Chapter 211 Yan Yin

Qinzheng Hall.

Li Shimin looked at his grandson with complicated eyes. He originally asked this guy to rest at home for a while, but who knew he would produce such snow-white salt again.

Li Shimin really understood the difficulties faced by his father Li Yuan back then. It was not a good thing for a child to be too outstanding, and he felt like he couldn't control it.

"You go back first. This matter is related to the lives of the people. I must think about it carefully. It is not just a matter of money."

Li Shimin alone couldn't figure out what Li Xiang wanted to do. Although Li Xiang made it very clear that the money that should be handed over to the court was quite a lot, and even part of it could be used as military expenditure. However, Li Shimin took into account the salt supply in the country. Definitely not a decimal.

In the past, selling wine had nothing to do with the lives of ordinary people. At most, it was the lives of some powerful people. It had no impact on the entire Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin could let Li Xiang do whatever he wanted, but salt was different. Even if it only sold the top quality The quantity of that part is much larger than that of liquor.

"Grandson, please leave."

There was no expression on Li Xiang's face, and he also felt that his relationship with Li Shimin was weak. After experiencing this growth, Li Shimin regarded Li Xiang as an enemy. In fact, everyone who could threaten the imperial power, even himself His own grandson, even the emperor would be a little on guard, this is normal.

However, Li Xiang also believes that Li Shimin is a smart man, and the advisers around Li Shimin are also smart people. Soon they will be able to find some business opportunities here, and they can attack the Wang family in Taiyuan. As long as there is nothing wrong with their heads, they should soon Approved Li Xiang's salt to be put on the market.

When Li Xiang exited the hall, two people next to him came out. One was the prime minister Fang Xuanling, and the other was Tang Jian, the minister of household affairs.

"Both of you have heard that this boy has now started selling salt. Salt and iron are different from other things. They have always been controlled by the court. If it gets into his hands, will it be more difficult to control?"

These two people are Li Shimin's cronies, and they have followed him to conquer the country, so there is no need to be taboo about speaking. These two people were in the side hall just now, and they heard what Li Xiang said.

Fang Xuanling stood slightly to the side. Salt sales belong to the Ministry of Household Affairs, so Mr. Tang has more say in this matter.

"Your Majesty, I have been thinking about this matter just now. Although His Highness Changsun will be more powerful because of this, at least he will have more money, but from a nationwide perspective, the management of salt has always been owned by several major families, especially Etaiyuan. The Wang family is the worst. Since His Highness Changsun is so ambitious, why not let them..."

Mr. Tang's meaning is very clear. There are only so many salts now. If you give it to one side, you can't give it to the other side.

According to the rules of the Tang Dynasty, if you want to sell salt, you must have a salt certificate issued by the court. If not, then it is illegal sales. At that time, the court will not only arrest people, but also confiscate all the salt. Even you, the person, are going to jail.

There is a fixed number of salt quotas distributed in each region. Unless local officials report that the local population has increased significantly, the imperial court will increase the number of salt quotations in this area.

Originally, several big families were doing well, and the imperial court managed some of them themselves, which could be said to be very profitable. If Li Xiang stepped in, the imperial court would not be able to hand over his share to him, and would have to let him and several big families. The family fights for it.

Li Shimin also agreed very much with what Mr. Tang said, especially when he heard the words "Taiyuan Wang Family", he clenched a fist. During the war with Tuyuhun, the Taiyuan Wang Family betrayed secrets several times. Fortunately, We won relatively quickly. If we really fight a protracted war, it's hard to say who will lose and who will win. Li Shimin can be said to have reached the limit of his patience with this blatant treason.

"Xuanling?"

Li Shimin didn't know what he was thinking when he saw Fang Xuanling. Could it be that the mighty Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty was distracted?

In fact, Fang Xuanling was not distracted. He had been thinking about the distribution of salt. In the past, this thing had a fixed price, but after going through Zhi Daobao's business, Fang Xuanling suddenly thought of another thing. Son, can we auction the salt?

"Your Majesty, Wei Chen has an immature idea. Since the Han Dynasty, all salt merchants have purchased salt from the imperial court, then opened mines to obtain salt themselves, and then sold the salt to the market. This method has been continued for several years. After a hundred years, why don’t we make some changes?”

After Fang Xuanling said this, Li Shimin and Tang Jian looked at each other. They both knew that Fang Xuanling was very clever, but how could you change this? This has been going on for hundreds of years, not to mention that the salt tax is the main tax of the imperial court, which can generate nearly three million yuan every year. If it is shaken, the salaries of the imperial officials will not be paid, let alone go out to fight. come out.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, salt tax reforms have been carried out many times in the past dynasties, but they all ended in failure. I also know that salt merchants are powerful, but if they are missing, there will be all kinds of corruption in the direct management of the court. Happened, dynasties in history are not without it.”

Lord Tang was in charge of the Hubu Yamen, so he was naturally very clear about the sale of salt. In history, some dynasties saw the huge profits in the hands of salt merchants, and immediately took the sale of salt into their own hands. In the beginning, they did improve many things in the court. After a period of time, due to the lack of effective supervision, officials began to stretch their hands, and most of the money went into their own hands. On the contrary, less and less money entered the national treasury.

The emperor would definitely govern at this time, but it would still be the same after a period of governance. So after the Han Dynasty, they stipulated another sales method, that is, the court issued a portion of the salt quota, and the salt merchants used the money to buy it. The income of the imperial court has been guaranteed. As for the money earned by the salt merchants, let's not get jealous.

Li Shimin nodded after listening. If you want to take everything back to the imperial court, it will indeed increase the imperial court's income for the time being, but over time, corruption will inevitably breed. Even if there are some powerful departments to monitor, it will be avoided in the end. Can't.

"Master Tang has misunderstood. This is not what I think. I want to auction the salt..."

With Fang Xuanling's words, the other two people immediately understood the huge changes...