Chapter 613: Financial Distress
Pingzhou did not cover up the origin of the salt, so the Dali government easily found out the origin of the salt.
Song Mo: "Pingzhou has lowered the price of salt so much, isn't that crazy?"
Pingzhou could have sold salt for 300 coins per jin, but now that it's done, everyone's done for! After all, Dali can't collect salt taxes, so don't they have any losses? It's really like hurting the enemy by 800 and hurting yourself by 1,000.
Wu Chunyu said, "Your Majesty, with what happened in Pingzhou, we can foresee that the tax revenue situation in Dali this year will be very bleak."
Tea, horses, salt and iron were almost the most important sources of tax revenue for their court. Salt tax accounted for the largest proportion of the four.
Wu Chunyu was in tears.
Since taking over the national treasury, it has never been prosperous.
This year, it's obviously going to be more difficult.
It is true that a hemp rope always breaks at the thinnest part, and misfortune always finds the unfortunate.
He felt that he must be the most difficult Minister of Finance in all dynasties, no doubt about it.
His job is so difficult, so difficult.
At this time, Xie Zhan also looked solemn. He thought more deeply than Wu Chunyu.
Not only is it possible that the salt tax will not be collected this year, but Pingzhou has previously absorbed so many ordinary people, which will also have a significant impact on Dali's taxation and economy.
The most intuitive data is that with a population of more than 4 million people moving to Pingzhou, how much less head tax would be collected?
Moreover, with so many people leaving, some fields will definitely be abandoned, and the abandoned fields will affect the revenue from land taxes.
And the reduced corvee labor...
In addition, this time, Pingzhou sold a large amount of salt to Dali at a low price, so that Dali's official salt could not be sold at all, making the already empty national treasury even worse.
"Your Majesty, we must come up with an effective solution. We must recover as much of this year's salt tax as possible, and most importantly, we must not affect next year's salt tax."
Xie Zhan knew very well that if he ignored it and let it go, Pingzhou would do the same thing again next year, and the salt tax for the Dawn year would probably be gone.
"Pingzhou has so much salt?" Song Mo asked. According to statistics from his subordinates, the amount of affordable salt released by Pingzhou this time was about 50 million kilograms.
Xie Zhan knew that there really was so much salt in Pingzhou.
Most of this batch of salt is Longcheng Lake salt. When he thought that this salt lake came from the one hundred hectares of land he gave to the Lu family when he broke off the engagement, his chest felt stuffy and painful.
At this time, Wu Chunyu wanted to say, "Your Majesty, at this time, it is better to believe it than not to believe it. What if it really exists in Pingzhou?"
We can still hold on this year, scraping together some money and barely making ends meet. But if we can't collect the salt tax next year, we're going to be in real trouble!
"It's hateful. Is there nothing we can do about Pingzhou?" Song Mo was angry.
"If we want to solve the current dilemma, there are two ways." Xie Zhan did not keep the question in suspense and went straight to the point, "The first way is to solve the problem of the rampant illegal salt production at the source."
Solve it from the source? Song Mo asked, "You mean to solve the problem of Pingzhou? Do you think I don't want to?"
Xie Zhan was silent: ...He didn't even dare to think so.
"Your Majesty, what I mean is that we can talk to Pingzhou and see how they can stop Pingzhou from selling salt to Dali."
Xie Zhan speculated that Pingzhou deliberately did this to benefit the people and to harm Dali.
He had already seen that Pingzhou loved its people very much, but the continuous influx of people into Pingzhou recently was enough for Pingzhou to digest for a while, so Pingzhou’s goal this time should not be to recruit more people.
If Pingzhou were to sell thousands of kilograms of low-priced salt just to hurt Dali, that wouldn't be the case. Pingzhou and Dali aren't at the point of a life-and-death struggle yet. Besides, Dali could still withstand Pingzhou's move.
Therefore, Pingzhou must have some demands.
Hearing this, Song Mo gritted his teeth and said, "Do I still have to bow to Pingzhou?"
"What's the second solution?" Song Mo asked.
Xie Zhan replied, "The second solution is to lower the price of our Dali official salt as well. Right now, the price of this batch of private salt in Pingzhou is 150 coins per catty."
Because the quality of Pingzhou salt was known, the salt merchants in Dali followed the agreement and directly raised the price to the highest level.
"We can sell it at this price, or even lower, to take back the market." After all, at the same price, ordinary people don't need to take the risk of buying private salt.
This is a price war.
Xie Zhan finally said, "But I don't recommend this."
If the imperial court lowers the price of official salt, the people will be disappointed, right? In fact, no matter which of these two options is chosen, the people will be disappointed.
The second option was even more serious. If the court had actually done so, it would have been telling the people of Dali that their official salt could be sold at 150 wen per catty. But the court insisted on selling salt at a high price.
Xie Zhan continued, "Furthermore, the emperor must be on guard against the price war with Pingzhou, which may lower the price of salt again."
For so long, no matter who started a price war with Pingzhou, he had never seen anyone win.
Song Mo: "Pingzhou is still trying to lower the price of salt? Are you crazy? Are you losing money to gain publicity?"
Xie Zhan sighed in his heart. Even if the price of salt was lowered, Pingzhou would not lose money. Isn't that infuriating?
"Your Majesty, this matter needs to be dealt with as soon as possible." If it's not handled properly, it will cause public resentment. Most importantly, this is right around the time of spring plowing, and any further efforts to crack down on illegal salt would delay farming.
"Is there any other way?" Song Mo asked.
Xie Zhan shook his head.
He favors the first option, negotiations with the Peace States.
Xie Zhan understood human nature clearly, and he had already realized that smuggling salt could not be banned. The fact that the crackdown on smuggling salt was ineffective was proof of this.
Pingzhou has something to ask of Dali, and it can be discussed.
But for Song Mo, he didn't want to choose either of the two options!
"hiss--"
"Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Liang An hurried forward.
Song Mo: "I have a headache."
"Then you should rest for a while." Liang An stepped forward to support Song Mo and said to Xie Zhan and others, "The emperor is not feeling well. Please leave first."
Zhuozhou County Magistrate's Office
Jiang Boya and Xie Bai assisted the county lieutenant in defending Zhuozhou.
Now, they can leave as soon as the court sends a new governor to Zhuozhou.
Jiang Boya sighed, "The Grand Commander really predicted it right. Kong Huai has indeed failed."
Although the news came that Kong Huai died at the hands of bandits, anyone with a brain would know how much of the conspiracy was about bandits.
Xie Bai agreed, "Yes. Before we came to Zhuozhou, the head of the family said that Kong Huai only had one chance."
Jiang Boya agreed. If Kong Huai succeeded, it would be a great blessing. But it was obvious that the Grand Commander felt that his chances of success were slim, otherwise he would not have sent them here.
He also said, "Kong Huai can die, but Zhuozhou cannot be lost."
Xie Zhan and Lu Songli have fought many times. He knows that when fighting with Pingzhou, it is never too important to take it seriously, and it will not be a bad idea to prepare some backup plans.
What's more, now that Lu Songli is the lord of Pingzhou and controls three states, the defense forces around him must be strong.
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