The next day, Li Chen continued to summon a few Zaidea, and informed him in advance to discuss the issue of salt tax today. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info prepared several prime ministers. People, the same people as the other day. Although many people's responsibilities have little to do with finances. However, Li Chen still brought everyone to brainstorm.

Let me first ask how my Datang salt is produced. Li Chen asked this question first, or Cui Yuanshi, who let him pour the frieze is the head of the household. Fortunately, there was a notice yesterday, otherwise he would never have figured it out.

'Sage, I Datang Salt, can be divided into several types. There are sea salt, well salt, and pool salt. The first two are known to everyone, and pond salt, like well salt, are products of inland areas. If the Dead Sea were placed in China, it would be a place to supply salt to the king's pool.

'Sea salt and well salt, using the decoction method, the brine is pumped up, and then boiled. Pond salt is the method of drying and frying,', Cui Yuanshi takes the most famous solution to pond salt as an example. The amount of sea salt is large, and the pool salt is of high quality. The salt in the Guanzhong area is to use pool salt, and fortunately there is pool salt on land, otherwise Dan relies on sea salt and transports it to the mainland, which is the price...

'With the sun? Li Chen was a little surprised when he heard that the pool salt was used in the sun, thinking that the ancients used it directly to cook it. However, this is also a small amount of pool salt can be used in this way, if the amount of sea salt is large, then there is no way. It seems that I can still get my own expectations.

Then there's the salt tax. Cui Yuanshi's forehead had beads of sweat, just like Bai Minzhong yesterday, he felt that Li Chen was focused, and then his pressure was greater, and he didn't know if it was because he felt that Li Chen was too unfathomable, or because Li Chen was also looking at and analyzing him.

'This salt tax, since the Han Dynasty.... Cui Yuanshi first wanted to make a long speech, saying that since the Han Dynasty, the salt tax had to be collected, but was interrupted by Li Chen, "It's good to start from my dynasty." ’

"Yes, then I'll start with the Kaiyuan period." Cui Yuanshi began to explain the salt politics of the Tang Dynasty. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there was no salt tax. Tang Cheng Sui system, for a long time, there was no salt tax. In the second year of Wude, there was a salt official. It is divided into salt wells and salt ponds, and both are equipped with prisons and eunuchs. Perhaps, there was a need at that time, after all, the Tang Dynasty did not yet dominate the world.

Then, in the Kaiyuan period. More than 100 years of good life are finally over. Xuanzong began to increase the salt tax. Because he wants to open the border, he wants to fight, and the money is not enough, so he starts with the salt tax. But for a long time, it was quite chaotic.

Let's start with the largest amount of sea salt. There are salt tuns, according to different places, some are military tuns, and a tun is equipped with fifty dings. And then in the general place, let them use salt instead of rent to get rent. A fixed amount to be turned in each year.

Then, the salt pond is generally taken into official possession, and the salt is divided into four parts of the government and one share of the people. This is Mintun. Pay a fixed amount of salt rent every year.

The salt well is a bit more chaotic, originally it was a tax, and the amount of tax on a salt well can be paid in silver.

Later, it was changed to sell brine and let the people decoction. In the end, it was changed to taxation.

However, this is not a salt tax, it can only be said that it is a normal tax. Sea salt is generally rented, while well salt and pond salt are taxed. Generally, salt is sold, or no tax.

'Silver? ''Yes, there is a rule that every two pieces of silver can be worth two hundred wen. Cui Yuanshi said, Shuzhong well salt, allowing silver instead of copper money to pay taxes, Li Chen was quite surprised. I always thought that it would not be until the middle of the Ming Dynasty, because of overseas imports, that there were more silver taels. It turns out that there was so much silver in the Tang Dynasty, or was it silver produced in Shu at that time?

'Continue. Cui Yuanshi was nervous for a moment, is there a problem with replacing copper coins with silver? Finding that Li Chen really seemed to be just asking, he continued.

Later, a tax rate of 2 per cent was introduced. It is stipulated that the salt car, the axle is seven feet two inches long, the face is three catties and four taels, the salt hopper, and the amount is twenty wen per penny.

After that, some people noticed their intentions and proposed to attack the iron, and the salt and iron should be official. Although it was denied in the end, but, hehe, everyone knows it, and then what...

After Anshi, the imperial court's tax revenue was greatly reduced. Most of the land taxes were gone, and the military expenditure was huge, so some people came forward and began to find ways to get money. Start with the salt administration.

First of all, the fifth Qi in the Suzong period, a financial expert, or an expert in making money. Let the emperor sell all the salt he has obtained.

In the past, as long as it was not a frontier area, only a fixed tax was charged. Salt is used instead of rent. In this case, it is natural that there will be more salt, and the government will also sell the salt and hand it over to the court for money.

The same is true for well salt and pool salt, under the fixed tax rate, there will be more or less some private salt. Therefore, the price of salt is about ten dollars per bucket. It's cheap. When the fifth Qi was appointed as the salt and iron envoy, it was directly doubled tenfold, one hundred and ten yuan per bucket.

It's ruthless enough, but it's a talent. Li Chen praised. Hearing Li Chen say this, Cui Yuanshi was very embarrassed, is this a good review?

'Sage, in fact, the fifth Qi is just picking up people's teeth and wisdom. Li Chen raised his eyebrows, picking up people's teeth? It is also his ability to pick it up, otherwise why would no one else bring it up.

Wait for Cui Yuanshi to continue. Li Chen knew that he had misunderstood, and Cui Yuan was saying that it was already polite to pick up people's teeth. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is plagiarism.

It turned out that when An was envoys, An Lushan raised troops from Fanyang, and Yan Zhenqing resolutely resisted. He took the salt produced in the local area, bought it at a low price, and then sold it for military expenses.

At that time, the fifth Qi followed Shi Helan into the Ming Dynasty and recruited Yu Hebei, noticed this incident, and later used him unceremoniously.

(So this guy has to be famous enough to stink.) Also a fool. ), Li Chen will change his attitude, and scold people like this, not only because he plagiarized Yan Zhenqing, but because he messed things up. The salt tax has been suddenly increased so much that the problem can only be solved in a short period of time.

Because of the sharp increase in salt taxes, many people cannot afford to eat salt, although there are so many in his family, there is a reason, but it is not as good as the increase in food prices. But the price of salt has suddenly increased so much that too many people can't afford it. The official price is 110 wen for salt, which is transported to some remote areas, and with the freight, the local people can't afford to eat salt at all.

What if you can't afford salt? Buy illicit salt. Because official salt is too expensive, private salt is rampant. This is simply drinking to quench thirst. If he really came up with a way, Li Chen could still give a little praise, just like just now. However, you can only plagiarize, and you don't consider the reality at all.

After a few more years, someone finally came forward and really sorted out the salt administration. That person is Liu Yan. He really took a business perspective and sorted out the salt administration. It greatly increased the income of the imperial court and exempted it from the trouble of private salt.

First, he sorted out the salt works. Some small, remote, and saltworks were abolished. There are only about a dozen or so sea salt producing areas that are under the administration of officials.

He changed the methods of obtaining private property, official income, official transportation, and official sales to civilian property, official income, commercial transportation, and commercial sales. How significant is the effect? Fifteen times.

Before he improved the salt law, the salt profit in the Jianghuai land was only 400,000 yuan. In the third year, it increased to six million, a full fifteen-fold increase.

On the one hand, he collects salt, and on the other hand, he transports salt himself. He did not spend forced labor, but hired people to transport salt from the salt tax he saved. Do what? It's simple, Changping.

He built a lot of warehouses in various places. Salt production land, build more, so that as much salt as possible to store in it, there will be no omission, and there will be no shortage of salt will not lead to an increase in salt prices.

In some remote areas, merchants are reluctant to transport them. It is transported there by the government, stored in warehouses, and if the price of salt rises too much, it can be transported immediately to places where transportation is usually developed. Remote areas rely on warehouses. In case there is no one to sell at all, the government can also sell these official salts to the people at a low price.

In addition, he has salt and iron branches in many places. If you remember, there is one in the town of Barrel Bridge. These salt and iron branches are full of patrol responsibilities. They are all located in the main traffic routes, responsible for the investigation of smuggled salt, the transfer of materials and other duties.

Liu Yan is also because of this, not only does not increase the burden of the people, but also increases the employment rate, the court increases taxes, and the people can also eat cheap salt, which is praised by people. However, even so, he did not end well. is too good at doing things, can't be an official, and was framed as a result.

After a multi-pronged approach, the salt administration of the Tang Dynasty finally entered a smooth period. The court had taxes, and the people no longer suffered from salt. Everyone was happy, but the good times didn't last long. When it came to the Dezong period, the scar was healed and the pain was forgotten, and his ancestor, Dezong, began to toss again.

Dezong is considered to have a heart, and he wants to cut down the feudal towns and re-establish the prestige of the imperial court, so that there will be a war. The war required military expenses, and he turned his brain to the salt tax.

first deposed Liu Yan, demoted him to assassination, and later killed him. Then he abolished the officials in charge of salt affairs, the envoys of the degree support, and the envoys of salt and iron transport. Although it was forced to resume soon after, although the result was still the implementation of Liu Yande's salt policy, the overall situation was not reversed.

Huainan Jiedu made Chen Shaoyou discuss raising the price of salt, so the entire salt policy was completed, and it was reduced year by year, and all provinces also increased the price without authorization. (Why is it him again, Li Chen frowned, the commercial tax was also raised at his suggestion, and the result was all over, and now the salt tax is too.) He is also a capable person. ）

'The imperial salt tax was greatly reduced, and even Changping salt was abolished. Cui Yuanshi has a little tooth acid. Changping salt has the meaning of stabilizing the price of salt, so that both the people and the court can profit. But it was also abolished. Until, in the first year of Yuanhe, Li Xun served as the envoy of salt and iron and degree, and reorganized the salt administration, reduced the price of salt, rectified the rule of officials, and restored Changping salt. The salt tax has stabilized again, and the next year it was even more than when Liu Yan was there.

That's good. Li Chen's eyes lit up, although it was because of Liu Yan's old wisdom, but he was able to learn well, which was his ability. If you don't go to that Fifth Qi, you will directly mess it up.

Hearing Li Chen's praise, several prime ministers looked uncertain, not that Li Xun was bad, but that his salt method was a little harsh.

Li Xun's practice was to divide the region, and the salt produced in that place would be sold in whichever area, and merchants were forbidden to run around, so as to strictly prevent smuggling. It's just that... (To be continued.) )