The handmaidens who were still mocking them just now were extremely surprised! Because they feel that these people seem to have suddenly become smarter, and they can actually understand problems that they can't think of!

As for Liu Haojia, he was even happier to see this noisy scene! Because he needs more people to accept his ideas, his ideas, and then come together with him! Because he is so short of men! Although he has been training manpower, it is simply not enough!

And he seriously lacks talents who are in charge of themselves, but these talents are trapped in the pit of the imperial examination and refuse to come out, he is also a martial artist, and the Wenwu Shu Path alone makes many scholars refuse to take refuge, which makes him have a lot of ideas but can't play them!.

And these people in front of him are some good targets, as long as he turns their minds around and finds a way to get them on his ship, he will immediately have dozens of available manpower! And it's easy to get these people on his ship, as long as he leaks the events of tonight, these people will be ostracized by Shilin, and when the time comes, if he helps, maybe these people will be smoothly included in his command!

Although there are only three jinshi among these people, and they may not be able to take refuge in him, this is always a good start! And even those who lift people and show talents are much stronger than the semi-finished products he hastily cultivated!

So he allowed these scholars to have a heated discussion, which is a subtle process of ideological change! When they unconsciously completed the change of thinking, they naturally became members of the same faction as Liu Haojia! That's what the so-called like-minded people are!

After waiting for a long time, the excited scholars finally quieted down. After Jin Pu took the lead in getting up and tidying up his clothes, he led everyone to Liu Haojia to the ground, and then said, "I will thank Master Hou for his teachings!"

Liu Haojia laughed when he saw this, got up and returned the salute and said, "Okay, good! It would be best if you could understand Benhou's mind! Alright, sit down!"

After everyone sat down, Liu Haojia said, "Do you remember what Ben Hou just said to add a question to you, that is, why did Ben Hou meddle in the salt business? There are two reasons for this, the first reason is that salt is so expensive, so expensive that many people can't afford it! Many of you come from the countryside, and you should know that many poor people don't have access to salt! You must know that if you don't eat salt for a long time, your hair will turn gray, your body will collapse, and you will soon develop various diseases!"

At this time, a scholar said with emotion: "Master Hou is right, many poor people are indeed difficult to eat salt! For example, there are many people in my hometown who have difficulty eating salt, how difficult is it? When they buy a piece of salt, they don't crush it to eat, but they break a branch and sandwich the salt in the middle! When it's time to cook, soak this branch in the soup, shake it dry, and hang it up! There's no salt at all in that kind of food!"

At another table, a scholar said, "In our hometown, there are also many people who eat 'Wangwang salt,' that is, they hang salt packets on the table, and when they eat, they feel that they have eaten salt!" Only on the first and fifteenth days of the month do I open the salt packet and make a salty meal!"

With these two people at the beginning, many scholars told what they had seen and heard. Only then did they realize that the poor people at the bottom were living in such difficulty, which was something they had seen but didn't care about in the past! Thinking of this, they couldn't help but have a trace of reverence for Liu Haojia!

When they stopped talking, Liu Haojia said, "So, after knowing that there are so many people under my Ming Dynasty who can't eat salt, I thought that if I can sell salt very cheaply, so that everyone can eat more or less, then the people's bodies will be healthier, more wealth can be created, and my Ming Dynasty can be stronger!" This is one of Benhou's original intentions!"

When the scholars heard Liu Haojia's words, they expressed their appreciation for him! At this time, Jin Pu said, "Master Hou, you said a reason just now, what is the other reason?"

Liu Haojia said: "The second reason is taxes! Because salt is sold at an extremely high price, this has produced a lot of salt barons who sell smuggled salt! Although they said that selling low salt solved the problem of some people eating salt, there was another problem, that is, a large amount of salt tax

Loss! Do any of you know how much salt tax I pay in a year?"

As soon as the question was raised, scholars, you look at me, I see that you are all at a loss, and finally found that no one present knows!

Liu Haojia shook his head at their ignorant appearance, sighed and said, "Now the salt tax of the Ming Dynasty is only more than four million taels a year, which seems to be a lot! But do you know how much the salt tax was a year during the reign of Taizong? Close to eleven million taels!"

As soon as the scholars heard these two figures, they exploded! The population of Daming is increasing, and the number of people who eat salt is bound to increase, so how can the salt tax be collected less and less? So immediately someone said indignantly, "The salt is so expensive, the salt tax is still decreasing, and it must have been stolen by those corrupt officials!"

"And those who sell smuggled salt never pay taxes, and this is the bigger loss!"

The scholars were so indignant, on the one hand, they regretted the annual reduction of the imperial court's salt tax, and on the other hand, it also hurt their vital interests! Because these scholars are now the reserve of officials, and they have already regarded themselves as officials, but the life of officials has not been easy these years!

Just a few years ago, when Zhang Juzheng did not become the first assistant, the imperial court was so poor that many officials could not open their salaries, and even had to use some items to discount.

For example, during the Longqing period, the imperial court used a large amount of spices such as pepper and sumac wood to offset the official salary. It turned out that the high-ranking officials of the imperial court thought very well, and felt that these things were valuables, and they could be exchanged for a lot of money when they were brought back to the market!

But they don't want to think that if a huge number of goods of the same kind suddenly appear on the market, the price will definitely plummet! As a result, after these officials sold the goods at hand, they were far from being able to compensate for the officials, so the officials were also full of complaints!

Therefore, these scholars felt that if the salt tax was collected and millions of taels of silver were added every year, their life as officials would be much better, so they were so angry!

Taking this opportunity, Liu Haojia said: "You are right, there are corrupt officials and corrupt officials who do not talk about it, and there are even those who sell smuggled salt to evade taxes, resulting in the reduction of salt taxes again and again! So the second purpose of Ben Hou's meddling in the price of salt is to make these people unprofitable!"