"The dispute between Huai and Guangdong is not something that only exists in our Ming Dynasty, it has existed since the Song Dynasty, and Cantonese merchants have stolen and sold Guangnan salt to Jinghu, Jiangxi and other places to shoot profits, but in our Ming Dynasty, because the division of salt production areas and salt sales areas does not overlap, the dispute between Huai and Guangdong has become more and more intense."

Needless to say, Lao Zhu is not a fool, when he demarcated the salt sales area, he must have done it on purpose, in order to have internal friction between the merchants and gangs.

But now this kind of salt production area and salt sales area do not overlap, which undoubtedly caused Jiang Xinghuo a huge trouble to rectify the salt business.

Industrialization, even the initial industrialization of the first industrial revolution, required a huge amount of money to advance. If Jiang Xinghuo doesn't want to suffer the people, then he can only start from places other than agricultural taxes.

In the current tax system, the salt tax is the second largest tax in this era after the agricultural tax.

The significance of rectifying the salt affairs is not only to supplement the 2.1 million taels in the first year of Yongle - the second year of Yongle, but also to put the chaotic salt tax back on track, and to reshape the normal hematopoietic ability of the Ming Dynasty. People can be crushed by the pressure of debt, and so are countries, and many dynasties have perished, not for other reasons, but because of economic collapse.

Wu Chuanjia continued: "Taking Huguang as an example, the imperial court stipulated that Hunan should also eat Huai salt, but because the transportation distance of Huai salt to Hunan is too long, and it will cost money to transport it there, so the four prefectures of Changsha, Baoqing, Hengzhou, and Yongzhou, as well as the two prefectures of Chenzhou and Daozhou, have been in a state of salt shortage for a long time."

According to Lao Zhu's regulations, within the scope of the Lianghuai salt sales area, whether it is dozens of miles away from the Lianghuai salt farm, or thousands of miles away from Huguang and Jiangxi, the price of salt is unified!

Yes, you read that right, the government stipulates a uniform price, and one more copper plate to cut off the head.

Of course, in practice, that is, in the self-balancing state of the market, it must be that the farther away from the salt sales area, the higher the actual price of official salt, although it does not meet the regulations of the government, but the trade has always been carried out in this way, and because it is still official salt on the surface, because it is the transportation and sales within the salt sales area, the government will not block, and even share the overflow of the salt price.

But even so, there is always a limit to the price of salt that the people can afford.

If the actual selling price, minus the cost and freight of the salt merchants, yields a profit that does not satisfy the merchants, then there will certainly be no merchants from Lianghuai to sell salt there.

Whoever is a businessman chooses this way.

The problem lies in the fact that Guangdong, which is closer to Huguang and Jiangxi, is rich in sea salt because of its coastal proximity, but Lao Zhu stipulates that "salt from Guangdong is not allowed to leave the country", which has caused Huguang and Jiangxi to be unable to eat or eat Huai salt, while Guangdong, which is geographically bordered by them, has shown a situation where there is too much salt to sell.

Due to the inconvenience and unprofitability of transportation and sales, Huai salt rarely reaches Huguang and Jiangxi, but there is a large backlog of Guangdong salt, which makes new private salt market demand within the salt sales area specified by the government.

"So the battle between Huaiyue and Guangdong is actually a battle for the sphere of influence?"

Wu Chuanjia shook his head heavily.

To put it bluntly, this is the Huaiyan marketing area and the Guangyan marketing area of the two vested interest groups, including businessmen, local officials, Haoqiang, they around the right to sell salt in southern Jiangnan, Xiangnan and the conflict of interests, this is also the rigid and rigid salt law system, in the face of the Ming Dynasty's economic recovery environment, gradually began to do nothing to show the performance.

The unsalable Huai salt from the official salt is not only due to the fact that the merchants are far away and unprofitable, but also the factor that the official salt of Huai Salt cannot do the private salt of Guangdong Salt, and in any case, the salt tax apportioned by the corresponding regions such as Huguang and Jiangxi is difficult to collect, resulting in more and more Huai Salt being stagnant in the salt field.

"What do Cantonese merchants mainly do?" Jiang Xinghuo suddenly asked.

"Salt, fishing, maritime smuggling."

Jiang Xinghuo knew in his heart that Lao Zhu's sea ban policy had never really worked for the south, which relied on the sea for food, and although the imperial court emphasized it every few years, its effect was still limited.

In ancient times, the mountain ate the mountain

Water draft is really not a joke, you don't let the coastal people boil salt, fish, sea trade, don't you force them to rebel?

It's good to say that the Ming Dynasty is not as perverted as the Qing Dynasty, and it doesn't matter at all; And boiling salt, especially boiling private salt, in the Ming Dynasty's ruling center, that is, the Nanzhili generation, with it as the center of the circle for radiation, to Lianghuai, Fujian, the management is more strict, and the people of Guangdong are seriously clannish, the government has neither the ability nor the will to manage, so the private salt in Guangdong is more flooded, often the whole village is engaged in the private salt industry.

The same is true for sea trade, in this era, Guangdong's agriculture is underdeveloped, and the yield per mu is far less than that of Jiangnan, but it has a unique maritime trade location advantage, whether it is the private or the government, if you want to get more money, you have to rely on the sea trade smuggling road, so go up to the political envoy department, down to the local government, in fact, they all know it, and even take the initiative to help.

Wu Chuanjia said in detail, if he didn't understand something, his younger brother Wu Chuanzong would help supplement it, so in the two-hour report, it can be said that everything was very detailed, and Huaishang's family was shaken off cleanly.

Salt is the livelihood of the country, and no one is allowed to completely control it, not even the relatives of the emperor, and it must be distributed by different regions, because it is related to the stability of the society.

But the salt law is not changed casually, especially the opening of the Chinese law, which has the dual significance of salt sales and military food transportation, and many people can't sit idly by and watch the interests of the salt industry seriously damaged, after all, the interests involved are very huge, so Jiang Xinghuo's choice must be cautious. However, Jiang Xinghuo also has another consideration. —That is, to completely reshuffle the overall business pattern of the entire Ming Dynasty.

The material foundation determines the top-level structure, and the current Ming Dynasty, the material foundation, is the natural economy with agricultural products as the core, and in the field of agriculture, the landlords and gentry occupy an absolute dominant position.

However, once the Ming Dynasty entered the initial stage of industrialization, with the passage of time, the commodity economy would inevitably catch up and replace the natural economy as the material foundation of society.

It is impossible for Jiang Xinghuo to cultivate a bunch of uncontrolled asset incarnations by himself, in view of the current business gang of the Ming Dynasty, because the national and high profits of the salt industry are basically involved, then it is very necessary to make some layouts with full power to rectify the salt industry this time.

In the Ming Dynasty, the social status of businessmen is indeed not high, and the strength in their hands can be said to be powerless in the face of the government, and they can only be reduced to lambs to the slaughter.

The Wu family of Huaishang is the most obvious example of the Anlu Marquis Mansion.

But it is precisely this point that makes the top figures of the Ming Dynasty generally not pay attention to the energy that businessmen can burst out in the future.

With the Industrial Revolution, maritime trade, and overseas colonization, the size of the merchant class is bound to expand at a rate unimaginable to ordinary people.

At this initial origin, if Jiang Xinghuo could control or influence the main merchant gangs of the Ming Dynasty through the reform of the salt law, then perhaps twenty or thirty years later, this would become a force to be reckoned with.

Jiang Xinghuo doesn't like to make these calculations, but he knows very well that he is now a chess piece, at best, a chess piece with a little weight, and all his power comes from the support of the imperial power.

And no matter which emperor it is, whether it is Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunwen, or Zhu Di, they will not allow a chess piece to get out of their control.

Jiang Xinghuo wants to guide Huaxia to another fast lane of history, he doesn't want to follow Wang Anshi's mistakes, let alone die like Zhang Juzheng.

He wants to pluck himself out and become a real independent chess player.

All this must first solve 2.1 million taels, solve the salt policy, and solve the dispute between Huai and Guangdong.

Lao Zhu designed the system, in order to let the merchants in different regions consume each other, which is very in line with his purpose of establishing a large rural society, but Jiang Xinghuo does not need the internal friction of the merchants, because the Ming Dynasty not only has an increasingly prosperous domestic market, but also a constantly expanding overseas market, so internal friction is meaningless.

Seeing that Jiang Xinghuo didn't speak for a long time, Li Zengzhi, as an intermediary at this time, also reminded: "National teacher, what do you see?"

Jiang Xinghuo retracted his thoughts and looked at Wu

Two brothers.

"The commercial law of the Ming Dynasty must be changed, the salt law must also be changed, for the domestic industry of the Ming Dynasty, a single industry monopoly is not allowed, and a cross-industry monopoly is absolutely impossible, so I hope your Wu family can focus on the main business."

Jiang Xinghuo paused, and said: "This time it is considered a meritorious service, we must cooperate well with the next rectification of the salt industry, the mismatch between the production and marketing areas of the two Huai salt farms must be adjusted, and it is good for everyone to adjust, there is no need to have so much salt tax burden, and the people of the province cannot afford to eat official salt."

"In addition, now business has to look outward, and foreign Japan, Korea, Annam, and Champa ...... There are so many markets, and it's not that you won't be allowed to go, so why are you squeezing around the country and fighting?"

This is the meaning of successfully passing the test, the Wu family brothers were overjoyed, and Li Zengzhi reminded: "The Wu family has to set an example for the matter of paying the salt in the money."

The Wu family is also half an imperial businessman, whether it is cash or real estate, the background is extremely rich, even if they give up the grain business, they can still afford this money, not to mention that the court is not a direct robbery, but let them exchange treasure money for salt, and the salt they get is real.

Listening to Li Zengzhi's words, Wu Chuanjia frowned and said, "It should be so."

"For other things, let Vice President Zhu talk to you."

Jiang Xinghuo has gained a lot tonight, he wants to come to the Wu family brothers, and he has not hidden anything at this point, so he has done a confidant and confidant in rectifying the salt affairs, but he has to sort it out when he goes back.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo left Zhu Heng to chat with them about other business layouts, and he didn't interfere.

rejected Li Zengzhi's invitation to stay in Tangshan and leave by himself.

And Zhu Heng continued to have heart-to-heart conversations with Li Zengzhi and the Wu family brothers.

Wang Bin and Zhu Heng, a bodyguard leader and a big business housekeeper, are all important helpers left by Zhu Gaoxu to Jiang Xinghuo, although their abilities are only at the midstream level, their loyalty is full.

Li Zengzhi took Wu Chuanjia's signature, nodded with a smile, and said, "Don't worry, my Cao Guo Mansion will never treat your Wu family badly, and An Luhou can't give it, I can give it to you."

On the side, Zhu Heng also said meaningfully: "Misfortune and fortune depend, blessing and misfortune lurk, this is your opportunity, and it is also the opportunity for the Wu family to rise, if you miss this time, there will be no next chance!"

Wu Chuanjia took a breath and said, "Li Dudu,

Vice President Wu, please rest assured."

Although the Wu family was quite influential in Yangzhou, Huai'an and other places, and even opened up transportation channels for the tributaries of the Huai River, it was just a drop in the ocean for the great Ming Dynasty, and it was nothing at all.

Therefore, to be appreciated by the national teacher, the Wu family lost in ceding the grain industry and paying the money in the salt, in fact, in the next rezoning of the Huai salt production and marketing area and the reshuffle of salt merchants, will be regained, if the performance is good, even more can be obtained.

At the same time, the Cao Guogong Mansion can reach out to Lianghuai and get the Wu family's grain industry, which is naturally a huge benefit to the Cao Guogong Mansion, but it will also be closer to the Wu family...... If you don't catch the line of the second prince and the national teacher, getting closer often means being eaten and wiped clean, but if the Wu family can become the henchmen of the national teacher, the help to the Wu family is obvious, and it can even change the fate of the Wu family.

In this case, Li Zengzhi certainly doesn't mind wooing the Wu family and working together to strengthen himself.

After all, there are still a lot of rich people in Nanjing, and the imperial court has never issued a similar policy before, and although the exchange of treasure money for salt seems to be a loss, it is only measured from the face value, if the actual value is concerned, it is obviously not a loss.

The rich people who have a lot of treasure money in their hands are willing to spend more treasure money, and as for the matter of going to the Lianghuai salt field to get salt, they naturally don't need to worry about it.

And ordinary people who don't have any treasure money in their hands and want to buy it, the court did not prohibit them from privately joining a group to buy.

It only needs the people of the neighborhood who are trustworthy to get salt, and everyone gets together, and it will naturally become a ...... After all, no one knows if there is a second time for this kind of good thing, cheap salt from it

It's always right to have it at home.

And the most important thing is that even if there is no way to go to the salt field to get salt, you can't find neighbors and friends who can join the group, as long as you have the Ming treasure money in your hand, you can also go to find a familiar merchant or hawker, because now the treasure money can buy some goods that cannot be bought at ordinary prices.

Savvy merchants began to choose to collect only treasure money, so that they could not only sell the backlog of goods, but also return a batch of treasure money, and then use these treasure money to exchange for salt.

Moreover, even if the amount of treasure money on hand is not enough, it can be sold in whole batches and exchanged with other merchants, which is also a good way to make money.

The people of this era are not stupid, but they are extremely smart, since the court does not prohibit private transactions, then they can play flowers.

"It's really worrying that people's hearts are becoming more and more impetuous."

Just as he was resting, Yang Shiqi was entrusted by Zhu Gaochi to take the emperor's grandson Zhu Zhanji out for a walk, to see the situation of the people, looking at the scenes in front of him, Yang Shiqi couldn't help but sigh.

"Is Mr. Yang afraid that customs will not exist?" Zhu Zhanji also looked curiously at the outside world through the curtain of the carriage.

"It's still secondary to the fact that customs don't exist, but this wind really can't last long, and once the days go by, I'm afraid the people won't be able to manage it."

Yang Shiqi revealed the truth in one sentence.

In the eyes of the ruling class, it doesn't matter whether you are a bad citizen or a good citizen, what matters is whether you are good or not.

In the feudal era, the management ability of the imperial court was relatively low, which required that the level of the people must also be relatively low, but mortals were lively, had their own thoughts, and pursued their own interests, and the management difficulty of the imperial court would be super doubled.

"Haven't you read the Book of Shang Jun in the main hall?"

Confucianism after the Han Dynasty understands everyone who understands it, not so much like the pre-Qin Confucianism as more like the pre-Qin Legalists.

It belongs to the skin of Confucianism, and when you open it, it is full of the core of Legalism.

And the dynasties taught the princes and grandsons that the Book of Shang Jun was a must-read textbook.

Because the Book of Shang Jun advocated a strong country and a weak people, Shang Ying believed that a country that could defeat a strong enemy and dominate the world must control its own people and make them weak people. In addition, Shang Yang also believed that the strength of the state and the strength of the people were opposites, and only by making the people obey the law, simple and loyal, would it not be easy for the people to form a strong force against the monarch, so that the country would be easy to govern, and the monarch's position would be firm.

Well...... It is basically the same as the "Treatise on the Monarch" that will not be published until 130 years later in the West.

"The main hall does not teach the Book of Shang Jun, but my father taught me to read it." Zhu Zhanji replied.

"Have you read the "Wrong Law" and "Going Strong"?"

Yang Shiqi said softly: "The envoys of the Ming monarch must be used for their labor, and the reward will be added to their merits; If the merit is always clear, the people will compete for the merit; If you can do your best for the sake of the country, the army will be strong."

"If you punish severely and reward lightly, you will love the people, and the people will die; If you reward heavily and punish lightly, you will not love the people, and the people will not die. Rejuvenate the country and punish it, and the people are afraid of it; Reward, benefit and love for the people."

The meaning here is very easy to understand, even a child like Zhu Zhanji understands it, what he is talking about is nothing more than the relationship between rewards and punishments and the people, increasing the punishment and reducing the reward, that is, the king loves the people, and the people are willing to die for the king, and vice versa.

Zhu Zhanji was very smart, he thought for a while and asked, "So Mr. Yang thinks that if the people can get benefits for themselves, the rewards and punishments from the king will lose half of the effect?"

"Not bad."

Yang Shiqi nodded and said: "This is why I have always disagreed with being too open and supporting business, if the government and the opposition form an atmosphere, then the heart of the people will be irrepressible, not only is the court not good at managing the people, but also the means of the court to control the people will also be invalid."

"You must know that villains are afraid of power but not virtue, but even if the court is punished by law, it is not omnipotent...... If it is omnipotent, how can Tyrannical Qin and Tyrannical Sui die?" Zhu Zhanji was born smart, not a child without discernment, he has his own judgment on right and wrong, so after a little thought, he said words that hit Yang Shiqi's soul.

"—But then the court can be rich."

Yang Shiqi took a deep breath and told himself that Tong Yan was unscrupulous.

In fact, everyone in the cabinet, including Yang Shiqi, knows very well why the emperor looks at the Chinese division instead of them who are well-educated, because the policy of the national teacher is perfectly in line with the emperor's interests.

No matter how many beautiful words are said, the truth is real, and no matter how precise the consequences of the analysis are, it is useless to the emperor.

The imperial court is short of money, and the national teachers can make money without burdening the people, they can't, it's as simple as that.

Zhu Di, who was sitting on the dragon chair, didn't care about the people's hearts and the difficulty of ruling that Yang Shiqi was worried about, because Zhu Di was a complete martial artist thinking, the knife in his hand was hard enough, and the whole world had to listen to him.

On the contrary, Zhu Gaochi did not have the conditions of his father, and at the same time he was a typical Confucian thinking, what he wanted was effective governance at the lowest cost, and long-term governance. It is this difference that causes them to show different attitudes towards Jiang Xinghuo's policies.

If we understand that this way of thinking is different based on education level and life experience, then it is not difficult to understand the "Renxuan shrinkage" that voluntarily gave up large-scale land during the Renxuan period.

As for the matter of Baozong later, of course Baozong is hateful, but if Zhu Zhanji did not give up Kaipingwei, causing Beijing to directly become a link in the northern defense line in fact, then in fact, this battle does not need to be fought in a place like Tumubao, which is not far from the capital, Zhu Di said very thoroughly, "Only if you defend Kaiping, Xinghe, Ningxia, Gansu, Daning, and Liaodong, then the border will be fine", and gave up a series of outpost defense lines such as Kaipingwei, shrunk the land for 300 miles, and lost the danger of the Longgang Luanhe River, so that the bitter fruit has already been buried, It is not an exaggeration to say that the Jurchens were able to cross the Great Wall and enter the Kou Jingshi, which has something to do with this.

Seeing that Mr. Yang was directly silenced by himself, Zhu Zhanji shrunk his neck, and said after a while, "Mr. Jiang is very powerful."

"It's amazing."

Yang Shiqi was not depressed, but he was somewhat helpless.

The appearance of Jiang Xinghuo, for Sanyang and others, is a complete impact on the outlook on life.

All the academic theories and statecraft of the old era seem to have begun to fail, but what can be seen with the naked eye is that Jiang Xinghuo has overcome many difficulties, made changes step by step, and walked from one victory to another.

At a time when the Confucian concept of governance could not solve the hidden acute problems of the empire, and when various systems gradually became rigid and rigid after more than 30 years of evolution, Jiang Xinghuo's reform was like injecting a new source into a pool of stagnant water.

But for the fish that were originally muddy in the pond, it was not a good thing.

"Let's go down and have a look."

The carriage stopped, and there were quite a few people around them who were protecting their safety, so there was no need to worry.

It's a roadside shop, and there are a lot of people queuing.

"With so many treasures in your hand, aren't you afraid of being stolen?" Zhu Zhanji asked in a low voice.

"Of course not."

Yang Shiqi shook his head, due to the flood of treasure banknotes, now the people in various places in Nanjing City will basically carry a few or dozens or even hundreds of treasure banknotes with them, this thing can be said to be extremely convenient to carry, and it is not easy to be stolen when you hold it.

In contrast, copper coins are heavy and must be carried around the waist in a money bag, which is easier to be fished out.

"If you are poor, you will think about change."

After queuing up to observe for a long time, Yang Shiqi sighed.

The market of the Ming Dynasty has never been as prosperous as the Song Dynasty, which has a great relationship with the government's non-promotion of commercial development, and in this case, in this poor and depressed environment, many people with a keen sense of business are actually missing only an opportunity, and once they find that there is an opportunity to improve, they will often seize it and not let go, even if they pay a big price, they will strive to fight and grasp.

Therefore, when the treasure money was overflowing, various commercial activities also flourished.

Like what...... Treasure money exchange.

Yang Shiqi took Zhu Zhanji to a few more shops, and finally turned into a small alley and entered another store.

There is a plaque of "Liu's Qianzhuang" hanging on the top of the shop, and the small flag next to it is embroidered with "Liu's Qianye Gong".

Here, the shopkeeper was sitting in the middle of the store leisurely drinking tea and resting, when a knock on the door suddenly sounded.

"Shopkeeper, there are guests." The man walked into the room and reported respectfully to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper waved his hand to signal him to stand down, continued to drink tea with his head down, and walked out after a while.

Seeing that it was a middle-aged man with a child, who looked like a father and son, the shopkeeper was slightly surprised...... Adults seem to be extraordinary, while children are pampered at first glance.

Looking out of the door again, some majestic men were watching this place with vigilant eyes.

"Shopkeeper, let's make a deal."

After hearing the other party's words, Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said, "Oh? I wonder what you're going to do?" "Sell some money."

"It's okay, we have plenty of copper money in our store, and it should be no problem for customers to exchange as much as they want."

Yang Shiqi was slightly stunned, and asked again, "I don't know what percentage to receive?"

Shopkeeper Liu laughed: "Of course, it is one to one, but it depends on the new and old of the treasure banknote, if there is a loss, you have to charge an extra penny for each depreciation."

"How can it be one to one?" Even a child like Zhu Zhanji sensed that something was wrong.

You take a treasure note with a consistent value (1,000 wen) and go to the street to exchange it for 1,000 copper coins with someone, and a fool will exchange it with you.

Although the actual value of the treasure banknote has risen now, the treasure banknote with the consistent face value can be exchanged for more than 100 copper coins at most.

"Daming Bank has regulations, that's the ratio, you see, this is written."

Yang Shiqi took the document handed over by Shopkeeper Liu and looked at it, and sure enough.

In fact, not only is gold and silver trading banned, but in order to stabilize the value of the currency, Daming Bank also does not allow all regulated banks to exchange excessive proportion of treasure banknotes - copper coins, which is not self-deception.

It is no problem for the people to exchange privately on the black market, but once it can be exchanged publicly, it will inevitably be run, and the stock of copper coins will immediately decrease.

In this case, the treasure banknotes that are not used much in the first place are used less frequently, which is equivalent to making the liquidity of the treasure money worse.

And when the shopkeeper Liu saw the men in strong clothes outside, he was even more afraid that they were sent by Daming Bank to investigate, no matter what Yang Shiqi said, he was bitten to death This is the official rule, and he will never dare to do anything illegal and undisciplined.

Yang Shiqi was helpless, obviously he couldn't catch a fish with a straight hook, so he simply took Zhu Zhanji out of this money house.

But coincidentally, as soon as he walked out of the door, he saw Jiang Xinghuo who was pulling Yu Qian to actually investigate.