The first wind and rain drifted away

"Wen Aiqing is still full of fighting spirit!"

Seeing the spirit of the gentle and treacherous appearance, Emperor Chongzhen had to sigh to himself.

How old are people, how many court affairs do they have to deal with every day, and they have to pit this and yin every day.

It's not easy!

I'm ashamed to compare myself to him.

"Don't dare, it's just to seek his own government in his position."

Got the praise of Emperor Chongzhen, gentle and treacherous, and now the days are good!

Thinking about the past, when he was going to trick people, all the action steps were ready, but he had to withdraw from the matter to avoid suspicion.

What now?

With the emperor's personal cooperation, how sour and refreshing it is.

There are many people in this world who can speak, but there are not many people who can do things.

The famous Donglin Party of the Ming Dynasty is actually a mouth cannon party. These people can't do anything but talk about it.

The slogans were loud and loud, but they could not hide their filthy nature.

In the past, I wanted to do something, but unfortunately they wouldn't let me.

There are still rumors in the market that he is a plague pig, and the emperor asked him to be the first assistant, but he was a plague pig.

These grandchildren.

They don't have other skills, and verbal criticism is their forte.

Although their slogans are beautifully packaged, they are actually forming a party for personal gain, and they are the spokesperson for big landlords and big businessmen.

Fortunately, the emperor has recently recognized their faces, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would have been harmed by them.

"Emperor, everyone has arrived." Xiao Dezi, the attendant eunuch, came in to pray.

"Wen Aiqing, let's go"

Emperor Chongzhen raised his legs and walked outside.

Today, it is Emperor Chongzhen who holds a small court meeting in the Wenhua Palace, attended by cabinet ministers and six Shangshu, to discuss the reform of the salt law.

In such a specific matter, the Great Dynasty will not be able to solve the problem.

When they arrived at the Wenhua Palace, the personnel had already taken their seats.

Emperor Chongzhen came in, and everyone stood up and saluted.

"The criminal minister Yang Weiyuan knocks on the emperor!"

Among them, only Yang Weiyuan, the prefect of Huai'an, who had just entered Beijing, had the lowest status, and he was not an important minister in the court, and he was condemned as a rebel in the first year of Chongzhen, so he knelt on the ground and bowed.

In the eyes of the ministers, Emperor Chongzhen said softly: "Aiqing, please be flat!" ”

Suddenly, except for the gentle and treacherous ministers, the other courtiers couldn't figure out what was going on?

Could it be that the wind has changed?

Regarding Yang Weiyuan's participation in this meeting, there were many speculations in everyone's hearts before, but now they are witnessing the situation, and they are almost inseparable.

"The guilty minister thanks the emperor for his kindness!"

For the courtesy of Emperor Chongzhen, the feelings of the party Yang Weiyuan can be imagined.

He almost burst into tears, a choked voice in his voice.

Over the years, with the identity of a eunuch, I have really lived aggrieved!

Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen sighed slightly, and couldn't help but scold MMP, these damn Donglin parties.

It can be said that there were too many people who were wronged at the end of the Ming Dynasty to count.

The Hongguang Dynasty fell, and the ministers were martyred Gao Zhuo, Zhang Jie, Yang Weihuan, etc., among which Zhang Jie and Yang Weihuan were the so-called anti-party elements in the mouth of the Donglin Party, but both of them committed suicide and martyrdom when the city of Nanjing was broken.

Especially Yang Weihuan, the whole family died together.

But he, like Ma Shiying, was beaten to death by the rebels after his family died and was martyred.

Ordered someone to add a brocade pier, rewarded Yang Weiyuan to sit down, and Emperor Chongzhen began today's meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there are eleven salt farms in the Ming Dynasty, and I plan to keep only two Huai salt envoys, and the other ten are all contracted and operated by the palace, what do you think?"

As soon as he sat down, Emperor Chongzhen put forward his opinion on the big lama.

Don't look at what he said very simply, but this is a deliberate decision.

If you really want to reform the salt business, it is not a simple matter.

Take the two largest salt fields in the Ming Dynasty, Changlu Salt Field and Lianghuai Salt Field, the former is the most profitable of the Jin merchants and a group of relatives and royal families.

The latter were Hui merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and behind them were the huge Donglin Party members.

One south and one north, both are very difficult problems.

They have to be divided and split in half to be easily solved.

It just so happened that the salt works in the north, in the business that Emperor Chongzhen was in charge of, happened to have a part of it related to Jin merchants and nobles.

And the northwest region will be handed over to King Lu Yan and Lao Sun Tou at that time.

"Then may I ask the emperor, how does the palace have a contracting law?"

Hubu Shangshu got up and asked with some eagerness.

As long as the treasury can receive the money, Bi Shangshu is willing to contract it to the palace.

This is because although the Salt Transportation Division is a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Households, it is difficult for the Ministry of Households to control it because of its semi-independent status.

Moreover, the officials of the Salt Transportation Division have the right to sell surplus salt, and they are all rich in flowing oil.

Although the household officials are also in short supply, they have been moving around for the Ming treasury, which is empty every year, and these officials are also as big as a fight.

In this situation, the officials of the Salt Transportation Department, who can make a lot of money without doing anything, have become the jealousy of the household officials.

In this regard, Bi Ziyan, an old scholar, naturally knows about it.

Now, to be able to get a windfall at the end of the year, Bi Shangshu is happier than anyone else.

After all, during this period of time, the treasury was empty, and it was all withdrawn from the emperor's inner treasury.

"I am going to open a trading house, in addition to paying 600,000 taels of silver to the salt works every year, and paying 500,000 taels of silver to the treasury every year as usual.

What does Bi Aiqing think? ”

According to the current market, Emperor Chongzhen added 300,000 taels to the treasury.

"The minister thought that it could be done, after the palace contracted the salt works, the imperial court did not have to bear the operating expenses of the salt works, which was equivalent to net income.

Moreover, it can eliminate the salt transportation divisions everywhere, and save a sum of money. ”

Bi Ziyan is obviously very supportive of the idea of increasing the income of the household department, and he is extremely fine, even in the face of Emperor Chongzhen?

The second assistant Wang Yingxiong is a kind person, he frowned and asked, "Your Majesty, if the salt field is contracted, what should I do with the salt introduction sent out?"

Take the Changlu Salt Farm as an example, 200,000 salt introductions are issued every year, and it is estimated that there will be more than three years of salt introduction that has not yet been cashed out.

The minister thought that it was necessary to solve the salt introduction before contracting, so as not to cause merchants to gather in the capital to make trouble. ”

Bi Ziyan immediately retorted: "The salt farm contract is a contract, and the salt introduction problem is the salt introduction problem, how can the two things be confused?"

If the salt is to be sold after the salt is handled, then the palace will never want to contract the salt farm, and the emperor and the ministers oppose this proposal. ”

Although the courtiers present did not have much to do with the salt merchants in the salt works, the salt affairs were related to the stability of the imperial court.

After the contract of other salt farms, the remaining salt diversion treatment in the hands of salt merchants immediately attracted their attention.

Except for some special cases in the Ming Dynasty, most officials generally follow the old ways.

In other words, the way of disposing of salt in other salt farms today may be used in the future for salt in the hands of salt merchants in other salt farms.

Therefore, most courtiers thought that it was inappropriate for the strong rhetoric of the Tobe Shangshu Bi to be strict.

After listening for a long time, Emperor Chongzhen knocked on the table and said slowly: "I have already understood, but I agree with Bi Shangshu's opinion, it is better to contract the salt farm and deal with the salt introduction separately."

How much salt is in the salt field outside, you have to calculate it before you can decide how to dispose of it, right?

And how much of the salt in the hands of these salt merchants was purchased or obtained in other ways, I think it is also necessary to carefully discern it.

Every year, the imperial court issues 250,000 copies of salt, and for every 326 yuan and 4 cents, 9 million taels of silver should be obtained, but can the annual salt income exceed 3 million taels? ”

Emperor Chongzhen's questioning made the courtiers who opposed the separate disposal of the salt introduction suddenly silent.

The corruption of the salt introduction system did not begin today.

Since the destruction of the Kaizhong Law, successive emperors have rewarded nobles, princes, and eunuchs with salt, making the phenomenon of salt indiscriminate more and more serious.

Today, the noble and wealthy families have firmly controlled the power to release salt and extract surplus salt from various salt farms.

Every year, tens of millions of salt taxes flow into the pockets of these noble families.

Compared with the small scale of the Changlu Salt Farm, the salt has only been accumulated for three years and has not been withdrawn.

The salt quality is better, and the larger scale of the two Huai salt farms has not been extracted more than ten years ago.

At this time, the old fox took the opportunity to say: "The minister must follow the emperor's will and register and screen the salt in the hands of these salt merchants."

In addition, the minister wanted Yang Weiyuan, the prefect of Huai'an, to be reappointed as the envoy of the two Huai'an salt transporters.

After all, the imperial court now only has two Huai salt farms left, and it needs to select capable officials to deal with the salt issue well. ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, pointed at Yang Weiyuan and said, "I hope Yang Aiqing can live up to expectations, work openly, and manage the two Huai salt farms.

In addition, other salt farms cannot be screened indefinitely.

In this way, the Spring Festival will be used as a restriction, and the salt of the salt field that has not yet been registered with the household department in the future will be invalidated, and the imperial court will no longer approve it. ”

Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Traitor sang and harmonized, and the salt field changed hands.

"Your Majesty, there is a secret report in Shaanxi."

During the meeting, Wang Chengen, the boss of Dongchang, hurriedly sent a letter to Emperor Chongzhen.

Lao Wang's appearance has never been good, and the hearts of the participants have been raised.