In the northwest, tea is also of great importance.
After appointing Sun Zhensheng as the censor of salt inspection and investigating the salt administration, Liu Chengzong soon received news that another Sanyuan salt merchant, Liang Xing, had arrived in Xi'an.
This person, after meeting with Liu Chengzong, followed almost the same process and was appointed as the Tea Patrol Censor, and entered the same yamen as Sun Zhensheng.
These two businessmen were both deceived by Liu Chengzong's official position.
There is absolutely no way to resist.
This has nothing to do with Liu Chengzong's power or the level of official position he was awarded.
It's all about this position.
Historically, the biggest wish of businessmen after getting rich is to let their descendants study and gain fame. Why?
Because doing business is controlled by others.
Small businesses are subject to the municipal government, and large merchants are subject to policies. This strong relationship between management and being managed is the underlying logic behind the business elite leading to officialdom.
The position given by Liu Chengzong allowed the managed to become managers and even policymakers. How could Sun Zhensheng and Liang Xing refuse?
There is no more suitable position than this.
If there is, then this position is given to their son, and the old man is only responsible for pretending to be a bully.
Of course, Liu Shishi had actually thought this way, but at Sun Zhiwei's age of fifteen, he could only go to the children's camp as a soldier, let alone an official.
Liu Chengzong did not ask too much for these two officials who were businessmen, but just gave them a word.
"As a Confucian businessman, loyal, filial, benevolent and righteous, you must always have one."
This is both encouragement and warning.
However, Liu Chengzong did have high expectations for the work of these two people.
As far as the Salt Law is concerned, private salt is equally fatal to the Marshal's Mansion.
Although the supply of green salt is inexhaustible, it is the maritime Mongolian tribes, regions and environment that protect the green salt, which can eliminate illegal salt from the source with a high probability.
But if private salt was really so easy to solve, it wouldn’t be a big problem in all dynasties.
This relates to this definition: What is private salt?
The largest salt field in Shaanxi, Huamachi, is still abandoned for the time being. It is also the source of private salt in Shaanxi. Although its salt reserves are less than one percent of the many salt lakes in Qinghai, due to its early development and the large population of salt users, the
The output is greater than that of green salt.
During the Zhengde period, the annual output of official salt there was 54 million jins, which was sold as far as Xi'an, Yan'an, Ningxia, and Yulin.
Even though the salt introduction system was changed several times later, from six to eight shi per introduction to 200 kilograms of salt, the annual output of 16 million kilograms could still be maintained.
In fact, just from the number of salt introductions, we can see the clues of the collapse of the salt method in the late Ming Dynasty.
Fifty-four million kilograms of salt is used to supply the people of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia to cure meat and raise livestock, which is almost enough.
According to the rationing system during the Hongwu period, one person only had three kilograms of salt per year, and the amount for mothers-in-law, aunts, and children had to be reduced accordingly; but that was in the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and by the Yongle period, it became one kilogram per month for large households and half a kilogram per month for small households.
From the Zhengde period, the population of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia did not decrease significantly until the Tianqi period. However, Huamachi, as the main production area of official salt, saw its annual output drop sharply to 16 million jins.
Where's the rest of the salt?
Part of it is taken from Jiechi in Shanxi, and the other part is occupied by private salt.
The issue of illicit salt is actually not that complicated, and illicit salt dealers are by no means just killers armed with a large amount of force to protect and sell salt.
Too low-end.
Historically, it has been easy for private salt dealers to rebel and become leaders, not because they have strong military force, but because the salt lords have connections and power in the army that guards the salt ponds, in the places where private salt is sold, and in the government that supervises the salt administration.
To put it bluntly, where does private salt come from?
If you hide in the mountains and organize hundreds of people to dig rock salt mines, and gather dozens of poor people to squat in the salt-alkali land and cook salt, then you are not a salt lord.
Working day and night, working diligently and risking beheading, they produced thousands of kilograms of local salt with poor technology and a mixed taste. No matter how hard it was to sell it, they might be squeezed out by official salt.
to the customer.
What kind of township entrepreneur is this who gets rich through hard work?
Indeed, it contains huge benefits. Dozens of people can earn in two or three nights what others earn in one or two years.
However, the production method of this kind of chemist who relies on strength has limited threat to the country and society, and the court is too lazy to arrest it.
The largest supplier of Salt Owl is the government.
Private salt is official salt.
It was the officials who managed the salt affairs, the army who guarded the salt ponds, and the royal relatives who disrupted the salt law. They omitted the hard work of making and collecting salt with a fluffy note.
Millions of kilograms of official salt were shipped out and distributed by white-glove salt lords.
There is no need for armed escort, everything is carried out according to the official salt procedures. The Yanchi army sends out garrison troops, and the local government launches corvee labor, drags it to the official salt sales area, and sells it to official salt dealers.
The money from buying and selling official salt went into private pockets, so it was called private salt.
The kind of salt merchants who fry their own local salt, Guanyan is not afraid of competing with them at all. Guanyan has the best raw material origins. If you circle the salt pond and scoop it out with an iron spoon, you can scoop out what others can't extract after frying it several times.
purity.
Even if they fry the earth and salt together, the government can launch corvee at no cost and have better purification technology.
The price of your private salt is low and the quality is not good, but the quality of our official salt is good and the price is even lower. I will squeeze you to death.
The problem is that if someone takes the same official salt as you, uses the same channels as you, sells it in the same area, and sells it at the same price as you, how can you sell it?
This is why the imperial court wants to crack down on illegal salt sales.
Because the people higher up couldn't move, they could only strike hard at the private salt dealers.
As long as there are people in the Marshal's Mansion, there is also this risk.
But that will be a long time later. As for the current problem of illegal salt all over Shaanxi, Liu Chengzong has no intention of taking care of it.
Shaanxi has become such a mess in the past few years. The official salt is not available, but the people fry some local salt from their own salt-alkali land and eat it. What's wrong?
Human nature.
When he straightens out the salt affairs and establishes the imported salt price and the official salt price, he will naturally destroy all the private salt frying workshops.
In fact, there are not a large number of private salt workshops at this time. After all, the largest group of private salt frying and earth salt refining was taken under his command just a year ago.
They are the stars Zhou Qing and Hun Tianxing Hui Deng who are active in the Hengshan area.
These two men were from Wang Jiayin's old tribe who came from the frontier army. There seems to be a tradition of local bandits. Wang Jiayin would occupy the meander of the river and capture and fight in Fugu County.
Zhou Qing and Prime Minister Hui Deng did the same. They took refuge in the Hengshan Mountains, contacted local bandits, and soon transformed from rebels into regional gangs.
Living on the mountain, his various brigades set up strongholds in the mountains, boiling salt and boiling salt, logging and selling wood, making firecrackers, kidnapping people and smashing kilns, reclaiming mountains, hunting and collecting herbs, plundering merchants and travelers, robbing military supplies... they did everything.
The earth salt and earth salt they boiled was not only enough for their own use, but also sold to Yansui Town and Yan'an Prefecture, and the business was huge.
But there is a lack of trust in Yansui Town. Today one brigade will come to sell some things, and tomorrow another brigade will come to plunder the fort.
No rules.
At present, the people in the Hengshan Mountain area are registering their households with their help in preparation for their subsequent transfer to Yan'an Prefecture.
As for their soldiers and horses, the Marshal's Office also sent Officer Huben and Yu Linlang to escort a batch of captured Ming army standard equipment.
The goal is to streamline the workforce, eliminate the old and weak, and organize them into two independent headquarters.
In this year's next Northern Expedition, Liu Chengzong planned to deploy the two men on the flanks connecting Yansui Town and Ningxia Town as a vanguard force to penetrate the two towns.
Compared with the Salt Law of the Marshal's Mansion, the tea administration was much more laborious.
After all, Liu Chengzong holds the largest green salt production area, and Huamachi Yancheng in Shaanxi is also between the two border walls. It is currently an unclaimed land between the Marshal's Mansion and Ningxia Town.
The problem with the tea policy is that although tea is grown in some places in the northwest, even in places such as Xi'an, Weinan, and Baoji, extremely high-quality tea can be produced.
But the output is too small.
For the Marshal's Mansion, the quality of tea is not important, what is important is the yield.
The current supply of tea, even to the regular army of the Marshal's Mansion, is intermittent and cannot meet the needs of life.
There is no need to consider the three million Mongolian-Fan tribes in Uzang, Qinghai, Tianshan, Monan and other places.
Because the diet structure of the marshal army under Liu Chengzong was very close to the imaginary nomadic warriors of the Han Dynasty.
They are the kind of nomadic nobles who can't finish eating mare's milk, cheese, butter, and meat all day long.
In fact, nomadic warriors don't even have surnames. They are the private property of feudal nobles just like cattle, sheep and horses.
Moreover, its status far surpasses that of cattle and sheep. It can not only herd cattle and sheep, but also carry a spear to attack people. It is an important part of the property.
How can there be a principle in the world where property eats property!
The potential market for tea in the Marshal's Mansion even exceeded that of the entire Ming Dynasty.
But that's where the awkwardness ends.
Even Liu Chengzong, who moved his base to Xi'an Prefecture, ostensibly controlled the largest tea-making center in the northwest, and his specialty was Fu tea.
But in this tea-making center, the crops grown most are cotton and grain, and not a single tea tree is planted.
Liang Xing, a native of Sanyuan who was appointed by Liu Chengzong as the censor of tea inspection, was also a salt merchant.
But the difference is that Liang Xing not only has a salt nest in Yangzhou, but also has his own tea shop in Jingyang, recruits workers to open a factory, and does a lot of business.
If Sun Zhensheng is more like a local gentry than a businessman, then Liang Xing is a businessman.
He had no interest in organizing team training to fight against the Marshal's Army, so he donated ten taels of silver.
And after learning from Ye Ding that the Marshal's Office was going to summon him to discuss business matters, he changed the name of his tea house before leaving.
His name is Liu Dasheng.
And unlike Sun Zhensheng, he came empty-handed, accompanied by more than ten servants, carrying silks and satins from Shanxi, kilns from Yaozhou, deer antlers and tiger bones, Jingyang Fu bricks, and even two tiger skins.
Although they were common items to Liu Chengzong, among the people, they were also relatively expensive gifts.
When I met Liu Chengzong, because Liang Xing was much younger, the general called him "brother" and even planned to donate his salary.
The general manager of the Northwest Green Forest Institute calls me "good brother". Who can withstand this?
To this person, Liu Chengzong didn't ask him about salt, he only talked about tea.
Liang Xing's respect for Liu Chengzong was reciprocated, and he pointed out a clear path in business with his professional vision.
Huguang and Hanzhong are two major tea producing areas. Only one of them must be in hand before the Marshal's Office is qualified to discuss tea policy.
Otherwise, having Jingyang, a major tea-making town, in your hands is just a secret investment, and it will be of no use.
Here in Liang Xing, Liu Shishi learned more about Jingyang's handicraft industry.
The raw materials of Jingyang Fu tea were mainly black tea from Baoning, Sichuan and Hanzhong, Shaanxi in the early years.
Because the output of Sichuan tea and Shaanxi tea is small and the price is high, while the output of Lake tea is large and the price is cheap, merchants smuggled Lake tea into Shaanxi.
The officials were naturally happy to see the result, and thought that although Lake tea was bitter, it was suitable to drink it with cheese...to sell it to the Tatars, since they would not drink it themselves anyway!
Therefore, every year six million kilograms of Hu tea enters Shaanxi via Longju Village in the south and is transported across the Wei River to Jingyang for processing. Hu tea becomes one of the raw materials for Fu tea.
Jingyang relies on Jingshui. The water in the river is cold and slightly bitter, and is alkaline water. The skin cooked with Jingshui is particularly gentle, and it is also uniquely suited for making tea and fermenting it.
Therefore, there is a huge group of leather workers and tea workers in the local area. From February and March to August and September every year, tens of thousands of leather workers and tens of thousands of people inspecting tea gather together, and there are thousands of idle people carrying luggage on their backs.
These groups of people are the basis for the development of Jingyang's handicraft industry.
Relying on the special local production technology, the inspected tea leaves are pressed into bricks and sent to Xining, Gansu, Ningxia and other places.
However, this trade route was almost completely cut off in the second year after Liu Chengzong entered Qinghai.
Because these official tea bricks were used to exchange horses on the frontier.
With the horse gone, there was nowhere to replace the tea. Although there were other places to go, it was impossible to eat the huge amount of nearly ten million kilograms of bricks of tea, and it couldn't be sold locally in Shaanxi.
Brick tea is a side tea, and Han people do not drink brick tea.
A large amount of tea bricks were accumulated, and the trade route would be blocked in the second year.
Up to now, we have experienced the Huguang Miao soldiers entering Shaanxi, the defeated army entering Huguang, and the Shaanxi peasant army entering Huguang, with soldiers and horses from all walks of life running back and forth.
When Zhao Zhirui, the deputy general of the Guanzhong Brigade, entered Wuguan, the road was completely blocked.
Liang Xing's suggestion is to either reopen this trade route.
Either stabilize the order in Hanzhong, increase the production of Maocha in Hanzhong, transport it to Jingyang, process it into Fu tea, make tea bricks, and sell it to Qinghai, Uzang, Monan and other places to buy back war horses.
Liu Chengzong quickly stopped after hearing this: "You don't have to trade tea for horses. You can also trade tea for medicinal materials."
The Marshal's Mansion lacks everything except horses.
Although Longju Island breeds war horses, the work of improving horse breeds has only achieved initial results.
However, although the front line has been fighting, the number of war horses has not decreased, but has been replenished due to victory; while the number of war horses in the rear has been steadily increasing, and they come in a blur.
Horses are driven here every year from Tianshan, and colts are born every year in Qinghai’s grazing areas. There is also Tusi who has not been exterminated in Kangning. In order to highlight the meaning of existence, you will give me fifty horses, and I will give them to you.
Sixty horses were sent to sea.
Even on the battlefield of Heka Grassland, there have been several groups of very good breeds of wild horses in the past two years.
Strange to say, Cui Cong of Longju Temple improved horse breeds at sea, and the colts bred with such hard work were very valuable.
A stallion is served by more than a dozen people. If it goes out for a run, it can step into a snake hole in the grassland and it will make its legs lame. If it stays at sea and eat whatever it wants, it will cause a stomachache and make it die.
It just so happened that during the three-way war between the Marshal's Mansion, Beiyuan and Oirat, the war horses that were not collected became wild horses without anyone to take care of them, and they could breed with the local Hequ wild horses to form a population.
Liu Chengzong's idle horses and horses were more than his soldiers.
Theoretically speaking, the more horses, the better. Ten folk horses can pick out five military horses. After five military horses are compared, one or two good war horses can be obtained.
But that's just a theory, or in an era when the climate is normal and the temperature is suitable, you can raise three to five million horses and carefully select them.
In this cold ice age, Liu Chengzong's choice was to improve horse breeds and provide them for the future.
In actual use, war horses, like donkeys and mules, are just tactical equipment.