The place where Li Chengliang met was in the Yangxin Hall on the west side of the Qianqing Palace. This palace was built by Emperor Jiajing and covers an area of more than 7,000 square meters. The second entrance of the palace is in the shape of an I, with warm pavilions and rolling sheds on the east and west. There are many wing rooms on both sides.
Because it is very close to the Qianqing Palace, the emperor's residence, and can be separated from the inner palace and the outer dynasty by the Longzong Gate, the inner right gate, etc. - closing the door is the inner palace, and opening the door is connected to the outer dynasty. After Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, this place It became the political center of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Because Zhu Yijun wanted to set up an attendant's room and saw that there were many houses in the Yangxin Hall complex, he arranged for the inner court to sort them out and prepare to put the attendant's office here. He also ordered people to set up a kang in the East and West Nuan Pavilion as his future living place. .
Li Chengliang was led by Zhang Jing. He did not go through Long Zongmen, but entered the passage between Qianqing Palace and Yangxin Palace from the inner right door. He turned left at the small door opposite Yuehua Gate and entered Yangxin Palace. Turn right and you will arrive at Dongnuan Pavilion.
The eunuch called the roll call, and the edict was announced. Li Chengliang followed Zhang Jing, not daring to raise his head. When he entered the door, he leaned down and kowtowed, saying long live the mountain.
Before Zhang Jing could wait for the emperor to give him a chance, he held the paper recording the financial resources handed over by Li Chengliang above his head. Wei Chao, who was beside Zhu Yijun, took it and handed it to Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun took it and glanced at it. He was very satisfied. He smiled and said: "I am flat, and I will give you a seat."
The two of them thanked each other and sat on the small pier. Zhu Yijun smiled at Li Chengliang and said: "Uncle Ning Yuan has been victorious in Liaodong one after another. Huang Kao and I both rely on Qiancheng. In order to protect you this time, I have taken away your financial resources. You Don’t say that I covet this little thing from you.”
Hearing this, Li Chengliang knelt down and recited: "I have asked Eunuch Zhang to convey your sincerity to me before. The emperor's love and care for me is deeply felt by me, and I cannot express it in words. If there is even a trace of resentment in my heart, God will Strike five thunderbolts!" He swore and said some words of loyalty and repayment.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun waved the paper in his hand and said: "Your family is so rich that it cannot be enjoyed by a prince. It is said that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. From now on, don't live in panic just because you have handed over your financial resources."
Li Chengliang's young life was indeed extravagant, and the imperial censor and Ke Dao had already impeached him in this regard. Today, he handed over most of his family's financial resources, and he was secretly worried, thinking that his standard of living might drop a lot in the future.
Hearing what the emperor said, he apologized and said: "My previous actions were as absurd as Meng Lang's. Fortunately, the emperor took care of me and did not pursue any further charges. From now on, I will be diligent and thrifty in managing my family, and I will set an example for future generations."
After Zhu Yijun heard this, he laughed and said: "It is right to be diligent and frugal in running a household. Although I am rich all over the world, I dare not not be frugal. As the saying goes, 'Luxury is hard to reach, purity and simplicity are the longest.' Let’s encourage each other.”
After hearing the emperor's words of "mutual encouragement", Li Chengliang shrugged his shoulders while lying on the ground, exchanged tears and said:
"Since the Emperor has been in power, he has been praised by all the people in the world for his kindness, frugality, and sound internal affairs. Today, because of my selfish mistakes, I also speak earnestly and thoughtfully. I am only a warrior, and I am a dull man. How can I deserve it? But if I want to live and die, I will die. Grass, in order to repay the emperor for his great kindness."
Zhu Yijun heard what he said and guessed that he had already figured out how to be a frontier general in the future. Wen Yan called him up and asked Wei Chao to pour him a cup of tea.
After he calmed down, Zhu Yijun said again: "I guess you have heard that the world's salt fields will be decentralized and contracted."
Li Chengliang's heart skipped a beat after hearing this. Hearing the emperor continue: "I also want to leave some good examples to future generations. I can't take my ministers' things for nothing. Well, I have arranged for Zhang Jing to provide money to buy for your family."
Go to a small salt farm for more than a dozen pieces. Although the income is not as good as your family's original business, this family business can be passed down to future generations forever, and it is a real 'golden rice bowl'. In this way, you can focus on the military.
There is no need to worry about future generations."
By this time, Li Chengliang was completely convinced of the emperor.
Everything the emperor did, said, and thought was done in the right way, without any scheming intentions. His encouragement and encouragement were all in the open, and he spoke and acted with great openness.
He had indeed heard about the contracting and sales of the salt field, but he had not received an invitation letter. He had been diligently asking about it in the past few days in the capital. But he did not expect that the emperor would directly compensate him a lot today. This industry was indeed as the emperor said.
Not as profitable as Dongzhu and other shops, but with the Li family's salt farm, they no longer have to rack their brains to control Liaodong. This salt farm is indeed the "golden rice bowl", and everyone knows that the rich and powerful have taken advantage of it!
Although Li Chengliang only had vague ideas about the future plans of the Li family at this time, he also knew one thing: if he wanted to maintain his commercial profits from Northeast specialties, the prerequisite was to hold on to the position of Liaodong Commander-in-Chief forever. In his opinion,
, this difficulty is comparable to climbing to the sky, but if the Li family wants to be prosperous for a long time, they had to face the difficulties before.
And today in the Yangxin Hall, the emperor means that you don’t have to think about this matter, it has already been arranged for you. This reward is more effective than the emperor giving him a marquis directly!
Li Chengliang knelt down again, prostrated, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty has been so kind to me, and if I have any more evil thoughts, how am I different from an animal?!"
...
Seeing that Li Chengliang had been completely subdued, Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief. After letting Zhang Jing send him out of Yangxin Hall, he took out Zhang Juzheng's title book and detailed rules on the sale of the salt farm from the drawer, and began to think about it again.
After the salt farm sales policy was set, Zhu Yijun communicated with Zhang Juzheng and Wang Guoguang many times.
Zhang Juzheng lived up to his reputation as a capable minister. He reversed Zhu Yijun's original idea of using an auction and the highest bidder would get it. He wanted to use the salt field as bait to eliminate as much resistance as possible to the border town's farming.
The salt auction process, which has been revised many times, became completely different from the first version of the auction method proposed by Zhu Yijun after the joint research between Zhu Yijun, a later generation, and Zhang Juzheng and Wang Guoguang, two spicy old radish.
In terms of purchasing qualifications, priority was given to nobles and nobles. Different grades were divided according to the grades of duke, hou and uncle, and exquisite invitations were made. Let the empress dowagers of the two palaces, Zhang Juzheng, Lu Tiaoyang, Wang Guoguang, Zhang Jing and other close ministers,
First, we will deliver to a small area in Xungui Circle.
Additional conditions will be stated when delivering: the salt fields to be auctioned in the future will be divided into ten equal parts according to region, location, and output. Each order will have a different quantity, which will divide the world's salt fields into 3,750 small pieces.
, the first auction was for one-half, which was one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five yuan.
During the auction, what is sold is the grade rather than the specific salt farm. After the buyer bids the grade, he can choose the salt farm he likes among the salt farms of the same grade. So who chooses first? Here comes the drama: according to your offer.
The nine-sided land sold is exchanged for points. Those with higher points are chosen first, while those with fewer points can only choose the remaining ones in the same order.
After the nobles have finished taking the photos, they will send another wave of invitations to the civil servants and generals in the border town. This time the points rules are different from the last time. Points are no longer based on quantity, but based on the proportion of the donated land to one's own land.
, plus the side work integral.
What do you mean? The court cannot let poor officials and military generals suffer. If one civil servant or military general only occupies a hundred acres, and another occupies a hundred acres, and if points are calculated based on quantity, then the incorruptible ones will suffer. This is incompatible with the anti-corruption goal of the imperial court.
There is a serious discrepancy, so points will be awarded proportionally.
What if you have no land at all and no money to participate in the auction? The side merits you have accumulated in the past can be authorized in this auction. For example, Zhang killed a Han man and had no money in his hands, but he had three first-level merits.
10. Those who are rich can use money or salt farm shares to buy his authorization to use this first-level merit in this auction. The price of this merit will follow the market and be agreed upon by each. The two points are added up and the final total points are ranked in order to determine the priority.
The right to choose.
In order to prevent superiors from suppressing subordinates and asking them to sign unequal treaties, the detailed rules also stipulate that authorized purchasers are not allowed to buy within their own jurisdiction, but can only buy in outside jurisdictions. At the same time, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will send a working group to inspect border towns. Anonymous accepted
If you report it and find that your superiors are bullying their subordinates, picket them immediately.
In this wave of auctions, one-half of the remaining 1,875 yuan will be auctioned, which is 938 yuan. The remaining 937 yuan will be the last wave of the auction.
Zhu Yijun's original plan was to send out invitations widely, and the one with the highest price would win.
This operation has several direct consequences. First, the price of land in Jiubian has soared, which has brought a wave of direct benefits to the landowners who have previously implemented commercial reclamation in Jiubian; second, the authorization of military merit points has allowed moneyless border soldiers and generals to
They can also benefit, which will help stimulate them to fight the enemy bravely in the future; thirdly and most importantly, the interests of the honorable nobles will be protected, and the loyalty to the royal family will increase sharply-coupled with the examples of Li Chengliang and Qi Jiguang, it will stimulate other parties.
The enthusiasm of exchanging merit for honors.
During the salt field auction, the imperial court dispersed all the salt fields to be auctioned from Shandong to Fujian and even the southwest. The main purpose was to stimulate the enthusiasm of nobles to donate soil. For example, the nobles of the capital must give priority to those close to Beizhili and Shandong.
Saltworks, otherwise the saltworks that cost a lot of money to photograph are in Fujian or southwest China, and it will be too troublesome to manage them.
In order to prevent collusion among honorable nobles, the details also stipulate a major decision of the court: the salt farm for this auction will be treated the same as the sacrificial field before the first transaction - assuming that the house is confiscated when convicted in the future,
As long as it is not a serious crime such as treason and the ownership has not been transferred, the salt farm will not be confiscated. Zhang Juzheng judged that this detailed rule would increase the enthusiasm of nobles to purchase the salt farm to an incredible level.
At the same time, the detailed rules also stipulated that the court would impose a heavy tax on the sale of salt farm ownership, which was one-third of the auction price!