Zhu Biao continued to read. In fact, the policy of opening up salt to China was forced. Currently, there is a very short supply of grain and grass at the border. Food in important border towns is often in short supply.
However, the imperial court's current tax revenue has been spent on disaster relief, relocation and the southern expedition to Bashu. It still needs to retain a necessary part for the prevention of emergencies. With all kinds of expenditures, the fiscal revenue cannot make ends meet.
This resulted in the imperial court having no excess grain, no money to buy grain, and no power to transport grain, so it had to rely on private merchants, hoping to use them to traffic the grain to the border and hand it over to the garrison.
But the businessman can't afford it early, so how can he waste his efforts to work for you? The only card the court can use at present is official salt, and there is nothing else, so the officials of the Zhongshu Province came up with the idea of opening the Zhongshu Province
Law.
This method was actually taken from the compromise method in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. In order to fight against the Xixia and Liao Kingdoms, the Northern Song Dynasty continued to shrink the official sales area and expand the trade area. At the same time, it introduced a compromise method, that is, merchants transported grain to the border, calculated the cost, and distributed
After "cross-quotation", the merchant went to the capital to issue a certificate, and finally went to the salt farm to collect the salt for sale.
There is not much difference from today's Kaizhongfa. The difference is that merchants bring salt to the salt field to buy salt, which must be transported to designated areas for sale. This also strengthens the control of salt merchants. In the province, they use official salt to sell it to Mongolia.
Go to the side.
The method of opening salt in China is to use the low cost of official salt, a wide market, and large profits as bait, hoping to not only transport food to the border, but also develop the border and expand the border economy.
However, the problems with this policy are also foreseeable. Such huge profits will inevitably be targeted by officials. In recent decades, Zhu Yuanzhang's high-pressure policy has not caused any big problems. However, if it is relaxed in the future, then officials
The royal family will not let it go.
The more Zhu Biao looked at it, the more he felt that it was not a long-term solution. The most important thing was that the salt tax was too stable. Zhu Biao had earlier looked through the fiscal revenue of previous dynasties and found that the contribution of the salt tax during the Song Dynasty was more than 60% of the total revenue.
It was even worse during the Yuan Dynasty, when 80% of the fiscal revenue came from salt tax.
It is indeed dangerous to decentralize such benefits to the people, but if we don't do this now, the border issue cannot be solved. Although there is no war in the Ming Dynasty, it is impossible not to send a large army to garrison at the border. Hundreds of thousands of horses are chewed day and night. It's hard to think about it.
fear.
Zhu Biao pinched his brows impatiently and said: "This method can only solve the urgent need, but it will inevitably cause many disadvantages in the future? I think it will only be implemented for a period of time? Or give up, and I can solve the problem if I go to the south of the Yangtze River next time."
"
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned: "What do you think?"
Zhu Biao replied: "There are only so many salt households. The output of official salt is very stable. But the demand for food at the border has fluctuated greatly. It is difficult to keep up with the salt industry. And it will be sooner or later for officials and nobles to get involved."
matter."
This is a real problem. Is there anything wrong with this policy? Has the state-owned salt been really given away? It can only be said that it is a bit too ideal, and it is meaningless to restrain the bureaucrats. There are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. In order to
They can always think of ways to achieve their own interests? What’s more, they hold great power.
And the salt-in-table salt method is still just the beginning? Zhu Biao also saw the Nachao-in-salt method, Nama-in-salt method, Na-iron-in-salt method, nano-in-tea method, and Zhongcha-Yima method at the bottom. These are also
It is in the plan, but the specific measures and policies have not yet been formulated.
I guess he wanted to see the situation after eating salt and then make adjustments. Overall, Zhu Biao felt that it was quite like Hu Weiyong's style? It seemed that he was the main person who gave advice.
Zhu Biao explained the problem to his father in detail. Zhu Yuanzhang also realized that this matter was indeed a bit ideal. But the border garrison was crying for food, and the salt problem could not shake the country in the end? Those hundreds of thousands of hungry people
The elite can do it.
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Let's do this for now. At worst, it will be abolished after a few years when the military garrison is effective? What can a group of merchants be dissatisfied?"
Zhu Biao had no objection after hearing this? This is also the fundamental reason why businessmen are looking forward to becoming officials? Everything about them is not guaranteed at all, and the highest priority of national policy will never be them.
Since it is not a long-term national policy, there is no need to think too much. As long as it can solve the urgent need, the court's military affairs have also begun. After all, the daily consumption of food and grass for the garrison in various places cannot be stopped. The current ratio of soldiers to military garrison is established.
Yes, the frontier army should be divided into three parts to defend the city and seven parts to farm the fields. The inland army should be divided into two parts to defend the city and eight parts to farm the fields. In the next few years, it should be able to supply at least 80% of its own consumption.
At the same time, the imperial court would also encourage private merchant settlements, which meant allowing merchants to hire people to work in the fields on the border and deliver grain locally, thus eliminating the cost of trafficking and making greater profits. This was also a form of cooperation.
The subsequent policies were mostly clichés. Localities were encouraged to build water conservancy projects, and the banks of large rivers such as the Yellow River and Yangtze River that were prone to flooding were also strengthened. Officials who were held responsible for flooding were beheaded!
Then came a new round of relocation. According to the rules and regulations implemented by the prince, another 200,000 people were immigrated from Shanxi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to various parts of the Central Plains. Officials from various states and governments cooperated to ensure that the people were settled and farming resumed.
This batch of immigrants in Fengyang is indeed an example of the Ming Dynasty. When Zhu Biao went south, the imperial court sent many officials to Fengyang to study and inspect. In the future, they will have more and more experience. After all, this immigration will continue.
A long time.
The father and son discussed for a long time before Zhu Biao returned to the East Palace to see his crown princess. Yesterday, the imperial doctor finally accurately found out the happy pulse. However, since the month was young, Zhu Biao did not make any publicity, but only informed his father, the emperor and his mother.
Accompanying the smiling Chang Luohua, he walked around the East Palace courtyard several times, fearing that if she was too lazy to move, she would be in trouble when the time came.
It is a minor surgery, but it is very difficult nowadays, and it is almost impossible due to various restrictions.
Chang Luohua followed Zhu Biao and asked, "I just heard that the three princes have returned to the palace. Didn't I accompany them?"
Zhu Biao reached out and pulled down a few leaves and said: "Let's drink together tonight. They are probably talking to their mother and concubine now. After all, they haven't seen each other for half a year."
Chang Luohua stretched out his hand and touched the branches that were still swaying and said: "But if you want to eat it in the palace, I will ask someone to prepare it. I heard that the second and third brothers like to eat cows, and the fourth brother likes to eat sheep."
Zhu Biao turned around and pinched her cheek gently and said, "You know a lot, what does he like to eat?"
Chang Luohua squinted his eyes and counted: "Hot pot, eight fresh vegetables, five-flavor steamed chicken, roasted pork, Hai Qing rolls, silk goose powder soup..."
Zhu Biao was immediately satisfied. Hearing that the princess remembered her favorite food as if she was talking about it, it felt very heartbreaking.