Soon, an idea from later generations entered Wei Zheng's field of vision......

After the end of World War II, the powerful Soviet Union fell apart in just a few decades. In addition to the increasingly rigid system in the Soviet Union, there was another very important reason.

As for the reason, it boils down to four words: the arms race......

Dragged down by the arms race, the Soviet economy, which was already strong from outside and capable from the middle, was being dragged down little by little.

And now, he can use the same method to drag down the imperial finances.

The only difference is that he wants to change the arms race into a force race......

Tong guò bracket the army, forced the Nanjing court, in order to ensure their own safety, had to follow the bracket army.

And the more troops, the annual consumption of food and salary by the imperial court will become more and more. When this number of troops reaches a certain level, the Nanjing court will become a military court.

In this way, in order to support the army, the imperial court will try to increase its income.

As a result, the tax pressure on ordinary people will become greater and greater...... In the end, it reached the point where it was unbearable, and it was urgent, and it was possible to raise the flag and rebel......

At that time, the imperial court in Nanjing will gradually become the same as when it was still in Beijing, facing a bad financial situation that cannot make ends meet, and facing peasant uprisings that can be seen everywhere in the territory. In the end, the entire court was dragged into the abyss, and it was impossible to climb up.

In addition to allowing the imperial court to use guò to use military force and disintegrate their already very fragile economy. He can also use guò smuggling and other means to further reduce the income of the imperial court.

Of the 20 million taels of taxes collected by the Nanjing Imperial Court every year, 10 million came from the Liangtian tax.

Of the remaining ten million taels of silver. More than nine million. It was obtained by the imperial court by monopolizing two things, sea salt and iron.

If you can find a way to break this monopoly. Wouldn't it be very difficult for the imperial court to get the tax of tens of millions of taels of silver.

Thinking of this, Wei Zheng's eyes lit up, and he shouted directly to the guards at the door: "Immediately inform Vice Premier Zhou Changjun and Vice Premier Zhou to come to this king, and you must ...... quickly."

Zhou Changjun, who was born as a businessman, did not disappoint Wei Zheng, and when Wei Zheng said what he thought in his heart, he was immediately affirmed by Zhou Changjun. "Lord Wang, this method is absolutely feasible...... Since the seawater salt you proposed has been fully popularized along the coast of Shandong. The selling price of ordinary sea salt in several northern provinces has been reduced to one catty before two cents, and even less than 20% of the imperial court rule is less than ......" "As for refined salt, it has also been reduced because the price of raw materials has been greatly reduced. Up to the current position, the price of refined salt has been reduced to ten cents a catty, which is also only 20% ...... a year ago" "Because the price of refined salt has been greatly reduced, now, in the middle of several northern provinces, more than eighty percent of the ordinary people have all eaten refined salt. "And the Jiangnan region under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. Because of the monopoly of the imperial court, whether it is the price of ordinary sea salt. The price of refined salt is still at the level of a year ago, and there has been no reduction in ......" "Now, almost all of the 50 million catties of ordinary sea salt produced every month along the coast of Shandong are sold to the imperial court at a price of two wen per catty, and the court itself transports it to Jiangnan, and then the major salt merchants in Jiangnan sell it at a price of almost ten wen per catty. "I am sure that, excluding the costs and the profits of the major salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, the Nanjing Imperial Court can collect at least five cents in taxes per catty of sea salt...... One catty of salt costs five cents, and fifty million catties of salt is two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver...... "That is to say, if the sea salt is tightly tightened, the Nanjing Imperial Court can collect a salt tax of three million taels of silver...... "Ordinary sea salt is three million taels, and the more profitable refined salt is counted as three million, which is a full six million taels of silver...... "If we can find a way to smuggle a large amount of sea salt to Jiangnan, so that ordinary sea salt and refined salt are no more than the hands of the imperial court and Jiangnan salt merchants. Then, the annual salt tax of six million taels of silver in the Nanjing Imperial Court would be thankful that one million taels could be collected......"

According to what Zhou Changjun said, the tax of five million taels of silver from the imperial court was removed at once. If you make a black hand in other aspects, then you can remove the tax of the imperial court of ten million taels of silver......

Therefore, after Zhou Changjun finished speaking, Wei Zheng's eyes had already shot out two rays of scorching light.

Facing Zhou Changjun, he subconsciously asked: "Since the plan is feasible, then, are there any ......difficulties in operation?"

Zhou Changjun replied thoughtfully: "Lord Wang, since it is smuggling, the more smuggling points and the more hidden it is, the less likely it is to be discovered by the imperial court......"

"The people who enter Jiangnan to smuggle and sell sea salt, as long as we want, many businessmen go back to do it...... Because, the profit in this is too big...... As long as the salt is sold, it means making money......"

"But out of all these joints, there is one that is very difficult...... That is how to secretly transport salt to every point in Jiangnan without being discovered by the imperial court...... You must know that in the past year, the sea salt that entered the south of the Yangtze River was transported by the imperial court itself. In addition, the imperial court has deployed heavy troops on all transportation arteries, and it is almost impossible to transport a large amount of sea salt into Jiangnan by land......"

Wei Zheng nodded and asked, "What does this king know about you...... Since you raised this question, there must be a solution...... Tell me what you think, as long as the problem is not big, this king will support you......"

"Yes, Lord Wang...... My idea is to involve the Navy in this smuggling...... We all know that after several defeats, the imperial navy has existed in name only. As long as the navy is dispatched, we can use the guò waterway to transport sea salt to every corner of Jiangnan......"

"Can ......" For the future of the Tiger and Leopard Army, in order to curb the development of the imperial court and reduce the burden of the people in Jiangnan, Wei Zheng answered without thinking about it!

"The Navy's involvement, on the one hand, is to help the Foreign Trade Department smuggle sea salt to Jiangnan, and on the other hand, it can also smuggle through guò to train the army...... Tell the admirals that in the process of smuggling, if they are besieged by the imperial sailors, the king will allow them to counterattack......"

Salt could be smuggled through guò, which greatly reduced the salt tax revenue of the Jiangnan court.

There is no doubt that iron can do the same.

In addition, after the imperial court lost Jiangnan, it was impossible to meet the needs of Jiangnan by relying on Jiangnan's iron production. As long as Wei Zheng is willing, he may reduce the iron tax of at least two million taels of silver per year from the imperial court at any time......

However, what Wei Zheng didn't expect was that because of his smuggling, because of the rampant operation of the Haw Par Army Navy in the waters south of the Yangtze River, he really led an arms race, forcing the conceited Emperor Chongzhen to allocate military funds from the new army, build a naval division warship, reorganize the naval division, and fight against the Haw Par Army Navy......

Of course, that's all for later...... (To be continued......)