"Donating an official position is a good idea! It can not only solve the deficit of the imperial court, but also allow salt merchants to spend money with peace of mind. It is really killing two birds with one stone."
"Yes, it's a two-birds-with-one-stone approach, and it has many benefits."
"The person who can come up with this idea is definitely a capable person in our Ming Dynasty."
"He is more than a capable person. He is a pillar of the country."
"This must be Lord Song's idea."
"That's right! Apart from Lord Song, I really can't think of anyone else in the Ming Dynasty who can come up with such an idea."
"It is a great honor for the Ming Dynasty that Lord Song can serve as an official there."
The officials of the Lianghuai Transport Bureau changed their previous opposition attitude and agreed to donate money to become officials.
Why did their attitude change so quickly?
To put it simply, there is only one word: profit!
Each transport official has several salt merchants under him.
The previous opposition to donating money to become an official was due to the fear that salt merchants would no longer give them money after they became officials.
After all, they are all officials, just with different levels of positions.
The reason why we agree to donate money to become an official now is because the donated official only has an official uniform but no real power.
They can continue to manipulate each other.
What's more, Song Quan made it clear that if he did not agree to donate the official title, he would have to continue inspecting the salt.
The salt merchants have already paid a lot of money, and forcing them to pay more will drive them crazy...
As the saying goes, when faced with two evils, choose the lesser one; when faced with two benefits, choose the greater one.
In order to stabilize the salt merchants and make up for the deficit of the imperial court, agreeing to donate money to become an official was the best option.
Amid the crowd's praise, Song Quan coughed lightly and said, "This is not my idea. It was the idea of Mr. Xie, the Minister of Revenue."
Of course everyone knew that this was Xie Sanbin's idea. After all, the imperial court had issued a similar document before.
But they still pretended to be ignorant in order to flatter Song Quan.
Seeing that Song Quan mentioned Xie Sanbin, everyone began to flatter the Minister of Revenue again.
"Minister Xie not only works hard for the country but also helps you to share your worries. He is worthy of being the Minister of Finance of the Ming Dynasty."
"Yes, Minister Xie's talent is beyond our reach..."
After everyone had boasted, the Salt Inspector Song Quan said in a deep voice: "Since everyone thinks it's okay, then gather the salt merchants together and promote the issue of donating officials."
"How do you want to proceed, sir?" asked Zhang Xizhou, the transport envoy.
"First of all, we need to know the qualifications for donating money to become an official," Song Quan began to implement the order. "Being an official in the Ming Dynasty is a matter of honor for the family! For those businessmen, if the court had not run into deficit, they would have no chance to become an official. So we need to set up a qualification for them to highlight the importance of becoming an official."
"Please let me know, sir."
“Only salt merchants who pay next year’s salt tax in advance are eligible to participate in donating to become officials,” Song Quan said slowly.
Pay next year's salt tax in advance?
The officials of the transport department looked at each other and nodded at the same time: "No problem, it's not too much to ask."
The salt tax in the Ming Dynasty at that time was only more than 2 million taels of silver, which was less than 400,000 taels after being averaged to six transport companies.
And each transport company has dozens of salt merchants of all sizes under it.
After averaging them, one can imagine how low the amount of salt tax paid by each salt merchant was.
"The number of places for donating officials this time is limited. In order to maximize the interests of the court, I have decided to donate officials in the form of official sales. The highest bidder wins."
(Official auctions were auctions organized by the government in ancient times to sell the non-monetary assets of officials whose property had been confiscated, hence the name.)
"At the same time, in order to ensure fairness, I will summon officials from various departments in Nanjing, the Pacification Office, and the East Factory to supervise. What you need to do next is to tell the salt merchants under your jurisdiction this news and urge them to pay the salt tax in advance and participate in the official sale in time."
"When and where does your Excellency plan to hold the official sale?" someone asked.
"What day is today?" Song Quan asked back.
"Today is October 17th." Someone answered.
Song Quan thought about it.
The sale of official positions cannot be delayed for too long.
First of all, the imperial court was in deficit and every place was in urgent need of money.
The sooner the official positions are sold, the sooner the money can be sent to Beijing to solve the court’s urgent needs.
Furthermore, we cannot give the salt merchants too much time to hesitate.
Delay will lead to changes.
But don't be too hasty.
The territory under the jurisdiction of the Lianghuai Transport Division is very large, and it takes time to transmit information.
It also takes time for salt merchants to pay salt taxes and raise money to buy official positions.
If they are too hasty, the salt merchants will not be able to cope with the situation.
The ultimate purpose of selling official positions is to make money for the court. If they cannot be sold, the court will not get a penny.
The one who will be in trouble then will be Song Quan.
"One month!" Song Quan said after careful consideration, "Today is October 17th. On the 17th of next month, I will hold an official auction on a cruise ship on the Qinhuai River in Nanzhili. The Minister of Personnel of Nanjing will be present. After the winners of the official positions are awarded official uniforms on the spot, they will be registered and entered into the official register."
"What about the money for donating to become an official? Should we pay it all on the spot or give them a few days?" Zhang Xizhou asked again.
"Give them two days to prepare the silver, and they must hand it over to me on the third day. Any delay will be considered as deceiving the emperor, and the consequences will be borne by the individual," said Song Quan.
Everyone lowered their heads and either took notes in their heads or wrote them down on paper.
After the writer put down his pen, Song Quan asked, "Do you have any questions? If not, please tell the salt merchants below as soon as possible."
"Sir Song, I have a question." The co-director of the Lianghuai Transport Department asked, "How many quotas did the court give for donating officials this time?"
"Well, it's inconvenient to disclose!" Song Quan smiled mysteriously.
This is his trump card.
Scarcity makes things valuable. If you want to sell at a high price, you have to give the salt merchants the impression that there are very few places available.
Six places may seem like a small number, but they are actually quite a lot.
After all, this was the first time that official positions were sold in the Ming Dynasty, and no one knew what would happen after the money was paid.
Therefore, not many salt merchants are willing to take the risk.
Of course, there will be quite a few salt merchants participating.
After all, the salt tax is not much money, and the salt merchants will come to watch the fun out of curiosity.
"Sir Song, can you give me a rough number?" the Tongzhi asked unwillingly.
"I can't reveal the approximate number, but I can tell you that the number of places is very small, pitifully small!" Song Quan answered seriously.
The officials from the transport department had no choice but to ask some other questions before ending the meeting.
Song Quan returned to the post station to rest, while the others arranged for their servants to deliver the news to the salt merchants as quickly as possible.
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