Lu Nai's disadvantage of salt affairs is much more thorough than Lu Wanqing's, but privilege is like opium smoke, addictive, how can it be relieved casually, so this time the Qing Dynasty is about to end, Sichuan is going to change the new owner, Lu Nai took the initiative to visit Qiao Yu, wanting to buy him first, so that he can continue to maintain this privilege, for which he took out millions of taels of silver, but Qiao Yu not only did not accept it, but also clearly told him that the salt industry should be reformed, how could it not make Lu Nai's heart bitter!

"Adults talk, children don't interject!" Lu Nai scolded Lu Wanqing, then turned to Qiao Yu and smiled: "Governor, now that you have abolished the centijin, I think the price of salt can be reduced by twenty or thirty wen, or even more, I think it is completely possible to reduce the price of salt by one or twenty wen first, so that the mud legs will see the benefits, and then we will hand over the extra money to you, don't you think this is the best of both worlds?" ”

Qiao Yu saw that Lu Nai was so uninteresting, and suddenly his face was slightly frosty, and he said coldly: "Mr. Lu, this time I told you that the matter of salt reform is not a consultation, but a notice, and I also told you such a major decision in advance for the sake of Wanqing's face, nothing else is negotiable, if you can prepare first, I guarantee that you can earn more, and the money is still dignified, you don't need to look at the official as before, as long as you pay taxes, you can continue to operate normally, I also advise you, It is painful to give up privileges, but it is better to give up actively than passively, sooner or later, one day the common people will not be able to bear it, rise up and resist, and say that it is too late, the Qing Dynasty is how it perished, not to mention a few salt merchants! ”

Qiao Yu's words were very weighty, like a fist, smashed on Lu Nai's heart, and the salt merchant firmly protected himself by weaving a network of relationships, this power is beyond imagination, even the emperor wants to deal with them, it will inevitably be counterattacked, and the tiger can't eat the sky.

But now is the time of chaos, the rules in the past are gone, the salt merchant is like a turtle that has lost its shell, it is very fragile, if Qiao Yu steps on it at this time, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not be completely destroyed, in fact, Qiao Yu chose to solve the salt problem at this time is also out of this consideration.

If you don't take advantage of the change now, when the world settles down, the salt merchants can rely on various relationships to reorganize the umbrella, then Qiao Yu will not face the Sichuan salt merchants, but the salt merchants of the whole world, China not only Sichuan salt, there is sea salt along the coast, Shaanxi also has pond salt, and the power of the two Huai salt merchants is still above the Sichuan salt merchants.

Salt is a necessity for the people, the price gap can not be too big, you sell it cheaply in Sichuan, so what should you do in other places, and if the price is not reduced in other places, can the people agree? If other salt merchants are unwilling to give up their privileges, then there is only one way to make your Sichuan unable to change, and everyone will be worse together, and only in this way can the maladministration be maintained.

In fact, when Yuan Shikai was in power, he had to reform the salt affairs, and finally was opposed by the collective opposition of this interest group, and finally it was over, the salt affairs of the Republic of China have continued the disadvantages of the Qing Dynasty, and the people have suffered from it, and now the world is still in chaos, Qiao Yu took advantage of the chaos to complete the reform, and then there will be no way to object, otherwise you will wait for the people of Sichuan to tear you up, maybe you can also promote other regions to reform the salt policy, so that the people will no longer be salt slaves, which can be regarded as a merit of Qiao Yu.

Lu Nai's heart couldn't stop churning, what should he do, whether to obey Qiao Yu, or to unite all the salt merchants to fight, the two thoughts kept clashing.

"Dad, haven't you heard how Qiao Yu changed his salt policy? What are you in a hurry to stop doing, maybe it could be better? ”

Lu Wanqing still knows a little about Qiao Yu's reform plan, she naturally sees the benefits, and he took the initiative to tell his father the plan in advance, so that his father can lay out in advance, and obviously he will get more benefits than others, maybe he will earn more than now, so looking at his father's tangled appearance, he really hates iron and steel, so he reminded him.

Lu Nai also reacted, and hurriedly asked, "Governor Qiao, how are you going to reform the salt administration!" ”

"It's very simple, abolish the original monopoly system, adopt the method of free competition, as long as you have enough qualifications to open a well to cook salt, first pay a deposit of 500,000 taels of silver to the political axe, you can mine salt, how to produce and sell it is all up to the businessman himself, the political axe only levies two taxes on salt, once when it leaves the factory, five cents per catty, and a sales tax is levied at the place of sale, three cents per catty, and no other taxes are levied, I plan to reduce the price of salt to seventy cents this year, And then further reduce it to about 50 Wen, and within three years, the price of salt should be controlled at around 30 Wen, and finally the tax levied by the political axe will be reduced, and then the salt price will be further controlled, in short, it will no longer be difficult for the people to eat salt! ”

"How many businessmen are going to give this kind of business qualification?" Lu Nai was gradually moved by the scene described by Qiao Yu, if according to Qiao Yu's statement, a pound of salt axe is only eight yuan in taxes, and the cost is only less than ten yuan, if you can buy thirty yuan, it will be a lot of money, and Lu Nai also clearly knows what this salt price means for other provinces, the salt price of thirty yuan is only one-third of that of other provinces, if it is operated well, is it not Sichuan salt that can occupy a broader market, so the profit is definitely more amazing, so Lu Nai can't help but be tempted, He knew that although Qiao Yu said that it was free competition, the number of businessmen who could take out 500,000 at once and invest further would not be very large, so he asked how many would have this right!

"Salt is different from others, less is not good, too much no one will eat as a dish, tentatively within ten, but I still have two points to explain, one is that the treatment of salt workers must be improved, at least let them be fed and clothed, and second, if Mr. Lu is ready to operate the salt business, it is best to use more machines to produce, which can reduce costs and make greater profits."

Lu Nai hurriedly nodded yes, in a short period of time, Lu Nai has already calculated, according to the ten salt merchants, the population of the well salt supply is close to 100 million, the average is 10 million people, each person buys ten catties of salt, each catty of salt earns ten wen, from one person can earn 100 wen, a year's net profit can definitely reach five or six hundred thousand yuan, although the salt merchant is rich, but it is also accumulated from generation to generation, and the bulk of the head has to be handed over to the imperial court, in fact, there is not much money in hand, according to the current estimate, the profit has doubled, and he can't help but change his mind.

After Qiao Yu and Lu Nai finished talking, they let their father and daughter talk alone, and Lu Wanqing immediately took her father to her small courtyard, "Dad, is my mother's health okay?" ”

"Okay, I just miss you, your little girl is really wild, you ran a big trip, why did you hook up with Qiao Dudu? Not to mention that you are a good match for your talented women, your vision is really good! ”

As soon as Lu Wanqing heard that her father dared to joke about herself, she immediately glared, "I have nothing to do with that conspirator, don't get us together, but Daddy, hurry up and prepare how to make a lot of money!" ”

"Silly girl, Governor Qiao only leaked the news to Daddy for the sake of your face, otherwise where did Daddy get such a good deal, this is true feelings, what are you going to want!"

The father and daughter chatted, and Qiao Yu received an important piece of information over there, it turned out that there was a big turmoil in Syria, dozens of ticket numbers and pawnshops united with some local people's troops, launched an uprising, and expelled other people's army forces in the city, and now sent a telegram to Qiao Yu, hoping that Qiao Yu can enter Syria as soon as possible to prevent the people's army from counterattacking!