The people of my Great Zhou today have increased by a few times compared to the time when the country was founded, but the salt tax is far from the time when the country was founded, and it is less than 20% of the year. The minister thought that there must be a big cat in it, so he came to see His Majesty and asked His Majesty to order a thorough investigation of the salt tax. As he spoke, he fell to his knees.

After watching Chun Yuyan's recital, Ma Jin's face was gloomy like water. For a while, the entire Heart Cultivation Hall was extremely silent, and the huge pressure made Chun Yuyan a little out of breath, so he could only keep his head firmly against the ground.

"What do you think is wrong?" Ma Jin's sharp gaze made Chun Yuyan like a thorn in his back.

"I think it's caused by six aspects!"

"Oh? Are those six? Let's talk about it. Hearing Chun Yuyan's echo, Ma Jin's gaze couldn't help but soften, and he said with interest.

Chun Yuyan knelt down, raised his head slightly and said:

"I thought,

First, due to the rampant and domineering of the local salt department, the salt field stoves were oppressed and fled in large numbers, resulting in a decline in salt production year after year.

Second, the salt department issued salt indiscriminately, and it was impossible to pay for the cash salt because it issued too much, which seriously hit the enthusiasm of the salt merchants.

Third, the illegal salt is overflowing, and the high price of official salt is not as low as the price of private salt, resulting in unsalable official salt.

Fourth, the Salt Department has issued salt to collect salt tax, but the local government still privately sets up salt customs to collect salt tax. As a result, the cost of salt merchants has increased, and most of them have resold private salt for profit.

Fifth, local salt departments are lax, ineffective in supervision or collusion with each other, resulting in the flood of illegal salt, which has led to a sharp decline in the production and sales of official salt

Sixth, the salt divisions in various places do their own things, and the salt and iron divisions of the imperial court are in vain. As a result, the salt market is out of control, and salt merchants from all over the country boast about buying and selling in their jurisdictions, impacting the local market. ”

……

After a long time, Ma Jin said: "Someone is coming, Xuanchang Sun Wuji, Xie Xuan, Kou Zhun, Xu Jin, Lu Bing, Zhang Xinghe came to meet him. ”

"Settle down!" When Chun Yuyan heard that Ma Jin asked him to get up, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and hurriedly kowtowed to thank him and stood up.

Not long after, the eldest grandson Wuji, Kou Zhun, Zhang Xinghe and others came to the front of the Heart Cultivation Palace. The faces of the eldest grandson Wuji and the others were solemn, and they were a little apprehensive in their hearts. I learned from the little eunuch just now that Ma Jin was very angry now, making them think that something big had happened.

At this time, Wang Chengen, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, walked out of the hall, arched his hand to the eldest grandson Wuji and Kou Zhun and said, "My lords, Your Majesty is waiting for you!" ”

Under the guidance of Wang Chengen, the eldest grandson Wuji and several people came to the main hall, but saw that Chun Yuyan, who had just received the household errand, was also here, and his heart couldn't help but feel a little more solemn, could it be related to the deficit of the treasury?

After the eldest grandson Wuji and the others saluted, Ma Jin picked up Chun Yuyan's recital with an expressionless face and said: "This is Chun Yu Aiqing's recital just now, you all take a look!" With that, Ma Jin handed the fold to Wang Chengen.

After Wang Chengen carefully took the chapter, he turned around and came to several people and handed it to the eldest grandson Wuji. The eldest grandson Wuji bowed down and took the fold with both hands, opened it and looked at it carefully, and after a while, his face became iron.

Then without saying a word, he handed the fold to Kou Zhun, and Kou Zhun saw that the eldest grandson Wuji's face was pale, and his heart was sudden. Hurriedly took it and looked at it carefully, and when I saw it, I couldn't help frowning. In the end, without saying a word, he handed the fold to Lu Bing in the next song.

…… After a few people finished reading it, Ma Jin asked lightly: "Master Zhang, do you have anything to say as a household secretary?" ”

When Zhang Xinghe heard Ma Jin's question, his body trembled and knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said, "The old minister should die!" ”

Hubu Shangshu Zhang Xing and. This person has gone through the three dynasties of Xuanwu, Zhaowu and Shenwu, and has been the secretary of the household department for ten years, and his ability is very outstanding. But he is sleek, lacks responsibility, and has a good fishing color. There are many things that damage public and private fat, but its ability is outstanding, so it is deeply loved by Emperor Zhaowu. When he arrived at Ma Jin, due to the lack of suitable talents, he had to continue to stay in office.

"You should die or not, that's a matter of Dali Temple! I ask you! Why did the salt of the imperial court be indiscriminate? Ma Jin asked coldly.

"Back to Your Majesty! Because the treasury cannot make ends meet, there is really no way but to issue more salt to make up for the deficit in the treasury. ”

"Then why is the salt tax less than six million taels this year!"

"Old minister...... Lao Chen...... It's really a long-standing salt administration...... Lao Chen...... There's nothing to say......" Zhang Xinghe said tremblingly.

Looking at Zhang Xinghe's trembling and kneeling on the ground, Ma Jin naturally knew that the salt tax was very involved, and he didn't know how many people were enjoying this piece of fat, which was not something that he, the head of the household, could manage.

"Get up! What do you want to say?" Ma Jin let Zhang Xinghe get up with some disgust, and asked the others again.

At this time, the eldest grandson Wuji came out and said:

"Your Majesty, since the founding of Taizu, the imperial court has given all the salt official property. In order to solve the shortage of food and salary of the border army, Taizong ordered that salt merchants could pay food and salary to the border army in exchange for salt. Then the salt is led to the salt field to branch the salt, which is called the open method. This method has two advantages, one is that the grain and grass of the border army do not need to be raised by the imperial court and are self-sufficient, and the other is that the salt of the imperial court officials can be marketed all over the world without unsalable worries. However, in the fifth year of the first emperor Zhaowu, Liu Qi, the head of the household department, canceled the payment of grain to the border and changed it to the payment of silver, and the salt government of our dynasty was completely corrupted......"

Xu Jin, who participated in politics, also stepped forward when he heard this: "Your Majesty, Emperor Xuan fought in the north and south several times back then, expanding the territory for my Great Zhou, and my Great Zhou is still peaceful in the four seas, and this method is a great contribution!" ”

When Ma Jin heard this, he couldn't help asking, "Why did such a good law collapse later?" ”

The eldest grandson Wuji said bluntly: "Back to Your Majesty, a salt introduction is overflowing, and the introduction is more than salt, resulting in salt merchants can only wait for salt, and some salt merchants actually hold salt quotations from fifty years ago, which shows the suffering of salt merchants waiting for salt!" ”

"The second is that after Xuanwu, the Great Zhou Dynasty was strong, the border was peaceful, and the expenditure was less, which made the official salt unsalable. The imperial court could not, but could only allow salt merchants to buy salt from the salt field directly with silver, which was the first reason for Liu Qi to change the salt law.

Third, the price of salt is high and the price of grain is low, and the interest rate difference is more than several times, and the salt merchants have made a lot of profits. Although the salt of Jianghuai ranks half of the world, the salt merchants are all people who are in harmony with Yong, and they are taboo by Jianghuai officials and businessmen. Liu Qi, a native of Yangzhou, also advocated the method of collecting silver, but did he not know that the cost of transporting grain and grass by the imperial court was several times that of receiving silver? In fact, it is selfish! ”

After listening to the past told by the two, Ma Jin basically understood the original cause of the collapse of the salt government. He asked, "If the imperial court wants to reform the salt law, what should it do?" ”

The eldest grandson Wuji replied solemnly: "Back to Your Majesty, in the past year that the minister has been in power, every time the imperial court distributes salt quotations, it is purchased according to the total amount of salt produced in the salt place. Because salt can be bought and sold, and under the accumulation over the years, eight or nine out of ten unpaid salt leads are in the hands of the imperial court nobles and families, and salt merchants can only be exploited by them or buy salt from the salt department separately, resulting in excessive salt introduction, which is one of the major disadvantages of salt administration. ”

The benefits of private salt are also in the wealthy businessmen and nobles, and their "collusion with the government, raising the armed forces, and competing with the salt tax collectors for profits" make it difficult to control the local government, which is the second major disadvantage of the salt policy. ”

After saying the two, Ma Jin's face was already pale. At this time, Chun Yuyan suddenly knelt on the ground and played: "The minister checked that the Yangzhou Salt and Iron Division had more than 60 million catties of salt last year, but the salt merchants paid less than two-tenths of the cut off salt, and the rest were all encroached upon-if I don't prosper, I will be in danger of Dazhou!" ”

After listening to several people explain in detail the harm of the collapse of the salt law, Ma Jin knew that the salt policy had reached the point where it had to be changed, and the earlier the reform, the sooner the situation of the national treasury deficit would be improved. After sorting out the thoughts in his heart, Ma Jin continued to ask: "Now that the drawbacks are known, how to reform?" After speaking, look directly at Changsun Wuji and the others to see what they can do.

The eldest grandson Wuji said: "What the minister means is that the official salt production can be increased, the unpaid salt can be fully paid, and then the method of opening the middle can be reopened!" ”

Ma Jin nodded, turned his head to look at Chun Yuyan and asked, "How much salt is accumulated now?" ”

Chun Yuyan bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, according to the investigation of Weichen, there are 9 million and 60 salt unpaid, about 160,000 catties."

"What is the annual output?"

"Your Majesty, in the second year of Shenwu, the country produced more than 90,000 catties of salt."

Chun Yuyan said again: "Your Majesty, the Yangzhou Salt Division, the Yizhou Salt Division, the Liangzhou Salt Division, the Youzhou Salt Division, and the Qingzhou Salt Division under the jurisdiction of the Great Zhou Salt Division, if the supervision is effective, the minister estimates that the output may be doubled, and the total output of Yangzhou alone can be 100,000 catties, and the total output of the remaining four divisions can also be increased to 80,000 catties. ”

Ma Jin asked again: "What is the price of salt at this time?" ”

Zhang Xinghe said: "Back to Your Majesty, the price of salt is about two dollars per catty of salt, which is the price of salt for salt merchants. ”

Chun Yuyan took over and said: "But after the salt merchant takes the salt, plus the freight, transit fee and additional apportionment, when the god sells it, the price of salt is about fifty wen a catty. In other places, depending on the distance from the salt field, the low ones are 30 wen, and the high ones are 2 or 300 wen. ”

Ma Jin sneered in his heart, and stared at His Highness's ministers with sharp eyes. sneered again and again, and asked, "Thirty wen a catty, can my people afford to eat?" I don't think I can even eat it! The eldest grandson Wuji and the others were silent, and they knelt on the ground.

Ma Jin asked the eldest grandson Wuji and the others to get up, and after thinking about it, they made a decision in their hearts. said: "I also have a method here, since the current salt law is no longer useful, then overturn it and start over." In the future, I plan to hand over the salt works belonging to the salt department to the merchants for operation and management, and the salt departments in various places will have the right to supervise, and will not manage the production and sales of salt. ”

Ma Jin said: "From now on, salt merchants can take the salt factory license issued by the salt department and build their own salt factory to sell salt, and the imperial court will not care."

The license voucher was purchased by the salt merchant from the imperial court, and all the taxes paid by the salt shop were included in the price of the salt voucher. In this way, salt merchants are free to produce and trade at will, and they will naturally do everything they can to increase their production for profit. When the time comes, salt production will increase significantly, and the price of salt will naturally fall. ”

"I plan to abolish the Salt and Iron Division, set up a salt administration yamen in the imperial court, and put it under the jurisdiction of the household department. Its duties are to issue and purchase permits, balance the price of salt, inspect salt affairs, punish lawlessness, and set up subdivisions in all states of the world to be responsible for salt affairs. What do you think? ”

"Your Majesty! What if salt merchants collude with each other to arbitrarily control the price of salt? The eldest grandson Wuji came out of the ranks.

"In the future, the salt administration will set a maximum guide salt price according to the actual situation and report it to the cabinet every year; If any salt merchant dares to increase the price arbitrarily, he must be severely cracked down on and severely punished. This is also the responsibility of the salt administration yamen to balance the price of salt. ”

The eldest grandson, Wuji, asked again: "Then Your Majesty! How are the existing salt farms distributed? ”

Ma Jin said: "The cabinet will send a letter to the world, and the imperial court salt field will be auctioned, and the one with the highest price will be presiding over by the household department." The salt in the auction was hired by the salt merchants themselves, and those who did not want to engage in the salt industry were given land by the imperial court to become farmers. All the money is put into the treasury! ”

At this time, Ma Jin continued: "Since there must be a license certificate for salt production, the sale of this salt naturally must also have a salt sales license. The salt administration branch of each prefecture shall issue vouchers for the purchase and sale of salt, and the tax on the sale of salt shall be included in the selling price of the vouchers, and half of the income shall be attributed to the state treasury and half shall be attributed to the localities, but the number of vouchers for issuance and purchase shall be controlled, and there shall be a service life, and the salt administration may repeatedly issue and purchase according to the number of years.

"The imperial court can set up Changping salt warehouses in the salt administration divisions of various states, and when it is found that the salt price in a certain place fluctuates abnormally and is related to the people's livelihood, the salt will be sold by Changping to stabilize the market price."

"What do you think?"

Note: Salt leads to truncated angles, and the law of prohibiting private salt in the Great Zhou Dynasty. When the salt merchant supports the salt to come out, the transportation department inspects, the inspection office picks up catties, the salt is sold, and the state and county are paid, a corner is cut off each time, sealed and sent to the transportation department, and the household department is cancelled.