For Gu Zuo, he felt that the most amazing thing in the emperor's reform ideas was the combined payment method, and the choice of true color or color folding color returned to the hands of the imperial court.

Now ordering the salt merchants to pay all the grain will make the salt merchants take advantage of the lack of grain prices and the court will lose money, and all the silver will make the merchants never prosper as in the past.

Nowadays, the combination of the two methods, more grain in wartime and more silver taels in peacetime, and flexible changes according to actual needs, is quite good from this point alone.

However, Li Ge Lao has been in the court for many years and has rich experience, so he is not wrong.

After returning home, Gu Zuo always had trouble sleeping, and he kept planning all aspects of the salt method in his mind, so much so that he bumped into someone on the road the next day.

In the evening, the housekeeper handed over the post, saying that someone was visiting the house, and it was a familiar name when he opened it.

The person who came was none other than Mei Kejia.

After the legalization of Kaihai, his identity was also legalized, so he has also carried out a lot of activities in Beijing recently, as the boss of Mei Ji, there is an important official he has to deal with, that is, the Shaofu Order.

Shaofu currently has jurisdiction over some silk merchants and cloth merchants in Hangzhou, and has also begun to develop the business of grain merchants. It is an institution that has the same effect as Mei Ji.

】

Moreover, in the same Hangzhou, some workshops and shops under their respective jurisdictions have business dealings, and they are still household servants, so they cannot be ignored. Whether he can see him or not is Gu Shilang's business, and whether he goes or not is his own business.

In February, the Jingshi has begun to warm up, and a few peach trees in the courtyard have spit out buds, and the breeze is gentle, with a slight coolness, and it feels very good.

Gu Zuo still received him officially,

A few days ago, the emperor brought this person's two daughters into the palace, and if you really want to talk about it, this is the national abbot.

Gu Zuo remembered the left deputy imperial envoy Zhang Mao who he saw when he went to the court this morning, and the old man now has a high prestige in the court, because the emperor listened to his advice and picked up the girl in the palace.

After all, because the Holy Lord is too diligent in his administration, it is said that no one has been summoned to sleep, so the officials are somewhat worried about whether there will be a problem here.

Now that this matter has finally come to an end, Zhang Mao can be regarded as a great achievement. Faintly, some people feel that his status is also close to Jiuqing.

Because Zhang Fuhua, the current imperial history of the left capital, is not favored, it will not be long before he will have to give up his position.

Anyway, there is probably the most gossip in Jingli, which is nothing more than who has been promoted and who is favored again. Personnel appointments are intriguing.

In the house,

Gu Zuo was really surprised when he saw Mei Kejia, because Mei Kejia was still wearing linen, not silk.

In fact, whether it is the crown belt of the six grades of merit or the identity of the national abbot, there is no problem for Mei Kejia to wear silk. I don't know what will happen to my relatives when I am Zhengde...... If it was in the Hongzhi period, not to mention wearing silk, maybe it would be sealed and sealed.

And Mei Kejia's answer to this is: "Get used to it." I have worn coarse linen clothes for most of my life, but if I suddenly wear satin, I feel awkward. ”

"Mei Gong's family is rich, but it is surprising that he can be so frugal. We're all ashamed of it. ”

Mei Kejia felt that Mei Fu's role in the capital has always been very delicate, and over the years, everyone knows that his family is very rich. Now he is related to the emperor again.

A businessman has also been transformed into an official.

Either of these things is easy to provoke jealousy.

If the small Mei Mansion becomes some kind of focus, this is actually very dangerous among the Jingshi, in the end, they are still shallow-rooted, in case they are too ostentatious and cause trouble, then how can they get it.

As for the emperor's favor,

Mei Kejia is not a child, and how many ups and downs have been seen throughout the ages. When today's son is a Ming Jun again, once he crosses the line, his own people like Wei Bin will also be killed.

"Shao Situ, after the imperial court opened the sea, Mei Ji plans to ship a batch of silk and porcelain to the sea at the beginning of spring this year, and is now preparing ships and counting goods.

The government does business, it is not like a real business, and Mei Kejia is so friendly in the final analysis for the sake of his household servant.

"That's fine. It's just that the official doesn't know how much silk can be in the workshops in Zhejiang this year, so he ordered them to count them in the past few days, and inform Mei Gong as soon as possible after getting the results. By the way, His Majesty also ordered the official to set up a shipbuilding factory, and Mei Gong seems to be acting according to orders, but I don't know how this factory is doing? Can shipbuilders be enough? ”

Mei Kejia was a person who mixed up in the shopping mall in his early years, and he had a lot of dealings with officials, so he didn't understand when he heard this, "It's okay for the lower officials to do it, if Shao Situ is in need, Mei Ji can divide two hundred craftsmen." ”

Gu Zuo was overjoyed, "Really? So much better! In the past few months, there have been too many people buying ships, but there are not enough shipbuilders! ”

Mei Kejia smiled slightly, "Your Majesty should have some talent. The shipyard incident started early, and it should have been expected that there would be such a day. ”

"What does Mei Gong think of His Majesty's talent?" Gu Zuo is now deeply buried in the economy.

Because Zhu Houzhao actually reveals some economic ideas of later generations in his daily life.

For example, the Shaofu decree was taken from the people, used by the people, and let him supervise the construction of the city that never sleeps.

The emperor is not a miser, but he finds a way to spend money, but it is obvious that the emperor hates spending money without profit.

Even like the Futao, the Futao is staring at the fertile land and grassland south of Yinshan.

Mei Kejia was born as a merchant, and compared with those officials in the court who considered personnel and politics, Gu Zuo might still be more willing to communicate with him more.

On the one hand, it is interest, and on the other hand, he is also selfish.

Because he found that there was something hidden here, in fact, few officials were aware of it, and the more proficient he was, the more he would be relied on by the emperor as a minister.

He himself is not a long-sleeved official who is good at dancing, and now he has found another way, of course, and he has plunged into it.

Mei Kejia didn't think about it so much, but just used his instinct as a merchant to do things for the emperor, "In the eyes of the lower officials, Your Majesty does often have amazing words about gold, silver and money. Now, a few years later, to talk about understanding...... The lower officials will feel that the word 'livelihood' is the most important. ”

Gu Zuo's heart welled up with joy, which coincided with his feelings, but he didn't say it immediately, but continued to ask: "How can you see it?" ”

Mei Kejia didn't think about it, and said: "Wang Butang, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, sent a seal to the imperial court, saying that after the opening of the sea, the city and the city department in the three coastal areas will definitely accumulate personnel, so he applied for the allocation of silver to build the city. His Majesty agreed, and His Majesty said that in this way he could employ people whose lives were hard; In fact, the same is true of opening the sea, His Majesty thinks that Zhejiang and Fujian have few fields and many mountains, so it is necessary to open the sea to give the people other livelihoods, so that as many people as possible can find a way to live, farm, work, no matter how to earn enough rations. ”

These words reached Gu Zuo's heart, and he couldn't help but bow his hand, "The people in the court say that I am good at supporting and can best understand the holy will. I didn't expect to meet Mei Gong today, and I felt like I had met a confidant. In the past, this official had this feeling, but he didn't have it as clearly as Mei Gong said. ”

"Shao Situ is modest, who in the world doesn't know that His Majesty advocates practice, and Shao Situ is the courtier that His Majesty admires the most."

"Don't mention that. By the way, Mei Gong, what salt merchant do you know? ”

"Salt merchant?" Mei Kejia was strange, but still nodded, "I'm not familiar, but there are people who can speak." ”

"It's also the official who has been thinking about it recently...... The salt merchants were trapped in guarding the branches, and the salt law of the imperial court was greatly damaged. So if the salt works could be auctioned off to the salt merchants, wouldn't there be no problem of keeping money? ”

Of course, Gu Zuo would not say that it was the result of his discussion with the emperor.

The matter has not yet been decided, how can the words between him and the emperor be easily said?

But he wanted to talk to Mei Kejia again, so he said that he was thinking about it, and it was no problem. A person who continues to wear cloth because he can wear silk and satin will not be careless enough to take out the words of the Tobe squire about the salt law.

One detail is enough to understand a person.

When Mei Kejia heard this, his brows began to tighten, and his eyes were full of contemplation, so he asked tentatively: "The salt industry has been a monopoly of the government since ancient times, although the lower officials don't know what an auction is, but selling it, is it a bit risky?" ”

"I'm just thinking about it. The method is feasible, and the official will go to His Majesty again, if it is impossible, the official will say it in vain, and you will listen to it in vain. ”

After hearing this, Mei Kejia still didn't let down his guard completely, and continued to say to the mud: "Please make it clear to Shao Situ." ”

So Gu Zuo told him all about the meaning of the auction and the set of property rights and management rights.

After listening to this, Mei Kejia was deeply shocked, he thought in his heart, he said that Gu Liqing was the emperor's scheduled next household secretary, and the future cabinet minister, but he looked at his young age and seemed to be younger than himself, and he was somewhat unconvinced.

Now hearing that this person can creatively come up with the concept of separating property rights from management rights, he suddenly feels that he has been wrong in the past. This person's talent can definitely crown the court.

"Mei Gong, I don't know what you think is better or worse if the salt law is changed like this?"

What the Hubu squire said was very profound, and Mei Kejia could naturally tell whether it was sincere or not, so he also thought about it seriously and thought for a moment before replying: "Shao Situ, can you let the official ask first, why do you want to change it like this?" ”

"The salt law is broken, so it needs to be changed."

Mei Kejia pursed her lips, "Not to mention how loud the opposition from the DPRK and China is. Just by changing like this, the salt merchants will become salt gangs. ”

Gu Zuo was stunned, "Can you see it?" ”

"The salt industry has been a huge profit since ancient times, and it is easy for those who get this profit to amass huge fortunes. And the setting of the term of the management right wants to let the salt merchants give up the cash cow, who would want this? ”

"Mei Gong means that they will get in the way."

"It's not just about getting in the way. Instead, they will use all means to stop others from snatching their own saltworks. Even resort to force when necessary. In this way, a merchant and a gang will fight each other for a short period of time. ”

Gu Zuo nodded quite seriously.

The gist of this is succinct, to put it bluntly, the businessmen will be gang-like.

In extreme terms, even if the people on the side auction the salt works, some wicked people will find a way to make you unable to make money. After a long time, the salt merchants will gradually reduce to a few in the struggle and elimination, and these few will inevitably be powerful and rich to rival the country.

It's kind of like the underworld, and salt is like poison. It's because the interests in this are so big that it's not a piece of paper that says you all obey the rules, and others will abide by the rules.

Gu Zuo silently wrote it down.

Then he asked, "Is there anything else?" ”

"In addition, after the imperial court was no longer responsible for the production of salt farms, but only received a fixed income from the auction of salt farms, many salt officials were no longer needed. Daming has six salt transportation divisions, seven salt divisions, nearly 200 salt divisions set up in various salt places, in addition to a different number of salt inspection and inspection divisions, of course, we must not forget the imperial history of the imperial salt patrol in the court, roughly speaking, there may be more than 1,000 officials, where are these people going? ”

In Mei Kejia's view, the biggest obstacle to the so-called reform is this.

These thousand people are not a thousand ordinary people, they are all officials of the imperial court, and the salt transportation envoys of the Salt Transportation Division are members of the third grade.

Zhu Yuanzhang is harsh on civil officials, second-grade officials are almost the limit of civil officials, and third-grade officials are not small.

The key point is that more than 1,000 people still have relatives and friends, so a few thousand people may oppose such reforms.

Of course Gu Zuo understood, "But if you don't change it like this." The imperial court went to investigate the reasons for the guarding, and the actual use of the nobles and vassal kings everywhere to beg for salt, so that the matter was even more complicated. ”

"What Xia Guan means is that if you can arrange the whereabouts of these people, it's not that you can't change it like this."

Gu Zuo thought in his heart, they were all a bunch of corrupt officials, and it was estimated that the emperor would not arrange it.

Even, the emperor was eager to get rid of these people.

Otherwise, this would not be regarded as an important merit of such a reform.

Think about it one step further, if these people really want to investigate it carefully, according to the emperor's character, maybe there will be a few more corruption cases.

"There's nowhere to go. Mei Gong, such a difficult thing as opening the sea, the imperial court has also done it, but it is just a few officials, and they can't coerce the current saint. ”

Mei Kejia thought about it, this is true, but I'm afraid it won't be so smooth.

He was a merchant, and he knew how these righteous and moral people would react if they didn't get their money.

“…… Shao Situ, in fact, there are precedents of Mei Ji and Shaofu Order, why didn't he think about the establishment of a royal salt merchant by the imperial court? ”

Gu Zuoxin said that I thought the same way,

It's just that the emperor is right, that will soon be flooded with private salt. Because the inefficiency that the 'state-owned enterprises' cannot overcome, it will definitely bring about the official salt with high quality and price difference.

"Only by minimizing the involvement of officials can we minimize the greed for ink."

Mei Kejia didn't expect an official to say such a thing by himself, and respect rose in his heart, "The country is fortunate to have loyal ministers like Shao Situ. ”

……

……

"The Salt Gang?"

In the Qianqing Palace, Gu Zuo knelt down in front of Zhu Houzhao, and what he described was the defect mentioned by Mei Kejia.

The emperor groaned slightly, he is not a god, and of course he will not take all aspects into account, so when he heard this word, he was actually thinking about it seriously.

"In this way, the auction of the imperial court is a mere formality in the end, and the ownership of the salt works ultimately depends on the outcome of the so-called struggle between the salt gangs."

Gu Zuo nodded, "Not bad." Even if the salt gang is combined with the officials of the court, once the power is really big, the court will give the salt field to someone else, and this person may not dare to take it. ”

"If you are afraid that the salt merchant will become bigger, you can frame a ceiling, for example, the same salt merchant cannot operate more than a certain number of salt farms at the same time. Specific figures will be drawn up in due course. ”

"The ministers are only afraid of collusion between officials and businessmen, and the terms formulated by the court will also be regarded as nothing."

"Isn't that an obvious crime?"

Gu Zuo's heart was shocked, this moment is actually called the Emperor's Heart Technique.

In Zhu Houzhao's opinion, this is similar to cutting leeks, I draw a height, oh, you have grown over, okay, then I will cut you.

Zhu Houzhao paced back and forth in the hall with his hands in his hands, "The problem of the Salt Gang will not exist when I am still there, I am afraid that the monarch of the future generations will be weak and incompetent, and it will be difficult to control it at that time." ”

It's the truth.

As long as he is here, he can't wait to come to the five of his Shen Wansan and the same huge rich salt gang.

You reserve silver, I reserve the army.

Find the facts of the crime casually, and if you find it, you will raid your home, and you will eat it for three years if you copy it once.

Setting an upper limit is actually for the consideration of future generations. If that doesn't work. To be honest, that is, the emperors of later generations can't do it, people can't do it, what rules did the ancestors set so that you can keep the country?

Gu Zuo thought about it carefully, although the emperor's method was a little ruthless, it should also be feasible, if there was really a salt merchant who tried to become bigger, then the imperial court could also take people according to this provision.

"Your Majesty, the minister still wants to go to Yangzhou."

Today's salt introduction in the Ming Dynasty produces about 3 million salt introductions every year, of which 700,000 come from Yangzhou.

The so-called practical officials are probably like this.

"Quasi-play."

At present, the salt introduction in the Hongzhi Zhengde period is about 4-5 yuan, that is, between 0.4 taels and 0.5 taels.

But this is the price that the salt merchants got from the imperial court, and after they paid the salt, they did not know at what price they sold it to the water merchants, and at what price the water merchants sold it to thousands of people.

You have to take a closer look at this to find out.

Zhu Houzhao is not a scholar specializing in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

It's good that he can remember the big historical events, but how much money the people spend on salt, where does he know?

So we can also see the importance of Gu Zuo's trip.

Because only when the actual price is mastered, it is good to set an auction price for the salt. Otherwise, it's just playing the piano indiscriminately.

However, according to Zhu Houzhao's own estimates, the price space in the middle is definitely not small. Because the merchants who do the salt business are very rich, and there is always a reason for their wealth.

There are about 200 salt farms in Daming, and each auction can have an average of 100,000 taels, so 40 auctions a year is 4 million taels.

Daming's salt tax revenue is basically stable between 1 million and 3 million taels, 3 million taels is very little, and most of them are more than 2 million, so it is close to doubling the growth and getting rid of a large number of corrupt officials, and this thing has a basis for doing it.

As for what Gu Zuo said about how the thousands of officials opposed it, Zhu Houzhao also had such a psychological preparation.

However, since Gu Zuo is going to Yangzhou, there is no need to rush this matter.

And Yang Yiqing is also going to Beijing, and the most important thing for the imperial court at this time is how to formulate the goal of the first year of Zhengde.

In addition to Yang Yiqing, Zhou Shangwen was also ordered to enter Beijing.

Zhu Houzhao felt that since it was a big discussion in the imperial court, the generals should also have a voice.

As a matter of fact, there have been more people in Beijing recently, and officials from various localities have the duty to go to Beijing to discuss politics.

Like Mao Wenwen, Wang Wei, Wang Shouren and others have returned to Beijing one after another.

In the midst of this, Feng Xi, the political envoy of Fujian, reported an unexpected event to Wang Shouren. made Zhu Houzhao feel that this person had any magical ability.

The reason for the matter is not complicated, after the opening of the sea last year, at the beginning of the first year of Zhengde, the silent majority of the people who previously supported the opening of the sea began to exert their strength, such as Zhejiang Youmei Ji and several big businessmen who were attached to Mei Ji were ready to go to sea jointly.

What about Fujian?

Fujian carried out another wave of riotous operations under the leadership of Wang Shouren.

The so-called mountain bandits in the hilly areas are indeed true, but Wang Shouren probably suppressed the bandits to make a prestige, since the group of mountain bandits in Fobao Mountain were cleaned up by him.

His great name spread in the mountain nests of Fujian, so much so that when he really announced that wherever he went to suppress the bandits, the people of that place would automatically surrender!

Of course, this is also inseparable from the reason why he treats these mountain bandits well, in his opinion, the mountain bandits are all out of the people's homes one by one.

On this basis, Wang Shouren bonded the leaders of a group of mountain bandits, and those who were willing to go to sea in this gang also worked step by step according to the original habitual 'organizational relationship', and they did their old jobs!

Originally, the mountain bandits were an armed force that robbed the goods on the road. Now they're going to sea!

Wang Shouren then suggested to Feng Xi that he felt that after the opening of the sea, the cargo ships of the Ming Dynasty must be everywhere on the sea, and at this time the Japanese were a threat, so he made a bold suggestion, that is, to formally recruit this group of mountain bandits, and allow them to operate at sea, of course, the purpose of which is not to rob the goods, but to fight against the Japanese and protect the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty!

Of course, this requires funds, Wang Shouren did not ask the imperial court to spend much money, he first proposed that the imperial court exempt these people from the huge fee of the access system to be paid by the city, and secondly, he hoped that the imperial court could allow them to also do maritime trade business, and a certain degree of preferential exemption of various taxes.

Feng Xi felt that this matter was important, so he did not hesitate to send a letter to Jingshi.

How can Zhu Houzhao not be shocked after seeing it?

What kind of routine is this Wang Shouren, as soon as he participates in politics, he will pull out a maritime armament, right? This is not much of a big official, if you really want to give power, you have to dominate the South Seas.

This matter is not small, Zhu Houzhao has to think about it carefully, according to reason, there is nothing wrong with getting a group of outlaws in China to the sea to torture the Japanese invaders.

It can involve armed forces, and this matter must be handled with great caution.

Wang Shouren was from the perspective of a local official, hoping that the imperial court would agree to his suggestion as much as possible, so he tried not to let the imperial court spend money.

But Zhu Houzhao, as the emperor, knew that some money could not be saved, even if he was wearing his belt. Did these people really go out into the wilderness on the sea, and they didn't take your money or serve your bowl, and when you wanted to use it, would he recognize you?

Zhu Houzhao fell into deep thought according to a written decree, which was Wang Shouren's order, and he had already thought about it after many days. But after seeing Feng Xi's performance, he thought about it again, and he still called Liu Jin to the things, "Put it away first, and take it when you need it in the future." ”

"The slave obeys."

Zhu Houzhao walked out of the Qianqing Palace, holding on to the white jade railing, blowing the spring breeze in February, and he suddenly figured out a problem. The northwest does not need Wang Shouren, because there is Yang Yiqing, and a certain province of the Ming Dynasty does not need Wang Shouren, and they will also be settled.

But the southeast needs it, if this letter is not played accurately, then Wang Shouren can't go, because many people are accepted by him. Moreover, unlike on land, the new situation will inevitably require a flexible mind to deal with it.

"King Xuan Shouren enters the palace."

"Yes!"