Chongzhen swept his eyes over the faces of the ministers and said, "Leave the personnel issues to the local government, and leave the affairs to your offices."
"Take the Transport Department as an example. After the household registration system is abolished, everything that happens to the salt-making people after they leave the salt fields will be handled by the local government. Only the affairs of the salt fields will be under your jurisdiction. Do you understand?"
All the civil and military officials in the court thought for a long time before they understood the meaning of Chongzhen's words.
"But your majesty... after abolishing the household registration system, how can we guarantee the profits and output of the salt fields? After all, the essence of the household registration system is a tax... without taxes, the price of salt will definitely increase, otherwise the people will have no enthusiasm for making salt and the output will not be guaranteed." He Qizi, the transport envoy, bowed and stepped out.
During the Ming Dynasty, the government obtained salt by purchasing salt from kitchen households.
There are two kinds of salt, one is normal salt and the other is residual salt.
Regular salt means that the transport official gives food and money according to the number of people in the household, and the household pays a corresponding amount of salt, which is equivalent to taxes.
The salt was boiled by the family as a unit. Generally, for every person in the family, 28 liters of salt (each liter weighed 200 kilograms) had to be handed in.
Surplus salt is the remaining salt after the stove households have paid the regular salt.
The transport department would use silver to purchase the surplus salt from the kitchen households, and the price would be higher than that of regular salt.
He Qizi's words hit the nail on the head, and made the officials in the court who opposed the abolition of the household registration system very happy.
An official gave He Qizhi a thumbs up and praised him: "See? This is called professionalism!"
Chongzhen did not answer him, but pretended to casually glance at Song Quan.
Song Quan immediately stood up and said, "Sign the contract!"
contract?
In the puzzled eyes of the crowd, Song Quan said calmly: "After the abolition of the household registration system, all people are civilians."
"Want to boil salt? Sure, but you need to sign a contract with the transport company! The agreed terms are the same as before. Each person must hand in a certain amount of salt every year, otherwise there will be corresponding penalties."
"Moreover, salt making is no longer a family-based activity. You can make it by yourself or with friends and family, as long as you hand in enough salt."
Song Quan's words made the court quiet again.
Everyone is thinking about the feasibility of this method.
"Song Yushi, you don't understand what I mean!" He Qizhi, the transport officer of the Transport Department, said again: "Household registration is essentially a kind of corvée. If we sign a contract with the people according to the standards of corvée, I'm afraid no one will dare to sign it. If no one signs the contract, no one will boil salt. Isn't it going to cause trouble?"
Song Quan snorted coldly: "Master He, the Ming Dynasty lacks everything except people! Even if they don't want to do it, there are plenty of people to do it."
"Besides, you have to pay taxes no matter what you do! Farming requires land tax, doing business requires business tax, and making salt requires salt tax..."
Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne, watching them bickering calmly, in an extremely good mood.
With Song Quan in front to help him block, he felt much less pressure.
In fact, Chongzhen had long wanted to abolish the household registration system.
The household registration system locks everyone into rules and regulations, severely restricting the development of productivity.
Especially the craftsmen.
In the Ming Dynasty, all handicraftsmen were registered as craftsmen and were affiliated with the Ministry of Works, a position that was passed down from generation to generation.
Implement shift work or live-in work.
This craftsman registration system severely restricted the development of handicrafts.
However, due to the special nature of the craftsmen in the Ministry of Works, Chongzhen made special adjustments to the craftsmen's registration.
Except for craftsmen in manufacturing bureaus at all levels, the craftsman registration of all other craftsmen will be revoked.
After the abolition of the household registration system, the Ming Dynasty began to show signs of capitalism.
That is the embryonic form of capitalism.
The sign of the budding of capitalism is the buying and selling of labor (employment relationship)!
Only by further liberating productivity can productivity be developed.
This is also the ultimate goal of Chongzhen’s abolition of the household registration system!
The crowd argued for a while, and the voices of opposition became smaller and smaller.
Chongzhen took over the conversation: "Since everyone has no objection, then let's do it this way. However... we must first try it out in Northern Zhili for a period of time, and if there are no major problems, then promote it nationwide."
"Your Majesty, since it is a trial, why not pick a prefecture from Northern Zhili first? If there is no problem, then let other prefectures try it out." Li Banghua stood up and said.
Chongzhen thought about it and agreed.
More haste makes waste. Moreover, Northern Zhili is an important area of the capital and cannot be disturbed.
"Okay, which prefecture do you recommend to be the first to try it out?" Chongzhen asked.
"Xuanfu!" All the civil and military officials in the court answered in unison.
There is no place more suitable than Xuanfu.
It's a border area with vast land and sparse population.
In addition, with the presence of the meritorious official Yan Yingyuan, even if something goes wrong, it will not cause a big chaos.
In fact, these ministers have another idea.
Fortunately, the trial was successful and everyone was happy.
If the trial fails, someone needs to be held accountable.
Yan Yingyuan was promoted by Chongzhen himself and had no connections in the court.
Holding him accountable not only struck a blow to dissidents, but also to imperial power.
Kill two birds with one stone!
Chongzhen certainly knew what these ministers were thinking.
He did not object, and he could not object.
After all, Northern Zhili cannot be in chaos!
"Then let's try it out in Xuanfu first. Various problems will surely arise during the trial period. In order to unify power, I have decided to grant Yan Yingyuan the Imperial Sword, so that he can execute first and report later."
"You are all my subjects. I hope you will govern your country and manage the Ming Dynasty for me."
"Your subjects will obey the imperial decree!"
"Retreat!"
On the way back to the Qianqing Palace, Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief.
Practice is the only criterion for testing truth.
The trial abolition of the household registration system has taken the first step. Whether it works or not, only time will tell.
As soon as he returned to the Qianqing Palace, Li Ruolian asked for a meeting outside the palace.
"Announce!" Wang Chengen shouted to the outside of the palace gate.
Li Ruo Lian took two steps at a time and fell to his knees with a plop. "Your Majesty, I have something important to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Your Majesty, it's about the soap. The dignitaries in the capital praised the soap highly after using it, but..."
"Just say what you want to say. It's not your character to hide things!" Chongzhen said with a smile.
Li Ruo Lian swallowed his saliva and said, "But the soap is well-received but not popular. People who want to buy it can't afford it, and those who can afford it think it's too expensive, so even if they have money, they don't want to buy it."
"I visited the Duke of England for this purpose. He said that soap is indeed useful, but it can only be used to wash the face and take a bath. It can neither prolong life nor cure diseases. Something that cannot be eaten or drunk cannot be sold at a high price!"
Li Ruo Lian had established Zhou's business, and now that the business was in trouble, he was also worried. The price was set by Chongzhen, and he didn't dare to say that he wanted to reduce the price, so he could only tell Chongzhen in this way.
Chongzhen frowned and thought about it.
Too expensive?
It’s not expensive at all, I even think it’s sold too cheaply!
This thing is very expensive, and it is a luxury item specifically for the powerful and wealthy. If the price is low, it will not arouse their interest.
How can you sell at a high price, reap the benefits of the rich and powerful, and still attract people to buy your products?
Got it!
Increase religious attributes!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
