Zhu Gui was not in a hurry, he quietly observed the reactions of everyone present.
Throughout the dynasties, the salt road line was an important source of tax revenue for the imperial court. By the Ming Dynasty, salt tax even reached half of the national tax revenue.
These salt road officials are specially used to manage this aspect of affairs.
Therefore, the imperial court has always spared no effort in cracking down on salt dealers. If Zhu Gui had not been a prince, he would have been imprisoned just because he sold so much refined salt.
But now, not only did he not stop, he even wanted to expand the deal, which made the salt channel officials present unable to sit still.
They do not want to interfere in the household affairs of the Ming Dynasty royal family, but this salt channel business is related to their well-being. Almost all of these people here have paid a lot of money or have powerful backgrounds to become salt channel officials.
Now that Zhu Gui's hand is stretched out so long, it is like touching their cake.
Forget about these minor local officials, there was also a senior official of the Salt Road present, Liu Jingming, who was the salt envoy for the capital.
His eyes flashed, and when he saw that no one else was speaking, he immediately stood up and said, "Your Highness, the sale of salt belongs to the exclusive power of the imperial court. This operation of the King may violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty."
His few words immediately silenced the voices in the living room. Everyone's eyes were wandering on the acting kings Zhu Gui and Liu Jingming, and they did not even dare to breathe loudly.
These people have all heard about what the acting king did in Nanjing City. He killed people on the street, and even the emperor never asked about it. Why is Liu Jingming so bold?
But things didn't happen as they imagined.
Zhu Gui just glanced at Liu Jingming lightly and said, "Master Liu, I remember that all the salt in Shanxi is shipped from Shandong, right?"
"Yes, there are currently major salt areas in Daming including Lianghuai, Liangzhe, Changlu, Shandong, Hedong and Fujian, and our salt in Shanxi is transported from Shandong."
Liu Jingming said neither humble nor overbearing.
He is not only a salt envoy, but also an aide to King Yan Zhu Di. He believes that even the acting king would not dare to touch him easily.
Zhu Gui stood up and nodded and said: "Although Shandong and Shanxi are adjacent, the cost of traveling alone is not small, right?"
Liu Jingming didn't speak this time, which was acquiescing to this fact.
It is precisely because of this that the price of official salt remains high and salt dealers continue to ban it.
Zhu Gui continued: "Now that I have mastered the new salt-making method, I can produce refined salt locally, which not only eliminates the consumption of salt transportation on the road, but also makes Datong the seventh largest salt-producing area in the Ming Dynasty in the future. This
It is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, do you think so, Mr. Liu?"
Liu Jingming had already prepared for a head-on conflict with King Dai, but he did not expect that the other party would actually reason with him.
"But, but, the salt tax is an important revenue for the national treasury. Even the acting king cannot interfere in this matter." Liu Jingming was at a loss for words, and in the end he could only bring out the amulet and the salt tax.
Zhu Gui smiled, then picked up an account book from the table, flipped through it a few times and said: "According to previous years' records, Shanxi's salt tax was ten taxes and three taxes. Last year, there was a total tax revenue of almost two million taels. If we let
When I come to sell refined salt, I can pay half the salt tax compared to last year. What do you think?"
Liu Jingming's eyes widened: "Impossible, absolutely impossible."
Everyone else in the living room also started talking like a pot.
If you pay half the salt tax, that would be three million taels, which was almost the entire tax revenue of Yunzhou last year.
"Master Liu, I know that you are also determined to serve the country. If you still feel that there are any problems, I can personally approve the matter to the emperor. Don't forget, this is my fiefdom."
Seeing that Liu Jingming wanted to say something more, Zhu Gui immediately hit him with words.
Liu Jingming stared at Zhu Gui, and after a few seconds, he left the table angrily.
After the person in charge left, the others present were naturally left to Zhu Gui's control.
So he immediately controlled the entire official salt system in Datong in the name of Prince Dai.
The first decision was that there would no longer be a need to transport salt from Shandong, but that refined salt and coarse salt would be provided to various salt merchants from Daiwangfu.
Then, an announcement was made to all parts of the government, asking all salt dealers to register with the government to be exempted from their previous crimes.
After the meeting was over, Zhu Gui immediately wrote a memorial, reporting to Zhu Yuanzhang the situation in Datong Prefecture, and recounted some of his thoughts again.
He did not expect Zhu Yuanzhang to agree to his idea, but obtained the right to sell official salt by begging for poverty.
This legitimizes his means of making money.
Liu Jingming, who left in anger, also wrote a note to Zhu Di, detailing what King Dai had done in Shanxi and denounced his incompetence, hoping that the influence of King Yan would make King Dai restrain himself a little.
.
The two memorials have not yet arrived in Nanjing, but Zhu Gui's policies have already caused an uproar in Datong Mansion.
First of all, the happiest people are naturally the ordinary people. In the past, they could not afford official salt and could only buy some cheap private salt from salt dealers.
But now that the acting king has taken control of the salt channel, the coarse salt he sells is not only of better quality than the salt sold by the salt dealers, but the price is more than half as much.
How does this make them unhappy?
Next are the salt dealers. Originally, they were frightened by Xu Yingxu's purge. Now that the king's impunity policy is in place, many people will immediately go to the government to register.
As for the remaining salt dealers, seeing that peddling private salt was no longer profitable, they all began to change careers.
Only the largest local salt gang still persists.
Hu Shidao, leader of the Salt Gang, also hosted a Salt Gang meeting on the same day.
Over the years, the Salt Gang has made a lot of money by selling illegal salt, and because Hu Shidao is a good man and has taken care of all the Salt Road officials, he has never been harassed by the government.
They just didn't expect that after the acting king came, their good days would come to an end.
At this time, there was already a quarrel within the Salt Gang because of Zhu Gui's policies.
The radicals feel that there is something wrong with this acting king, and it is best to find a way to kill him, or at least let him take back his life, otherwise the Salt Gang will have a difficult life in the future.
The conservatives felt that the king's policy could not last long. They did not believe that the king had so much refined salt, and this kind of thing was not allowed by the court.
Hu Shidao just listened quietly to everyone's quarrel, deep in thought but did not speak.
Until a member of the gang leaned over him and said something, he nodded and finally had a smile on his face.
"Okay, everyone, please stop arguing. We don't care what medicine Zhu Gui sells in his gourd, but how long has he been able to live forever?"