During the reign of Emperor Renzong, Ouyang Xiu proposed that the tea market should be operated jointly with private merchants.
During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, Ma Duanlin proposed that except for Fujian wax tea, the other six tea routes in the southeast should be open to trade.
During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, Wang Anshi strongly advocated the private operation of tea merchants, saying, "The state should abolish the tea monopoly law and allow people to sell it themselves, which would be very convenient at present."
However, none of these proposals were passed except for the six trade routes. The tea monopoly system was not officially abolished until the second year of Zhenghe reign of Emperor Huizong of Song in the late Northern Song Dynasty.
Moreover, the imperial court did not intervene in the market at that time, take the lead in establishing a tea chamber of commerce or invest in large tea merchants to stabilize tea prices, but continued to leave it alone, which led to a few tea giants with official and business backgrounds starting to monopolize the market.
After Zhao Jun traveled through time, he gave advice on state affairs and spouted some nonsense about the Jiaoyin method. Zhao Zhen then told Li Zi all his methods for dealing with tea merchants, such as abolishing the monopoly, using one faction to attack another, introducing shares in the tea industry, and supporting a group of obedient tea merchants.
These ideas coincide with those of Ouyang Xiu, Ma Duanlin, Wang Anshi and others, except that Ouyang Xiu, Ma Duanlin and Wang Anshi were not so radical as to ask the government to suppress those disobedient tea merchants. Perhaps there was some effort, but there is no historical record.
Zhao Zhen's original intention was to let Li Zi first study whether the method was feasible, and if it was feasible, it would not be too late to implement it.
After studying it, Li Zi felt that there was no problem, and since the government had given him such great authority, he was naturally very happy, so he decided to use these methods directly.
certainly.
He was not in a hurry to stop the monopoly and start trade along the entire route, because the matter was still too complicated.
It's not just the interests of big businessmen, but also the interests of high-ranking officials.
At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Cai Jing reformed the tea law and changed the six-route trade law originally proposed by Ma Duanlin into a monopoly. This was because the full trade hit the wealthy merchants represented by big tea merchants and cross-border merchants, causing their dissatisfaction, which led to the subsequent reforms by Cai Jing.
Therefore, he did not take action against the high-ranking officials of the court and the family businessmen represented by them for the time being, but instead focused on big businessmen like Tian Chang who did not have much background.
Treat them to a meal, and then accept them as dogs. As for the other big businessmen who don't cooperate, they will naturally have no choice but to behead them.
After sucking the blood of the imperial court for so many years, it’s time to let him go.
For Tian Chang, agreeing to Li Zi's offer was not a loss; it was even a huge profit. First, he had the upper hand of the imperial court, practically a royal merchant, so even ordinary officials would have to think twice before trying to touch him. Second, he would be able to increase his tea market share in the future, no longer subject to monopoly restrictions. This was definitely a good deal.
So Tian Chang agreed without much hesitation. It was basically the same as the process of recruiting merchants during the Song Dynasty, except that the merchants had more freedom of status and activities.
Soon it was afternoon, and Li Zi and Tian Chang had agreed on some issues regarding the state-owned enterprise's shareholding. Detailed contract terms would be listed later, and both parties would register at the government office. In this way, the state-owned enterprise's shareholding was settled, which was a good start for state-owned enterprises to participate in large private enterprises.
After Li Zi sent the overjoyed Tian Chang away, he said to Wang Yong, "Your Majesty, this is a very clever move. Tian Chang's Tian Family Teahouse is the largest teahouse in Bianliang. If we take up a stake in it, I think we can make a lot of money for the court."
Wang Yong was a rather cold-blooded person. He said, "Sir, you should be careful of these unscrupulous merchants. Back then, the imperial court only allowed private merchants to obtain a maximum of 120,000 kilograms of tea permits, yet Tian Chang dared to take 200,000 kilograms privately. His appetite is truly enormous."
"I'm not afraid of his big appetite, I'm afraid of his small courage."
Li Zi smiled and said, "As long as he can deliver grain to the border, what does it matter if he's given 500,000 kilograms of tea permits?"
"I've heard that these private merchants are accustomed to falsifying accounts to evade taxes and deceive the court."
Wang Yong added, "Sir, it's best to be careful."
"Of course I understand."
Li Zi nodded and said calmly, "So it's your turn to make an example of someone."
"I understand."
Wang Yong understood and bowed.
There were many tea merchants in Bianliang. In addition to people like Tian Chang who specialized in tea business from Jianghuai, Hangzhou and other places, there were also tea merchants from Bashu, Yunnan, Hunan, Hubei and Guangdong.
Due to the monopoly system, more than 90% of tea merchants colluded with border officials, inflated the value of goods, and embezzled the court's assets.
Faced with the court's plan to implement the cash payment method again, small and medium-sized tea merchants did not oppose it much because they could quickly recover their funds, but the large tea merchants united and wanted to resist this policy.
Therefore, after obtaining the court's permission, Li Zi did not intend to continue to indulge these tea merchants who had previously sucked the blood of the court crazily, but instead began his strategy of using one faction to fight another.
Tea merchants who were willing to cooperate were recruited, while those who were unwilling were either cut off from their tea permits or charged with bribing border officials. The leaders in particular would have their property confiscated and their families exterminated.
After this series of attacks, it won’t take long for the tea merchants in Bianliang to understand what the general trend is.
......
......
"Ha ha ha ha."
On the morning of May 24th, in the Chongde Hall of the Great Song Imperial Palace, Zhao Zhen was delighted as he looked at the note sent by Sheng Duxin in his hand.
The establishment of Jiaozi Office did attract the interest of merchants traveling between Chengdu and Bianliang.
With the unremitting promotion of Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others, many merchants came to test the waters, and tea merchants such as Tian Chang also deposited money. Soon, there were more than 500,000 strings of cash in the Jiaozi office in Bianliang, and the national treasury made a fortune.
You must know that this is a critical period for Li Zi's reform of the currency law. While Li Zi is cracking down on illegal businessmen, he also has to transport money to the border for settlement. The national treasury needs a large amount of coins to be sent to the border, and this money will help a lot.
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