The salt introduction of the Ming Dynasty was a pioneering work of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

He combined the salt introduction system formed after the Song Dynasty and the practical needs of the shortage of grain at the border gates to create the Gang Salt System.

Merchants who hold salt quotations are divided into 10 classes according to the region, each class of salt quotation is 200,000 quotations, and each quotation is 300 catties of salt.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, if they wanted to sell salt legally, merchants had to first obtain salt from the government.

Merchants used salt to bring salt to the salt field to support salt, and then went to the designated salt sales area to sell salt.

Through the salt introduction system, by the 31st year of Hongwu, the accumulation of millet in Daning City had reached 620,000 stones.

Then, unsurprisingly, the scriptures were distorted by later generations.

Since the salt tax was a lucrative industry at that time, the royal family, eunuchs, nobles, and bureaucrats all played salt quotations and resold them to salt merchants to make a profit.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, there was no restriction on the salt quotation of 50,000, or 100,000, or 200,000.

The salt introduction system has undergone three major reforms, and in the Wanli period, the salt introduction has simply become a monopoly certificate, and does not have the function of the early Ming Dynasty.

The Ming court itself pushed the lucrative salt tax to the big merchants in Jiangnan.

So why did Cui Chengxiu still ask the imperial court for salt?

He explained: "Although Yuan Shizhen's reform made the imperial court no longer collect salt, the salt introduction effect is still there.

If we get a lot of salt, we can tempt the salt merchants to ship the grain, and then let them get the good salt from us.

We can increase the way we can transport grain, but we can just sell the salt that is sold to Shandong and sell it to other people. ”

"Makes sense!" Yang Chengying said with a smile.

Yang Chengying implemented a monopoly system of salt and iron in eastern Liaoning.

From mining, processing, to transportation and sales, his subordinates are responsible.

Basic materials such as salt shops, rice shops, and pig iron that are opened in various places are uniformly called supply and marketing banks.

Implement town-wide pricing and adjust it according to market demand.

A portion of the proceeds from sales will benefit each position.

Affordable from top to bottom.

Whoever dares to raise the price and sell it privately is waiting to be stabbed.

Many people prefer long-term happiness to long-term happiness rather than momentary happiness.

Therefore, Yang Chengying has always had a large amount of wealth in the account.

The excess salt is also sold to Shandong and other places.

And as Shandong gradually came out of the shadow of war, it did not rely so much on the salt of Liaodong.

If you do what Cui Chengxiu said, you can count it in one fell swoop.

"I'm going to write a note and beg the court to give me salt." Yang Chengying said with a smile.

Song Shu was sent out of Shanhaiguan through the beacon fire post soldiers, and then sent to Beijing by the post messenger of the imperial court.

Seeing Song Shu, Chongzhen was dumbfounded.

was really guessed by Hong Chengchou, Yang Chengying not only wanted to recover Daningwei, but also asked the imperial court to allocate salt to him as a long-term plan.

At this time, the secretary of the household department was Bi Ziyan, and the secretary of the military department was Liang Tingdong.

Chongzhen showed them Yang Chengying's recital, and asked them to come up with an idea.

Liang Tingdong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this matter must not be allowed." Yang Chengying is the best at climbing along the pole, His Majesty gave him Jiliao Wu Jingluo, he directly removed the word 'Wu', and changed the General Military Mansion to Jingluo Mansion.

Externally, he also asked his subordinates and other businessmen to call him 'Jinglu', as if he was Jiliao Jinglu, not Cao Wenheng.

If you give him salt, I don't know what kind of moth he will make again. ”

"Aiqing has a point." Chongzhen nodded.

What Liang Tingdong said was what Chongzhen was most worried about.

"Your Majesty, the minister thought he could agree." Bi Ziyan came out and put forward his own opinions.

Aiqing continued.

"Your Majesty, now that the nine sides are empty, Lin Dan Khan sometimes invades Xuanfu Datong, sometimes invades Ningxia, and Yansui. Thistle is also facing the threat of the Tartars.

There were also displaced people in northern Shaanxi who were in rebellion, and the governors tried their best to encircle and suppress them. The treasury is empty, and it is not enough to make ends meet.

If there is any further unrest, there will be no human and financial resources to deal with the thieves. ”

This sounds very reasonable, and Chongzhen frowns.

"It's like drinking a donkey to quench your thirst, and it's dangerous to walk a tartar and a lion to come."

Liang Tingdong refuted on the spot.

Bi Ziyan said without humility or arrogance: "If you want to be external, you must first settle inside." Yang Chengying did not rebel against the imperial court, and Your Excellency is the secretary of the military department, but it seems inappropriate to say so. ”

"Bi Shangshu, I'm just talking about things."

"I'm also on the matter."

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Chongzhen coughed.

The hall was instantly silent.

Chongzhen looked up at the plaque of "Nine Thoughts", and said in his heart: "As the saying goes, 'two powers harm each other, take the lighter', the north is uncertain, and the Beijing is difficult to be safe." ”

"I have made up my mind, and I am allowed to give Yang Chengying 200,000 salt." Chongzhen said loudly.

"Your Majesty." Bi Ziyan knelt down.

Liang Tingdong had no choice but to kneel down and shout "Shengming" in unison.

Seeing that Chongzhen was leaving, Liang Tingdong hurriedly said: "The minister still has one more matter, and I want to ask Your Majesty for permission." ”

"What?" Chongzhen sat back in his place.

Liang Tingdong played: "Your Majesty, the border is on fire, and the displaced people are fleeing in all directions. Yang He repeatedly asked the imperial court to allocate 300,000 taels of silver for the purpose of appeasing the displaced people. ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen said very unhappily: "I said that Yang He will handle all matters by himself. As for the money and food, he inevitably asked for too much. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks so too." Liang Tingdong followed Chongzhen's words and said, "But the minister thinks about it, if you don't allocate the silver, it seems that there is something wrong, and I hope that Your Majesty will know it." ”

Chongzhen almost stood up.

Money, money, money, I have to be rich, do I still need to dress and don't see it?!

But he didn't stand up, maintaining the majesty of the king: "Bi Ziyan, what do you think? ”

"Your Majesty, since the minister was in charge of the household department, he personally inspected the official land, cut false claims, embezzlement, and embezzlement, and Rao was still unable to make up the money."

When Bi Ziyan thought of these things, he had a headache.

Chongzhen was furious: "Hmph! The annual income of the household department is 5.2 million taels.

Do you know that Yang Chengying opened a Liaodong silver number, in order to let people use the banknotes issued by him, the silver deposit is as high as five million taels.

Where does his money come from?! ”

Bi Ziyan was scolded by Chongzhen so much that he couldn't raise his head.

When Yang Chengying was still the chief soldier of Jinzhou Town, Bi Ziyan had already noticed.

But in the face of Chongzhen's questioning, he didn't dare to tell the truth.

Yang Chengying received hundreds of thousands of silver and incalculable grain from the Li Dynasty several times.

In addition, Yang Chengying also used the identity of the Ming Dynasty to have large-scale trade with the Japanese state.

Chongzhen must have been furious.

It's not that Bi Ziyan wants to protect Yang Chengying, but that his own family also has a share in it.

Liang Tingdong, who disagreed with Bi Ziyan, also obediently shut up.

The reason is the same as Bi Ziyan.

"The minister thinks that he can increase the land endowment of the world, which is about 1.65 million taels."

Liang Tingdong hurriedly came up with an idea.

"Your Majesty, it's not right. The people are already clean, and the court should only reduce or reduce taxes, how can there be any addition. ”

Bi Ziyan objected.

Chongzhen only asked one sentence, and then asked Bi Ziyan to shut up:

"Bi Aiqing, you tell me, where does the money come from?"