Li Hongji's head was full of question marks, how could Gu Guozhang come to the small courtyard of the Boundless Daoist? What is the relationship between them?

"Your Highness, Poor Dao happened to meet Gu Senior yesterday, during which there were some conflicts, and later the conflict was resolved and they drank and competed until dawn. Tianya chuckled: "It's also strange that Poor Dao lost his virtue after drinking, and now he can't remember what happened last night." ”

"Oh~~ Are you going to get drunk?"

"There's no need to get drunk. ”

Li Hongji said embarrassedly: "That's nothing, right?" ”

"It's okay, it's okay, what can I do?" Tianya said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince don't talk outside the door, come in and have a cup of tea." ”

"It just so happens that Xiao Wang also has something to ask Daoist Wuyazi. ”

Li Hongji walked into the house very respectfully, and after taking it to the living room, Xiang'er immediately served tea. Li Hongji's attitude surprised Gu Guozhang and Gu Xiaoyue very much, he was the prince of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and Li Hongji was quite unreasonable and short-tempered, but Li Hongji at this time was completely very humble.

Gu Guozhang and Gu Xiaoyue even doubted the identity of this crown prince, but Gu Guozhang could guarantee that no one in the world would pretend to be this straw bag, and the White Lotus Venerable behind him was also genuine. The most important thing is...... Gu Guozhang knew Li Hongji, but the difference between this meeting and the last time was too big.

"I don't know what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has to teach him?" Tianya immediately asked Li Hongji what his purpose was after taking a sip of tea.

The last time Li Hongji said that he would come to him by asking about this matter, and then go out to eat and drink together, but in fact, he went to the Qinglou to drink flower wine. I just talked about this matter yesterday, Li Hongji is here today, and this kid is also a little anxious.

Tianya didn't actually plan to go today, because she drank too much wine last night, so she snubbed Xiang'er for one night, and of course she had to make up for it today. Although Tianya still longs for that kind of place, Xiang'er is more important because she is long-term.

Li Hongji said: "Daoist Wuyazi, in fact, during this time, Xiao Wang was helping his father to review the chapters, and he encountered some thorny problems, and at the same time there were many accumulated criticisms, I want to listen to the opinions of Daoist Wuyazi." ”

"Oh ~ national event...... Do you need a quiet place to talk?"

"That's not necessary, because some things are not secrets, such as my imperial uncle Yan Wang Li Sui, everyone knows that the two major forces of the Southern Tang Dynasty are Li Sui, the king of Yan, except for Yang Ying, the king of Jiangxi Town. Recently, my performance has made the emperor very dissatisfied, in his eyes I am a straw bag, so he thinks that after my father's death, he should inherit the throne, and the better I behave, the more annoyed he will become. I've almost quarreled several times during this time. Daoist Wuyazi, how do you say this kind of relationship between uncle and nephew should be handled?"

Tianya chuckled, "This is too simple. ”

"Wu Yazi Dao Chief, or ...... According to the old rules, you ask questions, and I answer. ”

"Hmm~" Tianya said: "His Royal Highness the Prince, why do you think King Yan wants to grab this throne? ”

"I don't think man is doomed by heaven and earth, of course he is for himself. ”

"That's right, he's doing it for himself. If it is for yourself, of course, it is to maximize the benefits, there is no doubt about that. Tianya said: "His Royal Highness the Prince, how is the Southern Tang Jiangshan Sheji now?"

"The society is uneven, and Da Zhou Chai Rong plans to attack Shouzhou again, so we will go to Wang Valve to find a technical master to build fortifications. Li Hongji said: "Oh~~ I understand." Thank you for the teachings of the Taoist Commander of Wuyazi, it may not be a good thing to be the emperor now, at this time, the country is turbulent, the society is unstable, if Chai Rong breaks through Shouzhou, the country will be gone, as the emperor even if he does not die, I am afraid he will be under house arrest by Chai Rong for a lifetime. But if the emperor's uncle Li Sui only serves as his Yan King, occupies a place, and has the opportunity to surrender on his own initiative, he will be able to dominate one side at that time. As long as this stake is clearly explained to the imperial uncle, he will not fight for the throne again, right? ”

"That's right, being an emperor nowadays is not as easy as being a prince. If the country is peaceful, it is naturally good to be the emperor, but at this time, the situation in the Southern Tang Dynasty no longer allows him to fight, not to mention that even if he wins, it will not be good for him, but it will be bad. King Yan just didn't think about this possibility, as long as you make this matter clear, King Yan will not entangle with you, and will even fully support you in turn. ”

"Yes, yes, yes~ It's still a great way to go. Li Hongji said: "There is one more thing, which is also the biggest problem in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the treasury is empty. Before managing these things, Xiao Wang really didn't know that the treasury only had such a small amount of money, and Xiao Wang now felt that three meals a day was too luxurious, and it should be changed to two. Although with the help of the governor of Wuyazi, the Southern Tang Dynasty is preparing to establish diplomatic relations with the Khitan, and after the opening of the sea trade route, the economy will be relieved, but far from quenching the thirst of the near, and now the construction of Shouzhou fortifications has encountered problems, and a lot of money in the treasury revenue is necessary expenditure, and the money that can be allocated to Shouzhou is very limited. ”

Tianya said: "This is not a difficult matter, immediately leave the book to Li Hongmao, and let him increase the salt tax, from 60 Wen per catty to 80 Wen per catty, this money should be enough to build Shouzhou fortifications." ”

"Daoist Wuyazi, I'm afraid this is not good. ”

"That's to say~ Where did Yandao offend you? You just opened your mouth to raise the price, and it was so high. From 60 Wen to 80 Wen, an extra 20 Wen a catty, this is already the original three times, how can there be such a price increase. What's the difference between you and Ming Robbing?" Gu Guozhang said angrily: "Wuyazi, believe it or not, I'll kill you now, lest you have this bad idea." ”

"What does it have to do with you?"

"Nonsense, I'm Gu Guozhang, how can this matter have nothing to do with me? Do you know who is responsible for transporting those salts? If you raise the salt tax, the whole world will be miserable. ”

Tianya said: "In fact, this is a clear robbery, all taxes are open robbery, just look at whether you grab more or less." Gu senior, you don't have to worry, in fact, the whole thing has nothing to do with you, you are just in charge of transportation, and it is not you who gives the money, not even Yandao. ”

"How can your increase in the salt tax have no effect on me? Not only on me, but on the whole world. I could have accounted for half of Yandao's income, but if you make a fuss like this, my income will definitely decrease a lot. ”

Li Hongji nodded and said: "Yes, ~ 60 Wen's tax is already very heavy, if the tax is raised again, I'm afraid that the people of Yandao will take a detour, in case they really don't go."

Tianya said: "Your income will not be less than a penny, and at the same time, the economy of Nantang can also be alleviated, why not." ”

"This doesn't make sense, so where does all this money come from?"

"The wool comes out of the sheep, and the people pay for it. Don't think that it will be a lot of burden, in fact, in the end, it will not be much, Yandao itself will make adjustments, and in the end, only you will benefit, and there will be almost no impact. ”

"Why wouldn't it have any effect?"

Tianya said: "Senior Gu, you should know what the purchase price of salt is, what the selling price is, and what the cost is." ”

"Now the purchase price is 200 Wen a catty, and the selling price varies from place to place, Nantang is 800 Wen a catty, and Da Zhou is 750 Wen a catty. That's the price minus fractions, and that's all there should be. As for the cost...... If there is sea water and sunlight, only some labor is needed, and these artificial labor can produce tens of thousands of sea salt every day, and the cost is negligible. ”

"That's right, if you don't have a penny for 200 yuan, it doesn't cost much money to transport...... Then in the end, it will be sold to the people for a maximum of 300 Wen, if the purchase is 200 Wen, and the merchant sells 800 Wen, there will be other merchants who sell 700 Wen, 600 Wen, 500 Wen in order to compete for business, and finally will return to 300 Wen, which is the market positioning, there is no way. If this is the case, the merchants' profits will be much less, and the only people will earn, and the merchants will also look for cheaper purchase channels, and then the salt in Yandao can only attract merchants by reducing the price, and for Yandao, this is the last thing they want to accept, and the salt will soon become worthless. But what's the solution? How can we increase the value of salt?"

Everyone was deeply attracted by Tianya's words, because what he said made sense. In Yandao, salt is a worthless thing, but it is a necessity for the people, so Yandao prices salt at 200 Wen, but if it is really bought for 200 yuan, and there is no other way to add value, then salt will be cheaper and cheaper.

If Tianya didn't explain it, no one would want to go here at all. They just feel that it is only the same between buying and selling, how much to buy, how much to sell, and the value of this thing will not change for other reasons.

Tianya said: "If you want to increase the value of salt, then the only way to do it is through taxes." From the Southern Han Dynasty to the Great Zhou Dynasty, how many places did the road pass? Each place would take a part of the tax revenue, and finally sell it to the hands of the people before it was sold to the hands of the people. Shioshima is not afraid of collecting taxes, but is afraid that others will not collect taxes. If taxes are not collected, how much will the freight cost on this journey? When the salt itself depreciates, the income of the salt island will be lower. This is why Yandao can clearly change the route and not take the Southern Tang Pass, but they still deliberately go to Tanzhou, just to let you collect taxes. So Shioshima doesn't care how much tax you charge, as long as you don't go too far. ”

Gu Guozhang suddenly realized: "It turned out to be like this, I used to think it was strange, that route was clearly a long detour, and there were too many places on the way, it could have been possible to bypass the Southern Tang Dynasty directly from the Southern Han Dynasty to the Great Zhou, but Zhao Pu fixed this route and did not allow anyone to modify it, I used to think that he had a problem, but now I know that it is to let others collect taxes." ”

"That's natural, and taxes increase the value of the goods themselves. Anyway, don't give this money to Yandao himself, the wool comes out of the sheep, and no matter how expensive the taxes are collected in the Southern Tang Dynasty, the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty who give the money are also the people of the Southern Tang Dynasty. However, if you charge an extra 20 wen for a pound of salt, it is enough for the construction of Shouzhou fortifications, and it is enough for Li Hongmao to implement it in this way. ”

Li Hongji nodded, sure enough, there is something to find the Wuyazi Dao Chief, his method is indeed very good, and the reason is sufficient. Someone else else came up with this idea...... I must have thought he was crazy.