Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Chronicles of the Yongle New Deal·Salt Law Reform": "When we objectively evaluate a period of history, we can find that although Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty sincerely wanted to seek greater welfare for his subjects, it is obvious that he If the timeline of various policies formulated at the founding of the People's Republic of China is extended, the long-term effects of the policies will be completely opposite to their original intentions.

Before the reform initiated by Jiang Xinghuo, the imperial court was unable to solve its financial dilemma, because the interests involved in the Salt Law were so significant that any change to the existing Salt Law system would obviously encounter great resistance, based on various reasons. The reason was that the imperial court had no intention to carry out changes, and the only consensus among the civil servants and gentry was to adhere to the 'formation of the constitution', which was the original decision of Emperor Hongwu. "

——————

"1.5 million taels? Okay, very good!"

In Fengtian Hall, all the officials present were silent.

"boom!"

Zhu Di smashed the tea cup in his hand and said angrily: "Trash! They are all a bunch of idiots! I have raised you idiots! If you can't find out the accounts, don't you know how to do arithmetic? You need the Imperial Master to do it yourself." Something went wrong?!”

There is of course no problem with things like the salt tax from the accounting point of view. People don't keep two accounts at all, and it's seamless.

Unfortunately, Jiang Xinghuo and Xia Yuanji had different calculation angles. They directly translated the salt tax data from the Song Dynasty and then calculated it in equal proportions. They did not follow the Salt Affairs Office's accounts at all.

Since the tax collection ratio is basically the same and the official salt market share is larger, then I directly use the data of the Song Dynasty and multiply it by 0.6 (the Song Dynasty has a population of 100 million and the Ming Dynasty has a population of 60 million), and the result must be the salt tax receivable .

The salt tax receivable minus the salt tax currently collected, plus the salt tax reduced due to the opening of the Chinese method to exchange salt, is the part that has been corrupted.

No matter how you do your accounting, no matter how clever or precise you do it, you can't avoid this loophole.

This is the beauty of mathematics.

So after all this time, no one has discovered this problem?

Of course there are people, but the people who discovered it are either too humble to talk about it, or they are too interested to talk about it.

So it became a well-known secret among some key figures.

Zhu Di is very angry! Very serious consequences!

Zhu Di originally thought that although the salt method was deep, it would only be a few hundred thousand taels in size at most.

After all, Zhu Di knew exactly what Li Jinglong had fished out when he was in charge of the silver class. The entire Ming Dynasty's silver class might not be able to fish out one hundred thousand taels of silver.

Zhu Di is different from his father Zhu Yuanzhang. He is not intolerant of corruption among civil servants. In Zhu Di's case, as long as you can work, as long as you don't take too much, he can tolerate it.

But I didn't expect that the Lianghuai Salt Farm alone would be worth nearly one million taels of silver.

And, this is every year!

In the thirty years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, how much wealth has been devoured in total in the Salt Law?

If Jiang Xinghuo hadn't told him the truth, I'm afraid he would have continued to be kept in the dark.

Think about it, I have just ascended the throne, and even before I sit on the hot seat, there is already a mess underneath.

How could Zhu Di be calm?

The saddest thing in the world is that others have deceived you, but you don't know anything.

And the most painful thing in this world is that you already know the truth, but you can't change this fact.

It's like knowing that someone has cheated on you, but you still have to pretend that nothing happened. You should eat and drink when you should, and go to work when you should.

Zhu Di gritted his teeth with hatred when he thought that this group of people would not even be left as scum for the court.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

There was a chorus of agreement in the hall, and it was obvious that the ministers were aware of the seriousness of the problem.

The attendees at this meeting were mainly the Three Law Departments and the Ministry of Household Affairs, plus the Cabinet and the President’s Reform Affairs Office.

"Calm down my anger? Do you want me to calm down?"

Zhu Di said angrily: "How can I calm down with such a huge amount?!"

Whether the emperor was really angry or expressing some kind of gesture was not clear to the officials attending the meeting, but there was no doubt that someone needed to answer the question at this time.

Whoever the emperor glances at must be more conscious.

Zheng Ci, the Minister of Justice, Ma Jing, the left minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Li Qing, the right minister of the Ministry of Justice, were the focus of the emperor's attention at this time.

At this time, they still didn't understand that the emperor might indeed be angry, but as the secular incarnation of imperial power, his anger was not only an expression of personal emotions, but also a clear political signal.

——The emperor is very dissatisfied with the current salt law system.

At this time, their personal destiny was related. They had already met in private before, so naturally they did not dare to raise any objections, so Zheng Ci stepped forward and spoke.

"Your Majesty, please calm down and please be brave. The Salt Law has been suffering for a long time and needs to be changed. The Ministry of Punishment has no objection to changing the Salt Law."

"Your Majesty, what Zheng Shangshu said makes sense."

Jin Youzi, the newly appointed Shaoqing of Shenfa Temple, also agreed: "This matter must be investigated immediately, otherwise there will be endless troubles! If this matter cannot be investigated, what happened today in Salt Law will happen again and again, and our Ming Dynasty will be severely damaged by this." "

Although Jin Youzi's statement was a bit exaggerated, and he was definitely selfish and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to win the first battle of the establishment of the new department, his position was correct. After hearing what he said, other ministers expressed their agreement and felt that this was a huge step. The crisis must be dealt with seriously and quickly.

Thinking about the feeling of being in financial embarrassment, angry and exhausted when reviewing memorials and handling state affairs every day during these days, Zhu Di's eyes were as red as rabbits.

Zhu Di leaned back on the dragon chair, with a frighteningly gloomy face, and said word by word: "Chen Ying, read through the results of the investigation and tell us what happened!"

When all the ministers heard this, they all held their breath.

This is a major case involving the economic lifeline of the imperial court. Who dares to talk nonsense?

Even the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi stood aside honestly.

These days, Chen Ying has been responsible for the investigation of the case. He brought out all the young censors who were newly recruited and promoted from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and visited the Huanghuai Chief Envoy Department. There was no need for those who patrolled the salt censors. history.

Although Chen Ying was ruthless, this kind of cruel official was undoubtedly the best sword in the emperor's hand.

Even though he was unfamiliar with the place, Chen Ying's Metropolitan Procuratorate still achieved quite astonishing results.

At this moment, he looked respectful, but his tone was indifferent, and he said calmly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has passed the investigation of the Lianghuai Salt Works, although it has not figured out where the 1.5 million taels of salt tax deficit calculated by the Imperial Guard lies. However, since the Lianghuai salt field accounts for about half of the national salt tax, it means that the Lianghuai salt field has a salt tax deficit of about 700,000 to 800,000 taels. There should be some clues. This time, it can be mutually confirmed. It has been investigated There were a lot of problems.”

"The first is the order of paying food and receiving salt."

"In principle, according to the requirements of the Kaizhong Law, the Salt Affairs Office of the State of the People's Republic of China 'calls merchants to deliver grain and salt it to them', and the amount of grain that the merchants in Kaizhong must pay for each piece of salt they receive is based on the Kaizhong Law." The distance of the required journey and other factors are determined, which is called a rule. In actual implementation, the Salt Affairs Office needs to compile a survey and a book, and then issue it to the Chief Envoy, Dusi, and Weisuo corresponding to the destination. Only merchants can After the grain arrives and is paid at the destination, the Chief Envoy, Dusi, and Health Office at the destination sign and write down the amount of grain payment and salt payment in the form of an official document. Then the businessman can use the official document to go to the corresponding transfer and lift department to take a photo. Count the branches and get the salt."

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang has clear regulations on the order of receiving grain and collecting salt, that is, "there is a fixed place for selling salt, and it is published on copper plates. Those who commit private salt will be punished until death, and those who forge and cite will be punished." Salt and Yinli , that is, in terms of private salt." Salt quotation is a certificate that merchants can obtain after paying grain to the destination, just like a certificate for redeeming rewards for a certain task. The essential purpose is to ensure that the court's salt tax does not appear as much as possible. In addition, Lao Zhu's so-called "salt and Yinli, that is, talking about private salt", even more clearly stated the attitude of "I would rather kill by mistake than let go". If you don't do your homework in school, you can say that you have forgotten home. If there is no salt guide when transporting salt, your head will have to move.

Chen Ying continued: "But when the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate thoroughly investigated the transportation and lifting department of the Lianghuai Salt Farm, he discovered that there were local wealthy businessmen who took the salt first and then paid the grain."

As soon as these words came out, the hall suddenly became awe-inspiring.

The order is very important. In most cases, if the order is reversed, many things will go wrong.

It is a trivial matter to get on the bus first and then replenish the ticket. If the game becomes complicated, it is a waste of time. Here is a salt guide. Instead of getting the salt, you use the salt guide as collateral to borrow money. The borrowed money can be several times or even More than ten times the money, and then open up the relationship to get the salt. If the turnover cannot be opened, sell the salt first for money, and then give part of the money to the Shanxi merchants and let them transport grain. It doesn't matter if it is a salt. What about tens of thousands of dollars?

This is the same as the gameplay in some industries. First, use the voucher to get overdraft funds, and then do things. In the end, if the food cannot reach the destination, there is nothing you can do. It is a big deal for Yanyin to be overdrafted, and no one dares to do so. If you pierce this layer of window paper, you will have no choice but to make your own bad debts.

Zhu Di didn't speak at this time. Zhu Gaochi, Xia Yuanji, Zheng Ci and others also looked a little surprised. The chaos in the Salt Law was obviously expected by everyone, but what no one expected was that in just over thirty years, , the most important foundation of Kaizhongfa has been shaken.

"What else? Go on."

"Secondly, Zaohu households crossed the Yanwu Yamen to directly contact the merchants."

Military households serve as soldiers, and kitchen households naturally burn stoves. Under the division of labor in Ming Dynasty stipulated by Lao Zhu, kitchen households are the producers of salt, and the salt produced by kitchen households can be divided into two types in nature. , one is normal salt and the other is residual salt.

Regular salt is the prescribed portion that kitchen households need to turn over to the court, which is the annual total salt output quota and the quota allocated to each person. For example, 2 million imported salt needs to be produced this year. After allocating it to each salt farm, the salt farm will then give Different plots are divided into different plots, and finally allotments are given to kitchen households. This method is of a tax nature, which is the so-called Ji Ding program.

As the name suggests, residual salt is the remaining salt, that is, in addition to regular salt, the salt cooked by kitchen households. There are many uncontrollable factors in the process of cooking salt. Just like farming, it does not matter how many seeds there are or how big the land area is. How much output is there? Although Zaohu's indicators are difficult to achieve most of the time, it is normal for occasionally more indicators than expected.

Both regular salt and surplus salt in the hands of Zao households must be handed over in full, but according to the original provisions of the Salt Law, "the surplus salt is the salt left by the Zao households after school. When it was first produced in Hongwu, Shangzhi salt had a fixed place. It is not allowed to go out of the way to buy supplements; if you work hard, you can send the surplus salt to the production manager, and two hundred kilograms are equivalent to one yin (the size of the yin), and you will be given one stone per rice." The remaining salt can be paid twice as much as the normal salt.

Well, don’t think that Ming Dynasty is showing mercy. This thing is just like the modern Alipay subway card. In name, you can get a discount if you spend a certain amount of money every month, but in fact, you just sit there every day, and in the end you just barely pass the line. That’s it, the part earned after the discount is not enough to be burdened.

According to the provisions of the Salt Law, merchants in Kaizhong can only withdraw salt from the warehouse of the Salt Affairs Office after paying grain. They cannot have any contact with the kitchen households. After the salt in the hands of the kitchen households is turned over, it is also taken from the government's rice warehouse. To receive the rice as the cost of production, that is, "the two Huaihe Transportation Departments were ordered to set up warehouses at convenient locations, and every year they would distribute the remaining rice from the nearby prefectures and counties of Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Jiaxing, and Huai'an warehouses to the army." Collect and store".

"However, after the Yuyan Gongbenmi was changed to Gongbenbao, due to the gradual collapse of the banknote method, the actual currency value of the Baobao was declining. Kitchen households could not support their families with the income from regular salt alone, so they could only boil salt day and night to increase the income. However, due to the serious deficit of the imperial court and the chaotic management of the Salt Service Yamen, more and more surplus salt was unable to be collected. In the face of the protests of kitchen households and the requests of merchants, the Salt Service Yamen It began to be acquiesced that merchants could bypass the salt affairs yamen and collect surplus salt directly from kitchen households, so as to alleviate the dilemma of too much surplus salt and the salt affairs yamen being unable to collect all the orders."

"and"

At this point, someone as arrogant as Chen Ying did not dare to speak, but the emperor stared at him, so he had to continue speaking.

"According to the actual investigation of the censor, the most important reason that drove Zao households and merchants to come into direct contact was not the change of Gongbenbao, but the system of butyl salt."

Just as rice was used to collect surplus salt from kitchen households in the beginning, the tax on regular salt at the beginning was also different from the current system. Household salt was used, that is, the tax was based on households. The unit comes to collect the salt.

But this system obviously has problems, that is, some kitchen households have a lot of households and a lot of labor. It is very simple to complete the task of correcting salt. After completing it, they still have room to cook more salt, and the remaining salt is all own wealth.

"The two Huai salt farms hold salt classes, but the work is uneven. There are only one kitchen household that can handle thirty salt classes, but there are seven or eight kitchen households that can handle thirty salt classes."

At that time, the salt inspector discovered this problem, so he wrote to Zhu Yuanzhang saying so.

In view of the obvious serious drawbacks of the household salt system, Lao Zhu ordered the salt tax to be levied according to the number of Ding households. In the 23rd year of Hongwu, the Ding salt system was officially implemented by the Thirteen Chief Envoys of the Ming Dynasty. Although the taxation of salt at the mouth seemed fair and increased the salt tax revenue for the court, it actually caused a greater burden on kitchen households than before.

Therefore, on the one hand, more regular salt needs to be paid, and on the other hand, the remaining salt can only be exchanged for increasingly depreciating treasure banknotes. No wonder the kitchen households take desperate measures and risk violating the salt law by directly selling the remaining salt to the bid price. A fairer businessman now.

But the consequences of doing so are obvious, destroying the foundation of Kaizhong law - the salt introduction system.

The imperial court gave treasure money to Zao households, and Zao households paid salt to the imperial court. This was a closed-loop process. If merchants wanted to obtain the qualifications to sell salt, they could only purchase salt citations from the court. The salt citations were the legal basis for selling salt.

Now there is confusion in the order of Yan Yin and grain delivery, and the kitchen households have direct contact with merchants, which makes the logic of Yan Yin invalid. Without the middleman of the court to make the difference, which merchant would go to the trouble of Baali to first transport grain to the border and then come to collect salt. Where to lead?

It is these two points that caused 1.5 million taels of salt tax revenue to disappear out of thin air.

After figuring out how the 1.5 million taels disappeared, all the ministers in the palace couldn't help but feel uneasy.

It seems that a bloody storm is inevitable.

"The people I sent to various places in the Lianghuai Salt Fields brought back some information and bills. This matter is related to the great cause of salt administration. I don't dare to take charge of it, so I came here to present it to His Majesty for your inspection." Chen Ying said and handed it over with both hands. A letter.

Zhu Di opened the envelope, took out the thin letter paper inside and glanced at it. His face instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He looked up at the ministers in the palace and gritted his teeth and said: "This is unreasonable! The salt tax is not enough, how dare you do so much? Is this how you repay me?!"

"Wei Chen doesn't dare. Wei Chen is absolutely not corrupt."

"I will never commit any corruption or abuse of law!"

"I am an honest and honest official, and I will definitely not do such a thing that goes against my conscience."

"This humble minister has not done anything like this. Please let your Majesty take a closer look."

The hall was in chaos for a while, and all the ministers complained one after another, saying that they had absolutely no corruption behavior.

"Okay, I believe you."

Zhu Di's eyes were cold and he said, "Then, I want you to explain this."

As he spoke, Zhu Di held several bills in the letter in his hands.

"How on earth did this money end up in the pockets of you central officials? Am I just raising a bunch of worms by raising you?"

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Di named everyone one by one.

Upon hearing this, the named officials quickly fell to their knees, kowtowed and begged for mercy.

"I know I'm guilty, I know I'm guilty!"

"I hope your Majesty will be given a lighter sentence!"

"Your Majesty, forgive me! Your Majesty, forgive me!"

These officials from the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate cried bitterly and were filled with regret. Among the Three Law Departments, Dali Temple was not implicated because it had no connection with the salt administration. Now these people just hope that the emperor can be lenient.

However, reality is always cruel. When the emperor is determined to investigate and deal with corruption, no amount of explanations will help.

"Come here, pull them down, whip them according to the law and throw them into prison. They will be punished severely." Zhu Di said coldly.

As the eunuch shouted: "Drag him out——"

Several strong eunuchs came up and dragged down the kneeling doctors of the Criminal Department, the chief minister, the foreign ministers of the Yuan Dynasty, and the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, etc., like pigs and dogs waiting to be slaughtered.

A burst of screams and wailing sounded.

After a while, calm returned to the main hall.

Zhu Di pondered for a long time and suddenly asked: "Zheng Shangshu, I remember that you have always loved money, why didn't you get involved this time?"

"Your Majesty! Although I am a little greedy for money and always ask for rewards from Your Majesty, I am absolutely loyal to the Emperor and serve the country. I have never done anything bad that harmed the Ming Dynasty, let alone embezzled or accepted bribes!"

Zhu Di snorted coldly and scolded sternly: "What a sentence of loyalty to the emperor and serving the country."

"In that case, why would your deputy accept bribes? Is this how you lead the Criminal Department?"

Zhu Di glanced at Ma Jing, the left minister of the Ministry of Justice, and suddenly became furious and shouted: "Ma Jing, do you think that because I didn't call you just now, that means there is no evidence for you? I gave you a chance to plead guilty, but you didn't show up. The coffin sheds no tears.”

Only then did Ma Jing realize that now was not the time for the Ministry of Punishment to give an explanation to the salt merchants, but that he was already on the verge of death. He trembled all over, fell to his knees, kowtowed hurriedly and admitted his mistake: "I deserve to die." ! My crime deserves death! I was so obsessed that I took bribes! Your Majesty, I know I was wrong! Please let me live!"

"Let you go?" Zhu Di sneered, "If you get out of here safe and sound today, what will I explain to Emperor Taizu Gao in the salt class next year?"

"I know I was wrong! Your Majesty, please spare my life!" Ma Jing knelt on the ground and kowtowed to admit his mistake.

Zhu Di frowned and uttered three words coldly: "Pull it down!"

Ma Jing was frightened and shouted desperately: "Your Majesty, I am really wronged! I was only deceived and made such a mistake!"

Ma Jing was restrained by two powerful eunuchs. He tried to struggle but could not move at all, so he had to let the two eunuchs drag him away.

Li Qing, the right servant of the Ministry of Justice, saw this situation and couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had cleared the relationship early, otherwise he would not have been able to escape this disaster now.

Zhu Di looked at this scene coldly.

The meeting between the Three Law Departments, the Ministry of Revenue and the Cabinet ended in an extremely cold atmosphere.

The cabinet was only responsible for recording the meeting, while the Ministry of Household Affairs reported Jiang Xinghuo's speculation, and Chen Ying of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was responsible for announcing the investigation results.

Judging from the results, the biggest beneficiary was Chen Ying. He took this opportunity to completely clean up the censors left by Huang Xin, as well as some censors who were dissatisfied with him, and basically took control of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The weakening of the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate is also a subtle benefit to the Dali Temple and the newly established Shenfa Temple, which are responsible for review. After all, the power of the Ministry of Punishment was too great and too strong before.

A weak criminal department is what everyone needs.

Ma Jing was thrown into prison. After he was dismissed from office, Li Qinglai was expected to take over the position of Zuo Shilang. Who would fall into the hands of the new minister became the focus of competition among the major forces.

——————

After the meeting.

Zhu Di looked at Li Qing, who was summoned alone, and asked calmly: "I want to ask you, do you have any private contact with San Yang in the cabinet?"

Li Qing was stunned for a moment and immediately replied: "I only have casual acquaintances with everyone in the cabinet."

Of course Li Qing knew what the emperor meant. What the emperor asked was not whether he had any dealings with San Yang in the cabinet, but whether he had any dealings with the eldest prince.

Among the six ministers, the eldest prince promoted four left ministers, and the emperor obviously did not want him to become the fifth.

For other judicial and legislative departments, it is obvious that the weaker the Ministry of Punishment at this time, the better, but Zhu Di only hopes that this matter will end here, take away the legislative power of the Ministry of Punishment, replace and promote a group of officials, and put the Ministry of Punishment in a complete situation. The decision that best suits Zhu Di's interests is within his own control.

"A casual acquaintance?"

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes slightly, stared at Li Qing, and said: "Since we are casual acquaintances, why did the cabinet speak for you before? I asked the cabinet for its evaluation of everyone in the Criminal Department."

Li Qing said quickly: "This minister really doesn't know. Your Majesty, I have absolutely no personal contact with the cabinet or the eldest prince. I only have some official business dealings, and that's it. I have absolutely no other interactions."

Zhu Di's face changed from gloomy to bright for a moment, and he said: "Get up, I believe you. From today on, you will be the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Punishment."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Qing said happily that he knew that everything just happened was Zhu Di testing him. He just hoped that his performance was good and Zhu Di would not be suspicious of him.

After Li Qing left, Zhu Di told the eunuch next to him: "Send an order for Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, to come see me."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The eunuch bowed and accepted the order and retreated.

Not long after, Xia Yuanji, dressed in a scarlet robe, hurried to Zhu Di.

After Xia Yuanji entered the room, he first saluted Zhu Di, and then said: "Xia Yuanji, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, is here to see your Majesty."

Zhu Di glanced at Xia Yuanji lightly and said, "Ai Qing, please go down without courtesy."

After saying that, Zhu Di pointed to the memorial on Long's case.

This is Xia Yuanji's petition, which advocates comprehensively promoting tax reform in all fields such as salt and tea. It also includes the local tax ideas proposed by Jiang Xinghuo in prison, and further levies inheritance tax, family division tax, etc. on the landlords and gentry.

"It's too urgent, now is not the time."

After Xia Yuanji stood up, Zhu Di said again: "Weizhe, you are my right-hand man. I value you very much. You are a smart man. You should know my difficulties and why I summoned you today."

Xia Yuanji sighed and said: "Your Majesty, I understand your difficulties, but I really don't want to get involved in the temple fight. This memorial is all out of consideration for the country as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."

"I never wanted to involve you in it."

Zhu Di was also a little helpless. He rubbed his brows and said slowly: "Reform the tax system, rectify the banknotes, and clean up the salt tea. It is not that these things should not be done, but they must be done one by one. The Imperial Master wants to finish it in one go. Fat man, do you think so too?"

Xia Yuanji's eyebrows showed a deep look of worry: "Your Majesty, the problems caused by the Lianghuai Salt Farm incident this time are really too serious. If not handled well, the entire Ming Dynasty's finances will be ruined. Alas. !”

He shook his head and sighed, as if he was feeling sorry for the Ming Dynasty.

"You can take this memorial back, I won't keep it."

"Your Majesty, forgive me." After hearing this, Xia Yuanji kowtowed quickly with a look of shame on his face. His expression was obviously meant for Zhu Di.

Although Jiang Xinghuo did not appear on his own and still worked in Daming Bank, he entrusted Xia Yuanji to make a report.

At the same time, we have also planned that if the scale of the Lianghuai salt field incident can be further expanded, we will take this opportunity to strive for a comprehensive reform of taxation on specialized commodities such as salt tea.

But at present, it seems that this goal has obviously not been achieved. Zhu Di has his own concerns and is not willing to speed up the pace of reform suddenly. He only agrees to do it one thing at a time.

As the reform process deepened, Zhu Di and Jiang Xinghuo began to have some minor differences from different standpoints. At present, of course, it was only on issues such as action steps. It cannot be said who is right or wrong. No matter what they do, it makes sense. of.

"Salt is number one for salt tea and other things; salt fields in Lianghuai are number one in the world."

Zhu Di's meaning was very clear. Don't move other things first. This time, only the salt should be moved, and only the Lianghuai Salt Fields.

In fact, this is determined by the important position that the Huaihe salt tax occupies in the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty. According to the records in the "History of Ming Dynasty, Food and Goods, and Salt Law", the Lianghuai River was the largest salt area in the Ming Dynasty. In the fifth year of Hongwu alone, When the Kaizhong Law was first promulgated and implemented, it was able to produce 352,000 tons of salt annually, accounting for 30.32% of the country's 1.161 million tons, and the annual tax paid to the central government accounted for 55.1% of the country's total, which was far higher than its share of salt production in the country. The proportion is truly half of the salt industry.

The current external situation of the Ming Dynasty is indeed relatively bad. The war against Annan is ongoing. At the same time, the invasion of the Timur Khanate is like a hanging sword. It is not known when it will fall. The Ming Dynasty must rush to get this sword to fall. Before coming, hit the Mongols in the north first, and then deal with Timur with all your strength.

It is precisely based on this background that domestic reforms must be prudent and cannot be rash or cause large-scale chaos.

Therefore, Zhu Di's considerations are not unreasonable. Zhu Di believes that Jiang Xinghuo and Xia Yuanji can understand his painstaking efforts.

Zhu Di waved his hand and said, "You go down first."

"I excuse myself." Xia Yuanji saluted, then turned and left.

"Alas!" Looking at Xia Yuanji's leaving figure, Zhu Di sighed softly.

Xia Yuanji is a smart man, and he promoted him step by step. Now he is even more powerful in the court than Jian Yi and Ru Yu.

Unfortunately, since he was impressed by Jiang Xinghuo's finance and taxation knowledge in prison, he and Jiang Xinghuo are now getting closer and closer. This makes Zhu Di, as the emperor, feel a little wary. Although this wariness has not yet evolved into Suspicious, but ultimately unsettling.

But no matter what, if Zhu Di wants to complete his great cause, he has to make money, and he has to make a lot of money, and neither the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi nor those pedantic civil servants can help him make money.

Only Jiang Xinghuo and Xia Yuanji, who are capable officials in his eyes, dare to risk the disapproval of the world and go against the gentry and civil servant groups on his behalf, leveraging the corners of these inherent interest groups and providing him with a steady stream of money. .

Therefore, reform cannot stop.

Although Zhu Di had some normal thoughts for his ministers as an emperor, but just like "a gentleman does not care about his deeds," he still happily gave Jiang Xinghuo the necessary support.

Soon, an imperial edict came from the palace, ordering Jiang Xinghuo, the national advisor, to be solely responsible for the reform of the Salt Law. At the same time, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jin Yiwei cooperated to continue to dig into the corruption of the Lianghuai Salt Administration. As soon as this imperial edict came out, people were shocked again. There was a storm all over the city.