Chapter 3152 Protection

The emperor waved his hand and said, "The wealth of the people is the wealth of the country."

He thought very openly, "The people have money, and even if the treasury does not join hands for a while in case of disaster, they can save themselves, and the effect is the same as putting money in the treasury and then using it for the people, so you don't need to worry about salt. The price is too low, the big deal is that I don’t charge the salt tax.”

The emperor has said so, what else can others say?

They all knelt down and saluted, "Your Majesty is wise."

Kong Jijiu raised his head slightly and looked at the prince diagonally opposite, seeing that there was no dissatisfaction on his face, he nodded slightly in his heart, and was more satisfied with him.

After all, Bai Shan was also the prince's companion, and he was the first to agree to the salt administration reform.

The corners of Kong Jijiu's mouth twitched slightly, feeling that the prince finally had the bearing and mind of being a prince.

Since the emperor doesn't even care about taxes, then...

The old man Tang proposed eagerly: "Why not sell the salt and iron monopoly?"

He said: "The establishment of a salt transportation department, which is responsible for the operation of official salt? In this way, the national treasury can not only make profits, but also control the price of salt, so that the benefits are shared with the people. Isn't it better than letting the merchants earn another level?"

Liu Shangshu was refreshed and nodded, "Your Majesty, I think this is a good idea."

Wei Zhi frowned. He didn't want to set up a salt transportation company, but he wanted to sell it to merchants. Merchants pursued profits. They knew how to save costs better than the yamen. And as the emperor said, the wealth of the country is not as wealthy as the people, and the merchants also belong to the people.

Wei Zhi has no prejudice against business, and is even willing to strongly support their development.

Old Master Tang is just the opposite. He believes that many evils in the world are caused by profit, and merchants are the most profitable. Although Master Wei said that the government will reduce the price of salt, Old Tang still does not believe in the morality of businessmen.

The two of them each explained their views, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of their insistence, and then looked at the emperor and the others, waiting for them to make up their minds.

The emperor pondered: "What do you Aiqing think?"

Kong Jijiu said: "Let's count the money directly. If the salt and iron monopoly is sold, what is the price that can be sold now, and how much can be put into the warehouse after all the costs? If it is handed over to the merchants, what is the price they can accept? Will there be a big price increase in the future, and what part of the money they make?"

They must ensure that the merchants make enough profits from the salt, otherwise this policy will definitely not be carried out. In the end, they will still find a way to make up for it from other places, which they absolutely do not allow.

The prince sat on the side, distracted slightly, and chose one of the two, that is to say, they all agreed to reform the salt administration, but they had not yet decided how to change it.

The prince twitched his lips, feeling that Jiangnan's affairs were almost certain.

Sure enough, at the small court meeting the next day, Wei Zhi brought up the salt policy reform again. There were very few opponents, and some people felt panic when they saw it.

Before they could find out the news, the emperor convened a great court meeting of hundreds of officials, and mentioned the establishment of salt transportation divisions and official salt monopoly in various places.

The officials were shocked, and they were all stunned for a while. They didn't expect such a big move in the reform of the salt administration. Before they could regain their senses and discuss it, the emperor asked people to take out a stack of documents and said with a sullen face: "This is the impeachment of the salt administration in the south of the Yangtze River. fold."

"Salt is related to people's livelihood. As a result, the Jiangnan salt field was not prepared last year. This year, it is time to temporarily break the contract for the official salt of each county..." The emperor has been pressing the case for impeaching Jiangnan officialdom and salt administration some time ago. When I came out, I asked Gu Zhong to take out the book and read it one by one, and all the officials who were sitting came out in cold sweat.

Even the unrelated Master Tang felt frightened and sat on his seat with his head down and motionless.

But the emperor called his name.

Master Tang was stagnant in his heart, and after a pause, he stood up from his seat, stepped out of the queue and bowed: "This minister is here."

The emperor said with a sullen face: "Go to Jiangnan again to check the reason why the Jiangnan Salt Works was negligent and escorted all the prisoners back to the capital. The Department of Punishment, the Dali Temple and the Censor's Office Assistant Manager."

The bosses of the Ministry of Punishment and the Censor Desk of Dali Temple came out and bowed in response.

The emperor then got up and left with a flick of his sleeves.

Gu Zhong hurriedly called out "retreat the dynasty" and then hurriedly chased after the emperor.

As soon as the great court meeting ended, all kinds of news flew out of the capital and went in all directions.

The salt administration reform is a major event, and the Jiangnan shock is not a trivial matter, neither of which is trivial.

Even Master Tang and Mr. Zhuang hurriedly wrote letters to Bai Shan and Zhou Man, telling them the news of the capital and telling them to pay attention to safety.

Master Tang wrote and reacted, and now he and Yang Heshu seem to be the most dangerous, especially Yang Heshu.

Master Tang hurriedly ended the letter, handed it over to the servants to send it out, and hurriedly went to the Yang family.

Yang Houye just sent the letter out. Hearing that Tang He was coming from the porter, he gritted his teeth and said, "Quickly invite him in."

Although he was at odds with his son's political views, he was getting old, and Yang's family had to hand it over to Yang Heshu in the end, and looking at the general situation today, his choice was undoubtedly the right one.

So he had to try his best to save his son first.

Yang Houye put Tang He in, and the two were locked in the study for a long time to discuss. Finally, when Tang He left, he took Yang Houye's long attendant with him.

At this time, Bai Shan, who still knew nothing, was sitting in the lobby of the county government office and looked at the people kneeling at the bottom. He patted the gavel and asked, "Do you still need a sentence by sentence in this county?"

The two kneeling people shuddered and kowtowed again and again: "My lord, I know it's wrong, my lord forgive me, and we won't dare to do it again in the future."

Bai Shan took the gavel and turned around and asked, "Come and tell me in detail what you did?"

The two of them lowered their heads and didn't speak for a while. They glanced at each other quietly, and finally the humane kneeling on the left said, "We shouldn't be drunk and reveal the secrets of the county government."

"That's right, but we didn't do it on purpose," said the one on the right: "At that time, the merchants were drinking too much, and they went out with a bald grin."

Bai Shan lifted his eyelids to look at them, "Does this county seem so fooled? How do you know that the county's finances are empty?"

"We've heard from Fang Xiancheng talking to you occasionally."

Bai Shan turned to look at Daji who was standing not far away.

Daji looked at their faces carefully, shook his head at him, and said, "Unless their ears are better than mine, it's impossible to hear."

Although Bai Shan was worried about money, he rarely mentioned it to his subordinates. After all, he wanted to appease people, right?

Fang Xiancheng is also his subordinate.

That's why Bai Shan didn't mention this to him face-to-face. Every time the good luck was there, because it was a secret, they always paid attention to it. , so that anyone can listen.

Bai Shan stared at them for a long time, and saw that although they were trembling and sweating, but they were bitten to death, he heard it by accident, not on purpose...

Bai Shan called a yamen and said, "Let Dong County go to check the people they have been in contact with in the last three months, especially people from other places. By the way, let's check if there are more people in their family recently. money or objects."