Chapter 3152 Salt Administration Reform
Zhou Man participated in every step of the establishment and expansion of the Imperial Medical Bureau and the Local Medical Bureau. Looking back, no one was optimistic about the Imperial Medical Bureau and the Local Medical Bureau at the beginning. No one thought they could keep the Imperial Medical Bureau going for long, let alone actually open a local medical bureau.
At the beginning, it was only because the emperor was willing to pay for it out of his own pocket and the Imperial Medical Bureau was meaningful that the ministers reluctantly agreed to open it.
So Zhou Mantai knows how important the word "agree" is.
She said, "We should try to win big with a small investment. Let's get them to agree first."
Bai Shan's eyes fell on Mr. Zhuang's letter and he frowned, "Are you saying that Lord Wei's salt administration is going to take another step back?"
Zhou Man shook his head. "I don't know. How can I say anything about adults' affairs? But I know that the more you want to change, the more you have to pay, otherwise you won't be able to do it."
Bai Shan was only troubled for a moment and then put the matter aside. He was now just a small county magistrate, far away in Qingzhou. The salt administration reform in the capital was still far away from him. As a small follower, he only had to obey orders.
But this little follower was being constantly mentioned by the bigwigs in the court.
Mr. Tang agreed to the salt administration reform, but did not fully agree with Wei Zhi's reform plan. There were many other old men who shared the same idea as him.
The emperor really didn't want to listen to their quarrel at the grand court meeting, so he simply found a good day to call everyone into the palace to play chess and drink tea, and have a simple meal. While drinking tea, everyone talked and discussed this matter in detail.
Wei Zhi suggested that the salt business could be handed over to merchants. He said, "Nowadays, merchants travel all over the world. It would be much cheaper for them to transport salt than for us to transport it alone. Similarly, the price of salt could be reduced even more."
Old Master Tang frowned and said, "Merchants are driven by profit. Low prices are only a temporary illusion. If they gain control of the salt roads in the future, I'm afraid the disaster they cause will be no less devastating than the current Jiangnan Salt Administration."
Minister Liu shook his head and said, "Otherwise, as long as we control the salt fields, they will not be able to cause any trouble."
Old Master Tang still had a serious expression on his face and shook his head, "No, the profits are too great. If the government and businessmen collude, I'm afraid the people will have no recourse."
Minister Li frowned. "Your Majesty is wise and wise, and with the Censorate in place, how could such a thing be allowed to become rampant?"
Old Master Tang glanced at him and said nothing. Some things were difficult to say in front of the emperor. Seeing Minister Li insisting, he stiffened his neck and said, "You can tell from the history books."
Minister Li was about to pull him aside to ask what he meant when the silent emperor said hurriedly, "Alright, alright. I know that emperors are not always wise, and that tyrants and treacherous ministers are not uncommon in the Jin Dynasty. Tang Qing's concerns are not unreasonable."
The emperor stopped the two men from arguing, paused, and then said to Old Master Tang, "But we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater."
Wei Zhi nodded and said to the others, "Minister Liu and I have done some calculations. If we issue salt permits to merchants and have them operate the official salt sales, the cost of each dou of salt can be reduced by at least five wen. Combined with Bai Shan's salt drying method, the price of salt can be reduced to fifty wen per dou."
The ministers present at the meeting frowned, and finally understood why the officials and aristocratic families of the Jiangnan faction wanted to fight to the death with Prince Wei Zhi.
The official salt on the market now basically costs between 100 and 110 wen per dou. This reform is equivalent to taking away more than half of the profits of the official salt.
The official salt system was reformed and the price was reduced to fifty wen per dou. How much could the salt fields and salt sellers earn?
Minister Zhao belatedly realized the situation and asked, "What about the salt tax?"
Wei knew: "Salt tax is collected from the salt fields."
Just like now, when official salt comes out of the salt fields, they have to pay taxes, and they just have to keep a close eye on the salt fields.
Minister Zhao asked, "With such a low price, the profit is even less. How much salt tax can we collect?"
The emperor said, "I can't collect much salt tax now."
He said, "Salt is related to people's livelihood. Since I ascended the throne, I have always wanted to reduce taxes and levies, so I don't care much whether the salt tax is levied or not."
The ministers were silent.
The emperor glanced at them and said, "But since I won't levy taxes, the price of salt must be kept stable. Besides the cost, the official salt shouldn't make any profit. Otherwise, whose pockets will be enriched by the profits?"
It's like the current situation: the price of salt is so high, but he can't collect any salt tax. The people have to eat expensive salt, while he, the emperor, has an empty treasury. Just thinking about it makes him unhappy.
So the emperor had two conditions: "If you want to collect taxes, then the taxes must actually go into the national treasury; if you don't collect taxes, I can accept that, but the tax portion of the salt price must be cut to benefit the people."
Wei Zhi said directly: "Collect taxes!"
He said, "Let's fix the tax. In the future, unless it's wartime, the salt tax can't be increased. Even if it is increased, there will be a limit."
The emperor's brows twitched again and again. He felt that Wei Zhi's move was to prevent a tyrant ruler from increasing taxes on official salt in the future.
The emperor endured it and said nothing.
Wei Zhi continued, "That's why I propose opening up the official salt market, allowing merchants to transport and sell salt. The court can set a price limit for salt and establish official warehouses at the border and in salt-scarce areas. If merchants hoard salt, the government can sell it at a fair price to suppress the price. Furthermore, in some special places, salt monopolies can be established..."
Wei Zhi paused and said, "Isn't the saltworks in Beihai County, Qingzhou, the only one that sells it? If it were handed over to merchants, they would come and buy it..."
Several adults discussed in low voices. Kong Jijiu, who had been silent until then, tugged at his beard and asked, "Can the cost of salt production be reduced further?"
Lord Wei immediately said, "I think it's okay. This is one of the reasons why I proposed selling it. Without the involvement of buying and selling, the salt field can have more experience in researching how to reduce the cost of salt production."
Kong Jijiu flipped through Lord Wei's memorial and found that the data on it was the same as what the prince brought back from Qingzhou last year. A year has passed, and based on his understanding of Bai Shan's students, it is impossible that there has been no change.
He then closed the letter and said, "You can write to Bai Shan and ask about the current cost of salt production."
He said, "Fifty wen a dou. Honestly, the price of salt is still too high."
Everyone: ...
Even the emperor looked at Kong Jijiu.
Kong Jijiu said quietly, "Your Majesty, Qingzhou alone can now replace the salt fields of the entire Jiangnan region. If the salt drying method becomes widely used, all places with brine can try this method. Just imagine how much salt will be available on the market?"
The emperor glared slightly.
Kong Jijiu said, "Salt is related to people's livelihood, but like other commodities, it is cheaper if there is too much. However, it is different from other commodities, especially in places near the sea, where seawater is inexhaustible, so..."
Kong Jijiu raised his eyes and looked at the emperor with a sparkling look, "Your Majesty, since we want to stabilize the price of salt, then the people must get the greatest benefit."
The emperor touched his chin and turned to look at Wei Zhi excitedly.
Wei Zhi hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "I have no objection, but Your Majesty, the salt tax..."
He looked at Minister Liu.
Minister Liu remained silent and went to see the emperor for a while.
(End of this chapter)
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