From the late Tang Dynasty to the present, the salt eaten by people in the border areas of Shaanxi is basically green and white salt.
And because it is close to Xixia, the price of green and white salt has always been very stable. During the Chunhua period, a pound of green and white salt cost about fifteen cents.
To this day, decades have passed, and the price of green and white salt is still fluctuating around fifteen cents.
On the other hand, even if the Song Dynasty ordered merchants to break the salt, including shipping and other expenses, the price of a pound of salt would be around 25 Wen.
The price difference of ten cents may not seem high, but salt is a necessity of life. The price difference between twenty-five cents and fifteen cents is nearly double.
The life of the border residents in the border areas is not rich to begin with, and many border residents cannot accept the price difference of ten cents per pound.
The gap of ten articles is also the reason why Ding Wei and others ignored it.
Ten articles?
For the border residents, they have no idea what this number represents.
It's just ten cents, and it has nothing to do with the overall situation.
A pound of salt costs more than 20 yuan. Isn’t that cheap enough?
"The cost of transporting salt for a hundred miles is four cents per catty for land transport and one cent per catty for water transport."
"Huanzhou is more than a thousand miles away from Jiezhou, and almost all the journey is by land. If a businessman asks for salt, the price is set at 12 yuan per catty, and the transportation loss of each catty of salt should be more than ten yuan per catty."
"In this case, the price of salt for the people of Huanzhou should be around 30 yuan per catty."
"Do you know the difference between thirty coins per catty and fifteen coins per catty?"
When the ministers heard this, they immediately fell into deep thought.
Why do officials take Huanzhou as an example? The price of salt shipped from Jiezhou to Huanzhou does increase by more than ten yuan per kilogram.
But the people of Huanzhou don’t need to decompose salt for a living?
There is no need for merchants to sell salt at high prices in Huanzhou.
Everything is business as usual, right?
The salt solution purchased by merchants can be sold to other areas.
The cheapness of green and white salt is relative. It is cheaper in the border areas, because the northwest border is close to Xixia. Once you leave the border areas, the price advantage of green and white salt will be lost.
Therefore, there is no need to worry about the sales of Xieyan.
'Are the officials going to restart the salt ban?'
Thinking of this, Ding Wei couldn't help but secretly complain.
Lei Abban didn’t even mention this yesterday!
Ban salt?
Don’t the officials know the consequences of the salt ban during the Chunhua period?
In addition, the ban on salt was not only done by Taizong, but also by the late emperor for a while.
With the lessons learned during the Chunhua period, the late emperor would certainly not make the same mistakes he had made before.
During the Xianping period, salt was also banned in the border areas of Shaanxi. In order to solve the problem of high prices for salt arriving at the border, the court had to give merchants a certain degree of relief.
In the end, in the form of central subsidies, the sales price of Jieyan salt was reduced, almost bringing the prices of Jieyan salt and Qingbai salt to the same level.
However, this kind of cooking not only hurts others, but also hurts yourself.
Injure the enemy a thousand times and injure yourself eight hundred, nothing more than this.
The subsidy of ten yuan per kilogram may not seem like much, but the salt consumption in border areas is hundreds of thousands every year.
Even if Song Ting was wealthy, he could not afford to pay millions of dollars for one-year-old subsidies.
Because of these disadvantages, the policy of banning salt during the Xianping period was ultimately abandoned.
After all, Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty not only wanted to seal the East and offer sacrifices to the West, but also wanted to build a large number of temples and palaces. He also wanted to reward civil and military officials, and later even have annual coins.
We want, want, and want, and under the pressure from many parties, the subsidy that was originally only a few million gradually turned into a burden.
"I think it can be based on the Xianping story."
After a while, Ding Wei was the first to express his suggestion. He felt that the officials wanted to restart the salt ban.
Judging from the official's behavior after taking the throne, since the official has taken action, this matter must be done.
Just ban it!
The court can still afford millions of dollars a year.
Although Ding Wei felt that the official family was very capable of twisting things, the 'troubling' of the official family was not the same thing as the 'troubling' of the late emperor.
The strategies intended by the officials were all aimed at enriching the country and strengthening the army. However, the late emperor, to say the least, was basically to satisfy his personal desires, or that of Taizong and his family.
"good!"
Hearing this, Li Jie smiled and nodded.
Ding said that this guy was naughty, but he really had a lot of skills when it came to trying to figure out what was going on.
Just from the discussion about the price of salt, one can guess that he intends to ban salt.
War is the continuation of politics, politics is the continuation of economy, and economic status determines its political status.
Why did the Central Plains dynasties have a higher status than the nomadic peoples in the past?
The land is vast and rich in resources.
Li Jie did intend to restart the salt ban, for no other reason than to suppress Xixia.
Although Xixia was a subordinate state of the Song Dynasty, this was only in name. The actual relationship between the two should be hostile.
Now the leader of the party is Li Deming. Although it was his son Li Yuanhao who finally proclaimed himself emperor of Xixia, Li Deming did not proclaim himself emperor not because he did not want to.
But it can't.
Li Jiqian, Li Deming, Li Yuanhao, and Dangxiang people worked hard for three generations to lay the foundation for the founding of the country.
In short, these three people are not the kind of people who have been under others for a long time.
Starting from Li Jiqian, Dangxiang people had the idea of self-reliance. Later Li Deming and Li Yuanhao just inherited the legacy of their ancestors.
For Dangxiang people, Li Jiqian, Li Deming, and Li Yuanhao are the heroes of Dangxiang’s rise.
However, his hero is my enemy.
In Li Jie's eyes, the party is always a hostile force, and any policy that can weaken the enemy is a good policy.
In addition, the salt ban also paved the way for the subsequent conquest of Xixia.
Salt profit is an important source of income for Xixia. If the salt ban is short-term, Xixia people can still tolerate it.
But if salt is banned for a long time, Xixia, which has lost important income, will definitely restart the war.
Green and white salt is a barometer of the relationship between the Song Dynasty and Xixia.
When the Song Dynasty banned salt, the two dynasties would probably go to war, and most of the war would be initiated by Xixia.
The purpose of Xixia's war was also very simple. He hoped that Song Ting would completely let Qingbaiyan enter the Song Dynasty.
On the other hand, if everything goes smoothly in the salt trade, there will probably be no war in the northwest.
When the cannon goes off, there is a thousand taels of gold.
Whether it was Xixia or the Song Dynasty, war meant high costs.
How could Xixia not be willing to make money while standing?
Off stage.
At this point, Wang Zeng finally understood the real purpose of the official family. It turned out that the official purpose was to ban salt!
Although he had not yet entered the official position when the salt ban was imposed during the Xianping period (he became the number one scholar in the fifth year of Xianping), he had heard a lot about the pros and cons of the salt ban.
Thinking of this, Wang Zeng quickly stood up and shouted, regardless of the disgrace in front of the king.
"The official policy of prohibiting salt cannot be used without permission!"
"I risk my life and ask the officials to think again!"
After saying this, Wang Zeng faced the imperial stage and bowed his head to Li Jie and Liu E.
At the same time, seeing Wang Zeng 'forcing the palace', the corners of Ding Wei's mouth rose crazily. If he hadn't had any scruples, he would have laughed out loud.