After listening to Fang Yuegong's answer, Zhu Cilang thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Fang once said that the profits of merchants come from the people. The essence of plundering merchants is plundering the people. Now that the court is plundering merchants, merchants will definitely pass the costs on to the people, and in the end, the people will suffer. As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, I should consider the people."
"Your Highness, have you forgotten that the imperial court abolished the regional restrictions on salt merchants before the salt inspection?" Fang Yuegong smiled and said, "Without regional restrictions, competition will be very fierce. In order to exchange salt for money, merchants will only push down the price of salt, not raise it."
"Isn't that right?" Zhu Cilang frowned. "As far as I know, salt will dissolve when it meets water and will flow into brine when it meets wind. Other than that, there is nothing to be afraid of. As long as it is stored properly, salt can be stored for a long time. Salt merchants can just hoard it and raise the price of salt."
Zhu Cilang's worries are not without reason.
Not to mention ancient times, even in modern times there have been incidents of salt hoarding.
This caused a brief salt shortage across the country.
It’s just that in the Ming Dynasty, salt hoarding was mostly done by merchants, while in modern society, most people hoard salt.
"Your Highness is wrong," Fang Yuegong shook his head slowly. "There are many merchants in the Ming Dynasty. After the regional restrictions on salt trading are lifted, there will be more and more salt traders. If they don't sell salt, there will be others who will. Driven by the huge number of salt merchants, the price of salt will only get lower and lower."
"That makes sense!" Zhu Cilang nodded and continued to ask, "Although the Ming Dynasty now has censors, land officials and inspectors to supervise local officials, corruption is still rampant. Does Mr. Fang have any way to deal with corruption?"
"May I ask, Your Highness, in what capacity do you ask this question?" Fang Yuegong asked back.
"Hmm?" Zhu Cilang was stunned by Fang Yuegong's question. He first glanced in the direction of Ni Yuanlu, then thought for a while and said, "What if I ask as an ordinary citizen?"
"Ordinary people should not dream of confronting officials, even if the other party is just a clerk. Judging from the current situation in the Ming Dynasty, it is like an ant trying to shake a tree for ordinary people to confront officials. So for ordinary people, it is enough to just stay alive. If they can't survive, they can just become refugees or join the rebels." Fang Yuegong made a shocking statement.
"You..." Zhu Cilang couldn't help but stretched out his hand and pointed at Fang Yuegong, "You...you used to be a high-ranking cabinet minister and the Minister of Revenue, how can you say such a thing?"
Ni Yuanlu stood by and smiled without saying anything.
Is knowledge the key to passing the prince's test?
no.
It is sincerity plus the unexpectedness.
The answer is sincere and the truth is surprising.
"This is the complete truth," Fang Yuegong was also somewhat helpless, "It is very dangerous to fight against officials! It is already difficult for them to survive, and if they lose their lives because of this, it is really too cruel. Please don't be angry, Your Highness."
"Hmm..." Zhu Cilang hesitated for a long time before asking, "If you are asking this question as the Crown Prince, huh?"
"If you are asking this question as the crown prince... my answer is not to fight corruption." Fang Yuegong's answer once again shocked Zhu Cilang.
"What did you say?" Zhu Cilang's first reaction was that he had misheard, "Don't fight corruption?"
"right."
"How can this be?" Zhu Cilang stood up.
Not only did Zhu Cilang find it difficult to accept this sentence, but even Ni Yuanlu couldn't help but squint his eyes.
He was also confused by Fang Yuegong's words.
In his opinion, although the problem of corruption cannot be completely solved, it still needs to be addressed.
Otherwise the country will fall into crisis.
Zhu Cilang stared at Fang Yuegong and asked, "Corrupt officials are the parasites of the country. They harm the country and the people. How can we just sit back and do nothing?"
"Your Highness misunderstood what I meant," Fang Yuegong said earnestly, "I meant that we should not fight corruption just for the sake of fighting corruption, because no dynasty would do that."
"If no one is fighting corruption, then why are there so many major corruption cases in every dynasty? Why are so many corrupt officials killed?" Zhu Cilang asked somewhat unhappily.
Fang Yuegong took a deep breath and said the most insightful sentence in his life: "Corrupt officials? Where in the world are there officials who are not corrupt? Ten thousand taels of silver is greed, but one penny is not greed?"
"All dynasties have not dealt with corruption, but have been engaged in party struggles and infighting! The various cliques fight for power and profit, and the winner sits firmly in the government and becomes a clean official. The loser has his property confiscated and is accused of corruption."
"And the emperor only needs to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and then pocket the money from the investigation of corruption."
After these words were spoken, Chunhe Hall fell into a long silence.
Zhu Cilang opened his mouth wide, his eyes dull.
Ni Yuanlu's slightly hunched body suddenly became straight and he stood motionless in the hall.
Zhu Cilang was shocked because it was the first time he heard such remarks.
Considering the current situation, Fang Yuegong is clearly alluding to his father Emperor Chongzhen.
Ni Yuanlu was shocked that Fang Yuegong dared to say such words to the prince at this time.
Party struggles are certainly a manifestation of power change.
But it is not suitable for Zhu Cilang to understand the party struggles at this time.
Because he was the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, in charge of the money and grain of several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.
If it becomes addicted to this, the Jiangnan court will probably face a catastrophic disaster.
Facing Ni Yuanlu's questioning gaze, Fang Yuegong smiled faintly.
He knew Ni Yuanlu's concerns.
But he had to do this, otherwise he would not be able to advance Chongzhen's plan.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Cilang finally came to his senses.
He swallowed and dared not ask any more questions.
Fang Yuegong's words did not mention his father Emperor Chongzhen, but were full of allusions.
Now he even began to suspect that Fang Yuegong was sent by Chongzhen to test him.
"Mr. Fang is indeed a man who would make a big splash if he did make a noise." Zhu Cilang said embarrassedly.
"Your Highness, you are too kind."
"It's getting late, sir. You must be tired from the journey. Why don't you go back and rest early?" Zhu Cilang began to see the guest off.
"It's still early, Your Highness, please continue asking questions." Fang Yuegong made it clear that he would not leave.
This stumped Zhu Cilang.
Fang Yuegong was his teacher, and it was obviously against etiquette to directly order him to expel him.
He continued asking, but was afraid of alluding to his father.
Don't ask, he won't leave.
After thinking for a while, Zhu Cilang said, "I have one last question. What do you think, Mr. Fang?"
"Your Highness, please speak."
"Mr. Fang, what do you think of the current political situation?"
"What does Your Highness mean?" Fang Yuegong asked back.
Following Zhu Cilang's eye signal, Ni Yuanlu told Fang Yuegong the latest news about donating to become an official.
"The national treasury is in deficit, and letting salt merchants donate official positions to make up for the deficit is indeed a good idea, but..." Fang Yuegong hesitated to speak.
"But what?" Zhu Cilang asked.
"I'm afraid that the money from donating to become an official will just make up for the deficit in the national treasury." Fang Yuegong said earnestly.
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