Regarding Zhao Zheng's performance, Yunyi actually expected it.

After all, salt was an indispensable strategic material in any dynasty.

In a sense, it is not an exaggeration to say that salt is the foundation of a country.

If a country has a problem with the supply of salt, it can lead to unrest or the overthrow of a dynasty.

This is also the reason why in any dynasty, salt was only allowed to be run by the government.

"Yes, this bag does contain salt, and it is a refined salt that has never appeared on the market."

Yun Yi's tone was relaxed, but everyone present did not doubt his words.

These people in the study, except for Yunyi, are either rich or expensive, and the salt they eat is naturally of the best quality.

But even the well-informed Zhuang Jing'an has never seen such a crystal white salt in his life.

"Yunyi, this salt ...... Where did you get this salt? ”

That small bag of refined salt had been snatched up by Zhuang Jing'an at this time.

He followed Zhao Zheng's example and put some into his mouth, and his old face instantly became flushed with excitement.

"Mr. Hui's words, this refined salt is refined by the students with green salt."

Yun Yi had already drafted this question in advance, and immediately told the compiled story to everyone.

"A few days ago, after the poetry meeting, the students bought a jar of green salt and went home."

"Because I was carrying a lot of things, I accidentally spilled the green salt on the ground."

"The students were poor and couldn't bear to give it up, so they collected the green salt and soil on the ground."

……

Yunyi told Zhuang Jing'an in detail about the process of dissolving, filtering, and boiling refined salt, and everyone was amazed.

As a veteran of the Three Dynasties, Zhuang Jing'an was well aware of the importance of salt to a country.

There are countless places where money is needed to maintain the stability and development of a vast empire.

Officials' salaries, military salaries, infrastructure construction, water conservancy maintenance, relief and disaster relief......

The consumption of this pile one by one can only be paid by the land tax paid by the people.

It's just that the fields of this era don't produce much.

Even if the wind and rain are good, the harvest in the field is actually enough for the family to survive.

If there is a famine in a disaster year and there is no way out, those peasants who have no way to continue their lives can only survive by selling their fields for food.

Only then does land annexation become inevitable.

Day after day, year after year, it will eventually make the poor poorer and the rich richer.

In order to avoid this situation, the Tian Fu of the Great Zhou Dynasty was actually not high.

In addition, in disaster years, tax reductions and exemptions will be used to help farmers survive famine.

This also led to the fact that the treasury of the Great Zhou Dynasty has always been in a state of emptiness.

Under normal circumstances, even if the land of the peasants was annexed by the landlords and gentry.

As long as the total amount of land remains unchanged, the tax revenue of the imperial court should not be greatly affected.

However, according to Zhuang Jing'an's many years of experience as an official, after the year of the catastrophe, the taxes of the imperial court will be inexplicably reduced a lot.

The imperial court naturally thought that this situation was caused by a famine, but it did not know that the annexed land had long been hidden by the rich gentry in collusion with local officials.

Through a series of operations, they attached the land obtained by the annexation to the names of Xiucai and Juren.

Since these scholars had the privilege of reducing and paying taxes in the Great Zhou Dynasty, these lands naturally did not have to pay a grain of tax to the imperial court.

In such a famine year, the national strength of the Great Zhou Dynasty will decline a little.

When land annexation reached its peak, that is, when the Great Zhou Dynasty went to its demise.

The imperial court could not increase its income through the field endowment, and at the same time it had to maintain the stable operation of the country.

Therefore, the strategic materials of salt and iron have become an important source of income for the imperial court.

It's just that there are no businessmen and no traitors, and no officials are not greedy.

The imperial court managed the salt trade through salt merchants, but it also gave rise to new monopolies.

Although the official rank of the salt merchants is not high, the windfall profits of the salt industry have made these monopolists rich.

Merchants are greedy by nature, and when these salt merchants have money, they naturally try to buy and acquire land.

As a result, under the collusion of officials and businessmen, it gradually became a new local powerhouse.

And in order to protect their wealth, these heroes will also secretly accumulate a lot of armed forces.

In the event of a disaster year or turmoil, the power in their hands becomes a major threat to the stability of the country.

Since the development of the Great Zhou Dynasty, whether it is land annexation or local power, it has gradually become an important issue affecting the rule of the imperial court.

For Zhuang Jing'an, the saddest thing is that he knows that these problems exist, but he can't find any solution, and can only watch the results he least wants to see approach day by day.

Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a life for the people, continue to learn for the saints, and open peace for all generations.

Yesterday, after Yunyi's click, Zhuang Jingan understood the meaning of reading.

But in the texts he read, he could not find any effective solution.

He pondered hard all night in the study, but now it seems that it is far less effective than Yunyi's bag of refined salt.

"Just now you said that this refined salt is a good medicine to cure the old man's heart disease, and I think you should be very clear about the significance of the advent of this refined salt."

"In that case, you might as well talk to the old man in detail."

Although Zhuang Jing'an's mood was still excited, she had already begun to think about how to maximize the benefits of refined salt.

Thinking of what Yun Yi had just said, Zhuang Jing'an couldn't help but doubt Yun Yi's motive for taking out the refined salt.

If this refined salt was really inadvertently concocted by this kid, how could he say such a thing as curing a heart disease?

"Uh......"

Yun Yi didn't expect that what he said just now in order to fill the façade would be remembered by Zhuang Jing'an.

Just as he was thinking about whether to deal with the matter casually, he saw Zhuang Jingan staring at him sharply.

Never mind!

In front of this kind of old monster who has become a fine spirit, let's play a little less!

Anyway, I've already worshiped the teacher, as the so-called one day is a teacher and a father for life, even if I behave a little evil, this old gentleman should not sell himself except for being happy, right?

As soon as he thought of this, Yun Yi coughed lightly, and said to Zhuang Jing'an:

"After the students made this refined salt, they really thought about a lot of things."

"Since ancient times, salt and iron have been government camps, and the stakes must be quite deep when I think about it."

"It's just that students think that the salt merchant system of the Great Zhou Dynasty has developed so far, in fact, there is a faint trend that cannot be lost."

"Instead of continuing to hand over these refined salts to the previous salt merchants, it is better to support a group of new people to come out."

"This can not only check and balance those salt merchants who have become wealthy gentry, but also play a role in stabilizing prices when necessary."

……

Since he didn't prepare in advance, Yunyi's answer was also reined, and he said whatever he wanted.

But even so, it had already shocked everyone in the study.

You must know that Yunyi is just a white body who didn't even pass the county exam, but what he just said, I'm afraid that even if it is a talent or even a person, he may not be able to understand it, right?

Zhuang Jing'an's heart was actually quite surprised.

The reason why he accepted Yunyi as a disciple was because this kid had a deep knowledge in poetry and calligraphy.

But today, it seems that this kid's vision and insight are also first-class among young people!

Although the suggestions he just made sounded very general, it would have been impossible to make them without thinking clearly about the context behind the matter.

Although this kid's idea is still quite immature, as long as he is given enough time to learn and grow, I believe that in the near future, he will definitely be able to grow into a capable minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty.