Du Ming, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and the others couldn't help but sigh secretly, and had some respect for Li Si.

Although the approach advocated by Li Si is very offensive, if the imperial court can block these two big openings, it can indeed convey the imperial court's decision to control salt, and then eliminate the salt evils will get twice the result with half the effort.

It's just that Li Si took the initiative to stop the salt consumption of Beijing officials, I am afraid that his reputation will really stink in the future, and he will even be deliberately picked by some small-bellied officials.

Zhu Youzhi could feel that Li Si was dealing with the problem from the standpoint of solving political malpractices, and when he made a decision, he said: "Jingguan salt is not customized by Taizu, and I have heard that there are Jingguan salt sellers along the way back from time to time, and this hole is indeed to be filled." After a pause, he looked at Li Si and said: "The salary of this dynasty is not high, and you can't be a wicked person, so the court will increase salt compensation for officials!" Li Qing, you go back to the household department to discuss, and it is appropriate to look at the geometry of the quota! ”

Because there is too much room for profit in Beijing's official salt, many officials have sold surplus salt, so it is certainly impossible to make up for the full amount of the salt that has been distributed.

It's just that he has already given them salt supplements, if these Jingguan still think that eating that is more fragrant, then they don't have to be so polite.

The reason for this is naturally not to compromise with the Beijing officials, but to appropriately raise the salaries so that these officials who shout empty slogans can work harder.

"Command!" Li Si didn't expect Zhu Youzhu to take the initiative to make up for Jingguan salt to reduce the pressure of public opinion, so he secretly expressed his gratitude.

After a long time with each other, he knew that although the emperor was decisive, he was still very protective of his courtiers who were loyal to him.

If you can meet such an emperor, what reason is there not to be loyal and loyal?

"Your Majesty, most of the palaces are in non-Huai salt sales areas, and they have always eaten his salt, and this matter may cause disturbances in the clan!" Xu Qiong, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, is most concerned about the situation of the clan, even if he is worried.

"Why can't the people eat if they can't eat? According to the minister's opinion, they actually want to embezzle the country's interests, and they are maggots who eat insatiably, and the matter of the king of Chu is a lesson from the past! He Cong, the left attendant of the military department, was disgusted with the vassal king who had to beg for salt even though he had a lot of money, and he accused loudly.

Zhu Youzhu did not make a decision to stop the salt in the palace, and turned his head to look at Wan An, who was closest to him, and said, "Wan Ge Lao, what do you think?" ”

Du Ming, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and others looked at Wan An one after another, although the outside world has always called Wan An "the old man of the Paper Paste Pavilion", but how can this Shoufu, who has stood in the court for more than ten years, really be a general.

"The old minister thinks that Li Shangshu is right! This salt law should be penetrated, and this opening should not be opened again, and now the restoration of salt tax is the first priority! Wan An is not a person who likes to show himself, but he will answer carefully in the face of Zhu Youji's inquiry.

Zhu Youzhu saw Wan An's statement like this, so he directly decided: "Since this is the case, then according to Li Shangshu's request, stop the salt of the palace and the salt of the Beijing officials, and take the restoration of the salt tax as the first priority!" ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!" When he saw Zhu Youzhi make a decision, even Xu Qiong, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, expressed his support for authenticity.

The eight of them are just here to give advice, but the final decision is still made by the Son of Heaven, not to mention that the Son of Heaven's decision is so wise and powerful.

Zhu Youzhu knew that he had to rely on himself for many things, so he told Li Si: "Li Qing, clear up the accumulation, go back to the household department to hold a ministerial meeting, and strive to come up with another plan tomorrow, and then we will meet here again!" ”

"Command!" Li Si saw that his proposal just now was taken seriously, and he secretly rejoiced.

Du Ming and the others of the Criminal Department silently exchanged glances, but they knew that they were now at the core of power, and now they were almost equal to the Quasi-Pavilion Elders.

Zhu Youzhu picked up the song sent back by Liu Jin, and then picked up Wang Yue's song and said: "Yangzhou's greedy ink nest case can be described as unheard of!" It's just that Wang Yue claimed that there are important ministers in the court behind this case, so I ask me to investigate more strictly, what do you think? ”

As soon as these words came out, Wan An and Liu Ji couldn't help but exchange a look, and then sat quietly.

"Your Majesty, if you have already grasped the clues, Wang Yue will continue to investigate this case! No matter who is involved, it should be severely punished, and adultery must never be tolerated! Du Ming, the secretary of the Criminal Department, said with a murderous attitude.

"Yes, if there is someone behind this case, it should be investigated to the end!" He Cong, the left attendant of the military department, did not get any benefit at all, and he also strongly supported the authenticity.

"Your Majesty, this matter should be cautious! If there is definite evidence, it should be severely punished, but if there is no evidence and a strict investigation is carried out, it may cause panic among the officials in the capital, which will not be conducive to governance! Li Yu, the secretary of the ministry, considered stability, but stood up and said.

"What Li Shangshu said is very true! The Yangzhou City incident has been widely implicated, and once the imperial court conducts a strict investigation, it will be difficult for all officials to sleep, which is not conducive to governance. Of course, this case cannot be hastily handled, Wang Yue can secretly investigate it by himself, and if there is solid evidence, it can be removed! Liu Ji turned his head and glanced at Wan An, then stood up and said.

Zhu Youzhu saw the reactions of the courtiers present, but he knew that if there was such a nest case in Yangzhou, it must be related to the important ministers of the court.

Like the two Huai patrol salt imperial history was pulled into the water in such a short period of time, this matter has already proved that there is the power of the court to help, otherwise a two Huai transfer envoy does not have such a great energy.

It's just that it's really not appropriate to beat gongs and drums to strictly investigate, not that he wants to be open to these officials, but that he already knows the faces of such officials. If there is really a strict investigation, there are a few people in this capital who can be saved, and maybe half of the officials in front of them will be dragged away.

Zhu Youzhu is not a perfectionist, so he made a statement and said: "Since this is the case, this matter is not suitable for a big fight, so continue to be investigated by Wang Yue!" ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!" Wan An and the others sighed secretly, and arched their hands in a proper manner.

Zhu Youzhu picked up the teacup sent by Liu Jin, and mentioned another thing: "Do you know why I want to plant cotton at this year's cultivation ceremony? ”

"The minister does not dare to speculate on the Sacred Heart!" Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, who was wearing a first-class official uniform, hesitated for a moment, and then made a statement.

Zhu Youzhu pinched the lid of the tea and lightly splashed the hot tea, and said lightly to all the officials present: "Don't be sloppy here!" ”

I...... Nope!

Xu Qiong, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, glanced at Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, in a daze, and turned his head to look at Zhu Youzhu on the dragon chair, and couldn't help but secretly scream in his heart.

At that time, Zhu Youzhi ordered to plant more cotton, so he naturally complied, but he didn't dare to ask more, because he couldn't guess Zhu Youji's intention at all.

"In my humble opinion, Your Majesty wants to promote cotton cloth!" Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, has been figuring out the Sacred Heart, and even when he tells his conjecture.

Household Shangshu Li Si and other officials all had conjectures, but they didn't want to be 100% sure, so they also turned their heads to look at Zhu Youzhu curiously.

Zhu Youzhu took a sip of tea, then nodded under the banner of justice: "Not bad!" When it was cold last winter, I heard that some people in the capital froze to death, and the people everywhere lacked things to protect themselves from the cold, and there were many people who froze to death! I can't bear to see that when the cold winter comes again this year, many of the people under my rule will freeze to death, so I want to choose a place to promote cotton planting, so as to increase the yield of cotton cloth! ”

"Your Majesty, cotton is easy to come by, but weavers are hard to find! It takes several years for a skilled weaver to become a teacher, and weaving cloth is easy to mistake farm work, and a piece of cloth takes more than ten days, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and can be worn by poor families! Although Li Si, the head of the household, was moved by Zhu Youji's love for the people, he still pointed out the crux of it.

After all, cotton cloth cannot be drawn and written, but it requires weavers to be busy day and night before they can finally weave a horse. It's just that the weavers don't leave it for themselves to wear, and the poor can't afford to wear it.

Liu Ji and the others nodded secretly, the cloth that people spent half a month weaving could not be given away in vain, and this man-hour was superimposed on the cost of cotton cloth, which was something that the poor people could not afford.

Zhu Youzhu naturally understood this economic principle, so he nodded lightly and said: "I know that the expansion of cotton production is only the first step, and then we have to consider how to benefit the cotton industry in order to make the cloth industry prosperous?" Until the price of cotton cloth fell, so that the people could buy cheap cotton cloth and the poor people could have clothes to wear! ”

When he was a financial researcher, he already knew that if he wanted to develop a new industry, the power of one person or one enterprise was often limited, and the best way was to be supported by national policies.

Only the state vigorously supports emerging industries, so as to attract industrial funds and talents to enter, so as to continuously overcome technical difficulties, and finally lead to cost reduction.

Taking photovoltaic power generation as an example, the initial power generation cost is several cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, but after several years of subsidy support from the state, the power generation cost has dropped below that of thermal power generation.

If there is no national support at the beginning, it is impossible for profit-seeking capital to intervene at all, and naturally there will be no subsequent technological upgrades, so the cost reduction of thermal power may never appear.

Now, if you want the price of cotton cloth to fall, according to simple economics, you only need to increase production. If you just want cotton to take a big dive, then you need to encourage technological upgrades, so as to improve production efficiency and reduce production costs.

In the original historical trajectory, it was not until the emergence of the rear pedal reeling car that the production efficiency of Daming cotton cloth was greatly improved.

"Your Majesty, the minister is stupid, how can this cotton cloth get cheaper and cheaper?" Xu Ming, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't turn his brain, so he was confused.

Zhu Youzhi knew that other people were probably confused, and each of the Four Books and Five Classics could be said to be the truth, but this economic principle was indeed too difficult for them.

Of course, it cannot be said that these important ministers are not smart, but that traditional ideas are the cause of trouble, and they have always despised business, so how can they seriously study it?

Zhu Youzhu gently put down the teacup in his hand, and immediately turned his head to look at Wan An on the left and asked, "Wan Ge Lao!" ”

"The old minister is here!" Wan An looked at Zhu Youzhu for some reason, and immediately responded respectfully.

Zhu Youzhu picked up a book on the table and asked Wan An seriously: "I heard that you have studied history books very deeply, do you know the price of ordinary books in the Tang Dynasty?" ”

"Prime Minister Yuan of Tang mentioned that a thousand dollars to buy a book, and a total of five volumes costs 5,000 yuan!" Wan An thought about it for a while, and then gave the answer.

Du Ming and other officials of the Criminal Department didn't know why Zhu Youzhu suddenly pulled on the books, and they looked at Zhu Youzhu in confusion.

Zhu Youzhu smiled slightly, and then asked: "What about Song Shi?" ”

"Lao Chen remembers that there are historical records that a scroll ranges from dozens to a hundred!" Wan An thought for a while, and then gave an authentic answer.

Zhu Youzhu put down the book in his hand and asked very seriously: "Why?" ”

"One is that there are many literate people, and the other is that live printing has been used, so the price is less than one-tenth of that of the Tang Dynasty!" Wan An thought about it, and then said his feelings.

When Du Ming, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and other officials learned that the price of the books was so much worse, they couldn't help but fall into deep thought when they thought of the cotton cloth that Zhu Youzhu had just mentioned.

If the price of books is not static, then the price of cotton cloth is naturally not static, and if the price of cotton cloth can really fall, it is indeed a great thing for the people.

Compared with those who only think about the rule of officials and the promotion of education, if the price of cotton cloth can be really reduced, this is indeed the real benevolent government.

"Ministers occasionally go to the Drum Tower to buy books, and now a volume only costs dozens of dollars, which is many times cheaper than the Tang Dynasty! Nowadays, it seems that cotton cloth may not be cheaper and cheaper! Liu Ji said with a look of understanding.

Zhu Youzhu met everyone's eyes and said eloquently: "Because there are many people engaged in it, and movable type printing is present, the price of books can fall repeatedly!" I thought that if we could find ways to improve the production efficiency of looms and encourage more workshops to work in the cotton industry, it would be possible! Today, cotton cloth costs more than a dollar, if we can make cotton cloth drop to fifty percent each, then the people can wear more! I am planting cotton in Lili, and I want to advocate the planting of cotton to the world, starting from the output of raw materials! In order to improve the enthusiasm of the people, our court thought that some areas could be selected, and those who planted cotton would not be taxed 30 taxes, but 100 taxes, so that cotton production could increase! ”

"Your Majesty, it's so damaging to the imperial court's taxes!" Xu Qiong, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, sighed secretly, and even brought up the harm.

Zhu You met the eyes of the important ministers present, and showed his attitude and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, we want to seek a hundred years, and not fight for this overnight profit!" When I was in the Green Palace, I had already learned: one tree and one harvest, Gu also; One tree and ten winners, wood also; A tree is a hundred gains, and so are people. Now, if you can sacrifice shallow profits, and the people can afford to wear cotton clothes, how can you gain more than a hundred things? I have this plan with you today, and I think I can go down in history! ”

In this era, there is naturally no concept of policy support, and since it is to govern the country by itself, it is naturally impossible to be influenced by this traditional concept.

Not to mention that the development of the cloth industry can indeed allow the people to have clothes to wear, and if they want to embark on the road of a real strong army, they are also inseparable from the support of the textile industry.

Whether it is to break the traditional concept or bring a new concept of governance, this industrial support is undoubtedly the best way to revitalize China.

(End of chapter)