bag of fifty pounds can be carried by a man. The difference between one in and one out, in addition to packaging and storage costs, the rest is taxes. Wellheads cannot be monopolized, and now that production is insufficient, we also need to encourage private investment, and we can invest ourselves. However, I heard that digging a well is precious, a few thousand taels for a shallow one, and ten thousand taels for one or two hundred zhang deep. Can you learn from Brother Hugh, use your brain, and improve your tools? ”

Zhu Pingjin was not led by his wife's jumping thinking, he just asked.

"Since illicit salt is rampant, how do you crack down on illicit salt?"

"Catch! The old way of your Ming law, a hundred rods, three years; those who have weapons shall be given one grade; Those who resist arrest, beheaded; The tools of the crime were incorporated into the official. There is a law to follow, and there is a law to follow! ”

"How do I think you're talking a bit like my style today?" Zhu Pingjin asked his wife.

"Really?" Luo Yuhong retorted in a long voice: "I don't think so." But I think you're doubting my abilities! ”

"I don't doubt your ability, I think you're a thief!"

"You're a thief!"

"Bounce!"

……

Liu Zhibo asked to see him yesterday and unexpectedly offered to let Zhu Pingjin take care of the salt tax.

The reason is that the caravan has already occupied the southern salt factory, and if it sends troops to rescue Fang Yaoxiang, it will also occupy the Furong salt factory. In this way, two of the three major salt industry bases in Sichuan were occupied, laying a good foundation for the Shu Wangfu to take over. As he spoke, Liu Zhibo clearly revealed an emotion, that is, he no longer believed that the malpractices of the salt administration could be solved through normal channels. He may have thought that in an unconventional and controversial way, he could quickly cut through the mess and cut off the 300-year-old defects at once.

He pinned his hopes on me, which shows that he and some officials with a sense of justice who are unwilling to fall have put the treasure on me. This shows that in addition to the likes of Jiangding Town, another part of the people have also begun to act. That's a good sign.

However, the salt industry is in charge, involving the interests of too many people. Not to mention far away, the high-ranking officials in the province will have no share? Otherwise, why don't the tax officials ask for a meeting together? Why was Liu Zhibo the first to speak and not Liao Tycoon? As soon as the Shu Wangfu was covered, their financial routes were all cut off. It's strange if they don't hate me to death, maybe they will look for me like Zhang Jimeng! What to do? Let them send a report letter to the central government every day?

The sedan chair is bumping, and the wife who has finished arguing is peeping out the window. Zhu Pingjin thought, why would he be noncommittal to Liu Zhibo's proposal? Is it waiting for a better time, or is it instinctively avoiding the risks that come with the salt industry?

"Lord Shizi, Miss Luo, Hejiang Pavilion has arrived. Do you want to rest in the pavilion and drink tea before leaving? Qin Yi's voice sounded softly outside the sedan chair.

Hejiang Pavilion is the place where Zhu Pingjin and Luo Yuhong took wedding photos in their previous lives.

"Okay! Revisiting the old place, there is a special taste in my heart! Luo Yuhong was very happy when she heard this, and her petty bourgeoisie flares up again.

"It's good! Things are people, and everything is resting, and tears flow first! Zhu Pingjin replied coldly.

Note 1: Due to the dispersion of information, the details of the Sichuan salt industry in the late Ming Dynasty have not been verified. However, according to the data of the early Qing Dynasty, the market position of Furong Salt Farm in the early Qing Dynasty was not as good as that of Lang (Zhong County) Salt Farm in Nan (Bu County). The real golden years of the Furong Salt Works began in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.

Note 2: Huang Renyu's "Finance and Taxation in Ming China in the Sixteenth Century" shows that the price of salt in the Ming Dynasty rose to 56 taels per ton (28 wen per catty), and I don't know where it came from. However, it may not be appropriate to generalize Mr. Wong's figures. With 28 yuan per catty, there will be no nationwide salt shortage, and the common people will not be unable to afford to eat salt. Because in the composition of the salt price, the printing price of each quote is only the price of the special security itself. In the above note, the basic cost per catty of salt under the salt method has been calculated to be 22 Wen. According to various existing Ming Dynasty documents, both the price of salt merchants and the retail price of salt are much higher than this figure. Moreover, the price of salt varies greatly in different periods and places. According to the "Continuation of the Literature General Examination of Zhengyi, Salt and Iron", a catty of salt in the late Ming Dynasty was three to four coins of silver (300-400 Wen), which seems to have greater credibility.

Regarding the cost of salt production, the production cost of the salt drying method is extremely low. According to the chronicles of Zhangpu County, Fujian, it is 0.00025 taels per catty when it is expensive, and 0.000125 taels per catty when it is cheap, which means that four to eight catties are worth a penny. Sichuan well salt is much more expensive because of the large investment.

By the way, this book "Finance and Taxation in Ming China in the Sixteenth Century". Xiangmu spent a lot of time reading this book from English to Chinese, and found that there were many facts in the book to prove a lie: the taxes of the Ming Dynasty were too light. This illustrates two things:

First, you should read more books, because if you know half of them, you will make jokes. It's okay to deceive foreigners, anyway, there are very few people who can read ancient Chinese. Lie to the Chinese, only those fools will be fooled;

Second, if there is only micro analysis, there is no macro grasp, and it will also be a joke. Isn't it strange that 20% of the income tax plus five insurances and one housing fund did not rebel, and the 3% agricultural tax would rebel?