How can we destroy Xujiazhuang?

Is it okay to rely on the mouths of the officials in the court?

This is obviously not good, if the mouth cannon is useful, not to mention the small Xujiazhuang, that is, the Liukou who ravaged from the mountains and Shaanxi to Henan, or the Jiannu Tartars outside the Guan, have already been wiped out by their mouth cannons N times.

And this time the emperor is obviously on the side of Xu Jiazhuang, not because Xu Jiazhuang is reasonable, the video evidence provided by Xu Jiazhuang has too many places that can be picked and found faults, and the civil officials who have never lost in the benefit of the tongue have hundreds of ways to refute it, and it is useless to shoot 10,000 videos.

But the trick of taking the lead is too powerful.

The most fundamental thing is that 300,000 silver dollars + 8,000 stones of superb snow salt are made every year, and these real benefits have played a decisive role.

In the future, if there is a conflict of interest with Xujiazhuang, as long as a wicked person sues first, occupies three points of reason, and then takes out some benefits to bribe to please the emperor, Xujiazhuang will basically be invincible.

The style of play has changed completely.

What to do?

In a private place, a number of heavyweight civil officials gathered together to discuss.

"Your Majesty is now greedy for money and good goods, the Great Category of Divine Sects, has forgotten the teachings of the sages, it is painful, if you want to make Your Majesty restrain from the precipice and change your mind, you can only take unconventional means and try to lure each other with profit, since Xujiazhuang gives Your Majesty 500,000 taels of salt tax every year, then we will double your Majesty 1 million taels, we give more, Your Majesty will return to us, and you will never be bewitched by the demons of Xujiazhuang again." The minister said in a gloomy voice.

"One million taels a year, where did we get so much money?" Another minister was puzzled.

"Of course, let Yangzhou salt merchants pay, these salt merchants are rich and rival the country, and their extravagant life is better than that of the old man, who will pay if they don't pay? One million taels a year, but a dime a dime, they will definitely be able to take it, and we just need to say that His Majesty will deal with Xujiazhuang, wait for the imperial army to take the harbor city, hand over the salt pond to the salt merchants to operate, and master the snow salt and other commercial goods, why not worry about not making money every day? Another old man said.

"This plan is very good, as long as Xujiazhuang can be destroyed, all expenses will eventually be borne by Xujiazhuang, and the annual income of the imperial court will increase by one million taels, as long as it enters the household department, it will be equivalent to entering our pockets, even if it can't be all intercepted, it can swallow most of it, and the days to come will be better and better." The man laughed.

"I'll play together tomorrow, persuade Your Majesty to change your mind, and send someone to do the work of Jiangnan officialdom and Yangzhou salt merchants, so that they can obediently take out one million taels every year, otherwise we can't help them, and now only by throwing silver can we win over Xujiazhuang!"

……

Soon.

Drawing lessons from the previous failures, the ministers and officials played again.

This time, instead of repeating those clichés, they threw out real money and sacrificed real benefits.

A salt tax of one million taels per year.

"Your Majesty, the monopoly of the Ming salt industry is particularly dangerous in the hands of private industries like Xujiazhuang, it is better to give Xujiazhuang some compensation, take the salt factory in the harbor city into official ownership, and then hand over the snow salt produced to the Yangzhou salt merchants to operate and sell, so that the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people in the Ming Dynasty has been preserved, which can not only increase the income of the imperial court, but also calm the people's hearts, so as not to give birth to greater chaos, this is the best of all three policies." Cabinet minister Wu Zongda said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, 500,000 taels a year is too little, Yu Daming has a drop in the bucket, at least one million taels!"

"Your Majesty, it's okay if Xu Jiazhuang is unwilling to hand over the salt factory, either he will take out a million taels of salt tax every year, or the imperial court will encircle and suppress it with heavy troops, and the salt industry will be profitable, and it must not fall into private hands."

"We don't have the slightest selfishness, we are all thinking about Your Majesty and the interests of the Ming Dynasty!"

This......

In the face of the proposal and exhortation of so many ministers.

Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen, who originally wanted to turn the page on this matter, couldn't help but hesitate again.

Because what these ministers said seems to make sense.

And compared with the annual salt tax of 500,000 taels, of course, 1 million taels per year is more fragrant.

Since the salt merchants in Yangzhou are willing to pay a salt tax of one million taels every year, why can't Xujiazhuang pay it?

With the huge profits of the salt industry, only 500,000 taels of salt tax every year, this is really a little less, almost nothing big, you must know that the single Guan Ningjin defense line will cost more than 4 million taels of silver every year, and the Jiubian military town is also in arrears of too much food and wages, and the mutiny occurs every year.

Why don't you return the salt industry to the salt merchants in Yangzhou, or let Xujiazhuang add money?

Shaken.

Zhu Youzhen's shortcomings in character were exposed again, and after being slightly influenced by the civil officials, he was led to the wrong path, and he wanted to overturn the previous decision.

However, he has not yet reached the level of stupidity, how can he not guess the little careful thinking of the civil officials, it is just to target Xu Jiazhuang, so he messed up the essence of the heart of the Ming Dynasty, and he did not hesitate to damage the overall situation, and kept saying that it was for the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, it was for themselves.

Therefore, he summoned his current most trusted treasure, Fang Yizhi, overnight, and asked him what to do?

also vaguely asked, the salt tax has increased to one million taels per year, is it a big problem for Xujiazhuang?

"Xujiazhuang is rich in the world, and the annual salt tax of one million taels is certainly not a big problem."

Fang Yizhi said: "However, the salt merchants before, countless wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, many of them were rich enough to rival the country, and it is not a big deal to take out 100,000 taels or hundreds of thousands of taels every year, but why are the salt taxes, tea, and commercial taxes in the Jiangnan region declining year after year, instead of increasing year by year?" If Xu Jiazhuang had not intervened in the salt industry this time, would the civil officials have easily promised that the salt merchants would agree to pay a salt tax of one million taels a year? ”

"No, it won't."

Zhu Youzhen shook his head, of course he understood such a simple truth.

"Merchants are selfish people, as a businessman umbrella of the Jiangnan magnates, will only put the benefits into their own pockets, live a life of luxury, will never take the initiative to hand over the silver to the court, this time they feel the threat of Xujiazhuang, a catfish in the fish tank, in order to deal with Xujiazhuang, they are willing to pay some price, as long as the threat of Xujiazhuang does not exist, they will relapse into the old ways, tax evasion, and the court tax will be reduced year by year, which is to be expected."

Zhu Youzhen nodded again and again, yes, this is indeed the truth.

"Your Majesty!"

Fang Yizhi arched his hand and said: "Although I have been in Xujiazhuang for a period of time, I am a person from Xujiazhuang, but I am not blindly biased towards Xujiazhuang, but I want to consider the interests of His Majesty, Xujiazhuang this catfish is very necessary, the annual salt tax of 500,000 taels is also a more reasonable number, in line with the provisions of the 30 tax, if Yangzhou businessmen want to compete with Xujiazhuang snow salt, there is no need to use exclusive methods, but also to establish a larger salt factory, Xujiazhuang is willing to provide technical support, As long as you pay a salt tax of 500,000 taels every year, fair competition can reduce the price of salt in the market; Second, monopoly can be avoided, and one company dominates; The income of the three imperial courts has not decreased, isn't this a good thing for many parties? Isn't my plan better than the ministers' method of harboring evil intentions? ”

"Good!"

Zhu Youzhen applauded and praised again and again: "It is worthy of being my son's room, and it is far better than a group of Wenchen Pavilion elders." ”

It's just that Fang Yizhi's method, although it is comprehensive and safe, is the best policy, and he can no longer agree with it, but the Ming Dynasty is now an eventful season, and the finances are extremely difficult, and what is needed is a channel to get money quickly, and he may not be able to wait for the implementation of the top policy.

What he needs now is either for Xujiazhuang to agree to increase the salt tax to one million taels per year, or to collect one million taels per year from Yangzhou salt merchants, the sooner the money arrives, the better, and the Ming situation that is deteriorating day by day really can't wait!

Fang Yizhi was taken aback.

Irritable.

He didn't expect the emperor to be impatient to this extent, and even considered swallowing the poisonous pill, knowing that it was a strategy of the ministers and officials, and he also considered adopting it.

The thirst for silver has reached the point of starvation, and even if it is a risk that may cause Xujiazhuang's dissatisfaction, he is willing to bear it.

"Your Majesty, if you are really short of silver, you can find a way to borrow it, but you must not make this decision!"

Fang Yizhi had to say: "The minister has a good relationship with the owner of Xujiazhuang, often known as brothers, and has contact in private, if His Majesty urgently needs money, the minister can be used as an intermediary to draw the line, and borrow one or two million silver dollars in the thin noodles below, it will not be too difficult!" ”

Before coming to the capital, Fang Yizhi had received a lot of permissions from Xujiazhuang, including contacting the emperor to borrow money, for which he could act cheaply.

"Two million taels?"

Zhu Youzhen's eyes lit up, although it was borrowed silver, it could indeed have an emergency effect and help alleviate some problems.