But what made Liu Yong uncomfortable was that he was still only transferred to the position of Dinghai Salt Supervisor.
The Salt Inspector was actually the county magistrate. In the Song Dynasty, the Inspectorate was also an administrative district, on the same level as the county. However, the county mainly produced salt, so the chief official was not called the county magistrate, but the Salt Inspector.
Seeing that he was already in his fifties and had been working at the county magistrate level for seven or eight years, Liu Yong became anxious, so he composed another poem "Drunk in Penglai: Under the Leaves at Jianting Gao" and presented it to Zhao Zhen.
As a result, the flattery backfired. Zhao Zhen became even more unhappy when he saw one of the lines "Taiye Lake was surging". Anyway, he would never have the chance of promotion in this life.
I originally thought that there was no hope in this life, but I heard that Zhao Zhiyuan of the Constitutional Court has always liked talents. For example, Chen Xiliang, the former Changsha County Magistrate, was retaliated against for attacking the powerful and had no promotion for six years. After getting to know Zhiyuan, he was promoted to the Censorate.
Thinking that he had outstanding political achievements but had not been promoted for seven years, Liu Yong shed tears in his heart. He came here to report on official business and unexpectedly found Zhao Jun also there. Naturally, he was overjoyed and seized the opportunity to deliver a speech.
Anyway, he presented a poem to Fan Zhongyan, but Fan Zhongyan ignored him. He presented a poem to the emperor, but the emperor was even more unhappy. Things were already so bad, why not ask the governor to give it another try, just in case things turned out well?
"Literary talent is indeed good, but governing a country requires more than literary talent. Officials must serve the people and achieve outstanding political achievements in order to gain the favor of the world."
Zhao Jun commented on this and then said, "Of course, the officialdom in the past was indeed very shady. Even if you had literary talent and political achievements, you wouldn't necessarily be promoted. You also needed connections from above. If you offended the emperor, who would dare to employ you?"
Liu Yong was even more embarrassed and said, "It was all due to my confusion when I was young. I regretted it very much later."
"Don't feel bad. If the official is narrow-minded, that's his problem. Don't take it too seriously."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "I saw your achievements before you came. They are indeed quite outstanding. Coincidentally, the state-owned salt works have been restructured for several years now, so I'd like to hear your opinion."
This is obviously to test one's ability.
A scholar who is good at poetry does not necessarily have strong political ability.
Li Shen had the nerve to write "Song of Pity the Peasants", while Cai Jing and Qin Hui were both excellent in calligraphy and poetry.
So literary talent is certainly important, but ability is even more important. Otherwise, you can only be a court writer at best.
Upon hearing Zhao Jun's words, Liu Yong immediately said, "The reform of the state-owned salt works is truly a panacea. After several years of reform, no one has died at the Dinghai Salt Works for two years."
"Just that no one has died anymore?"
Zhao Jun was stunned.
"That's already great."
Liu Yong sighed, "Official rent and private debts. Before the saltworkers had even paid their taxes, they were still burdened with debts. Many were emaciated, barely even human form. Working in the salt fields, they could collapse to the ground, unable to get up. After finally boiling the salt and selling it to the government at a low price, the money they earned had to be used to pay off their debts. Borrowing one jin often meant repaying ten. This cycle repeats itself, and the more debts they incur, the more they run into debt. Countless families have been ruined."
"Life is difficult."
Zhao Jun sighed. When he was touring the country, he had not visited the salt fields because they were all on the seashore and not connected to the canal. The journey was too long, so he had indeed not visited them. This was his negligence.
"Things are better now. After the state-owned salt fields were restructured, operations were handed over to private merchants. The price they charge for salt is much higher than the official salt before, which allows salt farmers to pay off their debts. From the time they gather brine to the time they boil salt, when there's no salt to sell, they still have some money left over to live on."
Liu Yong said: "Although life is still hard, there is hope at least."
"Just what?"
"It's just that starting this year, I heard that the salt price at the Minghe Salt Field in Cixi next door has dropped a lot. Many salt farmers there have secretly come to Dinghai to sell salt. In addition, some clerks and salt merchants have hinted to me to lower the price of salt."
Liu Yong was still hesitant to say it out loud, after all, this would offend people.
However, thinking of the rumors that the director has always been upright and likes to expose the darkness of officialdom, he bravely said it out in the hope of gaining Zhao Jun's appreciation.
These words made Zhao Jun's face turn pale.
Although he did not inspect the salt fields by the sea, he had visited the tea mountains outside Hangzhou.
In the Song Dynasty, tea and salt fields were subject to monopoly, which meant that tea farmers and salt farmers had to sell their products to the government at low prices, and they also had to pay high taxes.
This was a heavy burden for tea and salt farmers, and their lives were suffocating. When there was no harvest of tea and salt, like grain farmers, they could only go to wealthy moneylenders to borrow money.
Moreover, it is usury. Often, the annual interest rate is not more than 36%, which is usury. It is more than 300%, and even more exaggeratedly, it can reach 1000%. If you borrow one string of coins, you will have to pay back ten strings of coins in a year.
For example, in the loan documents unearthed from the Tang Dynasty, "borrow twenty coins of silver, and the monthly interest is two coins" is a relatively common content. In the words of later generations, it means that if you borrow twenty coins, the monthly interest is two coins, that is, the monthly interest rate is 10%, and the annual interest rate is as high as 120%!
120% is considered a normal interest rate for ordinary loans. During Wang Anshi's reform, the government's interest rate for loans to private individuals was 40%, which was an ultra-low interest rate. This shows how terrible the interest rates for private loans were during the Tang and Song dynasties.
No wonder many farmers in the Song Dynasty went bankrupt and a large number of farmers were forced to become tenants without dignity. This was because the government imposed heavy taxes and levies, and the landlords and money lenders lent money at high prices and kept pressuring them.
Therefore, Wang Anshi's reforms were actually, to a large extent, intended to protect the lower-class people.
But unfortunately, the administration was not done well.
The current situation is that under the promotion of Zhao Jun, Li Zi presided over the state-owned enterprise reform and privatized many tea mountain and salt fields. State-owned enterprises only hold shares but do not participate in management, and private individuals are responsible for management.
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