People die for money, birds die for food. Zhu Youxiao had to admit that Yuan Shizhen's move was very powerful and directly hit the weakness of human heart.
Indeed, after the introduction of the "Gang Law", salt merchants rushed to pay the salt tax in order to obtain the qualification of hereditary salt business. The salt merchants who had fled also returned to resume their old business.
There is a problem. Although it has brought about earth-shaking changes to the Lianghuai Salt Administration in the short term and increased salt tax revenue, this hereditary and monopolistic system is like a time bomb that will sooner or later cause serious trouble.
After Liu Ruoyu finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao also came to an instinctive conclusion. Without further study, he knew why the salt merchants were so rich and why salt was so expensive for the common people.
But now does not seem to be the time to reform the salt administration, or it is not appropriate to make major changes.
First, the drawbacks of the Gang Law had not yet become too obvious, and the salt merchants had not yet become as arrogant and domineering as they were during the Qing Dynasty;
Secondly, less than ten years after the New Deal was implemented, the salt merchants owed by Kaizhong France for salt imports had not yet been repaid, and the government could not afford to break its promise;
The last point is the most crucial. Zhu Youxiao still doesn't know how deep the water is here.
There are so many things involved, such as how many officials have colluded with salt merchants to form interest groups; how much private salt is squeezing out the official salt market; why official salt cannot compete with private salt...
I'm afraid I'll have to issue a secret decree to investigate the salt prices in various places, and have the East Factory's spies inquire more about the officials and salt merchants.
Zhu Youxiao did not make a decision immediately, and the crux of the "Huai-Guangdong dispute" was the division of areas for salt diversion, so he had to solve this problem first.
After all, Zhu Youxiao's understanding of the salt administration of the Ming Dynasty was not enough, so it is understandable that he remained cautious.
As soon as Liu Ruoyu took his leave, an official from the Ministry of Revenue was summoned.
In theory, after the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Salt Law System was implemented, that is, "the governor-general, the censor-in-chief and the councilor of the provincial government appointed one person to be in charge of the salt law." The Ministry of Revenue was only responsible for depositing the salt tax into the warehouse and did not directly manage the salt administration.
But when the emperor wanted to inquire, the Ministry of Revenue still found an official who was familiar with salt administration, although his official position was not very high.
Lin Yundai has been working in the Ministry of Revenue for more than ten years. He is exhausted by paperwork and looks older than his actual age, but he is still just a doctor.
He was summoned to the palace this time because the emperor was anxious and could not find a suitable candidate, so he got this opportunity.
Feeling both nervous and excited, Lin Yundai went inside to pay his respects. Surprisingly, he was given an embroidered cushion to sit on, which made him even more honored.
Zhu Youxiao didn't care about the size of the official position. He needed to understand the salt administration well. He felt that the time was too long and it was a bit awkward to stand and make responses.
After just a little thought, the emperor began to ask questions. The first ones were the more basic ones: how many salt-producing areas were there in the country, and how many salt fields were there under those areas.
Lin Yundai was indeed quite familiar with the salt business. He leaned sideways and answered the questions respectfully.
The emperor continued to ask questions, some simple, some complex. Lin Yundai also perked up, trying to answer accurately to satisfy the emperor.
Time passed quickly. As the emperor learned more about the salt business, his questions became more in-depth, and he finally asked about the demarcation of the salt boundary.
"I think the boundary division is quite unreasonable. Has no one ever proposed to change it?" Zhu Youxiao asked with a frown after taking a sip of tea.
Lin Yundai hesitated for a moment, pondering intently before bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, the irrational division of the boundaries is not a new problem. Everyone in the court is aware of this, but ultimately, it's difficult to change."
Zhu Youxiao raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion, "Why is that?"
Lin Yundai answered truthfully, "The purpose of maintaining the pilotage system is to ensure tax revenue, especially to ensure that the Huai salt tax, which accounts for a significant proportion, is not compromised. As for other aspects, it is difficult to take into account both."
Zhu Youxiao lowered his eyes, pondered for a while, and nodded slightly, "So that's how it is. I understand."
The emperor didn't speak for a long time. Lin Yundai saw the palace maid next to him winking at him and thought it was time to leave, so he wanted to get up.
"What do you think is wrong with this salt law system?" The young emperor suddenly raised his eyes and asked in a deep voice.
Lin Yundai quickly sat down with his raised buttocks, thinking rapidly in his mind. This question is very big and really difficult to answer.
"Say what you think." The young emperor's tone softened a bit, and he said, "There's no perfect system. There will always be flaws."
Lin Yundai swallowed hard and replied cautiously, "Your Majesty, I believe the flaw in the Salt Administration system is that there is no dedicated permanent agency, and the Salt Inspectors and the salt works are not in a superior-subordinate relationship."
The young emperor raised his lips, revealing a slight smile, and said, "The system is not fully constructed. It is simply impossible for the Salt Inspector to manage the affairs of such a large Salt Administration alone."
Zhu Youxiao did not elaborate, but in addition to the fact that the salt inspectors were too busy to handle everything and their supervision was inefficient, the cooperation of the local governments was one of the keys to the effective implementation of the Salt Law.
However, the Salt Law and Administration System did not have any rigid requirements for local cooperation, which easily led to local wrangling and poor performance.
Moreover, the relationship between the salt inspectors and the salt fields was not one of superiors and subordinates; the effectiveness of the system was closely tied to the strength of the inspectors. Excessive human interference would inevitably lead to widespread corruption, such as collusion between officials and businessmen.
After all, the Salt Administration was not only imperfect in terms of system, but also involved the ability and ethics of officials, and could be attributed to a problem of official administration.
The tax authorities have not yet been established and there is still a lot of talent gap. Now that the Salt and Tax Administration has been set up, it seems that the gap is even greater.
Zhu Youxiao had long since discovered that the number of local officials was insufficient. A county government office couldn't possibly have many people, yet it had to handle the functions of the county government, public security, courts, taxation, and other departments. It was simply...
"There are too few officials in the Salt Administration." Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh.
Lin Yundai thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty, since the Wanli New Deal, in order to alleviate financial difficulties, Zhang Jiangling has laid off a large number of officials. Not only are there very few officials in the Salt and Tax Administration, but the same is true for local officials."
The sharp decline in the number of local officials resulted in one official having to take on multiple roles in order to maintain the normal operation of local administrative agencies, and it was also difficult for officials in the Salt and Law Department to focus on their own work.
According to the "History of Ming Dynasty", an official named Du Shi, while serving as the Salt and Tax Commissioner, also held as many as seven other positions. This shows how many tasks the officials in charge of the Salt and Tax Commissioner system at that time had.
Zhu Youxiao gave a wry smile and said, "Lin Yundai, right? He's very familiar with the salt business, very good. Well, I'm a little tired today."
Lin Yundai quickly stood up and bowed to take his leave.
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